THE STAG 179 



are calculated to awaken in the sportsman a little 

 of the bloodthirstiness of the dog, without the 

 dog's keen relish for the chase. For the time, 

 perhaps, the dog is the nobler creature of the 

 two. 



Stalking remained, whose strength lies less in 

 outrunning, than outwitting the prey. This 

 practice is adapted for scenes where the herd, or 

 the careless sportsman can be commanded from a 

 distance. It is so obviously the natural resource 

 of men with rude weapons, in dealing with such 

 a wary, suspicious, and fleet creature as the deer, 

 that it is probably of primitive origin. It preserves 

 many of the robuster elements of sport, taxing 

 the physical endurance, and calling out the 

 mental resources of accurate observation, and rapid 

 reasoning. 



The object is to arrive within gunshot without 

 being seen, or suspected. To accomplish this, it is 

 needful to be familiar alike with the district, and 

 the game. Deer, grazing on the slope of a hill, 

 look down. The approach, therefore, must be made 

 from above. Even so : it is desirable to keep as 

 much as possible of the body out of sight, since 

 it is only reasonable to suppose that they must 

 sometimes look up. 



