PIGEON-SHOOTING. 309 



appeal had been made, I 'should have been com- 

 pelled to decide against the shooters for having 

 brought up the gun to the shoulder too soon. 

 It is better to get used to holding the gun 

 well down. When the habit is formed, a man 

 can shoot as well that way as the other, and then 

 he will not be bothered and confused by being 

 challenged under the rule in a strange place. 

 Conform to the rules at home, and it will be 

 easy to observe them abroad. Shooters need not 

 suppose that they will not be enforced in other 

 places because they have been accustomed to 

 disregard them at home. 



When I first commenced pigeon-shooting, I 

 lost a match in consequence of having two birds 

 decided against me for holding the gun above 

 the elbow before the pigeons flew. Since then 

 I have always been careful to hold the gun 

 well down, in practice as well as in matches 

 and sweepstakes. Another thing to be noted is 

 this : in club-shooting, where eight or ten of the 

 members contend, the birds should be assorted 

 ihe old ones put into one basket and the young 

 ones into another ; and then they should be ap- 

 portioned to the shooters equally.' When the 

 old ones and the young are all mixed up, there 



