SHOOTING THE WOODS GROUSE 383 
Many sportsmen will not agree with Mr. Waters’ be- 
lief that a ruffed grouse in the open is as easily brought 
to bag as a prairie chicken. They even declare that the 
ruffed grouse flies three times as fast as his pinnated 
cousin, and is at least twice as difficult to hit. 
In his recent volume on “Life and Sport on the 
North Shore of the St. Lawrence River,’ Mr. Nap. A. 
Comeau says: 
“Ruffed grouse shooting in this section is not sport, 
and is not regarded as such by the residents, for the 
reason that neither the people nor the birds have been 
educated to it. I can count on less than the fingers 
of one hand all the men I know on this shore who will 
deliberately flush a grouse to shoot it on the wing. As 
for the birds themselves, unless they happen to be in 
an open spot, they will not fly any distance. In the 
woods, which are pretty dense here, when flushed they 
simply rise off the ground, perching in the nearest tree 
and stretching their necks to see you walking under 
them. If it happens that a covey is started they will 
frequently be all killed without any of the others around 
taking flight. Many a time when in the woods trap- 
ping we would not waste a shot on them, but simply 
go to work and cut down a small sapling, tie a noose 
or string at one end, slip it over their head and pull 
them off the branch. At other times, for amusement, 
we would go out with a bow and a blunt-headed arrow 
and whack them off the trees at twenty feet range, 
which is about the usual one that they are shot at here. 
“What a contrast to the educated ones! Some years 
