OF A RANCHMAN 67 



A man must be able to hit a bull's-eye eight 

 inches across every time to do good work 

 with deer or other game ; for the spot around 

 the shoulders that is fatal is not much bigger 

 than this; and a shot a little back of that 

 merely makes a wound which may in the end 

 prove mortal, but which will in all probabil- 

 ity allow the animal to escape for the time be- 

 ing. It takes a good shot to hit a bull's-eye 

 off-hand several times in succession at a 

 hundred yards, and if the bull's-eye was 

 painted the same color as the rest of the 

 landscape, and was at an uncertain distance, 

 and, moreover, was alive, and likely to take 

 to its heels at any moment, the difficulty 

 of making a good shot would be greatly en- 

 hanced. The man who can kill his buck 

 right along at a hundred yards has a right 

 to claim that he is a good shot. If he can 

 shoot off-hand standing up, that is much the 

 best way, but I myself always drop on one 

 knee, if I have time, unless the animal is 

 very close. It is curious to hear the non- 

 sense that is talked and to see the nonsense 



