OPEN-GROUND HUNTING 281 



party going in a different direction. For three hours we held 

 due west over the top of the Shoe Hill Range, finally dropping 

 down to a snug droke where I intended to make my main 

 hunting camp. The day was very fine, and I saw two very 

 large stags, with poor heads, and again in the evening two 

 more, each with his band of does. All these I approached 

 and examined at close range to observe their movements for 

 some time. Nearly every company had a " watch " doe, 

 which did not feed, but kept gazing in different directions all 

 the time. The big stag at this season takes little notice of 

 man even if he sees him, and if you grunt at him, he will come 

 running in your direction to answer your challenge, but he 

 invariably stops at some distance, as if loath to leave his wives, 

 towards whom he frequently glances, whereas an "unattached" 

 stag — that is, one travelling and on the look-out for fresh does 

 — will not only answer your call, but will come right up to 

 within a few yards of your position. I proved this many 

 times during this fall, and was so successful in "tolling" two 

 of these travelling stags, that I had to heave rocks at them 

 to keep them off. 



Immediately the leading doe gives the signal of alarm, 

 the stag is the first to appreciate its true import. The does 

 are full of curiosity, and wish to stop and gaze at the strange 

 individual ; but the stag knows only too well what the danger 

 is, so he bends his neck, rounds up his harem, and rattles them 

 off at full gallop whether they wish it or not. During these 

 preliminary evolutions the young stag, which usually hangs 

 on the outskirts of every troop, tries to do a little love-making 

 on his own account by running away with some of the fair 

 ones. The speed and activity of the master-stag are then 

 worth seeing. He rushes madly at the rash youngster, who 

 is always just too quick for him, and so they race over the 



