FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



The man who quits when he gets enough, with plenty of game still in sight, is a real sportsman. 



CAN A NOVICE GET A DEER? 



G. A. WARBURTON. 



I am often asked whether a person with- 

 out experience as a hunter can hope to get 

 deer in the Adirondacks. Let me answer 

 this inquiry with encouragement to the tyro. 

 In the first place deer are much more plenti- 

 ful than they were when hounding and jack- 

 ing were permitted and each year sees an 

 increase in their number. Not only are the 

 laws better than formerly, but they are far 

 more strictly observed. Both guides and 

 sportsmen lealize that the future of hunting 

 depends on this. In this respect New 

 York is far ahead of Maine. The early 

 hunting of deer, though preferred by some, 

 is not generally successful, except around 

 ponds and lakes, because when the leaves 

 cover the trees and bushes it is hard to get 

 near enough for a shot. There is not so 

 much danger from other hunters later in 

 the season and the chances of success are 

 better. The antlers of the bucks have lost 

 their velvet and the game is in prime con- 

 dition for the table. 



The timidity of deer is their chief pro- 

 tection, yet it is a mistake to suppose that 

 they can not be outwitted. A good guide 

 knows the habits of your quarry so well 

 that if you will follow his instructions he 

 will be able, under ordinary conditions, to 

 give you a good shot. Of course the begin- 

 ner should never hunt without a guide. It 

 is false economy to try it. The guide knows 

 the feeding grounds, and you do not, and 

 you may be sure that the Adirondack guide 

 will do his best for his employer. The 

 sportsmen who think otherwise are usually 

 those who have not acted squarely with 

 their guides or who have been too stubborn 

 or conceited to follow their advice. 



The first hunting trip I made was late in 

 October. I had only 4 days to spare. Be- 

 fore our train reached Utica it began to 

 snow ; when we got into the woods the for- 

 est was under a White mantle. The first 

 day we saw nothing but signs. The snow 

 was crusty and snapped under foot like egg 

 shells. In the night the South wind rose 

 and by morning the trees were dropping 

 their white covering. 



We possessed our souls in patience until 

 11 o'clock while the snow grew softer. The 

 clouds disappeared and we started out. 

 Hunting up the wind, the snow as soft as 

 a bed of moss, taking a step or 2, then 

 eagerly peering through the trees to find a 

 deer, the conditions were ideal, for we gave 

 forth neither scent nor sound, while our de- 

 liberate and cautious movements greatly re- 

 duced the chances of our being seen. The 



first deer to fall was a buck with good ant- 

 lers. He was feeding up the sides of a lit- 

 tle glen on a sunny slope. He fell after a 

 leap or 2, shot through the shoulders, while 

 the doe that was wilh him plunged back 

 into the swamp. 



We moved on stealthily and had not gone 

 half a mile before I discovered another deer, 

 pushing away the snow for the beech nuts 

 beneath. It was a small buck, but big 

 enough to excite me so much that I missed 

 him utterly. I can not tell how many shots 

 I fired, but when calmer moments returned 

 I remembered I had seen only the forward 

 sight of my rifle. In the meantime the guide 

 had killed a deer and before long I dropped 

 another. We dragged them back to the 

 camp on the snow and the next day we 

 came out of the woods. 



I have hunted since for a longer time 

 with scantier success, but have never but 

 once gone to the Adirondacks on a hunt 

 without killing my deer. After a dry spell 

 the leaves are noisv and still hunting is out 

 of the question. The only way then is to 

 find a feeding ground and watch it, or, if 

 you have a party, make a drive, having your 

 guides chase the deer off the ridges down 

 the runways where you are stationed. 



Once I took my seat on a high rock 

 at the intersection of 2 runways that 

 led down to a ford of the river. From 

 about 9 o'clock in the morning I waited 

 and watched for a deer to come. The red 

 squirrels were busy in the dry leaves and 

 as they scampered about they made noise 

 enough for a deer. Growing discouraged and 

 weary I sat listlessly musing when sudden- 

 ly there was the snapping of a twisr, sha^ 

 and distinct. Looking up I saw a big buck 

 walking leisurely, with nose on the ground, 

 down the side of the mountain straight to- 

 ward where I sat. His great antlers gleamed 

 in the sun. When he stopped behind a 

 small spruce I fired as he stood broadside 

 to me, and missed. I kept on shooting but 

 it was not until I had shot 7 times that he 

 went down, pierced by 4 of my bullets. 



As enjoyable a trip as any was that on 

 which I was unsuccessful in finding game. 

 There remains with me the memory of that 

 day when I sat hours alone in the vast 

 forest and felt the presence of that vital 

 force in nature of which the poets have so 

 often sung, but of which the consciousness 

 comes only now and then to an ordinary 

 mortal. The pulse beat of the earth was as 

 real as the throbbing of my own heart. 



The man who expects to succeed in hunt- 

 ing for deer must have the right place, a 

 good repeating rifle, a measure of coolness 



165 



