u 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(§iim§ |S?a# mid $nn. 



GAME IN SEASON FOR AUGUST. 



Woodcock, Philohela »ii Berl-baeked sandplneriOr ox-blnl 



Black- be! lied plover, ox-eye, Squa- Tringa mmricwna 



taniki helv Great marblee] godwit, or marlta, 



Ring plover, JBgtalitfa semipal- XA ml • • ■ 



matua. Vvillet. Totanvs n'mipalmatun. 



Stilt, or long-shanks, Bmumfopus T, • ■•iriu-v^. 



rtigrical Yellow-shanks, Totanua ilaoipes. 

 fted-breasted snipe or dowitcher, 



Mocrorhamphus griseus. 



"Bay birds "generally, including various species of plover, sand- 

 -uipe, curlew, oytter-emcher, snrf birds, plialaropes. avocetn, 

 ci.irnr under the uroup IA, invoice or SJiove Birds. Alanv States 

 permit pranie fowl (pinnated grouse) snooting after August, 15th. 



The frequent alteration of game laws makes such con- 

 fusion that; sportsmen are kept quite in the dark as to when 

 shooting on various kinds of game is permitted. We there- 

 fore append the following table, for reference : 



soues i Hnn 



Ill 



Ind .... 

 Iowa... 

 Minn... 

 Wis.... 

 Neb.... 

 Bans. . . 



Sep 1 to Jan 1.3 

 Oct I to Feb i 

 Aug 15 to Dee 

 -UisM to Oct i 

 &Ug IStoNovU 

 No Shooting 

 Alls 1 t , Fell 1 



Buffed Grous'- 



Quail. 



Oct 1 to Feb 1 

 Nov 1 to Jan 1 

 Oct 1 to .Tan l 

 sept to Dec I 

 Sep 15 to Jan 1 Sep 15 to Jan 1 

 o Shooting, svi Shootiis 

 Oct l to J mi 



Oct 1 to Feb 1 



Novl to Jan 1 



SepmoDeel5 

 Sep 1 to Dec 1 



Sept 1 to Jan IB 

 July 1 to Jan 1 

 July 1 to Jan 1 

 Julys to Nov 1 



A law was passed in Nebraska last. February, prohibiting 

 the shooting of any kinds of wild bird except, waterfowl, 

 snipe, waders and woodcock. No close season is specified for 

 woodcock. 



Small Bore vs. Laeoe Bore Guns.— As this subject is 

 one of material interest to your readers, I maybe pardoned if 

 1 lay before American gentlemen the experience of an English 

 sportsman who has paid— eon amore — a great deal of attention 

 during a sporting experience of twenty-five years to this and 

 kindred gunnery matters 



I may premise that the practical superiority in the field of 

 the small over the large bores has loog been an axiom with 

 me. Years ago 1 advocated their use in the columns of the 

 English Field, and not without some satisfaction have I of 

 late noticed that their use has become far more general in 

 England than formerly. Shortly after my arrival in America, 

 I became a subscriber to Forest asd Stream, and was imme- 

 diately struck with wonder at the weights of the guns inci- 

 dentally mentioned in your columns; 81b., 9 1b., and even 

 DA lb. 13 (!) gauge guns were alluded to, and as sporting 

 weapons of these weights arc very rarely used by English 

 sportsmen in any part of the world," I naturally concluded that 

 American 12-gauge guns were generally made with long 

 chambers and used with heavy charges, and were required to 

 kill at very long ranges. A subsequent examination, and a 

 more familiar acquaintance with field sports in America have 

 shown me. that this is not the case as a rule, and 1 have, there- 

 fore, been somewhat inclined to believe that in very many in- 

 • American sportsmen carry a good deal more metal 

 than is at all necessary to attain the range they require. It 

 seems to me that they use larger gauges and more weight to 

 the gauge than need be employed. If an English gunmaker 

 Of repute were to tell one that he was unable to manufacture 

 a ?| lb. 12-gauge gun which, with 3^ drachms and 1| oz. of 

 No. 5, should give a regular power of killing a partridge at 

 65 yards, I should set him down as either lazy or unskillful. 

 Now, very few shots at ordinary game are taken beyond 65 

 .yards, and it is therefore clearly unnecessary to have a 12- 

 gauge heavier than 7^ to lis lbs. If a range of over 70 yards 

 is habitually required, use a 10-gauge by all means, but even 

 this gauge need not be heavier than 9| lbs. for 5 drachms. I 

 am speaking of good guns, for cheap, inferior guns cannot be 

 made both light and safe. The gunmaker who can give you 

 a weapon, which though light, handy, and small in gauge is 

 yet a powerful tool, is a thorough master of his difficult art. 

 Gunniakers do not willingly incur the extra trouble of mak- 

 ing these light, hard-hitting guns unless specially ordered, and 

 they naturally expect a good price, for to make this kind of 

 weapon involves both cost and care. 



The first gun I ever used was a 16-bore, made by D. Egg, 

 who was a noted maker in his day. It was light, but shot 

 well ; ^,nd many a long shot have I made at widgeon and cur- 

 lew, both birds wary and difficult of approach. Some years 

 after I shot for four consecutive seasons with two brothers, 

 who habitually used 18-bore ML's, and better shooting or 

 more frequent killing at long ranges, I have seldom seen. 

 One Of these, weighing about 6j lbs., was made by Tatham, 

 of London, and the other, weighing about 6| lbs., 

 b.y J. D. Dougall. In subsequent seasons I used a PL- 

 gauge by Edwards, a 14 try W. Greener (W. W. G's father), 

 a 16 by Brazier of Wolverhamton, a 14 by Nock, a 19 by 

 Dougall, and have shot in company with gentlemen who used 

 guns by W. Richard, Blanch, C. Lancaster, Lang, Moore and 

 Grey, Purdy, etc . of 14, 16, and even 20 bore. Nearly all 

 these guns were of the best quality, and I do not remember a 

 single complaint of want of range in these light, small-bored 

 guns. An 18-gauge Dougall was the best small-bore I ever 

 used with one. notable exception, a 16-gauge Tolley "Para- 

 gon." Before leaving England iu 1874, 1 determined to in- 

 vest in a new gun. and, at the recommendation of a very ex- 

 perienced sportsman, intrusted my particulars to Messrs. 

 Tolley. The result was that I received from them the gem — 

 the queen— of all the small bores, not only that 1 ever 

 handled, but that I ever saw. It was a double grip, 16-gauge, 

 and weighed just 6 lbs. 5 ozs. The barrels were, of the very 

 finest '•line Damascus," the threads of the twist almost as fine as 

 silk, and the tubes so elastic and thin that in drawing the 

 cleaning rod sharply through them you could feel them ex- 

 pand under the closed hand. The pattern and penetra- 

 tratiou were excellent, the symmetry and finish superb; not 

 one bit of space on lock-plates, lump, hammers, I 



1, strap to stock, or heel-plate was left untouched by the 

 graver's tool, and the. design, upon a '.' Renaissance" model, 

 was most beautifully worked out. Within a fortnight of my 

 having received it I attended a shooting party which had been 

 brought together for the purpose of thinning the rabbits on 

 the estate. We had to shoot from the seashore up the cliffs, 

 as the rabbits were driven from their burrows by lerrets ; and 

 a* nearly all the burrows were over fifty yards from the 

 shore, the power of my gun was heavily taxed, yet 1 made 



Lent work with it that day. On subsequent occ 

 that season 1 killed partridges, pheasants, hares, etc., quite 

 dead up to sixty yards. Now, as such guns as this can be 

 made, why should we sportsmen voluntarily undergo penal 



I ours, c Aw e. 



Since writing the above I have received the Fidel of July 

 14 and 21, from which it would appear that in the fortnights 

 shooting at the Gun Club and lliirli ogham, London, Eug., 

 Mr. J. B. Da wall killed, with a 10-gatige, S. Grant, 40 out Of 

 49 birds, and Lord Westbury killed, with a 20-gauge, Reilly, 

 60 out of 81 birds. The 'corresponding scores for the two 

 under-mentioned gentlemen, who, from the distances men- 

 tioned, appear to have used 12-gauges, and who are two of the 

 finest of living shots, are: Capt,. Aubrey Patton, 50 out of 

 03; Capt. Forester Leighton, 64 out of 85." F. A. 



A Substitute for Choke Bobimc! — JSftfletd, A'". (/., Jtiit/ 

 20. — 1 notice iu Fokest and Stream and item and Gr/S that 

 l 'N." wants experiments with harder shot, under the correct 

 impression that many pellets are rendered useless by friction 

 in passing through the bore, his experiments showing" the shot 

 cut nearly half away. The resistance offered by the 

 shot which are against the sides of the bore must be reflected 

 on the pellets in the centre of the charge, and all are more or 

 less disturbed ox broken in their original form. There can be 

 no doubt that chilled shot will make a better pattern, especial- 

 ly in choke bored guns, but as the gun I use is a cylinder (12 

 gauge), and always using soft shot, 1 have had to increase my 

 pattern by other means, which is herewith given to your read- 

 ers, win!) can accept it for what it, is worth. It may be new 

 to some of them at least. 



As well as I remember the idea was obtained from " Hints 

 to Sportsmen," by Dr. E. J. Lewis, of Philadelphia, years ago, 

 when a Westly Richards fourteen-gauge muzzle-loader was 

 considered the best and handsomest gun in the world. The 

 paper shot cartridge was then used as a mere matter of con- 

 venience in loading, but iu later .years 1 have used them from 

 breech-loaders for the purpose of making better pattern and 

 increasing penetration as well as to preserve a comparatively 

 clean gun throughout an entire day's shooting. What we 

 want is merely something which will move smoothly through 

 the bore and protect the shot from friction, so as to preserve 

 them as spheres. It is not detirable that the paper should 

 hold together longer than it is in the gun, as it would then 

 have the fault of "other concentrating cartridges (Elcy's wire), 

 viz •. of misplacing the pattern — the fault of all smooth-bore 

 projectiles. 



It is easy to make a few thousands of these during the dull 

 times of the summer months. To make them for ft twelve- 

 bore, take a loading-stick which just enters a thirteen-bore, 

 gel No. 13 thin card-board wads and a few quires of ordi- 

 nary cap paper, and cut, the paper into strips l-~ x 4i inches. 

 Now roll the paper (with the edge protruding 5 inch or more) 

 around the end of the stick, paste down the edge, place a wad 

 in on the end of the stick aud fold the paper nicely- over the 

 wad and then hit it a smart rap on the table to crease the 

 folds, withdraw the stick and you have it ready for loading. 

 After making as many as you want fill with 1 ounce of shot, 

 place on a thin wad and" fold down as before. The design 

 in cutting these strips of paper should be to have them of such 

 length as will lack | inch of passing twice around the roller, 

 as the certain breaking of the cartridge depends upon this thin 

 place in the cartridge — this is demonstrated by picking them 

 up on the field unbroken elsewhere than in this thin part. 

 With 3 j drs. of powder and one wad (Ely's dark-edge) on pow- 

 der and one on shot they will positively always break, but with 

 two wads on powder they will occasionally ball unless a larger 

 charge of powder is used. We have used these from our left 

 barrel for years, and always with great satisfaction. In using 

 them on quail and woodcock they have seemed to me to pos- 

 ses a power to kill unlike anything else. There is less recoil, 

 and a sharper, not louder, report. E. L. H. 



Massachusetts, Plymouth, Aug. 16. — The present month 

 has been very favorable for bay-bird shooting, and more 

 birds have been bagged than for rnany -years past. On the 

 6th and 7th inst. we had quite a flight of jack snipe, summer 

 yellow legs, curlew, ring-neck plover, and some chicken 

 plover; also a few teal. The first coot of the season was 

 shot this week by Mr. Cooper Curtis, of Gun Rock. Our 

 season for woodcock promises to open well the 1st. 



S. K., Jr. 



Salem, Mass., Aug. 20.— lam told by reliable persons that 

 some good birds were shot at. Eagle Hill, Ipswich, last week 

 by a party from Peabody. Except this last there have been 

 few birds bagged the past six or eight days. Upland plover 

 have been unusually numerous on Plum Island of later. Ad- 

 vices from Wellfleet, Mass. , state good shooting has been had 

 on blackbreasts ; some have been seen passing by Salem quite 

 recently. A few uplands are found around the outskirts of 

 our city, and turnstoues on the islands in the harbor. Water 

 birds, except terns and petrels, scarce. Hawks are commenc- 

 ing their fall flights south; swallows are flocking, and things 

 begin to look fall like. Last Sunday, a. ai., while walking on the 

 E."R. R., I found three grass finches and one chipping sparrow 

 within the space of a mire, killed by the cars, a rather unusual 

 sight, Judging by r the information obtained through brother 

 sportsmen and what I myself seen legitimate sportsmen will 

 have fair chances to try their skill on quail and partridge this 

 fall if unscrupulous gunners do not take advantage of our sick 

 game laws and shoot before the season opens. But to do any- 

 thing in Eastern Massachusetts one must work hard. 



Teal. 



New Yoke— Hornellmrille, Aug. 19.— We have been having 

 some fair woodcock shooting since my last report, they have 

 all been shot in the corn-fields and we use cockers to flush 

 them. It is said that the farmers in Potter County, Pa. , are 

 killing deer now and at all seasons of the year. John. 



Tnsssy-LXAmA— Juniata. — A white deer has been seen in 

 this neighborhood, and efforts are to be made for its apture 



alive. 



MicraaAK— Detroit, Aug. is.— Wm. Hollaud and Geo. 

 Avery were out gunning and made a bag of 31 woodcock. On 

 the 14th inst, Jas. McAdain made the fine bag of 41 woodcock. 

 Aug. 16, Jas. Skeuse of Windsor, with his favorite dogs 



bagged 16 woodcock. George Avery on the 15th inst., 

 took- a trip to St. Clair Flats, to make trouble for the ducks, 

 in about four hours time he bagged 34. Rover. 



Iowa.— Advices from Iowa state that chicken shooting will 

 be excellent along the line of the Burlington Cedar Rapids 

 and Northern Railway this fall. Greene and Plymouth, on 

 the mam line, an gor.ri po-nts, as is also Oelwenr on the Mil- 

 waukee division. 



Oaio—Oineinnati, Aug. 14.— The prospects of game in 

 ■1 ■■ ■ . 1 ' :l A friend, writing from 

 Anglo 1 shooting will be 



-L 1 have word that WOOd- 



ire numerous aud'aboo ''uly 9.1 de- 



stroyed three traps set for quail, and had a set-to with the 

 owners of them. The trains are now running on the new Cin- 

 cinnati Southern Railroad, and letters from farmers &bn£ thS 

 road state that quail shooting will be splendid this fall. Good 

 quail shooting can be had three miles back of Florence, Ky. , 

 on the Southern Railroad. 



Minnesota— Minneapolis. — Robert McMullen, of the State. 

 National Bank, is the first sportsman to report with a fine 

 bag of prairie chickens, the result of a few hours' shooting. 



Nevada.— Quail are very plenty in El Dorado Canyon. 



California — South-Barbara, Aug. 14. — Deer are reported 

 in great numbers on the Ban Julian. 



PIGEON MATCHES. 



—Capt, Bogardus shoots at Newark, Ohio, Aug. 29, and 

 at Crawford, Ind., Aug. 30 and 31, 



Rhode IslAHB — : Zfewport, Aug. 17.— Challenge match be- 

 tween the Philadelphia aud Narragansett gun clubs ; teams 

 of five men, 25 birds each, 23 yards rise, SO yards boundary, 

 Hurlingham rules governing. Summary: 



Narragansett Club. "" 



Martin Stauburn 01111 t 1 1 1 11 11 Hlllltt) 1 1-21 



E W Davis 1 10 1U11101011 1111 o 11111 1— 19 



Perry Belmnut 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 o 1 o 1 1 n 1 1 n 0— IS 



Travis Van Unreal ....1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l o 1 1—17 



SH Bobbins 1 nut l 1 mil 1 UllOlOlOllll 0— IB 



Philadelphia Club. 



John A Crown 1 11011 11 1111110011 111(11 1-20 



George S Gerhard 1 1 l ll l il li i l n l l i u i i l I 01 1 i 1 1—18 



E B Grnbb 1 1 n 1 1 1 u 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1—17 



Kudulph Ellis 1011110 110 110 110 110 10 11 1—17 



John King 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 a 1 1 o 1 1 1—13 



Total kilted— Narragansett Club, 91 ; Philadelphia Club, 85. 



Newport, Av;j. 21. -Narragansett Gun Club grounds. Match 

 for the $500 subscription cup: ten birds each, twenty-eight 

 yards rise, Hurlingham rules. 



THE BOOBE. 



C B Moore 10 J E Moore 8 



II \V Haileck lo FP.-ands 7 



Perry Belmont 10 P Lorlllard, Jr 7 



Tavis VanBuren « Waiter Hidden 5 



S H Bobbins 9 John Balfour 5 



Lawrence Curtis 9 



On shooting off ties, Belmont took cup and Haileck second 

 money. 



Connecticut, Willmctavok. — It is proposed to add a new 

 feature to the attractions here by providing for trap glass- 

 ball shooting and so to bring out the shot-gun experts. 



Match fob tee Championship Badge. — Long Island.— 

 ParkwUe, Aug. 16. — The first match for the badge for the 

 glass-ball shooting championship of America resulted in the 

 appended score. The entries were at $10 each, the winner 

 of the badge to receive $10, the second $20, the third $12, 

 and the fourth $8. The match was shot from three traps, 

 placed ten yards apart, eighteen yards rise, and one hundred 

 glass balls : 



Bogardus 5 677 4. 5864 9—61 



Duston 3 4 6 9 6 a 5 4 6 E— 50 



Gildersleeve 5 5 74 4 5355 4—47 



Ihonipson 5 5 5 6 3 3 5 3 5 7—45 



Talbot 3 3543 2 445 7-4') 



The poor scores were due to the traps used, the Bogardus 



traps not being noted for furnishing easy shooting. We un- 

 derstand that Captain Bogardus will put up the medal again 

 during the coming month. 



New Jebset — Paterson, Aug. 21. — A series of handicap 

 matches were shot on the Olympic Grounds. The first event 

 of the day was a match of fifty glass balls each, between Ira 

 A. Paine and Mr. O. Bernhardt, of Paterson. The result wis 

 a tie on W! balls. The balls were filled with white feathers 

 which scattered as successful shots were made. The trap 

 used on this occasion was the new Huber, which throws the 

 balls from behind a screen and in every direction, so giving 

 the shooter no idea in what way they are coming. 



Kentucky— Covington.— The gun club of Covington held 

 their annual shoot on their grounds on Thursday, August 

 1 0. The shooting opened with the club badge competition ; 

 10 birds each, 21 yards rise, 80 yards boundary : 



CFlavern 9 S Craft 5 



J Gutierrez 8 G Havera 5 



GLUirch * T O Ludden 1 



E Booth 1 OM Coons -2 



APeck 6 O Twig w 



Sweepstakes of glass balls ; 10 balls each, 50 cents entry, 

 15 yards rise. 

 Gutierrez 10 OMCoopb 6 



G L BttCh S a Cr>tt B 



8 oLudden.... T B Booth 5 



C Havern 7 J. Lawrence. 



Iowa.— Pes Moines.— On the 8th of August the Sports- 

 men's Club held their second semi-annual pigeon match for 

 the champion badge. T. D. Booth was the first victor in 



the friendly strife, winning the badge six months ago. The 

 shooting was the poorest the club has been guilty of for 

 some time, the birds being very strong and lively and nearly 

 every one was a toiler. The scores of some of the best 

 marksmen look sick. Mr. Fred. Blixt was the victor, win- 

 ning his laurels by fine shooting, for his hirds flew in all 

 directions. Prairie club rules, 21 yards rise, 80 yards boun- 

 dary. The following is the score : 



F D Booth 1 FBlist !) 



SL McKiason 7 c W Ogilvie T 



Jlarrv Smjthe 1 Wm. Langley H 



,1 W Thornton 5 Samuel Lowe 6 



CNGilmore 1 Q L Bason 4 



F V Teieeva) 3 E M .Morrison 5 



F Vincent 6 E EAinswortli 4 



A Bryan B WABeinig 8 



This was followed by a match (sweepstake) for $75, double- 

 gun, breech-loader, Wesson, maker, five birds. 



Vincent s Hills 3 



Thornton 1 Eaeon 2 



Lowe 5 Ogilvie .1 



Ainsworth J Gilmore i> 



Suivthe 4 Morrison 3 



Bird 6 Keinig 2 



Shi'ldon 4 Blixt 2 



The tie between Lowe and Bird was settled by arbitration. 

 The day closed with a sweepstakes for three prizef, 

 with the following score 1 

 Lowe 1 1 1 1 1— B I'erciva! 1 1 1 0—3 



Vinecm 1 1 1 1—1 Tnttle 1 1 0—2 



1 1 1 \i-[) BVW , 11 I 1 o-3 



l 1 0—4 Willi':. .. ■ 0— 1 



o 1 1-4 



