46 SHOOTING. 



tact, or, in other words, at the moment that you bring the muzzle 

 of your gun from your first level below, to bear direct upon the 

 object. 



It may here be observed, that all these written dii-ections are, 

 from their very nature, very obscure, and very iuadequately fitted to 

 teach shooting by mere words. The eye is the grand organ for 

 taking in rapidly and surely instructions on the matter • and for a 

 young shooter to have the advantages of being a few days in the 

 fields or moors with an experienced marksman, is to be in a position 

 of gaining more information in this short space of time, than he 

 could acquire were he to read scores of volumes. All written 

 descriptions of material objects are constitutionally limited and im- 

 perfect ; they can give a considerable portion of useful knowledge, 

 but chiefly by conveying it in general terms, and compendious 

 maxims, not by dealing too much in matters of detail and mere 

 routine. 



At the same time, in matters of this kind we feel justified in 

 laying before the reader the candid opinions of sportsmen, wlio 

 have paid great attention to this subject of shooting birds on their 

 flight, in order that he may have the fullest information on the 

 subject, and know, what opinionscirculate in the sporting world 

 among some of its most distinguished members. Col. Hawker 

 directs the young beginner as follows : — Before an object crossing — 

 full high for a bird risi7ig up, or flying away very loio, and between i 

 the ears of hares and rabbits running straight moay ; all this, of , 

 course, in proportion to the distance ; and if we consider the velo- ; 

 city with which a bird flies, we shall rarely err by firing at the i 

 crossing bird when d^ forty yards, at least -five or six inches before it. 

 As the barrels of double guns usually shoot a little inwards at long 

 distances, there is so far a preference in favo'ar of the right barrel 

 for a,n object crossing to the left, and vice versa, that, if we were 

 beating along the sides of a hedge, it would be best to keep the \ 

 barrel next to it in a state of preparation. Till the pupd is fully j 

 master of all this, he will find great assistance from the sight, which 1 

 he should have precisely on the intended point when he fii-es ; he 

 will thus by degrees attain the art of killing game in good style, 

 which is to fix his eyes on the object, and fii-e the moment he has 

 brought up the gun. He may then, idtimately, acquire the knack 

 of killing snap shots, and bring down a November bird the moment 

 he to]3s the stubble, or a rabbit popping in a fui'ze-brake, with more 

 certainty than he once used to shoot a young grouse in August, 

 or a partridge in September.* Another writer tells us that, in 

 taking aim, the point of the gun or sight, in a right line from the 

 mark upon the oreech, should be levelled point-blank with the 

 object ; and then the finger must instantaneously pull the trigger, 

 as on this quickness of the hand, the whole art of shooting depends. 

 This we think altogether erroneous ; if followed out to the full. 



• Hawker, p. 134. 



