1 6 DEER: THEIR HABITS 



feeds well and lies quiet the weight which goes in at 

 his mouth will soon show on his back. A good stall- 

 fed buck will weigh sixteen or eighteen stones ; the 

 oldest deer generally fatten the fastest ; they need only 

 to be fed once a day, and that in the morning, and the 

 quieter they are kept the better, letting them have 

 plenty of clean litter. Stall- feeding deer will be much 

 helped by giving them green meat with their corn as 

 soon as it is to be had, such as rye or tares, before the 

 grass is sufficiently grown to cut for them. 



The season for doe venison begins on the i3th of 

 November, and this is a part of the economy of a deer 

 park that requires skill and experience. The does 

 fit for venison are those that have had their fawns 

 killed in the summer and are dry; but to an inexperi- 

 enced person the does look all alike, and if anything, 

 the wet ones, those which give milk, look the best. A 

 good doe should look as nearly as possible like a pricket ; 

 that is, the male of a second year, the back and belly 

 being straight, the neck comparatively short, and head 

 also. The wet does are always more or less ewe- 

 necked ; the neck sinking into a deep bend before 

 reaching the shoulders, and there is this peculiarity 

 noticeable in the dry or barren doe, that the head looks 

 round and full. These are all fine points ; and it is 

 necessary that a man should be brought up to it from 

 his boyhood to be able to discriminate. When the deer 

 are in herd and disturbed, the does and fawns get so 

 mixed that there is no link to guide the keeper as to a 

 dry fat doe, and his eye must be well practised or he 

 will make mistakes. In large parks it is difficult to 

 get at the does without a horse. If many are required 

 in one day, as is frequently the case, the keeper will be 

 obliged to shoot them from his horse as they run by 

 him through the head or neck, and if his horse is 

 well trained to the gun, it is a pretty sight to a looker- 

 on from a distance. If the doe is shot behind the 

 shoulders at the third rib, the venison will not be 

 injured at all, and in bad weather that will be the 



