122 BIG GAME OF NOUIII A .M j;i;i(;A. 



are not long in linding him out. Piv^eiii ly he invohmtarily 

 checks his hand as it has almost con vim d lii^ pipe lo liis 

 mouth. Hark ! What was that sound '. lie holds Ins 

 breath, and listens. The far-away baying of a hound causes 

 him to Jumj) to his feet, rifle in hand, and his \vav\ in his 

 throat. Nearer and nearer comes the incomparable music 

 of the hounds, now rising to the crest of a hill, now sinking 

 into a valley. Louder and louder it rings out in the still 

 forest, for the birds and squirrels are quiet now. If the 

 hunter has an ear for music, the inimitable voices of the 

 dogs make his blood tingle and his hair almost stand on 

 end. 



Suddenly, with a rattle and a bound, a magnificent buck 

 dashes down the path. The rifle is thrown to the shoulder, 

 and the trigger pressed. Perhaps the hunter has the satis- 

 faction of seeing his game tumble end over end; perhaps he 

 sees his black-and-white tail vanish among the trees with a 

 defiant flourish. I say the rifle, for to use a shotgun on a 

 Deer is murder, x^ure and simple. 



One easy manner of hunting Deer is to lay in wait for 

 them at a salt-spring, or "Deer-lick." In various sections 

 of the Far West there are deposits of clay which contain salt, 

 or alkali, and in these the Deer and Elk have licked cavities 

 capable of hiding several animals at once from the sight of 

 a man at some little distance. 



But, reader, think of the feelings of one who has suc- 

 cessfully captured a noble buck by still-hunting! Let us 

 suppose that the sportsman starts out early in the morning. 

 As he wends his way through the forest, the sun is Just com- 

 ing up over the distant mountains, and the eastern sky and 

 clouds are j)ainted with gold and purple. The birds twitter, 

 and the squirrels chatter merrily, as if to welcome the advent 

 of day. As he approaches the singing brook, the trout dart 

 under the shelving bank, and a covey of grouse springs into 

 the surrounding trees. 



A large section of country is traversed, and although the 

 sportsman sees plenty of fresh signs, he has been unable as 

 yet to discern a single animal. He ascends a ridge. Slowly 



