AIDS TO SHOOTING 451 
or was expected to rise, helped many a man to retain 
his self-possession and to kill birds that otherwise he 
would have missed, firing the gun when they were 
so close to him that if the charge had hit them they 
would have been torn to pieces. In ways such as this 
the man of experience may greatly help the novice with- 
out in the least hurting his feelings or in any way 
offending him. 
In his admirable little book, entitled “Hitting vs. 
Missing,” Mr. Hammond recommends practice by the 
novice at stones skipped over the smooth surface of 
a body of water. The suggestion is an excellent one, 
for the striking of the shot on the water enables the 
shooter to see precisely where he is holding with rela- 
tion to the mark at which he is shooting. This, of 
course, is what each gunner wishes to know when he 
shoots at any object. Why did he miss? Did the 
charge go above, below, or to one side of the mark? 
The shooter who could tell where each charge of shot 
went, and had intelligence enough to apply this knowl- 
edge to each subsequent shot, would speedily attain a 
high degree of skill. 
It is generally known that a person properly placed 
can see a charge of shot flying through the air toward 
a target. The charge of shot, as it flies through the 
air, is said to look like a long shadow composed of 
many lengthwise strips. It is a common practice for 
a trap shooter, when he finds that he is frequently miss- 
ing his targets, to ask some friend to stand near him 
and watch where the shot is going with relation to the 
