PINNATED-GROUSE SHOOTING. 61 



nests were broken up in the spring. I never 

 shoot at these half-callow young, but there are 

 plenty of people who do. The early-grouse shooting 

 is very good practice for young beginners with 

 the gun, as they lie until you are near them, and 

 fly slowly. But it would be just about as good 

 if the shooting was deferred fifteen days later by 

 law, as the birds would still lie close and fly 

 slowly. The early shooting makes the birds wild 

 before they would otherwise become so, and it 

 brings many to the bag half grown that would, 

 under other circumstances, be bagged full grown. 

 In the early part of the season grouse-shooting in 

 the West is the easiest there is. The birds lie 

 well to the dogs, their flight is slow, and they 

 can usually be marked down near at hand. 

 There is, however, one thing which affords pro- 

 tection to the grouse, and presents considerable 

 difficulty to the shooter. There are commonly 

 corn-fields at no great distance, and if they fly 

 into the corn when flushed in the stubbles or the 

 prairie, it is very difficult to kill them. It is, 

 on the whole, better to let them go as not at- 

 tainable. Men cannot shoot well in tall corn ; 

 dogs can do but little in it, even the best of 

 dogs, at that season, and young ones arc utterly 



