THE MULE-DEER 225 



are two shorter basal or frontal points. But the latter 

 are very irregular, being sometimes missing; while some- 

 times there are two or three of them on each antler. 

 When missing it usually means that the antlers are of 

 young animals that have not attained their full growth. 

 A yearling will sometimes have merely a pair of spikes, 

 and sometimes each spike will be bifurcated so as to make 

 two points. A two-year-old may develop antlers which, 

 though small, possess the normal four points. Occasion- 

 ally, where unusually big heads are developed, there are 

 a number of extra points. If these are due to deformity, 

 they simply take away from the beauty of the head ; but 

 where they are symmetrical, while at the same time the 

 antlers are massive, they add greatly to the beauty. All 

 the handsomest and largest heads show this symmetri- 

 cal development of extra points. It is rather hard to 

 lay down a hard-and-fast rule for counting them. The 

 largest and finest antlers are usually rough, and it is 

 not easy to say when a particular point in roughness has 

 developed so that it may legitimately be called a prong. 

 The largest head I ever got to my own rifle had twenty- 

 eight points, symmetrically arranged, the antlers being 

 rough and very massive as well as very long. The buck 

 was an immense fellow, but no bigger than other bucks. 

 I have shot which possessed ordinary heads. 



The mule-deer is found from the rough country 

 which begins along the eastern edges of the great plains, 

 across the Rocky Mountains to the eastern slopes of the 

 coast ranges, and into southern California. It extends 

 into Canada on the north and Mexico on the south. On 



