GAME PROTECTION 



Adirondack Deeh.— We publish herewith a letter from 

 Mr. Charles Fenton, oE Number Tour, to I ho Utioa Herald, 

 relative to the extermination of deer by illegal hunting in the 

 North Woods. The Number Four Association have an op- 

 portunity for no small effort in putting an end to this work. 

 Whatever may be the opinion as to the use of dogs in some 

 Si ales, it is plain that such practice among the lakes of the 

 Adirondack country is exceedingly destructive and reprehen- 

 sible. Where are the game wardens whose duty it is to exe- 

 cute the laws, and where are the game associations of the 

 North Woods ? Let us hear from them. Mr. Fenton writes: 



Few people are aware to what extent deer are slaughtered 

 in the Adirondack wilderness during the fall months by the 

 use of dogs and in defiance of tne game laws, which prohibit 

 the pursuit of deer with dogs at any time. When the sports- 

 men and tourists generally have left the woods at the end of 

 the season, the guides, many of the hotel keepers, and 

 hunters from all around the borders of the wilderness who 

 can muster a hound, resort to the woods, until almost every 

 lake, pond and stream in the Adirondaeks has its hunters, 

 each with a pack of hounds, varying from two to fifteen dogs. 

 Ut all modes of hunting this is the most destructive in a region 

 abounding in small lakes like the great wilderness of Northern 

 New York. A deer always takes to the water when closely 

 pursued by dogs, and, as almost every lake and river has its 

 watchers, scarcely a deer escapes. It is a very moderate esti- 

 mate to say that thousands of deer have been killed already 

 this fall, and still the slaughter goes on. I have known some 

 parties to kill six to ten deer a day. There are over six hun- 

 dred lakes in the Adirondack wilderness, and at least two- 

 thirds of them are occupied by hunters. Allowing one deer 

 killed at each lake every day, which is but a small estimate, 

 four hundred deer have been killed daily during the fall 

 months of this year. 



It may be asked what is done with this large amount of 

 venison. The fore-quarters are generally thrown away or fed 

 to the dogs. Of the saddles, those that do not spoil on the 

 way by reason of the warm weather this fall, a large portion 

 are sold in the markets. They are a poor excuse for venison. 

 Venison that has been heated by the chase and suddenly 

 chilled by the plunge into cold water, is totally unfit to eat. 

 It is not only unwholesome, but is black and tasteless, unless 

 it be a disagreeable taste which is sometimes nauseating if the 

 deer has run a long time. Neither will it, keep half as long as 

 venison killed in cool blood. No goo:l venison is taken to 

 market until the last of November or December. Nearly all 

 that reaches the market before that time from this State has 

 been chased to the water by dogs and is worthless. No 

 genuine sportsman will kill a deer in this way unless it be-ab- 

 solutely necessary to supply his larder while in the woods, in 

 which case he would be excusable. Almost every one is indig- 

 nant at the person who takes advantage of the deer in the 

 deep crusty snow of winter, when, by the use of snow-shoes, 

 he can walk up to the animal and kill him with a club as 

 easily as with a gun. But wherein is the difference between 

 this mode of hunting and driving into the water with dugs? 

 In either case the deer is entirely in the hunter's power. You 

 can row up to him and kill him with a club, as many do. 

 Every boat crew is armed wiih a club, and one holds the deer 

 by the tail while the other strikes him over the head with it. 



Messina. Quail.— We trust that our readers in the Southern 

 States will keep a look-out for the migratory quail which 

 have been imported in such numbers. They should enjoy 

 immunity from the fate which is reserved for our native birds 

 until they havs had an opportunity to increase and multiply 

 upon the face of the earth. We shall expect our friends to 

 keep us informed of their whereabouts, and to exercise some 

 needed vigilance in preventing their destruction. Mr. W. H. 

 "Williams, of the Lakeville, Conn., Sportsmen's Club, writes 

 under date of Nov. 18 : 



I have been anxiously watching the columns of your paper 

 for items concerning the progress of the migratory quail on 

 their way south and their final location there for the winter. 

 Won't some of our Southern friends keep a look-out for them 

 and kindly let us know of their whereaboutB through your 

 paper. The last I saw or heard of them was Sept. 20, just 

 at evening, when I heard one calling at Litchfield in this Slate. 

 A letter just received from Mr. Carl J. Braun, of Messina- 

 through whom our importation was made — says : " For the 

 next spring I am ready to accept orders for any amount of 

 birds, as I have made arrangements with several bird 

 catchers, which enable me to get the birds cheap, and only 

 strong and healthy birds * * * I take great pleasure iu 

 the importation of our migratory quail into the United States, 

 and hope for a happy success. " lean cheerfully recommend 

 Mr. Braun to any fellow sportsmen who desire to import 

 birdB. Our birds last spring alt came over alive and in good 

 condition. His address is cure United States Consulate, Mes- 

 Bina, Sicily. 



THE NEW BRUNSWICK GAME LAWS. 



The following letter from the Chief Game Commissioner of 

 New Brunswick gives in the true light the very sensible and 

 equitable reasons for the enactment and enforcing of the game 

 laws of that Province. It, moreover, exhibits the perfection 

 of the system adopted by our friends across the border, who 

 have waked up to the importance of strict measures, and are 

 most commendably exercising them : 



BKACONSFIEI.D, St. John, N. B., Nov. is, 1878. 

 Editob Forest asd Stjieam : 



Keterring to a communication In your issue of the 14th Inst , criti- 

 cising in a severe manner the new game lnv recently passed by tlie 

 Legislature ot the Province of New Brunswick, will you kindly make 

 room for a reply la your valuable journal? Your correspondent, wnu 

 13 a Portlind man, states that measures have fcesn taken for the 

 " purpose nf excluding American spjrienieu" from the enloyiuent of 

 our huattng sports. 'J Here Is nothing in the letter or spirit of the law 

 W call fui ih auch a remark, and Wiire It not that New Brunswlekers, 

 and especially fet. Joiiu men, hold Atnerioaua In high esteem, particu- 

 larly since the terrible Are, this communication would remain tmau- 

 Bwei'ed. In 1S77 a game protection society was formed, ltB object be- 

 ing to prevent pot hunters destroying the rare and magolllceni game 

 of this country. Mtosa, oaribuu and deer have been, In and out uf sea- 

 Bon, snared cr indiscriminately slaughtered, while ihe pelt and 

 flesh were sold in Canadian ana United States market*. Wild docks 



have been netted or wantonly destroyed by heavily loaded swivel or 

 punt guns, and shipped to the American markets. Wild geese aim 

 brant, dec • y td at night by Hie flambeau, ruthlessly killed and shipped 

 sway. Partridges, snipe and woodcock killed out of season, while 

 large quantities of snipe are annually taken from the marshes and 

 i shots who prefer this mode of obtaining a livelihood. 



The society so iav have paid all the expenses incurred In their landa- 

 ble object of game protection, and in order that others should con- 

 tribute who wished to share their sport, a license fee of twenty dollars 

 1b exacted from all non-residents, the proceods arising from the fines, 

 penalties, seizures and licence* to be appropriated in carrying ont the 

 law. Is it unreasonable to ask foreigners to contribute as well as 

 ourselves toward sustaining and preserving the game ot the country? 

 We hope to havo by January l npward of three hundred comity 

 wardens, parish wardens and deputy wardens in the province to arrest 

 and fine any person found reeisttng the law, and we mean business. 

 Tour correspondent insinuates that a discriminating :aw also exists as 

 against Americans in the salmon fishing. Ton know the inaccuracy of 

 this statement, and can refute it if necessary, and can defend our 

 province from thjse unjust aspersions. Ton have resided here, en- 

 joyed onr sports, possibly received a share of oar hospitalities, and 

 should resist charges known to be false. A copy of the Aet4t, Vic, 

 chap. 45, now in type, will be mailed to yoir addreag very soon. To 

 this please give such publicity as will bleach out the grave imputations 

 expressed by your oontribuior. 



I am, sir, yours very truly, James I. Fjcllows, 



Chief Game Commissioner for the Province of New Brunswick. 



We have never lost an opportunity to defend the good 

 name of New Brunswick in the prosecution of these com- 

 mendable efforts of hers, either through our journal or other- 

 wise.— Ed. P. & 3. 



h gifh. 



PARTELLO'S CHAMPION SCORE. 



Crcedmoor may properly be proud of the long-range 

 achievements which have taken place on its broad lawn. In 

 team shooting, at any rate, results have been reached there 

 which fix it as the champion shooting spot of the world, but 

 in single score work Benning's range, near Washington, D. 

 C, seems to lead the van in the scores of J. M. T. Partello, 

 a young department clerk, and a member of the Columbia 

 Kitle Association. In a practice shoot on the 1st ult, with 

 several other members of the association, he ran up the 

 phenomenal score of 234 in the possible 225. A doubt having 

 been expressed about the score, the marksman put the record 

 of his score-book into an affidavit, as follows: 



Washington, D. C, Oct. 21, 1878. 



To whom it map concern.— J hereby testify under oath, that 

 the following score was made by me on the first day of Octo- 

 ber, 1878, on the Benning's rifle range, near this city, with 

 the Kemington long-range rifle in forty-five consecutive shots, 

 fifteen at each of the distances named below, to wit : 



S00 5 56B6555BBS666 5— TO 



flOO 6 6B5 6S55655S4S 5—74 



1,0,0 5 6565SSEG55665 B— 75— 224 



That no sighting shots were had after the score was begun, 

 and that no shots were omitted, and that forty-six shots were 

 all that I fired on that day, the one extra being fired before I 

 began my score. This extra shot I took to get the elevation 

 for the new position of my Vernier, having changed it from 

 the grip to the heel of the stock. J. M. T. Pabtello. 



October 21, 1878. — Subscribed and sworn to before 

 Tl. b.] James Lawhknson, Notary Public. 



For ourselves we have never seen any reason to doubt the 

 fact of the score. Perfect scoreB at each of these ranges had 

 been made before by various riflemen, and it only remained 

 for Borne lucky fellow to pool his good fortune, and put his 

 perfect scores into one day's work, and with the perfect score 

 since made at 900 yards, Mr. Partello is too shrewd a young 

 man to suppose for a moment that a score made ihus in prac- 

 tice can or will carry with it the same weight as a record that a 

 match score does. The 221 of Mr. Sumner in the walk-over 

 at Creedmoor is dejure the champion record of the world to- 

 day, while the score of Mr. Partello is de facto the top figure. 

 In a narrow technical view the minor score would take prece- 

 dence, while for comment and as a record of scientific value 

 that of Mr. Partello is acceptable. It shows that the rifles 

 now made are to all intents perfect, and if they vary from the 

 true carton at all, the variation must be sought outside of the 

 weapon. Mr. Partello was coached by Col. Burnside in his 

 big Bcore, in the way that any two friendly shots would help 

 one another at the firing point, and when a mere lad, as Par- 

 tello would appear beside some of the veteran shots, can drop 

 into place, and with a good, steady hand and clear eye,.'pile up 

 such a line of "bulls," English Tiflemen may begin to under- 

 stand something of the merits of the American Team system. 

 Had Mr. Partello been compelled to rely on his own judgment 

 in wind and elevation matters, the chances are that his score 

 would not have been reached before years of practice. But 

 that mutual helpfulness which is so characteristic of American 

 riflemen receives a remarkable exemplification in his case, and 

 in his victory all his fellow-riflemen are honored, since he is 

 as much the result of a system as of individual talent and ad- 

 vantages. 



The cut above will enable readers and riflemen to form a 

 perfect idea of the position assumed by Mr. Partello in taking 

 aim. Under the "any position'" rule it is allowable and for 

 ease and steadiness cannot well be excelled, and would only 

 eed modifications in cases f peculiar personal build. 



The Volunteer Service Gazette of England, in ci I 

 on the feat, says : 



It should be reccfleeted that there is no great antecedent 

 improbability that better scores will be made year attei year, 

 This has certainly been the case in teara-Bhooting, esp»eially 

 in America, and "luptics should remember that it was 

 at first very hard to believe that there was not some 

 error in the telegraphic accounts winch came to us of 

 the first great match et Creedmoor. But the scores then made 

 have been exceeded over and over again. 



And the New York World says that : 



Where a man has a trick of making seventy-five at one 

 range there is no good reason to doubt, that lie may repeat the 

 feat three times in succession. Indeed, we think several of 

 our riflemen will yet achieve a score of 225 ; as they have 

 attained such precision of marksmanship that the occurrence 

 of some little failure in matters of detail, almost, inseparable 

 from the firing of so many shots at long range, defeats them 

 rather than failure in skill. As matters stand even now 

 the target must be diminished in size so as to afford an oppor- 

 tunity for a nicer discrimination between our foremost marks- 

 men. 



An unpleasant incident and annoying sequence of the shoot- 

 ing was a very uncomplimentary expression of doubt by one 

 of our well-known Creedmoor riflemen who spoke in a boor- 

 ish manner of the " improbability of the affair," and used 

 other language of a Birailar tenor, closing up with some sort of a 

 money offer for an opportunity to display himself beside Mr. 

 Partello. This drew out from the President of the Columbia 

 Kifle Association a cutting reply, in the course of which Col. 

 Burnside said : 



We had hoped that the fascinating and gentlemanly sport of 

 target shooting with the rifle, in all of its stages, as indulged 

 in on the various ranges of the country, and which is gaining 

 such healthy favor among our young men, would be kept free 

 from the taint of the ganiiug-table and prize nna proclivities 

 that are entoring into and tending to destroy all proper out- 

 door sports. Thus far we believe the rifle associations of this 

 country have kept themselves entirely free from pi rmitting 

 bets on matches. It is one of the laws of out- own association 

 that any wager on the result of shooting, whether on a match or 

 practice, subjects the offender to fine or expulsion, as the as- 

 sociation may adjudge. We encourage the shooting for ap- 

 propriate prizes, but our rt2es and regulations are so formed 

 as to perpetuate, if possible, the sport as a gentleman's re- 

 creation, and not for profit or gain. 



The English authority above quoted speaks on this point 

 with admirable caution and duly considered words when it 

 says •. 



We are sorry that Mr. Hyde offers to shoot a match with 

 Mr. Partello for a large sum of money. jRifle shooting has 

 prospered here just because we had the wit to discourage 

 matches made for money, and we hope that Mr. Hyde and 

 his countrymen will not take to them. As surely as they do, 

 rifle shooting in the United States will become a matter of 

 betting, and ultimately of cheating, and the days of the i'aluia 

 and such honorable contests will soon be numbered. 



Suffice it to say that the proffer to discredit Mr. Partello'H 

 score was very properly scorned by him, and he remains to- 

 day with the best record in the country. 



Some interest ha9 been felt in regard to Partello's manner 

 of loading his Remington Creedmoor rifle, and on this point 

 he says i 



"You should put as much powder in the shell as it will 

 hold. If you just pour it in it will Settle and leave ;. 

 before you are ready to use them. Now, I use a long tube, 

 about 3 or 4 feet in length, and when I weigh my powder I 

 pour it through this tubs and it settles down solidly, 1 find I 

 can get 12 or 15 more grains of powder in the slid Is hy adi >pt- 

 ing this method, t'snally I weigh out from 109 grains to 115, 

 but use my judgment as to the amount, according to the day. 

 The object is to fill the shell and fill it solidly." 



AN AMERICAN EXPRESS RIFLE. 



Mr. Carl Dittmar writes on the Express Rifle question, and 

 is most earnest in pushing the claims of the Borchard model 

 of the Sharps company. Of it he says : 



In it we have as good an Express rifle as ever has been 



made in England, if I understand that the flattest trajectory 

 or longest point blank range and greatest penetration makeB 

 the desiderata of a hunting rifle, besides greatest ac- 

 curacy, absolute safety and rapidity of firing. It depends 

 only on the amount of charge, kind "of powder and bullet, in 

 most makes the breech springs back too much, so that the 

 steel expands and dees not fit after one or two heavy charges ; 

 while in Sharps the shell can be used with ease any m 

 times, besides at the mouth the bullet always fits I 

 fitted a telescope sight toa military musket, ii" irchard'a model, 

 and 1 think it cannot shoo: better; it will compare witi 

 expensive rifle. You need only different sights on an 

 .Sharps models and change the bullet, and you have a Creed- 

 moor, a military and a hunting rifle in one. Fur Express 

 rifle I prefer the .45 cal., Borchard's model, as 1 can have it 

 bored for the 2J inch straight shell, which carries 4^ drachms 

 powder. In one of my Sharps rifles I uae steel sheets, which 

 carry 5 drachms powder, and with that charge and a Creed- 

 moor bullet I penetrate B6 inch bass wood, which, I think, is 

 penetration enough for anything living, and which cannot be 

 surpassed by any of the English Express rifles. I wish one of 

 the cartridge Companies would make a brass shell for 5 drachms 

 powder, as the steel sheila are too expensive, although they 

 last forever. For long range with this heavy charge the com- 

 mon Creedmoor bullet is not heavy enough, but with a 650 

 grain bullet it will shoot well at 1,500 yards. Change the bul- 

 let for a regular Express bullet and you have the best Express 

 rifle you may wish for. I do not think it. is necessary to have 

 a larger calibre than .45 tor Express rifle, and tor longer, 

 ranges a larger calibre would not do as well. With the heavy 

 charge and Express bullet no elevating sight is necessary for 

 hunting distances ; it makes no difference Whethei vim shoot 

 at 10 yards or 150 yards, aim just the same ; over lob yards 

 take a little coarser bead, or, with a peep sight, aim a little 

 higher. For small game or for practice on glass balls or other 

 flying objects I use a round ball a very little larger than the 

 bore, and can do splendid execution up to 150 yards, over that 

 the ball goes wild. Bullets and ball must be of hardened lead 

 same as Creedmoor bullets. For rapidity of shooting, if the 

 lever of the safety catch is removed, it is easy to make 100 



