176 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



If the deer takes to water near the watch-point, the hunter waits for the animal to 

 swim well out in the lake before making any movement which, by alarming it, might 

 cause it to turn and swim back to shore. When it is far enough out in the lake he 

 springs quickly into his boat and pulls toward it, steering his course so that he can 

 head it off in whatever direction it may take. A deer is a strong, fast swimmer, and 

 the oarsman must pull hard and quick to overtake one that has a good lead on the 

 start. When the deer finds that it is pursued it makes frantic plunges while swimming 

 in order to increase its speed, this plunging motion throwing the back and shoulders 

 well out of water. The hunter rowing to one side drops his oars and, firing at close 

 range, has no difficulty in killing the animal. 



But often when a man has pulled the oars in a long, hard race after a fast swim- 

 ming deer, his arms are tired, and he is too exhausted with his exertions to take 

 accurate aim. Then several cartridges may be wasted before the fatal shot is fired ; 

 and, even then, the deer sometimes escapes unharmed. Some sportsmen employ 

 guides to row the boat for them, in which case they have nothing to do but sit quietly 

 in the stern of the boat and shoot the swimming deer at whatever range they 

 may choose. 



Of late years many ladies visit the Adirondacks during the hounding season, and 

 some of them with the assistance of a guide and boat shoot deer that are driven into 

 the lake. In one season I saw five deer killed at different times by five ladies in 

 different localities ; and last fall I saw a twelve-year old boy, assisted by his guide, 

 shoot a swimming deer in Meacham Lake. And yet, hounding is not as sure a thing 

 as many suppose. Not all the deer that are started run to water ; and, of those that 

 do, a good share cross the water at some point unnoticed or unwatched ; or, if seen, at 

 some place beyond rifle range. A surprisingly large proportion, also, escape through 

 poor marksmanship. 



When the deer is killed it is towed ashore, if shot in the water, and dressed 

 immediately. The hound which has arrived by this time sniffs at the carcass in a 

 careless but satisfied manner, evincing no further interest in the game, but watching 

 anxiously for some piece of the inwards that may be thrown to him, generally the 

 liver, which the dog eagerly devours. The liver of a deer is not cooked and eaten in 

 camp, because it is apt to contain large numbers of loathsome parasitic creatures which 

 the guides call bloodsuckers. These "bloodsuckers" are seldom found in a deer's 

 liver after the first of October. 



The Adirondack hound is not a distinct breed, but is a variety of the foxhound, 

 which it resembles closely in appearance. The former runs by scent, with its nose 

 near the ground, and gives tongue continuously while on the track. Occasionally a 

 hound will run without uttering a sound, and it has been noticed that these "dummies " 



