CHAPTER IV. 



THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "HUNTING" AND "SHOOTING" 



BIG GAME. 



SHOOTING" game is the sport which is generally indulged in on the plains 

 of East Africa, and, from all accounts, it used to be so on the veldt of 

 South Africa at the time when game was plentiful there. 



The usual procedure is as follows : — The sportsman arrives on the plains and 

 sees herds of game in every direction. He starts walking as if to pass by one 

 of the nearest herds. When he gets to within 300yds. or 400yds. the herd 

 gallops off for about 200yds. and stands looking back at him. So he alters his 

 course a little and walks rapidly on, still as if intending only to walk past, but really 

 drawing nearer and nearer. Perhaps he succeeds this time in getting a little nearer 

 before they make off once more. After several manoeuvres of this sort he may 

 contrive to get near enough for a shot, which would be about 200yds. Then all 

 depends on his straight shooting and his judgment of distance. 



The latter is everything, and is not at all easy on these plains, especially to 

 those unused to them, for the heat haze increases the difficulty. 



A distance judged to be 200yds. which in reality is 250yds. is an error of 

 sufficient magnitude to send the bullet below the animal's body. It may be, 

 however, that the animal or herd will not let the sportsman get to within this 

 distance. Then he either leaves in disgust to try for another herd or he risks a long 

 shot, or, again, he may even " brown" the herd. 



If, then, an animal is not hit vitally, but is only wounded, it soon gets mixed up 

 with the rest of the herd, and it is difficult or impossible to distinguish it again from 

 its many fellows. The herd will at last get bored with being dogged about and will 

 gallop off and, probably, mingle with some other herd. When these combined 

 numbers break up again into two parties which go off in different directions no one 

 can tell which party the wounded one is among. If it is badly hit it will, perhaps, be 

 left behind when the herd is stampeded by a lion ; in which case its life will not 

 be wasted uselessly, for it will take the place of the "night's kill" and so save 

 the life of some fellow. On the other hand, it may avoid this fate and linger on 

 for several days, growing weaker and weaker, eating little, and lying down a great 



