The morning news., 1899-12-13

of twisting and lodging aud have settled
! down 10 a steady highD But the shooters
of the new school. for the most part, DO
not wait that long. In the first pace. the
birds are trihe better educated now than
In the days Of 'auld lang syne, and II a
man waited uuti they We're forty rods
away they might take advantage Of some
convenient cmmp OF willows or a haystack
or bunch of tall-grOwing cane or some
one of "a number OF different bits Of cover
to disappear from sight. So, too they are
wilder, especially In The spring, than they
were In Frank Forresier's day, and, geDH
orally speaking, they are advanced IN their
methods The best way to shoot snipe at
ordinary ranges OF from twenty-five 10
forty yards is just when they jump.
Tricks in shooting.
Their flight is exceedingly elusive, and
men who are good quail. chicken and duck
shots may be very Door performers on
iackgnTe once mastered. however, II -
easy enough TO get your birds win great
regularly. As a rule that meets WIN heW..
exceptions, The avetage OF three sheIs 10
n bird when the snipe are at all wild Is
good average. But in the fall, when the
BIRDS lie clSse and when they can be pus
up before the dog. a man should do better
In the fan the snipe lie in higher. heavier
cover, especially on windy and colo days.
and Il is beautiful sport then. Take some
CID COW pasture, wet and grown up with
cat-tails and swampy and maiShy
growth, where the cattle have tramp'ed
down the cover leaving boggy spots nero
and there through the fie d, and mere mo
birds WIN always be found when there are s
any suine in the country. Such spots viii
be found 10 be fun Of snipe during the sea-
son, and even when the birds are driven
away they viii come back again, drifting
IN an day to such favorite haunt ON
cold and hlowy Gays they Will lie wen 70
a dog. and a good sauer or pointer will .
b,, tbf to 10 nDlntQ
hadl an hour in such "a field. one of the
great beauties about snipe shooting, so far
as The getting OF the binds Is concerned, ls
the character of the shooting. IL Is aA
single or double bird shooting, as the jack
snipe do not fly in hocks. Occasionally a
wisp of from three 10 five may be seen fly
ing over the meadows together, but when
they alight they scatter, and when the
hunter moves up to their vicinity they VIII
rise singly or in pairs. This gives a man
an opportunity to pick his birds which no
other shooting gives, for In woodcock
shooting the cover hinders the shooting
ana in other shooting the birds rise often
in a bunch thus distracting the sports
mans aim.
Hanging on.
In the fan the jacksnipe have less coun-
try 10 feed In for the summer suns have
dried up much of the ground they occu-
pied in the spring months. In some parts
of the country there is no shooting except
In the spring. In the autumn months the
birds linger in the country until sometimes
the ice rims the edges Of the pools and
chill winds and sere sweep across the pas
lures. But If the grass and reeds afford
cover high enough the snlpe will skulk
In such cover and many dozen of splen-
did, plump birds may be shot when the
morning Of the day which gave them their
quietus was cold and stormy. with ice on
the spring holes. But when the sun comes
out in the afternoons and the ice melts
they seem TO appear, and as long as the
ground softens and gives them good feed
Ing and the cover shelters them from the
winds they linger until the advent of the
conquering SHOWS.
Hard Bird 90 Find.
A good dog will not only enable a man
to find the birds better in the fall but
he can make doubles" when he has a
dog along. trusting TO the animal to find
all the birds he drops. In high, dense COW
er. the jacksnipe is a very hard bird to
find Indeed. he Is often lost in compara-
lively open places because he is so like
the cover he falls INFO, But with good
dog, whether he is a retriever or not,
man viii find about adj of the anipe he
shoots, When snipe are fairly plentiful
the chances for making doubles" presents
itself constantly, and yet, If man 10
hunting without a dog, he will lose many
birds especially in thick cover, II he
makes doubles and tries TO get the birds.
The safest way, when shooting without a
dog, Is TO get your birds one at a time.
unless the hunter has a chance to get in
fairly open cover lie can then take more
chances. When he downs his first bird of
pair let him mark II down by some par
ticular weed, cIump of cat-tails other
mark, and then go TO where his second
bird was shot and drop a handkerchief
where he thinks the bird fell. Then back
10 the first bird and ffnd that, N possible,
at first In the meantime, If other birds
get up, and they are quite likely TO, let
him get them one at time, never for
getting the landmark that he noticed in
marking the first bird. IL he gets the
first bird, the second is an easier task.
The handkerchief win be a base from
which to take observations and by beat
ing around he can usually find his game.
Best Shot to Use.
In the fall IL the birds are wild, 1t ts
a good scheme, as | have found it, to use
No shot in the left hand barrel No
SIS In the right hand barrel are all right,
but when you shoot a second time at the
same bird-and that is something that
will happen to every one-you may have
10 shoot long ways at your bird. Now
on windy days the light shot is at a dis
advantage. And IL Is surprising, and at
the same time instructive, 10 see how many
birds a man can shoot with No. 6s IL he
holds his gun right. If you will hold
youl gun so that jaclesnipe Is in the CEN
ter of the pattern OF a load of 6's he wilt
not get away. Some of the shot wiz hit
him, and generally one is enough II II hits
him in the body, wing or any place but
the leg.
Remember, hip boots are necessary in
snipe shooting, although the water may
not be very deep along the sloughs, and
the work. preferably a twelve guage,
where the snipe lie the water is only in
the shallowest Of pools and puddles, you
VIII sometimes come across places where
you viii want to go in almost waist deep
to get to other territory. And at times
you are compelled TO shoot snipe over
a pond where you would lose him unless
you wadad In after him. Wear as light
clothing as you can, for the tramping Will
be extensive.
A twelve or a sixteen gauge gun will do