314 SPORT IN EUROPE 



In some places, ibex are most difficult, and at times impossible, to approach to within 

 shot, and under such circumstances the only thing to be done is to place yourself on one 

 of the passes that they take and send your guarda round the opposite side to disturb 

 them and drive them towards you. This can be done by his simply showing himself, 

 and they will probably take their natural passes, but, should they be frightened by shouts 

 or falling stones, the odds are that they will run over rocks as steep as a house and 

 places one would imagine it impossible for even a goat to get over. When moving from 

 one peak to another, one should walk half-way, or a quarter-way, down along the slopes 

 and never on the ridge itself. You can scan the ground much better, while showing 

 yourself less. It is harder work, no doubt, but one is compensated in the long 

 run. One great difficulty is getting over steep ravines with loose stones without moving 

 them and making a noise, but this can only be accomplished with practice. Every time 

 one approaches the ridges of these ravines he should crawl carefully up to them and 

 scan every yard, taking care to do so from the side of a large rock and never from the 

 top. In fact, one should be on the qni vive the whole day, and think there are ibex 

 in front and on each side of him. The moment you grow careless you are certain to 

 put them up and perhaps see them disappear over the next ridge in front. When once 

 disturbed, it is a wild-goose chase to follow them, for they will travel a long way before 

 they settle again. I have often been disappointed in this way, and have lost a whole 

 day uselessly following up a big ram or two. They will walk slowly on, apparently 

 little frightened, feeding here and there, but always on the move and going over places 

 from whence they could command any danger approaching them from every quarter. 

 These remarks may perhaps be superfluous to many, but they might be of some use 

 to those who have not done any shooting on the Sierras. I may add a word about 

 boots or shoes. Esparto grass shoes or sandals are good, but they are very hard, have 

 little pliancy, and require practice to walk in, besides blistering the feet. Hemp soles 

 are also good, but last very little on some of these Sierras. I have found boots, or 

 still better shoes, with thick soft rubber soles to be the most comfortable to walk in 

 and to last the longest. I have tried them in both the south and the north, on the 

 Picos de Europa, with admirable results. 



In the spring and summer one cannot be too early on the peaks, but in the autumn 

 this early rising is not necessary, as the ibex feed up to much later in the daytime. The 

 best time to shoot rams on all the Sierras in the south of Spain is without doubt in the 

 autumn, when the rutting season commences. In the spring and summer, male ibex are 

 gregarious, except some old solitary ones that sometimes are accompanied by a two or 

 three year old ram {chivo). At this time of the year they hide in caverns under rocks 



