THE REINDEER AND ITS PURSUIT 
Telemarken, Gudbrandsdal, Valders, Hallingdal, Laerdal, the Jotunheim, 
Romsdal, Sundal, Hardanger and Stavanger. 
About the year 1890 every Norse peasant living in the neighbourhood 
of reindeer -frequented mountains purchased a “ Krag,” and as soon as 
the season opened commenced operations. Usually a dozen or more 
worked together and surrounded the herds and, firing into the “brown” 
as the animals massed together, killed or wounded enormous numbers. 
In some places whole herds were extirpated without a particle of the 
meat being carried away. This went on for fifteen years until the reindeer 
became so scarce that only the most hardy and keen of the hunters con- 
tinued the work of butchery, and then the Government stepped in, as usual 
too late, and enacted a close season for five years. In theory this law was 
excellent, in practice it was absurd, for the strong young peasants utterly 
disregarded it and continued their operations as before. “ I have had good 
shooting at reindeer,” remarked a youth to me one day in Saetersdal, 
“ but never such a good time as during the five years of close season.” 
It was all very well for the Norwegian Government to make laws, but 
quite another thing for them to enforce them. In Norway distances are 
great and the Lendsman, that one emblem of authority, is generally 
old or infirm. How could he catch or control strong boys roaming the 
cloudlands forty miles away ? In most cases he shut his eyes to what was 
going on or looked the other way when he saw skins and horns lying 
outside some farm or saeter. 
So the extermination proceeded until the present day. It is now scarcely 
possible for an English sportsman to be certain of seeing wild reindeer 
unless he takes one of Dr Heiberg’s shootings on the Stavanger -Saetersdal 
district. Dr Heiberg has worked long and laboriously to save the wild 
reindeer from extinction and has succeeded to a great extent, although he 
still has difficulties. It is enough to say that at the present moment there 
are between 6,000 and 7,000 reindeer in the large range of mountains 
which he now owns or rents from farmers. Some poaching doubtless con- 
tinues, but for the most part the ground is well watched, and a tenant has 
a fair chance of killing at least two good heads there in any season, pro- 
vided the winds and weather are not too hostile during the short shooting 
season in September. Reindeer are undoubtedly increasing in Stavanger, 
but in all other parts of Norway they are rapidly becoming extinct. 
In summer reindeer frequent the edge of the snow on the highest moun- 
tains over 2,000 feet. To a great extent this lofty habitat is chosen both 
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