THE MULE-DEER 249 







and have been able either to waylay him or make a run- 

 ning stalk on him from behind. 



In the old days it was the regular thing with most 

 ranchmen to take a trip in the fall for the purpose of 

 laying in the winter's supply of venison. I frequently 

 took such trips myself, and though occasionally we killed 

 wapiti, bighorn, prongbuck, and whitetail, our ordinary 

 game was the mule-deer. Around my ranch it was not 

 necessary to go very far. A day's journey with the wagon 

 would usually take us to where a week's hunting would 

 enable us to return with a dozen deer or over. If there 

 was need of more, I would repeat the hunt later on. I 

 have several times killed three of these deer in a day, 

 but I do not now recall ever killing a greater number. 

 It is perhaps unnecessary to say that every scrap of flesh 

 was used. 



These hunts were always made late in the fall, usually 

 after the close of the rut. The deer were then banded, 

 and were commonly found in parties of from three or 

 four to a score, although the big bucks might be lying 

 by themselves. The weather was apt to be cold, and the 

 deer evidently liked to sun themselves, so that at mid- 

 day they could be found lying sometimes in thin brush 

 and sometimes boldly out on the face of a cliff or hill. 

 If they were unmolested, they would feed at intervals 

 throughout the day, and not until the bands had been 

 decimated by excessive hunting did they ever spend the 

 hours of daylight in hiding. 



On such a hunt our proceedings were simple. The 

 nights were longer than the days, and therefore we were 



