THE SCANDINAVIAN ELK 139 



passes between the dog's forelegs. The belly-band buckles 

 just between the shoulders, and at this point the leader is at- 

 tached either to a ring or by a simple knot. Some hunters are 

 content to use an ordinary collar ; but this is a wretched plan, 

 as with a dog at all given to pulling it produces choking and 

 eventually injures the wind. When the harness is properly 

 made all pressure is on the strap across the broad of the chest. 

 On catching the wind of elk, or of their fresh spoor, the dog 

 naturally faces towards it, when the hunter must use his judg- 

 ment as to the right moment for loosing. The part of the 

 loose dog, having once found the elk, is either to bring him to 

 bay, or to cause him so far to slacken his pace that the shooter 

 may be able to get up. Whilst the elk is running at speed, the 

 dog is generally mute in pursuing, but the experienced hunter 

 can tell by his note w^hether the quarry is moving at a moderate 

 pace or is actually stationary. The old bulls, when they have 

 not got wind of man or been otherwise scared, are often easily 

 brought to bay, and in such a case the hunter may approach 

 almost at his leisure ; but younger elk, and cows in particular, 

 are much more difficult to stop, and will, as a rule, travel a 

 considerable, sometimes a great, distance before halting. 

 Deer of all ages are specially shy if they have been roused 

 ■ hen lying down. Their daily siesta lasts from about noon 

 — or sometimes, according to weather, an hour or two earlier — 

 until two or three in the afternoon, and consequently hunters 

 with the loose dog generally halt during this period, or at least 

 part of it, and bivouac in the forest. It is said — and, I believe, 

 with some truth — that in those districts of Sweden where the 

 k are during the season continually hunted in this fashion, 

 they are invariably suspicious, when the hound puts in an 

 appearance, that man is somewhere in the background, and 

 that, even when at bay, they are straining their senses to detect 

 the presence of their real enemy, being of course perfectly 

 aware that the dogs, for all their noise, can do them no harm. 

 It is in any case needful for the hunter, however recklessly he 

 may have been running before, to make his final approach as 



