Shooting (sport)

“ OR BREECH-LOADING SHOT GUN.
Sporting in France has never been brought to the same state of perfection as in this country. Grouse-shooting on our wild romantic hills is a very different sport from quail, partridge, or rabbit shooting in the vales and on the hills of the Continent. Wild game requires great energy and perseverance on the part of the sportsman, courage and strength on the part of the dog, and last, though not least, great capacity on the part of the gun. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Pistol shooting is excellent training for control of the temper. Boiled down to its essence, pistol shooting is fighting either in earnest or in competition.
Whilst therefore self-control is essential in all sport, in pistol shooting it is vital. When a man loses his temper he is at the mercy of his opponent. ”

“ I must tell my readers that from earliest boyhood I had a passionate love for shooting; and, through the kindness of my commanding officer while at Monte Video, I was allowed constantly to indulge in sport.
On one occasion my captain, who was a keen sportsman, took me with him out shooting. We had a famous day's sport, filled our game bags with partridges, ducks, and snipe, and were returning home on horseback when a solitary horseman, a nasty-looking fellow, armed to the teeth, rode up to us. As I knew a little Spanish we began to talk about shooting, &c. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And as between the experts, target shooting is still the bigger sport. The knowledge and judgment required to meet the varying conditions, the steadiness demanded, the fact that the rifleman 120 is preparing himself to meet his country’s greatest emergencies—these put golf (and you know I have loved the game) into the lower place.
I put on my greatcoat again, took the nap that longed to be taken, and then, refreshed and more confident, went to my next turn. ”

“ His gun, then, must be suited to grouse-shooting, and must be light, because of the heat which often prevails at that time, and renders dragging a heavy gun many miles over the heather—before they pack—a serious drawback to the pleasure of the sport. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I should recommend any gentleman who is going to equip himself as a sportsman to ask himself before he starts the question that occurred to me too late in D.'s case: What kind of shooting am I likely to enjoy? Then, if not wishing to go to more expense than absolutely necessary, let him purchase a gun precisely suited to the game he will meet. As briefly observed before, if the sportsman takes his sport early in the year, and practically in the summer—August is certainly a summer month—he will like a light gun ”

“ All my remarks have referred to target-shooting only, in those cases where competitors are not hurried, but can take their own time to paint their sights and adjust them with "machines," carefully marking the allowance for windage on their sights, so that they may aim at the bull's eye every time, and have no more to think of but holding the rifle steady. ”

“ When three men had thus fired, signals were made by drum, flag, and bugle, and the firing ceased. The marker then came out and pointed to the bullet-mark on each target, and having patched up the holes he returned within his mantelet, and the firing was resumed. This very safe and simple method of ball practice is much better than that used in our military shooting. ”

“ 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." ”

“ To become a sportsman, the first thing to acquire—provided nature has kindly furnished the proper groundwork of heart and body, without which little can be done—is the art of shooting. A few, very few men become, through fortuitous circumstances of nature and practice, splendid shots; many shoot well, and some cannot shoot at all. The author of this work has handled a gun from his twelfth year, and been out with thousands of sportsmen, but he never yet saw a dead shot—one who can kill every time. ”

“ Shooting schools cannot help a shooter to learn to kill curling pheasants, swerving partridges, wrenching grouse, or zigzagging snipe, but they can teach the quick firing and changing of guns. And to one not in practice it is this quick firing that puts a shooter out of touch with gun and game, much more readily than swerve, wrench, zigzag, or curl. ”

“ But there is something worse than bad shooting style, there is bad sporting form; and coming down hill often brings it obviously to the man who is walking behind, and sees the leading man’s gun carried on the shoulder, pointing dead at the pit of the follower’s stomach. ”

“ Now and then one waits with the butt on his hip: one swings his gun anyhow in one hand like an umbrella: a third tosses it over his shoulder with the hammers down and the trigger-guard up, and jerks the muzzle over when the game rises. Except in snap-shooting, when the gun must of necessity be held already half-way to the shoulder, it matters very little which the sportsman does, nor from what position he raises his gun. ”

“ March and shoot, shoot and march! The enemy’s shot rain hard; our bullets fly windward. The battle has become fierce.
Until we have pierced the body of the foe with our shot, we must continue to harass them with our fire. The bayonet is the finishing touch; the guns must play a large part in a battle. So, therefore, we must be very careful in shooting. When the fighting once begins, we begin to dance from the top of the head to the tip of the toe, we lose ourselves in excitement, but that does not do. ”

“ In order to excel, regular and temperate habits of life must be formed and maintained. It renders the senses more alert and trains them to act in unison and in harmony. But, above all, skill in shooting is a useful accomplishment.
Anyone possessing ordinary health and good sight may, by practice, become a good pistol shot. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Still, in this matter of rifle shooting their dilettanti practice through a window, at the short range of 200 yards, seems really childish when compared with that of the manly groups at Wimbledon, where, on the open heath, in sun or drifting hail, the burly Yorkshireman meets with the hardy Scot, and sends his heavier deadly bullet on its swift errand right away for a thousand yards in the storm. ”

“ You can easily test the amount of choke in a 12-gauge gun. A new ten-cent piece will just go inside the end of the barrel of a full cylinder gun and just fail to go into one that has been slightly choked.
While it is impossible to give any written directions for shooting that are as valuable as actual practice, the important thing for a beginner is to get his form right at first, just as in golf or horseback riding, and then to make up his mind that every shot has got to count. ”

“ Before commencing your stalk, it is well to arrange some straw or reed in the cart, waggon, or hackery in such a manner that it shall afford concealment without preventing you, when within shot, from instantly starting, gun in hand, to a kneeling posture, which we have found the best attitude to shoot in when subjected to the irregular motion of a vehicle with wheels out of circle, and travelling over a plain without roads. For this description of shooting, a strong hard-shooting gun is needed. ”

“ Should any reluctance, or hesitation, be shewn by the injured party, to accept these Bills, he is shewn into a long room, with a target at the end of it, and several pistols lying about, where he is given to understand that these sharpers practice a considerable time of the day in shooting at a mark, and have arrived at such perfection in this exercise, that they can shoot a pistol ball, within an inch of the mark, from the common distance taken by duellists. ”

“ It is reckless firing, utterly regardless of the position of the beast’s head, that is the cause of so many of these poor brutes being wounded and lost, when by the exercise of a little patience the sportsman would be able to pick out a good head, [Pg 272] get another steady shot, and kill his beast clean. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If there is any doubt as to whether the animal is hit through the stomach or low down in the lungs, the sportsman should take advantage of the beast as it stands with its head down, and either give it another shot immediately or carefully approach nearer to make quite certain of placing his bullet in the right spot. ”

“ Rough athletic sports, racing and shooting matches, are the most common amusements of the men of the west. It is common for parties to test their marksmanship by squirrel shooting, with the western weapon, the rifle. ”

“ They think that the moment a man puts on a military uniform he can ride in a cavalry charge, break wild horses, or hit a man a thousand yards off with either pistol or rifle.
[Pg 8] Besides the absence of skill in shooting, there is not in such men the instinct to shoot.
A shooting man has in him the instinct of shooting, so innate that he aims and presses the trigger as instinctively as he lifts his foot when stepping off the road on to the curb. ”

“ Their movements are, however, so rapid that it is seldom they offer a chance for a shot at the head, though they often expose the greater part of the body. The sportsman should therefore always have a heavy rifle with him to enable him to dispatch them with a shot through the lungs, as the beasts, being only stunned by the bullet passing close to the brain, will often recover sufficiently to enable them to escape for the time, though they will probably die in the end. ”

“ When you are about taking a cross shot at a long range, fire well before it, from one to three feet, according to the speed with which the bird is flying, and let your gun be thrown above the object. The same rule must direct you in firing at hares or rabbits, whether it be a cross shot or one in a right line. It is a most mischievous practice, as far as regards your day’s sport, to make much noise in the field, however strong the provocation from the disobedience of your dogs, or any cause whatever. ”

“ Now it is evident that one must aim at what he can be sure of hitting. The high shoulder shot is all right if the distance is so short that one can be absolutely certain of placing his bullet within a six-inch circle. Otherwise the chance of over-shooting--always great--becomes prohibitive. The low shoulder shot increases the circle to from eight to twelve inches, with the chance outside that of merely breaking a foreleg, grazing brisket, or missing entirely under the neck. ”

“ It is harder to correct bad habits in handling a gun than to teach the beginner the proper way at first. On your first lesson in the field, walk on the left side of your teacher so that your gun will be pointing away from him. If you come across any game, try to take your time before you fire. Nearly every one shoots too quickly. As most shot-gun shooting is what is called snap shooting, there isn’t much time at best, but a good shot will be sure that he has covered his game before he fires, while a beginner will trust to luck. ”

“ As soon as it thinks it has got a sportsman’s temper well under way, it will scour the country round for all its friends and relations, and assemble them to enjoy together the interesting spectacle of an angry man armed with a rifle that he dare not discharge for fear of alarming something worth firing at. ”

“ Some savages--as, for instance, those of Timor--when in want of bullets, use stones two or three inches long. Some good sportsmen insist on the advantage, for shooting at very close quarters, of cleaving a conical bullet nearly down to its base, into four parts; these partly separate, and make a fearful wound. I suppose that the bullet leaves the gun with the same force as if it were entire; and that it traverses too short a distance for the altered form to tell seriously upon the speed: when it strikes, it acts like chain-shot. ”