STILL ^'^^ °^ *^^ TCiOhi important fac- 



HUNTING tors in still-hunting, is, as the 

 name of the sport implies, being quiet. This is a 

 thing that the city-bred man finds most difficult; 

 and he will actually insist that his progress is noise- 

 less, when he is giving a good imitation of a "bull 

 in a china shop." 



Wild animals do not move rapidly; and if the 

 novice will take them as a model, he will learn 

 with surprise what real silence means. Go off into 

 the woods, a mile or more from camp, and lie 

 dov/n. At first you are not conscious of any feel- 

 ing in particular ; but in half an hour the silence 

 begins to sink into you. A crow caws far off in 

 the forest, and at last you begin to realize what 

 silence is. The sound of singing comes from the 

 distant camp, and you wonder why Bill persists in 

 making so much noise. A slender twig, two hun- 

 dred yards away, breaks with a noise like a toy 

 pistol. 



The next time you go still-hunting, you travel 

 one foot where before you moved twenty, and see 

 game where before you only saw tracks, and fresh 

 beds. 



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