Bow -Shooting. 



863 



WHAT Vol AIMED AT. 



WHIN TIIK ARROW GOT T11KKK. 



out of his form before you see him, 

 and after a few long, lazy bounds, 

 squats on his haunches and waits 

 for you to shoot at him. You aim 

 low and let fly and have the 

 chagrin to see your arrow strike 

 full ten feet short ! The hare re- 

 solves himself into an ecstasy of 

 billowy ambulation, outrunning the other by several seconds on the 

 mile, and you are left pensively leaning on your bow, longing for a 

 shot-gun ! The third time is the 

 charm, mayhap, and you bowl 

 your game over in fine style. A 

 week or two of daily practice in 

 good hare-cover will get you well 

 up toward successful shooting at 

 this game ; then you will be ready 

 for quail and pheasant. These birds are so similar in their habits 

 that to know one is to be pretty well acquainted with the other. 

 You hunt them on damp, cloudy days with a very small dog, to 

 escape which they fly up and alight on the lower limbs of trees 

 and hedge shrubs or the stakes of worm fences. This gives you 

 rare sport, and shot by shot you knock down your birds. 



Thus you gradually advance in the science and art of archery till 

 you become a "crack shot," able to match any ordinary rifleman at 

 forty yards. I can now leave you and proceed to give some notes 

 on a few of the many hunting-grounds I have shot over with the 

 long-bow. But first a word about the dress of a wild-wood archer. 

 Your angler has his suit, your gunner has his; why may not the 

 archer affect a peculiar garb? He does. It consists of low-legged 

 jack-boots, corduroy breeches, a green-checked hickory shirt, and 

 a broad-brimmed, light, soft felt hat. If the weather is chilly or cold. 

 a heavy flannel shirt may be worn under the hickory, or a close- 

 fitting jacket may be put on over it. The main object is to keep 

 your clothes down to the minimum in weight, and at the eame time 

 have no skirts or lappels to hinder your shoot ii 



Florida was the first grand hunting-ground visited by my brother 

 and myself. After a year or two of training under Williams and a 



