478 



RECREATION 



human being, wind or no wind, within a dis- 

 tance of a quarter of a mile in open country, 

 sometimes more, very rarely less, and that 

 only the hope that the hated being will not 

 • chance to come their way induces them to 

 remain quiet. 



The success of the old device of walking 

 with ever lessening circles, carefully looking 

 the other way, all the time, around birds 

 marked down in the open, is partial evidence 

 of what I assert. Even duck can be circum- 

 vented in this manner occasionally, though 

 they usually take alarm before the circle has 

 diminished to gun range. It is absurd to sup- 

 pose that the keen-sighted birds whose very 

 sleep is of the one-eye-open order can not 

 perceive you, to say nothing of the warning 

 that the shooting boot of even the most fairy- 

 footed individual must give. However, 

 though there can be no two opinions as to 

 the advantages of down-wind shooting, it will 

 be very seldom that it can be managed for 

 any length of time during a day's sport with- 

 out much counter-marching and waste of 

 time. 



Snipe ground usually abounds in odd 

 patches of marsh and bog, projecting at all 

 angles from the main shooting, attempts to 

 start invariably from the windward side of 

 which would mean an immense number of 

 fatiguing detours. So that the young shoot- 

 er is advised not to think overmuch about 

 getting the wind "dead aft," but to take 

 things as they come. Even if he should miss 

 a great proportion of the birds bolting up- 

 wards the few he will kill by the quickest 

 of snapshots will not be the least proudly re- 

 membered when he comes to fight his bat- 

 tles over again to himself in the interval be- 

 tween tumbling into bed and the advent of 

 slumber, a delightful period of after-joy the 

 peculiar property of sportsmen. 



There is, however, one situation in which 

 it is occasionally advisable to make a delib- 

 erate choice of shooting against the wind for 

 a time, and that is when you are about to 

 commence your day's sport near the leeward 

 march or boundary of your shooting. Any 

 attempt to get the wind "aft," or even on "the 

 beam," may possibly result in many of the 

 birds missed or flushed out, of shot depart- 

 ing out of bounds for the rest of the day; 

 for though they will, of course, spring head 

 to wind, they are far more likely to make their 

 final escape over the frontier towards which 

 you are driving them, than to pass you by 

 to take up a fresh position in the rear. 

 Whereas, if you travel quickly along the 

 boundary, making here and there short in- 

 cursions up-wind, nearly every bird that de- 

 parts unscathed will drop eventually some-, 

 where on your own domain, to be dealt with 

 more carefully at your next merry meeting. 



A very favorite haunt of snipe, often their 



only one in a frost, is the rush-fringed margin 

 of a brook, especially if it be of a winding 

 nature, with little reedy peninsulas projecting 

 from the salient of each bend, and here and 

 there a stretch of growth or mud in mid- 

 channel. If collected on one of these is- 

 lands, separated from the bank by a channel 

 of fair width, excellent shooting may be had 

 under such conditions, for the snipe usually 

 lie well, occasionally even requiring to be 

 flushed by a dog. But if the breeze blows up 

 or down stream, the gun must certainly work 

 down-wind, otherwise, as the snipe dash 

 away straight between the banks of the 

 stream, dodging around bends and any bushes 

 that may be on the margin, they will be al- 

 most impossible to hit. It is absolutely nec- 

 essary to force them away from the brook 

 to one side or the other, and a down-wind 

 advance is the only way to do it. Of course, 

 if the wind blows across the stream you will 

 do best to stick to the windward bank, not 

 only because of the easier shots obtainable, 

 but because the majority of birds will usually 

 be lying under its shelter. 



In connection with shooting along brooks, 

 it is commonly supposed that it is better to 

 work the banks by retiring from and ad- 

 vancing towards them alternately than to pro- 

 gress steadily along the margin, presumably 

 with the idea that the snipe will not so read- 

 ily perceive the approach of the invader. As 

 far as my experience goes, such a method is 

 not only a waste of time, and trouble, but has 

 also the disadvantage of causing you to miss 

 overmany birds lying between the point at 

 which you left the stream and that at which 

 you strike it. It must be remembered that 

 in snipe shooting half the battle is flushing 

 the birds, whether you actually get a shot or 

 not, for it will be seldom that a large per- 

 centage may not be marked down for a sec- 

 ond attempt. Of course, if a certain spot on 

 the water's edge is known to harbor birds, it 

 will pay you to approach it cautiously, pos- 

 sibly necessitating a retreat from the bank 

 some distance before aiming at the place; but 

 such a maneuver would only be necessary in 

 a brook of quite unusual straightness. I have 

 noticed that snipe flushed from the sides of 

 watercourses do not generally take long 

 flights, whatever the weather or wind may 

 be, their places of refuge on such occasions 

 being often very unexpected and odd, so that 

 a careful marking is particularly advisable. 

 I have many times observed snipe under these 

 conditions drop into the centre of plowed 

 fields and under stone walls, quite innocent 

 of cover. 



"While on the subject it may be as well to 

 emphasize the importance of mastering the 

 topography of the shooting ground as soon as 

 possible. When flushed by dog or man from 

 certain bogs, snipe are now and again aston- 



