Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
General
Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)
Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
Game and game-birds; Hunting
To any but the youngest hunters it seems superfluous to say that you
must hunt up or across the wind; to remind them of what a score of
authorities have said before about the lessons to be learnt from the
drifting mist-wreaths; to warn them to take care that they see the
beast before the beast sees them, and to this end to be careful in
coming over a rise in the ground; to put only just so much of their
head above the skyline as will enable them to see the country beyond,
and even then to bring that small part of their body up very slowly
and under cover of some friendly bush-tussock or boulder. In eighteen
years’ hunting the writer has met many men who might be forgiven for
believing that wild game never lies down, for whenever they have seen
it, it has been on its feet, looking at them. And no wonder, for some
of them would even _ride_ up to the top of a bluff before looking to
see what lay in the valley beyond. And yet, even after such a mistake
as this, there is a chance sometimes of retrieving your error if the
wind is in your favour. If, for instance, in riding from camp to camp
you suddenly come in full view of a stag, with a hind or two, walking
in the early morning along the ridge of the next bluff to that upon
which you and your Indians are riding, say a word to your men, and
let them either ride slowly on or stop absolutely stationary in the
same spot, whilst you slide out of your saddle and creep away on your
belly amongst the grass. Above all, _they must keep in full view_ of
the stag, and if they do this, in nine cases out of ten the stag will
not notice that you have gone, and whilst he stares intently at the
strange objects which he knows to be at a safe distance from himself,
you will have time to get round and make a successful stalk. Even the
hinds will be too intent on watching the other men to keep a proper
look-out in your direction. And this brings up another point. Take care
of the hinds and of those lean grey-faced ewes. The ram and the stag
are blunderers and reckless, especially in love-time; but the ewes
are as suspicious and wary as schoolmistresses, and must always be
watched carefully. If for a moment you see the grey faces turn in your
direction, _keep still_; keep still as a statue, even though you have
raised yourself upon your hands to peer over and have found out too
late that your palms are pressing upon the thorny sides of a bunch of
prickly pears. It will come to an end at last, though that fixed regard
seems never ending; but in any case, if you want a shot you _must_
be still, for if you try to lower your head and hide whilst they are
looking at you, you might just as well go home. This rule applies in
another instance. If you should by chance come upon a beast unawares,
stand stock still at once; don’t try to hide if it is a deer; don’t try
to bolt if it is something more dangerous. If you stand still, beasts
are slow to identify objects, and your deer may not be badly scared or
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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