Deer-Hunting. 241 



spurs to our steeds, we may be too late at our stand, and 

 thus lose the first opportunity of shooting the fleeting 

 game as it passes by. Hark again ! The dogs are in 

 chase, the horn sounds louder and more clearly. Hurry, 

 hurry on ! or we shall be sadly behind. Here we are at 

 last ; dismount, fasten your horse to this tree, place your- 

 self by the side of that large yellow poplar, and mind you 

 do not shoot me. The deer is fast approaching ; I will to 

 my own stand, and he who shoots him dead wins the prize. 

 The deer is heard coming ; it has inadvertently cracked 

 a dead stick with its hoof, and the dogs are now so near 

 it that it will pass in a moment. There it comes ! How 

 beautifully it bounds over the ground ! What a splendid 

 head of horns ! How easy the attitudes, depending, as 

 it seems to do, on its own swiftness for safety ! All is in 

 vain, however ; a gun is fired, the animal plunges, and 

 doubles with incomparable speed. There he goes ; he 

 passes another stand, from which a second shot, better 

 directed than the first, brings him to the ground. The 

 dogs, the servants, the sportsmen, are now rushing for- 

 ward to the spot. The hunter who has shot it is congrat- 

 ulated on his skill or good luck, and the chase begins 

 again in some other part of the woods. 



" A few lines of explanation may be required to con- 

 vey a clear idea of this mode of hunting. Deer are fond 

 of following and retracing the paths which they have 

 formerly used, and continue to do so even after they have 

 been shot at more than once. Their tracks are discov- 

 ered by persons on horseback in the woods, or a deer is 

 observed crossing a road, a field, or a small stream. 

 When this has been noticed twice, the deer may be shot 

 from the places called stands by the sportsman, who is 

 stationed there and waits for it, aline of stands being gen- 

 erally formed so as to cross the path which the game will 

 follow. The person who ascertains the usual pass of 

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