THE BIG GAME OF SPAIN 
that, in the mountains, it is as a rule permissible to fire in any direction — 
that is, game may be shot in front of the post or at any point around it. 
The guns being widely separated — each in some hollowed “ neck ” or 
pass — and protected by intervening ridges or escarpments, such shots 
involve no risk or danger. When the approach of an animal has been 
detected before it appears in view, an easier mark at game still unconscious 
of immediate danger may result. But retreating deer usually approach 
with extreme stealth and silence, intensely alert and ever suspecting 
danger ahead. Hence the slightest movement of the gunner — say the 
preparation to fire — will instantly be detected, and at one huge bound the 
stag will disappear whence he came. 
Amidst the forests of the lowlands the reverse of all this is the case. 
There, on ground more or less level, considerations of safety imperatively 
forbid all firing forward — that is, into the beat — or at game passing full 
broadside, until long after it has gone well through the line of guns. The 
necessity of this is self-evident; so, too, is the increased difficulty of the 
shot — superadded being the risk that the game may already have got a 
“touch of the wind” ere it reaches the firing -point. In the Goto Donana, 
for example, each gun, when allotted his post, has his “ firing-lines ’* 
distinctly marked out for him by the keeper in charge of the beat. 
Until game has passed beyond these lines, no shot is permitted, and no 
“discretion** whatever is allowed. 
We conclude our note on Spanish red deer with the following table, giving 
comparative measurements of the twelve best heads we can personally 
vouch for — six from the sierras, six from Coto Donana. The marked 
difference in their respective sizes demonstrates how much finer a race are 
the mountain deer. 
SPANISH RED DEER HEADS 
FROM SIERRA MOR^NA. 
FROM COTO DONANA. 
Length 
Widest Span 
Points. 
Length 
Widest Span 
Points. 
on Curve. 
(Tips). 
on Curve. 
(Tips). 
43 
35 
12 
32* 
30 
13 
41 
36* 
— 
31 
32* 
10 
40* 
40* 
16 
31 
28 
15 
40* 
— 
14 
30* 
27 
10 
40 
36* 
17 
30* 
20 
14 
m 
33* 
16 
29* 
31* 
13 
29* 
39* 
10 
EEE 
393 
