SHOOTING 11 



as carefully as is that of a kicking horse in the 

 hunting-field. 



The only really safe way of carrying a gun is 

 over the shoulder, with the triggers pointing to the 

 sky. Nevertheless, one may often meet with men 

 who are so careless of human life that they treat 

 their guns as though they were guitars or inf ants- 

 in-arms, or even as walking-sticks. It is not, 

 however, necessary to warn the true sportsman 

 against such malpractices, the disadvantages of 

 which are too obvious to require mention. 



The most careful man I ever knew was a 

 sinister-looking individual whom I once en- 

 countered in a dark corner of one of the thickest 

 of my uncle's coverts. When I came suddenly 

 upon him he was busily engaged in taking his 

 gun to pieces, storing the barrels down the leg 

 of his trousers, while he tucked the stock away 

 in a voluminous pocket at the back of his coat. 

 I thought at the time that he was erring on the 

 side of excessive caution, but I was wrong. Had 

 this man, in fact, continued to exercise sufficient 

 prudence, he would not at this moment be under- 

 going six months' imprisonment for poaching. 



It is, of course, essential that a gun should 

 always be unloaded before its owner attempts 

 to climb a stile or negotiate a stiff fence; indeed, 

 there is only one thing more annoying than to 

 shoot a fellow-creature owing to a neglect of this 



