GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can shoot all day, but a gentleman will quit when he gets enough. 



A MISS FIRE AND A TIGHT SHELL. 

 DR. B. F. JONES. 



For some time I had contemplated a short 

 trip after deer. The idea culminated in a 

 start December 15th last. The party con- 

 sisted of John Andrew, Clarence Chapin, 

 George Harriman and me. The ground in 

 the valley was covered with 5 inches of 

 snow and the weather was exceedingly cold. 

 The first night found us camped 5 miles 

 West of Market lake. The second, at the 

 ranch of Frank Reno, on Birch creek, with- 

 in 6 miles of Lost River mountain, our 

 hunting ground. 



Our trip took us over country infested 

 with jack rabbits, and hundreds were seen 

 skimming through the dense sage brush. 

 We secured a few sage hens along the road 

 and practiced shooting on a few of the fes- 

 tive jacks. We located our camp in a deep 

 canyon where fuel was abundant. The first 

 day Chapin went South while Harriman 

 and I went North. It becoming evident that 

 the deer were lower down, we went lower 

 and soon found a trail of 11 on the slope of 

 a ridge. They crossed a deep gulch and 

 went on over a second ridge. When we 

 reached the top of this we saw our game 

 ascending another ridge. They were plain- 

 ly in view, but so far away that they ap- 

 peared no larger than rabbits. Our efforts 

 to get above them failed, as they went so 

 high that it was impossible for us to fol- 

 low through the deeo snow. 



A tramp of a mile farther and a large 

 bunch was started on a sunny slope studded 

 with scattering mahoganys. There was no 

 opportunity to approach in any direction 

 and they escaped without our getting a 

 shot. It was then the middle of the after- 

 noon and we started toward camp. Soon 

 we found a trail of 8 deer going our way 

 and we followed. When we had gone near- 

 ly 2 miles we heard a fusillade ahead of us 

 and saw a man on a distant ridge. It was 

 evident he had found the trail we were 

 following. He fired 14 shots and slightly 

 wounded a big buck. 



As we came up, a doe and a spike buck 

 jumped out to my right at the lower edge 

 of the timber, but afforded no shot until 

 they crossed the gulch and began to climb 

 the next ridge. Then a shot rolled over the 

 buck. As we were near camp it was a short 

 job to get the deer there. On our way I 

 killed 3 sage hens. The next day, although 

 we traveled from dawn to dark, not a deer 

 was seen by either of us. 



We decided to break camp next morning, 

 and the following day was consumed in 

 finding a new camping place some 5 or 6 

 .miles farther North. The day after we 



moved, Clarence, George and I hunted the 

 mountains North of our new location. Two 

 miles from camp a trail of 7 deer was found 

 but we could not unravel it. 



George and Clarence finally started up a 

 long ridge while I went down, thinking 

 perhaps the deer might be lower. As I ap- 

 proached a rocky point covered with small 

 mahogany out walked 2 large does into an 

 opening, and stopped. They were not over 

 50 yards from me. I dropped on one knee 

 with the gun across the other and pulled 

 the trigger. The click of the hammer start- 

 ed them and I hastily recocked and shot 

 at them while running. At the report 4 

 more sprang from under cover and stopped, 

 watching me frantically try to extract a 

 tight shell. They seemed to know there 

 was no hurry, and walked leisurely out of 

 sight. 



Did I swear? Well, no; I knew I could 

 not do the situation justice, so did not try. 

 I watched the deer out of sight and re- 

 turned to camp where I succeeded in re- 

 moving the offending shell. The other fel- 

 lows arrived at dark without having seen 

 a fresh trail. Next morning we broke 

 camp and started homeward. 



CENSURE FOR WINCHESTER. 



I am a great admirer of the Winchester 

 gun and am sorry it is not being kept up to 

 the standard as a modern arm. Further- 

 more the action of the Winchester Company 

 in withdrawing its ad from Recreation 

 was childish. 



The Winchester people are clever in in- 

 troducing new cartridges, but they still hold 

 'up their antiquated weapons as the highest 

 product of the gun maker's art. In the 

 nearly 40 years of their existence they have 

 never brought out anything really new. 

 They have merely modified the old Henry 

 system to shoot the longer cartridges. 

 Their only attempt to discard the slow, 

 cumbersome and dangerous tubular maga- 

 zine resulted in that monstrosity known as 

 the '95 model. They tried to get the Chi- 

 nese government to adopt it, and later 

 claimed it had been adopted by Uncle Sam. 

 Its use must have been confined to the 

 Filipino scouts and Indian police. Will 

 some army officer please explain? The '95 

 model is lacking in the 2 requirements of 

 a modern arm in that it can not be loaded 

 with a clip and has nothing to take the 

 place of the 15th century hammer. It is 

 anything but a handsome gun. 



The Winchester people do make one 

 good gun, the Lee straight pull ; but the 

 bullet is too small and light for big game 



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