Last year I shot a buck at 65 yards. He was standing rump toward me. The first two arrows missed his neck, then, as he turned his flank to me, I drove an arrow clear through him. It went 20 yards past him and stuck quivering in the ground. The deer bounded a short distance, then halted, staggered, and drew back his head.
It was at least 15 feet before he struck a limb.
I let drive again and caught him in the classic area. The arrow penetrated back of his shoulder, cut the great vessels of his heart, and came out above the first rib on the other side. Here it struck the bone of his leg and stopped. The deer dropped and died in less than two minutes. He had not traveled more than 40 yards.
We have wounded only three deer that we did not get, and these were harmless cuts. One deer I shot at 80 yards; the arrow traversed the soft tissue on top of his neck, as it flew past him. Compton creased a big buck on the back and nearly knocked it down. In another instance, the twig of a tree deflected an arrow; it flew quartering and hit a deer in the shoulder joint with a resounding whack. This animal ran a short way, reached up with his hind leg and, catching the arrow in the clove of his hoof, pulled it out.
One of the two other deer I killed at 50 yards with one arrow in the liver. This fellow ran about a quarter of a mile before he dropped. Young and Compton killed a big three-pointer at 60 yards. His first was a flank shot. The deer ran and jumped a ravine. We followed him. He entered a clump of bay and lay down. As we roused him, Young got another arrow through the chest, and Compton finished him with a shot in the neck.
This last season we went after mountain lion in Monterey County, California, but owing to the heat, the dogs were unable to track the beasts. We did shoot four foxes and two lynx cats, however. The foxes were either bayed or treed by the dogs. One of these ran thirty feet up a
In an early morning hunt, Young noticed that a bunch of quail was flushed from a clump of wild rose bushes, apparently without cause. He cautiously approached and saw the spotted legs of a cat. He let drive at thirty yards and hit the varmint amidships. The lynx bounded down an embankment, tore up the undergrowth for a minute or so, and gave up the struggle.
Naturally, we use the methods of still hunting. It is necessary to approach an animal more carefully than is usually done by the gun hunter. Pitting your cunning against that of your quarry is half the game.
Altogether, we consider that shooting with the bow is more sportsmanlike than using a gun. It gives the animal a fair chance for his life. It requires greater skill, more cautious hunting, and when you do strike, it is done with your own nerve and strength.
[Since this article was written Dr. Pope and Mr. Arthur Young have killed a bear with bow and arrow. Pictures of the hunters and their quarry appeared in some of the illustrated papers.—Editor.]