HARE SHOOTING 
obtained during the week referred to. Owing to the dry spring and 
summer hares have done exceptionally well this year (1896), and the 
number killed will probably exceed considerably the average of the 
last fifteen years. I may add that the largest number of hares ever 
killed in one season here was 3,078, in 1869-70.” 
As a form of sport such drives as those above mentioned have little to 
recommend them. The unfortunate hares are driven towards the 
guns from long distances, and gradually drawing together like a 
flock of sheep, as the beaters advance, they present the easiest of 
shots as soon as they come within range of the guns. This is es- 
pecially the case when driven up hill, as in Scotland. The facilities for 
rapid firing afforded by the use of modern ‘‘ hammerless ejectors ” render 
it well nigh impossible for any hare to escape, unless the drivers on the 
flanks are remiss. A more admirable form of hare shooting is that which 
presents itself during the partridge season, when a hare jumps up un- 
expectedly, and after a few hops, as if on three legs, lays back her ears 
and goes away at racing speed; offering a far better test of skill on the 
part of the shooter than is the case with a driven hare, especially if it hap- 
pens to be a crossing shot. Or again, in the pheasant season, when a hare 
steals out of covert, pauses on the outside for a second or two, and then races 
away at full speed across a bare stubble where there is nothing to impede 
her course, as in a field of roots, and she can go at her best pace. Then a 
well timed shot taking her in the head results in a somersault (or, as 
the French say, culbute) on the part of the hare, and a smile of satisfac- 
tion on the part of the shooter, which usually becomes more expansive 
if any one else happens to be looking on. 
And here it may not be amiss if the holder of a game licence for more 
than forty years ventures to give a little advice to such youthful sportsmen 
as may happen to peruse these pages. A hare, from its size, may appear 
a very easy animal to hit, and so it is; but it must be hit in the right place, 
namely, the head. 
It is lamentable to see the result of a hasty or careless shot and witness 
the struggles of a wounded and perhaps screaming animal in its frantic 
efforts to get away. With an inexperienced shooter this may happen from 
one of two causes: either from shooting in too great a hurry and at too 
close quarters, or from risking a long shot, which should never be taken 
beyond five -and -thirty or forty yards. If a hare jumps up at your feet, let 
her go twenty-five yards before raising the gun, and then aligning quickly, 
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