Battue

Battue (Fr. battre, to beat), a method of killing game, in which it is driven towards the shooters by beaters. The word first occurs in English in 1816, and the practice seems to have been introduced early in the present century. Though often condemned as unsportsmanlike, it no doubt affords opportunity for the display of skilful and rapid shooting, though it is without the exercise or the danger (except sometimes to the beaters) which are essential elements in many forms of sport. Commonly two guns are used alternately, at least by the shooters in the best positions, and a man is placed behind each shooter to load for him. Enormous numbers of birds, chiefly pheasants, as well as hares, etc., are shot at battues, 2,000 head of game frequently having been killed in a day.