DEER-STALKING 



A discussion which found a place in the columns 

 of the ' Field ' about two years ago, shows that some 

 difference of opinion exists as to whether the ' heads ' 

 of the present day are or are not superior to those 

 that were obtained in former times. On this 

 question there is probably no better living authority 

 than the Earl of Tankerville. I remember its forming 

 the subject of conversation among a party that was 

 staying at Chillingham a few years ago, and our host, 

 in order to prove his contention that heads were 

 stronger and better in his younger days than they are 

 now, showed us one of a stag which he had shot in Ard- 

 verikie Forest when it was tenated by the Marquis of 

 Abercorn. It was, if I remember rightly, a ten-pointer, 

 but for size, weight of horn, and symmetry, it would 

 be hard to beat it. Lord Tankerville told us that at 

 the time when it was got this head was by no means 

 considered one of the very best, though he did not 

 deny that even then it was not surpassed by many. 



The assertion that the heads of the present day 

 have deteriorated is of course difficult to prove. I 

 myself am inclined to believe in its correctness sub- 

 ject to this qualification : an understanding should be 

 come to by the disputants on the number to be 

 selected for comparison. It makes the whole differ- 

 ence whether we are dealing with the half-dozen best 



