132 STALKS ABROAD 



but certainly not an insurmountable one. I should 

 also be inclined to allow competent stalkers that 

 is, those who have stalked before and know a good 

 stag from a bad one to kill any malforms they 

 happen to come across. The guides should be made 

 responsible for these extra animals killed, and un- 

 less such persons are able to distinguish a good 

 stag from a bad they have no right to be guiding. 

 The objection to this plan is, of course, that un- 

 reliable and unscrupulous persons would take advan- 

 tage of it to kill more stags than their licence allows ; 

 but unless such men were mere butchers, who simply 

 slaughtered for the sake of killing, such a course would 

 do them no good, as they could only take four heads 

 away with them, provided that the stalking regu- 

 lations were in the hands of practical men. However, 

 that is a detail. 



Having got rid of all the rubbish, the best thing 

 to do would be to close down certain blocks, for, 

 say, a couple of years, in order to give the young 

 healthy stock time to develop. It might conceivably 

 be an unpopular measure at the time, but it would 

 pay in the long run, and improve the breed of deer 

 in those districts. The great thing, however, is to 

 get rid of the rubbish. There is no need to create 

 an artificial sanctuary, as the large amount of bush 

 provides good winter shelter for the deer, and a 

 refuge which they can always seek in time of trouble. 



Fresh blood would greatly improve the stock and 

 this also could be easily arranged. " There is no 



