114 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



risk of being tedious; for I well know their extreme 

 importance, and how easily one forgets them just at 

 the critical moment. The principles involved in track- 

 ing and in hunting open ground will be given farther 

 on, and the same effort made to impress them upon 

 the memory. Any more illustration of plain hunting 

 in the woods before snow would now be too tiresome 

 on account of the repetition of the leading principles 

 we have already seen. Moreover, to follow out in de- 

 tail all the varying scenes of the still-hunt and all the 

 special modifications of general principles rendered 

 necessary from time to time by change of ground, 

 wind, light, actions of the deer, etc., would swell this 

 book to a size that would seal its fate at once. We 

 will therefore pass on to what is known among hun- 

 ters as the " running-time." 



The expressions "rutting -time" and "running- 

 time" are generally used to mean the same thing. 

 But the " running-time" is really only the climax of 

 the "rutting-time." 



The "rutting-time" begins at different times in differ- 

 ent sections, depending upon climate and elevation. 

 And even in any one place it is difficult to say just 

 when it begins and when it ends. But at periods 

 varying from September to December, inclusive of 

 those months, the does will be in season. And in the 

 North and West this is about the time of the first 

 heavy frosts. 



For several weeks before the does are ready the 

 bucks begin to get uneasy. Their necks swell to an 

 unusual thickness, as you noticed in the one you shot 

 yesterday. They keep on foot later in the morning 

 and start out earlier in the afternoon. They roam 

 more widely than before; so much so that it becomes 



