50 FRANK Schley's partridge and pheasant shooting. 



STEAIGHT FOEWAED SHOTS. 



ItEAIGHT forward shots are very uncertain shots 

 to fire, and they are the easiest of all flying shots to 

 catch aim upon. A bad marksman will be more apt 

 •-^ to kill upon a straight forward shot, than any other 

 flying shot. When a Partridge rises and goes straight 

 <)% if it is within twenty-five or thirty yards, aim directly 

 at the bird. If within twenty-five or thirty yards up to 

 forty-five, aim to just cover the bird. From the distance 

 of forty-five yards up to sixty, seventy, or eighty, aim two 

 or three inches above the bird. A Partridge flying straight 

 ofl: is a very uncertain shot to kill — you have nothing but 

 its rump to shoot at, and there are three chances out of 

 four, that unless you hit it with two pellets of shot, it will 

 not be brought down, and the chances are, that the shot 

 will pass around it, and it will escape being hit. Straight 

 forward shots are uncertain for the sportsman — they are 

 not likely to hit, no matter how perfect the aim may be, 

 and if they do hit, are not apt to kill, as the vital parts of 

 the bird are more or less protected by the rump bone, and 

 the bird is likely to get off" with a wound, or the loss of 

 a few feathers. I have killed Partridges flying straight 

 off" at fifty, sixty, and as high as one hundred yards dis- 

 tance, but they were all chance shots — where you would 

 kill one Partridge flying straight ofl" at one hundred yards, 

 you would miss twenty. A Partridge is a small object 

 when it is divested of its feathers, and when it is flying 

 straight ofl" it presents a very narrow and small mark to 

 shoot at. Sportsmen when they shoot straight shots at 

 long distances, should bear this in mind. Twenty-five or 

 thirty yards is the very outside limit of distance of cer- 

 tainty to fire upon Partridges flying straight off". Beyond 



