A II U N TER'S LIFE. ,"07 



thoup:h I got out late. I took with me my young dog in 

 a string, and went to the places where I was most likely 

 to find deer. I had to hold and control the dog ; but 

 when he began to take the wind, I saw he smelled game, 

 though I had great trouble with him. Presently I 

 came to where two very large bucks had been fighting a 

 bitterly-contested battle. They had fought over nearly a 

 quarter of an acre of ground, and when I came to the 

 spot they were no more than out of sight. If I had not 

 been troubled with the pup, I should have caught them 

 while engaged fighting, and in all probability have killed 

 both of them. 



But be that as it may, I followed their tracks until they 

 parted ; and as I could not tell which was the largest, I 

 pursued the one that took the clearest ground. I had fol- 

 lowed him but a short distance, when I saw him walking 

 slowly, with his head low, and as if sick. I had to be 

 cautious how I approached him, as it was difficult to keep 

 my pup quiet ; but when at last the deer lay down, I had 

 to be still more cautious, for then he had nothing to do 

 but watch. However, I managed to get within sixty 

 steps, and he knew nothing about my presence until my 

 new rifle cracked, when over he turned, and never rose 

 again. 



When I examined him, I found his back was broken — 

 showing that my gun still threw her ball a little higher 

 than the sights. A fine fellow he was, but his shoulders 

 and neck were so gored and bloodshot from the fight he 

 had been engaged in, that they were not fit for use ; so I fed 

 them to the dog. After his saddle was considerably dried, it 

 weighed eighty-seven pounds ; and sixty pounds is a com- 

 mon buck's weight. 



In a day or two my oldest son came to me, and, as an- 

 other snow had fallen, we started off in the morning, after 

 having previously go two or three dogs together, and it 



