138 DEER-STALKING 



But the great thing is to get a rifle made by a 

 good maker, to try it well before going out, and when 

 out to hold it straight. 



As regards the bullet, it should, if intended to go 

 up quickly, be hollowed out more or less. A hollow 

 bullet is objectionable. It splinters in the body of 

 the deer like a shell, and makes a mess of the venison. 

 A tapered form is the best that is, one with a small 

 cavity which should be filled with plaster of Paris, but 

 on no account with copper. Hammerless weapons 

 are of more advantage in the case of rifles than of 

 guns. I venture to say that there will be no deer- 

 stalker who reads these pages who cannot remember 

 some occasion when he had to pull his rifle out of its 

 cover in a hurry and found the hammers catch in the 

 moleskin or canvas material of which it was made. 

 Accidents, too, have occurred when the rifle has 

 been thrust into its case carelessly without taking the 

 precaution of putting on the stops, the catching above 

 alluded to bringing the hammer from half to full cock. 



Let us now deal with stalking in its more serious 

 aspects. To find in the first place, then to circumvent, 

 and lastly to get within shot of an animal so shy and 

 wary as a red deer in its wild state, endowed as he is 

 with powers of sight, scent, and hearing to a degree 

 rarely equalled and never excelled by any other 



