994 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Minnesota Deer Shooting.— Farley, Minn., Dec. 23d. 
I have a No. 10 bore, full choke, 30-inch barrel, 91 pounds, 
manufactured by William Moore, about seven or eight 
years ago, and I find that, it shoots fine shot much hotter 
than it does coarse ; that is, shot larger than No. 1 and 
BB. It shoots those aB well as any gun I ever saw, and I 
have seen them all; but in shooting buck shot it does not 
shoot as good as I wish it did, T have tried most every¬ 
thing I have ever heard of, and this fall gave it up and 
purchased a Winchester, model 1870, which does all that 
I could ask of it or any other gun. I have killed four deer 
and an elk, the nearest shot being made at a fawn, sixty- 
five yards. The other three deer and the elk I shot on 
the run, none of them inside of nin ety-five yards. One 
large buck and also the first one I ever pulled a trigger 
on, started at ninety yards. The first shot I missed him; 
the second shot I put a ball through him, just back of the 
heart; the next shot I broke his front leg, and at 230 
yards I put a ball quartering of hint which came out his 
front shoulder and he (hopped in Iris tracks, The elk 
only took one ball through the hind quarters. You may 
think this is all long shooting. But you must know that 
it is not hills and valleys, but prairie just as level as a 
door, with au occasional patch of willow brush and poplar, 
out of which we start them. Winchester. 
California Hunting Preserves.— The Coast Range 
Sportsmen’s Club, of San Francisco, has selected one of 
the finest localities for hunting and fishing in the State, 
having taken up about 500 acres of good laud about fif¬ 
teen miles above Duncan’s Mills, Sonoma county, the 
terminus of the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The 
land secured commands probably two or three thousand 
acres of grazing ground in the hills, and, regarded even 
as a business investment, the club cannot fail to score a 
success. But it is uot at present looking at the matter in 
a business light, but as regards sport and recreation. 
The laud is at the forks of a splendid trout stream, there 
is an abundance of small game, and the deer hun ting is 
as good as anywhere in the State. The club will build a 
cabin, employ a keeper, improve the necessary roads, etc,, 
within a few months. This is an addition to the regular 
preserves of the country, to which there will be many 
more added within the next quarter of a century, 
A Montana Deer Range. — Helena, Mon., Dee, 36th, 
1870.—The black-tail deer, after the first snow fall, leav¬ 
ing their summer haunts take a certain trail or pass to 
gain the lowland mountains skirting* the unsettled val¬ 
leys of our Territory. One of these passes near Helena 
has become the resort of our hunters. Two hours will 
bring us there, when at daybreak the deer can be seen on 
their journey and often in bands from ten to thirty. The 
various hunters stationed on this trail find good shooting, 
provided they can hit a deer on the jump, for after the 
first shot is fired the deer do not stop long to rest, but 
hasten along to gain shelter. Some ol' your readers will 
call us pot-hunters from the fact of killing so many, and 
possibly because, the deer are offered for sale in our mar¬ 
ket. Yet we are not, nor do we make a living by die 
gun. We shoot for spent only. The following is a list ol' 
the persons who visited the range during the past fall, 
and the number of deer and elk killed within fourteen 
to twenty miles of Helena during the months of October, 
November and December, 1879 :— 
Deer—Bedding Sims, 30 ; George W. Bashaw, 26 ; John Bowman, 
37; W.H. Ewing, IS; Win. B. Hundley and A. ,1. Kelley, 25; Wil¬ 
liam Jones, 16; Oliver Alien, o: J.W. Hopkins, 3: Thomas Charles, 
5; D. W. Curtis, 3; Percy Hanser, 7; Thos, Kirkettdall, 5; Ur. 
Tate, 12; Mr. Munlove,3; Travis (Brothers,4; Severn Jacobs, 11; 
M. E. Walton. II : Jack Aker.-, 13 ; 11. M. Barchen, 1 ; John T. Mur- 
& by, 1; I). A. O. Floworrce. 7; T. H. Kleiusobrrldt, 1; Cltas, D. 
ard,4; Charles Oldham,111; R. C. Wallace, 2: Charles Rumiey. 
2. Elk— David Merritt, 6; Dr. -McllliH.'imey, 1 ; Win. Roe (Grizzly 
bear, 1,100 pounds), 1. 
Borne reader may ask, Why kill so many? it will exter¬ 
minate the deer soon. To those 1 can only say, that dur¬ 
ing the months of October and November it is estimated 
from fifty to one hundred and fifty deer pass aldng nightly; 
they don’t travel much after 8 o’clock. I have seen eleven 
distinct paths made around a mountain in one night, 
which could uot be made by less than from ten to fifty 
deer each. The number estimated by an old hunter to 
have passed that morning was six hundred. Is there any 
wonder so many deer are killed in suen a short period ? 
Montana offersa good field to the sportsmen. Our brooks 
abound with trout, our mountains with game of all kinds ; 
our valleys afford good shooting for chickens and game ; 
and in season ducks and geese are very plenty. In one 
of your articles— a “Tale of American Field Sports" — I 
observed that the rabbit comes in (i. e., a few come to 
bag) after a hard day’s work, and with the valuable as¬ 
sistance of a good dog. Those who are fond of rabbit 
hunting I beg to visit, a small district out here, where they 
can shoot from fifty to seventy-five, weighing no less 
than six to eight pounds, in less than half a day. 1 
killed eight in thirty minutes the other day, and am m- 
formed that lost winter one man killed over ten dozen in 
one day's sport with rifle. The place is known as “ Rab¬ 
bit Rauch," and the owner tells mo he has often counted 
upwards of three dozen from his doorway. I hope some 
of your readers will find their way out here to enjoy our 
climate and scenery, and the fine sport offered, and by 
personal observation learn something of the wealth of 
the great Northwest, Helena. 
Oregon— Portland, Deo. 2 6th, 1879.— Our unusual cold 
weather has ruined our shooting ; the lakes arc all frozen 
up, and the ducks, swans, geese, etc., have all gone 
South, with the exception of a few “ broad bills,’’ wid¬ 
geon, and gray duck. No canvas-back shooting yet this 
winter to amount to anything, Multnomah. • 
Curing Skins of Game. — T he following methods have 
stood the test of English sportsmen :—After pegging out 
the Bkin in the usual manner, rub well with wood ashes 
(not hot) from the camp fire ; the ashes absorb the fat. 
At the first rubbing brush off the dirty and moist ashes 
and cover the skin liberally with clean, to remain on for 
some hours, then rub again, etc., as may be necessary. 
Skins treated in this way soon become dry and stiff, and 
may be carried on a light frame, or upon the bed when 
moving camp. Do not fold the skins until they are to be 
packed for forwarding. They should be frequently aired 
in the sun, the rubbed surface uppermost : air well be¬ 
fore packing in air-tight tin-lined cases. 
About twelve years ago I shot a very large pelican in 
South Australia.' Being on a journey, I had no means of 
obtaining arsenical soap, hut preserved the s k i n tempo¬ 
rarily with a small quantity of sail and plerty of black 
pepper. As soon as I could obtain arsenical soap, which 
was about a fortnight later, I removed the salt and pep¬ 
per as well as I could, and applied the arsenical soap, and 
the skin is still in perfect preservation. I should think a 
mixture of chlorafutn and t urpentine in equal parts would 
prove the best preservative for large skins. 
MY FIRST COUGAR. 
I THINK I was the worst scared boy of seventeen that 
ever raised a rifle to his shoulder when I saw my 
first cougar—a tiger, they called the beast in Florida, It 
was in Florida, during the Seminole War, while I was at¬ 
tached to McLaughlin's Naval Squadron, consisting of the 
United States schooners Flirt, Wave and Otsego. One 
day I left the Otsego at her anchorage inBide of Carys- 
port Reef, and went on shore on Key Largo after deer, 
I iear. or any other large game I could find. I carried a 
U. 8. Yager rifle, .32 calibre, and a pair of rifle single- 
barrelled pistols in my belt. 
I pushed on through the dense forest until I was a mile 
or more from the landing place, seeing nothing but 
myriads of lovely paroquets and the brown doves which 
are so plenty on the Florida Keys. But, all of a sudden, 
I heard right behind me a kind of a purring sound, and 
turning, saw, not ten feet above the ground, soarce five 
yards away, on a limb under which I had just passed, a 
great tawny beast staring at me, with eyes that glowed 
like balls of fire in that dark, dense forest growth. 
To wheel and raise my rifle to my shoulder was the 
work of a second, but I was shaking from head to foot, I 
could not get my sights to bear on the head of the beast 
for a second ; I doubt if I could have covered a ham- 
door in that first moment of alarm. But when I saw the 
tail of the animal moving to aud fro, I knew—for I had 
read of the trait—that it was preparing to spring ; and 
the emergency brought me to my nerve. My rifle settled 
down stiff, and I drew a fine sight between those glaring 
eve-balis, and “let drive.” 
‘ It was not a second too soon ; he was gathered for his 
ieap as the gun went off, and when he came, with the 
ball through his brain, he fell within a yard of me, tear¬ 
ing the ground in his deattragony. and yelling so terribly 
that tny boats' crew beard it clear down by the water¬ 
side, a mile away, and came tearing through the woods 
to see what trouble I was in. They helped me tote the 
beast out, and Jim Eagan, our pilot and guide, told me 
it was the biggest tiger he had ever seen. It measured 
over eight feet from its nose to the end of its tail and had 
claws that wouldn't have disgraced a bona fide lion from 
Central Africa. I killed one afterward in a fire hunt on 
Sanabel Island, and they were the only two I ever saw 
in Florida. But I have since killed the same kind of an 
animal in Texas and in California, where they call them 
“lions." They are nearly identical with our northern 
panthers, but larger and more tawny in color. None of 
those that I killed had spots like the cougar of South 
America. 
The able and pleasant letters of Doctor Henshall in the 
Forest and Stream carry me back over pleasant cruis¬ 
ing grounds. But the Doctor and his companions should 
have penetrated the Everglades, at least as far as Sam 
Jones’, or Arpiaka’s Islands. They would have been well 
repaid in the wondrous sawgrass for the trouble of poling 
a canoe through the winding channels, 
Ned Buntline. 
SHOOTING MATCHES. 
Fountain Gun Club.— Parhvllle, L. I., Jan. Uth— Match for 
gold badge; 7 birds each; 80 yards boundary, 11 ounce of shot, 
tv,,.,] 5 ground traps; ties decided at 3 birds eaoli, and miss aud era 
: the use of both barrels of the gun allowed 
J. Sheridan ... 
\V- Garrett . 
Selovcr... ... 
Eddy. 
Pike. 
Hclmstedt.. . 
Lemicen. 
White. 
Smith. 
Livingstone... 
Kavenhall. 
Kearney. 
Mass. 
Miller. 
W. K, Huutor. 
Slanc. 
.25 1111110 
25 1111110 
.. 23 0 I 1 1 l 1 1 
.25 10 11110 
.21 10 11110 
.25 11110 10 
.25 110 1 110 
21 110 13 0 1 
.21 0 1 1 0 l 1 1 
.25 1110)01 
26 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 
,21 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 
.21 i 0 II U 1 0 0 
.25 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 
New Jersey— Rutherford Parlt, Jan. Mil — Monthly mate? 
Gun and Fishing Club; 15 yards; Jeaneret and. Coe bandici O' 
4 yards.( 
Burgess.,.,,..... 1 lOOtOOOb W 
Woods....,.... . 10011001 1 
Laue. 10 111110 0 
Cousmiller. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .7 
Coo . 11 1101110 1-8 
Jeaneret. ... 110010010 1—5 
Cornelius Coe won the badge for the best shot, and Consmiller 
wears the badge for being the worst shot. 
Knickerbocker Yacht Club.— Part Morns, Jan. 2d.— Pigeon 
matches shot, by members of the Knickerbocker Yacht Club on 
olub grounds, PortMorris, New Year's morning. Tbebirdswere 
very good indeed, tile most of them being swift flyers. The first 
match' was a sweepstakes ; 10 birds; 21 yards rise;£0 yards 
boundary:— 
1111111)1 1-10 
.11101100 ' - 
j\ B. Chedsey. 
1\ T. Nixon . 
A. Steinke. 
J. R. Colo. 
A. 13. Miller . 
1). F. Caughlan- 
T.N. Jacques . 
Second money wi 
The second match 
purse of $25, each 
_________ 1—7 
.1110 0 10 111-7 
.110 10 0 11 ' ' 
.01011001 
.10 10 0 1 10 
0 I —0 
11-6 
1 0-5 
0 0—4 
10 10 1 
divided between Messrs. Nixon anil Steinke. 
as between J. B. Cole and A. B. Miller, for a 
_ . „ _aan Eliootlng at live birds. The mat eb was 
,._by J. R. Cole killing his five birds; Miller killed three. 
Match for $25, J. H. Coleand T. T. Nixon shooting against T. 
N. Jacques and A. Steinke; each at tile birds; all the matches 
were shot with 21 yards rise and 80 ynlds boundary 
T.N. Jacques.--... 4|T.T.Nixon. 3 
Aug. Steinke. 11 J. R. Colo. ... .— 3 
T | 6 
A. Varian, Sec. 
and teeming with interest throughout m being (tolerably) closely 
oon tested, and their being several friends of the contestants In 
attendance, it was not, like most long matches, tiresome and te¬ 
dious. Mr. Allan Nichols was shooting in his best form, and with 
his iscott “ Bird-Catcher" made some remarkable shots, both a 
to distance and aeeuraoy. Mr. W. K. Henderson, who lias justre 
t urned from Europe, is not shooting in his old form, but is still 
bard to beat, The conditions were 50 birds each, handicap rise, 
80 yards boundary, H. and T. traps, Long Island Gun Club 
rules :— 
First Team.- Mr. Allan P. Nichols killed 15 straight; the lflth 
fell dead out of hounds; missed 17th, 38th, 37tb, and 38th, killing 
45 out of the 50. ilr. Wm. R. Henderson missed his4th, 15th, 17th, 
22d, 38th, 46th, tilth, 47th aud 48th, killing41 out Of the50. Total 
SciTOKt Ten in. - M r. Horace C.Wullace missed his 6th, 8th, 10th, 
20 th. 80th, Hth, Mill, and 50th,killing 43 out of the 50. Mr. James 
M. Muni ml missed his 13th. and lost 18th out of bounds; missed the 
IGlh, 17th, isih, 20ih, 28th, 41th, 45th and 40th,killing 40 of the 50. 
Total for team, 83. 
Referee—Leonard Brown. Time—3 hours and 25 minutes. Man¬ 
ager- W. E. Brown. 
Central Club.— Lansingburg, N. Y., Jan. Sift.—The Central Gun 
Club con ininsamong its members the sharpshooters of Rensselaer, 
Saratoga and Albany Counties. To-day’s match was for the final 
possession of the badgo and the best shot- of 1870. The badge had 
been previously won by John Pickering, A. Paul, C. R. McDon¬ 
ald, Murry Campbell, Oapt. King and J. De GoJyer. Walter 
c ainphetl won, and then the seven shot off for final and perma¬ 
nent posses,ion. tt was won by J. Pickering, who broke nine 
bails m succession. Following the shooting for the badge was a 
pigeon match; Id birds each; plunge traps; 21 yards rise. The 
scores were: W. Campbell, 0; J. Pickering, 9 ; Thos. Curley, 8 ; 
Ed.Lansing,S; A. Paul,8; A. Wenterworth, 6; J. Grove,8; M. 
Campbell, T. On shoot off Pickering won first and Paul second. 
The officers for the following year were then elected: President, 
Edward Lansing; Vice-President, W. G. Campbell; Secretary, 
Archie Paul; Treasurer, Nelson Lewis, the veteran rifle shot, Who 
managed to make It very warm for the members at the glass 
spheres. u - “• 1 • 
New JERSEY,- Middlesex Pigeon Club match at Tromley; lo 
birds each, handicap rise, 5 traps, Engiish-Hut ling ham rules. 
The best scores were i—Mr- 0. Woods, 27 yards. 9: Mr. IV. Dot, 29 
yards, fl: I)r. Mott, 28 yards,8; Mr. IV. Long, 28 yards, 7 ; Mr. W. 
Woods, 21 yardB, 7, and M r. fa. Thom pson, SO yards, 6. The tie was 
shot, off at 3 birds, the badge going to Mr. Woods. 
J rjhers . 
A RETROSPECT OF THE ARCHERY SEASON 
OF 1879. 
L OOKING back over the archery season just past, the 
view is far from disoouva,ging. While it is true 
that the pastime found favor in the eyes of many per¬ 
sons for two or three preceding summers, yet the summer 
just over witnessed the real beginning of the publio 
archery practice in America. During the previous years 
very few matches were shot between societies, and no 
great associations were formed, In the last year, how¬ 
ever, the National Association was formed somewhat 
upon the model of the Grand National Archery Society 
of Great Britain, and following it, the archers of the 
New England States and New York created the Eastern 
Archery Association upon a similar plan. The success 
of these two associations, together with the steady 
growth of the interest in archery, induced the formation 
of several State archery associations, and caused the 
birth of hundreds of new societies. No doubt it would 
be safe to say that at the close of the season of 1879 
there were twice as many persons practicing with 
patience and persistence the difficult pastime, as at the 
corresponding time of the year 1878. So much for the 
advance in the way of numbers. Another marked fea¬ 
ture in the past season appears in the superior class of 
archery goods used by the majority of archers. Two 
years ago the greater number of persons contented them¬ 
selves with bows costing from four to seven dollars ; now 
the average archer wields a bow valued at from fifteen 
to one hundred dollars. Formerly any sort Of a stick 
would do for an arrow, now only the very finest footed, 
with parallel points, highly painted and gilded, and 
fledged with the best turkey or peacock feathers, are 
used. This advance In the character of weapons wielded 
by our archers is not the result of that vanity which 
leads to over-dress for show, but comes of the knowledge 
that good goods [are high-priced ones, particularly in 
archery. Nor has the scoring been less gratifying in its 
improvement than the other features of the season. 
While, during the season of 1878, nearly ail the archers 
practiced more at 40 yards than any other distance, yet 
only three archers, to the writer’s knowledge, succeeded 
in reaching 200 points, with 30 arrows, at that range. 
In the season just over, dozens of archers passed that 
score although giving much less attention to this short 
range. At 60 yards, the shortest of the ranges of the 
Yorit Round, and the longest of the American Round, 
only three archers, to the best of the writer’s Informa¬ 
tion succeeded in scoring 140 points with 30 arrows dur¬ 
ing the season of 1878. In the season of 1879, however, 
more than thirty archers passed that point, and mors 
than a dozen passed 150 points. At the 80 yards and 100 
yards ranges, no shootiDg, or scarcely any, was done 
during the season of 1878; yet, ere the close of 1879, 
these two ranges became favorites with nearly all of the 
more advanced archers. . 
Not with the idea of making invidious comparisons, 
but only as examples of rapid progress in different and 
widely separated portions of the country, attention might 
be called to the shooting of Mr. F. C. Havens, of the Bow 
Club of Oakland, California, who, from very insignificant 
scoring in 1878, reached in the past season to an average 
of 500 points at the American Round ; once in a match 
shoot getting 581 pomts I This is admirable work, and 
since Mr. Havens is expected at the next National Meet¬ 
ing as a "competitor for the prizes of the Association we 
may expect to see some shooting by him at the longer 
ranges proportionately fine. Passing east ward we might 
stop to exhibit some of the fine scores of Mr. Tac Hussey, 
of the Des Moines Toxopbilites, who has frequently 
passed 200 points at 40 yards, and closely approached 500 
at the American Round. At Highland Park, Illinois, 
without naming the brilliant scores of Carver, Hall, Gray 
and Weston, who have grown to seem like veterans, we 
might call particular attention to the wonderful improve¬ 
ment shown by Mr. O. W. Kyle, who took his first bow 
in it and in November 1878. and yet in November 1879, 
scored several times over 150 points with 48 arrows at 80 
yards and about the same value with 30 arrows at 60 
yards’ Among the members of the Buffalo ToxophiUtes 
several have passed 100 points with 30 arrows at 60 yards, 
notably Mr. F. Sidway, whose scoring is something re¬ 
markable for tbe length of his practice. Passing by the 
Wabash Merry Bowmen and the Kokomo Archers, as two 
of the older societies, we find at Cincinnati one archer, 
Mr. Adam Gray, who has stepped to the front rank so 
