38 DEER-STALKING. 



a deer galloping as fast as he can, from two to three 

 feet may be " borrowed." In a gale a good allowance 

 must be made for windage if shooting across wind. A 

 very good rifle shot, and most skilful stalker, has assured 

 me that in a shot of this sort that is, in a gale and 

 the deer standing head down wind and broadside on, it 

 is common to aim at the haunches and hit in the heart ! 

 Whether in up-hill or down-hill shots with the express 

 rifle, there need hardly be any variation made in the 

 sight taken ; it will make the shot more certain, how- 

 ever, if in a down-hill shot the aim is a little beneath the 

 heart, and in an up-hill one a little over it. The fore- 

 going remarks are "good" for shots at distances varying 

 from eighty to one hundred and twenty yards ; at longer 

 ranges they would require greater allowances to be made. 

 If making a long run up, and only getting within shot at 

 the moment of stopping, and you are panting with the 

 exertion, the rifle will be held more steadily if you aim 

 and fire in the few seconds between exhaling and again 

 inhaling. Do not attempt very long shots; any stag 

 over two hundred yards should always be waited on for 

 hours on the chance of getting closer. If the stag is 

 standing well and the light good, it should be killed at 

 that distance, but it is also uncommonly often missed. 

 Nothing but darkness coming on, or the certainty of 

 getting no nearer, should justify a shot at any deer over 

 this distance, for even if a hit is made it is almost sure 

 to be only a wound, which the deer will carry off with 

 him, suffer from for weeks and weeks, and eventually 

 die of. 



Having missed with the right barrel do not empty the 



