Shoot

“ Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to be too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going to shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to hit a red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that you must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the best shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at all. ”

“ In learning the art of shooting on the wing—and this is the only way in which a shot-gun should be used—the following suggestions may be of some help, but no amount of printed directions can teach you to shoot. ”

“ For we were going to Colleywoodbro' to fetch away the game.
Come, all you gallant poaching lads, if I must have my will,
Before we try to shoot this night let's try some hares to kill;
For shooting, you very well know, it makes terrible sound,
So if we shoot before we hunt we shall disturb the ground. ”

“ Shoot. To let fly or cause to be driven with force, as an arrow or bullet;—followed by a word denoting the missile, as an object. Also, to discharge, causing a missile to be driven forth;—said of the weapon or instrument, as an object; as, to shoot a gun and the like.
Shooter. One who shoots; an archer; a gunner; a shot. Also, that which shoots; as, a five-shooter.
Shooting-iron. A fire-arm is sometimes so called.
Shoshones, or Snakes. A tribe of North American Indians inhabiting the country between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, and from Idaho southward into Utah. ”

“ They who prefer large shot, and accustom themselves to fire at great distances, leave nearly as many languishing in the field as immediately die. Whereas, those that use small shot, and shoot fair, fill their bag with little spoil or waste beyond what they take with them from the field. ”

“ Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure he is, he shall shoot higher {153} than who aims but at a bush. ”

“ Then on occasion it is necessary to shoot from all sorts of positions, and it is disconcerting to have any one commenting. I prefer to be able to sit down fair and square so that both knees may be elbow rests; but, alas, not often the opportunity is given in big game shooting to choose your position. ”

“ They also shoot considerably, evincing a peculiar fondness for shooting people in the back with a remarkably bad aim, and then finishing them with a shot in the ear at close quarters, or a dagger under the fifth rib. ”

“ The shooting had been good that morning, as quail-shooting goes, and the man who acted as keeper, loader, gardener, and general factotum, and who went out with any one who wanted to shoot, had gone on to the cottage with the bag, the two guns, and the animal which he called his dog. ”

“ A clerk who, when writing, puts his nose right down on the paper, holding his head on one side, in fact a man semi-blind and suffering with extreme myopia made extraordinary good scores with a miniature rifle in a coal cellar shooting gallery, at a minute stationary bull’s-eye. ”

“ I don't see how a feller can shoot crooked. It jest seems that when I get out a gun there's a line drawn from the barrel to the thing I'm shootin' at. All I have to do is to pull the trigger—almost with my eyes closed!' Now, Kate, do you begin to see what these here things point to? ”

“ In so far as the art of shooting with the rifle can be taught by words, Mr Greener has essayed to make all who read his treatise proficient sharpshooters, and his remarks, both in sporting and military weapons, are eminently practical.'—The Field.
'Like all men who have had any experience of rifle shooting, insists on training the beginner to shoot, and shoot well, at stationary targets at short distances, and only advancing as each stage is thoroughly mastered. ”

“ I’ve watched—I’ve seen many things, sir, from Omaha to Benton. Oh, I wish I could tell you more; I wish I could help you right away. I meant, a dead-shot with the revolver knows beforehand, in the draw, where his bullet shall go. Some men are born to shoot straight; some have to practice a long, long while. ”

“ Other tame shooting is battue shooting, where luxuriously clad men, who have breakfasted at any hour between ten and twelve, and have been driven to their coverts in a comfortable conveyance, stand in a sheltered corner with cigarettes in their mouths, and shoot tame pheasants and timid hares for about three hours and a half, varying the entertainment by a hot lunch, and a short walk from beat to beat. ”

“ A very good shot who can pretend to be a very bad shot. Shall I tell you the second hint I hit on, after yours, to make me think it was Jenkins? It was my cousin's account of his bad shooting. He'd shot a cockade off a hat and a weathercock off a building. Now, in fact, a man must shoot very well indeed to shoot so badly as that. He must shoot very neatly to hit the cockade and not the head, or even the hat. ”

“ Nor from the shooting standpoint did we lack for sport. We had to shoot for our men, and we occasionally needed meat ourselves. It was always interesting, when such necessities arose, to stalk the shy buck and do long-range rifle practice. ”

“ It represented some view in Switzerland, but it was not the painting that struck me, but the circumstance that the canvas was shot through by two bullets, one planted just above the other.
"A good shot that!" said I, turning to the Count.
"Yes," replied he, "a very remarkable shot. . . . Do you shoot well?" he continued.
"Tolerably," replied I, rejoicing that the conversation had turned at last upon a subject that was familiar to me. "At thirty paces I can manage to hit a card without fail,—I mean, of course, with a pistol that I am used to." ”

“ Deliberate shooting is a game, a sport, and a very good sport, but it is neither practical pistol shooting or the way to learn it.
An outdoor range gives the best practice, as figures can be put up at various distances and shot at in rapid fire, moving and disappearing targets can run in all directions, and come up unexpectedly like at a shotgun shooting school. ”

“ He said, “There is a man in the wood.” “Why not shoot him?” I asked. “I did not like until I saw you,” he replied. So, with musket cocked, I accompanied him back to his post, and said, “Now, you stand there until your time is up; if you offer to run away any more, I will put a ball through you.” “Will you?” ”

“ Will he shoot any of them, apprehension, for the sharp crack of a rifle startled her more than the loudest thunder-clap she ever heard.
"Bless you, no, child; it 's only powder to make a noise and scare 'em. ”

“ Remember that a man shoots over three times for every once he shoots too low. Put your cap under your rifle if you are going to shoot from a rock rest; shoot from a rest whenever you can, and if you miss the first shot, do as the Frenchman wanted to when pheasant shooting, i.e. ”

“ In the latter part of my school-life I became passionately fond of shooting; I do not believe that any one could have shown more zeal for the most holy cause than I did for shooting birds. How well I remember killing my first snipe, and my excitement was so great that I had much difficulty in reloading my gun from the trembling of my hands! This taste long continued, and I became a very good shot. ”

“ You could try your strength by hitting an image of a fellow-creature in the stomach, and test your aim by knocking off the heads of other images with a wooden ball. You could also shoot with rifles at various targets. ”

“ I always leave the ground when I see men doing this. There is style in every pursuit, and style in pistol shooting consists in economy of movement and time and especially in timing one’s swing, aim, and trigger-pull so that they go together and throw the bullet on to the mark. ”

“ In game shooting with a rifle, or gun, one shifts the left hand constantly, according to the angle of the rifle or gun to your shoulder. For a high shot the left hand is thrust forward, for a low shot the hand drawn back. ”

“ If you want to win a prize for snap shooting, you can, by practising constantly under identical conditions of distance, shape, colour, height of target, and lighting, get so mechanical that it takes an effort not to hit the same spot continually. ”

“ A favorite but simple trick is the shooting from some distance at an orange held in a lady's hand. Great applause is invariably forthcoming when the bullet drops out on her, cutting open the fruit. It is inserted by hand earlier in the evening. ”

“ Much can, no doubt, be done to improve one’s shooting by regular practice. Some years ago I was discussing the subject with one of the old Highland proprietors who is a first-class rifle shot, and he told me that for many years he had been in the habit of practising shooting at a small wooden stag, which he had placed in all kinds of different positions and at different distances on the hill. ”

“ In a young state the leading shoot will require stopping to encourage the production of side shoots, and in the following and subsequent winter seasons prune them to within two or three joints of the base of each shoot. ”

“ The great deep ditches are dry in summer; and though shooting be not the object, yet a gun for knocking over casual vermin is a pleasant excuse for idling in a reclining position shoulder-high in fern, hidden like a skirmisher in such an entrenchment. ”

“ "Minder of my body you may be. But minder of my soul you are not. What do you say I call the shots and you go along to shoot the monsters? ”

“ Course, there's some women that does shoot, and shoot like h—l, but generally they ain't had the practice or the nature to do hit. You got to want to shoot to hit anything, and women don't run to that deviltry, much. ”

“ Their fuzzy wigs seem to curl tighter than ever for their dip, and in the brilliant afternoon their wet bodies gleam like burnished bronze. For strength and symmetry and inches, for natural grace of pose and splendid ease of movement, some of these cataract shooters are unsurpassable. Look at that youth of twenty or thereabouts who is approaching us and say what he reminds you of. ”

“ I reckon I could show you how to pull the trigger in a jiffy. That would be a certain kind of shootin’. But as for showin’ you how to hit somethin’ you shoot at, why, that’s a little different. I’ve knowed men that practiced shootin’ for years, ma’am, an’ they couldn’t hit a barn if they was inside of it. There’s others that can hit most anything, right handy. They say it’s all in the eye an’ the nerves, ma’am—whatever nerves are. ”

“ Experienced shootists, old hands at mortal combat with their kind, glanced from man to man, measured every motion, every look, with all the intense eagerness of artists who are favored with one great and especial sight, not to be met again. ”

“ You see, I have been shooting in different parts of the world and at different sorts of game for some fifteen years, and in many cases quick shooting is of just as much importance as straight shooting. ”

“ But, as our shooting is thus in manner utterly decayed among us one way, so our countrymen wax skilful in sundry other points, as in shooting in small pieces, the caliver, the handling of the pike, in the several uses whereof they are become very expert. ”

“ We must therefore conclude that the association of shooting with initiation is merely one of many possible associations, and that the shooting found in the basic complex must be regarded as historically different from the shooting found in the initiation complex. ”

“ When a free shoot has grown far beyond its support, it sinks downwards from its weight, as already explained in the case of the Hop, with the revolving extremity turned upwards. If the support be not lofty, the shoot falls to the ground, and resting there, the extremity rises up. ”

“ There is one subject connected with shooting, or the ethics of shooting, about which there is much more to be said than ever has been attempted—namely, that partridge preservers are now, and will be more in the future, indebted to the fox for their sport. ”

“ Herbert answered. "Shooting is a good deal like anything else that's lots of fun; you've got to love it and study it and have good eyes and then practise. And then, too, there's the gun. You've got to have a perfect gun to make A-1 scores and to do any fancy shooting." ”

“ I shoot the Hippopotamus
[178] with bullets made of platinum,
Because if I use leaden ones
his hide is sure to flatten 'em. ”

“ Shooting with the bow, the gun, and the pistol, is an exercise for Circassian boys at an age when those of countries more civilized are spelling, syllable by syllable, the lessons of the primer and the catechism. ”

“ This discussion of the sporting rifle will be concerned, therefore, principally with the hunting aspects, other forms of shooting being considered as good methods of practice, and the development of skill in the use of hunting weapons. ”

“ If you happen to know that he shot eighteen hundred birds, you can say that most people fixed the figure at fifteen hundred. He will then say,—"Ah, I know most people seem to have got that notion—I don't know why. As a matter of fact, I managed to get eighteen hundred and two, and they picked up twenty-two on the following morning." Your obvious remark is, "By Jove!" (with a strong emphasis on the "by") "what magnificent shooting!" After that, the thing runs along of its own accord. With a bad shot your method is, of course, quite different. For example:—
Young Shot. ”

“ They are skillful shots in many ways, and one way that never fails to impress the "tenderfoot," is the shooting of a clay pipe at a distance of twenty-five feet, while held in the mouth of one of them, who apparently does not see much excitement in the act. ”