Martinsburgh Gazette

Hunting Rein Deer.—The following account of the mode of hunting Rein Deer among the Copper and Dog ribbed Indians is from Captain Franklin's Narrative of his journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, in 1819—22:

The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts them most readily, and they often succeed in bringing them within shot, by kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side, in imitation of the motion of a deer's horn when he is in the act of rubbing his head against a stone.

The Dog Rib indians have a mode of killing these animals, which though simple is very successful. It was thus described by Mr. Wentzel, who resided long among that people. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from time to time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the animal, His comrade follows, treading exactly in his footsteps, and holding the guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who carries the head.

Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down somewhat suddenly, after the manner of a deer, and always taking care to lift their right or left foot simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to gaze on this extraordinary phenomenon it instantly stops and the head begins to play its part by licking the shoulders, and performing other necessary movements.

In this way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to single out the fattest. The hindmost man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is dropt, and they fire nearly the same instant. The herd scampers off, the hunters trot after them; in a short time the poor animals halt to ascertain the cause of their terror, their foes stop at the same instant, and having loaded as they ran, greet the gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer increases: they run to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a great part of the herd is destroyed within the space of a few hundred yards.