RABBIT SHOOTING 319 



do not " open," or else beaters. In fair undergrowth, in which 

 one can just see to shoot sometimes, rabbits when at home will 

 make for their holes fast enough, and they take shooting. But 

 for difficulty in covert they are as nothing compared with rabbits 

 that have well used runs through fairly long heather. Some- 

 times in running they will be under the heather, and even under 

 the level of the ground in the broken surface ; sometimes they 

 will be above the heather. You will probably try to shoot a 

 little in front of them as they turn and twist along their runs at 

 great speed, but nothing makes a shooter feel so foolish as 

 shooting so much in front that the quarry never at any time 

 gets as forward as the shot went. The heather rabbit is quite 

 capable of creating this feeling, for when you lose sight of him 

 he frequently changes his course just as if he knew that his 

 enemy was noted for shooting well in front. Where under 

 covert is very thick indeed, the author has never seen pretty 

 rabbit shooting, although he has seen fearless spaniels trying to 

 make the rabbits run, and succeeding in making them crawl and 

 hop by turns, but run very rarely indeed. They seem to know 

 that the spaniels cannot catch them in such places. Rabbit 

 shooting on a grand scale is nearly always a failure. You kill 

 the numbers, no doubt; but in order that you should do it the 

 rodents have been ferreted or " stunk " out of their holes, and 

 the latter have been stopped up, and most of the quarry appear 

 to know they are in a trap, and are philosophical enough to think 

 that it is useless to run without having a place to run to. You 

 can certainly drive rabbits past the guns, but you cannot always 

 make them run. In only fairly thick under covert, with rides 

 for the guns to stand, fair sport is often obtained. You may see 

 the rabbits come up to the ride and then stop and hide. They 

 fear to cross. Then, when they are obliged to go, they make a 

 rush of it ; evidently they know their danger, and think safety 

 lies in speed. If they can be got to cross like this, there is sport 

 in it, provided the rides are not too wide. If they are wide, you 

 make a certainty of your shot, and the sport is less. The best 

 sporting width is that which causes an uncertainty as to whether 

 the shot succeeded, and an examination in the bushes to see 



