ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1385 



TEXAS WHITE-TAILED DEER 

 Sixteen Point Buck 



BIG GAME OF THE TEXAS BORDER. 

 By Chapman Grant.* 



TWO four-point antlers hung on a back 

 porch in Texas ; tied together by a two- 

 foot cord ; their bases smoothed off and 

 polished, evidently used as handles. Nothing 

 to excite interest, but I wondered what purpose 

 they could serve. Upon inquiring I was told 

 in a matter-of-fact way that they were used for 

 "rattling up deer." "You climb into a mes- 

 quite, early of a frosty morning, rattle the 

 horns and bucks will run up to you." "You 

 can shoot them if there are no rangers around." 



This is quite enough. I laughed indulgently 

 to show that I could not be gulled into "holding 

 the sack," for any Texas version of our classical 

 "snipe hunts." A wily buck running up to 

 watch a gentleman in a tree rattling the antlers 

 of one of his, the buck's, deceased relatives was 

 too wild a fancy to fool any one. 



However, hunting deer by "rattling" is a 

 recognized offence in Texas, and forbidden by 



*The observations in "Big Game of the Texas Bor- 

 der" were made by the author during a two-years' 

 service as 3nd Lieutenant of the Fourteenth U. S.' 

 Cavalry in the border patrol. Mr. Grant is now on 

 the reserve list for 1st Lieutenant, of Cavalry, U. S. 

 Volunteers. — Editor. 



the game laws. Buck deer begin to fight when 

 cold weather sets in, which is about the second 

 half of November or the first part of Decem- 

 ber. The poacher secures two antlers and 

 climbs into a mesquite tree so that he can get 

 a fair view around him. Then, with his rifle 

 in a convenient place, he takes an antler in 

 either hand and brings them together with a 

 crash, rattling the points and drawing them 

 apart. On a clear, cold morning this noise 

 can be heard a long distance. The rattling is 

 repeated several times, but the technique varies 

 with each hunter. Each claims more or less 

 exclusive knowledge of just how it should be 

 done, based generally on his remembrance of 

 the sounds of conflicts between bucks that he 

 has witnessed. They all admit that old, dry 

 antlers do not emit the proper sound. 



Large bucks are the first to respond. Occa- 

 sionally they may be seen a quarter of a mile 

 away, coming at a gallop. Sometimes from ten 

 to fifteen bucks can be assembled in half an 

 hour, the smaller ones coming more stealthil}'^, 

 and the does very rarely or not at all. The un- 

 scrupulous hide-hunter used to slaughter many 

 deer in this way where game was abundant. 

 One might imagine this a prosaic way to hunt, 

 but all who have tried it agree that it is most 

 thrilling. 



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Ti n" ' * 







S\V()I,1,K\ M-:C'K OK liL'CK 

 This occurs during the rut 



