424 SHOOTING. 



to pass before a gun is brought to the shoulder. 

 It is difficult to drop a bird approaching. 



As the sportsman, in grouse shooting, has an 

 opportunity of choosing his own distance when 

 birds rise near to him, he will be more certain of 

 killing if he let the birds fly twenty-five yards 

 from him before he fires the first barrel, when if 

 he have both barrels cocked, he will have ample 

 time to throw in the reserve barrel while the birds 

 are within reasonable distance. In nothing is the 

 superiority of the detonating over the flint lock 

 more apparent than in its allowing the shooter to 

 fire the second so soon after the first barrel. We 

 suspect that the habit of taking the gun from the 

 shoulder after the first barrel was fired, originated 

 in the necessity of waiting until the smoke from 

 the pan was blown away, which nuisance no longer 

 exists. A person who is a decidedly bad shot 

 should not use the cartridge in the first barrel, as 

 the loose charge gives a larger circle at a short 

 distance, and consequently increases the chance of 

 killing. 



No species of shooting requires the aid of good 

 dogs more than grouse shooting, and in no sport 

 does so much annoyance result from the use of bad 

 ones. The best dog, perhaps, for the moors, is a 

 well bred pointer, not more than five years old, 

 which has been well tutored, young in years, but 

 a veteran in experience. The setter is occasionally 

 used with success, but we prefer the pointer. The 

 latter has unquestionably the advantage when the 

 moors are dry, as it not unfrequently happens 



