834 
FOREST AND STREAM 
snow subsequent to this date. It is on this latter sport 
that I propose saying a few words. The home of the 
moose is in tire depths of the forest, in the solitude of 
which they roam undisturbed by sounds and encroach¬ 
ments of civilization. Though numbers occasionally de¬ 
pend on their own skill and experience iu hunting moose, 
it is customary to avail oneself of the services of an In¬ 
dian of the Micmac tribe, whose established character as 
hunters is well known beyond the shores of Nova Scotia, 
His presenoe, too, gives the Englishman a feeling of se¬ 
curity when in the midst of the dense woods, and affords 
a comforting assurance that his chance of return to camp 
is not so hopeless as if left to his own resources. Much 
has been written on the extraordinary powers (instinctive 
some would declare) displayed by Indians in fin d in g their 
way through the woods ; but when it is remembered that 
their lives have been spent in the midst of the forest, 
where keen observation of the features and peculiarities 
of the country is imperative, the fact of their knowledge 
in this respect is not surprising, How many men will 
walk by the banks of a stream, and if asked a few hours 
afterwards the direction of the current, would be able to 
answer correctly ? Not so with a man if he folt his very 
existence depended on whether he followed its banks up 
or down stream. But here I must plead guilty to being 
off the track of my subject, and hasten to retrace my 
steps to the point of divergence, 
Tire home of the moose hunter consists of a pyramidal 
but, in size generally 14ft. by 12ft., composed of a frame¬ 
work of spruce poles, thatched with birch or spruce bark; 
moss stuffed into the crevices existing in the sides of the 
hut suffice to keep out the biting winds. In the centre of 
the hut the fire is made, the smoke therefrom escaping 
through the apex of the roof. Around the walls of the 
interior tender boughs of hemlock are placed, and it is on 
tins fragrant arrangement that the moose hunter holds 
Iris at-homes by day, and sleeps the sleep of the weary by 
night. The ctuploquorgan hangs from a cross-pole in the 
roof, and on this depends the hunter’s repast. The 
“chip" consists of a hooked stiok, on which the camp 
kettle is suspended. Thus it will be seen that bountiful 
nature lays all the material for building at the feet of the 
woodsman, the trees themselves affording all that is req¬ 
uisite for raising a home in the wood—the timber supplies 
the poles for the framework, the bark the thatch, the 
moss that grows around the trunk the plaster, and, 
with the houghs to form a bed, I ask what more do you 
want? Merely an axe. With this implement alone 
your materials are collected, shaped, and your hut con¬ 
structed. 
With the moose it is not "the southerly wind and the 
cloudy sky” which “ proclaim a hunting morn in g the 
elements must assert themselves more strongly for the 
hunter to be satisfied with the day. Sufficient snow must 
have fallen during the night to cover the old tracks ; the 
wind must be blowing strong through the woods, bring¬ 
ing down in its force masses of accumulated snow from 
the splaying branches of the fir trees, or in its fury up¬ 
rooting trees, which fall crashing through the midst of 
their agitated brethren. Such is a moose-hunter’s morn¬ 
ing, when his game, through the noise of breaking boughs 
and falling snow, fails to detect the fall of the moccasin 
as the hunter stealthily follows up the track. It is on 
such a day that the cautious hunter is able to creep with¬ 
in forty or fifty yards of the moose (sixty yards being put 
as the greatest limit at which it is possible to see through 
the woods). In this position armed with a good No. 12 
smoothbore, loaded with ball, the moose is yours. A ri¬ 
fle is recommended only when tracking a wounded ani¬ 
mal, as he will then often make for and lie down in open 
swamps, rising as you approach, but out of the range of 
the smoothbore. Indeed, tracking a wounded moose may¬ 
be put down as the most arduous employment on which 
a hunter can be engaged, as often the animal will travel 
for days before he succumbs to liis wound, or before the 
hunter gets up to him to deliver the mortal shot. It is 
on an occasion such as this that he will find himself 
obliged to halt on the tracks for the night, and this often 
when the thermometer stands at ten or fifteen degrees be¬ 
low zero ; but he need have no fear of succumbing to the 
effects of frost if provided with an axe and matohes, nor 
is his situation hopeless if he finds himself without these 
two commodities, as it is always possible to collect suffi¬ 
cient dead wood to form a fire, which a charge of powder 
suffices to ignite. 
A few concluding words on the subject of tracks may 
be acceptable, on account of the variety of information 
they impart, and the skill and care necessary to follow 
them up with success. On first striking a track, the size 
and shape thereof is noted, then the class of animal which 
made it. The size, and often the sex can be determined 
(with the moose the bull’s track is more poiuted than that 
of the cow). Whether the track is fresh is the matter 
next in importance. This question may often be answered 
by ascertaining whether or no the imprint is frozen to the 
extremity; if not, the game has passed the spot recently. 
At what pace, walking or trotting? This may be deter¬ 
mined by the distances of the tracks. Following them 
up, we see where the animals have been nipping off the 
shoots of the moose wood (Acer pennsylvanimm), to 
which browse they are particularly partial. The fresh¬ 
ness in color of the moisture on the part where the plants 
have been bitten, the thickness of the film of ice on the 
stream at which the moose has paused to drink by break¬ 
ing through the ice, would likewise bear evidence as to 
the proximity of the game to the hunter; and these, 
with many others, come under the head of signs, ail of 
which have to be understood ere the Bportsman can fol¬ 
low the trail of a moose with success. 
Preparing Game for Market.— Poultry should be 
fat, and kept for twenty-four hours from food before kili- 
ing, to have the crop empty. Food in the crop sours, 
blackens the Bkin, injures the sale of poultry, and buyers 
will not pay for this useless weight. Opening the vein 
in the neck, or bleeding in the mouth, is the proper mode 
of killing. If bled inside the throat the bill should be 
E ried open with a piece of chip, and the poultry hung up 
y the feet on a line. This makes bleeding free and pre¬ 
vents bruising, The head and feet should oe left on, and 
the entrails in. The flesh should not be mutilated in any 
manner. Turkeys and chickens dry picked keep much 
longer and sell higher than the scalded. If the picking is 
done by scalding, the water should be heated just to the 
boiling point, and the poultry held by the feet, dipped in 
and out the water four or five times, counting three each 
fima in or out. The work should be done neatly, quickly, 
and thoroughly. After picking, hang up the poultry by 
the feet m a cool, dry place till the animal heat is out, 
and the poultry thoroughly cold and dry. Avoid freez¬ 
ing. as poultry will not keep long after thawing. Wrap 
in thin, light, strong paper. Brown and dark, heavy 
paper, having too much acid in it, injures the poultry. 
The head should be wrapped separately. Always pack 
head downward. This throws the soft entrails on the 
breast bone, the poultry keeping longer in this position. 
Pack in clean, dry, tight flour barrels. 
Geese and ducks, after being killed, should have all the 
feathers picked off, then rubbed all lover with fine resin, 
after which dip them in boiling hot water in and out 
seven or eight times, then rub off the pin feathers, after 
which wash off the fowl with warm water, using soap 
and a hard brush. Immediately after rinse them welt in 
cold water, then hang them up by the feet in a cool, dry 
place till they are thoroughly dry, when they can he 
wrapped and packed as before suggested. Poultry thus 
dressed and packed will, in moderately cold weather, 
keep sweet ana fresh for fifteen to twenty days, and can 
be shipped from the extreme West with safety by freight. 
Never pack poultry in straw, as in damp or warm weath¬ 
er it causes it to sweat and heat. 
Game, deer, rabbits, coons, opossums, and squirrels 
should he opened and all the entrails taken out, leaving 
only the kidney fat; then the insides should be wiped 
perfectly dry with a soft, clean cloth, after which wrap 
the small game in paper, packing back downward. 
Wild turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse, pheasants, quail, 
pigeons, and birds of all kinds should always have the 
entrails left in them, and the head and feet on. They 
should never be mutilated in any manner. Drawn birds 
sour in a short time and sell for less than the undrawn, 
even if sweet. Wrap the head separately in paper, then 
the body. Pack head downward m tight, clean barrels, 
the same as poultry. 
Shippers should remember well that all game and poul¬ 
try should be thoroughly cold before being packed, oth¬ 
erwise it will soon sweat and heat. Barrels are the best 
packages that shippers can ship in. Jesse Gilmore. 
Careless Gunners,— The Raleigh Observer has the 
following:— 
Mr. N. T. Jones had his hand badly torn to pieces 
yesterday by the explosion of a shell cartridge. He had 
loaded it and was recapping it when it exploded with 
the above result. He will not lose his hand, however. 
Apropos, a correspondent writes us from Fort Johnson, 
N, C., as follows :— 
The enclosed slip shows that all persons who handle breech¬ 
loaders anditliei r am munition, not only do not follow the oft-re¬ 
peated advice and instructions never to cap, or rc-cap a loaded 
slid!, but do not even seem to have the necessary common sense 
to teaoh them the danger of such a foolhardy proceeding. Ihave 
used tho Remington brass shells a great deal, and have exploded 
RUito a number of primers in re-onpping them, and on two occas¬ 
ions, when de-capping shells that for some reason or other had 
missed Are, when tho spur was forced into the primer to remove 
it, it exploded. Of course, had the charge been suffered to re¬ 
main in tho shell, it would hare exploded. When a primer misses 
fire, the chances are that the fulminate is still there, but has been 
in some manner displaced, aud is likely to be ignited, even by 
slight causes. Of.eourso it may have been destroyed, and there be 
no danger, but no chanoes are ever to be token. 
A. D. Sohexck, U. S. A. 
For out part, with shells as cheap as they are now, it 
seems folly, except of course in the case of metallic 
shells, to take the risk of re-loading them. Even where 
they are re-capped before loading there i3 danger of the 
cap or primer not being below the level of the head of 
the shell, and when the wads are rammed in there is 
danger of an explosion. It was in this maimer that poor 
Dr. Tliebaud lost his life a year or two since. A shell 
exploded while he was re-loading it, and a portion of the 
brass base entered his heart, causing death.— Ed. 
The Long Range Cartridge Cases. —The newly in¬ 
troduced device for securing long range shots with ordi¬ 
nary shot guns is meeting with much favor among 
sportsmen, The following is a letter in corroboration of 
this :— 
The Dittmar Powder Manufacturing Co., ) 
New York, October 27th, 1879. ) 
Messi's, II. H, Scfileber tfc Co .:— 
Gents;—I have now experimented with your long 
range cartridge cases, and must say that they are a suc¬ 
cess beyond my fondest expectations. They at first 
looked too much like fancy play-things, but I admit I have 
never tried anything like them. I fired them out of a 12 
bore cylinder gun, snellsloaded with 31 drams by meas¬ 
ure of Dittmar C powder, 2 pink-edge wads, No 11, well 
rammed down, and fired at 60, 80 and 100 yards. The 
pattern was in each instance about as good as I could 
make with loose shot at from 30 to 40 yards. A meadow 
lark came and lit in a tree about 70 yards off. My brother 
put in a yellow cartridge loaded with No. 4 shot and put 
about four pellets in the bird. I shall in future always 
carry a few of your cartidges in my vest, and I know they 
will often come handy at ducks, etc., out of reach of 
loose shot. The penetration also was exoellent. 
Respectfully Yours, 
J. Yon Lengerke. 
The Thread-wound Cartridges. —Twin Lakes, Fla., 
Nov. 1st .—Editor Forest and Stream ;—I have tried a 
few of the thread-wound long-range shot cartridge cases, 
which you mentioned in your issue of Oct. 23d, 
and give you the result. I wanted a long range case 
for deer in fire hunting, for there are a few old bucks 
around here which have had their eyes “ skinned” too 
often, and are off in a hurry if one attempts to walk up 
on them ; but the cases are not made for buckshot, so of 
what use are they in deer hunting ? At least, I suppose 
they are not, for I wrote for buck cases and got none that 
would take No. 1 buck. I tried one case with No. 6, seven 
pases with No. 4 shot, and two with BB. First shot, 84 
yards, No. 6 : Shot all inside a space two feet square; 
cenetration fine. Second shot with BB: All two feet to 
the left of target; badly scattered ; this was with left bar¬ 
rel, Third shot, BB, right barrel: All to the right about 
three feet; badly scattered. Fourth shot, No. 4 shot, an 
even 90 yards : The case (unwound) struck end on and 
buried itself half its length in a four years' seasoned 
pitch pine plank. Fifth and sixth shots, No. 4 shot, right 
and left barrels, 90 yards : All badly to the left of target; 
badly scattered. Seventh and eighth shots, No. 4, 100 
yards, cases unwound close to the target: Badly to the 
left; not much scattered. Ninth and tenth shots. No. 4, 
100 yards : Ninth shot two feet to the left, distribution 
tolerable; tenth, case unwound about two feet to the left 
just before it struck, the shot being in a space that could 
be covered by the hand ; the maria of both pieces of the 
tin deep ; penetration in every case excellent. 
But my experience proves that the cases unwind irregu¬ 
larly, and why all should have gone to the left I am at a 
loss to know." There was only a light air stirring at part 
of the shots, absolute calm the rest of the time. I used 
three drachms of powder, orange ducking No. 4, gun, 
Parker, 12, an excellent shooter. Used a No. 10 pink- 
edge wad over power in a 12 brass shell. 
I found one objection to the cases, if not more. The 
tape that goes over the end of case makes the brass shell 
entirely too tight for the chamber. I had to ram some 
of the shells out with wiping rod. That wouldn’t do, you 
know, among game ; and if you use paper shells a tight 
wad so bulges the shell that it would not enter the 
chamber; and a very tight wad is necessary to prevent 
gas escaping and burning the thread of the case—so the 
directions state. It seems to me these cases would work 
better in muzzle-loaders, for there they could he confined 
by tight wad, and dispense with tape. The cases must 
fit muzzle of breeoh-loader (choke bore), and so are too 
loose in the shell. 
I would like to ask if these cases could not be adapted 
to buckshot in some way. (I neglected to state that I 
cut the outside wrapper where directed, and put proper 
end forward; also plugged as directed. 8. 
Quebec— Three Fivers, Nov. 13th.— Owing to the low 
waters the birds have not been in their usual haunts this 
autumn, but I have had some magnificent days after 
snipe. Cock have not been plentiful. Duck in the lake 
have been plentiful, but owing to the very low water on 
the marshes have kept well out in the lake, and conse¬ 
quently have been hard to get at. 
My friend, W. H. Parker, owns a large portion of the 
county of St. Elie, has a large succession of magnificent 
lakes at the head waters of the Riviere du Loup and 
Yamachiche Rivers. He has built a tine house on a mag¬ 
nificent site overlooking several lakeB. He is a thorough 
and true sportsman, and always enjoys seeing his friends, 
does all he can to encourage true sport and stop pot- 
hunting (which is doing us so much harm here). Iu several 
of his lakes he has planted wild rice, which he and his 
friends are reaping the benefit of. His lakes are well 
stocked with trout, bo we vary our sport with the sea¬ 
sons. Our shooting for this fall is now over. The season 
has been too open and fine. The birds have been strong 
and in splendid condition. My opinion is that this dis¬ 
trict is destined to he the sporting district of the nortb- 
F. G. W. 
Rhode Island — Newport, Nov , 12th.—Very little shoot¬ 
ing done here now, hut booh as we have the snow to lay 
two day8 the swamps will be hunted by a few ardent 
sportsmen known as pot-hunters. Coot, 
Connecticut — Clinton, Nov. 15th. —Burt Kelsey, of 
this place, yesterday, started twenty-five woodcock, shot 
thirty times, killed twenty-two; killed twelve hand¬ 
running. Q* F. R. 
New York— Shelter Island > Nov. 0th. —Sea fowl have 
been tolerably plenty along this shore, and good num¬ 
bers have been killed. 1 have had some fair sport in bat¬ 
tery, but the coots have nearly all gone, and yesterday 
morning I got but five of them in five shots. The fowl 
have had no rest here for the soles of their web-feet, and 
have been so hurried by rowboats and sailboats that they 
have taken up their feather-beds and flown away. Thou¬ 
sands of them have gone south, but doubtless multitudes 
of them have temporarily gone to the western parts of 
Peconic Bay, and when that shallow water freezes up, 
they may return here, where the deep waters do not 
readily freeze. The geese do not seem to fly here yet, 
and very few flocks have been seen. A rough north¬ 
easter will probably start them along the coast. They 
do not make any stop here, hut drop down into Shmne- 
cock and Great 8outh Bays, and into the waters of Barne- 
gat. The quail are very scarce m this region, and make 
but little shooting. Isaac. 
Maria, Franklin Co., Nov, 11th.— Deer have been more 
plenty this season in this part of the Adirondacks than 
in many years. A great number have been killed on the 
8t. Regis River and the ponds in the vicinity of Blue 
Mountain. A party of three went from here the latter part 
of October, and billed three in a week's time. Two large 
bucks were brought through here one day last week, and 
every few days deer are brought to Brushton to sell or 
ship on the railroad. There is a party now from Ver¬ 
mont at Blue Mountain with ten or twelve hounds I am 
afraid tho hunting of deer with dogs will ruin the sport in 
this vicinity. I think the cause of the deer being so 
plenty this season is that they were not hounded much 
fast year. Ruffed grouse are quite plenty, but no squir- 
rels.’although there is plenty of beech-nuts. 
Adrion Ondacsk. 
New Jersey — Forked River, Nov, loth. —Hie gunning 
for the past week has not been as good as it should be, 
owing to the mild weather. A party of gentlemen came 
in from the gunning grounds last night with forty-six 
ducks, mostly broadbill. There are plenty of ducks in the 
bay, but they are in large flocks, and will not stool till 
we get some rough weather to break them up. Messrs. 
Kirkland, Scrymser and John Logan, of the New Turk 
ana Long Branch Gun Clubs, who spent a few days with 
us last week, had some sport with the ducks. We ara 
looking for colder weather and good shooting, A. 
Pennsylvania— Wild turkey hunting is attended with • 
fair returns among the mountains of Perry County. The 
score of a party who went out there recently compns d 
eight turkeys, forty-two pheasants, and 208 squirrels. A 
few deer are still to be fotmd there, . 
Notwithstanding the illegal trapping in the vicinity of 
