DEER HUNTING IN ARKANSAS. 



F. M. HOUDLETTE. 



In a hotel in Arkansas I chanced to meet 

 5 hunters who were lamenting their inabil- 

 ity to find game in quantity to suit them. 

 I offered to supply a camp outfit and take 

 them to ground where I could show them 

 3 deer a day for a month. If I failed to 

 do so, I agreed to pay the expenses of the 

 trip ; but if game was as plentiful as I said, 

 they were to pay all expenses and give me 

 $50 for my services. The bargain was soon 

 made. I telegraphed Tom, my partner, to 

 meet me on the down train the next morn- 

 ing. Then I got my things ready and had 

 them taken to the station. 



In the morning we all boarded the train 

 with a wagonload of duffle and my favorite 

 dogs, Dynamite and Stranger. At 4 p.m. 

 we were set down at Walnut Lake, Arkan- 

 sas, and hired a wagon and span of mules 

 with which to complete our journey. We 

 drove 15 miles that night and pitched a tem- 

 porary camp. A little before daylight, Tom 

 and I got breakfast and awoke our board- 

 ers. By sunrise we were again on the road, 

 and it was late in the evening when we 

 reached our hunting ground. 



Tom and I spent the next day in prepar- 

 ing our camp for the winter, as he and I, 

 at least, were billed to stay until spring. 

 Our boarders went out early. About noon 

 they returned, tired to death. They said 

 they had not seen a thing, not even a squir- 

 rel. They had, of course, moved so fast 

 and so noisily that everything ahead of them 

 had been driven to cover. I tried to tell 

 them this, but they would not listen, and 

 even hinted that they thought all the game 

 of the region was in my eye. 



Finally I said I could go out at 4 p.m., 

 kill game enough to last us a month and be 

 back in camp by dark. They jeered at this ; 

 and to convince them, I started out, with 

 Dynamite at my heels, I went South toward 



Bear lake, purposing to hunt in the switch 

 cane around it. When I had gone about a 

 mile I noticed fresh sign and stopped to 

 watch. Signaling Dynamite to lie down, 

 I walked 50 yards from him and stationed 

 myself beside a large tree. 



In a few minutes I saw 3 does and a 6- 

 point buck feeding about 300 yards away 

 The wind was favorable and I determined 

 to stalk those deer. As most deer hunters 

 know, when a deer is feeding he will never 

 raise his head without first shaking his tail ; 

 nor will he lower his head without another 

 flirt of his appendage. Before the buck 

 looked up I had moved 4 steps and put a 

 big tree between us. In that way, watching 

 my chance when the buck's head was down, 

 I got 100 yards nearer. The rest of the dis- 

 tance was over open ground, yet by careful 

 crawling I gained another 100 yards. Then 

 lying flat, I got my Savage to my shoulder 

 and put a bullet through the buck's heart. 



The does ran a few yards and stopped; 2 

 side by side and broadside to me. I had 

 been told that a Savage would shoot 

 through almost anything. I took careful aim 

 at the 2 does and fired. Then, without wait- 

 ing to see the effect of my shot, I fired again 

 at the third doe and dropped her. Of the 2 

 does standing together, the one nearest me 

 fell in her tracks ; the other ran 40 or 50 

 yards before falling. 



I had arranged with Tom to come 

 out with the mules if he heard any shooting, 

 and before long he made his appearance. 

 We packed the 4 deer to camp, and the 

 amazement of our boarders was laughable. 

 Thereafter they were willing to admit that 

 they did not know all about hunting. They 

 stayed with us 2 months and soon learned 

 to find game for themselves. Tom and I 

 remained in camp after they left, and put 

 in our time trapping. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY C. C. SPEIGHT. 



DEER MOUSE. 

 -19° 





