Vol. VI, -No. 18. t 
New Series — No. 96. f 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 187S. 
I Established A. D. 
I a year, lOc, 
1871. 
a copy. 
f 
SHOOTING ON THE WING. 
BY KECAPPKT. 
Euclid sa3’s: “There is no royal road to geometry;” 
and it might with equal truth have been added that 
there was no royal road to the art of shooting on the 
wing. DiflBrent writers hold tO different opinions aS 
to which is the best manner of acquiring this art. Manj' 
advise the shooting of pigeons, but this is expensive at 
all times, and birds are not always to be obtained. The 
introduction of Gyro pigeon and trap has completely- 
set aside the use of live pigeons as practice for the 
• nonce. The invention is so well known that it needs 
no more than to mention it. 
Other writers recommend the shooting of small birds, 
bat for two reasons I do not advise it. In tlie first 
place, as these denizens of our fields aud woodsare very 
useful to the agriculturist, they should be, and in 
some States are very rightly protected. And secondly . 
the flight of none of them approximate even in a slight 
degree to any of our game birds, aud therefore I believe 
that save in a very small way the learning to shoot them 
with certainty c-annot aid the novice in the killing of 
game proper. I have often seen men and boys who 
could kill nine out of ten swallows, yet could not kill 
one shot in five at snipe or quail. 
The flight of the Gyro-pigeon is steady and sw-ift, and 
like that of many of our game birds, though if the wind 
is at all brisk the trap can be set in such a manner as 
to render them puzzling marks even for au old hand. 
As regards the shooting of game on the wing, it may 
be claimed that there are no rules that can be given for 
the learner to follow; but I do not think this view of 
the matter to be correct. Forrester says that “no one 
cau ever hope to be a crack shot, unless he has the gift 
of natural aptitude; but that any one possessing good 
neaves aud good ey'esight, with sufficient practice may 
attain to something like excellence in this art.” 
One great mistake made by beginners, is in thinking 
that to become a good shot, it is necessary to close one 
eye. There is no greater mistake than this, for although 
there have been, and are now, many fine shots who use 
one eye only, in taking aim, there are quite as many- who 
use both eyes. In the “ Breech-Loader,” by “Gloan,” 
the following rematks occur on this subject, which I 
quote for the benefit of your readers who have never 
seen this very reliable work. “It is not necessary to 
shut one eye in order to shoot. A man will learn to 
shoot sooner if he begins by keeping both eyes open. 
And those who have learned to shoot with one eye, and 
shoot well w-ith it. would shoot better if they opened 
both eyes. He who shoots with one eye closed loses 
half his vision. And this is not all. The remaining half 
ot the sight cannot see the whole of the object at which 
it looks, but only one part or one side of it. It requires 
the use of both eyes to see distance correctly^. 'When an 
object is seen by both eyes, the sense of vision is per- 
fectly assured as to the position of the object, its dis- 
tance from the gun, and speed of its flisrht. By a men- 
tal operation the eye impresses the brain, the brain the 
nerves, and that which we call confidence- - being noth 
ing but the calmness of the nerves— is instantly begotten. 
As part of the same mental process the finger presses the 
trigger, responsive to the call made upon it, and the 
bird falls dead.” Bumstead, in “ On the Wing,” tells 
us that the true art of shooting flying, “ is to be ready- 
for any emergency of distance, speed, or angle of flight.” 
The question now is, how shall the learner attain to 
this perfection most easily and quickly? Practice and 
.study will do much towards this, and without them all 
the rules that could ever be printed will do but little. 
TThe simplest and easiest shot is where the bird is going 
directly away from the shooter, and on a level with his 
eyes; providing his gun distributes its charge closely 
and evenly. He has nothing to consider of but the 
speed of the bird’s flight, and to know well the 
spread of his shot. But if the bird is above 
or below the level of the shooter’s eyes, the 
conditions are altered at once; and if he were to aim as 
before, he would, if the bird were flying fast, shoot eithc r 
above or below it, unless he kept bis gun moving in tlu 
direction of the line of flight. The great trouble with 
all learners lies in the fact that though they may “follow 
their bird,” as it is termed, before firing, they almus^ 
invariably and, as it were, involuntarily check or stop 
moving the gun just at the most critical point of time, 
viz., when the trigger is drawn; aud by the time the 
shot reaches the point really aimed at, the bird has 
flown beyond that point, and, of course, is missed. If 
the bird, then, is flushed in front of the .shooter at any 
distance above fifteen yards, and flies close along the 
ground, he should not aim directly at it, but above it, 
if it is going straight away from him, and that will be 
in front of it. The further it is from the shooter, and 
the faster it is flying, the more above it he must aim. 
If, on the other hfmd, the bird .should be above the level 
of his head, he must aim below it; and in order to un- 
derstand why he must do this, he should remember that 
the line of the bird's flight, the direction in which the 
shot travels, and himself, represent a right-angled trian- 
gle. The line of fire is the hypothenuse; and the shoot- 
er represents the perpendicular, aud just according to 
the distance the bird is from him must he aimoiwe and 
beyond the bird if it is fly ing near the ground; or below 
and beyond the bird if it is ahove the letd of his head. 
When the bird is coming directly at the shooter, and he 
can wait and let it pass over him, it is always better to 
do so; but if he cannot do this, he should aim between 
himself and the bird. Such shots on game are, however, 
not common, though they' do sometimes occur. 
But it is in broadside shots, or in quartering ones, that 
the learner will tiud the sharpest practice; and it is here, 
more than anyw-here else, that he will liud it to his ad- 
vantage to keep both eyes open. For very close shots 
one eye may answer, but if the shot is a distant one, and 
he aims with one eye only, he will feel that there is 
something wanting. I quote again from “ Gloan,” to 
show what and where the trouble is: “Let the shooter 
stand in his room, fix both eyes steadily on a mark on 
a wall, throw his gun up, and then shut one eye. He 
will find he has exaclly covered the mark. Try it again. 
Throw the gun up, and aim at the murk with one eye 
closed, then open both eyes, and look over the rib, but 
not downward along it, at the mark. The barrel will 
be lost sight of. Why? Because, for an optical reason, 
the two eyes lake in the whole mark without being com- 
pelled, as the one eye is, to carry forward au imaginary- 
line from the muzzle to the mark. But the muzzle is 
dead on the mark, nevertheless. Shut up one eye again, 
and see if it is not so. Should it prove to be not so, 
the gun does not fit, and it is the fault of the gun and 
not the aim Go into the field and try this experiment 
at various distances. At thirty yards, with one eye 
closed, the aim will be about as apparent as it was in 
the room. At fifty yards the shooter will not be sure 
that he is exactly on the mark. At sixty he will be 
more undecided; and at eighty he will confess that he 
cannot be certain whether he is on the mark or not. But 
yet he is dead on it. He is uncertain only because new 
conditions have intervened. If he could carry a tape- 
line direct from the muzzle, he would see that his aim 
w-as as good as when in his room; hut the distance, “the 
third dimension in space,” is now between him and the 
mark, and the eye has a more complicated duty to per 
form than it had in the room, and it is not so alert to 
give the signal until it is better satisfied. 
The gravitation of shot has an effect which must not 
be forgotten when taking aim; and the speed at which 
an object is moving must also be remembered. 
A man at forty- yards aiming straight at it, would not 
expect to hit a bird perched on a locomotive, if the 
locomotive was running broad-side a mile a minute. 
He would expect to hit the tender or the baggagc-car. 
.\.nd if his gun had not an elevated rib, he would not 
ixpect the shot to keep up to the height of the locomo- 
t ve ; he would expect it^ strike the wheels of the 
tender or baggagc-car. Therefore, to hit, he would aim 
much ahead of the locomotive and above it. Now, 
many- a bird frightened and going down wind will go at 
die rate of more than a mile a minute. To hit them, 
illowaiice must be made for them, as for the locomotive. 
.Assuming that a sportsman aims steadily and exactly at 
a cross-flying bird, sixty yards di.stant, going a mile a 
minute, the gun making a pattern good enough to kill, 
what results? "When the shot reach their point of 
■destination, they- are from eight to ten feet behind the 
point to which the bird has flown; aud they are from 
ten to twelve inches below the line on which the bird 
was lly-iug. The bird escapes as a matter of course, and 
the escape is a matter of surprise to the y-ouiig sports- 
man, who is confident “that he covered it exactly-.” 
He did cover it literally and exactly, and that w-as the 
reason of the miss. In shooting w-ith both eyes open, 
the shooter does not have these difficulties to contend 
w-ith; for w-hile one ey-e is directing the motion of the 
gun, the other measures the distance and speed of flight. 
Although I have never seen the book, I am told that 
Capt. Bogardus say-s in his work that he alw-ay-s aims in 
advance of cross-fly-ing birds, and advises all beginners 
to do likewise. When w-e take into consideration his 
long experience and his w-onderful de.xterity- w-ith the 
gun, it seems safe to say that his advice must be sound. 
True, nine-tenths of all the upland game killed in this 
country- fall w-ithin thirty y-ards of the shooter, but 
distant shots are constantly being made, and to make 
them successfully is a matter of pride both to the old 
and the young shot. 
As above stated, study of the afore-mentioned rules 
and constant practice w-ill alone bring this to pass; and 
although the novice can learn to shoot without knowing 
of any rules, he will learn more quickly- by know-ing 
them and putting them in practice, and just in propor- 
tion as he has a greater or less amount of natural ajrti- 
tude w-ith the gun will be his progress in the art of 
using it successfully-. 
I once knew a young man who knew nothing of the 
habits, haunts, and scarce even the names of game birds; 
and who cared nothing for field sp'prts. The first shot 
he ever fired, he fired in my- pre.^-jnee, at a woodcock, 
which he killed. In six months p:aclice he became a 
splendid shot. It was no trouble for him to kill, and he 
wondered how any one could mi^^-, yet be could give 
no reason for his success. Now, be w-as a natural shot, 
just as others are natural arithmeticians or geometri- 
cians. 
Such shots are, of course, very rare, though Captain 
Bogardus is another instance. Jlore shots are missed by 
shooting too quick than by not shooting quick enough. 
Practice w ith the gyro-pigeon till you have acquired the 
habit of never pulling the trigger, till the bird is cover- 
ed; and of keeping the gun moving a little ahead of 
cross-flying birds, even after the trigger is drawn. With 
time and practice you will acquire the knack of bringing 
your gun up more and more quickly, and you will come 
to be at all times cool and deliberate, and you will be- 
come what you never would haye done if you bad ooift- 
a 
