VIRGINIA DEER. 89 



after he has once started, and to know how to get more than, one 

 where there are two together, is only acquired by long practice 

 and judgment. But not more than one in fifty, with all the ex- 

 perience in the world will make a good still hunter. It requires 

 a special adaptation to it. It is very hard work, as it necessitates 

 much travelling. But, then, it is the rarest of sports, and is the 

 most exciting mode of hunting deer. 



Minnesota has hitherto been noted for the great numbers of 

 deer found within its limits, and during the late autumn months 

 very many of these animals are killed in that State. When the 

 leaves are falling, the nights cool and the October moon is full, the 

 lordly bucks begin their nocturnal rambles over their favorite run- 

 ways and scraping grounds in search of the timid does that hide 

 away from them in the thickest " popples " and willow swamps. 

 A little later in the season the deer will be found running in pairs, 

 and then the still-hunter has but to watch the scraping grounds 

 in openings in the forest, and the "jack " oak ridges which are so 

 common in Minnesota and other States. Early in the autumn 

 the deer browse in poplar thickets on the outskirts of the prairie 

 or near the settler's clearings, and at such times they lie very 

 close, often jumping from their beds within a few rods of the 

 hunter. As the season advances and the snow falls, the cold 

 north winds drive them into the heavy timber where they browse 

 on hazel bushes and red willow, (kinnikinic,) the inner barks of 

 which the Chippewa, Sioux, Dakota, Arickaree, and other north- 

 ern Indians smoke clear, and mixed with tobacco. 



When the twigs of the trees become toughened by the cold, 

 the deer browse on species of the white pines, and visit lumbering 

 camps regularly at night to feed on the twigs of the fallen trees. 

 There are several species of fungithat the " white tails " are very 

 fond of, which grow on the white birch and sugar or rock maple. 



The speed of the deer is considerable, and it is often spoken 

 of as one of the swiftest of animals. Few, indeed, realize that a 

 good horse in open country can overtake it without very much 

 exertion. Its powers of leaping are enormous, however, and there 

 is one instance at least on record, where a buck cleared a board 

 fence sixteen feet in height. Deer change their feeding grounds 

 somewhat at the different seasons, but cannot be said to migrate 



