448 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



their lives to shooting, and are as skilful as any men 

 can be; yet, in fact, it is the rarest possible exception 

 when these men make perfect scores. 



I suppose that there is no shooting practice so good 

 as to take the gun, say twice a day, for five minutes 

 in the morning and five minutes in the evening, and 

 throw it up to the shoulder, aiming at different objects 

 near at hand, and trying to catch the sight as quickly 

 as possible; in other words, to try to throw the gun 

 up as nearly as possible in the line of sight. If this 

 is done often enough it will prove the greatest aid in 

 shooting, and will tend to make shooting more rapid 

 and more accurate. 



Upland shooting may be divided into two branches, 

 open shooting and snap shooting. In the first you see 

 your mark clearly, and aim at it ; in snap shooting you 

 use only the "eye of faith," shooting at a shadow, a 

 sound, or a moving leaf, and trust to Providence that 

 your gun is so aimed that the bird which you know 

 is there shall fly into the circle of the shot. Obviously, 

 open shooting grades into snap shooting, and no hard 

 and fast line can be drawn between the two. Some 

 men, who are especially talented, practice snap shoot- 

 ing at all times, in the open as well as in cover. 



In open shooting, as, for example, where the prairie 

 grouse are found, or quail are scattered in the open 

 fields, there is almost always plenty of time to take de- 

 liberate aim and kill your bird before it is out of reach. 

 In the brush, however, where snap shooting must be 

 practiced, because the game is hardly seen, and its 



