464 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



as one of " stagnation," which followed the establishment of Grouse driving. The 

 stocks on many moors had been very much increased, it is true, but were no 

 longer increasing. He quotes the figures from various moors in England in 

 support of his argument, and gives examples of moors in Scotland which 

 have not been improved by the introduction of driving.^ 



Mr Teasdale-Buckell seems inclined to think that on the whole the records 

 do not point to any great increase of stock as a result of Grouse driving. 

 He probably does not give sufficient weight to the cases where it was followed 

 by a very marked improvement, for these cases occurred chiefly in England 

 as long ago as 1872 and 1873. He also does not notice that while the 

 introduction of driving in Scotland in more recent years has not had 

 such a marked effect, it has proved an effective method of regulating the 

 stock in "big" years, and has tended to equalise, and, in the main, to 

 raise the average yield on those moors on which it has been given a fair 

 trial. 



There can be no doubt that driving has greatly increased the stock of Grouse 

 on practically every moor in England, as may be seen by comparison of the 

 records before and after its introduction. On many moors in Yorkshire, 

 where before the days of driving Grouse had become almost extinct, they are 

 now numerous. 



The true ^^^^ beneficial effects of driving at Broomhead are fully discussed 



benefit of j ^^^q j^y jyjj, Rimington Wilson, which will be found at the end 



(irouse JO' 



driving. Qf i^ijis chapter. - 



Driving to be satisfactory must be efficiently carried out. It is a sine qua 

 non that good shots must be chosen. Owing to the improvement in guns, and 

 the amount of practice that can be obtained, few sportsmen are so inefficient 

 as actually to miss their bird ; but there is a vast difierence between the first- 

 class shot who steadily kills four birds out of six, and the indifi'erent performer 

 who only wounds a similar proportion. Difficult drives^ that is to say, drives 

 in which the birds either come at a great height or dip or curve over the line of 

 butts, should be avoided unless masters of the craft are to form the firing line. 

 Butts should not be too far apart — 40 yards is a good average distance, and if 

 this be taken as the maximum it will obviate the necessity of firing long shots, 

 and at the same time allow a good performer to finish off the " tailored " birds 

 of his next-door neighbour. The butts should also, where possible, be sunk so 



^ "The Complete Shot," pp. 232-233. ' T'iV/<> p. 480. 



