DEER HUNTING. 279 



New York, the great forests of Pennsylvania and of Western 

 Virginia, with the mountain region of the Carolinas and Alabama, 

 and the hummocks of Florida in the East, and the extensive 

 wooded regions of Michigan, "Wisconsin, Minnesota, and 

 Canada in the West, furnish the great field for deer hunting 

 of this kind. There the frequent deer paths intersect the woods 

 and fresh scent can always be found upon which to start the dogs. 

 The dogs Used are generally cross-bred hounds or deerhounds of 

 impure blood, although the pure, but rarer dachshund, is now being 

 employed in this sport. Speed is not so much a requisite as stanch- 

 ness and excellent scent ; the tireless, unerring following up of 

 the trail, with plenty of tongue to signify the whereabouts of the 

 game, being the chief requisites for this sport. Some hunters who 

 desire great activity are fond of objecting to this as dull plodding 

 amusement; this may be when a party of "tender feet" are 

 stationed at run ways to spend hour after hour and while away 

 the day in the vain hope of seeing game, or even hearing the 

 music of the hounds. But when a lone hunter, or a well-mated 

 party, join in the sport, with a couple of good dogs, and shift 

 their places, as the baying of the dogs gives notice of the course 

 the game is taking, and when the hunter, now following the course 

 over logs and rocks, through brush and swamps, cutting off the 

 game as it sweeps around, and with true woodcraft, meets it at a 

 turn, without giving sight or scent of his presence, and with un- 

 erring aim speeds his deadly bullet through the head or heart of 

 his prey then the most thorough sportsman may find sufficient 

 pleasure and excitement in which to forget the sometimes too 

 vigorous and enduring exercise. Deerhounds well trained for this 

 sport will bring the game around to their starting point, where a 

 a cover of brush may be provided to screen the hunter from ob- 

 servation until the deer is brought within easy distance for a safe 

 shot. 



Deer Stalking. Perhaps the true woodsman will choose to still 

 hunt his game. In this sport there are required : a wonderful acute- 

 ness to distinguish "sign" to follow the trail; excessive stealth, 

 yet swiftness of tread, to cover the ground quickly ; a rare keen* 



