86 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



it is keener sport than any the average sportsman comes 

 across. Amid the wild grandeur of unfrequented mountain 

 recesses, one's woodcraft, one's endurance, and one's agility 

 are pitted against the instincts of what is probably the wariest 

 game that exists, and one, too, which is protected by the kind 

 offices of nature, who has made its home, as a rule, inacces- 

 sible to all but the most surefooted. The dangers besetting 

 the path of the lonely stalker have from time immemorial lent 

 themselves in a particularly tempting manner to exaggeration, 

 so that most accounts of the sport are not only given at third 

 hand, but are overladen with romantic nonsense. 



For a narrative of actual stalking experiences which 

 possibly may prove more useful than mere generalisations, it 

 may be as well to describe a typical stalk, one of many the 

 writer has enjoyed in the peasant-shoot already alluded to ; 

 for it will give a better idea of the ordinary incidents of 

 stalking than were one to relate the more everyday events of 

 a stalk in a preserve where game is plentiful and where one 

 has simply to follow the directions of the keeper. Under the] 

 circumstances the hope is entertained that the use of the 

 otherwise undesirable ' ego ' will be permitted. 



One of the first things to settle before starting on a 

 chamois stalk is the question where shelter for the night 

 nearest to the hunting ground can be obtained. If roughing 

 is not objected to, a light sleeping bag made of waterproof 

 canvas with fur lining and weighing not more than ten or 

 twelve pounds is a friend in need. With it and the shelter 

 of the widespreading branches of an arve or pine, the night or 

 two passed on high need not entail great discomforts ; but, as 

 a rule, a more substantial roof overhead becomes acceptable, 

 particularly if, as in this instance, the advent of October brings 

 with it a snowstorm. If there are any Alp- huts at all handy, 

 their shingle roof and loft filled with fragrant hay offer a more 

 desirable shelter and sleeping accommodation than a pine-tree 

 and sleeping bag, 



A long day's walk from the main valley, with three or four 



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