36 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



Antelope, being banded, being on open ground, and 

 visible at such long distances, will afford good sport 

 on a far smaller average to the square mile than will 

 deer. That is, on ground suitable for still-hunting. 

 And this is a question that for either antelope or deer 

 should be decided before you waste any time in hunt- 

 ing it. 



Upon some kinds of ground successful still-hunting 

 is almost an impossibility; while in ground that is 

 suitable for it there is such a difference that five or 

 six deer to the square mile upon one kind will give 

 better success than twenty to the square mile upon 

 another kind. The best kind is timber that !s open 

 enough to allow you to see at least a hundred and 

 fifty yards in any direction, free enough from under- 

 brush to allow you to walk without touching too 

 much of it, yet brushy enough in places to afford good 

 browse and lying-down covert for deer, and, above all, 

 rolling enough to allow you to keep out of sight be- 

 hind ridges and look down into hollows and basins. 

 Ground that is very brushy or quite level is very dif- 

 ficult for any one to hunt alone, and had better be 

 entirely shunned by the novice, as his lot will almost 

 certainly be vexatious disappointment. But, as I shall 

 show hereafter, brushy ground may sometimes be 

 hunted to advantage by two or more persons ; and 

 if there are openings enough through it, it may afford 

 good sport in the season called "running time." 



As a rule, the more rolling the ground the shorter 

 "the breaks," and the higher the ridges, up to a hun- 

 dred and fifty feet or so, the better. If it roll too 

 much and the ridges be too high, it will make your 

 walking too laborious and your shots too long. The 

 best of all ground consists of hard-wood timber, well 



