66 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



where you would otherwise get only a wild running 

 one or too long a standing one. 



A long and careful look over the ground beyond 

 shows you no game. You however notice plenty of 

 tracks on this ridge also. And careful examination 

 will show you that they were made by the very same 

 deer that tracked up the last ridge. 



Here, too, are three or four smooth, oval depres- 

 sions in the ground about two or two and a half feet 

 long and about half as wide. The leaves in them are 

 pressed down nice and flat, and there are some quite 

 fresh tracks in them made after the occupant rose. I 

 need hardly tell you that they are beds; but I do need 

 to tell you that they are night beds. Therefore you 

 need not expect to see a deer lying at the foot of the 

 next tree or under the next bush. 



The distinction between beds made by deer at night 

 and those made by them during the day is important, 

 and one almost certain to be overlooked by the unas- 

 sisted beginner. And it is almost certain to make 

 him waste much time and temper in searching for 

 deer on ground where they lie only at night, while 

 they are lying down perhaps a mile away. This sub- 

 ject properly belongs to another chapter, but I call 

 your attention to it now that you may lose no time 

 with these beds. The distinction is this. Deer will at 

 night lie down almost anywhere; but if disturbed by 

 hunting or otherwise they will hardly ever lie down 

 by day on or near their feeding-ground, or near their 

 watering-place, or on any ground except such as, in a 

 subsequent chapter, I shall describe as '' lying-down 

 ground." 



Instead of crossing this ridge and going to the next 

 one, keep along the side you are now on. but just 



