toS SHOOTING THE GROUSE 



longways, taking a long beat along the lower side first, 

 coming back almost on the empty ground and then 

 repeating the manoeuvre, just as you would often do 

 in a turnip field when you wish to push partridges 

 forward. Again, if the wind be blowing exactly the 

 reverse way that is, up hill I should advise taking 

 the top beat first, or at least working the top side most 

 as you cross and wheel, so as to protect the march. 

 What I have suggested here applies when you have a 

 long hill-face to beat, perhaps the simplest as well as the 

 most frequent formation of grouse ground in Scotland. 

 But when you have to beat an area of flat or undulating 

 moorland above the hill-face, it is better to get straight 

 to the higher part of the ground first. Grouse lie 

 on higher ground during fine weather, and you must 

 break them up on this, so as to deal with them later 

 on when scattered on the lower ground. But in what 

 I may term ' mixed weather ' they will be more on 

 higher ground during the morning and middle-day 

 than in the evening. In very wild, stormy, and wet 

 weather, you had best, for the sake of your moor, not 

 be out at all ; but if you are, it will depend entirely 

 upon your observation of how the sheltered spots lie 

 whether you get a bag or not. When the wind is very 

 strong there is absolutely no chance of your finding 

 broods lying on the windy side of a hillock or ridge. 



