66 THE SHIKARI 



In fact, only experience can teach one when to keep 

 on or when to give up, and an experienced and trust- 

 worthy tracker is invaluable in the early days of the 

 big-game hunter. 



An animal that is knocked right over and gets up 

 and goes is generally the one that is going farthest, 

 and the one that dashes away at top speed on re- 

 ceiving the shot will usually be found a little way 

 on stone-dead. A leg shot is noticeable, and the 

 beast will often travel a great distance ; a stomach 

 shot often makes the animal cramp itself up, and if 

 hit with a large ball it may not go far, but if with 

 a small one it may get away altogether. 



Spine, neck, and head shots are instantly fatal, but 

 heart shots do not always drop the quarry, though, 

 of course, the beast never gets far. 



It sometimes happens that the hunter is deceived 

 and thinks that he has hit when it has been a case 

 of a clean miss. 



The author well remembers an instance of this, 

 when he had taken a long running shot at a par- 

 ticularly fine reedbuck, which instantly showed lame- 

 ness in the foreleg. So it was followed up hour upon 

 hour across open country and finally bagged in a reed- 

 bed where it had gone to lay up, but on examina- 

 tion no sign of any previous hit could be found, and 

 so the only conclusion was that at the exact moment 

 the trigger was pulled it had stepped in a mole-run 

 and sprained the fetlock. 



