284 NEWFOUNDLAND 



arms every yard of the way till we arrived breathless and 

 bathed in perspiration on the other side. After this we took 

 a short spell to get cool, and then, again circling round more 

 isolated patches of spruce, we decided that the deer were 

 now up-wind and immediately below us. So down we went, 

 keeping a sharp look-out. 



Being in front, I soon detected the horns of the stag as 

 he moved along, keeping the does together. They were all 

 passing slowly to the west, most of the does feeding, and 

 would cross our front about 150 yards to the left. Being 

 on the sky-line it was now necessary for us to crawl some 

 distance without being seen, when we found that the only 

 cover consisted of a belt of spruce fully three feet high, 

 over which the shot must be taken. Slowly the does, led 

 by an old, hornless female, came walking up the hill, stopping 

 at intervals to crop the moss and gaze about, and after what 

 seemed an age, the great stag, with lowered head, came 

 "nosing" along on their tracks. I raised myself to look over 

 the spruce, when one of the does saw me, and began moving 

 about with bristling stern, a sure sign of danger. The others 

 at once took the hint and gave a preliminary rush. On 

 standing again, the stag was completely surrounded by does at 

 a distance of 100 yards, so I could not shoot until the whole 

 company were again on the move. It was not long before 

 they strung out prior to leaving for good, when I fired from 

 the shoulder, standing up, and struck the stag high in the 

 neck, but without breaking it. He shook his head and spun 

 round once or twice, and then dashed off after the retreating 

 herd. For one moment he gave me a broadside, when I 

 fired again and dropped him stone dead, with a bullet at the 

 side of the skull. The horns of this stag were better than 

 I had at first supposed them to be. They were as massive 



