UPLAND SHOOTING. 
147 
Good shots have killed twenty shots in succession ; perhaps 
more, even in thick covert; but that is a very different thing 
from saying can kill them. That, I am satisfied no man ever 
did, nor ever will do. 
This, though applicable especially to Snipe, is true of all sorts 
of Game. After the observation, which has led me to this little 
digression, Mr Audubon remarks that he has found the best 
moment for pulling the trigger on a Snipe, to be that in which 
he utters his peculiar shrill squeak ; and in this I perfectly agree 
with him ; for the Snipe utters that cry as he rises , and before he 
gathers way ; and I am convinced that the most killing way to 
shoot this bird, is to shoot at him during the instantaneous point 
of time in which he hangs on the wind—that is to say, to pull 
the trigger the very instant the butt of your gun touches your 
shoulder. 
The old school method was to wait till the bird had done 
twisting, and was at some forty yards distance; but all that 
stuff, like taking a pinch of snuff after a bird rises and before 
raising the gun, was well enough for the days of long, single- 
barrelled guns with flint locks. A good shot of the present day 
would knock over his dozen couple of right and left shots—not 
in succession, gentle reader—while one of those slow coaches 
was painfully picking up his half dozen. Cceteris paribus, the 
quickest shot is the best shot. 
Another maxim of the samp age and the same school is, that 
the best dog over which to shoot Snipe is an old broken-down, 
6low Pointer—perhaps he is for a pot-hunter! Indeed, I be¬ 
lieve, nine times out of ten, as many birds, perhaps more , 
could be bagged without a dog at all; or with a Newfoundland 
or Water Spaniel, kept entirely at heel, and only used to retrieve 
the dead or cripples; but where would be the sport of such 
slow gunning ? 
The best dogs for Snipe are the best dogs that can be got for 
money—the bravest, fastest, most industrious, and best broken— 
Setters, for my use, seeing that I prefer them for all purposes ; 
but Pointers, if you will. 
