42 The Wilderness 



with years. Nevertheless I found he had some fire left ; 

 for a hasty vault into the saddle on my part, was followed 

 on his by some very resolute pitching. I lost my rifle and 

 hat, and my revolver and knife were bucked out of my 

 belt ; but I kept my seat all right, and finally got his head 

 up and mastered him without letting him throw himself 

 over backwards, a trick he sometimes practised. Never- 

 theless, in the first jump when I was taken unawares, I 

 strained myself across the loins, and did not get entirely 

 over it for six months. 



To shoot running game with the rifle it is always 

 necessary to be a good and quick marksman ; for it is never 

 easy to kill an animal, when in rapid motion, with a single 

 bullet. If on a runway a man who is a fairly skilful rifle- 

 man, has plenty of time for a clear shot, on open ground, 

 at comparatively short distance, say under eighty yards, 

 and if the deer is cantering, he ought to hit ; at least I 

 generally do under such circumstances, by remembering to 

 hold well forward, in fact just in front of the deer's chest. 

 But I do not always kill by any means ; quite often when I 

 thought I held far enough ahead, my bullet has gone into 

 the buck's hips or loins. However, one great feature in 

 the use of dogs is that they enable one almost always to 

 recover wounded game. 



If the animal is running at full speed a long distance 

 off, the difficulty of hitting is of course very much in- 

 creased ; and if the country is open the value of a repeat- 

 ing rifle is then felt. If the game is bounding over logs 

 or dodging through underbrush, the difficulty is again 

 increased. Moreover, the natural gait of the different 



