Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-03-16

fasteaa % following Ga IA 3 direct
coarse, when line times ont Of len they
viii s0sa the SHIPS 81 y hich they are
IN search This Is supposable only IN
the case where the services Of dog
saeh. the setter VIII Do found tia
better. II must however &c specially
trained for the purpose. for one which
Is most sdn1able Ia uplaad shooting
will De found almost worthless over
English slipe- The dog must be
trained 70 work slowly and always
within tae radius Of gun shot, more
over II must be guided entirely by tho
motion of the hand; for 10 nothing 10
the English saipe more sensitive, nor
does anything make it wilder. than
shouts. yells and shrill whistling. In
wild. clustering weather . dos IL Of
little or 40 use; on such . day he must
work - the windwsrd or cross
the wind. and can hardly serve
other than as retriever,
which as . matter of fact con-
stisutes his principal value IA English
sniPe shooting The best day for tho
sport - one which is soft and haxy with
light southeriy breeze; then the sports
man walking down tho wind viii
usually md tho birds gentle and APP
proachable- Some gunners prefer 10
shoot at an English snipe the moment
IL rises from the ground; others wait
until il has attained distance of twen-
ty-five or thirty yards. when il will in q
measure have abandoned its zigzag mo-
ton and settled into one comparatively
steady. Side shots when obtainable are
far surer and better. IL must DO con-
ceded, however, that few birds are moro
difficult To kill or moro capricious in
their humor. In the morning they soar
high In the air and flush at long dis
tances; In the afternoon the same birds,
II the weather conditions are favorable,
may be easily approached and when
flushed. IL not killed, fiy but q short dis
tance before slighting. The impulse
on the first instance probably comes
from the fact that they have already
copiously stayed their hunger; while
tn the second the imperative demands
of the stomach are In the process of full
fillment- While English snipe do not
congregate IN iocks, they are by no
means nongrcgarious- 1t viii frequent
ly be found that where one is flushed,
from five to twenty, according TO the
quality of the ground, will be found
widhin limited area. The sound OF
the gun on propitious days does not dis
turb others, when one is flushed; but
on murky, drilling days, when a bird
il put mp, his cry Of ''scaipe, sca.pe," will
be answered 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 lie asst ten
yards over former limits This means
a great deal beyond a range of thirty
yards, inasmuch as the bird above that
distance measurably loses his zigzag
method of flight and has settled into
one more regular and steady. The
weapon most available for use in En-
glish snipe shooting Is probably
12-bore-one barrel plain cylinder,
the other full choko-loaded with 81
drains of black powder and IA ounces
Of No. 8 shot. The cylinder for the
first shot, then the choke in case of .
miss for the second The objection to
the choke of both barrels is that unless
bird is wide off, he is apt to be mutt
lated so as 20 be unfit for eating Indeed,
IL is question whether the choking OF
gun barrels has been an unmixed bless
ing.
Apart from its power Of mutilating
game. 1t tempts men to risk very long
shots by which a bird may struck with
only q single pellet, with q force suf-
fcient to wound It, but apt to enable It
TO be retrieved and ample TO consign it
to painful and lingering death
To the old sportsman the recollection
Of the former abundance Of English
snipe compared with their present vast
" diminished number. begets melan-
choly retrospeotion. The reputation of
the bird for it's edible qualities has
placed it upon q pinnacle almost on a
level with that of the woodcock. This
has probably come for the reason that
both may be cooked and eaten undrswn,
a property common to none other Of the
species DAVID WEcHsLER