312 TRAP SHOOTING. 



birds, fast, driving ones, falling out of bounds, 

 though hit clean and well. And in my opinion 

 he made as good shots at them as at any that 

 he scored, if not better. Every pigeon-shooter of 

 large experience knows that matches are some- 

 times lost by the man who shoots best, because 

 of his hard luck in having birds fail dead just 

 out of bounds. Now, there ought to be as little 

 chance for luck in contests of this nature as 

 may be possible to contrive. 



I have many times killed every bird I shot at, but 

 some fell out of bounds. Now, if shooting is the 

 thing to be tested, I had as much right to these, 

 which were killed by the gun, as to those which 

 fell inside. At Omaha, last June, I shot at fifty 

 birds, twenty singles and fifteen pairs of doubles. 

 I killed all the single birds, but lost one by rea- 

 son of its falling a little out of bounds. I scored 

 all the double birds, thus making forty-nine out 

 of fifty, and if it had not been for the senseless, 

 arbitrary rule in question, 1 should have scored 

 all the fifty. ; j; -. 



The fair way to shoot pigeons, whether in clubs, 

 matches, or sweepstakes, is from II and T traps, no 

 matter whether ground, plunge, or spring traps. 

 In matches, the birds being in the traps, and the 



