The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-07-03
From the Rod ard the Gun
Wounds From Deer's Antlers.
ny JrpGEJ ID. CATION.

e the .a3nericav Sportsman clipped from LAM
amt Ndtfr; in which the question Is consd
E. Tered whether poisonous matter Is impartct
!, to n wound when inflicted by the deer's AM
:, Her. 1 quite agree with the Ldtd and Wdte
" jr its negative conclusion. The dccr's ant
tler is simply bone, containing about one
=, third wholesome animal matter, and two
Il thirds earth salts, mostly lime. This ANNA
matter may be boiled out, and makes as goo(
u soup as Delmonico ever served or, to con
tinue the process farther, as good glue a
!, one could wish. There is nothing poisonou
:. about the deers antl,rs From the characte
:, of the instrument, wounds inflicted by then
so bruise and lacerate that the ruptured It's
t sues are destroyed TO greater extent thar
1 where wound is inflicted by sharp instru
. ment, and necessarily the tissues thus dc
. stroyed must slough off before healthy
growth can commence, and hence sucl
wound may be expected to be more tedious
and indeed more dangerous when neglected
: or when the system of the patient is in an I'm
healthy condition.
! have have had some opportunities of OBJ
serving the effect of such wounds upon dogs
and upon man. More than thirty years age
| was in the habit OF following pack OF
grey hounds, owned by Mr. Buchanan, at OF
ltawa, H., in courslng the deer over the prai
fields, afforGlng the finest coursins grounds
IN the world, unless one has a pendant for
broad bitches, high fences and broken necks,
for then the two former could not be found
on the prairies, and the latter were Eot COM
mon, except among stupid riders. l admit
that these get thinned out occasionally. Old
Speed was the father of this pack, and if you
will allow me to wander few slips from my
subject | would like TO say few words
about Speed, for love his memory yet He
was the fastest, the smartest, and the most
knowing greyhound ever saw. Inever saw
HIM chase deer that he could not 90 right
up to, at the rate of four yards to three, and
never saw him touch deer that he could not
throw heels over heads the first time. Let
me give one instance TO illustrate the way he
did it,
We were riding up broad slough covered
with very high gross, east of Covel creek, on
| the Grand Prairie, south of Ottawa about
eight miles. The ground was frozen, but
there was no snow. The tall grass was standing
in the slough as high as the pommels of the
saddles, but was burned off on all outside the
soughs. Our pack consisted of Speed and
two of his sons. One was q very powerful
| black dog and the other tawny yellow like
the sire, but stronger. These pups were now
! in their second season Of work. They had
been educated by most judicious and intel
| ligent master, and the excellent example of
their father and were, according to our Gp.
probation, as nearly perfectly broke as 1t is
| possible TO conceive for our ground and mode
of work At last We rode up a buck and Il
doe; both were large deer. The doe turned
to the left, which was my side, and struck out
for Hickory Point, about six miles distant
The buck took 10 the right. The young
i III, ~,
began, the deer about quarter OF mile
ahead of the dogs, when they emerged from
the high grass and first saw the game. Twas
about forty rods to the left of the chase,
ahead OF the dogs but behind the deer. The
race seemed as nearly even as possible all
round, as neither seemed to gain on either.
Presently Speed put in an appearance from
the slough, having quit the buck at the bid.
ding of his master, when he saw the young
dogs were not with them. The old hound
laid down to it beautifully, almost seeming
to skim the prairie as he flew over the ground.
Every leap brought him nearer to the other
dogs, and by the time they had run half
mile further, he pass them but only for few
yards, when he abated his speed to their pace,
and so he continued for perhaps half mile,
looking oyer his shoulder at every other
stride. Evidently he wanted assistance when
he should reach the deer. At last, seeing it
was an even race with the young dogs, he
left them and again settled down TO his own
work IN earnest. Then l could plainly see
that every stride sensibly diminished the dis
lance to the deer, and think never partici-
pated in a more exciting and exhierating
chase than while he was closing the gap. We
were rapidly approaching Hickory Point
and all seemed to appreciate that that once
reached the deer was safe. But Speed deter
mined that that should not be done. 1t was
rising ground, and my heavy weight was tell
ing on the horse, SO | was now behind the
dogs, still | was near enough to see every
movement distinctly. When Speed overlook
the deer, as was his universal habit, he sciz-
ed it on the inside of the ham, gave hard
side yank and let go. The deer fell upon its
side with crash, carried some distance
along the ground by the momentum. How
ever, in a single instant 1t was on ITS feet
and off, but before it had made three leaps, it
went down again in the same way, and again
third time, but it never rose again, for it
hardly fell before the young dogs fastened
upon the throat, while the old dog now earn
eslly tugged at the rear, leaving the pups to
DO the hard fighting, and well they did II.
BY the time | had dismounted and drawn
my sheath knife, there was little for it TO do.
Not dog was scratched, and those who
know how sharp is deer's hoof and how
handily he can use it, will believe that those
dogs were well up to the work
Speed was now much wiser dog than he
once had been In the early part Of his ca
rcer, and before he had sons 80 help him, he
would recklessly attack the largest buck
alone, and was several times severely gorcd
with the antlers as was told by his master
Whether the recovery was slow and tedious |
do not remember that he eyer experienced,
but certainly lie had no idea that the wounds
had ever been poisoned by the antlers, as he
would certainly have mentioned it, and it
would have become a subject of discussion
What have already told of the chase will
show certainly that the dog was never per
manently injured by the antler wounds, and
he could show an abundance OF veteran
scars, and this is all that the long episode
has to do with the real question promised
to consider, and so | suggest that you strike
out that part oil it.
The only opportunity | have had of obscry