376 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



It then is not an infrequent occurrence that the 

 shooter will hear the startling whir of wings close by 

 him, and yet be unable to shoot or to mark the bird's 

 course, from inability to see the bird at all. The light 

 of the woods, broken and broken again, as it is through 

 the irregular openings in the tree-tops, and branches 

 and leaves interposing, with here and there shafts of 

 clear light, and masses of shadows interspersed every- 

 where, tends to interfere with quick and clear vision, 

 and adds to the difficulty of accurate shooting, thus 

 differing widely from shooting in the open. 



The successful ruffed grouse shooter must be ever 

 promptly ready to shoot, and further, must be quick 

 of eye and action. He must instantly decide on the 

 manner of making the shot, taking advantage of all 

 the few opportunities offered, and avoiding the ob- 

 structions which interpose. No studied effort at aim- 

 ing is possible. Cover shooting of all kinds requires 

 quick action, but ruffed grouse shooting requires the 

 quickest. Of all snap shooting, ruffed grouse shoot- 

 ing is the snappiest, and the successful shooter of that 

 bird must excel in that kind of shooting, since in most 

 cases he will have but a brief instant's glimpse of the 

 bird in the unfavorable mixed lights of shadows and 

 cover. 



For this shooting the gun should be light, short of 

 barrel 26 to 28 inches and a cylinder bore, for a full 

 choked barrel is entirely out of place in such cover 

 shooting, equally unsatisfactory when it does or does 



