172 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



In a valley, however, the wind is quite certain to be 

 moving one way or the other, and you may have to 

 go around to the head of it and come down it a pro- 

 ceeding that may not be profitable unless you are cer- 

 tain that deer are in there. If a deer escapes you in a 

 valley, you have no chance to get another shot with a 

 quick dash as you often have in the hills; and you 

 are also often deprived of that wide range of vision 

 so essential when deer are scarce. But then you 

 have a full view of the hill-sides, which, even when 

 very bare, steep, or rocky, are often fine places for 

 deer to stand and sun themselves. 



But suppose the valley to have broad sloping sides, 

 furrowed with little ravines, sprinkled perhaps with 

 occasional bushes or trees. It may now be best to 

 take the hill-side part of the way up, where you can 

 get a good downward view, and a good forward 

 and upward view along the slope. This will gener- 

 ally be far the best place to walk, for then the deer 

 will be as apt to be on the slopes as in the valley. 

 Especially is this the best place when the main val- 

 ley splits up into little side-valleys, and these again 

 into smaller ravines and pockets, or when there are 

 little plateaus along the slopes. And even when the 

 hills are quite steep, if the walking be good it is 

 often best to wind into all these small valleys about 

 half-way up the hill. For the wind almost invariably 

 draws into such places from the main valley. 



If the deer are in a table-land where the ravines 

 and basins are not too deep and wide^then the edges 

 of these will be the best places to walk, and one need 

 rarely go into them unless when the deer are lying 

 down, in which case (unless the ravines are narrow 

 and shallow) your best chance is in them. Not only 



