shot know how instantaneously they drop if hit with the bulk 
of the charge forward of the hips; while those who have 
shot many with the bullet, know how often they lead you a 
long chase, though severely wounded, unless hit in the brain, 
spine or heart. I would not like to use an explosive bullet 
on deer, for I do not like to see the meat so mangled, and 
‘the buckshot generally makes considerable waste meat also; 
80 I prefer the rifle for deer whenever it can be used with 
any degree of success. There is more skill required in its 
use, therefore more pleasure derived. 
__ In my own experience a larger percentage of wounded 
deer got away from me when using the rifle than when 
Using a shotgun. ‘*Chippewa’s” instance of a small deer hit 
‘near the vitals with buckshot and living for hours, is not 
conclusive any more than is an instance in my own exper- 
jence when after putting a .44-caliber rifle ball through the 
heart of a yearling deer, it led me a chase for an hour and a 
half, when I was able to bring it down with a second shot, 
deer and badly frightened, both in favor of tenacity of life. 
Tlike the remarks of *‘Q. U, Ail” on the matter, and I 
‘think most of our brother sportsmen will agree with him if 
they have hunted deer North, South, East and West. My 
‘experience in the matter amounts to just this—in thick 
‘srowih, and within fifty yards, use shotgun, otherwise use 
‘Tifle. But with ‘‘Chippewa”’ I would say to the young 
bevivner taking his first lessons in deer hunting, use the rifle 
and become as skillful with it as you can, that is, if your 
hunting ground will permit of it at all. 
The greater pleasure later on will compensate you for the 
lack of the extra deer you might have brought into camp 
had you used the shotgun. As regards hounding deer, 
there are sections of our country where I believe it proper 
‘and right, and other places where I should strongly oppose it. 
‘The hounds and shotgun should go together in a section of 
uninterrupted thickets. But I would have the hounds go 
Slow that they would not press the deer fo overheating. I 
believe with ‘‘Cap Lock” that yenison is not wholesome if 
killed when much overheated. 
But for a man to take hounds into an open wooded region 
where still-hunting is good, and turn them loose, is highly 
“Wrong, and he has no sense of what belongs to the rights of 
hunter, deer, or hound. There is a section of country north 
of Green Bay, Wis., in the lower part of Oconto county, 
and stretching into Shawono county, where years ago a 
great fire swept the old forest away and there has grown 
up an almost impenetrable growth of popple, while the 
trunks of old trees strew the ground. Imagine, if you can, 
still-hunting deer in such a place. I would defy the most 
skillful Indian to approach a deer in such cover, I believe 
‘there is no one who strongly condemns hounding deer, but 
would be converied to the practice if he had such hunting 
grounds, for hounds are necessary to drive the deer from its 
protecting cover. ; 
- What have experienced deer hunters noticed regarding the 
tenacity with which deer of certain age and conditions cling 
to life, and the effect of wounds in certain places? Perhaps 
this question has been already discussed while I was 
roaming the ‘wilds,’ and deprived the pleasure of reading 
the Fores? AND STREAM, ©. W. B. 
Worcester, Mass. 
_fiditor Forest and Stream: 
In reading the arguments under ‘‘Bullet ys. Buckshot” I 
notice that nearly every one in favor of the rifle looks upon 
the “‘Gatling gun” as the height of cruelty. Now I should 
say that the average deer killer who goes into the woods for 
4 month’s slaughter could kill more and so wound less with 
the shotgun than with therifle, on the theory that the more 
pellets fired the better chance of hitting a vital spot, Per- 
haps at long distances the rifle is the surest death on account 
of penetration, although there are scores of men who would 
be as likely to strike the animal im the leg as in the heart at 
seventy yards, A good shot would not, but then a good 
shot should be sportsman enough to craw! up within killing 
distance if he had a shotgun. I prefer the rifle as the neater 
weapon, though if the deer were asked he might say, ‘Thank 
you, but if it's all the same I'll wait until pes calls es gf 
Boston, Oct. 4, 1884. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read in your valuable paper this virulent contro- 
yersy ou the above subject, and will say it is a good way of 
disseminating useful information, and its winding up will be 
like that of the great fishing-rod dispute, viz.: that every one 
is entitled to hold his own opinion on the subject, and under 
the circumstances do what seems Dest in his own eyes, 
“Pinte” and ‘‘Wells” to the contrary. Now, as circum- 
stances alter cases, I will venture to say that it is unsports- 
manlike to use buckshot against deer in the open or on a 
lake, a rifle being the proper weapon; but in the thick spruce 
woods of Lower Canada, where the deer will often start up 
Within 30 yards of one in such tanglewood that you can 
hardly see tt, and even if you do see a patch of fur cannot 
tell to what part of the animal it belongs, there I will say a 
food charge of buckshot will be more to the point than a 
single bullet; that is, if you really want your CArrgou, 
PROVINCE QuyBEC, Oct. 2. , 
PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 
Q* Wednesday, Oct. 1, the wind, which had been from 
. a westerly quarter for some days, shifted to the east 
and continued so until Saturday. Our rail shooters who 
were looking for just such a season, started for Maurice 
River and Port Penn with expectation of prand sport. The 
favorable winds backed a cousiderable volume of water into 
the Delaware und the creeks flowing into it, but the number 
of birds killed was not so large as it would have been if the 
same storm had occurred a week sooner. The high grounds 
bordering Augustine creek at Port Penn were overflowed, 
und places where boats had not been pushed over this 
autumn were reached, yet no astonishinSly large bags were 
made. 'Those who were content with fewer birds selected 
the Lazaretto aud Chester grounds, mut the rail shooting at 
these latter places was not at ajl good. 
Teal ducks are now numerous in the Delaware and snipe 
coutinue to be found on grounds affected by the tides. All 
the inland meadows are dried up or covered with an immense 
growth of vegetation. A week’s continued rain will not 
ate them; owing to this the snipe frequent the river 
fats. 7 
_ Al Hembold went overboard with his fun, shells, and 
“seventy rail he had boated at Maurice River on Friday last. 
He was lucky to get ashore after finding his breechloader, 
owhich had gone to the bottom. Mr, Ohas. Jones was fined 
$00 at the same place on Thursday, for shooting without a 
y 4 
Qe" — an i 
or it might hayekept up much longer but it was a young | P 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
license. He intends carrying the case to court, as hesays he 
doubts the constitutionality of the statute. 
There will be more quail found in Pennsylvania and neigh- 
boring States this autumn than for several years, We have 
had a splendid breeding season and reports come in from 
many quarters that birds are plentiful. Homo. 
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 5. 
CONNECTICUT NOTES. 
1 AME around this part of Connecticut is what might be 
called scarce, A few coveys of quail have been in the 
neighborhood during the summer, and last week one of them 
spent nearly all one day feeding in the back yard of a place 
nearly in the center of the town. The young birds of this 
covey were not larger than sparrows, and haye no doubt 
already fallen prev to some pot-hunter, with which this 
vicinity is overrun from its nearness to the city of Bridge- 
ort. 
Partridges have been extremely scarce for some years past, 
and have not heurd that the prospects for them are any better 
this season, . 
Rail shooting on the Housatonic River this year has not 
been up to the average, possibly on account of the tides, 
which ran poor in September. Heard of several bags of fif- 
teen to twenty, and expect to hear better reports on this 
month's tides if tl ey run fuller. 
About the only successful sport has been shark fishing in 
the river, seven of which animals have been caught by one 
person sofar, These were caught in rather a novel way: 
by fastening the line to a buoy and letting the fish hook 
itself, and if in the mood (which was very seldom) to tow 
the buoy around till the ownercame after him. Other kinds 
of fishing has been very poor, possibly owing to the number 
of sharks around, Hven the snappers or small blues have 
almost deserted us this season. Later on expect to have 
some reports to make about cooting, etc. HovusA Tronic, 
STRATFORD, Conn. 
Wixe-Suootimne,—Cedar Hurst Farm, Sept. 29, 1884.— 
Editor Forest and Stream: Sometimes men are not in proper 
trim-for shooting. I remember being out on one occasion 
for a whole day with a good shot and although game was not 
scarce, we only killed a small bag. On other occasions the 
same shot was often most deadly. There are all manner of 
grades of excellence in shooting. Some will feel a degree 
of self-complacency if they hit one bird in ten, while others 
will only miss one out of an equal number. Much of the 
proficiency in shooting on the wing may be referred to 
bodily temperament, Some persons are so neryously 
constituted and so burried in their movements that they 
never attain the degree of coolness and self-possession 
requisite for a steady marksman. A nervous anxiety causes 
them to fire without obtaining any decided aim. The real 
foundation of the art of ‘‘shooting flying” is in the sympathy 
which exists between the eye and the hand, the sight and 
the touch, and the power .of so combining, as it were, 
the sections of the two senses that in their united action they 
seem to be the effect ofone. The art of measuring distances 
and directing the gun to a flying object is learned by degrees. 
Some shoot with one eye shut, others with both open,-there 
is no rule in this matter, it entirely depends upon early 
training and habit.—J. C. Y. 
Foop or RurreD Grouse,—From a correspondent, *R. 
R.,” who writes from Sherbrooke, P. Q., Canada, under 
date of Sept. 24, we have the following: “‘f mail you here- 
with crop of a ruffed grouse I shot this P. M. Have any of 
your readers ever seen one filled with toadstools as this one 
is?” The same day that this was received, a ruffed grouse 
crop came through the mails from Canada, but without post- 
mark. This crop contained, so far as we could discover, not 
a single toadstool, but a great mass of freshly plucked green 
leaves. Among them were what appeared to be foliage of 
the white birch, chokeberry, wild cucumber, raspberry, and 
hardhack, together with that of various other swamp piants. 
While leaves are offen found in the craw of the ruffed grouse, 
it is very unusual, we think, to find them so abundant as in 
this case, where they formed a tightly packed mass, some- 
what larger than a man’s fist, The question of the food of 
our game birds is an interesting one, and we think that it 
would be worth our readers’ while to discover by an examin- 
ation of the crops of the birds they may kill, just what they 
feed on during the different months of the shooting season. 
Hor SuLpHur Sprines, Colo,, Sept. 29, 1884. The open 
season for deer, elk, etc., opened on the 15th, and all the 
hunters outside appear to haye been ready and waiting for 
it. They poured through here in wagons and on horseback, 
going to the northern and western parts of this park, to 
North Park and over Gore Range to Heeria Park and the 
Filat-top Mountains. For a week they have been coming 
back, many outfits with immense loads of meat, and others, 
Lam glad to say, with very little. Itis not unusual for ten 
or fifteen wagon loads of meat to pass here ina day. One 
day last week I saw five loads go by within half an hour; 
two of them four horse loads and the others two horse loads, 
and each one of the five belonging to a different party. 
Now, if the fellows who want a deadlier sporting arm could 
only get one built upon the coffee mill principle, that would 
kill every turn of the crank at a thousand yards, the deer, elk 
and antelope could all be wiped out in six months or a year, 
and there would be no further canse for anxiety, or need for 
game laws.—W. N. B. 
WoLvEs AND AssArasprrA.—Speaking of assafeedita, an 
uncle of mine, as I haye heard the story, paid off a mort- 
gage on a farm in Illinois in the early days with the bounty 
he received for killing wolves. His method was to set up a 
pole with 4 flag on it in the winter on a little hill and then 
to ride away as far as he could see the pole; then going to- 
ward the pole he dropped a large piece of beef well rubbed 
with assafeedita and dragged it by a rope attached to the 
pommel of his saddle. When near the pole he took from a 
tin box lumps of lard or fat meat well dosed with strych- 
nine and cropped them in the trail. ‘Then riding off he 
would lay another trail, and so on till night. In the morn- 
ing he would find the wolves dead not far from the pole.—P. 
THomaAstTon, Conn.. Sept, 30.—Arthur Fenn, a young man 
of eighteen, was brought before Justice Judson this afternoon 
on two counts, for snaring and attempting to snare partridge. 
He plead guilty, and it beiny bis first proven oifense, he was 
fined $3 on the first count and $2 on the second, with costs, 
making in all $13.25, which was paid by his father, <A tirst 
lesson for-snarers in this place. —GamE WARDEN. 
207 
A Mepican “Kicking Anriporr.”—A well-known gen- 
tleman of this city, who is a physician of prominence, an 
author, a professor, a sportsman, an angler, a sailor, a salt 
mine owner, a rifle shot and an inventor, some fime ago 
turned his attention to devising a recoil pad for rifles and 
shotguns. His elastic heel plate, as it is called, has been put 
on the market, and is doing a most excellent work in tem- 
pering the kick of his gun to the sportsman. Those who 
have tried the elastic heel plate are very well satisfied with 
it, and a company down South is now negotiating with the 
inventor for something of the kind to be attached to the rear 
hoots of mules, 
SALEM, Mass., Oct. §.—Shooting runs a little quiet. Some 
marsh birds are shot. Coots are in the bay, and some geese 
have passed south. Wilson’s snipe and some woodcock are 
taken, the old ‘‘timber-doodles” having those rich colors 
only found on an October or November bird, A white wood- 
clruck and chipmunk (Tf. striatus) are among things recently 
seen. In the spring it was said the prospects were good for 
quail but now they appear by no means numerous. Quite a 
number of bluewing teal have been bagged and also several 
fine wood drakes. Considerable interest is manifested in 
small-bores at present.—X, Y, Z, 
SNARING IN RockLAND Country.—Stony Point, N. Y., 
Oct, 1,—Hditor Forest and Stream: Will you kindly inform 
me of name and address of the proper State officer to whom 
I should apply for assistance to break up the partridge trap- 
ping now going on in this vicinity, Thousands of birds are 
caught and sent to the New York market, and we wish it 
stopped.—T. [Apply to Joseph H. Goodwin, State game 
protector, King’s Bridge, N. Y. Rockland county is in his 
district. | 
Towa Prarrm Cnrckens.—Anita,—So far chicken hunt- 
ing has been a failure, and why so I am unable fo state, ag 
the weather during the hatching season was everything that 
could be asked for, and those who predicted such immense 
hunting this fall are decidedly left. A party of us are about 
to start north for ducks, and should our plans mature loolk 
out for an account of the trin.—C. B. 
Connucricut.—Thomaston.—Partridge and quail are re- 
ported plentiful in this vicinity, and I haye heard of no yio- 
lation of the game laws as yet; but the fact of my being one 
of the game wardens partly accounts for it perhaps, although 
we intend to make it hot for the snarers.—Game WARDEN. 
Tames Witp Grrse.—Mr. Junius P. Leach, of Rushville, 
Ind., who hus paid some attention to the breeding of wild 
geese, announces that he intends to dispose of his stock. 
They are suitable for decoys or for ponds, 
THE Witp Pickons.—Huntingdon, Tenn., Sept. 29.— 
Editor Horest.and Stream: Can some of your readers inform 
me where the wild pigeons are at this time, and where they 
nested the past season?—L. L. H.- 
Sea and River Lishing. 
THE COMING TOURNAMENT. 
FY\HE Committee of Arrangements of the National Rod 
and Reel Association, met at Mr. Blackford’s, in Ful- 
ton Market, on Friday, Oct, 8, at 2 P. M. The Chairman, 
Judge McGown, telephoned that he could not be present un- 
til an hour later, and Mr. James Benkard was appointed 
chairman pre tem. The Secretary read a note from Presi- 
dent Endicott saying that an invasion of quail into the State 
of Delaware called him to repel them and he could not be 
present. He read a letter from Mr. J, C. McAndrew oifer- 
img $100 to be distributed in prizes at the tournament among 
the amatcur trout and salmon classes, and a vote of thanks 
to Mr. McAndrew was passed, That gentleman being pres- 
ent, was asked for specific directions as to the apportionment 
of this sum, but he left it entirely with the sub-committee on 
rizes. 
i Mr. Vallotton moved that the judges in the different 
classes appoint a member to see that the tackle is in accord- 
ance with the rules and requirements of the Association at 
all times during the contests, and that this be inserted in 
Rule 2, before the words ‘‘The judges.” Carried. 
The rules for black bass casting with the minnow then 
came up. The secretary read them as published by Dr. 
Henshall, chairman of the sub-committee on black bass cast- 
ing, and published in Formst AND STREAM of July 3, 1884, 
and also criticisms on them, The question arose as to the 
powers of sub-committees and whether their action was final 
or in the nature of recommendations to the general commit- 
tee, to be acted upon by the latter. It was decided that their 
action was subject to the approval of the general committee; 
and Prof. Mayer moved that instead of an allowance of five 
minutes for casting, that each contestant be allowed five 
casts, and that his score shall be recorded as in heavy bass 
casting, except that he will not be required to cast in a lane. 
Carried. (This was done because it was considered that 
with the small reels used too much time would be consumed 
in reeling up with the small reels, and under the five min- 
utes’ rule only one or two casts could be made.) 
'The sub-committee on striped bass casting reported that 
they had considered last year’s rules, and would suggest 
that the lane be made thirty-five feet instead of twenty-tive, 
as heretofore. Adopted. They also recommended that a 
separate contest be held for the longest single cast, each con- 
testant to have three casts, and the longest cast to count. 
Carried. 
The rules for salmon casting were unaltered. 
The question of the interpretation of that portion of Rules 
2 and 11 of Jas‘ year, which relates to trout casting, was then 
consiaered, While some of the members interpreted them 
to mean that the winner of the first prize in the Amateur 
Classes A, B and C, were only debarred from all Ainateur 
classes during the year in which they were winners, Mr, 
Mather held that they debarred previous tirst prize winners 
from eyer entering an Amateur class, and read Rule 2, as 
follows; ‘‘No one shall be permitted to enter an amateur 
contest who has ever fished for a living; who has ever been 
a guide, or has been engaged in either the manufacture or 
sale of fishing tackle, or who has ever taken a first prize in 
any tolrnament. The judges in any particular class, on ap- 
peal, shall have power to decide in ali matters relating to en- 
tries, and their decision shall be final,” 
As it seemed to be the unanimous sense of the meetiny 
that no such sweeping proscription waa intended, Mr. Blacl- 
