SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE. 



The shooting of the prairie grouse differs widely 

 from the same sport on the woodland species. In the 

 one case the birds are likely to dart into cover, dis- 

 appearing almost at once, and snap shooting is the rule. 

 In the other the bird rises in the open, seems to fly 

 with deliberation, and the gunner has every opportu- 

 nity to make all his calculations, take careful aim, and 

 cut down the bird before he gets out of shot. Only 

 in the case of the sharp-tailed grouse, after they have 

 moved from the high uplands into brushy ravines or 

 wooded hillsides, is there any similarity between the 

 two styles of shooting. In September, after the sharp- 

 tailed grouse are grown, they spend the middle of the 

 day in wooded ravines or willowy bottoms, where cover 

 is often thick, and a single gunner, who has no dog, 

 and is trying to tramp the birds out of their places of 

 concealment, may have to do more or less snap shoot- 

 ing; but if he have a good dog that can be trusted to 

 work through the bottom, the gunner can usually so 

 place himself as to have clear and open shots. 



As the laws of most States now read, the prairie 

 chickens of whatever kind are reasonably well pro- 

 tected ; but formerly, when shooting began, during the 

 month of August, at which time the birds lie very 

 close, it was not uncommon for two gunners to ex- 



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