Game Animals of India, etc. 



If captured young, blackbuck can easily be tamed, 

 but old males are apt to be spiteful, especially during 

 the pairing-season. During this season they walk 

 about with a peculiar mincing gait, the head being 

 thrown back so that the horns lie on the back, and the 

 face-glands widely opened. At such seasons bucks 

 frequently utter a peculiar short grunt, the only other 

 sound the species produces being a hissing by the 

 does. When in this state of excitement, old bucks are 

 dangerous both to human beings and to other animals 

 in their neighbourhood. 



The wariness of the species varies in different 

 districts according to the amount of disturbance to 

 which the herds are subjected. In districts where there 

 is little shooting the herds may be approached within 

 a hundred and fifty yards or less ; while they will 

 frequently allow natives with carts or oxen on their 

 way to and from ploughing to come comparatively 

 close. Natives are, indeed, always allowed to approach 

 nearer than Europeans, and sportsmen sometimes don 

 the native dress in order to get within range. Solitary 

 master-bucks are always more difficult to approach than 

 those with the herds, and to stalk these successfully 

 demands all the skill and ingenuity of the sportsman. 

 When engaged in combat for possession of the does, 

 old bucks are less wary than usual. In stalking a 

 herd, the plan usually recommended is to walk round 

 in a semicircle, gradually closing in, and taking only 

 side glances at the quarry, till within range, when the 

 shot should be immediately delivered standing. If two 

 sportsmen are working together, from opposite sides of 

 the herd, the stalk is rendered much easier. On the 

 approach of an intruder, some of the does will often 

 begin to leap into the air, but this by no means implies 

 that the herd is about to seek safety in flight. A horse, 

 led by a native groom, or sais, which can be ridden to 

 within stalking distance, will be found an invaluable 

 auxiliary in buck-shooting. 



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