The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-28

Mlue curve what ever the line the
flight itself is strong and amazingly
swift Thus a novice at dove shoot
| ing commonly puts his pellets ten to
fifteen yards behind the game.
Dove shooting is by no means easy.
Two clean kills to a fiss is good
/ work. Only exceptional wing shots
under exceptional conditions bring
down five birds in six. Some years.
wkhen doves are verp llenty, there rs
excellent sport in walking them up
] ana shooting a bird to three shots
| and shooting over standing corn. In
such shooting a bird to three shots
should content the most ambitious
Cornf1eld shooting, just after frost, IS
| apt TO yield game of many sorts.
Curlew plover, upland plover. rain
wild turkey, snipe and woodcock may
all be brought to bag, particularly if
the corn land lies in river bottom.
Partridges Most Numerous or Birds
Notwithstanding, partridges so pre-
| dominate that to the greater number
of South country gunners bird shoot
ing means partridge shooting. The
reason is patent. Bobwhite, the
CHEEKY, has all sorts of ground for
| his own. He flourishes riotously in
wheat land: he feeds fat on corn
| ground; he thrives in the meadow
| Businesses, and he makes his own the
| thicket and the wood. He is, further,
| so noble an expansionist. A single
family, unhindered, grows in a season
to covey. With even the shadow
of game protection he increases and
multiplies until his sort possesses the
land. In the fair South-Louisiana
and Texes-he brings up two broods
! each season. Ungratefully he is al
| lowed to be shot there for six months
of the year, from September to April.
Cock cartridges, wherever they
range, are Mormons of the first water,
never satisfied with less than two
wives and often Boosting three. All
the wives lay in a common nest, take
| turns at brooding the eggs and at
caring for the young. There may be
as many as thirty eggs in a nest.
| Twenty is more usual.
| The young run from the nest almost
! as soon as Matched and know enough
| by the time they are dry to hide az
their mothers note of warning. They
| are so near the color of earth and
leaves that the least smaIl inequality
| gives them shelter from intrusive
| eyes. They run very swiftly and in
little while begin to fly, although they
are not strong on the wing until they
| are full grown and full feathered.
The Best Time for Shooting.
1
| there are generally bachelor birds
who skulk by twos and three about
the hedgerow thickets all summer
long. The best early shooting is had
by beating these thickets. The I'M
mated birds fly strongly and are in
| prime condition a fortnight before
the coveys are at their best. After
frost the lone birds and coveys Goa
| lessee.
The coveys have a habit of going
back toward the nest at night. They
seldom sleep fifty yards off the nest
spot, unless they have been so much
disturbed there that they have aban-
doned the place altogether. Local at
| tachment is tremendously strong with
them. They will often cling to a
field through a whole season, though
shot at every week. They will mi
CRATE in a mass if threatened with a
| scarcity of their favorite food, fhe
peas of the wild vetch and the seed
of weed called, locally, rag weed.
Unless frost holds off very late it is
best to wait for it before setting out
after partridges. Green grass, tough
weeds and writing vines are hard to
walk through. After the frost has
erisped them they break at a touch.
Many Southern gunners shoot from
their horses. Nearly always they ride.
when they go a-birding, even though
TIC dCIudI oIlOOllilS may De zone dIOOL.
WIND and weather have much to do
with the sportsman's luck. Hot Oc-
tober sunshine, with brisk south
winds, always sends the birds to the
woods. Cold northwesters, with snow
and sleet behind, hurry them to the
depths of the thickest, most tangled
cover available. Ideal weather is
mild and moist, with just the faintest
stir of wind, and a sky dappled all
over with low gray clouds. Upon
such day scent lies well, holds we'll,
| coveys are easily found, and when
found do not fly too far before going
down. Moreover, they commonly go
down well together, not in a compact
bunch, it is true, but in such neighbour
hood that there is little trouble in
marking the place. With true dogs
and game, good guns and good COM
pany, the game is well worth the can
dle-and the game bag.
Whether smooth or rough coated
dogs are best depends very much on
the ground and little bit on the
weather. For hunting stubble clean
of brush or brake upon mild day a
good pointer is, beyond peradventure,
the dog. He will outpont, outlast
and outWork a couple of rough-coats.
In tangle or over rocks, with an edge
wind blowing, it is just the other way
There the shaggy fellow comes to mis-
hlIlSuOul anu TelSIlS uDQlSpuLeQ.
The Supreme Test of MarIxsmanslip.
Shooting cartridges in tall timber
is the supreme test of craftsmanship.
He who waits to aim in such conditions
invariably wastes his powder. Indeed
for all bird shooting aim needs must
be instructive. Partridges fly through
the trees as crookedly as a rabbit runs
his maze, wheeling and twisting IN
and out between trunks, and, at last,
often settling upon a high branch,
secure from the best dogs nose.
They quickly learn that woods are
a haven of refuge. Coveys which have
been flushed once or twice within a
week almost invariably fly to or to-
ward the woods at a subsequently flush
ing. They learn also to seek shelter
in posted fields where there is little
shooting. going back from them when
the danger is past to feed and roost
in their familiar haunts.
i covey scattered in the afternoon
lies close until nearly dusk. Then
such members of it as have escaped
call to one another through the dark
ness, running toward one another as
they call Once met, the huddled rem
nant runs with weak cries and peep
ings in slanting line behind the
| leader toward the roosting place. The
roosting is fiat on the ground, In a
ring, heads out, tails in. If only two
| fr fbroa birds remain thew GOOn iOin