142 DEER-STALKING 



and the first question asked by the sportsman who 

 is to go on the hill on any given morning is * How 

 is the wind ? ' No matter where his beat is situated, 

 it may be far or near, he has to study the clouds, 

 or ascertain otherwise from which point operations 

 should begin. It is needless to observe that, as a 

 rule, the party should proceed to that end of their 

 beat which is to leeward and work up wind. Of course 

 in each individual stalk this is an absolute rule, and 

 admits of no exception, though for the last few hundred 

 yards a side wind will do, and is indeed often unavoid- 

 able. Dealing with the beat, however, rather than 

 the stalk^ there are important variations depending on 

 the position of the forest in respect to marches, and 

 special circumstances affecting each beat. 



Suppose the ground to be worked consists of one 

 side of a long glen, containing three or four large 

 corries separated by shoulders and ascending with a 

 gradually steepening gradient to a ridge of 2,000 or 

 2,500 feet above sea-level. For the sake of sim- 

 plifying the illustration, we will say the glen runs east 

 and west, and the wind is from the west. It might 

 be thought natural that the stalking party should 

 begin at the east end. But let us see what the effect 

 of this would be. They disturb the first corrie, and 

 move the deer over the shoulder into the next one. 



