36 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF WILD 

 DUCKS. 



Sir, — In reply to" Hammerless Greener's" 

 letter published in your February number, I 

 beg to say there are several legitimate sports- 

 men living in the neighborhood of Lake St. 

 Francis, and that Soulanges County has just 

 sent a petition to the Commissioner of Crown 

 Lands for Quebec, signed by J. P. Lantier,M.P., 

 W. Duckett, M.P.P., and seventy three of the 

 most influential people in the county, praying 

 that the wholesale slaughter of wild ducks by 

 American " pot-hunters " be put a stop to. 

 Where the greatest number are killed is not in 

 the Province of Quebec ; it is a few miles above 

 the line, at Currie's Creek, in the County of 

 Glengarry: which count}', I hope, will also 

 send in a petition to the Commissioner of Crown 

 Lands for Ontario. 



Yours faithfully, 

 St. Polycarpe, Q., \ T. W. W. 



April 26, '81. / 



G. 



Sir, — The Fish and Game Protection Club 

 have an advertisement in your Journal giving 

 the names of Office-bearers, &c, and intimat- 

 ing that notice of infractions of laws for the 

 Protection of Fish and Game should be sent to 

 the Secretary. Your correspondent B. D. W. 

 has not taken this course ; had he notified the 

 Secretary of illegal netting which he alleges 

 takes place at Beauharnois, giving date and 

 names of the offenders and witnesses, the 

 case would have been taken up at once. It is 

 impossible for the Club to keep men at every 

 spot where fish may be illegally taken : the 

 most they can do is to prosecute such offenders 

 as may be reported to them, with sufficient 

 information as to witnesses, &c, to secure a 

 conviction. They invite E. D. W. to send 

 his complaints direct in the future to the 



Secretary. 



Sir, — Having tried long-range shooting at 

 my "Force gauge "with two 12- bore guns, I 

 send you the result, thinking it might be of 

 interest to your readers : — 



12-BORE. — WEIGHT, 7f LBS. 



Charge, 3J drams powder, 1| oz. No. 4 shot, (162 pellets 

 to the ounce.) 



Distance 



from 

 Gauge. 



Pellets on 

 gauge 



5 in. diameter. 



Force 

 per 

 Pellet. 



Final 

 velocity 

 ft. per sec, 



Penetration. 



Number of 



sheets. 



40 yds. 



4 



3.50 



507 



27 



50 " 



2 



2.90 



169 



17 



60 " 



1 



2.37 



350 



10 



70 " N 



ot fired at this 



range. 







] 2-liORE. — WEIGHT, 8 LBS. 1 OZ. 



Charge 3| drams powder, 1] oz. No. 4 shot, (172 pellets 

 to the ounce.) 



40 " 8 4.03 652 35 



50 " 4 , 3.46 560 26 



60 " 3 2.S6 463 17 



70 " 2 2.00 324 9 



Same gun with 3j drams of powder, lj oz. of No 7 shot 

 (320 pellets to the ounce.) 



40 " 7 1.60 519 19 



50 " 5 1.23 393 11 



60 " 3 0.76 243 6 



I merely send the trial with No. 7 shot to 

 show how rapidly the small pellets lose their 

 velocity. 



I am about to make a trial of different kinds 

 of powder, viz., English, Canadian and Ameri- 

 can ; if you think it will be of sufficient interest 

 I will send you a report of the result. 

 Yours truly, 



12-Bore Greener. 

 Lachine. 



Sir, — In reply to your query as to how far 

 inland Shad have been known to go ? I will 

 state for the benefit of your readers, that fine 

 specimens of these fish have been taken as far 

 up the Ottawa as the " Long Sault." Never, to 

 my knowledge, beyond this point, as the wild 

 stretch of rapids known by that name interpose 

 a barrier to further ascent. Consequently the 

 fish assemble in shoals, in an inlet, on the 

 Ontario shore, and a rich season of sport is 

 annually enjoyed by the " few" who know of 

 this piscatorial eldorado. 



J. D. F. 



Montreal, 5th April, 1881. 



Note, — Since the receipt of the above we 

 have ascertained that Shad visit Lake Ontario. 

 Our correspondent's letter is interesting in re- 

 gard to the farthest point reached by the fish 

 in the Ottawa river. How they reach the 

 "Long Sault," at the foot of Lake Temis- 

 camingue, 233 miles above the city of Ottawa, 

 is a matter of which we are anxious to have 

 more information. Are there two "Long 

 Saults" on the Ottawa? We make this en- 

 quiry because our correspondent speaks of 

 " the Ontario Shore," leaving one to believe 

 that a "Long Sault" occurs on the Quebec 

 side of the river. — Ed. 



