The most difficult part of bird hunting is to learn to give the game a start.  The average shot-gun will kill quail at sixty yards and duck at forty.  The farther the game is away from us, provided it is within range, the more the shot will spread.  I once saw a half-dozen hunters fire at a covey of quail that rose in an open field before they had gone thirty yards and every hunter scored a clean miss.  Any one of these men could bring down his bird under the same conditions nine times out of ten if he had taken his time.  On this occasion when their guns were empty another hunter who had withheld his fire said, “Are you all done, boys?” and shot a bird with each barrel at a measured fifty-eight yards.  To kill a bird that another man has shot at is called “wiping his eye,” and it is the chief joy of an old hunter to do this with a beginner.  If you do not want to let the old hunter wipe your eye, take your time.

Learn to shoot with your head well up and with both eyes open.  When the game rises, keep your eye on it and at the instant that you see it on the end of your gun barrel, fire.  The greatest joy of hunting is to see the game appear to tumble off the end of your gun barrel when it is hit.  If there is a doubt as to whose bird it is, and this happens constantly as two people often shoot at the same time at the same bird, do not rush in and claim it.  Remember you are a gentleman, but if you are sure that you hit it, at least stand for your rights.

So much of the pleasure of hunting depends on our companions that we must be considerate of the feelings of others as well as our own.  Always hunt if possible with experienced hunters.  You will not only have more fun, but you will run much less risk.  In rabbit hunting, one is especially at the mercy of the beginner who fires wildly without any thought as to whose life he may be endangering, so long as he gets the rabbit.  If you hunt with some one who owns the dogs, be very careful not to interfere with them by giving commands.  As a rule the owner of a well-trained dog prefers to handle him without any help, and, while he may not tell you, you may be sure that he will resent it if you try to make the dog do your bidding when his master is around.

The pattern of a gun, as it is called, is the number of shot it will put within a circle at a given distance.  As a rule the factory test pattern will be found on a tag attached to the gun.  If not, you can easily get the pattern yourself.  The usual distance for targeting a new gun is thirty yards, and the standard circle is thirty inches.  Make a circle on the barn door with a piece of chalk and string fifteen inches long.  First drive a nail into the wood and fasten the string to it with the chalk on the loose end.  Then describe and measure ninety feet from the target.  Fire as nearly as you can at the centre of the circle and count the shot that are inside the chalk mark.  In order not to count the same shot twice mark them off with a pencil.  Perhaps a surer way would be to fire at the door first and in the centre of the load of shot drive the nail and describe a circle afterward.  The chief advantage of studying the pattern of your gun is to know just how much it scatters and how far it may be depended upon to shoot and kill.