56 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



none of the inspiration of true sportsmanship, any more 

 than has the yarding and killing of deer when the snow 

 lies too deep for their legitimate pursuit. 



When given a fair field and fight, woodcock can hold 

 their own against all comers, and seem at times to set all 

 human knowledge of their ways at defiance, puzzling the 

 most experienced hunter to find them with success; but 

 it is usually when he, unmindful of the peculiarities of 

 the country, or of that particular season, looks for them 

 in their usual haunts, or depends upon their flights being 

 at the same period as in some other year, different in 

 itself, and preceded by a different spring and summer. 



Woodcock, before their migratory flights, are some- 

 what nomadic in their ways, changing their feeding- 

 grounds frequently, thus leading many to believe that 

 they are on their southern journey. 



The autumnal equinox, if followed by two or three 

 sharp, frosty nights, usually starts the first flight south- 

 ward, and when once the birds commence to move in num- 

 bers, one may be sure of good shooting. A still day is 

 the best for woodcock- shooting, especially if following a 

 rain, for then the scent lies better, and so do the birds. 

 On windy days, woodcock are wild, and usually flush 

 with the wind, no matter which way it blows. The idea 

 that when found in their autumn flights they always 

 flush toward the south, and continue in that direction, 

 no matter how often started, is simply a theory not borne 

 out by facts. 



These birds being unlike all others in their field 

 tactics, he who hunts them should have a somewhat 

 different outfit from that used in pursuit of other game. 

 The choke-bore is out of place in a woodcock cover, for 

 it either misses or tears the bird in pieces, and a heavy 

 gun has no advantage, for the range at which woodcock 

 are shot is usually within the killing power of the cylin- 



