280 SUGGESTIONS TO SPORTSMEN. 
arises from some temporary or permanent con- 
dition of mind or body, the second from anxiety 
to make assurance doubly sure, and the last from 
habit. 
If a man is naturally slow he can never shoot fast- 
flying birds, but if his fingers are stiff from cold he 
can warm them. A resolution to fire boldly, and not 
to dread missing, will cure the over-anxiety that 
destroys its own intent, but to meet the recoil with- 
out giving to it, or pushing against it, which is the 
more common mistake, is often extremely difficult. 
This unfortunate habit, occurring at the moment of 
highest excitement amid the noise and smoke, is 
rarely noticed by the guilty party, and some will at 
first stoutly deny its existence. 
To mind the recoil of a gun seems pusillanimous, 
and few can believe, till assured by actual experi- 
ment, that it equals sixty or seventy pounds, and 
will crush the bones of the body if immovably fixed. 
Let the reader observe the next time that his gun is 
unwittingly left at halftcock, how far he will pull it 
out of aim, and how he will push against it, when at- 
tempting to discharge it at game. An acquaintance 
of the writer, who would scout the idea of being 
affected by the recoil of his gun, and indeed would 
have sworn “it did not kick a bit,” was once chas- 
ing a diver on a placid, sluggish stream, in a dug-out. 
When the bird rose close to the boat, the sportsman 
was standing erect, poising himself with care in the 
unsteady craft, but as he pulled the trigger he in- 
stinctively pushed so hard, that, as the cap snapped, 
