234 FIFTY YEARS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER. 



game in that section. But the better way is to go and prospect the 

 country and acquaint yourself with the locality, for you remember 

 the old adage, "If you would have your business done, go and at- 

 tend to it yourself; if not, send some one." 



* * * 



I have read with interest the discussion of the many different 

 makes of guns, the different calibers for large game hunting, etc., 

 and as I am not well up on "gunology," I have listened and won- 

 dered why there was so much agitation on the gun question. I 

 believe that nearly all of the modern guns that are manufactured 

 today are good at least sufficiently good shooters for all prac- 

 tical purposes. Shotguns can be bought at $3.00 or $4.00 that do 

 good work. Perhaps there is not a man in the country who has 

 carried a gun as many days as the writer, but what has done 

 more target shooting than I have. 



Back in the 70's when men hunted deer in this section for the 

 money that was in it, I often did not take my rifle down to shoot 

 from one season's hunting to the next, unless by chance something 

 in the way of game came into fields near the house. I was always 

 in love with my gun and if I did not like it I would get rid of 

 it at the first opportunity. I am still of the opinion that a gun 

 is similar to a man's wife, you must love them in order to get 

 the best results. 



I always wanted as good a gun as there was on the market. 

 By this I do not mean the highest priced, nor the highest power 

 gun, but the gun that would do the business. A man by the name 

 of Orlando 'Reese and I were the first to buy Winchester rifles in 

 this section, and I think in this county. The guns were the com- 

 mon round barrel .44 caliber and we paid $60.00 apiece for them. 

 The same kind of a gun can now, I think, be bought for $12.00 or 

 $14.00. Previous to the time I bought the Winchester, I had been 

 using a Henry rifle for a time, but it was not a good gun for 

 hunting purposes. A few years later the .45-75 Winchester came 

 into use, so I sold my .44 and bought a .45-75. I did not like it 

 so I sold it and bought a Colts, which was a good gun, but one 

 day I was doing some fast work on a bunch of deer and in my 

 haste I did not work the lever just as I should and it jammed. 



