St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-03-16
AN AGGRAVATING DEER.
A Big Buck with a Passion fos
Practical Jokes.
its Fun In Steering Bird Hunters Against
Bears and Wild Cats-A Story
Full of Dry Humor-O0e
Mans Adventure.

Full of Dry Humor-O0e
Mans Adventure.
A big five-prong buck is tearing and
prancing about in the woods around
the headwaters Of Indian Run, Pa,
and from all accounts is acting in
such an ayyravating manner that un.
less some one kills it before long half
of the folks over in that county will
be afraid to go out hunting, Already
three persons have been all but scared
into fits by it, and others who had in
tended to go out and try their luck on
the trail Of the eccentric deer have
hung up their guns and said they
would wait.
The first to discover the big buck
and its aggravating nature was Farm
er Joseph Baker Farmer Baker has
field of rye near the edge of the woods
on one side of his farm The rye was
I'D two or three inches. One day
Farmer Baker walked over to take 4
look at the rye, and there stood q
tremendous big buck. cropping the
rye as complacently as a cow eating
grass in pasture. Farmer Baker yelled
at the buck and expected to see it
bound back into the woods, scared
half to death; but it didn't The tres
passing deer simply raised its head.
took an tmpudent look at the farmer
and resumed its teasting on the young
rye.
"Why, iiggerblow your impudence," :"
said the farmer. ''Tll twist your con-
ceited neck!"
Farmer Baksr climbed the fence,
picked up stone and ran toward the
buck. The buck quit eating and
gazed st the advancing farmer in sur
prise. Then the hairs on his neck rose
up He laid his ears back, and came
forward in SO decided way to meet
Farmer Baker that the latter turned
and hurried back toward the fence. If
he had been one second later he would
have been helped over it by the bucks
horns. The farmer believes that the
deer would have come on over the
fence after him if it hadn't happened
that Friend Jackson and Phil Sourbeer
were coming along the road just then,
on their way to the woods after par
fridge. The buck evidently did not
like the looks of their guns and the
little yellow dog they had with them,
for hs retreated speedily and disap-
peared in the woods.
WELL" said Farmer Baker. 'sif it's
got 60 that deer can come and drive q
man out of his own rye fields seems to
me it's time to call out the military"
But Friend jackson said that he
guessed he and Phil Sourbeer would
be about all the military it was neces-
sary to call out to suppress that inn
uudent buck, and they and the little
dog cut across the rye field and entered
the woods to follow up the big game.
The little yellow dog wasn't broken
for deer, but he knew that the deer
must be something he ought to run
down, and he took the fresh track and
went away on it, barking and yeiping
at every jump.
''You make a run for the creek,
Phil" said Jackson. Like as not the
deer will hustle for water soon as he
hears Belix on his track, and you'll
stand chance OF getting shot at
him"
The creek was e mile away and Phil
started on the double quick to get
there. Jackson went after the dog.
He followed the dog two miles. and
then came up with him. The dog was
circling around in the brush. half
crazy, for the cunning deer had thrown
him off the scent somehow. If Jack
SON had been a good deer hunter he
would have known that the buck had
stopped in his tracks, taken a tremen-
dous leap to one side or the other, run
back in the direction he had come and
was probably even then gazing from
his hiding-place in the bushes at the
frantic efforts of the hunter and dog
to find the lost trail.
Whether the buck wa taking in and
enjoying this see ne or not, what hap
pened soon afterward seemed to en-
phasize the fact that he was undoubt-
cdly the most aggravatins and eccen-
trio buck ever know n in the Indian Run
woods.
After circ ling around for a quarter
OF an hour with out recovering the
deer's trail, jackson took his dog and
went on, hoping to strike the trail
somewhere ahead. They had gone q
couple Of hundred yards when they
started bear from its hiding place
beneath the roots of fallen tree. The
bear had no idea of tarrying in that
locality and was making of dag
onally across an open space toward :
patch OF laur el But Jackson was not
content to have it that. way, and he
banged away at the bear. Not until |
that moment had it occurred to Jack
Son that, having started out to kill |
partrsdges. he was not loaded for
either deer or bear. But his dog Be- !
lix was hardly capable of knowing
that important fact, and when the gun
cracked he thought that all he had to
do was to go and fetch in the game,
and he started at once to get the bear
1t would be difficult to calculate how |
many partridges Jackson might have !
killed that day. judging his skill as a |
marksmaa by the shoot he made at !
the bear. A man who shots to kill a |
bear would naturally not aim at its |
feet Yet this bear got the charge |
from Jackson's gun square in one Of |
its fore feet The bear instantly laid |
itself down, bowling with pain, and |
began to lick and suck the wounded |
part The recollection that he had
nothing but bird shot disconnected
and scared jackson SO that all he
could do. he says, was to stand still
snd stare at the Aowling bear.
But Belix soon changed the situa-
tion. He made his rush for the bear
where it lay nursing its bleeding paw,
but before he got quite to it the bear
dropped its paw, rose up with fire in
its.eyes, and trampling over the dog as
if he were less than chipmunk in its
way, made straight for jackson. The
surprised aud bruised Belix went yelp-
ing away and WAS seen no more. The
bear moved on only three feet, but it
moved SO fast that before jackson
could get ont of its reach up the tree
he was doing his best to climb, it had
him by the heels. Jackson tugged to
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