Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-07-30
TRACKING A DEER.
Methods Used by Apache Hunters In Pur-
suing Game Long Distances.

Methods Used by Apache Hunters in Pur-
suing Game Long Distances.
"An Apache hunter scorns to fire
twice at the same deer, but it is also
his code that no deer must be permit.
ted to escape after it has been shot at
and missed" said an old resident OF
the far West. "If the hunter fails tc
check his game at the first fire he must
run it down and be in at the DEATH
And in this he never fails, for when an
Apache starts on the trail of . marked
deer, he never leaves it unless Ne sus-
tains an injury on the way that inca.
poe tates him, until he tires it out and
returns with its carcass to his wigwan-
AS the deer starts away in its fright al
sight of the hunter or the sound OF mis-
gun, leaping thirty or forty feel at
every bound, the Indian throws his gun
on the ground and, with piercing yells,
starts in pursuit. The deer at fiji It
leaves the hunter far beh,nd-puttL :
forth its greatest efforts to get far be-
yond his reach. But no matter how
fast the deer may reel of the miles
between ii and its pursuer, the trail it
leaves is rs plain to the hunter as if it
were marked in chalk all the way.
A deer is the most timid and sus-
picious of animals, and at the same
time possesses an amazing amount of
curiosity. After it has placed distance
between itself and the immediate dan
ger from which it fled it stops and
awaits further developments. The
Apache hunter well knows this charac-
teriitic of the deer, and he jogs along
at a fivc-mile-an-hour gait; never lag
ging, never stopping. At sight or
sound of the approaching hunter the
deer bounds off again to run mile OF
two and stop again. 1t is these halts
that are the first fatal steps. The halts
are not long enough to give the deer
any beneficial rest, but on the contrary
give time for its limbs to stiffen. Al
each new start the leaps grow shorter,
and the deer starts away reluctantly
and with decreasing activity. The In,
dian j)gs along on the trail, maintain.
ing uniform rate of sped. He can
keep 1t ~ without stopping for six
hours if necessary. After two or three
hours running the deer begins to look
for water TO quench its thirst When
this stage of the chas, is reached, the
hunter kno VS. that the dcer's doom is
sealed After the deer once drinks
thcr3 is no hope for it. 1t fills its
parchol stomach with water, and,
laden with tn burden, its leaps grow
st Il shorter and are made laboriously.
If bafrc drinking the deer made it.
halt; ut intervals OF two miles, after
drinking they are made every mile,
"An hour or so after tho Indian has
discovered that the deer has filled it,
stomach with water he begins to exam
inc the trail more carefully as he runs
for h. knows that it is then t'm3 fol
him to find signs of the dccr's cxhau'
ton. A dro1 of blood here an tn ,rc
along the trail indicates to the Indian
that the d ser h Is fallen on its knees at
those spots; bInch of hair hanging to
n projecting edge of rock or sharp
branch hanging low across the trail,
proves that the deer's strength has
failed, 50 that it can not turn quickly
out ot the way of obstacles. When
these infallible signs of the deer's ap
proacling doom are found by the hun
ter he increases his speed for the frs
time. He soon discovers the game. ant
with yell of triumph bounds forward
The cry startles the falling animal to s
momentary burst of speed. After ;
leap or two it stops. As if aroused t.
the fact that further efforts to escape
were utterly futilo, it turns and face
its pursuer will all the defiance its eS
hausted nature willpermit. The huntc
knows the animal is too weak to harm
him, and he soizes it boldly, throws /
to the ground, and cuts its throat. t.-Cor
~ Y World and Express.