Birds and Nature, Vol. 08, No. 4, November 1900: Illustrated by Color Photography — John Shaqi
Birds and Nature, Vol. 08, No. 4, November 1900: Illustrated by Color PhotographyVarious
History
Birds and Nature, Vol. 08, No. 4, November 1900: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
Birds -- Periodicals; Natural history -- Periodicals
"I crawled to the top of a ridge within plain view of the game, and
planted my flag. The breeze spread it out, kept it fluttering, and
it soon attracted their attention. They were then near the bank of
the river, grazing quietly, but this bit of colored rag excited their
curiosity to a degree that rendered them restive, anxious, uneasy, and
they seemed at once to be seized with an insatiable desire to find out
what it was. An antelope has as much curiosity as a woman, and when
they see any object that they don't quite understand, they will travel
miles and run themselves into all kinds of danger to find out what it
is. They have been known to follow an emigrant or freight wagon with
a white cover several miles, and an Indian brings them within reach
of his arrow by standing in plain view wrapped in his red blanket.
Some hunters "flag" them by lying down on their back, holding one foot
as high as possible, and swinging it to and fro. A piece of bright
tin or a mirror answers the same purpose on a clear day. Almost any
conspicuous or strange-looking object will attract them, but the most
convenient, as well as the most reliable at all times, is the little
red flag, such as we employed in this instance.
"Huffman went to the top of another ridge, to my right and some
distance in advance, and Jack crawled into a hollow on the left, and
well in advance, we three forming a half circle, into which it was our
intention if possible to decoy the game. When they first discovered
our flag they moved rapidly toward it, sometimes breaking into a trot,
but when they had covered half the distance between us and their
starting point, they began to grow suspicious and stopped. They circled
around, turned back, walked a few steps, and then paused and looked
back at the, to them, mysterious apparition. But they could not resist
its magic influence. Again they turned and came toward it, stopped,
and gazed curiously at it. The old buck who led the herd stamped
impatiently, as if annoyed at being unable to solve the mystery. Then
they walked cautiously toward us again, down an incline into a valley,
which took them out of our sight, and out of sight of the flag. This
of course rendered them still more impatient, and when they again came
in sight on the next ridge, they were running. But as soon as their
leader caught sight of the flag, he stopped, as did the others in
their turn when they reached the top of the ridge. There were seven in
the herd, two bucks, three does and two fawns. They were now not more
than a hundred yards from me, and still less from the other two of our
party. Their position was everything we could wish, and though we might
possibly have brought them a few yards nearer, there was a possibility
of their scenting us, even across the wind, which, of course, we had
arranged to have in our favor, and I decided that rather than run the
risk of this and the consequent stampede, I would shoot while I had a
good chance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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