ADVICE TO SPORTSMEN. 245 



extremely wild, would possibly have knocked over fifty per 

 cent. more. 



Where we should advise the sportsman commencing 

 snipe shooting in spring would be at Vincennes, on the 

 Ohio and Mississippi railroad. From here you can have 

 sport in every direction, and when you feel desirous of 

 change of scene, the prairies, which begin here and con- 

 tinue north almost uninterruptedly to the great lakes, will 

 be found abundantly stocked from the date of the arrival 

 of the first flight of the migratory hordes. Of one thing 

 we should like to caution the novice, viz. the using of too 

 large shot. No. 9 will be found the best. A snipe requireg 

 but little hitting to bring him down, and then his body is 

 so small, that at the distance of forty yards, although your 

 aim may be correct, if you shoot large shot, it is far from 

 improbable that the game may fly through it. 



If your frame be cast in that iron mould which nature 

 has bestowed on some, and you are consequently capable 

 of bearing, without inconvenience, fatigue and exposure, 

 and are, at tbe same time, desirous of making as heavy a 

 bag as possible, while shooting over your snipe beat pay 

 particular attention to the water-courses and sloughs; and 

 when you become satisfied that you have found a spot 

 where the ducks are in the habit of spending their evenings, 

 which may be ascertained by the down-trodden weeds and 

 muddy appearance of the water, mark the place, for when 

 it becomes too late to continue peppering the snipe, you 

 can return and lie in ambush for the web-footed gentry. 

 Duck, from flying high when on the move, can be seen 

 much later than small game, more particularly if, watching 



