Evening journal., 1900-02-06
WILD CAME IN
OLD TIME PLENTY
Southwestern Texas Said to be
Where the Finest of Deer
Hunting AbOunds.
ART OF THE sTALKERs THERE

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEER.
MExIcAN's PLAN OF sLAUGH-
TER AT sALT-LICKs-woRLD
OF MEANING IN LITTLE SIGNS.
Benavides, Texas, Feb. 5.-This part
of Texas is fifty years behind the re-
mainder Of the state. Consequently,
it is the only part of the state in which
wild game is to be found in the old
time plenty. In a drouth-stricken re-
gion the numbers of wild fowls are nee
essarily small. Only in occasional
small lakes, more worthy of the name
of pond, are ducks, geese and brant to
be found. Animals which do not need
a great quantity Of water are plenti-
full. OF these the blue quail and the
brown deer are most often seen. In
deed, fair bag of the quails may be
made on any day by a hunter, without
or with a dog, if he does not object to
unlimited footwork. The blue quail
will not lie, and when a bevy is flush
ed and lands again 1t starts OFF at top
speed, necessitating a sort of dog trOt
on the part of the pursuer. AS the
temperature is never below so degrees,
and frequently, even in January, rises
to so, the man who gets birds earns
them.
AS for the deer, it is an animal like
q sheep in that it viii drink water ii
there is water to drink. If there is not,
1t gets along apparently just as well
without 1t. All the moisture it has To
have to sustain life It absorbs from
the plants it devours and from the
slight dew on the grass in the early
mornings. Most of the plants in this
region have some sort Of water-storine
capacity. and in this way animals get
enough to drink by browsing industri-
ously. There is a law In Texas pro
tecting deer through some months OF
each year. but down here nobody pay.
any attention to it. Deer are shot al
all seasons, the only reservation beine
that a man viii not use his rifle on 3
doe heavy with young. or one that ha.
a fawn foliowing-if he finds it out il
time. There Is indeed no need that h'
should shoot a female at any time, anC
there are men here who have not sho
a doe in fifteen years. The animals
are so plentiful that he is q poor trail
er and a poor shot who cannot get al
the bucks he wants. The male at al
times, except the rutting season, il
apt to be higher in flesh. he will weigl
mere he is, in most instances, NOR
easily approached and his slaughte
does not tend to decrease the quantit.
Of game except that he himself is on
of the way. Deer do not pair. TIL
males are polygamous and the numbe
Of wives buck may have will depen
entirely upon his strength, temper an
fighting ability. There are male dee
that go season after season without fe
male cOmpanionship of any kind, be
ing soundly thrashed by a stronge
buck and made to decamp whenve
they come near to a herd. For thi
reason there would be no appreciate
lessening Of the deer population if two
thirds of the bucks in the Southwes
were slain.
It is fact not generally understoo
in the older states. where deer are nc
especially plentiful. but il is a fac
nevertheless, that the animal Is esser
TALLY gregarious. II will stay will
or near to. its own kind If there an
any of its kind for it to stay with. Thi
is so well known here that when
hunter sees a deer he knows that thei
are certain to be from two TO q dose
in the immediate vicinity. Anoths
characteristic In which deer resenb
the sheep IL in the fact that al Of the
faces are different. In a flock Of a thoi
sand sheep no two Of them will hay
faces alike. They differ as widely
facial EXPRESSION as do men and womer
Shenherds used to the care Of a fioc
win pick out anv member Of a. not y
its face. So with deer. There new.
were two bucks that could not be nj
apart Thev looiS vonneer OF oids
hercer or more timid, lively or slothfu
as their peculiarittes may denan