28o BIG GAME SHOOTING 



seemed to be more or less afraid of one another and kept per- 

 petually on the move, I never got a chance at one of them. 



To be successful with stags during the calling season, the 

 sportsman should be on his ground as soon as it is light. The 

 stags are moving about all night, and soon after sunrise they 

 retire into the forest, where, unless they keep on calling, it is 

 almost impossible to find them. This, of course, refers to the 

 open ground at the top of the hills. Ward prefers the lower 

 ground in the pine forest, from 8,000 to 9,000 ft. above the 

 sea level, as he says the stags there seem to settle down into 

 certain spots and remain there for days together. The writer's 

 own experience is that the upper ground is best when the stags 

 first begin calling, as they all seem to collect there, and that 

 later on, about October i, when there has often been a slight 

 snowfall on the top of the hills, and the frost at night is begin- 

 ning to tell, the stags should be followed down into the forest. 

 But as different valleys vary so much, according to whether the 

 deer remain in them during the winter or are merely passing 

 through, no general rule applies to all. Hunting the upper 

 ground as long as the stags are on it is undoubtedly far 

 pleasanter than creeping about in the forest down below, and 

 in the gloom of the pines the chances are very much against the 

 stalker. Stags may occasionally be shot by waiting for them 

 at some favourite soiling or drinking pool, and it is by no 

 means a bad thing to try if the pool is in thick forest and some 

 distance from other water. The most likely time to see any- 

 thing is about 4 P.M., when the deer begin to draw out. 

 Waiting over salt-licks and water at night is an abomination, 

 like all other night shooting. As a rule, you do more harm 

 than good by disturbing the ground, and if you do get a shot 

 and hit (no certain matter even in the brightest moonlight), 

 unless the stag is dropped on the spot you run a very great 

 risk of losing him. Barasingh are very tough beasts, and an 

 ill-placed bullet is not much use. It is very difficult to know 

 what to do when (as often happens) the stags will not call till 

 just before dark. If this happens among the pine forests, any 



