GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can shoot all day but a gentleman always quits when he gets enough. 



DEFENDS THE GAME HOG AND THE 



PUMP GUN. 



Printed Verbatim 



In your Aug. No. Recreation I noticed 

 an article regarding a shamefull butchery 

 of a deer by Mr. Chas Ryan of Tonawanda 

 N. Y. Here is my opinion of yon, your 

 magazine and Mr. Ryan. I think Mr. Ryan 

 was just and alright in his killing that 

 deer the way he did. Now Mr. Shields, 

 which is the more harmiull to drown a 

 deer or to shoot one say 4 or 5 times with a 

 44-40 or a 45-70 breaking the poor animal's 

 leg or possibly shooting it through the 

 flank or it might of been hit through the 

 stomach, and then to let the poor thing run 

 away and suffer from the wounds inflicted 

 by the rifle balls passing through its body? 

 Now Mr. Shields you go so far as to give 

 this Mr. Ryan game hog No. 1041 in your 

 game hog book, which I myself think is in- 

 tirely wrong and unreasonably, Because 

 when he caught the deer by the antlers and 

 held his head under the water till it 

 drowned the poor unfortinate deer did not 

 suffer anything in comparison with the one 

 that was shot 4 or 5 times with a 45-70 or a 

 44-40 tearing great pieces of flesh and bones 

 from its- body and then worst of all to let it 

 get away to suffer 3 or 4 days before it 

 would die or possibly its wounds might of 

 not been severe enough to kill it and it 

 would live and loose one of its legs which 

 I have known to happen and then to go the 

 rest of its life on three legs. Now my 

 dear Mr. Shields which is the more shame- 

 full? Mr. Shields your game hog roasting 

 is alright in its place but in a case of this 

 kind it is all wrong and out of place and it 

 is so in to many cases which you roast 

 the public. Now you are for ever 

 and eternly roasting the pump shot 

 gun men now you are right after me in 

 good shape I have a 16 gauge Winchester 

 shot gun and would not have any thing 

 else, but bare in mind I dont go out hunt- 

 ing and kill every bird that I see or could 

 shoot when I get enough I take what I have 

 killed ard go home and leave the rest for 

 some other time. Now last year I went out 

 several times and shot from 4 to 9 birds 

 and then go home with that what I had al- 

 ready killed. Now then Mr. shields if you 

 wish to call me a game hog and give me a 

 No. in your old game hog book because I 

 take Mr. Ames part and use a pump gun 

 you can rest assured that I will not ever 

 look in your game hog magazine again Al- 

 though I have not missed a copy of it since 

 I first saw a copy of it Now then on the 



other hand why dont you roast the men 

 who use the repeating rifles such as the 

 Savage or the Winchester Or any repaeting 

 rifle on the market? When a man can shoot 

 in a bunch of elk deer or any kind of ana- 

 mils I heard of a man last' winter that said 

 him self he sjot in a bunch of elk and got 

 one the first time he shot but kept on shoot- 

 ing. and killed seven out of the bunch and 

 left six of them on the ground they were 

 shot on. Now what I was going to say was 

 why dint you roast those who use the pump 

 action rifles as well as those that use the 

 pump action shot gun ??????Please explain 

 your self so that it may be more clear to 

 me along this line ?As it is you are always 

 roasting the man who uses the pump shot 

 gun and not the one who uses vhe pump 

 rifle which in my mind is just as bad as the 

 one who uses the pump shot gun And fur- 

 ther more Mr. Shilds I think it all depends 

 on the man behind the gun because I have 

 seen men go out and just slaughter the birds 

 with the breech loading double barrel guns. 

 So what is the use to be for ever roasting 

 the man who uses the pump gun. Now as 

 to the automatic shot gun of course they 

 are some what worse but we are living in 

 an age of inventions and improvement and 

 as the automatic shot gun is not like a 

 snare or danamite it can be contoled by 

 man kind. So in my mind let there be more 

 stringent laws be made and seee that they 

 be inforced and not legisate against the 

 improvement of modren guns, because if 

 you were to stop the manufacture of mod- 

 ren and up to date. guns, what would the 

 out side world think of this our GREAT 

 UNITED STATES?????? Just look back 

 when people had nothing but the flint locks 

 to hunt with did not the game disapear 

 as well as it does now adays. If every 

 sportsman of today had the old flint locks 

 as they had of old times and the game was 

 not protected any time of the year I tell 

 you Mr. SHIELDS the game would not 

 last very long. My theory is to make more 

 stringent laws and let the gun manufactors 

 go ahead and improe the guns to the best of 

 their ability. 



Hoping Mr. Shields that this will not 

 interfear with your business and if you 

 wish to publish this letter so as to see what 

 some of the reatof the sportsman can give 

 th p ir opinion on this matter, you have my 

 good will 



I am as ever yours fret. 



GILBERT L. MANOR. 

 POST FALLS, 



IDAHO. 



I have printed this letter exactly as 



317 



