CAR! AC US VIRGINIANUS. 
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hunter has great difficulty in overtaking it. When a large buck 
is overtaken and unexpectedly finds that he is pursued, he sud- 
denly turns toward the boat, with a look of mingled astonishment 
and horror, rises high out of water and snorts ; then, facing about, 
makes a desperate, but usually fruitless, effort to escape. 
In September it is not uncommon for a guide to drive the 
Deer about the lake till well nigh exhausted, and then catch and 
hold it by the tail, so that it will not sink, while the “ sportsman ” 
kills it ! 
In driving , a hunt ordinarily lasts seven or eight hours, and is 
apt to become a trifle monotonous, particularly for those who do 
not happen to see a Deer. It commonly has this advantage, how- 
ever, that there are at this season (autumn) no flies to pester the 
watchman, who, if he can manage to keep warm, and has enough 
to eat, may maintain a tolerable degree of complacency. 
Still-hunting , with us, consists in following a deer, by its tracks 
on the ground, and in attempting to overtake and shoot it, by 
daylight, in its home in the forest. It is sometimes, though rare- 
ly, practised by our most skilful still-hunters in summer and early 
autumn, after a recent rain has so moistened the surface that the 
foot-prints can be traced. But it is when the ground is covered 
with a few inches of newly fallen snow, in November and Decem- 
ber, that this method of hunting is commonly resorted to. A rifle 
is the weapon usually employed. 
In order that he may step as noiselessly as possible, the hunter 
lays aside his boots, covers his feet with several pairs of woolen 
stockings, and over them draws a pair of well-made buckskin 
moccasins. Starting early in the morning, he makes a circuit in 
search of fresh tracks, and if Deer are plenty, pays no attention to 
those of does and fawns, but proceeds till the track of a large 
buck is discovered. This he follows slowly and cautiously, taking 
care lest he tread on some dead branch or in any way make a 
noise that might alarm the wary Deer. The animal often takes 
