The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-07-13

Anslins Devices which Are Unfair
70 the t1sn--Jssidsrmy for sperts-
men W., stern Anglers IN Hard me-.
L.I oil. - ono NJ the earliest OF States to
M, pr,,e for from the woodcock and the
on seasor th.g. II now on The neigh
boring states 81 Wisconsin N Indiana
do no, Kermit the shooting ~ ~oodcock
until September. which IL a sensihls pro-
vision. les gnet Ia give tho birds some
chanc,. for IL. T Sc Noodcock srts up from
the south carly in April AMI At once begins
TO rai-e fam.lb~ The Young are 81 rapid
growth and abb IT, car. Tor themselves
within a few dav. after leaving the shells
rhcv arr not ~lfhcientlv developed In
July. however. to make their killing a fair
,hinr Eight out ~ ton birds slain before
July ~ vii! h. undersiysd and when ex-
amined will be found To Rear pinfeaiher-
Thew are no, so strong ~ flight In earlv
youth. nor ~ comua tent 20 hide and avoid
hunters Shaving them a. that time Ia
caster than n thew are taken In the fall
when they have all ths,ir pinions on In pre-
p~aration for s~outhwaTd hight and are
warier and stronger on the wing
Nevcrtheleas therc 10 never a time when
the woodoock l. what nav he called easy
shooting IL fr~duents the heaviest cover
from the time The mother leaves II To tt-
own devices and IL has ALWAYS rs puzzlins
corkscrew method Of getting through the
air
I, i no, 80 rapid ~ the jacksnipe and " u
hved in the oyen would not IN 40 hard To
Kill The heavy u~ntlerhrish and marsh
affected hv the wrodc pck. however, joined
10 it, erratic progress. make IL the mo~t
diffcult ~ winged tAr,'ets.
There IL no Amer'c m hver Which will
90 severely test the Acid shot's shu. nor any
one which So firmly demands a peculiar
knack in the shooter Woodcock shooting.
unless under exceptional circumstances il
always snap shco,ing % the hardest kind.
The man must ks~p his ewes open. his
gun mus, he carried in readiness, he must
sse or hear the bird when Il jumps and he
must aim and Are before the cock has COW
cred twenty wards ~ twigs or branches
or corn blades are certain 20 he in the way.
much woodcock -hon;ing even by old
hands l. g~ue~swork
They fire whore they think the bird u
and let u 60 AZ that. They have caugh, q
momen.arv glimpse or a fash 81 brown
headed in a certain direction. pitch up the
Ruu, uoh hn'ob hHb W " NV hoihAk
that the obstacles will not stop all the sho,
II Is surprising how many birds are killed
In this way or how luckily expert men used
10 this sort Of sport become In a year or
two
A, thi. time 81 year, when the july sun
h broiling. the woodcock feeds In the
daytime. hu, slowly. Most Of It's food
II taken a, night. IT, ;he dark 1t seeks
open soft nlsres where IL bor~s for worms
A. daylight 1t seeks underground and
chimps 81 bushes which grow in moist
places. There II sleeps part - The time
and drives its bill into the ground AZ odd
Moments.
a number 81 willows can b~ found.
covering sav a quarter 81 an acre. growing
abou, a pond or spring. their thick branches
keeping the ground damp. woodcock are
pretty certain Ia make II a refuge In dav
hour- There IL no way % finding them
and routing them out Of such a plaNe except
by main strength.
A dog il useless because the hunter can
never tell whore he Is Al SOM" hunters
use the cocker spaniel ard tic a ANAL boil
TO his heck N thai IL jingling may betray
the direction a. least In which the dog
h working. but the animals services are
OF mail value IN flushing the birds
II he gets up one the dds ara greatly
against the mans getting a glimpse ~
II. A dog Should 10 taken along N hunting
through ever - this kind, hut only ~ a
retriever L. FAC. N" cover is - Close
tina; a man upaided would lu-s three out
Of four tirdS killei.
II the willows 10 growing thicklv the
~woodcock will not flush until tho mar is
within two wards. II will then 60 up almost
perperdicularlv until II clears the tops
Of N" tr,-.-. hang for a moment outlined
asains' the skv ard dive. striking tho
ground not more than forty wards from
hi point - r0s" firm
H. thus flight tho wu"dcpck must he shot
jus, A. u j. poised before the return 20
eArth. II il stationary for possibly a half
second a,d must be caught on tho end
O. The barrel iust In that nick 81 time
shooting at a wopicock - hanging IL
much like shooting at a hat that IL tosS~i
a. air ard that, to he lilo with shot and
mate worthless 20 - rr-kle-- owner.
mus, be- struck before 10 starts hack 10
the ground This sort 81 msrksman-
ship when woodcock are tho target. requires
a spsrially 'rain'l ~" and hand
There ia kusck about " that j. only
60 he acquired from practice MANY OK
Der runner mis- fRth H'Sf COCK Nien
frSt a.k,Si 20 shoot al tie birds rising
from willows. but any mar used Ia handling
The qua eDpu gets on to III" trick and there
aftor l. able To make a fair percentage 81
kills
IL there IL a NOR exhausitng sport than
hunting Illinois woodCock IN July il has
not bsen Identified IL II emphGtically the
wrong s,ason OF the year for shooting.
To -e a man out among the gren things.
gun on shoulder and dog at heel. strikes
TIE observer with a sense ~ oddne-s. The
Western sun IL very busy Just now. Day
after dsv the temperature In the shade
marks from ~ 10 N degrees Fahrenheit,
with a great amount 81 humidity
Prom IN" moist ground aneC'ed hy the
birds tho heat rI~c- ia ~srnotherng waves
Forcing n way through underground IL
toll. The hand which holds tho gun drps
pcrsplration and the brsch IN as wet As
II dpprd into "A Cr-cN
The dog, even 10 k,sn in early morning
socn shows signs - the weather and comes
raduy 20 hsel and stays there unless -~nt
out Tor a dead bird IN" birds are drowsy
ard luath To flush into the garsh sunlight
much prrfrrTing IA. GOODNESS and dark
~ the shadr Ito man who gets "A half
lruu NoodCoCk uHi"r. 'lcsr circumstance
,~c.talUlv oa-l- ihcm. hut II h" rr's none
Al ts ytII baNp only ltfusslf fa ELAINE