BIG GAME SHOOTING 13 



fied in allowing his enthusiasm to run away with his 

 discretion and give the rifle undeserved and unlimited 

 praise ? For the nearby shooting of big game, and 

 nearly every shot at big game in the woods is at close 

 range, the initial velocity of the .45-70 leaves nothing 

 to be desired; the trajectory is sufficiently flat and the 

 impact of the heavier bullet is more deadly. A popu- 

 lar rifle with old and experienced woodsmen is made 

 by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company substan- 

 tially as follows : It is built for nitro powder .45-70 

 calibre, 22-inch round barrel, half-magazine, shot-gun 

 stock, fitted with Lyman ivory bead front and combi- 

 nation rear sight, and weighs about seven pounds." 



The reader will find further mention of the relative 

 merits of large and small balls in the chapter on bears, 

 where the effect of a number of actual shots with two 

 rifles of different calibres at the bears is described. 



In " Our Feathered Game," I referred to the fit of 

 the gun. It is equally important that a rifle should fit 

 the shooter and "come up" well, or handle well— as 

 shooters say, since many of the shots are at running 

 animals, and in bear-shooting, especially, it is impor- 

 tant to be able to shoot well quickly. Here, as in 

 shooting with the gun, much practice is required to 

 make a good shot, At running game the shooter will 

 do well to shoot with both eyes open. A careful fine- 

 sighting of the rifle is best, when the game is at rest. It 

 would seem almost impossible to miss such a large 

 mark as an elk, moose, bear or deer, but the shooter 

 must remember that the vi^il mark is very small ; and 

 it is desirable to hit the game in such a place that " the 

 hunt ends instead of just beginning." 



