LONG-RANGE SHOOTING AT GAME. 319 



distances they are utterly worthless to reason from, 

 even though considerable skill entered into them. 



One way in which game is often killed at long dis- 

 tances is by it standing for "sighting shots" until you 

 finally get its range. But it is quite as apt to jump at 

 every shot or two just enough to derange your calcu- 

 lations. And in either case the shooter is very apt to 

 forget all about the number of shots that did not hit. 

 Still, where it is evident that game cannot be more 

 closely approached, this is sometimes an effective way 

 of getting it; though the chances of hitting it at all 

 are always largely against you. 



The delusion of long-range shooting is fostered by 

 the ease with which with a long-range rifle the dirt 

 can be made to fly just over or under a distant object. 

 We shall see in another place the worthlessness for 

 hunting of what is generally known as the " line-shot," 

 by which is meant a shot on a line running up and down 

 through the mark, and that the only" line-shot" worth 

 anything for hunting is on the horizontal line, the 

 hardest of all to make. But it takes bull's-eyes in- 

 stead of line-shots to kill game. Moreover, what 

 appears to be only a few inches' deviation from the 

 distant mark is really a few feet. And to reduce those 

 feet to inches without measuring the distance will be 

 found a little problem the solution of which will gen- 

 erally puzzle you until the game gets weary of await- 

 ing the answer. 



The main difficulty of accurate long-range shooting 

 cannot be obviated by telescopic or any other kind of 

 sights or arrangement of sights. The estimate of 

 distance remains the same whatever sight be used. 



Whenever it is necessary to shoot beyond the point 



