Fishing and shooting sketches . me ani-mals; and there are others who,while grudgingly admitting rabbitsto the list, seem to think it neces-sary to excuse their concession bycalling them hares, I regard all thisas pure affectation and deem it not beneath my dignity and153 Concerning Rabbit Shooting standing as a reputable gunner towrite of the rabbit as an entirely suit-able member of the game community;and in doing so I am not dealing withhares or any other thing except plain,little every-day plebeian rabbits—sometimes appropriately called cot-ton-tails. Though they may be de-famed
Fishing and shooting sketches . me ani-mals; and there are others who,while grudgingly admitting rabbitsto the list, seem to think it neces-sary to excuse their concession bycalling them hares, I regard all thisas pure affectation and deem it not beneath my dignity and153 Concerning Rabbit Shooting standing as a reputable gunner towrite of the rabbit as an entirely suit-able member of the game community;and in doing so I am not dealing withhares or any other thing except plain,little every-day plebeian rabbits—sometimes appropriately called cot-ton-tails. Though they may be de-famed by every charlatan amonghunters of self-constituted high de-gree, and despised by thousands whoknow nothing of their game qualities,I am not ashamed of their pursuit;and I count It by no means bad skillto force them by a successful shot toa topsy-turvy pause when at their bestspeed. These sly little fellows feed atnight, and during the day they hide soclosely In grass or among rocks and154 / r r ^^;^ :^i. * ?t ?*.•; ^d. t~,f d:>/. ., /^ ^^ Concerning Rabbit Shooting brush that it is seldom they can beseen when at rest. Of course, no de-cent man will shoot a rabbit whilesitting, and I have known them to re-fuse to start for anything less than akick, or punch. When they do start,however, they demonstrate quite clear-ly that they have kept their feet inthe best possible position for a springand run. After such a start the rab-bit must in fairness be given an abun-dant chance to gain full headway, andwhen he has traversed the necessarydistance for this, and is at his fastestgait, the hunter that shoots him hasgood reason to be satisfied with hismarksmanship. I once actually pokedone up and he escaped unhurt, thoughfour loads of shot were sent afterhim. 157 Concerning Rabbit Shooting In the main, however, dogs mustbe relied upon for the real enjoymentand success of rabbit hunting. Thefastest dogs are not the best, becausethey are apt to chase the rabbit soswiftly and closely
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