Evening star., 1924-01-13


Conflicting emotions of compassio:
and exultation snrged through me
and l felt weak, but ran to my
quarry. lifted his head on my knee
and claimed him in the name Of
Robin Hood.
Yet while the object Of deer hunt
ing Is to get your deer. it does seem
that some of our keenest delight has
been when we have missed 1t. Out
of the quiet purple shadow Of the
forest one evening there stepped the
most stately buck ! ever saw. His
noble crest and carriage were superb.
On a grassy hillside, some hundred
and fifty yards away. he stood, broad
side on. With a rife the merest tyro
might have bowled him over. In
fact. he looked just like the royal
stag in the picture.
TWO of us were together. A little
underbrush shielded US. We drew
our bows, loosed the arrows, and Off
they few. The flight of an arrow is
a beautiful thing-it Is grace, har-
mony and perfect geometry all In
one.
They hew and fell short The deer
only looked at them We nocked
again and shot This time we dropped
them just beneath his belly. He
jumped forward few PAGES and
stopped to look at US. Slowly we
reached for a third arrow, slowly
nocked and drew it. and away it
went. whispering in the air. One
grazed his withers, the other pierced
him through the loose skin Of the
brisket and flew past.
With an upward leap, he scared
away in the woods, and we sent our
blessing with him. His wound would
heal readily-a mere scratch. We
picked up our arrows and returned
to camp to have bacon for supper,
perfectly happy.
Upon another occasion ] came
abrutly upon a doe and buck in a
deep ravine. 1t was open season, and
we needed camp meat Gauging my
distance carefully. shot at the buck,
striking him in the flank. For the
first time In my life heard an adult
deer bleat. He gave an involuntary
exclamation, whirled, but since he
knew not the location or the nature
of his danger, he did not run.
My hound was working higher up
In the canyon, but he heard the
bleat, when. like q wild beast, he
came charging through the under
growth and hurled himself with ter
rifle force upon the startled deer.
bearing him to the ground. There
was fierce struggle for a brief mo-
ment, in which the buck wrenched
himself free from the dogs hold upon
his throat and with an effort lunged
down the slope and eluded US. Be-
cause of the many deer trails and
because the hound was unused to
following deer, night fell before We
could locate him.
Next day we found the dead buck.
but the lions had left little meat on
his bones-in fact, 1t seemed that a
veritable den of these animals had
feasted on him.
The striking picture In my mind
today is the hereeness and the saw
age onslaught of my dog. Never did
suspect that the amiable, gentle
pet Of our freside could turn into
killer. His assault was absolutely
bloodthirsty. I've often thought how
graceful I should be that such an
animal was my friend and companion
in the hunt and not my pursuer.
How quickly the dog adjusts him.
self to the bow! At first he is afraid
of the long stick. But he soon gets
the idea and not waiting for the de-
tonation of the gun, he accepts the
hum of the bowstring and the whirr
of the arrow as signals for action.
Some dogs have even shown tend
ency to retrieve our arrows for US.
and nothing suits them better than
that we go on foot and by their sides
can run with them and with our
silent shafts can lay low what they
bring to bay. In fact, 1t is a perfect
balance of power-the hound with
his wondrous nose, lean TANKS and
tireless legs: the man with his
human reason. the horn and his bow
and arrow.
deer with the bow. The majority of
these fell before the shafts of WIN
Compton, while Arthur Young and l
have contributed In q smaller meas
ure to the count. Despite the vague
regrets we always feel at staying SO
beautiful an animal, there Is an ex-
ultation about bringing into camp a
haunch Of venison. or hanging the
deer on the limb of q sheltering tree.
there to cool near the icy spring.
BY the glow Of the camp fire we
broil savory loin steaks, and when
done eating we sit In the cleaning
and watch the stars come out. Great
Orion shines in all his glory, and the
hunters moon rises golden and full
through the skies.