SHOOTING
—is become a sport of so much pleasure and universality, that the legislature has found it expedient to extract an annual contribution of THREE GUINEAS from every individual who enjoys it. In fact, it is so perfectly congenial to the dispositions of the people, and so truly conducive to the greatest blessing in life, HEALTH, that it should seem its votaries have annually increased in proportion to the conditional restraints of parliamentary prohibition. Shooting, in its most extensive signification, may be supposed to imply the act of shooting with a fowling-piece, at any object in general, without a specific determination; but, narrowed into a less diffuse, and more expressive compass, it is then reduced to the more particular points thus defined. Pheasant shooting, PARTRIDGE shooting, GROUSE shooting, COCK shooting, RABBIT shooting, SNIPE shooting, DUCK, WILD FOWL, &c. These are pleasures varying a little in the difference of pursuit and enjoyment, but have, according to the season, their various degrees of attraction. Pheasant shooting begins (under certain penalties and restrictions, if killed before or after the days mentioned) on the first of October in every year, and ends on the first of February following. Partridge shooting begins on the first of September, and extends to the first of February next ensuing. The season (under similar restrictions, but heavier penalties) for killing HEATH-FOWL, or black game, commences on the 20th of August, and terminates on the 10th of December; and for grouse, or red game, on the 12th of August, and ends on the 10th of December. Woodcocks and Snipes being birds of passage, and not included in any act for the preservation of game, the time for killing is unlimited; being entirely dependent upon the season, the country they appear in, and the flights as they arrive.
Pheasant shooting may be considered the most laborious, and least entertaining, of the whole, unless in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hampshire, and some other counties, where the large tracts of lofty woodlands, and corresponding underwood, contribute so materially to their annual increase and preservation. This sport is mostly pursued with the small springing spaniel, whose eager tongue, the moment he touches scent of the foot, or winds the bird, gives "early note of earnest preparation." Pointers of great strength, and high courage, hunted with a bell, are frequently instrumental to good sport, and great success; but they must be fast goers, and once knowing their business, not readily disposed to stop, or draw slowly; if so, the bird will frequently rise in the highest part of the covert, or at such a distance, that an open shot will but seldom be obtained, particularly in a country thin of game. Those who wish to preserve well-bred and well-broke pointers in a state of unsullied excellence, will not accustom them to covert hunting, but invariably use their spaniels in one of the sports for which they were so evidently intended.
Partridge shooting is, to a contemplative mind, of a much more entertaining description; for the objects of pursuit being found in the open fields, every part of the sport is seen and enjoyed. Partridges are not in equal abundance every year, but depend in a great degree upon the state of the weather during the time of laying the eggs, as well as the time of HATCHING; which is almost invariably between the middle and the end of June. When the months of May and June are dry, birds are in general exceedingly numerous, and proportionally strong upon wing by the commencement of the SHOOTING SEASON; but when heavy and dreadful rains fall, as they frequently do during the HAY HARVEST, the destruction is incredible. Such continued rains not only chill the eggs during incubation, but drown numbers of the young almost so soon as they are out of their shells. Wet seasons also are destructive to ANTS, upon which, and their eggs, young partridges and pheasants principally subsist. Partridges so soon as the corn is cut down, and they are in a great degree deprived of the shelter and protection under which they were bred, display a most wonderful timidity and dread of danger; to which the whole covey are induced by the unceasing anxiety of the HEN for the safety of her young.
Thus incessantly alive to perpetual fear, they change their situation repeatedly in the course of the day; as well to insure security from all probable danger, as to supply the calls of nature. In the first part of the shooting season, while the stubbles of WHEAT and BARLEY are fresh, and not rendered too bare, or too much beaten by cattle, they are to be found in either one or the other, both late at night, and early in the morning: after feeding in which, (if not disturbed by the approach of those in pursuit of them,) by a signal from the hen, they rise gently, as it were, in a cluster, and glide or skim along with as little flutter as possible to the nearest turnips, standing clover, rushy moors, or grassy low coverts, in some of which, during the middle of the day, they are always to be found; and not unfrequently near a watry ditch, or running stream; as it is at this time, and only once a day, they take this part of their sustenance: but as there are many hilly countries in which water is but rarely to be found, it is natural to conclude, their wants in this respect may be amply supplied by the morning dewdrops with which vegetation so plentifully abounds.
The dogs peculiarly appropriate to and used in this sport, are principally POINTERS, at least with those who rank as SPORTSMEN, and have too high a respect for its character to degrade the order; and it is never pursued with greater consistency, or enjoyed with greater ecstasy, (or more success,) than when too many guns, or too many dogs, are not seen in the field together. Any number above two of the former, and two brace of the latter, in one company, evidently denote much more of poaching rapacity, and an intentional annihilation of GAME, than of SPORTING equity. Double-barrelled guns partake a little of the same impression, being admirably calculated to promote the very scarcity so much and so constantly complained of. The art of SHOOTING FLYING, in which numbers are so exceedingly expert, and which, in fact, may be so easily attained, is not, in general, acquired with that facility by young sportsmen, which might naturally be expected. This is entirely owing to the timidity, volatility, anxiety, and impatience, of the mind, at the very critical moment when all should be quiet and calm within; but at the impressive crisis, when the point takes place, and the animal is fixed seemingly immoveable, under an instinctive impulse, which instantaneously excites in the human frame a most aweful sensation, (the heart palpitating with HOPE, FEAR, and SUSPENSE,) the birds rise, and with so much noisy rapidity, that the mind and body being equally agitated, no particular bird is singled for the AIM, at the instant of pulling the trigger, and the whole escape.
There is no pursuit, game, or amusement, in which a proficiency is to be obtained, can require a nicer eye, a steadier hand, a cooler head, or a more philosophic patience, than the SPORT before us. Sportsmen of experience waste neither their time nor their labour; they well know, according to the description not long since given, where to find the game, according to the time of the day; and are seldom seen hunting their dogs in unlikely places. They cover the ground slowly and deliberately, that none should remain unbeaten, or birds be left behind: when a dog stands (or makes his point) the master should for a moment stand still also; the general stillness settles the dog more firmly to his point, and the birds are more likely to lie. If the gunner hurries up, (as many frequently do,) it hurries the dog also, and not only makes him impatient, but the game probably gets up out of shot; or, what is equally productive of mortification, he himself gets up to the point so flurried, and out of breath, that he finds it impracticable to take regular aim; and when he fancies he does, the bodily tremor he is in renders the shot ineffectual. To become a steady and good shot, some few short rules are unavoidably necessary, the principal of which is cool deliberation: those of too warm, hasty and impetuous a disposition, should retain in memory a single line from the immortal bard;
"Wisely and slow; they STUMBLE who run fast."
When the dog has enjoyed his point sufficiently, whether the birds are walked up, or rise spontaneously, the gun should never be raised to the shoulder till the whole covey are patiently surveyed, and the very bird fixed upon, at which the aim is intended to be taken; this once done, and the eye not removed from the devoted victim till the instrument of death is brought to bear, the sight once caught, and the motion with the trigger made in the critical and corresponding twinkling, success in most instances must eventually ensue. It may not be inapplicable to remark, that the progress to perfection is greatly retarded, amongst the juvenile branches of SPORTING SOCIETY (when shooting in company) by invariably and emulatively (but very inconsiderately and imprudently) endeavouring to obtain the FIRST shot: the error being mutual, so is the disappointment; probably both, or all, miss; to which nothing ensues but a vacant stare of mortification, not to add disgrace: but if a bird happens to fall, it is productive of clamour, and general jealousy: it is claimed by all: and personal acidities, from such trifling circumstances, have sometimes arisen about a paltry partridge, that have continued during the lives of the parties. The prudent and patient who shoot in company, will be circumspect in every motion; they will not take aim at the first bird which happens to rise, (to be confused by those who are rising,) or fix upon a bird on the left hand when a companion is on that side, and the bird going off directly across him. The right hand man and the left should take invariably birds on their own distinct sides; but when they go off in a direct line, circumstances and proceedings must be regulated accordingly.
Grouse shooting differs but little from the preceding, excepting its being more laborious, and taking place in the hotter months, and in the more hilly or mountainous countries. This species of game is not universally dispersed, like the partridge, over the face of the kingdom, but a native inhabitant of some particular district in wild, remote, or peculiar situations. They were some few years since to be plentifully seen in many parts of Wales, and in the New Forest of Hampshire; but they are now very much reduced, and rarely to be found; at least not in sufficient numbers to render it a sport worth pursuing. In the northern counties bordering upon the Tweed, and in various parts of Scotland, they are so numerous, that many of the most opulent and eager sportsmen make very long and expensive journies, to satiate themselves, and weary their dogs, with an unrestrained and unlimited profusion of sport. The grouse is larger than the partridge, and, when full grown, weighs from twenty to two-and-twenty ounces. The plumage is variegated, and beautifully composed of black, red, and white; the tail being similar to that of the partridge, but a little larger when extended in flight.
The GROUSE perseveringly adhere to those mountains and moors which are covered with heath, seldom or ever descending into the lower grounds. They fly in packs, consisting of four or five brace; and indulge upon intervening tracts of soft mossy ground, particularly in the hotter months of the year. The cackling noise of the cock may be heard at a considerable distance; and when once the dog makes his point, he is commonly the first bird upon wing. Upon the POINTER'S being first observed to stand, it is instantly necessary to keep the eye forward; for if the birds are perceived to erect their heads, and run, it is considered an infallible sign they will not lie well during that day; in which case there is no alternative, but to head the dog, and, if possible, keep pace with them, so as to be within shot when they rise; if which advantage is not taken, many a long and laborious day may be undertaken without the consolation of a single bird. As the time for this sport commences in the sultry season, and generally in parts of the country remote from expeditious means of conveyance, they do not very frequently reach the Metropolis; at least in such a recent state as to be perfectly attracting: they are (particularly if not killed remarkably clean) very soon disposed to putridity; and if required or intended to be sent to any great distance, they should be drawn as soon as convenient after they are shot, and the vacuum filled up with fine heath or herbage for the journey.
Cock (or Woodcock) SHOOTING is of a different and most entertaining description, when and wherever a plenty for the sport can be found. The woodcock is a bird of passage, and found frequently in a greater or less degree about the second, third, or last week of October. Their annual arrival in this country is more or less protracted by the uncertainty of the wind and weather at that particular season; the east and north-east winds (with a foggy heavy atmosphere) bring them over in the greatest plenty. Upon their first arrival, they have the appearance of being nearly exhausted, and drop under the nearest offered protection to the sea-shore; high trees, hedge-rows, small copses, heath, tufts of bushes and brambles, are equally acceptable. After rest, and such refreshment as the situations where they fall afford, they separate, and almost singly explore their way into the country more in-land, and fall in such woods, coverts, copses, or shaws, as are most applicably attracting or convenient to the length of their flight; varying the situation in future according to the accommodation they find, or the country they are in. No one part of the coast is more remarkable for their arrival in immense flights than another; Wales, Sussex, Norfolk, and to the extreme points of the north of Scotland, are, at different periods, supplied with equal plenty: in all or either of which, eight or ten brace (immediately after a flight arrives) have been killed out of one covert in a morning by a single gun.
The dogs used for this sport are the small COCKING SPANIEL; though they are frequently found by pointers, who make their point upon winding the bird, but not quite so staunch as to the more confirmed species; of which game the cock in a certain degree seems to partake. The woodcock, when flushed, rises heavily from the ground; and in an open glade, is so easily brought down, that even a moderate shot must be ashamed to miss; but when sprung in a lofty oaken or beechen wood, he is obliged to tower almost perpendicular above their tops, before he can attain sufficient height to take his flight in a horizontal direction; and this kind of vermicular flight he makes with such rapidity, (turning and twisting to avoid the trees,) that it is almost impossible to seize a moment for shooting with any tolerable prospect of success. As partridge shooting requires an almost systematic silence for the production of sport, so cock shooting admits of the reverse: for the greater the noise, the greater probability of success. Well-bred spaniels immediately quest so soon as they come upon haunt, as well as the moment a cock unexpectedly springs; this is the distinguishing trait of their utility, as it gives timely notice to every one of the party, and each individual has sufficient opportunity to be upon the watch.
Those who enter into the true spirit of this sport, and where cocks are likely to be found, seldom set out for a complete day's adventure, without being previously provided with a MARKER excellently qualified for the purpose in which he is engaged. And an assistant of this description becomes the more necessary, as a cock will very frequently suffer himself to be found, and shot at, four or five times in the same covert; and when absolutely driven out, will sink beyond the outer fence, and gliding a short distance almost close to the ground, will drop in some adjoining ditch.
Woodcocks are seen in this country till about the first, and sometimes the second, week in March: this, however, depends entirely upon the openness or severity of the season: if the winter has been accompanied with long and sharp frosts, they suddenly disappear within a few hours, (as by a kind of magical mystery,) and none to be found, with occasionally (and that but seldom) an exception of a disconsolate individual at or near some warm or sheltered SPRING which has not frozen. They are fullest of flesh during the months of December and January to the middle of February, from which time, as the spring sun gets warmer, they decline in weight to the time of their departure.
Snipe shooting is a sport the best calculated to try the persevering fag and bottom of a SPORTSMAN of any yet recounted; if he is not possessed of all the fortitude, patience, and indefatigable exertion of a WATER SPANIEL, he had better never be induced to make the embarkation, at least with any sanguine expectation of success. To wet, dirt, and difficulty, he must be habitually inured: in body he must be invulnerable; with a constitution impregnable to the united attacks of morbidity, and a mind most perfectly at ease. Thus armed at all points for land or water, moor or mire, swamps or bogs, SNIPE SHOOTING (where they are to be found in plenty) is a most excellent diversion; and some spots, particularly in a heath country, intersected by moors, swamps, and bogs, (as a celebrated scope called Eel Moor, near Hartford Bridge, upon the western road,) the sport is so incessant, that those who visit the place in open hazy weather, may shoot so often in succession, as to have frequent occasions in the same day to wait till the barrel cools. Snipes are of two kinds, one being full double the size of the other, and is called a WHOLE SNIPE; the smaller is called a jack, and of course somewhat more difficult to kill. Both sorts are found upon the same ground, and sometimes close to each other. They are birds of passage, and vary but little with the flights of WOODCOCKS in the time of their arrival, which is generally about the first plentiful rains in Autumn. They are said to breed mostly in the low and swampiest parts of Germany and Switzerland; although it is certain numbers do not return with the greater bodies in the spring, but remain here during the summer, and breed in the marshes and fens, where their nests are often found in the month of June with four and five eggs in each. Pointers only are made use of in this sport; and it is rather remarkable, that, notwithstanding this species of bird is so diminutive in proportion to the game that a dog is constantly accustomed to, he stands equally staunch to even the jack, (the least of the two) as to either PHEASANT, HARE, or PARTRIDGE. Snipes, the moment they are upon wing, fly against the wind, encountering which, they go off in such a twisting and twirling direction, that they are then a very difficult object to aim at; but by waiting with patience till they take their intended line, the shot may be made with a much greater probability of success. They cannot be said to be in season before November, or after February; for killed at any other time of the year, they mostly appear with a branny scurf upon their bodies, as if diseased, or in a state of emaciation.
These are the different kinds of shooting only which comprize the pleasure of the gentleman sportsman, and in which the better kind of sporting dogs (POINTERS, SPANIELS, and SETTERS) are used. Shooting of wild-fowl, rabbits, &c. are principally the amusement of those who are not particular in their objects of pursuit; but equally prepared for whatever may come in their way, from a PHEASANT to a tom-tit, or from a SOLAN GOOSE to a dab-chick. The scientific and systematic rules of shooting in the field are so generally known, and universally comprehended, in respect to the length of the gun, the mode of charging, the distance for firing, and some other trifling minutia, dependent upon contingencies, that a single line must be unnecessary in elucidation; except a salutary hint to the young and inexperienced, never to let others do for them with the gun, what they can do for themselves. It should be the particular province of the person who shoots, to charge his own gun, and to be punctually precise in drawing the charge at his return: a retrospective survey of the most melancholy and shocking accidents which the last few years have produced, will demonstrate to any humane and reflecting mind, the danger of letting either GUN or PISTOL remain loaded in a dwelling-house, where, by the single inadvertency alone, any individual of the family is perpetually liable to instantaneous destruction.