n this little treatise; it
is only therefore proposed to mention some of them, and detail a few
important hints for the guidance of the unwary. Generally speaking, if a
man will not exercise a little gumption, care, and discretion, when in
the society of a shooting-party similarly armed as he is himself, he
must put up with the consequences. Accidents in properly regulated
families should never happen. Since the introduction of the
breech-loader there is no excuse for any man carrying a loaded weapon
and swinging the muzzle of it about when carrying it on his shoulder
(which is often done), bringing every one in his rear in the line of
fire of the piece. A man can load his piece now when he arrives upon the
ground in a moment; and should a bird rise, with the present facilities
given by the breech-loader, there is ample time to load and bring the
bird down without the slightest difficulty. For any man therefore, when
not in the field, to strut about with a loaded weapon in his possession
now-a-days is simply bombastic tomfoolery.

To carry a gun gracefully and properly is an art. It should never be so
carried or wielded as to be a risk to the possessor, or any one. The
following are a few ways how a gun should be carried:--For safety, when
commencing sport, the right hand grasping the piece at the small of the
butt, the butt resting on the right hip or thigh, muzzle up. The weapon
can then, on the rising of game, be at once safely presented.

When carried on the shoulder it should be always with _lock down_: this
mode will so elevate the barrels that the muzzles are far above the
heads of any one; even when at close quarters, on the march, or when
approaching or returning from cover, this way will be found easiest and
with the least possible fatigue, as the weight of the weapon is centered
in the stock held in the right hand. To relieve the shoulder pass the
hand up to the small, or neck of the butt; at the same time seize the
butt with the left hand, then raise your gun to a perpendicular
position, carry it across the body, and place it on the left shoulder.
The left shoulder can be relieved in a similar manner, _i.e._, pass the
left hand to the small or neck of the butt, at the same time seize the
butt with the right hand, raise the gun to a perpendicular position, and
carry it across the body and place it on the right shoulder. Never
present, much less fire, when any person, whether keeper or beater,
intervenes or i