Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-04-12
= Rob White Shooting.


The Century prints a sportsman's
naper on Bob White, the Game Rird
of America" by Prof. Alfred NJ. Mayer,
of the SteNrns Institute of Technology.
OF the difficulty of bagging Bob White
he saws: ITO become a successful shot
a. Bob White, the sportsman should
bear in mind that Bob, Immediately
after he has sprung, flies with a velocity
which probably exceeds that Of any
other bird; AMI also that, unless fairly
hit. he can carry of a large number OF
pellets, Wien a covey spring, it rises
at a considerable angle with the ground
Hence. in shooting at a bird in o
flushed Convey, the sportsman of wn-
steady nerve and sluggish muscl is apt
TO unlcrsloot, the bird rising with
such velocity that hy the time the gun.
ner has brought his gun into position
the bird has passed above his line oi
sight. As arule, | 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 a moderately hori-
Zuntal line Of flight, and allows the
sportsman 10 get 4 fair aim.
In shooting at an incoming bird, let
him be out Of sight and Just below
the rib of your gun at the moment of
firing. At a bird going overhead, wait
till he has passed well over; then shoot
under him. At straightway shots, hold
a little high, SO that you just catch a
glimpse Of the bird over vour barrels.
in shooting At cross shots, it should
I've understood that tho velocity of an
ounce ot No. \ shot lriycn with three
drains Of powder is near to 100 feet per
second. In that second a Bob White,
if under full Roadway, will go eighty,
eight fe, I, if We estimate the velocity OF
lis flight 20 low As anly u mile a
minute. If lac is hyiDG directly across
your line of sight and thiIty yards off,
the shot will take r"tcLth of a second
10 reach that distance, and in one-tenth
of a second the bird has gone over
eight and e~igh.-tenths feet. so, If we
should fire a snapshot directly at q
cross.fying bird thirty yards distant,
the center of the cloud Of shot wolld
fall about nine feet behind him, and lac
would pass by unscathed To Kill lin
clean you must hold nine feet ahead
OF him. To some sportsmen, nine feet
may seem a great distance TO hold
ahead ON "a cross-fying bird thirty
yGsds away. hut not to those who have
noticed att,ntjvely the relations of the
line Of their aim 10 the position of tie
bird a. the very moment they hear the
report OF their gun. Also, cstimations
of distances in the air beside a small
and luickly-moving object are very nn-
reliable, AMI often when the sport maa
thiuks he has fired only one foot ahead
of a bird he has really held ahead three
feet. Let some one suspend horizons
tally in the air an unfamiliar object
that must he distant from fence rails
and other thing, whose dimensions yon
know, and then CUES, its length. ION
will, after a few trials, Ice satisfied that
the estimation OF actual lengths at thir.
ty yards is very loose gueSs-work.
~ beginner who, out of three shots,
can bring one Bob White to bag, need
not he discouraged or ashamed; with
sufficient practice, lie NAV one day kill
one ont of two birds fred at. Tie
sportsman who does not select his shots
(and no man reslly a sportsman can Ia
that, Int takes lis chances in the open
and in covert of all birds which OF T a
probability Of success to lis SKILL and
who, the season through, brings TO lis
bag three ont If five birds fired 1T, j.
aQaccomplished sportsman. Ii he can
make three Successful shots out Of four,
he is a phenomenal marksman.'