i 
Dec. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 




A GOOD 
Convenient as a change; safe and ready. 
POSITION. 
within forty or fifty yards. See, therefore, that 
the barrels point well toward the sky, and that 
they may do so, keep the hand which grasps 
the grip or the stock well down below the 
shoulder. 
Another good way to carry the gun is over 
the shoulder with the top of the barrels resting 
on the shoulder and the barrels pointed upward 
and backward at an angle of about forty-five de- 
grees with the horizontal. From this position 
one can very quickly reverse the gun and bring 
the stock against the shoulder and the barrels 
into the left hand, nearly in the line of sight. 
Another safe and easy way to Carry the gun is 
in the hollow of the left arm, the grip passing 
between the first and second or second and third 
fingers of the left hand, the fore-finger im- 
mediately below the hammers and the third and 
little finger immediately back of the trigger 
guard. If the left hand is well lowered this will 
pring the grip a little lower than the waist an¢ 
the muzzle of the gun will be pointed well into 
the air. 
If you are in immediate expectancy of a shot 
—that is to say, if your dog is making game or 
is standing on point, or if you are approaching 
a place where you have marked down a bird— 
you will naturally carry your gun at a ready. 
You will hold the grip firmly in your right hand, 
providing you shoot from the right shoulder, 
and with the left hand will support the barrels 
somewhere near the tip of the fore-end. But 
your left hand will be quite a little higher than 
the right, the left elbow being more crooked 
than the right. This directs the barrels upward 
and at the same time holds the gun in a position 
to throw it forward and upward, bringing the 
barrels into the line of sight. 
To carry a gun always in 
comes more or less tiresome and one feels like 
changing this position quite frequently, but in 
changing it, see that the change is made always 
from one safe position to another safe position. 
There are many bad and unsafe ways of carry- 
ing a gun, all of which you should avoid, One 
of these, never practiced by persons of expert- 
ence and extremely dangerous to the man who 
is carrying the gun, is to rest the fore-end on 
the shoulder with the stock directed skyward 
and the hand grasping the muzzle of the gun, 
which is pointing downward. This is said to 
have been a favorite method of carrying the gun 
by the foot and canoe Indians of the North and 
Northwest, and many accidents have been re- 
ported where a man running on the ground or 
on snowshoes has tripped, fallen forward and 
been shot by the gun which fell in front of him 
one position be- 
and was discharged when it struck the ground. 
The method is so blundering and unsportsman- 
like that it is hardly necessary to warn you 
against it. Another very bad way, betraying 
absolute inexperience and ignorance of guns, is 
to carry the gun across the back of the neck 
horizontally, with the arms thrown over the 
stock and barrels. In such a position the bar- 
rels point horizontally to left or right and might 
easily enough blow the brains out of any one 
who happened to be walking opposite the 
muzzle. 
Occasionally a gunner is seen who, when 
ready for a shot, holds his gun in front of him 
and across his body horizontally, with both 
arms extended nearly to their full length. ‘This 
method is open to the same objection that has 
been made to all the horizontal positions of the 
feaupaly uli accidentally discharged the load will 
injure objects within range and three or four 
feet above the fround. You must keep always 
in mind that the instant the gun is discharged, 
whether by intention or by accident, you have 
lost control of the load and it will go straight 
in the direction in which the gun is pointed. 
If you have a father or an uncle or an older 
friend who is used to guns and who is willing 
to take the time to go out walking with you 
when you are taking the first lessons in 
handling your gun, ask him if he will not watch 
you as carefully as possible and remind you 
whenever you show any carelessness about the 
carriage of the gun. He will probably be glad 
to give you all the hints that he can, and when- 
ever he makes a suggestion to you about carry- 
ing your gun, see that you pay attention to 
what he says and correct any faults toward 
which you may have a tendency. It will be well 
for you to carry the empty gun around with 
you for quite a long time before you venture 
to put a load in it. The unloaded gun is merely 
so much wood and iron and as such is safe. 
3ut just as soon as the cartridge is put in it 
with its combination of a primer of fulminate, 
a charge of powder and over that a load of shot, 
the weapon becomes potential for death and 
misery. 
Very likely after you have begtin to 
learn to shoot and are so proficient that you 
can be trusted to carry the Joaded gun properly, 
some experienced older person will be willing 
to have you go shooting with him. This will be 
a great thing for you, because this older per- 
son will know very much better than you can, 
with your limited experience, where to look 
for birds and how to get them. You will thus 
soon 




oi 
ya 
Wee 
A GOOD 
POSITION. 
Ready for birds to rise, and perfectly safe. 

mor 

A HIGHLY 
DANGEROUS 
Likely to kill any one within range. 
POSITION. 
have a very good time, but if you are careless 
in handling your gun and have to be frequently 
cautioned by this older person, and perhaps 
frighten him by pointing the gun at him, he 
will not ask you to go shooting with him a 
second time. If you can get into the way of 
going out with such an experienced sportsman, 
it will be a great help to you in many ways. 
You will learn the ways of the game, will see 
how this older man handles his dog, how he 
uses his gun, how he marks down the birds and 
takes advantage of all the conditions to make 
a good bag. He will also tell you much about 
his former experiences ant will be constantly 
pouring into your ears information which it has 
cost him many years to acquire, but which he 
freely gives out to you. You will be very 
foolish if by your own carelessness OF stupidity 
you make yourself unpopular with such a man 
and are invited to accompany him only once, 

instead of frequently. Nothing is better for a 
boy than to be permittec to associate with 
people of experience, and most 
only too delighted to impart to a boy 
a nice fellow, careful and modest, the stores oO! 
their experience. Do not, by your own heed- 
cut yourself off from advantages such 
sportsmen are 
who 1S 
lessness, 
as these. 
American Squirrels in England. 
Some ardent naturalist, desirous of adding to 
the fauna of his native country, released some 
of the American gray squirrels in Bedforshire, 
and these have increased and spread to the neigh- 
boring county of Hertfordshire. Commenting 
on this the Shooting Times says: 
“So far we have heard little of them, but game 
keepers are beginning to complain that they are, 
or have developed into, arrant robbers, and are 
very carnivorous in habit. Eggs the gray squir- 
rel lives on while they can be had, and although 
our British variety eats an occasional egg, it 
does not search for them. Nests are denuded 
of their young by this squirrel, and a curious 
fact about it is that it becomes unwieldly fat 
from superabundance of food, and is very differ- 
ent in appearance from what it is in the States. 
This is a heavy charge against the new impor- 
tation, but the one source of gratification is that 
the creature is easily cleared off, as it has no 
suspicion regarding traps, and cannot resist 
yisiting a flesh bait. The native squirrel and 
the fresh 1 
and it would be a pity 
little variety dispossessed by 
introduction do not appear to agrce, 
were our own sprightly 
the stranger.” 

