Mat 8, 1881] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



287 



the old-fashioned, lonjr, slim, easy grip, or does it not have a 

 tendency to cause the butt of the gun to be raised too high 

 in snap-shooting-, with consequent under-shooting at the 

 bird? la it not a fact that the substitution of the rubber 

 butt-plate in the form now used for the old-fashioned metal 

 one hollowed out to fit the shoulder is detrimental to correct 

 aiming in quick shooting? M. E. B. 



Wtl.LETT, X. Y. 



TWO-EYED SHOOTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



In response to your kind invitation to "contribute oc- 

 casionally" to your valuable journal, I thought an explan- 

 ation of how two-eyed shooting is practiced and its advan- 

 tages over the almost universal method of sighting over the 

 rib with one eye shut, would, to some of your readers, be in 

 teresthiG; and instructive. "What I mean by two-eyed shoot- 

 ins is keeping both eyes wide open and not sighting the gun. 

 I know of no""one (except myself) at the South, who shoots in 

 this way. At the North, I understand it is not the rule but 

 bv no means unusual. To succeed at all in this kind of 

 shooting, it is imperative that the gun must nearly fit the 

 shooter. What I mean by 'nearly" will be explaiued further 

 on. What I mean by "tit" is, when the gun is thrown to 

 the shoulder, it will point at the object to be shot at. There 

 i*re two ways of determining the fit of a gun. One is to 

 stand in front of a mirror and look at your reflection in the 

 eyesliutentlv"; throw up the gun to your shoulder, keeping 

 your eyes fixed on your reflection's eyes, and if the gun fits 

 you will not see more than a half inch of the rib of your gun 

 and the gun will be pointing directly at your eyes. If you 

 sec more of xhe rib your gun is too crooked or too much drop. 

 If you don't sec any portion of the rib your gun is too straight 

 or not enough drop. 



Now comes in the ' 'nearly" referred to above. When you 

 get a gun to fit, as per above rule, you will find that you will 

 undershoot rising birds and birds at long distances ; there- 

 fore it is advisable to get a gun that shoots a little high or 

 "nearly a fit." Having selected your gun you have only, 

 wheu going to shoot, to look at the object to be shot at in- 

 tentiy.'and until you fire, with both eyes wide open. Throw 

 up gun, and from moment of throwing gun up to time of 

 discharge, let there be an interval of about two seconds. (In 

 throwing gun up or down, the muscular exertion forces the 

 gun below or above the object, but almost instantly recovers 

 and follows the eye.) A little practie will convince any one 

 that it is the only correct way to aim a gun. The other way 

 of determining if a gun fits, is to target with both eyes open. 

 If it shoots high the stock is too straight, if below too 

 crooked. 



It will require some practice to chauge from the old ruts, 

 but once out there will be no regret at the change. The ad- 

 vantage in this kind of shooting is apparent in pond duck- 

 shooting, where ducks come into ponds so late of evening 

 (to roost) that one cannot see the sights on his gun, and if 

 one eye was shut he would not see his duck. Again, in snap 

 shooting one needs both eyes«to follow the quick turns of a 

 bird in cover, and thirdly, distance cannot be estimated with 

 one eye shut, with both eyes you can do much better. ' 



Sportsman. 



Columbus, Ga. 



There is something of a discussion in the English papers 

 upon the subject of using both eyes when aiming, and a re- 

 cent writer in the London Times says: 



"Two-eyed aiming is carried out similarly to one-eyed 

 aiming, with this great difference — that the left eye is kept 

 quite open and looking at the target with all its power. The 

 aim is actually taken with the right eye, but instead of de- 

 pending on it'alone the shooter utilizes the other to help the 

 aim ; to tell him, as it were, that his aim is exact and not de- 

 viated from in pulling the trigger. If he use one eye only, 

 even if his aim be exact in the first instance, there is nothing 

 to assist him in maintaining that exactness until the gun be 

 discharged, neither can he sh»ot with the same rapidity. 

 All he has to insure accuracy is his more or less muscular 

 power to hold the gun in the exact position be has given it 

 on taking aim, or with one eye open, only there is a frac- 

 tional butinost critical moment whea be must lose sight of 

 the object aimed at, because that eye gets more or less behind 

 the sights on the gun, which are actually intervening. To 

 overcome this he must not only aim slowly, but do so over 

 the top of the front sight, and this is called 'drawing a fine 

 bead/ Virtually, when he uses both eyes, the sights become 

 transparent, and interpose no obstacle to his clear view of 

 the target, and this can be easily demonstrated in the follow- 

 ngway: 



"Let the reader of this cut a card of some few inches in 

 length into the shape of the letter V, with the limbs over 

 half an inch in breadth (I give these comparatively large 

 dimensions to all the more severely test the question), but 

 with these limbs meeting, just as a V does at an acute angle. 

 Let him hold this card right in front of his face and look 

 toward the top of a chimney or a house at some distance or 

 any point of a pinnacle or other well-defined object just ap- 

 pearing between the limbs at the bottom of the open space 

 in the V. Doing this with both eyes open, the solid card 

 will disappear, but leave in its place a sufficiently distinct 

 although transparent form, becoming the very ghost of its 

 sobd self, if the Society of Psychical Research will allow 

 me to call it so, and the object looked at will be in no man- 

 ner obscured from view. Let him then, keeping the card in 

 this position, shut the left eye, and he will find that the 

 right is doing the actual aiming, although he had taken no 

 means to provide for this, and this fact is the sole mystery, 

 at least to me. The card will then also become solid or 

 opaque to the sight, but retaining its position in reference to 

 the point or pinnacle. Let him, however, shut his right 

 eye instead of the left, and he will find that, while the card 

 also becomes opaque, it has apparently shifted its position 

 very considerably — several inches — toward the right hand. 

 He will now begin to see what the two-eyed system does. 

 It clears away obstacles in the gun itself, it strengthens his 

 vision, it increases his available light, and it lets him use his 

 left eye, not to aim with, but to strengthen considerably by 

 its what I may tautologically call "supervision," the aim 

 which the other is taking. If he then continues to hold the 

 card in the desired position, he will readily see how easily he 

 loses exactness with one eye only, and how well he can 

 mainta^Pthe exactness with both eyes open. The V is as 

 the rear right of the rifle, and for exactness may be held" at 

 the same distance from the eye — that being some fifteen 

 inches. The absence of the front sight in no way affects 

 this illustration. The left eye, I may state at the risk of re- 

 petition, looks, as it were, round the sight on the gun, vir- 

 tually obliterates it, and tells the right eye at once of any 



aberration it is making in its aim, thus acting as its faithful 

 guide and supporter." 



The British Mediral Journal takes up the subject editori- 

 ally, and says: "Two-eyed rifle shooting has recently been 

 the subject of numerous letters in a prominent morning con- 

 temporary. It is perfectly clear from the there recorded tes- 

 timony of such eminent authorities on shooting as Dougall, 

 Hay, Lowe and Malet, that a person shooting with both eyes 

 open has a considerable advantage over those firing in the 

 ordinary way under circumstances of varying or defective 

 illumination, or where rapidly changing objects form the 

 target, and he will probably be at least their equal under or- 

 dinary circumstances. The question then arises as to the 

 way in which this shooting is effected. In ordinary vision 

 the eyes working together have certain incontestable advan- 

 tages, even where the image of one eye is suppressed. This 

 is well recognized by microscopists, as oue of the correspon- 

 dents has pointed out, and also by those in the habit of 

 using the ophthalmoscope. The advantage thus gained is pro- 

 bably due to resting of the muscular apparatus, both external 

 and internal, of the eye, as vision can continue longer under 

 such circumstances without fatigue or aching. A state of 

 rest of the eye must also favor accurate taking of 

 aim in the ordinary way, though the image of 

 the other eye must be suppressed, as in the case 

 of the microscope and ophthalmoscope. But there is 

 another method of taking aim, that in which the marksman 

 does not look carefully along the barrel, or perhaps even 

 fails to raise it to his shoulder, but judges the distance and 

 direction of the object, and adapts his aim accordingly. It 

 is on this principle that a stone is aimed by the hand or a 

 pea is discharged from a pea-shooter. This method is said 

 to be habitually employed by the Chinese, and in its essential 

 points by the distinguished shots to whom reference has been 

 made. Under such circumstances the image of the second 

 eye, instead of being suppressed, becomes of great use; for 

 not only is the vision of each eye rendered less uncertain, 

 but the two together see somewhat more distinctly than either 

 separately. Also, the distance can be judged far better and 

 the aim taken more quickly, points of great practical im- 

 portance when rapidly moving objects of unknown size and 

 distance are to be aimed at, in circumstances very different 

 from those of ordinary shooting at "Wimbledon, and far 

 more allied to those actually existing in the recent South 

 African war. We cordially add our voice to those of the 

 eminent shots who are desirous of impressing on the war 

 office the merits of this method of shooting." 



An officer of our own Kegular Army commenting on this 

 says: 



"The difficulties which tbe British experienced in their op- 

 erations against the Boers are the same as our troops have to 

 contend with in their skirmishes with Indians. Firing at 

 rapidly changing objects, especially when those objects as- 

 sume the shape of an Indian, is most certainly quite differ- 

 ent from firing at a 600-yard target at Creedmoor or Leaven- 

 worth. It is in such campaigns that two-eyed rifle shooting 

 is of great advantage, since on rapidly judging the distance 

 and quickly taking the aim not only depends the result of the 

 shot, but only too often the life of "the marksman or one of 

 his comrades. It appears that a revised manual of rifle firing 

 is in preparation, as stated by the Lieutenant-General of the 

 Army in his report to the Secretary of "War, dated Feb. 5, 

 1881, and the compilers of this manual, the instructors in 

 rifle practice and our sharpshooters are invited to give this 

 matter their consideration." 



Recently in experimental firing at Strensall, England, 

 Major General Cameron finally ordered a battalion to fire at 

 a range of dummy soldiers, with both eyes open and as rap- 

 idly as possible, not looking along the barrel of the rifle, but 

 keeping their eyes fixed on the enemy, who was supposed to 

 be making a rush on the position defended by the volunteers. 

 Eight rounds were so fired in sixty-seven seconds, and the 

 result completely bore out recent arguments, no less than 38 

 per cent, of the shots having struck the dummy figures. 

 Drawn up in line against an enemy in the same formation, 

 1,000 men would thus deliver 7,000 shots in about a minute, 

 with some 2,660 hits. 



A DAY WITH SNIPE. 



SHORTLY after the formation of the Curlew Club, in 

 1876, I visited this locality in search of snipe, but it 

 was an off year for the wary dodgers. I had the pleasure, 

 instead, of meeting the members of the Curlew Club, who 

 had constructed a handsome club house, fronting Ludlam's 

 Bay. This club included on its roll Wm. P. r Clyde, Dr. A. 

 G. B. Hinkle, Wm. Shuster, Wm. Reckless, R. Walter 

 Peterson, James Y. P. M. Young, James F. Wallace, Dr. 

 Peltz and other enthusiastic sportsmen. The hospitality of 

 these gentlemen was overwhelming, and I was urged to re- 

 new my visit at an early date. Time (which, as Byron says, 

 makes all things equal) made sad havoc with the Curlew 

 Club. The club reorganized as the Sedge Island Club, and 

 increased the limit to thirty members, it having formerly 

 been twenty, but dissensions arising among the members, the 

 club disbanded. 



These recollections of my early visit were recalled when, 

 hearing that a flight of snipe was on, I made my second 

 visit to Ocean View, and put up at the house of Capt. T. F. 

 Shute, who had officiated for the Curlew Club. The snipe 

 grounds here are the Littleworth Meadows — meadows that 

 are famous for snipe and known to nine- tenths of our sports- 

 men. They were so named because they were of little worth 

 to anybody, being regarded as so much useless land. The 

 cedar swamp creek runs through the meadows, the tributary 

 being the Tuckahoe River. Finer snipe ground, or a richer 

 variety and extent of springs, it would be hard to find or 

 imagine. The meadows are four miles in length on each 

 side of the creek, and when snipe are on it is a good two 

 days' work to cover them properly. The ground is made 

 historical with the footprints of our eminent sportsmen. 

 Here the world-renowned pigeon shot, Mr. Charles Macal- 

 ester (accompanied often by his wife as a keen participator 

 in the sport, or by his friends, or by his gunning man, Jake 

 Sutton), has whiled away many hours, and hardly had Capt. 

 Shute and your correspondent entered the meadows when, 

 fastened near a small waterway, we saw a boat, and on the 

 oars was branded "C. Macalester," of whom we had been 

 speaking only a few minutes before. Our attention was 

 then attracted to the dogs, Capt. Shute's setter dog, Ducket, 

 and my pointer bitch, Lady B., having come to a stand. 

 "Careful," said the Captain, and we advanced with anxious 

 expectation. Up went two birds. I shot heedlessly and 

 missed, but Capt. Shute laid his bird low, and Ducket re- 

 trieved nicely. It was a fine specimen, plump and as fat as 

 butter. 



"Where there is one there are two, and where there are 



two there are more," is the old paradox, and ridiculous as 

 the saying is, it is, nevertheless, just as often quoted. We 

 were delighted when the dogs again drew up, both lmving 

 got points. Instead of the single birds expected, eight got 

 up, and then the slaughter commenced. The Captain's first 

 barrel killed two and his second another, while I nailed one 

 with each. We then seemed to be right into the midst 

 of (them, for in twenty minutes more we had a total of 

 forty-one birds, with Captain Shute leading your corre- 

 spondent by one bird. As many of tbe birds had crossed 

 the creek, we determined to imitate their tactics, and, getting 

 into the roadway, did some lively walking for the lower 

 bridge and entered the southern meadow. Hardly had we 

 entered when several birds flushed wUd, but settled ahead 

 instead of recrossing, much to our satisfaction. Then we 

 got on to a lovely bit of ground, and the first mishap oc- 

 curred, a treacherous bog hole treating me to a dose of mud that 

 was anything but pleasant. Captain Shute enjoyed a laugh, 

 and said 1 held up my Greener hammerless as if it were a thing 

 of sacred value. The dogs were again sent to work, and the 

 finest sport of the day ensued, the birds flushing with a wild- 

 ness that was refreshing. 



When we had almost reached the end of the meadow, we 

 called in the dogs, and returning to the road where our horse 

 and wagon had been "cornered," we sat down to "count." 

 "Thirty-four 1" exclaimed Capt. Shute, with an expression 

 that plainly said, "beat that, if you can." "Thirty-three.'' 

 I said, and shook hands with the Captain. "You beat me 

 one bird." But it was a better beat than that, as we had bet 

 champagne (a bottle on each bird) that we would each kill a 

 majority out of the last five birds; Capt. Shute got four out 

 of the five, the birds quartering on his side. Satisfied we 

 had had a grand day's sport, we returned to Capt. Sbute'.s 

 pleasant home to partake of a hot and palatable supper, and 

 spent the evening, pipe in hand, talking over the various in- 

 teresting points of the day. The Captain was proud of his 

 victory, becauso he is proud of his Chas. Daly 10-bore, pre- 

 sented to him during 1879 by a number of friends and ad- 

 mirers. 



My next try will be at the bay birds here, which are ex- 

 pected to be unusually numerous this season. I will write 

 you a few lines if a chance occurs. B. B. 



Ockak View, Cape May County, N. J., April 24. 



THE CHOICE OF HUNTING RIFLES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Most of your correspondents seem to have a craze for re- 

 peating rifles, and a large number of them have considerable 

 to say about the grizzly and buffalo. Now I would venture 

 to say that two-thirds of these sportsmen, should they at any 

 time happen to come across said grizzlj r or bull buffalo, would 

 give either a wide berth, for I know from experience that 

 the grizzly or buffalo of imagination differ materially from 

 those in actual life, and this fact can never be fully realized 

 until one comes in contact with them. I would suggest that 

 a gun for this class of sportsman be of the Gatling species, or 

 a sort of crank and funnel gun, one from which cartridges 

 could be ground out ad infinitum, or perhaps the new dyna- 

 mite gun that has a shooting radius of four miles would be 

 better. 



My experience with the rifle extends over a period of fif- 

 teen years on the Pacific from the Isthmus of Panama north 

 to British Columbia. Have used all kinds of rifles, and have 

 killed game from the smallest squirrel to bear, elk and deer. 



I dislike the repeating rifles, first, on account of its pecu- 

 liar construction, which renders it liable to get out of order 

 at any time. Second, the rifle is never of the same weight, 

 and at each discharge it becomes lighter. Third, the wasted 

 ammunition of one becomes careless, and one would kill 

 far more game than* he kills, for if he misses the first shot he 

 will continue to pump away as long as he can see anything. 



To illustrate the above :*1 was on an elk hunt, in South- 

 ern Oregon, in the fall of '82, in company with two gentle- 

 men who were armed with the Winchester repeating rifle. 

 I used a Remington single-loader, .40-70. We tracked up 

 and got into a band of fifteen elk. The moment we came 

 in sight of the game my Winchester friends opened fire and 

 fired thhty-two shots before I raised my rifle to my face. 

 They killed one elk and wounded another, which 1 after- 

 ward killed with a single shot. I then got in position on a 

 point of a hill and killed three more in three straight shots, 

 making a total of four elk for me in four shots, while my 

 Winchester friends got one in thirty-two shots. As a matter 

 of course, I did not shoot at random and took no chances, 

 but gave each dead shot behind the shoulder. 



Now, without entering into details with regard to the par- 

 ticidar merits of the different kinds of rifles, I say that with 

 a singleloader Remington 30-inch barrel, double trigger, 

 .40-70, I can kill anything that walks in the shape of game, 

 and were I gjoing into an Indian country, where one's hair is 

 liable to be lifted at any time, I would want no better gun 



E. T. D. 



POUGHKEEPSIE, N. T. 



White Elephant Shooting in New York.— A white 

 elephant— the only one left in New York, a creature of 

 wickerwork and cotton, fifteen inches taller than Jumbo, 

 owned by the roller skating rink people, and used like the 

 other white elephants for advertising purposes — halted in 

 Printing House square at half past 5 last evening, to give the 

 Siamese high priest in ultra-Oriental toggery a chance to 

 figure on the walking match scores and see how he was likely 

 to ceme out. It was the hour when many are starting home 

 from their work, and the bulletins from the Garden and the 

 presence of the elephant had attracted a crowd. In the 

 throng was a vague and elusive small boy who had read of 

 elephants slain in Africa by Stanley with his elephant rifle. 

 The boy did not happen to have such a thing as an elephant 

 rifle about him, but he carried a cap pistol in the after pocket 

 of his knickerbockers. This he drew, and fancying that the 

 elephant might be vulnerable in his off hind heel, let him 

 have it. The shot took effect and the boy took his depar- 

 ture. The persons standing on the City Hall Park sidewalk 

 saw a small flame creeping up the hollow hind leg of the 

 artificial pachyderm as flames creep up the elevator wells in 

 fireproof apartment houses. With great rapidity the blaze 

 spread to every part of the elephant save his trunk. 

 It broke through his back and flamed up as 

 high as the wires on the tall telegraph poles. 

 The high priest's attention was attracted from the 

 walkers' scores. He jumped from the truck on which 

 the elephant stood, and, catching the burning creature 

 by the trunk, endeavored to persuade him to come off. The 

 driver leaped down and unhitched the four heavy dapple- 

 gray horses from the truck. Policeman Hawkins rang an 

 alarm from the fire box in front of French's Hotel, The 



