THE SCANDINAVIAN ELK 141 



not often the case, is possessed of such magnificent staunchness 

 as this, great care must be taken never to sHp him at a scared 

 elk, unless the shooter is prepared for, and physically equal to, 

 a long stern chase which may last for some hours. Moreover, 

 others besides the owner of the dog may profit by his grand 

 qualities. The law of Scandinavia permits an elk that has 

 been bo7id fide in the flesh roused on and moved off one 

 property, to be followed at the time on to another and there 

 killed, although one may not so follow the freshest spoor of 

 an animal that is simply travelling of his own accord ; there is, 

 however, nothing to prevent the owner of the other property 

 from killing the elk thus moved on to it. I was once hunting 

 near the great lake Kallsjon in Sweden, with Kurre and his 

 master, when the dog, who was running loose, slipped away 

 unperceived and took up the fresh spoor of elk which he did 

 not overtake until out of our hearing. Having no clue to the 

 direction in which he had gone, we were at last, as evening 

 came on, compelled to go home without him. The next day 

 he was sent back with many thanks by a farmer who lived 

 some miles off, and had heard the dog baying the elk close to 

 a tarn where he happened to be fishing. The man ran home 

 for his rifle, returned to find Kurre still holding the family of 

 three— bull, cow, and calf — and killed the lot in three shots ! 

 Xo, Kurre was positively too good. Some dogs are cleverly 

 trained never to cross a large river or a lake in pursuit, which 

 in a land of many waters like Scandinavia precludes the chance 

 of their getting too far away. I believe that Kurre would have 

 swum the Skagerrak after an elk. But the great majority of 

 elk 'dogs will give in as soon as the deer really takes to travelling, 

 and too many of them much sooner. The hunter must be 

 careful not to let the leader slip out of his hand when the dog 

 is straining eagerly on spoor, and never to loose him with even 

 only a collar on. Considering that the elk when tackled by 

 the dog will, as a rule, make his way through dense covert and 

 over the most tremendous obstacles in the shape of 'windfalls,' 

 where the dog has to keep him company, it will be understood 



