242 HUNTING CAMPS. 



For the first two hours we saw but little sign of deer ; then, 

 just before coming to the hill under which we had shot 

 two stags in 1907, we spied some does, and soon after Ross 

 and Ed saw a stag. We took a short circuit for the wind, 

 and then lay down behind a bush to hold a council of war. 

 As I was walking behind the others, I had not caught sight 

 of the stag. I may mention that before starting I had 

 said that I wished to shoot a stag with big tops, while 

 Ross had expressed his preference for a symmetrical head 

 and brows. Having spied the stag with his glass, Ross 

 now turned to me and told me it had fine tops, and most 

 unselfishly insisted on my taking the shot. We crawled a 

 little nearer, and for the first time I gained some view of 

 the horns. I could only see them very partially through 

 close intervening bush, as the stag was lying down. 



There were, however, ahead of me, some well-placed 

 spruces, one of which appeared to be within a hundred 

 yards of the caribou, and to this I accordingly made my 

 way, and from it achieved a good sight of the tops of the 

 antlers. They looked magnificent and much finer than any 

 I had yet seen. As the stag's body was hidden I rose 

 behind the spruce and, taking a rest against it, pressed the 

 trigger. The animal was lying with his head towards me, 

 and at the impact of the bullet his legs flew up into the 

 air, then came to earth again, and he never moved after- 

 wards. The head carried twenty-six points, and though 

 one bay was completely missing, the tops made up for 

 that, and in fact the antlers were most remarkable. 



Ross and Ed were delighted, Ed saying, " That's the 

 best tops in Canada," which I believe to be very nearly 

 true, at least as far as that part of Canada is concerned. 

 Before skinning the head, we all went down to drink water 

 from a stream that ran under the hill to our right. I hap- 

 pened to be leading, and we had not gone a hundred yards 

 before I caught sight of a couple of does coming over the 



