IN SHOOTING. Ill 



indeed all I have asserted, not as a mere opinion, but as 

 the result of decided proofs, that I have witnessed no 

 small number of times.) 



In boisterous weather, contrive, as much as you can, 

 to sport on the windward part of your beat, or you will 

 drive the birds away from your own property to where 

 they may fall a prey to other shooters, or be driven into 

 the heart of another manor by some knowing game- 

 keeper. Many old sportsmen will not beat their ground 

 at all in windy weather. This I hold to be bad, for 

 birds run a great deal when it blows hard ; and, by such 

 means, often run out of bounds. When birds are 

 young and tame, a windy day is generally the ruin of 

 good sport; but when they are strong and wild, the 

 most boisterous weather is frequently the best for one 

 who shoots quick and well, as the birds cannot hear so 

 far, and will often lie the closer, for the sake of shelter. 



For one who happens to be deprived of his only dog 

 at the critical time of the shooting, or when there is no 

 scent, on a dry sultry day, there is many a worse plan 

 for killing birds than to get two boys to drag the ground 

 with a rope, from ten to twenty yards long, kept down 

 with a weight or stone at each end. This plan first 

 struck me from the immense number of birds that have 

 been sprung by the land-measurers, after harvest, at a 

 time when the best of sportsmen have left behind them 

 a great deal of game. If there is one shooter, he should 

 keep in the middle, a little behind the rope, and the 

 boys should be well drilled to drop like dogs when the 

 game rises. But if two shooters, then one may be on 

 each flank, and the rope may have a longer sweep. 



For a person who has regular business to attend, 

 and therefore can only go out for a few hours in the 



