DEER-STALKING. 17 



able to obey. When there are hinds in the herd, they often pre- 

 sent themselves between you and the unsuspecting harts ; , but 

 even should they be at a distance, great caution is necessary, 

 as, if one hind gets a glimpse of the crouching enemy, the 

 whole herd, stags and all, are sure to scamper away, amidst 

 the bitter execrations of the forester upon its hornless head. 



The next best time for a shot at a fine old stag, after they 

 have become wild, is about the beginning of October, when 

 each lot of hinds is sure to contain a good hart. The chances 

 then may often not be so good, but from the stags being dis- 

 persed, there are more of them. If deer are feeding forward, 

 it requires very nice calculation, when at a distance, to know 

 the point they will arrive at by the time you have neared 

 them, especially as a shower of rain or a gust of wind will 

 quicken their motions. But if the stalker is not far from the 

 herd, which is feeding up to his place of concealment, with a 

 favourable wind, he should not grudge waiting ; for, by send- 

 ing round drivers to windward of the deer, they are often apt 

 to turn and face them. I cannot say that driving, under any 

 circumstance, gives half the pleasure that stalking does ; for 

 my own part, I would rather kill one stalked hart than several 

 driven. Driving, however, upon a large scale has a most im- 

 posing effect ; and although it cannot be otherwise than in- 

 jurious to a forest, yet the exhilarating nature of the whole 

 proceedings, in which so many friends may join, often makes 

 the proprietor overlook the consternation and panic it creates 

 among the wild and timid herd. Some part of the forest is 

 selected to which the deer are to be driven ; a great number 

 of hill-men and shepherds, who thoroughly understand what 

 they are about, are then sent to the farthest extremity to 

 bring all the deer they can collect to this spot : the passes, of 

 course, being well known, are occupied by the sportsmen with 

 their rifles. The drivers, sometimes hallooing and sometimes 

 giving their wind, gradually contract their circle ; the deer 

 are huddled together, and, finding the only clear ground in the 



B 



