236 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



It is safest to unload the rifle after the stalk is over. 



Having "galloched" your stag, put him on the pony, 

 and started him for the lodge, and have your lunch, and 

 the day being still young, you can commence again, spy- 

 ing fresh corries and findingfresh deer, andmay, perhaps, 

 have one or two more successful stalks before night ; 

 but on no account should you be bloodthirsty it is much 

 better, to my mind, to have a blank day than to bring 

 in an unshootable stag ; it spoils the average weight of 

 the year, and, if many of these sort are shot, it spoils the 

 reputation of a forest. A stalker should know exactly 

 his master's wishes as to how many stags one indi- 

 vidual " rifle" should bring in on one day. I have 

 known a " rifle " go out and, being carried away by his 

 own excitement and his stalker's encouragement, bring 

 in five, oreven six, stags in a day, which were not worthy 

 to hang by their heels in the larder. 



Now, to my mind, that " gentleman " need not think 

 himself hardly used if he is not asked to shoot in that 

 forest again, and the stalker need not think himself a 

 martyr if he gets the " Royal Order of the Boot." These 

 " Waterloo " days, when several indifferent stags are 

 killed, spoil the sport for others, as later in the season, 

 when real good stags come on the ground, they cannot 

 be shot, as the limit may have been reached which, to 

 put it mildly, is a most annoying fact. 



Now I am going to tread on very dangerous ground. 

 A stalker cannot be too careful how he acts with regard 

 to the forests that march with him. I don't think I am 



