The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
OrEST OF THE JACKSNIPE.
,,sricULTiEs OF THIS MOST EN-
slGfSs or sPORTs.

ahoofiug to brlnE 70 trhes-fOtnunterts
Tn,,efore. Give Him = wide Borth-somo
=, I'll. Peculiar Characteristics - Fine
p,s. Mads AlsnE the Fox River,
,,curSRy Ill. Nov. a.-Men who shoot jack
Ia. IN ,thef parts Of tho country are used 70
w.. .,I ccpdn ms which make hard work Day
iran, nos over marshes and throug mud mich
MAS TO tao kucca desperate scrambles through
80. bi.h-f thhn a mans head. climbing and
.,,,,plio. over soft hillocks formed by the last
-,,,.,s lee are all endured In tho hope Of bring
~, "a bag ono Of the most elusive and delicious
- .u American game birda To be successful
.,,,. shooter means that the hunter has much
.,rse,, strength that he has any amount Of
r.,.nce. thot he Is prepared for 'I'.luek . half
- DAYS hand running n II be compensated
n, one fair day Of sport and that he 10 marks
"a, a, the big hest clasa The difficulty Of tho
I.el,pipe a. a moving target comes from tho
~, ina, Il mas no, only q rgIag hight each
s,,.s describing q segment Of circle sis feet
4, I,rvtn but tina, IL is extremely swift Thoro
!. Md. difference between the rapidity with which
..,c.- covers ground and the speed Of the single
,,,n II the amount covered by the snipo's
sr,,rsins be takcn into account II 10 the faster
Nj ., the two II Is easy enough To stop when
n, b,,ng tender and no, Of great vitality. but
,,.ns the sno, Jus, where they ough, 10 70 Is .
ro,,,t Of uncertainty TO all save eIperta
Alsns the Fox River al this season Of the year.
,,,n, shooting takes on q form not known elso-
.,,, The stream 10 broad. clear and rapid,
"a IA has low banks These banks come down
a IN, waters edge In many places with scarcely
, ,,rcep,ible dip. They are grown up with Wild
A. IN september but the stake have all fallen
"A the hco grains arc In tho "a, black mud.
r,.,, 1. . ten.foot belt OF this mud on each side
A IA, nyer for miles and In Il the incksnipc take
,n.,, steady meals OF worms and larvn. IL Is
,o.r,blo Of course, for the hunter VINO owns n
n.t Of rubber boots 10 walk along . bank. nush
IN, birds and shoot them a. they nsc. The
,r,ubls with this method Of pursuit In that tho
waking Is very labonous owing 10 tho tcnAcity
nd soi,ness OF the soil. and. moreover. many Of
IN, birds so sho, would fall into deep water and
). carried out OF reach by the current
Shooters hero have a different and much moro
luxurious way OF going after iacks- Two men
re-, into a boat and one takes his position In tho
bow He sits upon chair, the legs OF which have
ben gu, OF 80 that no more than i've Inches 70
main His gun Is In his lap and his shells arc In
.hox on the boats bottom. within reach His
comp,nion 81 the OARS pulls slowly along at
distance Of twenty ieei from tho bank.
l.aning calmly back. the man with the
run keens his eyes peeled. The pair
will have uaversed not moro than 100 yards
o, the water when a harsh 1Scapel Scape!' will
sound and a small brown object will Be soen dart.
lnS from the mud and eorkscrewing its way out
o! danger. The man In the chair leans suddenly
forward. the gun leaps 20 his shoulder. he hest
n'es for second presses the trigger and then
lo5Ss eagerly under the slight cloud OF smoke 10
mrS Vie result Of his shot II the aim has been
glyi. he sees the bird pitch suddenly downward.
landing possibly on the mud, or possibly In the
water In either case II Is easily re-
r'lrvrd There Is one BEAUTIFUL bit OF fesh
IN the boa, and there has been
~ cNcrtion worth mentioning. This sort
o' thing Will continue iyr i've miles UP the ri,er
sna iae result Of IT, II the birds arc reasonably
Plentiful, viii he about two dozen enc iaoksnipe
Vt the eud Of the hye-u!le pull tho men change
places, the auiocrat IN The chair becoming COM
n. rover and IT," slave finding himself elevated
ro the position 4 ans, tat The boat is taken
g. The ,'grr si3s q! tue river and the pull down
T:e.m D"siaS In going up, the left hand bank
isi.Ecu ~. the man in the prov be lief, -hAnded.
The aJ.sct this is ~ give him better shooting
r,,.i.a All men IRE n shotgun across tho body
"A. warn sitting in boat shooting bird which
N4sass n his right and gees 10 the rear Is
remeIy d III 'ult to a rghthAnded man In coming
down the night bank OF tho river 10 taken for The
same reasons
on a ten.rnile pull. the day being clear. hot and
Nindless two men have taken fvo dozen lack.
snlpe from tho banks OF the Fox. This meant
an expenditure OF 100 shells. because. no matter
how good with gun a man may be, he cannot
BRING 10 bag more than ok out OF ten. This Is,
indeed, very high average The shooter able
70 show one iacksnipe for each three shells fred,
and keep Il up al day has reason to be ashamed
Of himself lie Is pretty neatly fast enough for
our company. There are tales Of men making dX
.een and eighteen straight kills on lacks" nd
an Illinois county attorney once returned to town
with tho statement that he had bagged thirty
nine ou, OF forty but these remarkable scores
have never been made when there was disin'
'erssted party along 10 witness tho performance.
The claimants Of phenomenal shooting ability
say thai this Is owing entirely TO tho scarcity Of
disnercSird Observers
The advantage Of shooting iacksnipe from
the bow ot q ro1my, light and comfortable boat
l. not confined wholly to tho kingly ease Of II.
As the flvef Is the only water within three or four
miles II Is hard 10 induce the birds 10 torsako ~
shoi 1t IL an easy matter 10 mark II down. II Is
certain 10 pitch again within a hundred yards
q 80 and will generally cross the stream. In
Ms case the boat Is simply pulled across and
the shooter, knowing lust where his quarry Is.
can Judge when he Is within shooting distance
and make preparation TO kill II soon al II Jumps
III his manner a iacksnipo pursued by an un-
tsllfui Or unlucky shot Is sometimes fired at a
Dozen or more times. before overweighted with
Tad pumped into IL nj long range. II sinks INTO
The wtidne s'S q ,Re birds and tho distances
a, which they flush are almost wholly matters
Of weather On hot DAYS the snipo will lie almost
a. closely as quail on cold cloudy and windy
days II will flush sometimes a hundred yards
away This sort Of weather seems 10 make II
more yatchiul and 10 get on Its nerves When
eMpe are flushing at such distances boat shoot
lng must be abandoned. They can bo killed
wen only by man walking parallel with the
oank and twenty yards inland There IL apt
70 be some shield Of grass between him and tho
waters edge and he can approach close enough
V We game 10 insure him d reasonably fair shot
u u he quick enough.
There are two points in tho iacksnipes flight
Ia iumcdiat'ly after II has flushed. II will Jump
generally six feet straight into the air and for
We nIuelh part Of second before II begins It's
H,'lng hcadlong flight IL Is practically sta
,ohhy, The other II when II has travelled bo-
Wt'n thirty md forty yards Then for a little
space ls 1igHhgging ceases and II flies az steadily
q quail. ~ course 10 make a kill whom the
blfn ~ ~ this latter point the man with the gun
must hive been close IN II when II jumped A
man lhiufcri lo follow the zigZAgs with the muZZlo
~ th gun, because the gun Is not yet invented
.p'' H'I pattern suot sufficiently widely 10 cover
a. y Tie sniur'S curves In following them
i'om l"' 70 night and from light to left the shooter
h'''-H'r urrly TO get behind the bird, and n
falling ""'
- Nnr - the must successful snipo shots In the