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CHAPTER III. 



PECULIARITIES OF DEER. 



IT is not proposed to enter into a long account of the 

 habits of deer and all their natural history, but to allude 

 only to such traits as are absolutely necessary for every 

 one to know who goes in pursuit of them. First and 

 foremost, and it seems almost laughable to say it, deer 

 must be approached in such a manner that they do 

 not get the wind of the stalking party, that is, either 

 directly up wind or on a side wind. It is almost im- 

 possible and quite a fluke if a shot is obtained by 

 going down wind. The actual distance at which deer 

 will take the wind is somewhat uncertain, but with a 

 strong wind it is not safe to go within a mile of them, 

 and the writer once saw deer in a gale take the wind 

 of a man and a pony quite a mile and a half away. 

 So keen is their sense of smell, that for fully an hour 

 after a stalking party has passed by, they will not easily 

 cross the tracks on account of the scent still hanging to 

 them. Deer always move up wind when feeding, and if 

 disturbed, whatever direction they may take at the 

 first moment of alarm, they will eventually circle so 

 ns to meet it and run up wind. It is owing to this 

 habit that in some forests the owners dare not venture 



