THE RIFLE ON MOVING GAME. 291 



Ind., four woodpeckers out of six at about fifty yards; 

 all crossing shots. This would be indeed marvelous 

 shooting. But as Carver never alluded to it himself, 

 and never has ventured to shoot at birds in his exhibi- 

 tions, we may well consider it, what it really was, pure 

 good fortune. Success of that sort runs in streaks. I 

 have made runs of shots with the rifle on running rab- 

 bits that I know I could not repeat in fifty trials. 

 When Dr. Carver was getting a thousand dollars a 

 week for pulverizing balls at the Minnesota State 

 Fair he was invited out to shoot grouse. It was 

 early in September, when grouse lie well to the dog, 

 are full grown, and generally rise at less than six 

 paces. There flies no bird that presents a fairer or 

 much larger target. The Doctor had shot thou- 

 sands before; he was not out for meat, but only for 

 sport. He knew that killing grouse at that season 

 with a gun is child's play. He shot sixty-five in all; 

 and he took precious good care to do it with the shot- 

 gun. Why did he not take a rifle? Perhaps he can 

 tell us better himself. Here is an extract from a letter 

 of his describing a chamois-hunt in Austria on the pre- 

 serves of Count Wilzek. It is from the Chicago Field 

 of Nov. 20, 1880. Here is a record of three days' 

 shooting, in his own language too, by the man who 

 was being wined and dined by princes and potentates 

 for his "marvelous," "natural," "instinctive," "in- 

 tuitive" shooting. Yet the reader must not suppose 

 this is bad shooting. It is first-class work under the 

 circumstances. I cite it only to show the enormous 

 difference between ball-shooting and game-shooting. 

 Probably no living shot could excel it. But just 

 count the misses and the shots let go for want of time 

 to shoot. Remember, too, that Carver is the quickest 



