TRANSPORTATION

Studded deserts, they are equally at home.

"The first Americans to see mule deer fastened the name black-tails on them before the true black-tail of the Pacific Coast had been discovered. The name has stuck, and, in the southern part the mule deer's range in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, it is still popularly known as the black-tail. Yet of all inappropriate names, that is one of the worst. The tail of the mule deer is black only on the tip. The rest of it, like the rump patch, is white. The tail is never lifted like that of the white-tail.

"On the other hand, the name mule deer is descriptive, as the ears of the animal are almost as large as those of a donkey. The muzzles and parts of the chin, neck, and underparts are white. Along the brisket, mules are black. In the winter they are a grizzled, russet gray, and in summer they vary from a yellowish tan on the Mexican and Arizona deserts to a deep red in the colder and more densely wooded sections.

"The antlers of the old bucks are the glory of the species. Like those of the Columbian black-tail they are dichotomous, or evenly branched, in contrast to those of the white-tail, on which the points all spring from a main beam. They are massive, long of beam, and wide of spread, and a really good muledeer head is one of the finest trophies in America. I have seen three or four heads with spreads greater than forty inches and dozens that were wider than thirty-five. Although average, mature bucks have five points to a side, counting the brow tine, old bucks sometimes grow as many as twenty points to an antler.

"Not only do mule deer boast the finest heads of all American deer, but they are the largest. I have seen several Arizona and Mexican bucks that dressed almost 250 pounds.

"The mule deer seems to be able to get along anywhere. I have hunted mule deer close to timber line at altitudes above 10,000 feet, and again not far above sea level. I have seen them plentiful in lovely, open forests of yellow pine as level as a floor, and I have seen them equally plentiful in country almost rough enough for mountain sheep. I have found them in thick forests, and in wide, grassy parks a mile high without a bush or a tree.

"The largest heads I have ever seen came from the Kaibab forest of Arizona and the deserts of Sonora between the Altar Valley and Hermosillo. However, good heads are taken wherever mule deer are found, and the head of almostany full-grown, healthy buck is one to be proud of.

"Before talking about the hunting of any game species, it is well to consider its defensive equipment. Look at a live mule deer or at a mounted head. What do you see? The largest ears, in proportion to its size, of any American animal. Those big ears, and the keen hearing that goes with it, form the mule deer's first line of defense. Antelope and mountain sheep are surely not deaf, but, compared with the ears of the big deers, theirs are ineffectual. In addition to their ears, mules have keen noses, but their eyes, though good at picking up moving objects, are almost worthless on anything without movement.

"Another thing to be considered is the country the game inhabits. If you are going after mule deer in the thick country in which they are so often found, use exactly the same tactics as you would on Eastern white-tail, You must go slowly and quietly, keeping the wind in your favor, and pausing often to look and to listen. It is typical stillhunting, slow, patient and exacting stalking. (Continued on Page 22)