Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-14
Deer.Hunting.

II is the Virginia or red deer which is
usually seen in our Eastern markets.
Chicago is the great center for the col
lection of deer, and indeed all varieties
of game; thence it is distributed to all
parts of country and Europe. The
dealers in Chicago have created for the
success of their business a very COM
plete system. They spare no expense
to secure the services of the most expert
gunners. These, so far as deer-hunting
is concerned, they furnish with a COM
plete outfit. Late in the autumn they
are sent to the northern portions Of
Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. It
is by no means a holiday trip. These
men are brought face to face with great
hnrdships. They are obliged to travel
great distances in open sleighs on routes
where the thermometer often falls to
twenty-five deg. below zero, when the
biting wind whistles through the leaf
less forests, whirling the drifts in
clouds. When theyreach their destina-
ton they erect a log cabin a hundred
miles or more from any other habita-
ton. Here they store their provisions
and traps and prepare for their hunting
trips long distances into the wilderness.
After their camp is prepared they nav
yet have to wait for a light snow to Cow
er the icy crust of the earlier deposits.
When this moment arrives they lace ON
their show-shoes and beat up the SUI.
rounding woods. In the newly-fallen
snow the trail of the deer is easily fol-
lowed. So soon as the game is sighted,
the hunter, if he be not already on an
up.wind beat, makes a dctour to secure
this position. From cover to cove
he stealthily approaches the feeding
herd, keeping a steady eye on the tails
Of the animals. Singular as it may APP
pear, the movements of the tail OF the
deer is to the gunnerfull of significance.
If it is jerked with q quick motion, he
knows that the animals suspicious are
excited. The deer raises his head and
glances about him in q nervous anxious
manner If he is satisfied that no inn
mediate danger is near, he twitches his
tail again and resumes his feeding.
With his eye constantly on the ~tell-tail
of the deer, the hunter glides from tree
to tree until he is within easy range.
Armed with amagazine rifle the gunner
may possibly kill ten before the herd
gets beyond range. 1t may appear an
easy matter to stalk deer as above de-
scribed. Far from being so, however;
a man must be very hardy and expert
to pick his way on snow-shoes-be-
wildering machines to the novice
amid the debris of fallen trees of the
forest.
When the deer has been killed, the
hunter opens him and remove the en-
trails. He then climbs q young tree
and bends the top to the ground. To
this he attaches the carcass. The tree,
when released from the weight of the
hunter, springs back and lifts the dead
animal beyond the reach of prowling
wolves. At his leisure the hunter, within
a day or two, visits the various saplings
to which he has secured his game, and
remove it to his shanty, where it is kept
until a convenient opportunity occurs
for his partner or himself to transport it
to the nearest railway station, whence
1t is sent to his employer in Chicago.
These dealers pay the gunner by the
piece. The latter, consequently, apart
from suffering no end of hardship, is
liable to lose all the benefit of his win
ter's work if, through an error of judy
ment, he should be overtaken by a sud
den rise Of temperature and thaw. Then
the roads become impossible, and the
carcasses he may have on hand inevita-
bly, spoil.
For those who may desire to indulge
in deer-hunting, Texas offers the most
inviting field. There the climatic con-
ditions are not rigorous. The game,
moreover, is found on the open, breezy
prairies. To successfully stalk deer in
that locality the services of a we'll
broken mustang horse are indispensa-
Bile. The hunter, who walks, has =
string attached to the bit of the animal,
which is gently driven toward the deer.
Now and again the horse must be al
lowed to stop and Craze. When within
gunshot, the hunter shoots with his gun
resting across the saddle.-Gaston Eau,
in HnrDer'S WoeLZ2