MANAGEMENT OF THE GUN 137 



paragraph or two, I have read what Mr. Sydney 

 Buxton says in his charming book/ and have 

 spoken of the matter to one whom I have shot 

 with for many years, and who is a good per- 

 former. Mr. Buxton's notion of how it is done 

 is not unhke mine. What has here been said of 

 the sub-conscious goes not ill, I think, with Mr. 

 Buxton's remark that there is not ^* much conscious 

 aiming, or consciousness of the existence of the 

 gun as such. There is much truth in the remark, 

 * If I aim, I poke ; if I poke, I miss ; the days I 

 shoot best are the days on which I don't know 

 what I am doing.' " Now for my other friend. 

 I asked him : '^ Can you tell me what you do 

 when you shoot a fast rabbit. Do you aim at 

 it ?" "No," he replied. Then I asked him if he 

 could say what he did. But all he could say was 

 that he put the gun to his shoulder, and, if in 

 good form, got his rabbit ! ^' It's a matter of eye, 

 you know," he added, and beyond this I could 

 get no enlightenment from him. 



A few remarks about the sort of gun that is 

 now commonly provided for young beginners and 

 the shooter's outfit may be convenient here, before 

 we turn out for a day's sport in the covert, farm 

 land, or common. 



Muzzle-loaders for beginners are now, I take it, 

 practically unknown ; a few years from now indeed 

 they will be obsolete, seeing that excellent and — 

 contrary to what some people believe — perfectly 



^ "Fishing and Shooting," by Sydney Buxton, M.P. (Murray, 1902). 



