Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-13
TRAILING WILD ANIMALS.
Fascination in Following Footprints Of
Various Game.

From the Chicago Tribune.
Trailing deer is one Of the finest sports of
America, either up in the SHOWS Of Mi,nito-
ba or down in the south and west. where
the black-tailed deer abound in the hills
The deer is swift and cunning and the
hunter must needs be strong in wind and
limb to follow where he leads and very wise
to unravel the story Of his footprints.
The elegant hoofmark Of the deer could
never be anything but a deer's imprint to
the old hunter--but men may live years in
places where deer are found and yet on
coming across a footprint be unable to de-
termine whether 1t was made by a deer or
by sheep or a pig. Indeed the footprints
of deer, sheep and pig, seen singly, are re-
markably alike and only an expert can tell
the one from the other.
To trail deer successfully needs the cum
ming Of the North American Indian, who
knows from the mere touch and smell Of
the track not only how long ago the track
was made, but also the size and condition
of the deer who made it. The hunting In
dian Is as cunning as the hunted deer him
self: he seems himself to enter into the very
working of the brute mind. The first mis-
take made by the young deer hunter Is to
follow too closely on his game. If the
hunter watches The trail at his feet, instead
Of looking ahead, he may stumble on his
deer unawares. This is what the boy hunter
did in Thompson Setons little story OF The
Sandhill Stag"
Sneaking along watching the tracks at
his feet, he was so startled when the big
cared grayish animals he was after sprang
suddenly up before him that he could only
stand still and gaze as they bounded away,
rising higher and higher at each bound
Then. when he goes to examine their trai,
he reads wonderful story. Between one
track and the next he finds blank space of
Is feet. then another blank after the next
track, the blanks increasing to IS feet, then
The tracks made by running deer have
specs between them Of from Is to 80
feet. Running deer are wingless birds.
They do not run at all, they fly" said
Thompson Seton. land once in awhile they
come down again to tap the hiiltops with
their dainty hoofs.
II the hunter always followed on the
deer's trail he might follow for thousands
Of miles without having a shot. He must
leave the trail when 1t grows new and hot,
make a detour and lie up to ambush in
front. By clever maneuvering strong man
can always run down the swiftest deer and
then at the end Of long chase the short
ened blanks between the tracks will tell a
story of deer grown weary.
The deer often goes back on his own trail
Sometimes when the track Is dim, it is
hard to tell which way it leads. But the
footprint is a little sharper at the toe than
at the heel, and when the trail leads over
hill the hunter can always tell which way
the animal came, for if he went up the hill
his spaces would be short, through the la
Dor Of climbing.
All manner Of tricks are played by hunted
deer who know that they are hunted. One
thing they often do Is to return little way
along their own track and then. making a
great leap to one side, race away in another
direction. Sometimes when hard pressed
deer repeat this maneuver time after time,
finally lying down to rest (haying bounded
aside from the last traii) in a spot where
they can smell and hear the hunter long
before he comes dangerously near. The
hunter. constantly finding himself on cold
ed story by the deer's feet. barking back on
the cold scents until he finds where the real
trail egins anew.