366 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



out high velocity or express rifles for these deer drives ; and 

 besides, with them it is impossible to make a bag of winged 

 game at the same time. A rabbit rifle is hardly powerful 

 enough to avoid wounding and losing deer, unless the vitals are 

 hit with an expanding bullet, and as the roe is generally shot 

 running, the author is not inclined to condemn the use of 

 the shot gun as unsportsmanlike. No. 4 shot are equally 

 useful for roe deer and capercailzie and black game, or the 

 three principal occupants of the Scotch woodlands. Pheasants 

 also can be equally well killed with No. 4 shot as with 

 No. 6, and will be the better for the table by reason of the 

 change. If a rifle of any kind is used, an expanding bullet is 

 by far the best to avoid wounded beasts getting away. Roe deer 

 are often condemned as inferior to mutton, but the writer is 

 not of that opinion. Half the mutton is spoilt in flavour by 

 the " dressings," or rather " dips," used for the protection 

 from or cure of sheep scab a horrible disease with a filthy 

 cure. 



THE PTARMIGAN 



Ptarmigan are generally walked up by a line of guns when 

 a party can all be got to ascend to the high tops inhabited by 

 these birds, Alpine hares, and little life besides, except for 

 the eagles, which greatly appreciate both bird and mammal. 

 The eagle has been known to strike down a ptarmigan in the 

 air, although it probably catches them generally on the ground. 

 The reason why dogs are not much used for ptarmigan is that 

 the almost constant foot scent of hares leads to false pointing or 

 else to hunting their lines ; both tricks are equally objectionable, 

 and show that the dogs have only been partially broken, 

 possibly in the absence of hares. In a hare country it is quite 

 easy to have high-couraged dogs that will point hares in their 

 seats but will not notice the foot scents. These are so seldom 

 seen, though, that it is best, in their absence, to walk up or to drive 

 ptarmigan. They are in a sense the wildest of British game, 

 but it is a wildness that induces hiding for safety rather 

 than flight. Their protective coloration enables them to 



