GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE .30-30 SMOKELESS IN FLORIDA. 



Last January I hied me to the " land of 

 flowers," to forget the cares of civilization. 

 I had hunted there before, and knew the 

 " ropes," so toward the last of January, 

 when the woods were dry, we set out for the 

 hunting grounds. Our party consisted of 3 

 men and 3 horses. Two of the horses drew 

 a light wagon, well laden with camp equi- 

 page, and our cook rode the third. My 

 guide was a native Floridian, full of energy, 

 honest, strong, straight as an Indian, a 

 splendid hunter, and the best camper I ever 

 saw. No man ever had a better guide and 

 companion than Irvin S. Singletary. 



We pitched our tent on a pine island, and 

 started on foot on a scouting expedition. 

 During a tramp of 2 hours we saw no game, 

 but there was abundant sign of deer and 

 turkeys. I was armed wkh a .30-30 smoke- 

 less, half magazine, Winchester rifle, metal- 

 patched ball, while the guide carried a Win- 

 chester shotgun. Next morning we went 

 out again on foot. We were skirting the 

 edge of a palmetto patch, in pine and 

 cypress timber, when a good sized buck 

 heard us before we saw him. He ran off a 

 short distance, and stopped with his body 

 and shoulders behind trees. I could see 

 most of his neck and head ; he -was 125 

 yards off. I shot at his neck, off hand, and 

 dropped him in his tracks. 



We were out again early next morning, 

 and walked up to within 175 yards of a big 

 buck. He stood with his shoulders and 

 neck behind trees, as usual, so I shot at his 

 head. He didn't move, and, thinking I had 

 missed, I shot at his back-bone. He turned 

 a quarter circle, ready to run, but concluded 

 to take one more look before leaving. His 

 tail was toward me ; I aimed 2 inches below 

 the root of his tail. He ran 20 yards into a 

 palmetto island, and fell dead. I found that 

 my first shot had broken his lower jaw, the 

 second had gone through his belly, and the 

 third entered within an inch of the spot 

 aimed at, and came out back of the left 

 shoulder. 



The Florida deer generally are smaller 

 than our mountain deer, but this was as 

 large a buck as I ever saw anywhere. 



We hunted 2 days, and killed several deer 

 and a big gobbler. We intended putting in 

 one more day on deer, and one day on 

 turkeys ; but a heavy rain came, and kept 

 us 2 days in camp. I killed the deer with 

 the '* little Flobert," as the guide called my 

 rifle, at distances from 100 to 200 yards. To 

 bag a big buck on the spot, it is necessary to 

 shoot him through the head, the neck, or 

 both shoulders ; and the .30-30 will kill him 

 in either of these locations as well as a .45. 

 I want no better deer gun than the .30-30 



smokeless. We wasted no venison ; 

 brought all we could not eat to town, and 

 gave it to friends. 



•Later in the winter I took another trip, 

 with Mr. Frank H. as guide and companion. 

 My .30-30 rifle was the only gun we carried. 

 Frank is a splendid hunter and good com- 

 panion. He walks up on deer at feeding 

 time, using no cover. If there was a tree 

 between him and the deer, he would get 

 away from the tree, because he can't watch 

 the deer so closely when behind cover. I 

 have seen him walk up to a deer on a fresh 

 burn, where there was no cover whatever 

 except scattered pine trees, he making no 

 use of the trees. We generally rode on 

 horseback, and if we saw a deer feeding, be- 

 fore he had seen us, we counted him our 

 meat. 



We tied our horses at the end of a pine 

 island, and traveled on foot. Frank climbed 

 upon a fallen tree to make observations. 

 He came down in an instant, and said 

 " there is a fine old buck." I aimed at his 

 neck, and dropped him in his tracks. At 

 the crack of the gun a huge gobbler flopped 

 up from the palmettos just beyond the deer, 

 and sailed away, and another buck ran off 

 to my left. I sent a messenger after him as 

 he ran, but it failed to find him. He stopped 

 at about 100 yards from me, and I shot him, 

 off hand, in the neck, breaking the bones to 

 atoms. 



That evening we rode several miles with- 

 out seeing a deer, but, as we were on our 

 way back to camp, we saw 5 turkeys fly up 

 to roost. We dismounted, and walked to 

 within 60 yards of them, and I opened fire 

 with my " Flobert." Three shots brought 

 down 3 turkeys. We didn't need any more, 

 so, as good hunters sometimes do, we left 2 

 turkeys still on the roost, and set out for 

 camp. Medicus, Knoxville, Tenn. 



THE ALL ROUND RIFLE. 



Lake Chelan, Wash. 



Editor Recreation: Having noticed 

 several queries in Recreation regarding 

 the best rifle for all round work on both 

 large and small game, I had outlined a 

 short article on the subject; but Henry 

 Fisher, of Benicia Barracks, Cal., fore- 

 stalled me in the April number. I believe, 

 with him, there is no such arm as a rifle 

 suitable for all kinds of game shooting. 



In purchasing a rifle, a sportsman should 

 consider the kind of game it will chiefly 

 be used on. If grouse, ducks, squirrels, 

 etc., with perhaps an occasional chance at 

 larger game, then get a rifle adapted to 

 such work. Take chances on the small 

 bullet's sufficing, which it will when rightly 

 placed. 



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