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deer is the fact that the real old bucks are 
quite apt to have only two or three points on 
each antler, while many middle-aged deer 
wear the limit of points; and, of course, the 
antlers of the former are much larger and 
always indicate old age by their rugged 
appearance. Other marks of old age are the 
worn teeth and mealy gray on face and 
neck, and the latter markings have led some 
to speak of the ‘‘bald-faced deer” as a 
different species. 
This deer has a well-shaped head, with 
blackish hairs on the forehead and grayish 
on the cheeks; the throat is almost white; 
the nose is black, and a black bar reaches 
across the lower jaws about two inches back 
of the points. The posterior under portion 
of the body is white, the hairs being especially 
long and more noticeable in the fall and 
winter. The upper or outside half of the 
tail is black and the underneath portion is 
white. When the deer is at rest or moving 
leisurely the tail hangs naturally, showing 
only the conspicuous black, but when he 
runs the tail is held erect and the white 
shows plainly. The markings on his tail, 
with his habitation in the Columbia River 
basin and its adjacent territory, are respon- 
sible for the name of this deer. 
The blacktail loves the forests of firs and 
sugar pines, and preferably makes his home 
among the wild, rugged, evergreen moun- 
tains. There the covers of briar-wrapped 
brush, dense undergrowth and heavy timber 
make unusually difficult the hunting 
conditions and aid this wily creature in 
escaping the most skilful and persistent of 
pursuers. 
The abundance of blacktails on the Cas- 
cades, Coast ranges, the Umpqua and 
Rogue River mountains has caused some 
one to write of ‘‘the deer in the great Silent 
Places! Oregon’s Wonderland!” No 
doubt, those hills and mountains afford the 
grandest and most extensive scenic hunting 
fields, where game thrives best, because free 
to enjoy their wild freedom without annoy- 
ance by encroaching settlements. In those 
places, now and then, the timber cruiser or 
prospector kills one for food, but the day of 
the hide hunters has passed. ‘There the 
blacktail may be seen at his best, in his 
primeval state, for it is easy for the true 
lover of outdoor life to find places seldom 
RECREATION 
visited by man. However, in his most 
remote retreats the scent of man fills him 
with instinctive fear, although he is less cun- 
ning in his caution. 
He does his feeding by choice among the 
patches of young undergrowth, which habit 
is a great protection to him, for the brush is 
usually high enough to conceal him from 
hunters. He is a hearty eater and considers 
mushrooms, mast, fruits and herbage as 
great delicacies. But however plentiful 
these luxuries may be, he is certain to take a 
goodly quantity of choice browse and shows 
a decided preference for the new growths of 
arrowwood, thimble brush, hazel sprouts 
and vinemaple. In the winter he feeds on 
buds and mosses quite extensively. And in 
the coast forests there is a sort of long, 
stringy, gray moss, that grows on the trees 
and is blown down by heavy winds, on which 
the blacktail feeds freely as long as it is 
fresh. 
The blacktail is a successful skulker, 
and, despite many statements to the con- 
trary, he has proven it by holding his own in 
thickly settled communities where his 
cousin, the whitetail, is only a memory. 
Last summer an old pioneer, in speaking 
of the abundance of deer in the early days, 
said: ‘‘Fifty years ago I could see a dozen 
white-tailed deer on these oak hills most any 
evening, but they are gone, and it has been 
forty years since Isaw one.” But the black- 
tail is still plentiful in that locality. Besides 
being a past master in skulking, this wary 
creature exhibits remarkable instinct in 
eluding hounds, and his existence to-day in 
many places is due to his evasive instinct; 
for there still remain those who persist in 
openly violating the law prohibiting the run- 
ning of deer with dogs. I have driven dogs 
away from the deer chase many times and 
observed the actions of the frightened deer. 
Frequently a deer will evade the hounds by 
lying concealed in shallow water, the whole ~ 
body being submerged and the ears lying 
flattened on the water, with just the nose 
and eyes above the surface. 
When chased away from his haunts by 
hounds or hunters the blacktail generally 
returns, these annoyances only serving to 
sharpen his instinct and familiarize him 
with man’s subtle agencies. He is often 
found on well-kept farms and makes his 
