ROEBUCK SHOOTING IN BOHEMIA 



us it is not more than sixty yards. Aim half-way 

 up the body, and just behind the shoulder steady 

 does it ! 



With the crack of your rifle the scene of peace- 

 fulness is at an end the hare has left us in a 

 hurry the does are making off in all directions, 

 with long leaps and bounds only the buck remains, 

 and he (let us hope) has dropped dead without 

 a struggle. 



A blast from your horn brings up our friend the 

 forester, probably with a heger, or under-keeper, in 

 attendance. The buck is examined, and his head 

 and your shot discussed ; and then, whilst the heger 

 performs the last offices on the dead beast, the 

 forester, with a low bow, and many congratulations, 

 presents you with a sprig of oak, which you stick in 

 your cap as a trophy. Probably, a carriage has 

 been ordered to meet you somewhere near at hand, 

 and the pair of fast-trotting Hungarian horses whirl 

 you swiftly home to dinner. 



Such is the favourite method of shooting the 

 roebuck in Bohemia during the months of May and 

 June. " There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the 

 lip," however, and things do not always go right, 

 even if the buck keeps his appointment, which he 

 frequently fails to do. A wounded buck is almost 

 always recovered ; the roebuck is a very soft animal, 

 and the Bohemian keepers are capital trackers. 



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