42 DEER-STALKING. 



handy, If not, then bury nose and mouth in the peat 

 and explode therein ; no matter if you come up looking 

 like a Christy minstrel, it will wash off or dry off very 

 quickly. 



On a very still day doubts frequently arise as to 

 which way the currents of air are moving. If a finger be 

 wetted and held up, one can usually feel and see which 

 side is drying first and is coldest ; or a bit of cotton grass 

 dropped from the hand, or if there is none near, a bit 

 of fluff picked off your coat will answer the purpose 

 equally well. 



If the ground or the deer should so favour, that you 

 find yourself from thirty to fifty yards from them, then 

 is the time all your wits will be wanted to avoid a miss, 

 for, strange as it may read, there are every year a great 

 number of misses made at these very close quarters. 



The tendency of all express rifles is to throw the 

 bullet very high in the first fifty yards of its flight. The 

 rifle will be sighted for a hundred yards, and if this 

 sight is used for a shot at forty yards, it will usually 

 put the ball over the deer. Almost every one who has 

 been after them much will have sad recollections of 

 missing shots of this description shots which have been 

 delivered with the greatest confidence, and feeling 

 certain that the trigger had but to be pressed to ensure 

 possession of the prize ; and the greater the feeling of 

 confidence, the greater the annoyance and vexation at 

 missing. These are the shots that are thought of with 

 wonder and regret for weeks, perhaps months, after- 

 wards. There are two ways of taking these shots at 

 close quarters. Either aim straight at the heart, and be 



