occurs if the
sportsman invariably keeps his muzzle pointed toward the earth, about
five feet or less in advance of him, and if, when he does fire, he makes
sure what he is firing at and where his shot is likely to go after
firing.

A good sportsman is familiar with his piece, and brave enough to be
afraid of it. From the time he takes it out of the case the muzzle of
the barrels is on his mind until he has taken it to pieces, cleaned it,
and put it away in his case. When he starts out in the morning, he takes
out the barrels, and pointing them towards the earth as he holds them in
his left hand, he springs the stock into its place with his right. Then
having fixed on the little piece of wood which clinches the two parts
together, he passes his right arm around the barrels, so that as he
carries it the stock points up and behind him at an angle of about
forty-five degrees, and the barrels point down toward the earth at a
similar angle in front of him. Around his waist or in his pockets he
carries cartridges. No charge goes into his gun until he has not only
left the house but actually arrived on the grounds where he expects to
find game. If he has to drive to the proper woods or the shooting-stands
or blinds, he places the piece in the bottom of the wagon, pointing out
towards the rear, never once allowing it to point towards himself or any
one else who may be standing by. If he is near enough to the woods or
shore to walk he carries the gun as described, unloaded, until he
reaches the proper place. When climbing over fences, whether with
cartridges in place or not, he places the gun under the fence flat on
the ground, climbs over or under, and then picks it up from the other
side. Resting a shooting-piece against a fence or wall in an upright
position shows the greenhorn or the careless and therefore poor
sportsman. The fence may be rickety, or the stones on the wall easily
detached. In either case it only takes a little jarring to cause the
shot-gun to slide one way or the other and fall to the ground, and in
doing so it may very easily go off. If it is unloaded this would, of
course, do no harm. But if it is never allowed to get into the position
where it may so slide, it certainly can never go off, loaded or
unloaded. In other words, form the habit of never giving a gun the
chance of sliding or going off, and then you can never have an accident.
This is not a sign of timidity, and you would soon realize it if you