io6 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



have passed me within a couple of yards had my rifle not 

 ended almost a bout portant the days of what, on going up, 

 turned out to be an old and unusually large barren doe ! It 

 afterwards appeared that several beaters had seen her in her 

 wild flight dash against the ' lappen,' which were new and 

 strong, and after turning a double somersault and being flung 

 on her back, dash away with one of the red rags, pierced by 

 one of the horns, fluttering from her head. What made the 

 matter worse and earned me some chaff, was the fact that it 

 was my hundredth chamois, and I had only a few hours before 

 expressed the determination that it should be a buck and not 

 a doe. 



Chamois, to return to our drive, pursue different tactics 

 when driven. Old bucks — and they, of course, are the 

 special object of the ambitious sportsman — as a rule, try to 

 steal away at the first sign of danger, after having from 

 some prominent crag thoroughly inspected the whole ground. 

 These wary old fellows proceed very cautiously : every 

 ravine is carefully scanned before it is crossed and every 

 couloir narrowly inspected, lest danger be lurking behind 

 some rock or boulder. If the guns are posted on exposed 

 points, good cover, and as perfect immovability as it is 

 possible to maintain during a three or four hours' drive, is 

 advisable if nearer acquaintance with these old stagers is 

 sought. Often has the writer watched old bucks approach 

 and inspect some restless and fidgety gun, who, because he 

 could not see any chamois, imagined no chamois could see 

 him, than which no greater mistake can be made. Bucks will 

 often stand for an hour at a time perfectly motionless, fixedly 

 regarding some point to which their attention has been 

 attracted. The does and younger generation of bucks are 

 more easily startled than the fathers of the tribe, and they 

 generally approach the guns in full flight, testing the nerve of 

 the sportsman to a high degree, for it is no easy matter to 

 pick out males under these circumstances. On the occasion 

 I am endeavouring to describe, some ninety or a hundred 



