280 



RECREATION. 



I take it he either miscalculates distance or 

 fails to give the proper iead. 



There is nothing more deceptive than the 

 speed at which a bird is hying; the smaller 

 the bird the greater its speed appears. 



A good illustration is me speed of a crow 

 which, seeming to flap leisurely along, has 

 no trouble in keeping up with a train. 



The crow flies 25 to 40 miles an hour. 

 A hunter standing 40. yards from this bird 

 and using a 12 gauge gun, with 3 drachms 

 of powder and i'/s ounce No. 6 shot, which 

 charge travels about 840 feet a second, 

 would have to hold 8 or 8 ; ' 2 feet ahead — 

 less distance allowed for swing of gun. 



The speed of wild fowl is much greater 

 and when going with the wind they require 

 an enormous lead, say 20 feet, and in some 

 instances more, according to the way one 

 handles his gun. 



Mallards, black ducks and shovelers are 

 estimated to fly 40 to 50 miles an hour. 

 Pintails, 50 to 60; redheads, 80 to 90; teals, 

 80 to 100; canvasbacks, 80 to 120 miles. In 

 duck shooting too much lead is better than 

 not enough, for there is a chance of scoring 

 the bird with the stringing shot which come 

 just behind the main portion of the charge. 



On long cross shots, hold well ahead and 

 a trifle high. This, to a novice,, may be 

 difficult, but practice will master it. An 

 incomer is another difficult shot. As the 

 duck comes toward the shooter and is about 

 to pass over him he should cover the bird, 

 swing ahead of it, keeping the gun moving 

 at the same rate of speed, and as soon as the 

 bird is hidden by the barrels, pull. On a 

 straight away shot hold at the bird if flying 

 level, and a trifle over or under when rais- 

 ing or lowering. In duck shooting, over 

 the water, distan:e is deceiving to a begin- 

 ner. Often the birds will appear within easy 

 range when actually out of gun shot. One 

 must be a good judge of distance to become 

 a crack wing shot. 



For duck shooting I recommend a 9 or 

 10 pound, 10 gauge, full choke, using Nos. 

 4 or 5 chilled shot and 4 to 5 drachms of 

 powder. 20 Gauge 



ANOTHER REMARKABLE SHOT. 



Lanesville, Ct. 

 Editor Recreation: Your magazine is 

 always full of good things. I noticed an 

 article from the pen of J. Frank Warner, 

 Cheyenne, Wyo., entitled " Another Re- 

 markable Shot." I made a somewhat re- 

 markable shot, here in Lanesville, 15 years 

 ago. A brother sportsman, who was break- 

 ing a setter pup, invited me to go out with 

 him. I had no gun at that time, so bor- 

 rowed" one from a friend. It was a muzzle 

 loader. I think the man who made it drilled 

 both barrels a taper choke aad then made 

 the mistake of putting them on wrong end 

 first. They were shaped insi<5 2 like an old 

 fashioned dinner horn, and at 4 rods dis- 

 tance would not put all of a charge of shot 



inside a 12 foot circle. I loaded her with 3 

 drachms of powder and a handful of No. 10 s, 

 and we started out. We struck into an aider 

 swamp, and separated in order to get around 

 a swale. As I was passing through a little 

 opening in the brush, I saw, about 30 feet 

 away, a bevy of 14 quails under an alder 

 bush. They sat closely in a circle, tails in. 

 I threw the old gun to my shoulder, and as I 

 expected, at the motion, they started to rise. 

 I pulled the right trigger and caught them 

 about 18 inches from the ground. Thirteen 

 fell. My first thought was to let the remain- 

 ing bird go. But it occurred to me that she 

 would be lonesome. So I pulled the other 

 barrel on her, and she fell dead. Now, Mr. 

 Editor, I have always managed to have my 

 share of sport, but I never fished or hunted 

 for market. Still, if I am in for a roast at 

 your hands, for those 14 quails, why, let 

 her go! I'll take it all without a grunt. 



C. L. Stevens. 



No, you were not a game hog because 

 you potted a bunch of quails 15 years ago, 

 though if you should do the same thing 

 now, you would deserve to be branded. 



Few of us felt any anxiety for the game 

 in those days. We supposed it would last 

 indefinitely, but experience has taught us 

 some sad lessons and we must now look 

 out for' the game or it will soon be extinct 

 everywhere. All good friends of game pro- 

 tection should join the L. A. S. and help in 

 its work. — Editor. 



CORROBORATION FROM IDAHO. 



Egin, Idaho. 



Editor Recreation : I am reminded by 

 Ernest Seton Thompson's description of a 

 stag fight, of one I once witnessed between 

 2 large bull elk. I never saw a fiercer com- 

 bat. It did not last long, for I was with a 

 Chicago sportsman, and he killed the larger 

 bull while they were fighting. I never saw 2 

 elk heads locked together, but have seen a 

 number of deer heads so joined. Fifteen 

 years ago many elk and deer wintered 

 within a few miles of here. My brother, 

 while out hunting, at that time, saw a large 

 buck in some sage brush. He noticed it 

 walked backward, and appeared to be drag- 

 ging something. He shot the animal and 

 found its horns locked in those of a smaller 

 deer. The latter was dead and partly de- 

 voured by coyotes. The living buck was 

 so poor as to be unfit for food. My brother 

 brought the heads home. Many people 

 here remember seeing them. 



That remarkable shot made by J. Frank 

 Warner, who killed an antelope without hit- 

 ting it, is not so improbable as it sounds. 

 I saw my brother shoot at a bunch of elk. 

 A large bull fell, and when we reached him, 

 was dead. We could find no bullet hole, 

 even after we skinned him. 



Anyway, Mr. Warner was right in saying 

 geese nest in cottonwood trees. I have seen 



