The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-05-12
A LIVELY ADVENTURE.
Old Dunk's Two Hours Dance with
Deer.

Old Dunk's Two Hours Dance with
| Deer.
| Bill Leonard. an old Ad rondack
guide. arrived in this city yesterday.
says The San Francisco Examiner. on
his way to Humboldt county. where he
proposes to take up some land and 60
at the game of California.
II understand" he sad. 'that hunt
ing out here is considerable different
from hunting in our eastern woods. and
! want to tackle some of your big
game. Back in our country the bears
are pretty we'll cleaned out, and the
few that are left are as small and rs
iimid as sheep. Why. you can chase
EN- ten miles with club and drive 'em
up tree by pegging stones at 'em.
chased one all around a br er-patch one
day. and didn't have any weapon but
NV hat. I'd throw my hat at him and
yell. and nearly died laughing to see
him scuttle for dear life.
There are some funny old charac-
tiers among the Adirondack hunters.
Old Duncan Mcdonald is one of them.
He has some great yarns about his ad-
ventures. and I'll Y We you one Of them
to match some of your California
stories.
He went out alone on the mine pond
floating one night He was padding
silently around near the edge of the
lily pads, casting the light OF his jack
among the bushes on the bank. when
he saw the sh ming eyes OF deer.
Softly dropping his paddle he raised his
rife. aimed at the two points of light
and fired. and something dropped.
Dunk listened but heard no breaking
of the brush. and concluded that he
had killed the deer. He pa ddled ashore
and Went up the slope looking for his
g.ctim. A few yards up the Il he saw
4 big buck lying perfectly still. He
put his rifle and jack on the ground.
took out his knife. grasped the bucks
horns, and began to cut throat At
the first touch of the knife the buck
,prang to his feet. He had been stunned
by the bullet, which knocked off one
horn only. Dunk's knife was knocked
out of his hand by the suddenness of
the movement hut he chung to the
bucks remaining horn with desperate
grip. knowing that his only salvation
was to keep so close to the infuriatsd
buck that the animal could not strike
him with his forefeet. A deer's front
boots are dangerous weapons, and the
animal can use them, with deadly
effect.
1.-THE buck plunged and reared and
struck at Dunk. who chung to that horn
and tried various schemes to disable the
animal. There was no doubt that Dunk
had got his venison. but he would have
given great deal to have been able to
let it 60. 1t was like getting tail hold
On bear. They tumbled and rolled
about first one and then the other on
top. and Dunk's clothing rapidly disap-
peared. His coat was soon in tatters.
and then in futtering ribbons. and. al
though the buck could not get in his
pest ticks he managed to batter Dunk
pretty severely. They rolled down hill
and bumped against trees. and they
raced up again, and sometimes Dunk's
feet would not touch the ground for two
minutes.
cater about two hours of such ex-
srcise both were pretty we'll winded,
and as they lay on the ground painting
for breath an idea struck Dunk. He
thought he would bite the bucks eyes
put At the first attempt the buck
scrambled to his feet and renewed the
circus by slamming Dunk violently
against tree. 1t was all hands round
for another hour or so. tumblng over
fallen timber, rolling in the brush and
against rocks, and tearing up an acre
Of ground. Dunk was getting terribly
pummeled. but it was sure death to
lose his grip.
Once more they went to grass for
breath, and Dunk tr:ed to work another
scheme. Stealthily he got some matches
and lighted one. intending to burn out
the bucks eyes or blind him. But the
buck came to time with bounce and
led Dunk devil of dance through
the woods. They kept this up until a
gray light began to appear in the east
srn sky. At last they fell, almost
utterly worn out and by great good
luck the deer's remaining antler got
caught under root. Dunk managed
10 hold the antler under the root while
he kicked off the remnants of his stout
overalls. These he twisted around the
bucks neck. and then he tied them to
the root. making the buck a captive.
He crawled back to the canoe, washed
The blood out Of his eyes. got a big
drink from his bottle. and felt better.
Picking up billet of wood, he crawled
back to the deer and knocked him on
the head.
Then he started for home. He got
As far as the road, where he fell in a
faint Jim Sheridan found him there
and carried him home, and Dunk |
wasn't able to get out of bed for about
. month. Will Gordon and Hub |
Hamilton went up to the pond to bring
In the dead buck. They couldn't find |
the deer. but they did find Dunk's quart |
whisky-bottle, empty, on top Of a
ledge, and lot of broken brush at the
bottom. which looked as though some-
thing had tumbled into it from the top.
Still I don't mean to say that Dunk |
didn't have that fight"
Give it Up
A woman's quick wit makes her,
when she has the confidence to act up
on it. valuable aid in an emergency.