The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-14

| DIuCIlChlly llItlI hOtIlul tkWVU s'iVhh'
II the hunter shoots then he will probably miss.
as the pattern OF buckshot made by a double
barrel is very wide. II he holds his fire and
continues to advance. the deer will run to a
certainty when he has approached nearer than
fifty yards. He must know not only Just when
to shoot. but also whore. He must Judge by
the seeming height Of the eyes above the
| ground whether the animal Is looking at him
| while standing up or lying down. Some deer.
even when erect. will hold their heads not more
than two feet above the earth. AS a general
thing. however. particularly when alarmed or
devoured by curiosity. as is the case when
looking on a fire at night. the head will
be held n good five feet in air. Having decided
that the deer Is in this position. the experienced
fire hunter will aim a foot and a half below the
two points OF light. Then. II he Is lucky. the
blazing points will become Immediately ex-
tinguished and he will hear mighty threshing
among the leaves or pine needles which carpet
the surface OF the swamp or pine woods.
Oftener the animal will not be knocked down
in It's tracks. When this happens. 1t bounds
away maybe for a few rods. maybe for a mile.
and trailing. with only a Pickering. taring torch
for light. is a difficult business II the deer is
shot through the lungs, or too far back to touch
the heart, it may travel five miles before falling.
and in such case becomes a prey next day to
the buzzards.
All the difficulties told OF may be overcome
by constant practice and an Unborn taste for
this sort OF thing. but there is one factor which
tends to i'll success and which cannot be elm
mated. Often the hunter. having gagged his
distance and the position OF the animal cor
rectly. will fire and then hear the rapid hoof-
beats sounding like the pattering OF rain drops
as the animal fees. Going slowly toward the
place whence it leaped. he will find the marks
~ aaoh Ale .oornI nm a. % r,,a - ~ tr,tp la
or the low hanging limbs of the trees. He can
not see anything at all when he fires except the
deer's eyes. and for all that he knows may be
shooting through a network o fsaplings or vines.
Fifty years ago a man could go into the
Louisiana woods at night. with a negro at
tendant to carry the brazier. and shoot at the
eyes with freedom. If he missed he damned
his luck and hunted for another shine" and
If he struck he found a dead deer from forty
five to seventy yards away. or late years. how
| ever. the number OF mall farms has increased.
| and there has been n consequent increase Of
farm stock. The woods are the pastures for
COWS. calves. horses. and mules. The man
who has not unravelled every kink OF fire
hunting would better let it alone. because in
| aiming at eyes which he imagines to belong to
a ten dollar deer he may kill $50 worth Of
mule. This not only costs him money. but
makes him feel like an idiot. 1t Is n sure thing
that the negro with him will throw down tho
brazier and take to his heels in the darkness.
leaving him to find his way back home as best
he can. Moreover. when he gets out of bed in
the morning he will learn that every man.
woman. and child within a radius of ten miles
knows OF his error Of the previous night. and
before o o'clock the owner Of the mule will be
at hand demanding payment with much vio-
lence OF language.
nacnita tbic lrauhanE fro h,,pfipn noaa nv
every night in season, but only old hands VEN
ture on it. These men are able to tell the shine
Ola deer's eyes from the shine OF the eyes OF
any other animal in the world. though the diff
%fercnces are so Sigh that to the beginner they
are hardly discernible. even when pointed out
to him time and again. The deer's eye in the
resinous flame shines in a singularly round.
bright. clear and steady fashion. There Is
even a suggestion Of hardness or polish about
the disk. though the eye in daylight is very
soft and melting. This steady brilliance is
most clearly defined at a distance of fifty yards.
That far away the eyes are not so far apart as
the eyes Of the horse or mule. They are apt to
be from a foot to a foot and a half closer to the
ground. 1t is for the hunter to determine
whether the apparent narrowness between
the eyes is due to the fact that the animal
Is a deer. or is a horse or a mule seventy in
stead OF fifty yards away. Moreover. the horse
or mule may be kneeling-many of them sleep
in this way. like a camel, so the width. or lack
OF it. between tho eyes and their height from
the ground are mighty poor tests. The only
safe thing by which to go is the appearance OF
the eye itself. The eyes OF a colt. for instance.
are Of the deer height from the ground and
have the deer width between them. When
any member OF the equine famiiy is "shined.'
however, the disks have not the quiet lustre OF
| the dear's. the brilljance is NOT If 40 dam n
hue. the eyes are apt to show a shade larger,
and there Is always q chance that the animal
will move and disclose its identity by its heavy
tread. or that it will shuttle. cough. sneeze or
whinny. The only sound a deer makes under
these circumstances is a shrill whistle. The
eyes Of the colt and the horse have q watery
appearance foreign to the eyes Of the deer.
The eyes OF the mule when =" shined' have a
slight greenish tinge. A cows eyes are OF a
light yellow glare. much like the flame Of the
old-fashionedt allow candle. The closest imi-
tation Of the eyes OF the deer Is given by the
eyes OF the yearling calf. This will some-
times fool the oldest hunters In the South. al
though not often. or course. the tyro has the
recourse of keeping straight on when in doubt.
When he has approached the shining orbs
nearer than forty Ave yards and they disap-
pear. with a crash Of underbrush. he will know
that they belonged to a deer. He will not get
the deer. On the contrary. IL he keeps on walk
ing and the eyes keep on patiently shining.
in a little time he will have come close enough
to discern the dim outlines Of some gaunt-
ribbed mule. placidly staring at him and try
ing to make up its mind as to whether 1t is
wanted to go to work in the morning or the
man is roaming about the woods at night be-
cause he is crazy.
1t is believed here that all the almost insu-
perable obstacles to certainty in fre-huntine
deer could be done away with by a powerful
dark lantern and some device for suddenly
shielding the brazier's glare. So equipped. a
man might venture into the woods with his
bearer and walk about until he "shined" a
pair Of eyes. He could approach until they
separated to the deer width. place asheetiron
cap over the hrazier, making things tempo
rarily dark. and then draw the slide Of his Ian
tern. II it had IA good lens. it ought to show
him the outlines Of anything standing not
moro than sixty yards away. This. however.
has never been tried, mainly because the old
hands do not need it and the new ones have
not thought to provide themselves with the
lanterns. The price OF one good mule, how