vanished had not the generations o f owners taken every care to preserve the numbers o f the
deer and their favourite resort.
The sight o f roe is very keen, and where they are accustomed to be alarmed they will
detect danger quicker than a stag, especially i f there is the smallest movement on the part o f
the enemy ; but their hearing is probably about the same as a stag’s. After a roe has been
once alarmed he is not nearly o f such a suspicious character as a red deer, who will often
not settle down all day after being disturbed, whereas a roe will get over his fears in a short
time, and perhaps may even be seen feeding on the same spot again in an hour of less.
They are also full o f inquisitiveness, and will try from every point o f view the spot where
you lie Concealed, and where they imagine they have seen something, till a puff o f wind
from your direction verifies their suspicions.
Does and young bucks are seldom endowed with much cunning, but an old fellow
whose life has been frequently sought knows all the tricks o f the trade and several more.
I f you want to shoot a good buck in a wood that you know he frequents, you will have a
much better chance i f you go with the beaters and keep along the side o f the bushes where
he generally lies up and breaks back. So well known is this habit o f theirs o f breaking
back, that in one of the beats at Cawdor the guns are placed and the beaters work straight
away from them. ' There was one particular buck at Murthly that escaped us for three years
in the big wood. I found he always made for some thick whins in the middle o f the beat,
so there I placed myself one day by way o f experiment, intending to join the line as it came
on. The beaters were close to me, when out o f the corner of my eye I saw the buck’s back
as he came up to my ambush and lay down within ten yards o f me. Knowing he could
scarcely escape, I watched with interest the way he kept moving his. head from side to side
and working his ears, as i f calculating from which side o f the bushes the beaters were coming.
But fearing he would rush into the line o f one o f them when they came close, I was obliged
to assassinate him on the spot.
When they are wounded too, they will creep into a hole or drain or double on their
tracks as well as any fallow buck. One day in November I went out to a wood near the
bog at Murthly to beat for blackcock, and was standing forward on an old timber road
which led to Strathord. In this part o f the ground I knew there were five does only, for
' the buck belonging to them had been killed in September. Whilst standing at my post I
saw the roe coming forward, and took only a casual interest in them as they filed across the
road within thirty yards o f me. A ll five passed over, when suddenly a fine buck with a
good head sprang into the middle o f the road and stood looking at me. He was a stranger,
and o f course had “ got no friends,” so I at once let him have both shots, which I felt sure
were all right. Anticipating no trouble as he jumped back into the wood, I waited for-the
keepers to pick him up as they came forward. They, however, had seen nothing, and we
worked every bit o f ground with three retrievers without any o f them showing a sign o f
interest except to follow on the does, which had gone right ahead. It was most mystifying,
as I knew the buck must be close- by and was hiding somewhere. We had at last to give it
up, and had beaten on for. a minute or two when I heard a dog barking furiously, but paid no
attention to the fact till I suddenly missed my good old dog Jet from my side ; then, of
course, off I went as hard - as I could in the direction o f the Sounds. I found her standing
over the roe, which she had pulled down after a considerable struggle ; her mouth was
bleeding and there were patches o f hair all over the place.. What had happened was this :_
Thé buck, on receiving the shots, had sprung from the road straight into the deep ditch
running parallel to it ; he had then forced his way a few yards through the water and rushes
and lain down whilst we were talking and looking back for him. He had then crept along
up the ditch for a hundred yards, and finding it turn up into the cover again, had so proceeded
“ under the wind ” till he had passed the dangerous ground and the keepers, who
must repeatedly have walked along close to his hiding-place. Jet, however, had stayed
behind to potter about, and accidentally striking the trail, had followed it up.
It is well for young sportsmen, anxious to shoot a roebuck and posted forward, to
remember that, as with other deer, the best one generally comes last, and so often saves his
skin. Many a man has blamed himself for firing at that big doe in front, when by
watching out o f the corner o f his eye he might have seen what was coming and had a nice
head to put up in the smoking-room instead.
Although roe are very cow-hocked behind, there is a great deal o f grace and
elegance about all their attitudes. As they feed along, each leg is most delicately lifted and
placed on the ground again, while in danger their movements are quick and deliberate.
Roe very rarely trot, their common pace being a bounding canter for a short distance, which
soon settles into a rolling gallop, as with so many other species. When they are really
frightened, as when beaten out o f bushes, they plunge with lowered head at a great pace
through the undergrowth, often making beautiful leaps in the air, though not till several
yards away. They are good jumpers too, and when put to it, will take a five-barred gate as
well as any thoroughbred. One o f the prettiest things is to see a troop o f roe go through
a wire fence ; they go at f t • at such a pace, i f frightened, that you imagine they will break
their necks for certain. The animals seem to make a hardly perceptible turn on their sides,
there is a “ ping ” o f the wires, and on they dash with hardly a check.