Sketch for “Hound and Hunter,” 1892, watercolor on paper, Gift of Ruth K. Henschel in memory of her husband,
Charles R. Henschel

Once in  the lake, the deer would be clubbed, shot, or drowned easily by hunters in boats. In Sketch for "Hound and Hunter," a young boy struggles to secure a dead deer while also attending to his dog. It was an unusual subject that many found disturbing; critics mistakenly believed that the hunter here was struggling to drown a live deer when in fact, as Homer explained, the deer was already dead.