the field. Set it firmly and stand close to it to begin with, moving 

 back gradually as you become able to hit the targets. Keep your 

 gun moving with the target, and aim low, as the gun will lift at the 

 moment of shooting. Twenty years ago the trap shooter held his 

 gun below the elbow until the bird was on the wing. Some wonder- 

 ful scores were made at this style of shooting. 



^ - .^j£^fi^0^ 



STYLE OF HOLDING GUN AT PRESENT TIME, 



At the present day he holds his gun to his shoulder, ready for 

 the "bird" to be thrown from the trap. 



If you have no knowledge at all of firearms, begin your practice 

 with a rifle, size .22, which will be cheaper and easier to learn with. If 

 you are near the water, take a board two feet long and six inches wide, 

 and put a tin can in the center of it. Tie a rope thirty or forty feet 

 long to the board and float the board on the water. Have some one 

 draw it along the surface slowly while you stand some twenty or thirty 

 feet away, and try to follow the object with your gun. When you 

 think you can follow, shoot at the can ; even if you miss, the water 

 will tell you just where you shot, and so you can make your allow- 

 ance and see how fast you will have to move your gun to hit the can. 



When you can hit every time, have a can tossed up in the air six 

 or eight feet at first and try to hit it. Have the can thrown up easily 



47 



