The Dillon tribune., 1883-10-13
Bob White Shooting.

The Century prints q sportsman's
paper on Bob White, the Game Rird
of America" by Prof. Alfred NJ. Mayer;
of the Stevens Institute of Technology.
OF the difficulty Of bagging Bob White
he saws: "To become successful shot
at Bob White, t; sportsman should
bear in mind that Bob, Immediately
after he has sprung, flies with velocity
which probably exceeds that OF any
other bird; and also that, unless fairly
hit he can carry off large number OF
pellets. When covey spring, it rises
at considerable angle with the ground.
Hence, in shooting at q bird in .
flushed covey, the sportsman OF UNI
steady nerve and sluggish muscles is apt
to untlershoot, the bird rising with
such velocity that by the time the gun
her has brought his gun into position
the bird has passed above his line IT
sight. As a rule, think that about one
second generally elapses between the
instant of springing Of the bird and the
moment of fire. This interval gives the
bird time to gain moderately hori-
zuntl line of flight, and allows the
spo tsman to get fair aim.
In shooting at an incoming bird, let
him b. out Of sight and just below
the rib of your gun at the moment OF
firing. At bird going overhe ad. wait
till he has passed we'll over; then shoot
under him. At straightway shots, hold
q little high, SO that You just catch .
gil upsa Of the bird over vour barrels.
"In sho ting at cross shots, it should
lie understood that tie. velocity of all
ounce of No. = shot driven with three
drains Of powder is near to 800 feet per
second. In that second Bob White,
ii under full Roadway, will go eighty
eight fe, t, If we estimate the velocity Of
his fight 30 low as only mile q
minute. If he is flying directly across
your line of sight and thirty yards of,
the shot will take one-tenth Of o second
to reach that distance, and in one-tenth
of second the bird has gone over
eight and eight-tenths feet. So, if we
should fire q snapshot directly at o
cross-hying bird thirty yards distant,
the center of the cloud of shot would
full about nine feet behind him, and he
would pa Ivy unscathed. To kill him
Clean you must hold nine feet ahead
OF him. To some sportsmen, nine feet
may seem great distance to hold
ahead on . cross-fying bird thirty
yards away, but not to those who have
noticed attentively the relations of the
line Of their aim to the position of the
bird at tie very moment they hear the
report of their gun. Also, esti,nations
OF distances in the air beside Q small
and quickly-moving object are very un-
reliable, and often when the sportsman
thinks he has fred only one foot ahead
Of bird he las really held ahead three
feet Let some one suspend horizon
tally in the air an unfamiliar object
that must he distant from fence rails
and other things whose dimensions You
know, and then guess its length. You
will, after few trials, be satisfied that
the estimation of actual lengths at thir-
ty yards is very loose guess-work.
"A beginner who, out of three shots.
can bring one Bob White to bag, need
not lie discouraged or ashamed; with
sufficient practice, he may one day kill
one out of two birds fred at, The
sportsman who does not select his shots
(and no man really sportsman can do
that, but takes his chances in the open
and III covert OF all birds which offer a
probability of success to his skill, and
who, the season through, brings to his
bag three out of five birds fred at. il
an accomplished sportsman. II he can
make three successful shots out of four.
he is a phenomenal marksman."