2O2 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



Boar or that at the Red Lion. An old keeper or 

 watcher who knows the coverts, and their weak points 

 at which game is likely to run out, and whose active 

 days are over, can generally be utilised as ' king of 

 the stops ; ' and a most important functionary he is, 

 too. 



Never allow a ' stop ' to stand close up to the end 

 or point of a covert with a view to check the pheasants 

 from running out ; as, if you do, he will merely turn 

 the birds to one side or the other of him, or at most 

 prevent those immediately to his front from breaking 

 covert. 



A ' stop ' should walk backwards and forwards well 

 away from the end of the covert he is ' stopping '- 

 say at seventy to eighty yards distance. All the 

 birds will then see him, instead of only a few, as 

 would be the case if he stood close up to the hedge or 

 fence. 



It is a good plan to give each ' stop ' a flag on a 

 thin stick ; he can then rustle his flag from side to side 

 as he walks his beat, which will have a great effect in 

 preventing the stealing away of the game. 



Any hedges that run from a covert into the 

 open or to another covert should be very carefully 

 ' stopped.' Pheasants will stream out along a hedge 

 if they obtain a chance, when they will hesitate to 

 face the open without some concealment of their 

 escape. 



Remember that a thick high hedge often requires 



