VITAL SHOTS. 33 



The shot at an animal sitting is often a very difficult one, especially where there is 

 any grass, and we are inclined to advise the neck shot under these circumstances, if 

 it is at all feasible. 



A wounded animal would still live and, perhaps, charge with a few shots put in the 

 neighbourhood of the heart, but a good neck shot would kill it instantly. 



We have tried to describe how to make most certain of a deadly shot, but a 

 good deal depends on uncertainties, such as the way the bullet sets up (no two bullets 

 ever expanding in exactly the same manner) ; the direction the bullet may take after 

 it strikes (bullets often take the most extraordinary and unaccountable directions after 

 striking, instance the many remarkable wounds received in the Boer war), and the 

 condition of the vital organs at the moment they are hit. 



The heart is always dilating and contracting, and the exact state it is in often 

 accounts for the different behaviour of two animals hit with a bullet of the same calibre 

 in the same place. 



In expansion the heart offers a bigger target, but when hit in this condition the 

 contraction which immediately follows closes up the hole, so that no blood escapes 

 until the next expansion. 



On the other hand, in contraction the heart oilers a smaller target ; but if hit in 

 this condition, the bullet-hole is extended in the subsequent expansion, and a large flow 

 of blood ensues. 



There is little left to add, except that it ought to be the young sportsman's 

 endeavour to try and kill quickly, and not to wound ; but if he does wound an animal 

 he should spare no pains or exertion in following it and trying to bring it to bag, so 

 remember that a well-placed first shot is better than three or four badly placed 

 afterwards. 



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