THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
and would not move again until the evening. I waited on my herd of rams 
all day. I moved round them in a half circle at a safe distance, and recon- 
noitred the lie of the land on all sides. It was then a toss up which way they 
would move when they did start to feed. Finally they got up, one by one, 
and began to feed in the opposite direction to which I was. A sharp retreat, 
a race round at full gallop on horseback under cover of the edge of the 
tableland, and I found myself lying flat on the ground with the herd feeding 
towards me. It was dusk by the time I got in my shots, and so dark that 
I could not even follow two I wounded, but the day’s waiting resulted in 
four ammon. 
In contrast to this can be recorded a stalk I experienced on the following 
day. I went out late, and of course found my quarry already lying down. 
In this case, instead of a herd, there was a single ram; in place of the wide, 
smooth tableland, without cover, the position taken up by the solitary 
beast was an isolated pinnacle of grass and rock. A successful stalk would 
enable the hunter to come within a very close distance, in fact, it looked as 
if in order to get a shot at all one would come up over the edge of the pin- 
nacle within twenty yards of the ammon. Intense excitement held me as I 
quietly crept up the side of the “kopje”; it seemed impossible that the 
wind would be steady in such a place. This time, however, it held. I came 
up over the edge on to the little grassy top literally within twenty yards 
of the ammon. The same second he knew and jumped to his feet. As he 
stood up I squatted down. A big boulder stood between us and hid all 
but a rounded nose and the top of his heavy horns. Then he took a 
step forward, exposed his shoulder, and instantaneously a bullet passed 
through it. The great velocity of the bullet at such close quarters did 
not allow it to expand and do much damage, he went headlong over the 
edge of the pinnacle, picked himself up, and went for some way before 
I stopped him. This will show that approaches are not always the same, 
that herds of rams and single beasts are likely to be met, and that long 
shots are not always the rule. Of a different type of stalk was one 
experienced by Mr J. H. Miller, when he brought to bag a 61 f -inch head. 
He found a herd of eleven rams, all of a large size, with horns varying 
between 50 inches and 60 inches. A difficult stalk brought him to a 
distance of 250 yards from them, but no closer approach was possible. A 
long shot was followed by a four -mile blood trail, and eventual success. 
The ammon are amazingly “ tough,” and will go for miles even when very 
hard hit, but the open nature of the country is a great help when 
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