SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE 407 
direction. It is nearly dark when I reach the house, 
as night shuts in very quickly. How cosy the firelight 
makes the room after the silence of the prairie. 
The luxury of field shooting is pointed out in the 
following aecount of shooting in the Indian Territory. 
It presents a striking contrast to the sorrows of the 
eastern gunner of old times, who spent his shooting 
days in wallowing through swamps, squeezing among 
alders and trying to break down cat-briars and grape- 
vines : 
Prairie chicken shooting is, par excellence, the sport 
of the lazy man. It is the easiest of all land shooting. 
First, because the field is always open, and if one is 
too lazy to walk he can shoot from a horse or wagon; 
secondly, because early in the season, before the birds 
are matured or have been too often disturbed, they lie 
in the tall grass as close and as long as one wishes; 
and thirdly, because they make a good big mark, flying 
true, and not too rapidly, and there is so much of them 
that one need have no fear of blowing them all to 
pieces, leaving nothing but feathers in the air. If 
they happen to get up too near for a shot you can 
measure your distance, knowing there is no bush or 
tree for them to dodge behind. Thus, in all respects, 
they make fine game for one not disposed to be in a 
hurry; and for these same reasons the gentle things 
are easy plunder for the unscrupulous market hunter. 
Later in the season, during the last of September, the 
birds are fully matured, have become stronger flyers, 
