LOOKING FOR DEER LYING DOWN. 73 



CHAPTER VII. 



LOOKING FOR DEER LYING DOWN. 



HAVING failed to see deer on foot during their feed- 

 ing or lounging time of the morning, the next best 

 thing is to seek them where they have gone to lie 

 down during the main part of the day. It is some- 

 times more easy to find them in this way than when 

 they are on foot, though it is generally harder. It is 

 generally so very difficult to see one in bed at all that 

 you are mainly confined in this kind of hunting to 

 what is known as "jumping a deer;" that is, starting 

 him from his bed, and firing at him as he bounds away 

 or waiting until he stops to look back a moment, as 

 deer generally do if little disturbed. 



From the loose talk among hunters and the care- 

 less pens of writers about "jumping" deer the begin- 

 ner is very apt to fancy it something like kicking up 

 a hare from its form and rolling it over with a charge 

 of shot as it scuds away. He is very apt to go march- 

 ing confidently about expecting to see a deer hop out 

 of any bush within twenty or thirty yards. This will 

 occasionally happen, especially if the wind be right 

 and the ground soft enough for silent walking. But 

 three times out of four "jumping" a deer is what you 

 shall soon see for yourself. 



When entirely undisturbed by man deer will lie 

 down in the daytime as they do at night almost any- 



