8 ROE, MUSK AND SIKA. 



a piece of grass held between the thumbs. The ensuing note resembles 

 very closely the shrill bleat of the young fawn in distress, hence its 

 attraction. This seems a cowardly advantage to take of the poor 

 creature, however. 



Various methods may be adopted in hunting the roedeer, the 

 most sporting of which is plain stalking. In the mountainous and 

 forested country that this animal frequents there are numerous grassy 

 slopes between wood and wood, and it is these that the hunter should 

 haunt in search of his quany. In the morning and evening the roe 

 leaves the shelter of the woods in search of food, and then it may 

 often be seen in droves of five or six quietly grazing on the rich luxur- 

 ious grass. It is then that the utmost resources of the hunter are 

 called into play, for he has to creep with infinite caution towards his 

 quarry, taking care to approach it up wind, and making the very 

 best use of such slight cover as the tall grass and few stunted bushes 

 offer. With care it is even possible to approach feeding deer in the 

 open, without any cover; but in this case the greatest vigilance must 

 be kept upon their anovements. The object of the stalker is to 

 appear to be a rock or stump or some such inanimate object. 

 The deer must not see the slightest movement, so that advance can 

 only be made while the animal has its head down in the grass. Each 

 time the deer's head goes up all movement must instantly cease till 

 it goes down again. As a feeding deer raises its head to look round 

 every few bites, the tediousness and fatigue of such a stalk can be 

 imagined; but when, having approached to within range, fired and 

 hit, the hunter looks down upon a nice pair of horns, he is amply 

 rewarded, and looks upon those weary anxious minutes in the light of 

 a great achievement. If by any chance during the stalk the quarry 

 is startled and begins to make off, unless the range is too great, it is 

 just as well to try a shot, as the report sometimes brings the fleeing 

 animal to a standstill ; while a misdirected bullet will often turn a 

 deer towards the hunter. If there is a herd and one buck is knocked 

 over, iti is often possible to secure a second, as the rest frequently 

 return to their wounded or dead companion. In this way I once 

 secured two nice bucks from a small drove of three, after a successful 

 stalk up the bare slope upon which they were feeding. The first buck, 

 hit through the chest, came rolling down the slope. The other two 

 at first made off, but turned back and stared at the first. Even when 

 they saw me they only entered the sheltering wood a little way, where 

 they stood till I came upon them and accounted for the second buck. 



As an example of roedeer stalking the following narrative may 

 prove interesting. 



