250 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



bare ground where a track shows several yards 

 ahead so that to the practised eye the trail appears 

 to stand up out of the ground, it is rarely worth 

 while to look for one in bed. To see them is 

 next to impossible on most ground, while jumping 

 one out of bed in such a way as to get a shot is 

 almost as uncertain, and pays only when you have 

 nothing to do but tramp. Especially is this the 

 case with the blacktail. It has a greater variety 

 of places for lying down than any other deer, and 

 they are scattered over a much larger area. In 

 the greater part of the woods it may lie down 

 anywhere, and even in the open country there is 

 still so much brush into which it is quite apt to 

 go, that you had better confine your hunting to 

 morning and evening. 



And you need not expect much success early 

 in the summer. For the blacktail has everywhere 

 the same period of seclusion that other deer have, 

 especially on this coast. In May and June and 

 the early part of July they move very little, and 

 that generally by night. Not having to go to 

 water to escape flies or mosquitoes, or for drink 

 while the young leaves are tender and juicy, they 

 remain most of the time quiet in the deep thickets, 

 rocky glens, and rugged gulches or windfalls, 

 where you may generally make all the noise you 

 wish without making one even run in such a way 

 that you can see him. Even tracks may be so 



