SPORT AND TRAVEL 305 



a fine buck mule deer about one hundred and eighty 

 yards to my left. He was also in open ground walk- 

 ing along quite slowly just on the other side of the 

 river. There was not a bush between us; and as I saw 

 him. and immediately came to a halt, he must also 

 have seen me, as he stopped and looked towards me. 

 Seeing that there was no chance of getting any nearer 

 to him, I at once sat down and prepared for a longish 

 shot. But on his resuming his slow walk with head 

 held high as if the whole country belonged to him, I 

 thought I would let him get amongst some bushes 

 a little farther down the river and then try to get 

 nearer to him. However, after having taken a few 

 steps only, he again halted and looked towards me, and 

 then turning half away from me walked towards a 

 thick patch of wild raspberry bushes growing just 

 under a steep shoulder of the mountain, which here 

 rose abruptly from the valley on the farther side of the 

 river. 



I now judged it expedient to fire, and as I did so, 

 not only heard my bullet thud, but saw that the 

 old buck had received a mortal wound, for instead of 

 bounding off he lowered his head, and stood swaying 

 about, and I thought he was going to fall in his tracks. 

 But he recovered a little and began to limp slowly for- 

 wards towards the raspberry bushes. Just as he was 

 about to enter them, I fired at him again, and he 

 dropped all of a heap, apparently dead. 



By this time (November 20) the river, though it was 



20 



