240 EFFECTS OF SPIRIT-DRINKING IN SHOOTING 



when two or three glasses of hot toddy will not be out 

 of place. 



It must be borne in mind that I am offering the 

 experience which I have gathered during a period of 

 over forty years, and I am glad to say that I am not 

 only a teetotaler myself when out shooting, but I have 

 induced many of my friends to follow my example, 

 having proved to them that the whisky-flask has ruined 

 more good shots than anything else ever did. Too 

 much smoking spoils the eyesight after a few years, but 

 whisky, no matter how diluted with water, produces a 

 certain kind of stimulus for the time being, and this 

 affords a craving for another drink, and so it goes on 

 until it results in complete exhaustion. 



As September draws near to a close the grouse be- 

 come strong and wild, and bags are but very light as 

 compared with what they were at the beginning of the 

 season, and the labour required to bring but a few 

 brace to book is vastly greater than it has hitherto 

 been ; but though such is the case, both dogs and men 

 are, or should be, better fit to cope with the increased 

 toil demanded of them, and the heat is no longer 

 oppressive. Many of the coveys have packed, and it 

 takes a deal of hard walking to break them up, and 

 twice the amount of ground has to be covered as was 

 necessary in the early part of the season in order to 

 effect this. The flights are long, and there is but little 

 fear of overwalking birds, unless the sportsman 

 possesses a leash of trained falcons, when there will 

 indeed be no reason for him to increase his pace, for 

 the birds will lie better than ever. However, it is but 

 few men who possess or use such aids to shooting, and 

 1 will but suppose that the case is that of an ordinary 



