xlvi 



RECREATION. 



A BIG COUGER. 



In the fall of '96 I was hunting deer on 

 the west fork of Kettle river, B. C. There 

 was some snow on the ground though it 

 was early in the season. I noticed many 

 fresh cougar signs around, some unusually 

 large. 



One afternoon, well toward sundown, I 

 came right on 2 large bucks and shot 

 both. I did not skin them, as is my gen- 

 eral practice, but just entrailed them, and 

 piled brush and small logs over them to 

 guard against vermin and birds. The next 

 day I took up 2 packhorses to bring in the 

 deer. I found my cache, but the game was 

 gone. The thieves — 2 cougars— had left 

 plenty of signs and one, judging from the 

 track, was a monster. I hunted about and 

 finally found the remains of the deer. They 

 had been packed in some way, not dragged, 

 fully 100 yards. The smallest would have 

 dressed nearly 200 pounds. I made up my 

 mind to kill those cougars. 



The following morning I took my dog" 

 and struck out for the carrion. When I 

 got near, the dog was uneasy and wanted 

 to break away, but I knew that if a cou- 

 gar was feeding there I was sure of him 

 any way, as they will tree from any dog 

 that will give chase. We got within 100 

 yards of the brute. I put the hound at 

 him and the cougar made 2 bounds, landed 

 about 30 feet up a pine and stopped on the 

 first big limb, possibly 60 feet high, I shot 

 him between the eyes, to avoid any chance 

 of a mixup. At the crack of the gun he 

 dropped and, though brain hit, jumped sev- 

 eral feet into the air before falling dead 

 almost at my feet. 



I made a rough measurement with my 

 gun barrel, and found him over 12 feet 

 from tip to tip. He was the granddaddy 

 of the whole cougar family in that section, 

 and the largest I have ever seen or heard 

 of. 



Some hunters claim that mountain lions 

 and panthers will only eat meat they have 

 killed and will never touch a cache. This 

 is one instance, in many that I know, to 

 the contrary. 



Jas. Kennedy, Bolster, Wash. 



I have a '94 model, 25-35 Winchester, 

 and for a small game and short range tar- 

 get load find the following satisfactory: 

 Thirteen grains DuPont No. 1 rifle smoke- 

 less ; 68 grain 25-20 bullet, 1 part tin to 16 

 lead, cast in Winchester mould. Press 

 bullet down to the last groove and. crimp 

 tightly, using no wad over powder. These 

 cartridges, thoue-h shorter than the stand- 

 ard load, will work nicely through the 

 magazine. Lubricate bullets with beef tal- 

 low to prevent leading. In cleaning a 

 rifle never use anything but Winchester 

 gun grease and a rag. With above load 

 and a Winchester 25-35 you have practi- 

 cally 2 rifles, a 25-35 and a 25-20. 



A. A,. West, Albert Lea, Minn. 



A CUTE FOXHOUND. 



While hunting one morning on Long hill 

 in Woodstock, Vt., my hound started a 3- 

 tooted fox, which ran about 2 hours and 

 then took refuge in a burrow. The next 

 morning we started the same fox in the 

 same locality. He soon tired and earthed 

 in the same burrow as before. 



The third day I took a friend with me, 

 being determined to get the fox if wo 

 had to dig him out. On the way we found 

 fresh tracks of another fox. My dog re- 

 fused to follow them, however, and made 

 off to the ground he had hunted the day 

 before. Within half an hour he had run 

 old 3-feet to earth for the third time. We 

 went to the nearest farm house, procured 

 tools and began digging. The ground was 

 frozen and, even with the dog's frenzied 

 help, we made little progress. Finally the 

 hound backed out of the excavation and 

 began running around it, howling loudly. 

 We could make nothing of such behavior, 

 and we were about concluding that the old 

 dog had gone mad, when he stopped and 

 began digging the snow fully 2 rods from 

 the hole. We thought he had found an- 

 other outlet to the burrow, but when we 

 had dug to the ground there was no sign 

 of a hole. As it was getting late we stopped 

 up the burrow and went home. 



The following morning we found the fox 

 nearly out, but before the dog could get at 

 him he turned and went in. The hound 

 went at once to the place where he left 

 off the night before and scratched the dirt. 

 We decided to help him, and when we had 

 gone through 2^ feet of frozen ground we 

 found a hole large enough for the dog to 

 enter. In he went and presently emerged 

 dragging the fox by the jaw. How did he 

 locate the den under 4^2 feet of frozen 

 earth and snow? 



A. R. Weerlen, Bridgewater, Vt. 



What are the accurate ranges of the 

 following cartridges: Winchester 22-13-45 

 25-20, and 32-20-115? Have telescope 

 sights any considerable advantage over 

 peep sights for these cartridges? 



C.Travis, Phila., Pa. 



ANSWER. 



The accuracy of the cartridges named 

 varies considerably. The 22-13-45 is cap- 

 able of making groups of 7 to 10 shots on 

 a 6 inch ring at 100 yards. The 25-20 

 and the 32-20 are much more accurate 

 and have given excellent results up to 

 200 yards. Under good conditions, both 

 should be capable of making 10 shot 

 groups on a 5 inch ring at 200 yards. A 

 telescope sight is now considered an ad- 

 vantage over globe and peep sights with 

 any accurate cartridge, especially in rest 

 hooting. — A. L. A. H. 



