The huntsman of old used to consider that any slot into which four fingers could be placed with ease belonged to a warrantable stag (some declared a stag of ten). That would mean that the slot would be about three inches wide, if not more. I believe two and a half inches is considered a fair measurement for mark of the heel by Devonshire stag-hunters, who alone in England concern themselves with the differences in the slot, as they only chase the wild deer. No such woodcraft is necessary for the chase of the carted deer, and as long as the master and huntsman can distinguish the footprint of a deer from that of any other animal, that is all that is required of them in this matter. The stepping or gait of a stag is also a sign that was taken into consideration. The old stag walks more equally, and generally places the point of his hind feet in the heel of his fore feet. The gait of a hind is more uncertain; it is said she misprints, that is sometimes the hind foot will be placed beside the fore foot, sometimes inside or in front of it. She is not even so regular in her gait as a young stag, unless she is with fawn, when she will place her hind feet constantly outside her fore feet. A hind walks with wide-spreading claws, so does a young stag with his fore feet, but those of his hind feet will be closed. The larger the print of the fore feet are in comparison to the hind feet the older the stag. The underneath edge of the claws round the hollow of the sole was called the _esponde_ (sponde, edge or border). In older stags they were blunter and more worn, and in hinds and younger deer sharper, unless indeed the stag inhabited a damp and mossy country, where the _esponde_ would not be so much worn down as if he lived on a rocky or stony ground. (G. de F., 155, 129-145; Lav., p. 246; Stuart, p. 58; Fortescue, p. 133). And thus did the woodmen of old study the book of nature, which told them all they wished to know, and found for them better illustrations than any art could give. TRYST, in the language of sport, was the place or stand where the hunter took up his position to await the game he wished to shoot. The game might be driven to him by hounds, or he might so place himself as to shoot as the game went to and from their lair to their pasturing (_see_ Appendix: Stables and Stable-stand). In French it was called shooting _à l'affut_, from _ad fustem_, near the wood, because the shooter leant his back to, or hid behind a tree, so that the game should not see him. In our MS. we are told that Alaunts are good for hunting the wild boar whether it be with greyhounds, at the "tryst," or with running hounds at bay within the covert. The tryst here would be the place where a man would be stationed to slip the dogs at the wild boar as soon as he broke covert, or after the huntsman had wounded the boar with a shot from his long or cross-bow (p. 118).