HOW TO KILL THEM 167 



towards the gun, no longer protected by the wing, as 

 I have described, or, in fact, at any angle but when 

 broadside on to the shooter. 



The use of the left arm, as I have said in the 

 volumes on Grouse and Partridge, is an essential study 

 for driven birds ; it is, if possible, still more vital in 

 pheasant shooting. With this member the gun has 

 to be entirely lifted and directed, and anything like 

 stiffness in the fore-arm or shoulder will tell at once 

 with fatal effect on your performance at overhead 

 pheasants.' Practise yourself, whenever you can, at 

 raising and depressing the gun in every direction and 

 at every angle, with a very tight grip of the barrels in 

 the left hand, and an equally slight or loose hold of it 

 in the right ; using the left not only as the motive 

 power, but also to keep the gun firm against the 

 shoulder. Anything like pulling or pushing with the 

 right arm is sure to result in bad shooting. 



The toss necessary to kill a pheasant coming 

 straight overhead must of course be done entirely by 



' For any rheumatism, or stiffness of the shoulder or arm, 

 the simplest and most effective remedy I have come across is 

 pure glacial acetic acid, mixed in the proportion of (about) one 

 part of acid to three of water. Merely wet the skin with this 

 wherever you feel the rheumatism, at night, and in the morning 

 before going out, and it will disperse it wonderfully. It is not 

 necessary to rub it in, merely let it dry on the skin. 



