WOUNDED DEER. 49 



so closely that lie may easily be passed by ; especially 

 will he lie extra close if he has been wounded some 

 days previously ; therefore, if he has vanished in such 

 sort of ground every bit of it must be thoroughly 

 searched, and often 'he will start to life within a few 

 yards. Occasionally it happens that deer unsight you 

 the moment the shot is delivered, and then run as 

 fast as may be to some spot commanding a view of 

 the flying herd. If the stag shot at is not with 

 them, return at once to the place they bolted from, 

 and follow the tracks carefully, and he will more often 

 than not be found lying dead, or so badly hurt as 

 to be incapable of flight. The ability to tell almost 

 at a glance whether the stag fired at is with a vanish- 

 ing herd, varies to a great degree even among old and 

 experienced foresters, but to a novice it is almost a 

 hopeless task. It is difficult even if a deer with some 

 marked peculiarity has been shot at, as, for instance, one 

 with an oddly-shaped horn, or " mouse-coloured," or 

 one that has just been rolling in peat, and is black ; but 

 without something of this sort to mark him it becomes 

 well-nigh impossible for a novice to " spot " him amidst 

 even only a dozen others. A stag not very severely 

 wounded, if he detects your approach, will rarely rest 

 again till he has gone a great distance, and rendered 

 pursuit almost useless. 



If a stag be struck in such a way that he cannot 

 rise, and is yet very strong and full of life, especially if 

 he is sitting up, and has the full use of his fore-legs, be 

 very careful how an approach within reach of his horns 

 be made, for he will stab viciously with them, and with 



