316 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



should work diligently, but not hurriedly, and it is 

 hardly necessary to add that the work should be done 

 as silently as possible, though this also is true of all 

 other kinds of shooting. 



The dog should be a good retriever, otherwise a 

 large percentage of the birds will be lost, for many 

 times it is as difficult to find the bird after it is killed 

 as it is before. Dogs which run riot in this shooting 

 can soon tire themselves out, particularly in summer 

 shooting, when dogs are out of condition, and the 

 weather warm, but the consequent fatigue from such 

 overexertion and unfit condition cannot be justly at- 

 tributed to the difficulty of the sport. It is rather hard 

 work for the shooter, particularly him of the North, 

 where the quest must be made afoot, and where the 

 footing is difficult and insecure, though after all it is 

 but little more difficult than any other shooting in 

 which the shooter walks. 



As the dog often comes to a point in thick cover 

 out of sight of the shooter, even though the point may 

 be but a few steps away from him, a bell attached to 

 the dog's collar has been found of great assistance in 

 determining his whereabouts, and its silence indicates 

 when he stops on point, a matter very essential in con- 

 ducting the sport. Not every dog is a good wood- 

 cock dog, even though he may be excellent on quail, 

 snipe, chickens, etc. Some dogs appear to dislike the 

 work intensely, others refusing to recognize the bird 

 at all. A few take to it very kindly, and work to the 

 gun from observation to a useful degree far above 



