40 



FOREST AND STREAM.? 



%mm §;tg mid %nn. 



GAME IN SEASON IN FEBRUARY. 



Dares, brown and gray. Wild duck, geese, brant, &o. 



Massachusetts.— Tie fourth shoot of the Border City 

 Sua Club took place in Full River, Mass., on February 

 14th. The birds were very strong flyers. The lot not 

 being very largo would not permit of but 40 yards boundary, 

 and many birds not scored were killed out of bounds. The 

 following is the score, six birds each: — 

 Name. Total. I Name, Total. 



J. J. Fiinvell i Daniel a. Golden 4 



Arrusen 3 Win. B. Duifee, Jr 1 



Alvin U, Seymour 0| 



At the end of the match J, J, Fitrwell and Daniel H: 

 Golden were tie, which was shot off at three birds apiece 

 with the Following lesult: — 

 >"amo. Total. | Name. Total. 



J. J. Harwell. - 110 2]Danlel H. Golden. ...1 1 * 2 



There uot being birds enough the tie will be decided at 

 the beginning of "ike next match. GdSMBK. 



REW YortK.— Please find an international trap-shoot be- 

 tween Messrs. A. Grujlb, John Woodruff and Geo. Rogers, 

 of St. Catherines, Canada, and R. O. Fulton S. T. Murray 

 aud J. M. Witner, of Kiigara Falls, htld at Clifton, 

 Canada, Thursday, 15th. The judges were II. Fulton, lor 

 Americans, and George Bailly, for Canadians; D. Isaacs, 

 referee. The match was for $60 a side, ground traps, 

 Canada rule?. The day was very cold aud windy. The 

 following are the scores: — 



Name. Score. Total. 



A. Orubi) 1 01011101111110 11 



It. O. l'nlt.m 1 I 1011 i 1 1 0-0 0.1 I 8 



Jobn Woodruff 1 110 1110 1 10 10 8 



S T. Murray 110 1110)1001111 11 



Ui-err 1 1110111110 10 11 1* 



.i . M . u itmer tilioolOllllllO :i 



Total for .St. Catherines, 31; total for JSiagara Fails, 30. 



C. S. R. 

 New Jersey.— Kinsetft Ashley House, Barnegnt Inlet, 

 F'l'riKii')/ 17th.— One party killed seven geese and four 

 brant yes'erday on the Clam Island. Plenty of fowl, but 

 no tides to do much execution. B. 



Pennsylvania— Bedford, lib. 13.— Turkeys and quail 

 are very plentiful in this county. Some of the quail Have 

 perished this winter, but we have lots of them left. Lust 

 latl we could put up ten to fifteen bevies in one day with- 

 out any trouble. 1 have killed fourteen turkeys the past 

 season"; sent some weighing from 18 to 19i pounds to 

 friends in Philadelphia. Iu hunting wild turkeys here 

 with success you must have a dog to scatter them; then 

 call (hern up, provided you can. 1 have the best turkey 

 caller uui; can call up an old gobler as easily as a young 

 bird; its very simple and can be made in five minutes. 



Wm. MoM. 



—An old Maine correspondent who has just arriveu in 

 California, writea us from San Francisco, Jan. 23d:— 



"I have had two or three duck hunts since my arrival, 

 hut, cau do little without a retriever, although they swarm 

 iu countless thousands within ten miles of the city." 



One memorandum he made in crossing the continent 

 which is worth noting. Perhaps our readers will cut it out 

 aud act upon the suggestion. It will save us answering 

 many questions:— 



•• Tins ducks of geese, ducks and prairie chickens that 



rW oat of the immense cornfields of lowa and the Platte 



I v fairly made one wild. Oue who has passed bis 



many years in the Northern aud Eastern States can have 



no conception of the numbers of wild fowl that inhabit 



Bgions, as well as ihis coast." 



The good old fellow winds up by saying:— 



"Allow me to congratulate you on the improved appear- 

 ance of your paper. It is all that any intelligent sports- 

 man or gentleman cau desire." 



^i» 



FOREIGN AND AMERICAN GUNS. 



Editor Fobbst and Stream:— 



lour belligerent correspondent Mr. Hepburn takes me 

 to ui.sk lor expressing my judgment of the merits of for- 

 eign gunmakers, and abuses you, Mr. Editor, because 1 

 have taid nothing about American guns. My intention 

 was to write an article on the American exhibit at the Cen- 

 tennial, and to give my candid opinion Of the merits and 

 L :it3 of our home pioluctious, but the tone of Mr. 

 Hepburn's communication may well deter one fiom mak- 

 iio' any allusion to Lome industry. A maker of guns who 

 is so sensitive as to abuse one for commending foreign per- 

 fections, especially when such perfections are not con- 

 trasted with home productions, can hardly be woi thy of 

 j. The Remington is good enough lor the price, for 

 who cau expect 10 get much of a gun for $45? Why a 10 

 gauge ot this make should simply be a 12 in size exter- 

 nally but bored two sizes larger, 1 can understand on the 

 ttoa 'score of cheapness, but why such especial pains should 

 Denial tn lo destroy all beauty and symmetry, when grace- 

 ful curves aud outlines cost no more than homely ones I 

 cannot discover a reason. .„.-,■,-. 



I'liese gun are made as muskets are at Springfield, by 

 machinery, aud cau be turned out with the same rapidity, 

 and aie highly creditable productions for the little money 

 ouarged; but this tact does not give Mr. Hepburn a right 

 t i abuse one who prefers to pay $300 or $4u0 for a supe- 

 rior weapon. Shall we banish our Purdys, Henrys and 

 I embrace a Remington simply because it is an 

 .ri'ean pioduclion and the price is $45? H so, why 

 s op al these figures? Guns that will burn powder and pro- 

 petshot are made lor less money; are we ooing a wrong to 

 Lome industry by not using mem? Forty-five dollars 1b 

 Ihe magic sum, and nothing below or above will answer. 

 According to this genllemau's theoty the leveling must all 

 be down to his standard, aud not up lo a higher. I have 

 already said more than ihe importance of this matter de- 

 mands" and willingly pass on. 



l'ne best exhibit of cheap guns— that is, guns of less 

 va'ue than $100— was by Parker, of Meudeu. My 

 opinion is formed after dissecting the action aud examin- 

 ing in detail every part under a powerful glass, and 1 am 

 satisfied that the improved action, the good quality of the 

 Belgium barrels, and the evident honest intention of mak- 

 ing a good sound gun, entitle them to the first rank as 



makers of this class of weapon. Why they do not adopt 

 the Purdy action with the lop lever, is a question they 

 can.no doubt answer satisfactorily : but to an outsider it 

 seems strange to see convenience and adaptability thus re- 

 jected. As an American I feel proud of their productions, 

 and hope they will not stop iu the march of improvement, 

 but steadily press onward and upward. By using the Pur- 

 dy action and lighter barrels; by copying Scott's style of 

 stocking and balancing, they can make a wonderful im- 

 provement in their weapons. Beauty is an essential element 

 of utility, and no one can afford lo deny its claim?. Clark 

 & Snyder's best gun (price $300) was a beautiful piece of 

 work. The materials were fine, and the filing and fitting 

 would compare favorably with the best English work. 

 The rebounding locks had some features of decided im- 

 provement, and if use confirms the theory, will prove a 

 valuable gain in Ihis most important part of the gun. 

 From lite amount of skilled labor bestowed on this wea- 

 pon I do not imagine Clark & Snyder could make their 

 fortunes on Ihis quality of guns; but as an exhibit of what 

 American labor and skill can produce, it was most grati- 

 fying. John Krider's gun at $200 was a good, sound piece 

 of work, and a credit to any maker, as was also an 8 gauge 

 ducking gun at $125. Both were entitled to commenda- 

 tion. 



To change the subject. I have been oue of the numer 

 ous victims of Greener's last literary effusion, having in- 

 vested $3 50 in "Choke Bore Guns, and How to Load 

 Them." This book is a rehash of his "Breech-Loading 

 Guns," swelled wilh newspaper puffs of his own wonder- 

 ful produclions, Ihe Field trial and others, of not the 

 slightest interest. The Field trial has been sown broadcast 

 over the land, and is familiar to all. It sealed nothing, 

 except as to the guns actually engaged, and hardly that, as 

 the same conditions were not applied to all. That a gun 

 bored to concentrate the charge at the muzzle will show a 

 better pattern than a cylinder, or a relief, was an undis- 

 puted fact, tie extent of the improvement being different 

 in every gun. A system of boring by which all guns cid 

 be made to shoot equally well has not yet been discovered, 

 and neither Greener or auy olher matter can produce ab- 

 solute uniformity. The first edition of his book told us 

 that we could hardly get gunpowder with coarse enough 

 grain, and that we should use five or moie diachms. This 

 edition says that a prize powder of the size of Curlis & 

 Harvey's ".No. 4 is the correct thing to produce perfection 

 in shooting, and will develop the highest powers of his 

 guns. Whether the same magnificent itsults would be 

 produced in Scott's "Premier" he does not say, and prob- 

 ably would not admit, as he claims a. perfection and cer 

 tainty for his system of boring unattainable by any other 

 maker. According to this book the entire wisdom and 

 skill of Loudon and Birmingham is centered in St. Mary's 

 Woiks, and is not allowed to stray outside. Ton person 

 Unacquainted Willi gun literature the perusal of this book 

 would leave, but one impression, and "that would be, that 

 but one man can make a choke-bored gun, and lhal man 

 is YV. W. Greener. The 3»inch diagrams, unaccompa- 

 nied as they are by auy evidence that such shots were ac- 

 tually made at the distance aud with the charges specified, 

 are worthless, and sportsmen will require something hel- 

 ler than mere assertion before they invest their money. 

 That Greener cau make good guns 1 know, having owned 

 aud used them; but that he is uniformly reliable and al- 

 ways sends out perfect weapons, 1 aeny, and am strongly 

 impressed wilh the conviction that less asseri ion and bel- 

 ief production will improve his reputation in this country. 



FoRTY-FlYE. 



[In justice to Mr. Hepburn we must say that his letler 

 was written without any reference whatever to the Rem- 

 ington guu, and solely in his capacity of private individ- 

 ual, and not as an employe of that firm. — Ed.] ' 



■»♦*- 



DUCKING ON THE POTOMAC. 



Oswego, N. Y., February 10th, 1877. 

 Editor Forest and stream: — 



Your (Washington correspondent's) letter of this week 

 whs read with pleasure, as it brought to mind a part of my 

 irip south last February, and the names of two gentlemeu 

 members of Alt. Vernon Ducking Club, Messrs. Kuehluig 

 & Bartlett, who kindly took me down the Potomac to 

 their club house, where we spent a few days of real enjoy- 

 ment duck shooting from batteries and blinds. The Club 

 have every thingin good shape, plenty of decoys, boats, ele. 

 A fine boiigh house has been placed out in the middle of the 

 river, which for convenience and comfort can't be excelled. 

 Wilh decoys put about it in good shape, and ducks fairly 

 plenty, I can't conceive of better sport and greaier com- 

 fort while duck shootiug with success. Many is the poor 

 duck that has made his last darl at and about that bush. 

 Mr. K. did good work from his battery stationed a few- 

 rods from shore. Ducks would almost settle down upon 

 him so well was his battery made to deceive them. 



The most amusing part of all was to see my IriendB. 

 prepare breakfast, with half a dozen hungry setter dogs to 

 manage and keen out of the pots and kettles on those 

 occasions, He has a smooth temper and certainly loves a 

 good dog, for they had it about their own way, still we 

 tared well, as he is a host in that line. 



As our steamer ncared Washington on our return, 1 

 could hear the boom! boom! and see the smoke clear 

 away from a battery surrounded by decoys only about one 

 hundred rods off the foot of Seventh street. Wilh ihe aid 

 of a glass I could see some oue raise up and bang away 

 every few moments from among those stools, and then all 

 would be quiet again, and then the duck would cateh it 

 in quick succession. Later that day I learned lhal the 

 shooter was Dr. W., of Washington, and that he had 

 brought home one hundred aud forty-sevtu canvas backs, 

 shufllers, etc., and 1 don't doubt it, for he had it all his 

 own his'wav and ducks were plenty, Now, all ihis sport 

 to be had within an hour of the capitol aud in winter, 

 while up north about here the lake looks like an arctic 

 ocean, and our beautiful river is covered wilh fourteen 

 inches ol solid ice, where every day dozens of fast horses 

 are thowiug their best gait on the sniooih, solid surlaee. 

 Leather Stocking. 



Proper Mode op Loading a Choee-Bore,— Our cor- 

 respondent "Forest Aisle" sends us the following valuable 

 suggestion: — 



'1 noticed in your issue of Feb. 8lh a question from 

 ' ' W. H S. , Philadelphia, " respecting the poor target made 

 at 40 yards bv his Scott choke bore, aud as I have just 



completed an extensive and pretty exhaustive trial (using 

 one of Messrs. Tolley's finest "Paragon" choke-bores) of 

 various modes of loading cartridges tor choke-bored guns, 

 I send you a suggestion iu the interest, of "W. H. S," 

 Let him charge with 3^ drachms ot C. & H. No. 6, and lj 

 ozs. of No. 6 shot, and use over the powder a thick, soft 

 felt Ely's wad, and over the shot half of a similar wad, cut 

 even and level with a sharp knife. The paper shell should 

 not be turned down more than w''U suffice to just hold Ihe 

 wad in place. If his gun is really a good shooting choke 

 bore he will be surprised at the vast improvement pro- 

 duced, both in the pattern and in the uniformity of shoot- 

 ing by this mode ot loading. Charged in this way my 

 "Paragon" gave at my last trial the sp'endid average of 

 218 shots in the 30 inch circle, the entire load, moreover, 

 being taken m two shots out of the six bodily into the 86- 

 inch square. On the other hand, when loaded with a 

 hard, inelastic card wad over the shot, instead of a felt 

 wad, the pattern went down at a stroke to 110— just halt— 

 and when the gun was charged with a pink-edge overthe 

 powder, and Two ditto over ihe shot, to 113. 1 may add 

 that my experiments have proved lhal the extreme choke is 

 not only a very powerful but also a very delicate instru- 

 ment." 



•»»» 



FAtitFiEi.D County, Conn., February 5th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I would a word further, in perhaps, a fault finding man- 

 iper, but it seems as though through your paper the com- 

 Hnon sense of many so called sportsmen might be touched, 

 that could not be reached in auy other way, for they all 

 quote from you as they would from the Law or 

 pel. It is in reference to the land owners rights. The 

 law now reads that quail shall be shot only between 

 Ihe 20lh day of October and the 1st day of January. 

 (And as the Legislature is now doctoring the game laws it 

 had better let woodcock alone and make the close season 

 for quail extend to the 1st of November). On the 3d of 

 OctoDer two gentlemeu made their appearance here for the 

 purpose of quail shooting. 1 bey started out wilh that in- 

 tent, flushed a bevy, and one bird is brought to bay. 

 Pi etty soon another single bird is Hushed and one of the 

 gents is brought not to buy, but lo earth, lecieving a charge 

 of No. 10 shot in his head, aceidently from his companion, 

 putting out his right eye; no more quail for him this fall. 

 On the 19th two more "spoilsmen" make their appearance 

 and succeeded in driving a bevy between two farmers 

 houses and blaze away during the afternoon, kill sixteen 

 of them, because they have been in the habit of being fed 

 around the barns and could uot, be driven away any 

 distance, aud when attempts were made to get out a war- 

 rant, no Justice would is.ueit; but one was finally pro- 

 cured for trespass, and by the time it was in the hands of 

 the Constable, the parties were in your State telling ol the 

 line bunch of birds ihey poached up in Connecticut. An- 

 other case was that of a parly driving a bevy into a gentle- 

 man's garden and blazing away to the great danger ot the 

 people in the house- \vhen remonstrated wilh (lor Hie 

 nirds had beeu cared for like chickens, and fed as regular,) 

 they answered with all the slangof a street gamin's vocabu- 

 lary. Such things prejudice the land owner against all 

 who cany a guu, aud Rave been a curse to all true spoils- 

 men. 



Some of the best grounds, for both cock and quail shoot- 

 ing, in this and neiguboriug towns, have notices similar to 

 thTs stuck up all over them and wo lo the man that is caught 

 trespassing in such a case. (All persons carrying a gun 

 are positively forbid trespassing). But still, thank fortune, 

 there are a tew "true blue" sportsmen who are willing to 

 accord to all their rights. Aud to them the fields are 

 open, and to all such we say come and see us in the season 

 and wo will let you cover the ground, but from the soifl&n 

 sportsmen, spare us. 1 think 1 cau now sign myself a 



Legitimat-h Grumbler. 



jfua and giver S s ^ in S' 



FISH IN SEASON IN FEBRUARY. 



Pompano, Trachynolwi corolinus. Grbnper. /.'/>:, -, '■,.<>' nigritot. 

 Drnm— two species. Family Arirere- Tronublaek ba=s) UnlropulrU at- 



Kingfish, Menlicirrus nebulosus . .strip, id imps or RockBsb, BOCtUt 

 Sea. Bust, XcianopsoceUulw. litmuus. 



. .,-,,. j, ,.,. . :,., ■,.,,,; ■ ■ .. .■;.,.. ■;-■.. i ■!■■■■ 



cephatxu- Bta& Baas, Micropenis sd 

 Snapper, Luljanus cavxt. M. nigricans. 



Fish in Market.— Notwithstanding the enormous quan- 

 tity required for the Fish Culturists dinner last week, and 

 also the fact that Lent has set in, the supply of fish re- 

 mains large and prices low. Very tine large shad, weigh- 

 ing five pounds each, are arriving from Ncwbern, Noith 

 Carolina. Sea bass and red snappers are coming from 

 Brunswick, Georgia, and codfish were never so abundant 

 on the Long Island coast. Our quotations are as fol- 

 lows:— Striped bass 15 to 25 ceuts per pound; smelts, 13 to 

 20 cents; blueflsh, 16 cents; salmon (frozen), 30 cents; shad 

 (southern), §1.50 ceuts each; mackerel, 25 cents; white 

 perch, 15 cents; green turtle, 23 cents; terrapin, $18 per 

 dozen; frostfish, 8 ceuts per pound; halibut, 15 cents; had 

 dock, 7 cents; codfish, 8 ceuts; bliicktisk, 15 cents; her- 

 rings, 6 cents; flounders, 10 cents; sea bass, 18 cents; 

 eels, 18 cents; lobsters, 10 cents; sheepshead, 15 cents; 

 turbott, 20 cents; scoliops, $1.50 per gallon; wkileflsh, 20 

 cents per pound; pickerel, 20 cents; sunfish, 10 cents; 

 yellow perch, 10 cents; Balmon trout, 15 cents; hard shell 

 crabs, $3.00 per 100; soft crabs $1.25 per dozen; red snap- 

 pers, 18 cents per pouud. 



Beatjtii dtiy Good.— A correspondent, "G. F. W.," of 

 Putnam, Ct., who was almost always with Daniel Websler 

 on his fishing and hunting expeditious, when he went 

 home to Marshfield, writes to us, saying: "1 caught the 

 last mess of troul he ate, aud after I had them nicely 

 browned and brought to him, 'Ah, George!' said he, 'they 

 are beautifully good.' I never saw him alive after that 

 time." 



Daniel was a dainty angle?, and daiuty in his epiourinn 



