HOIV THE ELK IS HUNTED 



325 



narrator does not undertake to describe the distribu- 

 tion of the pellets from those nine or ten shot 

 cartridges, nor the part which they played in the 

 outcome of the hunt. 



It is to be hoped that all the participants an- 

 swered at the roll-call when the drive, with its 

 excitement and fusillading, was at an end. 



If beaters are plenty and the number of guns 

 limited, some of the beaters are stationed at the 

 ends of the line of guns, and at right angles to it, to 

 divert any elk which might otherwise escape; or 

 some will be posted between the sportsmen on the 

 firing line. Flags or other devices are sometimes 

 suspended from the trees to guard the ends of the 

 line, if the number of helpers is insufficient.^ 



A variation of the drive, often practiced in 

 Russia for the benefit of an inexperienced hunter, is 

 called "circling." It is most successful when the 

 ground is covered with snow. The hunter is 

 posted on a trail frequented by elk, and several 

 beaters form a sort of circle, one slowly and quietly 

 following the trail toward the hunter, while the 

 others seek to direct the course of any elk which 

 may be encountered into the trail, but without 

 frightening the game. This expedient is likely 



^ Martenson, p. 138. 



