UPLAND SHOOTING. 147 



Good shots have killed twenty shots in succession ; perhaps 

 more, even in thick covert ; but that is a very different thing 

 from saying can hill them. That, I am satisfied no man ever 

 did, nor ever will do. 



This, though applicable especially to Snipe, is true of all sorts -^j. /■ 

 of Game. After the observation, which has led me to this little / , 

 digression, Mr Audubon remarks that he has found the best .1 • 

 moment for pulling the trigger on a Snipe, to be that in which ,, ' 

 he utters his peculiar shrill squeak ; and in this I perfectly agree 

 with him ; for the Snipe utters that cry as he rises, and before he^^"**^ 

 gathers way ; and I am convinced that the most killing way toy-/t^, 

 shoot this bird, is to shoot at him during the instantaneous point . > 

 of time in which he hangs on the Avind — that is to say, to pull 

 the trigger the very instant the butt of your gun touches your '■'■■'- 

 shoulder. ^ ' ^- 1^ 



The old school method was to wait till the bird had done .Vj, ^ 

 twisting, and was at some forty yards distance ; but all that * •/ j 

 stuff", like taking a pinch of snuff after a bird rises and before t 

 raising the gun, was well enough for the days of long, single- ' ' * 

 baiTelled guns with flint locks. A good shot of the present day "■,/ 

 would knock over his dozen couple of right and left shots — not 's.X'-i 

 in succession, gentle reader — while one of those slow coaches £3tJ-< 

 was painfully picking up his half dozen. Cceteris paribus, the y 

 quickest shot is the best shot. . 



Another maxim of the same age and the same school is, that 

 the best dog over which to shoot Snipe is an old broken-down, 

 slow Pointer — perhaps he « for a pot-hunter! Indeed, I be- ^ 

 lieve, nine times out of ten, as many birds, perhaps more, iW 7 

 could be bagged without a dog at all ; or with a Newfoundland ^, 

 or Water Spaniel, kept entirely at heel, and only used to retrieve 

 the dead or cripples ; but where would be the sport of such " ' 

 slow gunning ? 



The best dogs for Snipe are the best dogs that can be got for 

 money — the bravest, fastest, most industrious, and best broken — 

 Setters, for my use, seeing that I prefer them for all pui-poses ; 

 but Pointers, if you will. 



