HUNTING ON SNOW. 131 



behind no brush, no logs, no rising ground, nothing 

 to hide them from your sight. Yet it is evident that 

 they stopped here and looked back, and that they 

 then started again in sudden alarm. Yet the wind 

 and the distance are such that they could neither have 

 heard nor smelt you. They must therefore have seen 

 you ; yet you saw nothing of them, although they 

 were under full headway. Do you think this impossi- 

 ble ? Does it seem that the second run must have 

 been only a continuance of the first run? Then by 

 all means follow them to the next place where they 

 stop to look back and see what they do there. 



On, on, on, on, nearly half a mile farther go the 

 tracks, as if the deer were in a hurdle-race over the 

 biggest logs to be found. Then they suddenly stop 

 and huddle up ; and then as suddenly go on again in 

 jumps as long as ever. 



And so you might keep on the livelong day, seeing 

 perhaps two or three times a faint glimpse of dark 

 evanescence among the distant trunks, but seeing 

 nothing long enough to raise the rifle upon, and four 

 fifths of the time seeing not a trace of game at all. 

 And yet all the time it is evident that the deer have 

 each time seen you. And five times out of six such 

 will be your experience with very wild deer, whether 

 they be old bucks or young fawns. The sixth time 

 you may perhaps get a long standing shot or a closer 

 running one in the course of half a day's chase, but 

 neither will be good enough to give you much pros- 

 pect of hitting. 



The principal difference between these and deer 

 that are not very wild is that you will generally get 

 sight of the latter, but rarely until they are running 

 away. And when you do see them standing it will 



