which was Skinner’s method. He agreed to hunt single and caution¬ 
ing me not to get lost, we parted company. Before he left he told me 
if I got lost T would hear him blowing his horn at the house in the 
evening and could tell by that which direction to walk. 
It soon began to drizzle rain, which made an ideal day to hunt 
deer. I had not walked more than two hours when I saw four deer 
feeding under an overcup acorn tree. I watched them a minute or 
two and could see that they had no knowledge of my presence and as 
I was afraid the distance might be a little too far for Uncle Adam’s 
gun, I got down on my knees and crawled up behind a large tree 
within 40 yards of the deer. There were two old does and their 
yearlings feeding, as do sheep. I laid the old rifle by the side of the 
tree, for a rest, and taking good aim, shot. At the crack of the gun, 
down went one of the does. The other three deer made a few jumps 
and stopped. I hid behind the tree while I reloaded my gun and then 
peeking around I saw all three deer still standing near where they 
first stopped, except the doe was slowly and inquisitively advancing 
on the one I had shot. I raised the old gun again. I was getting 
pretty nervous now. I took what I thought was good aim but the 
gun made what we call long fire and I missed my shot. This time, 
of course, they ran away. 
I then turned my attention to the one I had already killed. I took 
the internals out of it and hung it on a small tree. It was early in the 
morning and I was sure I could kill one or two more. I then re¬ 
sumed my hunt. 
I did not hunt like my friend Skinner. He would cover a great 
deal of ground. I would only cover a short distance and often would 
stand and look for thirty or forty minutes without moving. These 
were the instructions I had received from the old Tennessee and 
Kentucky hunters I met so often at my father’s distillery. 
I had not gone far from where 1 had killed the deer, and was 
standing quietly looking around, and pretty soon I saw a young year¬ 
ling deer coming almost toward me. I stood perfectly still until the 
deer walked up within thirty or forty yards, then I raised the old 
rifle, took good aim and snap went the cap. I quickly replaced another 
cap and snap again, then placed on the third and let her go again. 
By that time the deer had walked out of my sight. Upon investiga¬ 
tion I found that I had got the powder wet in the tube so she would 
not fire, so I decided to go to the house, which was not more than one- 
half mile. I arrived about 11 A. M. Old Adam was standing on the 
front gallery. "Did you kill him?” I replied in the affirmative. He 
said, "I tol Mr. Andrew I heard Old Blumore bark twice and I said, 
‘Ah bet dat boy has killed another one’.” 
I ate my dinner and rested a little while and Uncle Adam and a 
couple more negro men went with me to help pack in the deer. 
Night came and Skinner had not shown up so I took the blowing 
horn and blew it at intervals, so Skinner could get his course and 
come in. When I began to blow the horn Skinner sounded his gun, 
1 judged about one mile distance, so I quit blowing and waited about 
an hour, when I went out and blew it again, but this time I heard no 
— 35 — 
