266 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



parting ^otes Sit om ^brond. 



FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. 



London, November 11th. 



THE appearance a week or two since of long lists of 

 packs of foxhounds, stag-hounds, beagles and har- 

 riers, occupying pages in the sporting papers, indicated 

 that the hunting season was about opening, and now hunt- 

 ing quarters are filled, and the Englishman's sport, par 

 excellence, has fairly commenced . Long accounts of "runs," 

 successful or otherwise, fill the before mentioned papers, 

 and it may be said that the cry of the hound is heard 

 through the land. Indeed, one could hardly travel in any 

 direction through this "right little, tight little island," on a 

 fair frosty morning, without his ears being greeted by the 

 music of a pack, and possibly even his eyes might be like- 

 wise filled with the sight of the hounds themselves stream- 

 ing across 'plough and stubble," followed by gallant 

 gentlemen mounted on those compact, weight carrying 

 hunters for which Great Britain is celebrated. Even the 

 gentler sex will be found represented, for here equestrian- 

 ism, is as much a part of woman's education as music and 

 French. Some of the most determined riders to hounds 

 are ladies of high social position, whose performances and 

 presence are as regularly chronicled as those of hard 

 riding squires or guardsmen. The most aristocratic meets 

 are probably those of the Quorn and Belvoir, who hunt 

 adjoining countries. The former, keeping to their tra- 

 ditional "first Monday in November," were a week behind 

 other packs in holding their initial meet, and although 

 not successful in killing their fox a good run was had and 

 a large field was present. 



From hunting to shooting is a very easy transition, and 

 this reminds me of the confusion in the use of these terms 

 which prevails with you. Here each has its proper and 

 distinct signification; hunting is following hounds, and 

 nothing else is understood by the term, while shooting 

 applies exclusively to the use of the shot gun. In America 

 both terms are used indiscriminately, and "hunting" means 

 everything from rabbit shooting to deer stalking. The un 

 usually dry weather which has prevailed of late has been 

 very favorable for shooting, and the frosts of last week 

 have caused the leaves to fall from the trees. Pheasant 

 shooting is now in season, and although I hear of nothing to 

 equal the wonderful bags of partridges made by the Maha- 

 rajah Dhuleep Singh, some laige bags of mixed game are 

 reported. AtMamhead, near Exeter, the seat of Sir L. New- 

 man, last week, in four days shooting seven guns bagged 

 1,375 pheasants, 90 hares, 5G rabbits, 8 woodcock and 6 

 various, making a total of 1,535 head of game. This is 

 the woodcock and snipe month, and the former are re- 

 ported /in excellent condition, although their numbers are 

 extremely limited. They do not visit this country in such 

 quantities as are found in America, and where a couple are 

 bagged in the course of a day's shooting it is considered an 

 event worthy of note. I have observed many inquiries in 

 your paper regarding the qualities of chilled or hardened 

 shot. A correspondent of Land and Water writes to say 

 that he iudorses all that Mr. Greener says in his new work, 

 about chilled shot, and that after using it he finds that it 

 keeps its spherical form, improves the pattern and increases 

 the penetration. This is undoubtedly true as applied to 

 choke-bored guns, but do the soft shot lo e their shape 

 in cylinder bored guns sufficiently to warrant their being 

 placed on the shelf? The question of wear and tear as 

 applied to the use of hard shot is yet to be solved. The 

 paper above mentioned describes a curious gun recently 

 found in the possession of a poacher in Fifeshire. The 

 barrel was an old single muzzle-loader fastened on to a 

 portion of air old paling stob by means of brass wire, and 

 the lock was equally rudely fastened by wire of the same 

 kind. And yet with such a weapon the poacher was able 

 to kill pheasants and hares. Last week there was hied on 

 the Thames an "International" regatta, so-called probably 

 on the lucus a non lucendo principle, as there was nothing 

 international about it. The events were "mixed" some- 

 what, there being races for Amateur and Tradesmen's 

 fours and eights. The Champion scull race was won by 

 R W. Boyd, the Tyne sculler, who in the final heat beat 

 Blackman, Anderson, and Saddler. Some of the papers 

 are very severe on this regatta, claiming that it was gotten 

 up solely in the interest of the steamboat people. How- 

 ever, by whom it was gotton up, or for what purpose, is of 

 little account; the racing was good, and the event' a 

 success. 



The next event which is even now agitating the minds of 

 the canine world, is the great bench show to be held here 

 under the auspices of the Kennel Club, at Alexandria 

 Palace, Dec. 5th to 8th. It promises to be a very grand 

 affair as far as the entries are concerned. The judges are 

 already announced, and the list comprises such names as 

 Mr. E. Laverack, Mr. Lort, Mr. Barclay-Hanbury and 

 others. This reminds me that much fault is found with 

 the railway companies by the promoters of stock shows 

 generally, for their want of liberality in transporting 

 animals for exhibition at a reasonable tariff. An organized 

 resistance is to be made, and a conference is called for the 

 purpose. Vaqtjero. 

 -♦«♦- 



— The Pottsville (Pa.) Miner'* Journal says there was 

 found last week in the Elian Gowan shaft of the P. & II. 

 C. & I. Co., near Shenandoah, Saurian, footprints on coal 

 slates of the Mammoth vein, proving the existence of air- 

 breathing animals in the tropical forests which formed 

 anthracite coal. 



UW+ 



Morsemere. — The scores in the second competition for 



the Frost medal, shot on Friday last, we give below. The 



badge is won , upon the highest aggregate score in 45 



shots : — 



Name. Score. Total. 



G. L. Morse 5 5545555555555 5—74 



(J. A. Hodnman 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4-72 



A. D. Hodgman 5 3445543555555 4-69 



C. Dusenbury 4 4 5 C 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3-68 



A. H. Joceiyn 4 524 5 455555544 5—67 



H. J. Quiim 4 4441555435545 4-65 



The grand total for the 30 shots already fired is as fol- 

 lows : — 



G.L.Morse ..73 74- 1471 A. II. Joceiyn 73 67—140 



C. A. Hodmnan....74 72— M6'A. D. Hodgeman. . .71 69—140 



C. Dusenbury, Jr. ..75 68— 143lll. J. Quinn 61 65—133 



The match for the N. R. A. medal was shot on Tuesday, 

 but too late for us to publish the scores, 



Creedmoor, — A number of matches (four in all) were 

 shot at Creedmoor on Saturday, three of them being for 

 the bronze medals presented by the N. H. A., to affiliating 

 clubs. The weather being fine a large number of marks- 

 men were attracted to the range, and Creedmoor looked as 

 lively and bright as on a summer day. The first match 

 was for the medal of the Amateur Ride Club, thirty rounds 

 at 1,000 yards. There were sixteen entries, but of these 

 only ten finished their scores, those being as follows: — 



Name. Total*. Fames. Totals. 



E. H. Madison 186 H. Fisher 118 



I. L. Alien 126 G. W. Yale 117 



H.S. Jewel 126 J. P. Watars 116 



W. Hayes 125 L. M. Ballard 308 



Dr. Raymond 123 C. E. Huntington 75 



J. Le Boutellier won also the bronze medal of the 

 Seventh Regiment Rifle Club on a score of 59 out of a pos- 

 sible 70 points with a Remington rifle, State model, at 200 

 and 500 yards, seven rounds at' each range. 



Private George Morse won the Ninth Company, Seventh 

 Regiment, bronze medal, on a score of 52 out of a possible 

 70 points. 



The best contested match of the day, however, was that 

 for the Marksman's badge, shot at 200 and 500 yards, 5 

 shots at each range; weapon, State model rifle. The 

 badere has now been shot for seven times. The scores of 

 those who made over 30 points are as follows:— 



200 

 Name. Yards. 



Bouiellier 22 



Ward 20 



Morse 20 



Domiuick 21 



Vantieusen. . id 



Price 20 



Robbins 18 



Fecke 19 



Forest 20 



Burrel 21 



"00 

 Yards. GdT'l. 



20 

 21 

 20 

 19 

 20 

 19 

 20 

 19 

 18 

 17 



£00 

 Name. Yards. 



Gardner 19 



Marline 19 



Price 20 



40|Eafile 19 



m Cats 17 



500 

 Yards. GdT'l. 

 18 



Baihy 19 



Klaus £0 



Morris 19 



Page 19 



Scuid 21 



18 

 17 

 17 

 16 

 13 

 12 

 13 

 18 

 10 



Z7 

 37 



m 

 33 

 38 

 38 

 ' 38 

 31 



Conlin's Gallery. — The seventh competition for the 

 marksmen's badges took place last Tuesday evening, Nov. 

 21st, at Conlin's Shooting Gallery, 930 Broadway. The 

 following are the names and scores of the winners for the 

 contest:— 



Name. Total.! Name. Total. 



Leon Backer 41 W. II. Smith 39 



C. E. Blyden burgh (won) f0|T. U. Banks 89 



J. B Biydenburgh 40|B. 8. Brown 38 



H.D. Biydenburgh 40|Charles A. Cheever 37 



The badges will be shot for next Tuesday, Nov. 28th, 

 commencing at 4 p. m. All are cordially invited to parti 

 cipate. The usual matches on the side ranges created con- 

 siderable interest, and they were very closely contested. 

 On the "75 foot" ranege, a prize was offered for the best 

 score of ten shots, rifle 22 callibre, off-hand, Wimbleton 

 reduced 200 yards target. It was won by Chas. E. Biyden- 

 burgh, with a score of 47, followed by Leon Backer, 46; 

 W. Campbell, 40; IT. D. Biydenburgh, 46; J. B. Biy- 

 denburgh, 46. A prize for the best score of 10 shots, 

 lying down position, 500 yards, Wimbredon reduced 

 target was offered on the '"00 foot" tange, this was 

 won by G. P. Work (full score), 50, followed by 

 Geo. Crouch, 49; H. B. Biydenburgh, 49; J. F. Murch, 47. 



Glen Drake.— A series of matches will be shot to-day 

 on the range of the American RiBe Association at Glen 

 Drake. The programme includes a Military match for 

 military rifles only, a Subscription match and Pool shoot- 

 ing. Glen Drake is reached by N. Y. N. XI. & H. R R R 

 from Grand Central Depot to Pelhamville. Trains leave 

 at noon and 2:20 p. m. ; returning at 2:23 and 5:45 p, m. 



Massachusetts. — The following scores were made by 

 members of the Holyoke Rifle Club, in practice on the 

 18th inst., the distance being 400 yards, 10 shots each; 

 possible 50. 



Name.. Total. 



D. II. Smith 



K. Rhodes 4(j 



Name. Total. 



E. C. Smith 48 



11. White 45 



R. McDonald 44 1 



In shooting off the tie between E. C. Smith and D. H. 

 Smith, three shots each, the latter made 15 and the former 

 14. On the 29 th, at the same distance, D. H. Smith again 

 won the badge, making 49 out of a possible 50 points. 

 These scores are made on same targets and under same 

 rules as enforced by the N. R. A. 



The Filed Sights.— The full Board of Directors of the 

 National Rifle Association assembled on Thursday evening 

 last to consider the case of the protest entered by the 

 Seventh Regiment rifle team against the scores of the For- 

 tv eighth (Oswego) Regiment team made at the recent fall 

 meeting of the N. R. A. After taking an immense quan- 

 tity of testimony the Board unanimously concurred in the 

 decision of the Executive Committee ruling out the scores 

 of the Forty-eighth team. The rifles used in the match 

 were produced, but a number of witnesses swore most pos- 

 itively that the sights now on them were not the same as 

 those used in the match. We shall give more space to this 

 subject next week, and an abstract of the testimony, 



Rifle Positions in Deer Shooting.— When Major 

 Fulton introduced that position in long-range shooting 

 which at first seemed so remarkable, but which was soon 

 adopted by every rifleman of prominence m the country 

 he perhaps did not imagine that he was giving a hint to 

 deer stalkers which might result in the death of manv a 

 lordly buck. One tendency of the rage for rifle shooting 

 which now exists is to produce rifles of much greater 

 range and accuracy than those we previously possessed* 

 larger charges of powder are used and improved projec^ 

 tiles. As a natural result we shall look to killing our 

 game at longer distances. The man who is to be behind a 

 charge of powder ranging from seventy to one hundred 

 grains will choose the position in which the effects of the 

 recoil will be the least felt. The Fulton or Farquharson 

 position appears to possess this qualification. Again, in 

 stalking deer, mountain sheep, or any large game in which 

 the utmost caution is required, the necessities of the chase 

 demand that the body should be placed in all sorts of po- 

 sitions, and contortions are practised which would do 

 credit to a professional ground and lofty tumbler. Some- 

 times the hunter is crawling on his stomach and sometimes 

 making his way along on his back, aided only by his el- 

 bows and heels. Frequently the proper point is reached 

 in this position and a long shot required. Without haviDg 

 to move the hunter crosses his feet, brings his left hand 

 around behind his head, and grasps the but of his rifle. 

 Plenty of time is given him, and with deliberate aim he 

 can make sure of his game. When one has become pro- 

 ficient in judging distance, a drill, by the by, which should 

 be more practised at Creedmoor, the back position could be 

 made available in a variety of shooting. Antelope shoot- 

 ing on the plains could be much facilitated at times were 

 the hunter enabled to lie concealed on his back and shoot 

 from that position. Undoubtedly hunters will find it to 

 their advantage to send to Remington & Co. for a copy of 

 the picture of Major Fulton in his shooting position, and 

 study and practice it at their leisure. 



•*.**. 



(§mnt |?## mid (§m. 



— « — , 



GAME NOW IN SEASON. 



Moose, Alces malchis. Pinnated grouse or prairie chicken, 



Caribou, Tarandus rangifer. Cvpidonim cupido. 



Elk or wapiti, Cervus canadensis. Ruffed jjiouse r pheasant, Bonasa 

 Red or Virginia deer, 6 . lirginianus, umbeUus. 



Squirrels, red, black and gray. Quail or partridge, Ortyx Virginia- 



Hares, brown and gray. ' nus. 



Wild turkey, Meteagiis gallopa- Woodcock, Philohela minor, 

 vo 



'"Bay-birds" generally, including various species of plover, sand-pipers, 

 snipe, curlews, oyeter-catchers,eurf-birds, pbalaropes, avocets, etc., com- 

 ing under the group Limicolce or Shore Birds. 



Canada — Perce, November 20t7i. — We have had a spell 

 of boisterous weather, and numerous wrecks on the north 

 shore of the St. Lawrence. Sharp frost but no snow. 



Massachusetts— Framingliam.— Some quail this season 

 about here, where they have been rare birds for many 

 years; best bag I have heard of, nine to one gun one-half 

 day. There have been a few snipe on Ludbury meadows 

 (next town, overflowed by Lowell dams). Seventeen fell 

 to one gun, two days; first flock of wild geese Nov. 19th. 



F. C. Browne. 



Sa'em, November 2dth.— Sporting'tbe'past week has|been 

 quiet. There have been some quail killed about here 

 lately — quite a lot — but the names of the parties are un- 

 known. There are some "sheldrakes" (M. uriator) and 

 dippers (B. albiola) in the harbor, with lots of gulls, mostly 

 (L. smilhsomanus), but the "whistlers" (B. americana) have 

 not become plenty. Teal. 



Neio Bedford, November 25th. — I cannot think of a sea- 

 son for twenty years, that has been so good in this vicinity 

 for partridge and quail shooting. While oi.t a few day's 

 since, I came across one of our amateur shots, who had a 

 bag of fifty- two (52) quails and two patridges, and on ask- 

 ing another, he said he did not know how many he had, 

 but there was a "bucket full," which on looking in his 

 carriage I found to be a fact. Woodcock are about all 

 gone, but have been quite plenty since the rain com- 

 menced. Concha. 



New Yobk — Ogdensburg, Nov 22d. — Sporting is and has 

 been unusually dull in this section. Some partridge have 

 been killed, but they appear much wilder than common, 

 and hard to bag; a few woodcock have been found. Ducks 

 are reported in abundance below, but we are having such 

 fine weather they do not seem to come up. When the 

 snow begins to fly and the ice to form in the river they 

 will be plenty for a few days; the shooting on Black Lake 

 is fair. They are netting the pickerel out of Black Lake 

 as fast as possible, and soon that favorite resort for the an- 

 gler and troller will be ruined. Over 1,200 were sold in 

 this city Friday last by one party, and they expect to sell 

 as many more next Friday. They are small, running from 

 one to three pounds. I think they should be left to grow. 



Crusos. 



Windsor, Nov. 23d— I send you a few scraps from the 

 Adirondacks, Beaver river country. Had, so far, very 

 little snow. A good many deer have been killed between 

 Smith's Lake ana No. Four, by driving; some seventy-five 

 and possibly more. A man was shot near the river just 

 below Beaver Lake about two weeks ago, (letter dated 

 Nov. 12), he was with a party of two others from Syracuse, 

 N. Y., hounding deer, and had a double barrel shot gun 

 and a short breech loading rifle of large calibre slung over 

 his back loaded, and as he jumped off from a log the 

 hammer struck the log and exploded the cartridge killing 

 him instantly. (When will people cease being careless 

 with firearms.) I did not learn his name. Fenton has 

 killed a number of deer since 1 left, but there has been too 

 ittle snow for still hunting. F. Bolles, Jr. 



New Jersey.— Kinsetfs Ashley Rouse, Barnegat Inlet, 

 Nov. 27th. — Brant and geese still plenty. On the clam 

 island, Friday, 40 head brant and 2 geese were killed. 

 Brant, owing to high tides, are not in as good condition. 



