WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 257 



are plentiful, a dog is not necessary, as they lie to a man alone, as 

 ■well as to a man with a dog ; but if the ground to be beaten is 

 wide, and the birds few, the help of a dog is needed. A dog must 

 be stanch as well as steady, and sliould be immovable on his point • 

 he must not crawl in or approach the bird, but must remain stiff 

 even though the shooter may have to make a circuit and come 

 round facing him. He must be trained to obey the hand. He 

 must follow at heel when called in, without attempting to beat 

 until ordered. This is a great point in snipc-sbooting, for a bird 

 will lie close to a man after having been marked down, when it 

 would flush wide of a dog ; and when marked down, a snipe can 

 always be found because it never runs more than a few feet from 

 the spot where it alighted. By going down- wind on the game, 

 the sportsman forces the bird to go away to the right or left hand, 

 as it tries to fly up- wind and thus afibrd a side shot. The moment 

 to deliver the shot is when the snipe poises itself after first rising, 

 and before it gets under way. It is then almost motionless for an 

 instant, and if it rises 15 yards from the gun — and it seldom rises 

 nearer — this is the time to shoot. As the snipe flies quickly, it is 

 necessary to aim the gun a foot ahead of him at 20 yards, and at 

 40 yards three feet space should be allowed. 



In the fall of the year their is less uncertainty in the habits of 

 the birds, and they are neither so wild nor unsteady as in the 

 spring. 



WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 



Custom or law has authorized the beginning of cock shooting on 

 the 1st day of July in most of our States, but it is too early, both 

 on account of the heat of the weather and the condition of the 

 birds. At this period many broods of woodcock are but recently 

 hatched, so that the killing of the hen bird, is the destruction of 

 the young brood. This may perhaps account for the fact that 

 these birds are rapidly diminishing in numbers, and in many places 

 have been exterminated. 



