Dec. I, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
4 m 
cheeks and luster to the eye to climb the rugged inoun- 
tains. so abundant in our section of the country, in the 
cool crisp morning air, laden with ozone and oxygen. It 
lengthens life and lightens care and the one who does not 
enjoy even the fizzle first described has something wrong 
with his make up and is not a fit companion for live 
people. 
Talks to Boys. 
III.— Handling the Gun. 
A GUN is not a complicated instrument, but it is a very 
dangerous one, and if incautiously handled may wound 
or kill the holder, his companion or his dog, causing in an 
instant injury that can never be repaired and sorrow that 
may last as long as life. It is easy to see, therefore, that 
especial care ought to be exercised in handling such an 
implement, and that especial instruction ought to be given 
to any one who is about to begin using a tool which rnay 
possibly work such harm. Too often such instruction 
is not given. A boy is permitted to start out with his 
gun unaccompanied by any older person. He is told in a 
general way to be careful and not to point the weapon at 
any one, and then is allowed to start out to use the gun 
without any particular fear or trembling on his own part 
or that of his parents and guardians. This is not fair 
to the boy, and it certainly is not fair to his mother. 
The wonder about it all is that the accidents resulting 
from carelessness with guns are so few, when we re- 
member how very many guns are used. 
A boy who is 'to use a gun should for a time handle 
it under the supervision of some one — man or woman — 
who understands it and the dreadful possibilities which 
lurk within it. So long as it is unloaded these pos- 
sibilities do not exist, and before a boy is trusted with 
a loaded gun he should learn what a gun is, how to handle 
it, and how to carry it. If he does this the chance of 
accident to the boy or his associates is very greatly de- 
creased and the probability of his successful use of the 
gun when he begins to shoot is greatly increased. 
The Three Points in Shooting. 
Frank Forester, who was the first great apostle of the 
shotgun in this country, said that "In using the gun 
there are three principal points to be considered, so that 
the art may be divided into three heads : How to use the 
gun safely— that is with the least possible danger to yoviX- 
self and others ; how to use it effectively — that is with the 
greatest power of bringing down under all circumstarices 
the object at which it is directed; how to use it service- 
alilv — that is so that it shall be always ready for service, 
>o that it shall suffer the least from being constantly used 
and endure the longest wear and tear without deteriora- 
tion." 
These points are certainly all of the highest importance, 
but (he lesson as to how the gun should be used will be 
iiVcide much more easy if before you consider any of 
ihciC tliree points you make yourself familiar with the 
;irni and learn liow to carry it and to manipulate it as 
ea'^ily and as naturally as you do any other article which 
_vou are accustomed to use, and which you handle without 
any effort whatever. The use of any strange imple- 
tions must be performed together and in a very small 
fraction of time. If the gun is not a complicated imple- 
ment the act of shooting is certainly a complicated 
operation. 
A boy must learn to shoot first, and this he can do only 
by practice long continued, but after he has learned to 
FIG. I. GOOD POSITION 
Ready for birds to rise and perfectly safe. 
nients, or the performing of any novel operation, calls for 
a new arrangement of ideas in the mind and brings into 
play a new set of muscles in the body. Until these ideas 
and this use of the muscles cease to be new and strange — 
an effort — no one can do with the new implement the 
best work that is to be done. The sooner you learn to 
leel about the gun as you do about your bat or your golf 
club or your tennis racquet, the sooner you will be able to 
use the gun in the field and to share with your instructor 
the pleasure of bringing the birds to bag. 
No boy should be allowed to shoot his gun until he has 
learned something about handling it and has become ac- 
customed easily to hold and to manipulate this piece of 
wood and steel. The act of shooting is one that calls into 
different play several parts of the body, or sets of parts, all 
of which must act together, if the operation is to be easily 
and successfully performed. The shooter must stand 
properly, so as to be well balanced : he must bring up 
his gun so that the barrels are parallel with his line of 
sight; he must move his body easily above the hips, and 
the shoulders freely; must swing his gun without effort; 
mui-t see the bird, judge the distance, the speed and the 
angle at which the mark is fljang. And all these opera- 
FIG. 2. BAD POSITION. 
Ready for birds to rise, but in case of accidental discharge likely 
to kill your companion, 
shoot and to shoot straight and to hit things, there are 
still many matters about the use of a gun which he 
must teach himself. There is the whole great field of 
what is usually known as the science of woodcraft, of 
which almost every one who goes abroad into the fields 
and woods knows a httle, but of which no one knows, and 
no one ever will know, the whole. Woodcraft, as its name 
shows, is the knowledge of the woods. It deals with the 
life of man in natural surroundings, for the term is ap- 
plied not merely to the actual forests, but to a wild 
region anywhere. It is a broad term which includes all 
nature and all natural things, and the gunner or angler 
who studies these things most and best will be the most 
successful . in his pursuit of the wild creatures of the 
land and of the water. 
But aside from this the young gunner as be shoots 
more and more will by long practice learn many things 
more directly connected with the gun. He will recognize 
in an instant the possibilities in everything that hap- 
pens. When a bird rises, he will at once see that he must 
make a quick shot before it disappears ; that there is an 
opening in the woods ahead across which it will fly; 
that it is so close to him that if he shoots he will blow 
his bird to pieces. Long practice will cause him to tak(^ 
advantage of every opportunity that offers, where a per- 
son less experienced would not know what to do; w^ould 
either do the wrong thing or else the right thing too soon 
or too late. 
Therefore, boys, let us put off for weeks, or better yet. 
for months, the making of any noise, and try to learn 
something about this new tool, which vv^e now think of 
only as an implement to be used in killing. When yo'i 
grow older you will come to realize that there are many 
other acts besides killing in which the gun takes an im- 
portant part. You will love the weapon at first for the 
killing that itjielps you to do, but later you will come to 
care for it for other reasons. 
Of these the chief one is that this weapon gives you 
an excuse for leaving your ordinary pursuits and going 
abroad into surroundings whick are more natural — and 
from their strangeness more attractive — than those in 
which the greater part of your life is passed. You will 
find that the men who use the gun and the rod regard as 
the happiest weeks of their year those spent in camp or in 
shooting in the field or fishing along the lakes and rivers, 
and I feel sure that the reason why they enjoy it so 
much is not because of the game they kill or the fish they 
take, but because thej-^ are out of doors, independent of 
the ordinary restraints of life and brought close to nature, 
which in some form or other they all delight in. Young 
men no doubt shoot and fish more for the exciteinent of 
capturing their prey, but middle aged and older men do 
it for the relief that it gives them from the ordinary cares 
of life. 
Breaking the Gun. 
When you have received your gun, one of the first 
things that you will wish to do is to see how it works. 
You will break it down and snap it together many times, 
and the sharp click with which the breech comes into 
place will be a pleasant sound to your ears. Yau will 
wish to cock it and pull the trigger often, but do not do 
this too frequently, for there is some danger that you 
may break the spring that throws the firing pin. In a 
loaded gun the firing pin falls on the primer, which yields 
a little and acts as a cushion, while the solid breech of the 
unloaded gun does not yield at all, and the severe jar 
may break the spring. Your instructor will show you how 
to take off' the fore end and to take the gun apart, and to 
put it together again, and this too is a good thing for yoM 
to practice. In putting on the barrels be careful not to 
jam them against the breech and bruise either, and do 
not try to force them if the two parts do not seem to go 
together readily. They are accurately fitted, and will 
slip together easily and smoothly if properly handled. 
If they do not. the fault is yours. Work them gently, and 
after a bit you will get the knack of it. 
Remember always that a gun is carefully made; that a 
great deal of labor has been put on it, and that it has 
cost a considerable sum of money. A good piece of prop- 
erty is worth taking good care of, and .no one who is 
not willing to take care of what he i owns ought to have 
good things. 
Sighting. 
It will be well for you to look at your gun several times 
a day, and probably you will not object to do.ng that. 
After you have taken it out of its case and put it to- 
gether, stand up in the middle of your room in a clear 
space where there is no danger of hitting anything and 
throw the gun to your shoulder, bringing your head a 
little down and forward, so that your eye looks along 
the rib between the barrels and you see just over the 
breech the little knob of the sight. If you shoot from 
your right shoulder, close your left eye and look along 
the rib with the right. Many people to-day— perhaps 
most people— shoot with both eyes open, but if you shut 
one eye it will be easier for you to find the sight and 
to learn just how your head should be thrown forward to 
bring your eye to the line of the barrel._ Throw the 
gun up as advised over and over again until it comes up 
naturally and your eye without effort finds the sight. If 
the gun fits you— if the length and the crook of the stock 
are just about right— in a very short time you will find that 
it is no effort for you to catch the sight. Do not work 
too long at this at any one time ; rather do it often. 
Position, 
While you are practicing this, you must remember also 
to stand steadily and to hold your gun in the proper 
position. When you throw the gun to your shoulder and 
your head down and forward, your body will be bent a 
little forward, and so your feet must be separated. If you 
shoot from the right shoulder, as most people do, your 
left foot should be a little advanced and is likely to bear 
part of your weight when the gun is thrown to the 
shoulder. Your right foot is 8 or 10 inches behind it, and 
the toe is turned out, while the left foot points straight 
ahead. If you should draw the left foot backward, it 
would about strike the hollow of the right foot. The 
position described will enable you to stand firmly under 
almost any circumstances. The chief thing to avoid in 
this matter is standmg stiffly— in a cramped position. In 
shooting freedom of motion is essential to success. 
You must remember always to stand easily on your feet, 
to balance yourself well, keeping your center of gravity 
always over your feet. In shooting, one has to twist about 
and take many curious positions in following the flight of 
a bird, and he must carry himself so that under all c'r- 
cumstances he will move freely and will not lose his bal- 
ance. If you shoot from the right shoulder, your weight 
will rest upon your right foot, your left foot being a 
little in advance, to support part of the weight as you 
bend forward, your knees straight, but not stiffly held, so 
that they may yield to any strain that may come unex- 
pectedly, and your right leg a pivot on wh'ch your body 
will turn freely, the left foot changing its position to keep 
you always balanced us you face in different directions. 
This matter of balance and support is a very important 
one. and it is well to practice it from the very beginn ng, 
turning your body quickly as you throw up your gun, and 
aiming suddenly far to the left, moving the left foot 
around as you do so,- so as to keep your balance perfect. 
Then aiin as far as you can to the right, stepping around 
in the other way. In a very short time you will learn to 
FIG. 3. HIGHLY DANGEROUS POSITION. 
Likely to kill any one within range. 
do this without thinking about it, and it will be one of 
the A-ery first things that you learn to do automatically. 
Many men — especially trapshooters — stand with their 
feet almost side by side, the toes turned out and the 
weight resting on the heels. When they have occasion to 
turn to left or right, they swing themselves on their heels. 
On the other hand, many admirable shots in the woods 
stand with the right foot further behind the left than I 
have described, the idea being that the right foot acts 
as a brace against recoil. They turn on the left foot as a 
pivot. The way in which one stands i^ not very important 
provided his position is that which gives him the most per- 
fect balance and the greatest freedom of motion. 
Holding the Gun. 
You should hold your gun firmly, but easily. Do not 
grip it as if you were expecting some one to try to wrench 
it from your grasp, and on the other hand do not hold it 
loosely, as if you were afraid of it, or were going to drop 
it. The right hand should grasp the grip, just back of 
the trigger guard, and should be held low — below the 
waist band. The left hand should support the barrels 
under the fore end, and should be held high — about on a 
