The Mule- deer 219 



The surest way with a wounded one is to chase 

 it up as fast as possible before it finds its pace 

 after recovering from the first shock. For if he 

 once gets into heavy brush, you are quite likely 

 to be the permanent proprietor of the shock, espe- 

 cially on a hot day. 



The early summer coat of the mule-deer is 

 yellowish tan color, which in July falls rapidly 

 off, leaving a fine glossy black which soon takes 

 a gray tinge as the hairs increase in length. The 

 coat becomes rapidly gray, and so continues 

 through the winter until late in the spring. 

 Black still persists along the brisket and on the 

 forehead, but most of the coat is a glossy, iron 

 gray that shines afar in the sun, and is so often 

 the only thing by which you can detect the 

 animal at a distance, that shining spots on the 

 landscape and especially in brush must always be 

 examined, no matter what their shape. With the 

 warm weather of late spring the gray falls rapidly 

 away into the yellow, which seldom lasts over 

 three months, while the black period is sometimes 

 not more than three weeks, or even less. 



The antlers are, if possible, more irregular than 

 those of the blacktail, and afford no indication of 

 the deer's age that is of value. When in the vel- 

 vet they seem darker than the velvet of the Vir- 

 ginia deer, and when out of the velvet they at 

 first seem more brown. Most of them are forked 



