410 SHOOTING. 



is a comparatively tame and uninteresting amuse- 

 ment. To the majority of sportsmen a grouse 

 shooting excursion only occurs once a-year, and 

 then lasts only a few days ; the sport, therefore, 

 seldom palls, but during the long interval of time 

 that elapses between each, the coming season is 

 ever looked forward to with additional interest. 

 Grouse shooting is, in many respects, a source of 

 greater expenditure to the sportsman, it requires 

 more preparation, and is attended with more diffi- 

 culties than any other kind of shooting ; but these 

 circumstances, so far from detracting from, pro- 

 bably serve to enhance the enjoyment of the sport, 

 for we are apt to estimate whatever is obtained 

 with difficulty and expense at a higher rate than 

 what is gratuitously afforded us. 



It is not uncommon for an accomplished sports- 

 man to bag fifty brace on the 12th of August, on 

 preserved grounds. What may be termed a good 

 day's sport differs much on different moors ; on 

 well preserved moors the average may be from 

 ten to twenty brace; on subscription moors the 

 shooter should not be dissatisfied if he has the 

 opportunity of killing from three to five brace per 

 day during the first week of the season, though 

 this would be deemed a low average on the Scottish 

 mountains. 



The grouse shooter should be long in training 

 before the season, so as to be able to master his 

 ground, and carry his gun without much personal 

 inconvenience. He should ride or drive to and 

 from the shooting ground, for if he is unable to 



