SPOTTED DEER 



shooting in America, which almost equally apply to 

 Ceylon : 



" When we come to analyse rifle-shooting you will con- 

 clude that I tell the exact truth when I assert, as I do most 

 positively, that the man who talks of placing a ball where 

 he wishes to place it in a running deer or antelope at any 

 distance, or at one standing beyond 150 yards, is either an 

 ignoramus or a braggart, who takes his listener for a bigger 

 fool than he is himself. 



" I draw the following principles, not from my own 

 experience only, but from that of the very best shots I 

 have ever seen, men whom I believe it almost impossible 

 to excel, and when we come to analyse shooting I will try 

 to prove them from indisputable principles. 



" ist. To hit a running deer in any part of the body at 

 any distance is a first-class shot. 



" 2nd. To hit at 150 yards anywhere within 10 inches of 

 the centre of the shoulder of a standing deer or antelope, 

 or strike the body anywhere at 200 yards, is a first-class 

 shot. 



" 3rd. To hit a deer at all at 100 yards, when you can 

 only see part of it in bush or among trees, is a first-class shot. 



U 4th. To hit one in the vitals at only 60 yards, when 

 it shows only a small spot of dull colour in dark heavy 

 timber, is a first-class shot." 



I entirely agree with Mr. Van Dyke in every word 

 of the foregoing observations, and they apply just as well 

 to Ceylon as to the backwoods of America. It takes a 

 first-class shot to hit a deer, in this country, at 150 yards, 

 even in an open park, all the conditions of light, back- 

 ground, and surroundings being taken into consideration. 



241 



