ROEBUCK SHOOTING IN BOHEMIA 



of the country and the food. In Bohemia the 

 average height of horns, measured from base to 

 extreme tip along the inside of the curve, is, accord- 

 ing to my own experience, about 7^ inches 

 anything over 8 inches is decidedly good. 



But leaving these dull facts, which form but 

 dreary reading, let us go and see (and shoot if we 

 can !) the roebuck in his favourite haunts. 



Imagine a lovely warm June evening, with the 

 sun sinking slowly in the western sky. We are 

 sitting, perched up in a hoch-stand a sort of box- 

 like constuction, set on four legs, some ten feet from 

 the ground, to which one ascends by a ladder 

 looking out upon a clearing in the midst of the 

 woods. The forester has brought us here, and has 

 left us, after arranging the green branches that 

 screen our shelter in front, with many low bows and 

 a whispered Waidmanris Heil ! i.e. "Sportsman's 

 luck," the customary Austrian good wish. A 

 Kreuz-bock is accustomed to make this his evening 

 feeding- place, and here we are, hoping to get a shot 

 at him. 



It is strange that a buck will generally feed in the 

 same place on six or seven consecutive evenings, 

 and will make his appearance each day at almost 

 exactly the same time. 



How still and quiet it is here in the cool forest, 

 with the blue sky overhead, and the golden rays of 



