PREFACE TO ILLUSTRATED EDITION. vii 



does not look, slips away without his suspecting its exist- 

 ence. 



The sketches by the author are no exception to the 

 warning he has given. In many of them the deer is still 

 several times too large, small as it is. The reason is that 

 a deer, as generally seen on the ground where you should 

 be looking for him, would be invisible in a picture the size 

 of this page, even if taken with the finest camera, selected 

 light, and time exposure. If standing beside the man 

 with the rifle, a novice would seldom see the deer at which 

 he was aiming, unless it were in motion. And even the 

 expert will fail so often that, when he sees a comrade raise 

 the rifle, he stands perfectly still, instead of craning his 

 neck or moving in any way to see it. He knows the 

 chances are so many against his seeing it, and the danger 

 of the deer's running at the slightest motion are so great, 

 that he patiently awaits the result of the shot without try- 

 ing to see the game. 



In order to make the game visible at all, I have had 

 to leave off most all the timber and much of the brush. 

 The novice has only to imagine it back again to see how 

 his troubles are increased. It is a sound rule of art that 

 the background must not compete in interest with the 

 figures. But in the picture you have to consider with the 

 rifle on your shoulder the background does compete, and 

 nearly all the time is the victor. A picture must be all 

 unity and simplicity. But in the gallery where Nature 

 hangs her pictures of the deer all is complexity and diver- 

 sity, even on the most open ground on which you are 

 likely to hunt. The background is the picture; man and 



