A good sportsman is familiar with his piece, and brave enough to be afraid of it. From the time he takes it out of the case the muzzle of the barrels is on his mind until he has taken it to pieces, cleaned it, and put it away in his case. When he starts out in the morning, he takes out the barrels, and pointing them towards the earth as he holds them in his left hand, he springs the stock into its place with his right. Then having fixed on the little piece of wood which clinches the two parts together, he passes his right arm around the barrels, so that as he carries it the stock points up and behind him at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and the barrels point down toward the earth at a similar angle in front of him. Around his waist or in his pockets he carries cartridges. No charge goes into his gun until he has not only left the house but actually arrived on the grounds where he expects to find game. If he has to drive to the proper woods or the shooting-stands or blinds, he places the piece in the bottom of the wagon, pointing out towards the rear, never once allowing it to point towards himself or any one else who may be standing by. If he is near enough to the woods or shore to walk he carries the gun as described, unloaded, until he reaches the proper place. When climbing over fences, whether with cartridges in place or not, he places the gun under the fence flat on the ground, climbs over or under, and then picks it up from the other side. Resting a shooting-piece against a fence or wall in an upright position shows the greenhorn or the careless and therefore poor sportsman. The fence may be rickety, or the stones on the wall easily detached. In either case it only takes a little jarring to cause the shot-gun to slide one way or the other and fall to the ground, and in doing so it may very easily go off. If it is unloaded this would, of course, do no harm. But if it is never allowed to get into the position where it may so slide, it certainly can never go off, loaded or unloaded. In other words, form the habit of never giving a gun the chance of sliding or going off, and then you can never have an accident. This is not a sign of timidity, and you would soon realize it if you could see how carefully some famous old sportsman who is a friend of your father's handles his firing-piece.
On arriving finally at the particular woods you have planned to cover, or the "blinds" which you are going to lie in, put in the charges, and then all is ready for the sport.
Most of the danger after this stage of the proceedings has been reached is again only through carelessness or excitement over the sport, which is only another word for carelessness. For example, you are in the woods and a bird flies out among the branches. In your excitement at the sudden flush of the partridge you throw up your gun and "blaze away," forgetting that the other man with you is just ahead. That is rank carelessness. For no two sportsmen ever lose track of each other. If they happen to be out of sight of each other, and within range, they keep up a constant conversation, or call to each other continually, so that from moment to moment each knows where the other is. Again, when two men are standing close beside each other and a covey jumps up under their guns, there has to be a quick swing to right or left. Usually, under these circumstances, the man on the right takes the right-hand shot, and the one on the left takes the left-hand shot. If the right-hand man swings to the left he may very easily bring his friend in the line of his muzzle.
As regards the half and full cock of the hammers, there is one safe rule to follow. When on the actual ground, and following dogs on the scent or pointing, the gun must, of course, be at full cock. But whenever a fence is to be climbed, or a bad bit of close underbrush broken through, the hammers should be dropped carefully to half cock, or, if the gun is hammerless, the half-cock trigger should be sprung.
In all this the important point is that every man or boy, while carrying a shooting-piece, should have his mind on what he is doing, and should never for a moment lose his head. It is far better to lose a shot than to hit a friend or take the slightest chance of hitting him. On the other hand, if a boy thinks the matter over and follows out these rules, there is not the least danger in his owning and using a shot-gun, and the amount of exercise to both brain and body which he can get out of it is astonishing. When you begin you need your father's advice as to the proper way of holding the gun, taking aim, and bringing down the game. But after that nothing is necessary but your own coolness, presence of mind, and care.
The butt should come up quickly and firmly to the shoulder, resting against the shoulder itself rather than the biceps or top of the arm, and you should acquire the habit, which can only come with practice, of getting it up quickly, steadily, and firmly the first time in the right place. Otherwise the "kicking" may be severe and painful. The aim should be taken with both eyes open, though the right eye does the aiming. The objection to sighting with the left eye closed is that the operation of closing the left-eye always half closes the right, and hence makes your sight a little less distinct and somewhat unnatural. This sighting with both eyes open is a little bewildering at first, but it soon becomes natural, and the whole operation then becomes a kind of second nature. For quick wood shots, the left hand should hold the barrels some distance out towards the muzzle, the left arm being almost extended to its full length, while the right arm is bent up short, the right elbow stuck out in a nearly horizontal position to the cheek hugging the stock. At the same time stand firmly on the feet, and do not, as many older and supposedly better sometimes do, bend the knees just as you fire.
WHEN YOU FIRST BEGIN, YOU NEED YOUR FATHER'S ADVICE