J? UNNING- TIME. 119 



fawns will not neglect eating, as the buck now sometimes 

 does, and they will be found in about the same places 

 as before. Moreover, as a matter of fact, aside from 

 any foolish notions about the superior glory of bag- 

 ging a big buck, or having a "head" to mount as a 

 "trophy" genuine "vanity of vanities" the does, 

 fawns, and yearlings are apt to be far the best game. 

 A big buck is now far more apt to be an old fool than 

 a fawn ever is to be a young fool, and the adage " No 

 fool to an old fool " never had a truer application 

 than when applied to an ardent buck when running. 

 So that when you kill a fawn of six or eight months 

 old at this time it is a much greater achievement than 

 to kill a buck when after a doe. The bucks, too, at 

 this time are apt to be strong and musky in flavor. 

 Some of them become intolerably so and cannot be 

 eaten. It is a common idea that the removal of the 

 scrotum and penis prevents this. But this is mainly 

 an idea. It may do some good; but the fact is that 

 some bucks, even with thickly swelled necks, are not 

 at all strong flavored, while others are as rank as a 

 muskrat all over, in spite of the instant removal of 

 the genital organs, and this flavor cannot be elimin- 

 ated in any way so as to make it palatable to any one 

 but a city snob who eats venison for style. 



Still, some of the bucks are good, and the younger 

 they are the more apt are they to be good. And to 

 find them you should keep a keen watch around the 

 heads of big ravines and along their dividing ridges; 

 also along creek-bottoms, flats, and hollows where 

 there is some brush, but not too thick. But other 

 ground must not be neglected, and a good watch 

 should be kept everywhere; for a buck is apt to get 



