296 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



good heads. In this instance the stomach of the 

 stag was crammed full of reindeer moss (Cladifer 

 rangiferina), and not a blade of grass was to be 

 seen. 



After lunch I went to the flats west of Loch Tilt 

 and spied the ground carefully. Five stags were 

 there with small groups of hinds, but not seeing 

 anything better than a wide nine-pointer, I re- 

 crossed the burn and made for the rising slopes above 

 Geal-na -Caillich Buidhe, where stags were calling 

 in all directions. 



So numerous are the deer on this ground at this 

 season that it is extremely difficult to progress 

 without moving some of them. Though it makes 

 stalking the more interesting, it is, nevertheless, 

 a matter of patience and time to get within range 

 of any particular beast the stalker desires, and often 

 one false move will set the whole mass of deer 

 moving up to the open slopes above, from which 

 they can view all approaches. 



An hour spent in careful search of the whole 

 ground revealed one ten-pointer with long and wide- 

 spread horns, certainly one of the best heads I had 

 seen this season. He occupied a central position 

 with his hinds, whilst three other large bodies of 

 deer guarded the flanks on either side. By carefully 

 surveying the ground I saw that there was just 

 one possible line of advance up a burn, but even this 

 ended in an open marsh, beyond which I could not 

 see from my present position any chance of getting 

 nearer than 400 yards. 



Time was now advancing, so, after a very slow 

 and careful crawl, I worked uphill towards the deer 

 in the bed of the burn itself. Many of the hinds 



