Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-03-15

mirable in upland shooting will be found
almost worthless over English snipe.
The dog must be trained TO work slowly
and always within the radius OF
gun shot; moreover, it must be guild
ed entirely by the motion of the
hand: for to nothing is the Eng
lish snipe more sensitive, nor
does anything make it wilder, than
shouts, yells and shrill whistling. In
wild, clustering weather Il dog is OF lit
tie or no use: on such day he must
work to the windward or cross the
wind, and can hardly serve other than
as a retriever, which as a matter Of fact
constitutes his principal value in Eng
lish snipe shooting. The. best day for
the sport is one which is soft and hazy
with a light southerly breeze; then the
sportsman walking down the wind will
usually find the birds gentle and APP
proachable. Some gunners prefer to
shoot at an English snipe the moment
IL rises from the ground: others walt
until il has attained distance of TWEEN
ty-five or thirty yards, when it will in
measure have abandoned its ZigZag mo-
ton and settled into one comparatively
steady. Side shots when obtainable are
far surer and better. 1t must be. con-
coded. however, that few birds are more
difficult to kill or more capricious in
their humor. In the morning they soar
high in the air and flush al long dis
tances: in the afternoon the same birds,
if the weather conditions are favorable,
may be easily approached and when
flushed, if not killed, fly but short dis
lance before alighting. The impulse
on the first instance probably comes
from the fact that they have already
copiously stayed their hunger; while in
the second the imperative demands of
the stomach are in the process Of fulfill
ment. While English Snipe do not con-
gregate in fiocks. they are by no means
nongregariouS. II will frequently be
found that where one is flushed, from
five to twenty, according TO the quality
of the ground, will be found within Il
! limited area. The sound OF the gun on
propituous days does not disturb others,
when one is flushed; but on murky,
drilling days, when a bird is put up,
| his cry OF "scdipe. Scdipc will be an
swered by all within the sound OF his
note taking wing with an answering call.
Since the introduction OF the full
choke gun, SportSmen have secured an
advantage in shooting English snipe,
when they are wild and at distances
heretofore considered impossible. He
has gained a killing margin Of at least
ten yards over former limits. This
means a great deal beyond a range of
thirty yards, nasmuch as the bird
above that distance measurably loses
his zigzag method of flight and has set
tied into one more regular and steady.
The weapon most available for use IN
English snipe shooting is probably a
22-bore-one barrel plain cylinder,
the other full choke-loaded with 80
drains of black powder and l Is ounces
Of No shot. The cylinder for the
| first shot, then the choke in case OF a
miss for the second. The objection 10
the choke of both barrels is that unless
bird is wide off, he is apt TO be mutt
lated so as to be unfit for eating. Indeed,
| it is question whether the choking OF
gun barrels has been an unmiXed bless
idg.
| Apart lIOH ltS PO"Ol VI h"Ni"N'Hp
game, it tempts men TO risk very long
shots by which Il bird may be struck
with only a single pellet, with force
sufficient to wound it, but apt to enable
it to be retrieved and ample to consign
it to a painful and lingering death
To the old sportsman the recollection
OF the former abundance of English
Snipe compared with their present vast
ly diminished number. begets melan-
cholp retrospection. The inspection Of
the bird for its edible qualities has
placed it upon pinnacle almost on a
level with that of the woodcock. This
has probably come for the reason that
both may be cooked and eaten undrawn,
property common to none other of the
| feathered species.