162 GAME. 



by other senses, they will commence feeding again. If, 

 however, they either see or smell him, they are off at 

 once, travelling with such speed and to such distance that 

 pursuit is generally useless. If, therefore, the sportsman 

 finds that he cannot approach without exposing himself 

 to discovery by one of these senses, he had better lie 

 still and wait patiently until the herd has moved to such 

 a position that he can approach with every advantage. 

 Even when he has succeeded in approaching sufficiently 

 near to the herd he may have to wait a long time before 

 he gets a fair chance at the bearer of the special pair of 

 antlers on which he has set his heart. This is very 

 trying to the nerves, and if the sportsman does not get 

 ' buck fever ' under such circumstances he may regard 

 himself as proof against the malady. The moment 

 arrives at last. If the ground is fairly open and favour- 

 able for tracking wounded game, a steady sight close 

 behind the shoulder, and three inches above the brisket, 

 gives the most deadly wound. It is not, however, sure 

 to drop the elk at once, for, even though shot through the 

 heart, it may run half a mile. If, therefore, the ground 

 is much broken, and there be ravines and thickets in 

 which the wounded animal may conceal himself, the best 

 shot is through the shoulder-blade, about six inches from 

 the top of the withers. This is a risky shot, as the 

 sportsman has nothing but' his eye to guide him in the 

 selection of the exact spot ; and if the bullet is put too 

 high, or .too low, or too far forward, or too far back, the 

 animal, though mortally wounded, may run for miles. 



If, however, the sportsman is near enough and marks- 

 man enough to put his ball just right, the game is sure 

 to drop in its tracks. In nearly all my elk hunting I have 

 had the advantage of good dogs ; and how inestimable 

 that advantage is may be judged from the following ex- 

 perience : 



I had succeeded in crawling up to within forty yards 

 of the nearest of a herd of about thirty elk. My dog, 



