160 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



LETTEE X 



PHEASANT SHOOTING (PAET I) 



HAVING in the last few Letters (II. to IX.) described 

 stage by stage the production of our pheasants, we 

 have at length arrived at the period of their existence 

 when it is fit they should afford sport for the gun. 



The mere fact, however, that your woods shelter 

 plenty of pheasants is no guarantee of successful 

 sport ; for such will rarely be the case unless a con- 

 siderable amount of forethought and skill is shown by 

 those responsible for the arrangement of the day's 

 shooting. 



A successful day's sport implies that as many birds 

 are killed as it was intended should be killed, or as 

 ought to be killed, and also that the birds were driven 

 so as to give high and sporting shots to the guns. 



If the shooters are not good marksmen, the pro- 

 portion of birds bagged will of course be less than 

 when the aiming is accurate ; still, even in the latter 

 case, if the pheasants are driven in good style to the 

 guns, at all events the host and his keepers cannot be 

 accused of bad management. 



