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MODERN QUAIL SHOOTING ANGLES The Bob White quail gives good shooting under many conditions some of them so easy that many sportsmen consider this bird the least difficult of all game birds to bag while others are difficult enough to call forth the best skill of the espert shot The beginner can kill some quail and the veteran shot will find that he cannot secure all birds shot at atThe The marked characteristics of quail are that the birds lie best to the dog and rise nearer to the gun than other birds of the uplands Quail are found in both the open and in heavy cover In an open level ragweed field where the weeds are knee high quail sail away on an even keel as straight as an arrow and the average shot can often get in a good right and left barrel When flushed in heavy cover the flight of the quail is beyond the foresight of the shooter and he will swerve so quickly as to escape a charge of shot sent directly at him himOne One of the difficulties of quail shooting lies in the fact that he rises near the gun If a bird rises within ten feet of the gun and continues sailing around the shooters head at a mile a minute clip the chances are that he could not be killed in ten shots because the bird and the gun change angles with lightninglike rapidity which is beyond the ability of the most expert and quickest shot to calculate calculateThe The nature of the quails flight often makes a long swing unavoidable Perhaps the bird may rise to the north pass to the west and be killed in the south If it had been possible to foresee that the bird would swing about to the south before being killed the gun might have been pointed there but in the meantime the quail would probably have gone in some other direction Shooting quail calls for care and skill in cover shooting and the only safe rule is to point your gun as near the bird as you can when he breaks and shoot as quickly as you can get on onThe The chief thing that should be remembered is that any bird flying away from the gun be ¬ neath the line of aim demands high holding whether or not the mark is rising If the target is above the level of the eye lower holding may be some ¬ times necessary even when the bird is gradually rising risingIf If a bird rises near the gun and the aim is taken direct the muzzle is pointed toward the ground Now the bird may fly away nearly along the ground as pigeons often do and yet the line of aim must rise steadily until the gun is nearly in a horizontal position All Outdoors
