56 WING-SHOOTING. 



wind, allow them to fly a distance when they will make 

 against the wind towards you, on the one side or the 

 other, and present a side shot, about the easiest shot 

 possible under the circumstances. But when snipe are 

 wild I think, as a rule, that you cannot shoot too 

 quickly, not hurriedly, for when rising against the wind 

 they dwell for an instant before getting away, and that 

 instant is just the time to let go at them. Occasionally 

 they go as they please, or rise just as it happens, w^hen 

 you must do your level best. 



On account of quickness in handling the gun, long 

 shots, and hardness of shooting required, I prefer a 

 light 12-gauge full choke-bore gun, a gun that is capable 

 of doing its work well, up to forty or fifty yards. Ordi- 

 narily a cylinder will be quite as effective, but when snipe 

 are wild as they usually are, the gun mentioned above 

 will be the weapon to depend upon. 



CHARGES FOR SNIPE-SHOOTING. 



For a 12-gauge gun, I load as follows : — 

 3J drs. of Hamilton Caribou, No. 5 powder, 



or, 

 3J drs. of Pigou, Wilks and Laurence's Alliance No. 4, 

 a card, a thick felt greased and a card wad ; I|^ oz. of No, 

 8 or No. 9 shot, and a card wad, 



