204 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



are as keen as those of any deer, and their knowl- 

 edge of the scent of a man I have found fully 

 developed in fawns on ground that I knew posi- 

 tively had not known the step of man since their 

 birth. Though their eyes are dull for an object , 

 at rest, they have that same wonderful quickness 

 to detect motion which makes the hunting of 

 other deer so difficult. I have seen one watch 

 the motion of my companion on a ridge so far off 

 that the sharpest eyes of man could hardly say 

 with certainty what it was. And I have seen 

 scores of them jump and run from their beds at 

 the sight of my head rising slowly over a ridge 

 two hundred yards away, while the flash of a rifle 

 on the shoulder will send many a one flying at 

 twice that distance. 



This deer is apt at first to excite only your 

 contempt by his stupidity in lying still until you 

 are very near him and then showing himself. 

 But you will soon find this the exception, and for 

 every one you get in that way, several dozen 

 escape you by close hiding. For in that respect 

 this deer is a master. From a distance I once 

 saw one enter a bit of isolated brush of not over 

 an acre and a quarter in extent. I did not want 

 it, but did want to see it run. First I stood on 

 a slope some feet above and threw rocks in, but 

 nothing moved. Then I went into the brush 

 with the same result, going all through it, making 



