Feb., 191 2. Mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 63 



the unnecessary killing of harmless animals becomes repugnant to us, 

 and I am glad to say that during the last dozen years I have killed very 

 few and only when meat was needed in camp. Deer are usually hunted 

 in three ways (fire hunting not included, and being rarely indulged in by 

 true sportsmen), (i) Hunting them with hounds, the hunter stationing 

 himself on a runway. (2) To "slow trail" them, a method which is 

 largely followed in southern countries. A hound is trained to follow a 

 trail slowly and without barking. He must go slowly enough to enable 

 the hunter to keep within a few yards of him. Sooner or later the Deer 

 is ''jumped," usually within shooting distance. (3) The method known 

 as still hunting. To be a successful ''still hunter" requires keen eye- 

 sight combined with a knowledge of wood craft and the habits and ways 

 of Deer, which few white men possess. * 



In a comparatively open country, where Deer have not been much 

 hunted, one may often approach within a shooting distance by keeping 

 to leeward of the animal and creeping forward while it has its head down 

 feeding, and remaining motionless when it lifts its head, which it does 

 every few minutes. For some reason a Deer usually shakes his tail 

 before lifting his head. By bearing this in mind, on one occasion I 

 approached within 100 yards of a buck feeding in an open prairie where 

 the grass was not over 12 inches high. Once the Deer raised his head 

 and looked directly at me before I had time to lie down in the grass. I 

 remained perfectly still and after gazing at me for a moment he stamped 

 once or twice, advanced a few steps and stamped again; but after ex- 

 amining me for some time he apparently came to the conclusion that I 

 was a part of the scenery, or at least some strange animal which was not 

 dangerous, whereupon he commenced to feed again. Of course this was 

 due to the fact that the wind was blowing from the Deer towards me; 

 had it been the other way, the sense of smell is so acute in these animals 

 that such a near approach would have been impossible. When fright- 

 ened a Deer will usually utter a startled snort, which is almost invariably 

 given preliminary to flight. When running a Deer usually holds its 

 tail straight up in the air, at least for a short distance, the white under 

 surface showing clearly as it bounds high over the bushes. If it goes off 

 with its tail down, it is a pretty sure indication that it is badly wounded. 



The antlers of the Virginia Deer are usually dropped in March. The 

 rutting season begins during the latter part of October and usually lasts 

 until late in November and the majority of the young are bom in May. 

 For the first few days, until the fawn is strong enough to follow her 

 about, the mother leaves it in some concealed spot while she seeks her 

 food, returning from time to time to learn of its welfare and to suckle it. 

 I have on several occasions found very young fawns in the woods and 

 they always lay perfectly still and permitted themselves to be handled; 



