206 MULE DEER

after that every inch of the 150 yards to the bushes had
to be made by wriggling along flat on my face. Then,
when at last I reached there in safety, all I could see
of him were his horns and the tip of his head. He was
still over a hundred yards away. It was evident that he
was lying in a hollow which hid his body, but to get
any closer without being seen was out of the question, °

For ten minutes I lay there debating what to do, and
finally decided to take my shot from where I was. I
knew, from the position I had seen him lying in, that if
he rose to his feet he would be facing me and that a bullet
aimed at the base of his neck would be sure to find a
fatal spot whether my aim was high or low. My fear
was that when he did get up he might still be in such a
state of nerves that he would not pause for a second but
be off like a flash. On this a chance had to be taken,
but I made preparations so that my rifle should be aligned
properly. Cautiously I wriggled out of my coat and,
rolling it up pushed it slowly out in front of me and up
on to a small log; then I shoved my rifle out until the
end of the barrel rested on it. My next move was to
work back until I could get the butt to my shoulder and
try the elevation. It was just right, as, when I peeped
along the sights, I was holding about two feet above
his head. A cartridge was slipped into the breech and
then a sharp whistle was given.

If I had any doubts about that stag being on the qui
vive they would have instantly been dispelled. Hardly
had the sound reached him than he was on his feet, and
by the way he rose it was palpable he did not intend
to linger where he was to locate the direction of the
danger. If I had not got into a good position and been
perfectly ready all I should have had would have been
a running shot, which, from a prone position, is very
difficult. As it was, my finger must have actually
pressed the trigger as he rose, for my bullet caught
him fair and square in the neck, and he went down
without a kick.

So ended a grand hunt. My stag had a fine set of horns;