332 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



another quarter), it is, no doubt, very satisfactory for 

 the shooters ; but it is often just as useful an act for 

 a second reason, which is, that if the birds do not fly 

 over the guns the first drive, the succeeding one may 

 be a complete failure. 



I here allude to a stretch of flat moorland that is 

 driven backwards and forwards from opposite direc- 

 tions over the same line of shelters, a method that is 

 by far the most killing one in grouse driving, as, 

 provided you can manage to confine the majority of 

 the birds to the ground you are driving, the oftener 

 they are driven and fired at the better for the bag, as 

 though they may fly in packs at first they are sure to 

 become scattered after a drive or two, and to thus 

 afford plenty of single shots in the following ones. 



It is obvious, therefore, when double drives are 

 being carried out, that the grouse should be sent over 

 the guns in a direction that will cause them to alight 

 on ground from which they can be driven back again 

 to the shooters. This is so important, that a couple 

 of pointsmen, posted behind the shelters whilst a drive 

 is progressing, with a view to keeping the birds after 

 they have passed the guns within the limits of the 

 drive that will next be taken, are often of great 

 service (figs. 64 and 66). 



In the event of single drives, that is, drives from 

 one direction only, each to its own range of shelters, 



