With a smooth, fast swing I pulled ahead of the first bird and fired. It folded and fell to the ground but before it landed, I was on to the pigeon veering to the right in a panic. Again, with a puff of feathers, the tail end of a slightly enthusiastic shot string collided with the head and neck of the bird, sending it plummeting into the maize.
Almost popping a vertebrae in the process, I managed a snapshot at the third bird just as it was clearing the tops of the trees which, rather to my surprise and probably out of luck than good shooting, spiralled down into the field behind. This was one of those rare occasions in which I actually made use of all three shots to score a triple, something I’ve only achieved a handful of times.
Having that third shot is only one of several advantages of the semi-auto; in fact, the extra cartridge
