1903. ] THE ELK IN NORWAY. 141 
getting more than a glimpse of a frightened Elk disappearing 
among the trees. But if you can suc ceed in seeing the Elk before 
he has heard or smelt you, you may take liberties with his eye- 
sight which would not be possible in deerstalking. I once 
approached a cow Elk, which was lying with her calf on an open 
hillside, within 10 yards by keeping her body between me and 
her head, and might have got nearer if the calf had not seen me. 
On another occasion I rowed in a boat, just as it was getting 
daylight, within 150 yards of a bull Elk, which had been lying on 
the shore of a lake, and had not yet got up from his lair, and 
shot him from the boat before he had t: iken alarm. 
When bulls are rutting they sometimes run towards a man whom 
they have heard but not seen, thinking that it is another Elk, and 
in consequence stories are told of their attacking human beings, 
But these stories will rarely bear investigation, and though there 
are undoubted instances of wounded Elk attacking human beings, 
I never but once saw one turn upon me, and then only because 
he could not get away. 
Besides the system of hunting them with a dog in a leash, they 
are also hunted to some extent with loose dogs which bring them 
to bay ; and though thissystem requires a man of great endurance 
in order to follow fast enough to keep the hounds within hearing, 
sometimes for many hours, it is perhaps more exciting and de: adly 
than still hunting. When Elk are so disturbed by dogs and 
have not seen, heard, or smelt man, they will sometimes come to 
bay very soon, but more often run many miles, and always try 
to throw the hounds and hunter out by crossing large rivers or 
lakes. The Elk is an extremely strong and good swimmer, and 
quite at home in the water, and though he usually crosses a large 
river where it is shallow, he can, when pressed, pass a roaring 
torrent, where no boat could live. In the very wet autumn of 
1893 I lost several of the bulls I hunted, in consequence of their 
crossing rivers which we could neither ford nor swim; when 
severely wounded an Elk usually takes to water. 
They may sometimes be driven successfully in places where the 
ground is very steep or confined, but as a rule Elk do not follow 
particular paths so much as most large animals, and can go up and 
down very steep ravines and rocky places which would be thought 
impossible for so large and heavy an animal. They usually feed 
up wind and run down wind, but there is no rule about this, and 
after a long hunt they sometimes come back nearly to the same 
ground they started from. 
On the whole, I consider Elk among the most difficult animals 
to hunt that I have ever had experience of, and, even where they 
are quite numerous, | have more than once spent ten days without 
getting a fair chance at an animal worth shooting. 
~ The bulls are said by some to shed their horns as early as 
Christmas and not later than January, as Mr. Meade-Waldo tells 
me they have done in our Gardens. Capt. Ferrand, however, 
has been informed by woodcutters who were working all winter 
