


























DEER AND DEER-HUNTING IN TEXAS. 473 
the light, they look like balls of fire. Deer will, oftentimes, 
suffer the hunter, with a light, to come very near them. An 
old frying-pan, having its flat bottom replaced by some 
curved iron hoop, serves to hold the pieces of resinous pine. 
The handle is fastened to a strip of plank which is borne on 
the shoulder. The deer gazes at the light and sees nothing 
of the hunter who is between it and the fire. Generally, deer 
can be approached more closely by night than by day. The 
aim is at the eyes, or straight below them so as to break the 
neck; or the body is often seen, so that the hunter can shoo 
where he pleases. A deer rarely falls, when shot, where it 
_ Was standing, but generally dashes away fifty to a hundred 
_ paces or more, even if shot through the heart. If he raises 
his tail, —shows the white feather,—it may be suspected 
he was not hit. If struck by the bullet, he runs off at his 
utmost speed with the tail pressed close down. In the day- 
time, the hunter goes where the deer was standing, which 
may be known by the deep tracks made at the first spring, 
and looks for hair cut off by the bullet. If he finds it, he is 
sure of having hit his game; and following on the track, 
he soon comes upon the blood, when he can track it more 
easily. This is where there are bushes or tall grass. In 
more open places, the deer may be seen to run its race and 
fall dead. If any part of the spinal column be touched, the 
animal falls where it is standing, but if the bone be only 
slightly hurt it may get up again. I have had a case or two 
of this kind, when, just as I was about to bag my game, he 
as jumped up and taken leg-bail. 
This account of the deer will hardly be complete without 
_ Some remarks on the chase, and of this I know nothing by 
Personal experience; but there is no lack of narratives and 
incidents relating to this gentlemanly and royal sport. So I 
will only touch upon one peculiarity of the chase in Texas, 
38 I heard it from those who had followed it in the states 
from Which they came. It was said, that in the Atlantic and 
Guf States, where the chase is, or was, a favorite pastime, 
AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. II. 60 
