DIEECTIOXS FOR TARTRIDGE SIIOOTIXG. 11 



not always paying- the same attention to the working of 

 the dogs. ]n fjict, it is generally admitted, that most 

 men in partridge shooting, succeed better when alone 

 than in company. 



" The social chat with cheerful friends 

 For want of sport may make amends ; 

 The conversation I admire, 

 Is after dinner by the fire." 



When alone there is nothing to excite or make you 

 the least nervous, and when the birds rise you have a 

 wider choice of single or double shots. In partridge 

 shooting, as in all other field sports, you should beat 

 your ground close, particularly the corners of fields, if 

 it should be a windy day, as the birds are then apt to 

 shelter themselves under the hedges ; young sportsmen 

 either from carelessness or idleness, sometimes omit 

 doing this, and I have more than once, in consequence, 

 had good shooting over a country, which had been 

 beaten two or three hours before. I readily admit that 

 much depends on the good or bad qualities of your dog 

 in finding your game, and I was certainly very fortunate 

 in breeding some excellent dogs, which I always broke 

 in myself.* If they have good noses, plenty of work 

 and being a good shot will mainly contribute to ac- 

 complish this object. 



On entering a field, the sportsman should not stand 

 idle at the gate, whilst the dogs are ranging over the 



* I rarely allowed my gamekeepers to break in mj' pointers or setters. 

 The error of these substitutes is a want of judgment in the pimishment 

 of the dogs, and Stonehenge says, "It is much easier to take the courage 

 out of the very boldest animal, than to put it into a timid one ; " but 

 gamekeepers resemble some schoolmasters whose motto is " spare the rod 

 and spoil the child." 



