202 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



place, where many a fine buck has drooped its antlers under 

 the ball of the hunter's rifle. The servants, who are called the 

 drivers, have already begun their search, their voices are heard 

 exciting the hounds, and unless we put spurs to our steeds, we 

 may be too late at our stand, and thus lose the first opportunity 

 of shooting the fleeting game as it passes by. Hark again ! The 

 dogs are in chase, the horn sounds louder and more clearly. 

 Hurry, hurry on ! or we shall be sadly behind. Here' we are 

 at last ; dismount, fasten your horse to this tree, place yourself 

 by the side of that large yellow poplar, and mind you do not 

 shoot me. The deer is fast approaching ; I will to my own 

 stand, and he who shoots him dead wins the prize. The deer 

 is heard coming ; it has inadvertently cracked a dead stick with 

 its hoof, and the dogs are now so near it that it will pass in a 

 moment. There it comes ! How beautifully it bounds over 

 the ground ! What a splendid head of horns ! How easy the 

 attitudes, depending, as it seems to do, on its own swiftness for 

 safety ! All is in vain, however ; a gun is fired, the animal 

 plunges, and' doubles with incomparable speed. There he goes, 

 he passes another stand, from which a second shot, better directed 

 than the first, brings him to the ground. The dogs, the servants, 

 the sportsmen, are now rushing forward to the spot. The 

 hunter who has shot it is congratulated on his skiU or good 

 luck, and the chase begins again in some other part of the 

 woods. 



" A few lines of explanation may be required to convey a clear 

 idea of this mode of hunting. Deer are fond of following and re- 

 tracing the paths which they have formerly used, and continue to 

 do so even after they have been shot at more than once. Their 

 tracks are discovered by persons on horseback in the woods, or 

 a deer is observed crossing a road, a field, or a small stream. 

 When this has been noticed twice, the deer may be shot from 

 the places called stomds by the sportsman, who is stationed 

 there and waits for it, a line of stands being generally formed 

 so as to cross the path which the game will follow. The person 

 who ascertains the usual pass of the game, or discovers the parts 

 where the animal feeds or lies down during the day, gives inti- 

 mation to his friends, who then prepare for the chase. The 

 servants start the deer with the hounds, and, by good manage- 



