228 WHITE-TAILED DEER

If you have failed to get in a shot at any animal you
have flushed, you should never follow straight after it,
put branch off for fifty or sixty yards to one side, or else
stay where you are for a time. If you have noted the
angle the deer made off at you will be able to decide the
best course to take, but whatever you do you must then
watch most carefully behind you as well as in front.
The reason for this is because, if your deer has not got a
very bad fright or has not seen you plainly, perhaps only
heard you, he is very apt to circle and then work his way
up behind you in order to satisfy himself what the danger
is. Then, if he sees or gets your wind and you fail to see
him soon enough, you had better not waste any more time
on that deer but look for another.

If after much hunting you have not got a glimpse of a
deer at all, one of the surest ways to do so is to relax your
vigilance or place your rifle over your shoulder for a short
time. If you do this a fine buck will be most likely to
jump up right close to you, and probably stand broadside
on just long enough for you to get your rifle half-way to
your shoulder. You will of course shoot in a hurry and
hit a tree instead of the buck, but anyway, whatever you
do, he is sure to get away unscathed and leave you using
much strong language. One of the golden rules of “* still
hunting”? is never, for one second, to relax your vigilance.

The most unfortunate part of white-tail hunting is
that, as so many of your shots are snap ones, you are
very liable to wound a deer badly, and you may never
find it unless there is snow on the ground. Even if there
is snow, it is no end of a job to finish off a wounded beast
unless the injuries are severe enough to cause its death
in a short time. Once I spent the greater part of two
days in vain efforts to get in a fatal shot at an apparently
badly wounded buck. After he was first hit I gave him
half an hour to find a place to lie down. Then after
jumping him out of a thicket and only getting a very
difficult shot, which failed to hit him, I gave him two
hours’ rest and then had another try. This attempt and
several others were unavailing, and finally I had to leave