THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
sport which allows a man to spy his game in the open and approach it 
against the wind in an open stalk on the hills. Mule deer hunting is splendid 
training for the young hunter, as it is not too difficult; and when a young 
fellow has mastered by himself all the details of simple still -hunting, as 
well as approaching the animal in open places, he will soon be able to 
attack, with some hope of success, the more difficult moose, pronghorn 
and mountain sheep. There is always the prospect, too, that if a shot is 
not obtained the game will be found in the same vicinity on a future occasion, 
so that it is best not to fire and alarm it by fluky running shots. 
In former days half the mule deer were shot without any stalk being 
necessary. The usual procedure was to ramble along the foothills on horse- 
back until a good buck was seen; the animal usually either jumped, ran 
a short distance and stood still, or else simply stood at gaze, allowing a 
man to get off his horse and take a steady shot. When I first went to the 
Rockies, in 1886, mule deer were generally shot in this way, and although 
they were far from being plentiful in the Bighorns, as they had been ten 
years before, there were yet a sufficient number to make hunting interesting 
without being laborious. 
My hunter, Rattlesnake Jack, and I used to wander down the pine clad 
valleys in the evening, watching in every direction for a buck on feed. 
I found two good bucks and missed them both, having a very inferior 
rifle at the time, and one which I did not know, having broken my own 
weapon. 
On the third occasion we spied a grand buck, lying with five does on the 
edge of a “park ’’ and close to the timber. Leaving our horses we made a 
big circuit round and above the game and then descended against the 
wind towards their position. Here we found a perfect jungle of broken sticks 
and fallen trees, but there were no other means of approach, so we had to 
crawl over every obstacle as silently as possible. Soon we could see the 
great ears cocked and looking down the valley, and lured by a false sense 
of success, we tried to get nearer, when, in an instant, the band sprang to 
their feet and galloped away in their bounding gait. The cover was so 
thick on each side that I could not manage to get a shot. Further mis- 
fortune was yet in store for me for, the same evening, on looking over a 
small canyon, I found myself face to face with the finest mule deer buck 
I have ever seen. He had heard my step on the dry ground and was stand- 
ing with cocked ears in a position of intent alertness. I could only see his 
head and his grand horns, which were of exceptional size and covered 
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