CHAMOIS 
to pay for it had much better take one of the peasant -shoots or privately- 
owned grounds of the Austrian nobles, some of which are always to let. 
In Tyrol, the Bavarian Highlands, Upper Austria and Styria are situated 
the best grounds for chamois, and these are in the hands of the Austrian 
nobles, the Imperial House, or foreigners. As a rule, sport on the peasant 
shoots is not great, as they are open to the native mountaineers, who 
are, as a rule, keen sportsmen and ever harassing the game. Many of 
these shoots, too, are on the edge of large preserves, which are only dis- 
turbed for a fortnight or so in the autumn, so the chamois get to know 
what is “ sanctuary ” and are careful in the choice of their habitat. To 
kill chamois on a peasant-shoot often requires all the hunter’s skill, but to 
do so on a carefully preserved shooting often requires no greater effort 
than is required to shoot a stag in Scotland. 
Most of the big chamois drives take place in September, and enormous 
bags are sometimes made in the best shoots. On August 31, 1892, ninety- 
four chamois were shot in one drive on Prince Auersperg’s famous preserve 
in the Zillerthal, and the result of six days’ driving was 222 chamois 
to five rifles. Only bucks and barren does were said to have been killed. 
The nature of the ground frequented by chamois varies greatly. 
In the Bavarian Highlands, where they are most abundant and most 
carefully preserved on the Royal shoots, the “guns” ascend to their 
respective places of concealment on horseback; whilst in parts of Styria 
and Tyrol and Switzerland, where chamois are assiduously hunted, these 
animals often keep to the most difficult ground on and above the timber- 
line, and a man must have a good head and be a powerful climber to hunt 
with any hope of success. Where chamois are plentiful they have to be 
strictly guarded day and night, for the gallant “ freeshooters of the Alps ” 
are ever on the watch to pick off any venturesome buck that comes near the 
peasant marches, and betray such energy and persistence in their un- 
authorized sport that it requires the very best keepers to hold them in 
check. Consequently the great nobles take a certain pride in having the 
most dare-devil poachers as their keepers, and the trust is seldom, if ever, 
misplaced. These Austrian, Swiss, Italian and Carpathian poachers are, as 
a rule, magnificent specimens of manhood, and many stories are told of 
their magnanimity and love of sport, for it is purely for the love of the 
chase that they hunt. With them poaching is no ordinary stealing for the 
sake of gain, but often a game of life and death in which they frequently 
hold the losing hand. 
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