124 DAYS OF DEER-STALKING. 



a hundred yards, and this is as near as I would wish to get. 

 The usual range will be between this and two hundred 

 yards, beyond which, as a general rule, I never think it 

 prudent to fire, lest I should hit the wrong animal though 

 deer may be killed at a much greater distance. 



Now the sportsman who has been accustomed to shot 

 guns, is apt to fire with the same sort of aim that he takes 

 at a grouse or any other common game ; thus, he invariably 

 fires behind the quarry ; for he does not consider that the 

 ball, having three, four, or perhaps five times the distance to 

 travel that his shot has, will not arrive at its destination 

 nearly so soon ; consequently, in a cross shot, he must keep 

 his rifle more in advance. The exact degree (as he well 

 knows) will depend upon the pace and remoteness of the 

 object. 



Deer go much faster than they appear to do, and their 

 pace is not uniform like the flying of a bird ; but they pitch 

 in running, and this pitch must be calculated upon. 



Firing at a target is a very necessary practice in the 

 first instance, partly to gain steadiness and confidence, but 

 principally to ascertain the shooting of your rifles at all 

 distances. You can make no use of a change of elevation 

 in your sights when deer are running ; the best way, there- 

 fore, is to have one sight alone slightly elevated, the less the 

 better, and to make the vaiiation depend upon your aim. 

 Having once become a fair shot at the target, I would 

 advise no one to continue the practice. It is apt to make 

 one slow and indecisive. One step often brings you into 

 sight of the deer, consequently one spring makes them 

 vanish from it, so that you must frequently take snap shots. 

 Indeed, it is quite wonderful (as any experienced person 

 can bear witness) how suddenly and unexpectedly they 

 disappear, either by sinking under a hill, or running amongst 

 the deep channels of a moss, or by a hundred means of 

 concealment that the rugged nature of the ground affords 

 them. 



In firing down hill you must be very careful to keep 

 your face low down to the sight, which sportsmen do not 

 pay sufficient attention to ; and think, therefore, that the 

 ball mounts, which is a great mistake. When your head is 



