194 FRANK SCHLEY's PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



rule, where the home, haunts and habits of these wihJ^ 

 watchful, secluded, mountain birds are found. These game 

 birds are brought to bag in various wa3'S — they are taken 

 in traps, in nooses and snares, and, when on the wing, with 

 dog and gun. 



To be successful in shooting Pheasants on the vving, it 

 requires great skill and excellence in handlingthe gun; at 

 the same time there is no sport that so much depends on 

 the perfect coolness, and quick action of the sportsman, as 

 Pheasant shooting, and I am not aware of any other sport 

 in which the nerves of the sportsman are more fully tested, 

 than in this delightful recreation. Pheasants require careful 

 watching to mark them down. You must eye them very 

 closel}' in their line of flight, and when j-ou lose sight of 

 them through the cover, or in the distance, keep your eye 

 on their line of flight, and far in advance; they very often 

 show themselves when coming down, by a motion of their 

 wings, or in some other Avay, long after j^ou have lost sight 

 of them. Our Pheasants are found usually in the most 

 dense covers, and the dog that is best adapted to their pur- 

 suit is a well-broken, easily controlled, diligent and steady 

 Pointer or Setter. I have no preference for the Pointer 

 over the Setter for this sport, when either possesses the 

 following qualities. He should have a good nose, and should 

 stand firm, and should carry his head well up, and when 

 the weather is calm, or goihg either with or against the 

 wind, he should scent his game from twenty to forty yai'ds 

 distance, and draw upon the scent slowly with cat-like 

 caution, and have judgment enough to be content to stand 

 before flushing up his game, fast and firm upon the scent, 

 with head high, and tail stiff, from ten t(. tweiity yards 

 fi-om liis game, as these wild birds will not always lie to 

 allow a much closer point. AVith a Pointer or Setter with 

 these qualities, and these alone, will Pheasants, over dogs, 

 be successfully shot. The Pheasant, when frightened from 

 the ground, offers the best and fairest mark to be killed, 

 when they mount up into the air before getting headway 

 on the wing. Flying around or across they offer a fair 



