The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-14
AN ADVENTURE WITH A DEER.
II Was Tame, but That Only Made 1t
the More Vicious.
From Forest and Stream.


From Forest and Stream.
A few years ago / was stationed at
Fort Meade, in South Dakota. One ex-
ceedingly cold day l had occasion 10 go
to the neighboring town, and, as It was
so unusually cold. l concluded l would
walk, for the distance was but few
miles, and | thought l would be more
comfortable in going that way than by
either riding or driving. l was warmly
dressed and wore German socks and enor-
nous arctics upon my feet l was well
enough adapted to walking along, but as
there was few inches of snow upon the
ground l was not exactly tricked out in
the best manner for a scuffle, as events
proved. AS l was leaving the house my
wife called out 10 me, asking if l couldn't
bring her a few eggs, as she was entire
ly out, and could get none elsewhere
. in such cold weather. l told her /
guessed l might probably bring a half
dozen in my overcoat pockets l attend
ed tony affairs in town in due season,
purchased the eggs, putting three in each
pocket, and had got about half way home
when l saw coming toward me in the
road pretty fair sized white tailed buck,
had heard thai one of the men had re-
Gently got tame deer, and / inferred
at once that this was the one, and that
he had broken out of his yard, so | walk
ed along paying no further attention to
him. My setter was with me, and, as
he trotted on ahead, of course he couldn't
resist the temptation to bark little at
the deer. The deer apparently paid no
attention. to the dog, but as l approached
he made quite a semi-circle in order to
pass me on the road. holding his head
down and facing toward me all the while
a ma In
threatening aspect as he passed me awab-
ened my suspicious and | turned around
TO see what he was up to. 1t was doubt
less well for me that l did so, for ! dis
covered the rascal within a few feet of
me, his head still lowered, and in the
act of charging me from the rear. There
appeared but one thing for me 10 do. and
that was TO seize him by the antlers.
l lost no time in acting upon this inspi-
ration and as l weigh about IT'S pounds
and am fairly vigorous l had no great
difficulty in holding his head so close to
the ground that he was unable 20 use HIS
torefeet upon me, as he was evidently at
tempting to do We scuffied and tore
around in the snow my great arctics and
German socks preventing me from getting
any foothold whatever, whereby l could
get the better OF him, and though he
bruised me in good shape with the points
made upon me, nevertheless | dared not
let go of them for fear l should be at
tackled in the face with his sharp hoors,
so we kept UP the struggle.
l have said that the day was cold when
| started out, but after few minutes
engagement with this partner l didn't
find il cold at ALL and even yet, after two
years service in Cuba, | can remember
how hot it was in Dakota that February
morning. l was also getting pretty wei
out of breath while the deer's courage
appeared as good as ever, and l was be-
ginning to wonder how l was going 20
excuse myself from so Objectionable a
partner. In the story books the hunters
faithful dog frequently rescues him from
such perilous positions by bravely rush.
ing in and seizing the foe by the throat
but mine discreetly kept at a distance,
and though / believe he brought the whole
mischief on by barking at the deer I'm the
first place, instead of coming to my re-
lief. like good story book dog, he made
matters worse by continuing to irrttate
the deer by his barking | had hitherto
remained quiet to preserve my strength,
but | recalled seeing some men cutting
ice at no great distance away on my way
TO town, though the pond was screened
from my present view by a fringe of
bushes. / saw no prospect of getting the
better of the deer myself, and the only
way out of it seemed the chance of MAX
ing those men hear me if they were still
there. l called as Justify as l could. ana
in course of time three men came and
relieved me of my troublesome antago-
mist. Perhaps 1T is needless to say that
my wife never made any cake out OF
those eggs.
| found upon subsequent inquiry that
this buck had been raised as a pet upon
a large cattle ranch. and the herders had
constantly irritated him for the purpose
of making him show fight, until they had
got him so cross that it was dangerous
10 have him around, and the manager had
got rid of him on this account.