, 1885-09-06
Expzslssca OF DEER Huarga.



thr n~ear-Ieaping Powers.
J. j. Nlls ms, ia Nashville American
Nv experience as n deer hunter has
been considerable, and in one respect
eminontIy successful. While / ha @
never killed. nor even shot at a deer, anc
never cared to. yet in the sport of the
chase 1 haze perhaps had my full share.
| WIS always with the driver, and fire.
ouently was that important parsonage
myself, | had no taste for being q
standcr, to be placed away In advance
out Of hearing and almost out of hope,
and when there va only one chance of
maybe a dozen to see or hear anything
OF the HINT. While thus situated the
anxiety and suspense is intoierahle. But
with the driver and the cogs all is ami
nation. aud the an iety, though great,
Is exhilarating in the extreme.
First the cold-trailers OF the pack are
seen sni ng at the bushes. and then
they occasionally open where the scent
is "A little fresher. and as they advance
IL grows warmer ami the voice of the in
defatigaolo hound is heard more fire.
quent and with more confidence, and
soon the whole pack, With scent less
acute than their leaders, begin to open
on the trail with animation, the lung
power of the driver is stimulated, and
the hills begin 10 resound and echo back
the commingled voices of dogs and men.
Every moment the scent gets stronger
and the interest more intense in the
momentary expectation that the antlered
denizen OF the hills will spring to his
feet. This generally happens when the
dogs are close at hand, and sometimes
the driver is near enough to get n shot.
When an old buck with n full head of
antlers springs from his bed before tho
hounds. and raises his head in proud
defiance as he sweeps his fiery glance on
his p%ursuers, with tail lifted on high for
the chase like a waving plume, he is the
most majestic figure that hunter eye
ever rested upon. With n graceful
spring the noble fellow bounds away,
n the chase begins, and the eXhilarat-
ing effect becomes uncomfortable to
men, dogs and horses, and none seem
10 en- oy it more than the buck h msclf,
who, conscious of his own swiftness and
powers of endurance, has little fear OF
harm and need have none but for the
fact that the willy hunter, knowing his
characteristics. amhushes him at the
stands, through some of which il is
reasonably belle ed that he will pass,
and he is thus sometimes slim. But
the writer always felt a sense of relief
when he escaped unframed from these
"bushwhackers of the chase.
When an old stag has run for an
hour on two and got warmed up and
desires to free himself from his pursuers
he turns his course to the water, if there
be n within reach of his domains, and
] have thought when an old buck, not
too heavy. starts for the water that no
could outfUot any living animal, with
the exception, probably, of the trained
race horse or the greyhound, for short
distances, and in his native Willis,
among the timber and bushes, he would
far outstrip these. But for speed and
endurance the deer has no equal, in my
opinion, unless it be in some of its
kindred species.
The habits of these animals even in
the chase vary according to circumstan-
cesi n female deer, or doe, that has q
fawn not large enough to make its es
cape, will hide it as a domestic COW will
hide her calf, and she will run clear away
from the place to lead the dogs and
hunters away from her young. A stink
or yearllng deer will run up and down
and over the hills in q contrary, and
to the hunter a very disgusting, manner,
n the hunter always knows when he
is after n sink. Old deer, however,
will follow the ridges or long stretches,
and if it be a buck with a full head of
antlers he will seek as far as possible
the open woods, and il they have been
burned over il is still the better for
him, as there are fewer bushes to i'm
pedc him or to entangle his horns: and
as his scent is more rank, probable he
wishes to avoid leaving it on the bushes,
which makes it so much easier for the
dogs to follow by the scent, and this
known habit makes him an easier vic
tim than the fawn or stink, which has
no regular habits.
But their leaping power is probably
more remarkable than their eetness of
foot. have seen a full-grown deer in
a run leap with apparent ease a stake
and-ridered fence that must have been
more than Sc en- feet in perpendicular
height. and their leap is not in a seesaw
mo en- ent like n horse, Int the whole
body goes over on a level. and he lighta
on all four of his feet, while a hors,
rears on his hind feet and raises these
up as his fore feet 90 down on the other
side. As is well known, these animals
shed their horns so called every year,
generally in the months of January or
/ ebruary, and a new set begins to
terminate about March, and by July
or August they are full grown and gen
orally have an additional prong or
spike.
Those are at first covered with rough,
velvety skin, and the hons or horn Is
soft But 1t soon tegins to dry and
harden and the velvet no RUS o.
against bushes or gravelly banks, and
by September it is as hard MS bone,
when 81 ichard is himself again soon
after the running season begins and
their necks swell and the become lean.
At these seasons they are sometimes
belligerent, particularly if wounded or
brought TO bay, and then. with his hair
rolled forward by the moving OF his skin
and a cleaning eye sparkling with deli
ance, lie is a formidable antagonist with
his horns and feet, which he manipu-
lates in a very energetic and perseyer-
ing manner