ROE-HUNTING. 47 



as your hound is stanch, and your own strength holds out, 

 taking advantage of every pass within and around the wood. 



Here let nie give two cautions always to dress as near to 

 the colour of the ground and trees as you can, and, when con- 

 cealed, never to make the least motion : if you do, the roe will 

 at once perceive it and stop short. You will most likely only 

 be made aware of its having done so by the hound coming 

 within forty or fifty yards, and then turning away in another 

 direction. When properly dressed, even should your place of 

 concealment not be very good, the roe will be pretty sure to 

 pass if you keep perfectly still. This caution is even more 

 necessary when expecting a hill- fox. Should the roe take a 

 straight course, right out of your beat, you must await its re- 

 turn ; which, if it has not been alarmed or shot at, you may 

 pretty confidently expect. 



In recommending the above manner of roe-shooting, it must 

 be remembered that I do not say it is easy ; but I do say that, 

 when thoroughly understood, it will be attended with much 

 greater success in the long-run, and that the roes will be less 

 disturbed, than when many of the passes are kept by novices 

 in the sport. I once, in Kenmure wood, at the head of Loch 

 Lomond, by this mode killed two in a few hours one of 

 them a very fine old buck without harassing any others ; 

 while a party of five or six of us, and beaters to correspond, 

 after alarming the whole wood, and firing many shots, only 

 got three yearling fawns in four whole days. 



Many gentlemen have a great prejudice against allowing 

 hounds to enter their covers, for fear of driving the roes away, 

 when the blame should rather be laid on their large party, 

 unskilful mano3uvring, and long random shots. I have had 

 good proof that roes are not so much afraid of fox-hounds 

 as people suppose. A gentleman of my acquaintance had a 

 newly-planted wood much injured by them : he desired the 

 gamekeeper to hunt them out. So little, however, did this 

 frighten them, that they have been known to return within an 



