THE SHOT. 39 



left in a" hurry ; take time to steady yourself, and then 

 seize the first fair chance ; it will usually present itself, 

 and if it does not it is almost better to refrain from 

 firing at all, for it is of very little use to do so at deer 

 running away end on. Should you, however, in the 

 excitement of the moment be unable to resist, then 

 pitch the rifle-sight quickly in the centre of his horns 

 and directly above the crown of the head, and pull the 

 trigger as if taking a snap shot with a gun. A shot of 

 this sort rarely comes off, but if it does the deer is 

 almost certainly killed dead ; if it fails, the deer escapes 

 unhurt, and the risk of haunching him is reduced to a 

 minimum. If both barrels are emptied in vain, then 

 in the name of all that is sportsman-like do not be 

 persuaded to sit down and open fire at random, and as 

 fast as it is possible to blaze away. Do not "brown" 

 them ; it would cause a shudder to hear of a covey of 

 birds being so served, and it is a thousand times worse to 

 treat a herd of deer like this ! Not once in fifty times 

 is a good stag bagged by such a process ; when anything 

 is bagged at all, a calf or a pricket is more often the 

 reward of the folly ; a poor little beast which one is 

 ashamed to mention in the smoking-room after dinner, 

 and which a good-natured stalker will usually offer to 

 bury, and whose epitaph is, " We will just say no more 

 about it and try for a better ane." Having already missed 

 with both barrels, if six or eight more cartridges are dis- 

 charged at fast vanishing deer, what with the noise of the 

 reports, the whistling of the bullets, and the "smack- 

 ing " they make as they strike on rock or peat, it will 

 give the flying herd such a scare that they do not forget 



