164 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



you will have to meet. The deer that hide may as 

 well be counted out. Your bag must be made up from 

 the number of those that would run away or which 

 you can catch without giving them an opportunity to 

 consider what they will do. 



It is still more expedient than in case of timber- 

 deer to hunt these open-country deer during the time 

 of day when they are on foot. For they are a beast 

 of exceeding perversity and scorn all the hundred 

 and one nice places that you select for them to lie in. 

 Moreover, they will, especially when much hunted, 

 lie so much in heavy brush that you can rarely get a 

 good shot if you do start one from his bed. Besides 

 this they are much more apt to skulk if lying down 

 when they hear you than if standing. Nevertheless, 

 when deer are keeping on ground covered only with 

 isolated clumps of high brush, whether on the ridges 

 or in valleys, excellent sport may often be had by 

 jumping them. Especially is this so where one is a 

 good tracker on bare ground, or there is snow enough 

 to track by. 



Much more advantage can be taken of the running- 

 time in open ground because a running deer can be 

 seen at so much greater distance. Good speed must, 

 however, be made, if you have any distance to go, to 

 get ahead on the course of a running deer. 



On open ground it is quite as essential to distin- 

 guish the night beds and tracks from those made by 

 day as it is in timber. For at night a deer is seldom 

 afraid to go anywhere, and will jump the fence of a 

 garden that he will be a mile away from at daybreak. 



So, too, noise must be avoided as far as possibly 

 consistent with proper speed. A careless walker will 

 indeed get shots at deer in Open country where in the 



