THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
margins of ponds, lakes and rivers, and to avoid the persecution of 
mosquitoes and ticks will, in hot weather, lie immersed in the water 
with only the nose and part of the head projecting. In September the 
buck gets into good condition, and lays in a great amount of fat in 
October when the acorns begin to fall. In fact, acorns are the favourite 
food of this deer in the autumn, and it is interesting to note that east 
of the Rockies the range of the white -tail coincides with the distribution 
of the oak tree. 
When in good condition the necks of the bucks swell as early as Octo- 
ber 10, and they begin to chase the does. It seems, however, that the season 
of mating on the part of the does is not so early, for the bucks give chase 
some time before the does are ready to accept them. The male follows 
the track of the doe with his nose on the ground, and often a long and spirited 
race takes place before he comes up to her. Sometimes two or more bucks 
take up the chase of a single doe , and the practice of pursuit is so well known 
to hunters that advantage is often taken of the male by watching for his 
appearance when a doe is seen running at full speed with her tail down. 
During the rutting season the buck does occasionally utter a curious bleat, 
whilst some hunters describe it as being like the noise made by two trees 
creaking together. 
The usual circumference of a buck’s neck is about 20 inches, but in 
November it swells another 10 inches or more so that it has a much inflated 
appearance. 
Merriam (“Mamm. Adir.,” 1884, p. 117) says: “The bucks not only 
fight amongst themselves, but occasionally attack man, and more than one 
unfortunate person has been gored to death by them. In battle they make 
use of their horns, and also of their fore -feet, whose sharp hoofs are capable 
of inflicting terrible wounds. I was once sitting quietly on a log in a deer 
park when a buck approached, and, making a sudden spring, dealt me 
such a powerful blow on the head, with the hoofs of his fore-feet, as to 
render me unconscious.” Luckily a man was near and intervened with 
a club. This instance, however, refers to a semi-tame buck in a park, 
where deer are always liable to become savage, but there are many cases 
of wounded bucks attacking men, who have only saved their lives by 
feigning death. 
The best white -tail buck I have shot was killed in a very curious manner, 
and the circumstance is so strange that I must relate it. 
Early in November, 1902, after an unsuccessful hunt after moose in 
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