THE PRACTICE OF DEER-STALKING 167 



to do. v Crawl back a yard or two till you can just 

 see the deer when on your legs, and not quite at your 

 full height. Put the rifle to your shoulder and raise 

 yourself slowly till you get the bead on him. Now 

 he will either stare at you long enough to get a sitting 

 shot, or he will jump up and stand for two or three 

 seconds, in which case you ought to make sure of 

 him, or, what is most likely, the stag will bolt off at 

 once. He may give you a running broadside, and 

 if so his fate should be sealed, or he may gallop 

 straight away end on. Now you must shoot at his 

 neck. This sounds a poor chance, but considei 

 that first of all the ground is, in the case supposed, 

 fairly level otherwise the stalker might get above 

 him and there would be no difficulty in obtaining 

 a shot ; next, that a stag runs with head erect, and 

 that the target presented is not after all a very bad 

 one. If hit anywhere from the top of the skull to the 

 top of the shoulder he will drop, and, if only stunned, 

 by running in quickly you can get so near as to finish 

 him to a certainty with the second barrel. If the 

 bullet misses him altogether, the whistle of it close 

 past his head may not improbably turn him, and a 

 broadside shot with the second barrel may bring him 

 down. If he continues on his course, it is advisable 

 to exercise some self-restraint and not fire again, as he 



