erage of eighteen to twenty clay pigeons out of twenty-five at
sixteen yards rise, you may be sure that you will get your share of
game under actual hunting conditions.

The most difficult part of bird hunting is to learn to give the game a
start. The average shot-gun will kill quail at sixty yards and duck
at forty. The farther the game is away from us, provided it is within
range, the more the shot will spread. I once saw a half-dozen hunters
fire at a covey of quail that rose in an open field before they had
gone thirty yards and every hunter scored a clean miss. Any one of
these men could bring down his bird under the same conditions nine
times out of ten if he had taken his time. On this occasion when their
guns were empty another hunter who had withheld his fire said, "Are
you all done, boys?" and shot a bird with each barrel at a measured
fifty-eight yards. To kill a bird that another man has shot at is
called "wiping his eye," and it is the chief joy of an old hunter to
do this with a beginner. If you do not want to let the old hunter wipe
your eye, take your time.

Learn to shoot with your head well up and with both eyes open. When
the game rises, keep your eye on it and at the instant that you see it
on the end of your gun barrel, fire. The greatest joy of hunting is to
see the game appear to tumble off the end of your gun barrel when it
is hit. If there is a doubt as to whose bird it is, and this happens
constantly as two people often shoot at the same time at the same
bird, do not rush in and claim it. Remember you are a gentleman, but
if you are sure that you hit it, at least stand for your rights.

So much of the pleasure of hunting depends on our companions that we
must be considerate of the feelings of others as well as our own.
Always hunt if possible with experienced hunters. You will not only
have more fun, but you will run much less risk. In rabbit hunting, one
is especially at the mercy of the beginner who fires wildly without
any thought as to whose life he may be endangering, so long as he gets
the rabbit. If you hunt with some one who owns the dogs, be very
careful not to interfere with them by giving commands. As a rule the
owner of a well-trained dog prefers to handle him without any help,
and, while he may not tell you, you may be sure that he will resent it
if you try to make the dog do your bidding when his master is around.

The pattern of a gun, as it is called, is the number of shot it