148 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



! March 19, IS 



enjoyment of this class of sportsmen; they have their place, 

 and an important one. But a mountain tramp, a long row 

 on stream or lake amid such scenes and in such an atmos- 

 phere, send the purified blood pulsating with new life and 

 vigor through each particular vein and artery till the whole 

 system is aglow with health and animation." After such an 

 outing is it any wonder they write such charming letters to 

 the sportsman's paper for the delectation of us stayers at 

 home? And why should they not? Who like them has the 

 opportunity of studying nature in her varied aspects of 

 beauty, grandeur, sublimity and sometimes of terror? 



The pages of the Forest and Stream bear ample 

 testimony of the inspiring and beneficial results of such 

 outings to this class of sportsmen. J. H. D. 



PotWHKEElPSIE, N. Y. 



SOME REMARKABLE SHOTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



M., a broad-faced, good-natured rustic, had volunteered to 

 drive me out a few miles and show me some "patidgeds." Tt 

 was in the month of December, with the snow about eight 

 inches deep. Upon arriving at the scene of operation he 

 apologized for the looks of his double muzzleloader by say- 

 ing that his boys had been "messing'" with it, but that he 

 had togged it up so that it would stand the racket of a clay's 

 shooting. Our route led up the banks of -a swift-running 

 brook, which was here and there fringed with evergreen 

 trees. M., who was a short distance in advance, flushed a 

 couple of birds. I stepped forward nearly to his side, at the 

 same time asking which direction the birds took in their 

 flight. He brought his gun from his shoulder to give me the 

 desired information, when the barrels parted from the stock, 

 changed end for end in the air, struck on the edge of the 

 bank, slid ten feet rapidly through at least six^inches of 

 snow, striking into thebrook breech first where the water was 

 knee deep. The bottom was pebbly, and the capped nipple, 

 striking a stone, instantly exploded, and sent the charge 

 within a few inches of M.'s head, fairly staggering him, 

 although he was untouched by a pellet. Congratulations 

 being in order, I told him that [ was especially thankful that 

 he was not sent to the happy hunting ground, as it would 

 have proved awkward business for me to explain the nnMmer 

 of his taking off satisfactorily to the coroner and his friends. 



E. W. B. 



Massachusetts. 



Editor Forest and Stream.: 



In 1852 I purchased my first muzzleloader. 1 have it yet 

 but its usefulness is gone, and it lays across a pair of four- 

 prong antlers secured with it. The morning after the pur- 

 chase a younger brother aud myself started out bright and 

 early to drive the cows to pasture, aud of course took the 

 new gun along. We approached a thicket stealthily, and 

 peering in I saw the head of a bird, took deliberate aim and 

 fired. There was a commotiou, and when -we reached the 

 place we were surprised to find no partridge, but an old hen 

 and five chickens just kicking their last. Not a word was 

 spoken until the last kick was given, w T hen the silence was 

 broken by my brother, exclaiming, "O, but aiut that a 

 darn good gun." We never saw any chickens there before 

 nore after. We were not so much surprised about the after. 



J. L. D. 



Lockpobt, N". Y. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As a sportsman the "Q." road beats the whole business of 

 you for remarkable shots, for it uses locomotives for guns. 

 Engineer Francis, on his run from St. Jo up the other night, 

 made a wing-shot with his engine, and struck a prairie 

 chicken with the headlight and brought it into town dead. 

 It was found on top of the headlight by a wiper in the round 

 house. Common Sense. 



Creston. la. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



When cousin Drake Bosworth and I were boys together, 

 at Smithville. in this county, our fathers owned together a 

 smooth-bore rifle, once a flintlock but at the time I speak of 

 improved to a "punchlock." Perhaps some of your readers 

 are not old enough to remember that kind of artillery. We 

 carried the little percussion pills for priming in a quill, and 

 one of these little pin-head things being placed in a little 

 cavity of the powder or priming tube, was exploded by a 

 blow of the pointed steel hammer that was fastened iu the 

 cock where the flint had been held. They were quick 

 enough when the guns were clean, but if dirty or oily, would 

 hang fire like the mischief. On one occasion our gun came 

 near causing me to shoot my brother. He had gone up on 

 the other side of the tree to drive the game upon my side. 1 

 took aim and pulled the trigger; the pill exploded with a 

 sharp crack, but the gun didn't, so I brought it down to a 

 level to reprime, when off it went and the whole charge 

 went so near my brother's head that we both felt pale for a 

 while, you may well believe. One day when cousin Drake 

 had the gun, he saw a squirrel near the top of a tall tree in 

 the open. On trying to shoot it he had an experience like 

 mine, for as he was holding the gun nearly level and feeling 

 for a pin to prick in fresh powder, off it went, and happen- 

 ing to glance toward the tree he was astonished to see the 

 squirrel falling dead to the ground. Frightened by the snap 

 it had tried to escape by running down the tree, and hap- 

 pened to get right in range of old hang-fire when it went off. 

 Such a thing might be tried many million times before it 

 would happen again. The above was an actual occurrence. 



Watertown, N. Y, R. S, B. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The amusing record of remarkable shots, which has been 

 chronicled by your correspondents of late, recalls an experi- 

 ence of my boyhood, when I used to prowl about the haunts 

 of the many aquatic birds of Minnesota, with a little single- 

 barreled muzzleloading shotgun, never doing enough execu- 

 tion to diminish the supply to any alarming extent, but usu- 

 ally managing to bag enough booty to satisfy a youngster to 

 whom a successful shot afforded more satisfaction than the 

 result of the most successful day's work with modern appli- 

 ances could do at this day, One October day, I took up the 

 gun and started for the cornfield to which I had been 

 directed, mumbling something about "geese flying over," in 

 answer to the maternal question, "What do you want of a 

 gun to husk corn with?" If the inquiry had been followed 

 by observation, the writer would have been seen a few hours 

 later tramping along the bank of the river which ran near 

 by, with the shotgun on his shoulder, and keeping a very 

 .sharp lookout for ducks. But it was an off day for ducks, 

 and not one appeared to the sorrowful gaze of the anxious 

 truant, After following the river as long as I dared, I gave 

 it up. and with unqualified disgust started for the cornfield. 



I had but just started when, glancing around, I saw three 

 black ducks coming swiftly toward me, and down I dropped 

 behind a bush ; but they had seen me, and changing their 

 course, were passing by far out of range, as I supposed. My 

 disgust was so great that I pointed the gun at them and let 

 drive out of pure spite. I believe I have never since that 

 day been so thoroughly dumbfounded -with astonishment as 

 I was that moment, when all three of those ducks suddenly 

 turned their tails skyward and dropped like plummets into 

 the river, where they kicked a few times and died. The 

 wind brought them ashore, and the proudest-and most tickled 

 boy in America fished them out and carried them home, 

 silencing his mates with the champion shooting story of the 

 season. M. A. B. 



De Smet, Dakota. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have seen two English snipe rise at a distance of ten 

 yards apart and fly toward each other, and in crossing shot 

 with one barrel. 



I have seen a woodcock aud kingbird killed at one shot, 

 the woodcock coming out of the bushes and the kingbird 

 darting at it, were both killed with one barrel. 



I know of a single reedblrd being shot on the marsh while 

 flying over a boat, that in falling was caught in the shoot- 

 er's hand. 



1 have seen on arriving at a cover for woodcock, one cock 

 come out and being killed, the dog sent to retrieve come out 

 with the bird in his mouth, and on beiug sent on come with 

 another woodcock to his master, only one shot beiug fired. 



Have seen a shot at a mudhen sitting ou the water of a 

 pond; the mudhen being missed, jumped aud flew up the 

 meadow, returning, alighted within two feet of the spot it 

 first jumped from, and at the moment of alighting raised live 

 teal duck that were within three feet of it, and that staid 

 there in the grass after the shot was fired until the mudhen 

 returned. 



I know of twenty-one teal duck picked up when the per- 

 son who shot only saw one duck, and that swimming into a 

 bunch of rushes was out of sight at the moment of discharge. 

 The rest of them were killed and crippled with one barrel 

 without the gunner knowing that they were there. The 

 dead were picked up at the time, then the person who shot 

 came home for a spaniel, with which he collected the crip- 

 ples without firing another shot. 



I knew a rabbit being shot at and not killed, to run down 

 a path in the bushes, jump on a man standing in tire path. 

 The animal got as high as the man's breast, was pushed off 

 and jumped there again, being pushed off the second time. 

 When asked why he did not shoot the rabbit, the man said 

 he was not going to shoot another rabbit, but was going 

 home, which he immediately did, uuder the impression that 

 something was going to happen to him. He is lively yet, 

 though. 



I knew of a rail shooter on the marsh while gunning with 

 a spaniel, in shooting at a rail, to kill his dog; also of one 

 who was out for rabbits, in shooting at a rabbit, to kill his 

 friend's beagle hound. Boo Snipe. 



Bristol, Pa. 



Editor Fared ami Stream: 



1. During a visitto the shore, my friend suggested a shot at 

 the sea gulls. I assented, and lie armed me with a light 

 breechloader, to which was attached a safety arrangement, 

 consisting of a rod running back of the trigger-guard which 

 had to be squeezed against the stock before the gun would 

 go off. It was simple enough. We reached the shore and 

 a gull came along, but I forgot about the arrangement against 

 premature explosions and pulled as hard as I could, but the 

 gun would not shoot. The gull sailed by, and I took the 

 gun from my shoulder in disgust, when off went both bar- 

 rels and the gull dropped, to the astonishment of my friend, 

 who did not think to try so long a shot, Idid not explain my 

 success. 2. While squirrel shooting with a .32 caliber 

 Stevens, 1 saw a squirrel running along a fence at about 

 twenty yards. I shot and knocked him over. On picking 

 him up I found that the ball had missed him, but had 

 knocked a splinter from the rail into his neck, which had 

 killed him . Paddle. 



Providence, E. L 



THE BORE OF SHOTGUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Speaking of guns it reminds me that I did the most of my 

 shooting in my boyhood days with a single-barreled shotgun, 

 for which I disbursed the sum of two dollars and fifty cents, 

 in Piatt street, New York. It was of uncertain bore (rang- 

 ing anywhere from 12 to 16), and the roughest thing inside 

 I ever felt of. Immediately after getting it, another boy, by 

 the name of Miuor, and myself followed sixteen deer hunters 

 into some woods south of Prompton, in Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania, and I shot a buck stone dead, which had been chased 

 by one of their hounds. Sixteen more disgusted men you 

 never saw than those hunters, as one by one they gathered 



in and noted first, the buck, next myself, and then that 



gun. 



Previous to starting out I had loaded the concern with 

 half a handful of grocery powder, five buckshot, and used 

 for a wad to hold it down an old ounce ball (that I had found 

 somewhere) wrapped up in a piece of newspaper. That ball 

 did the business, it broke the deer's neck. 



I don't know just how much stock to take in the fine-spun 

 arguments of your correspondents with their $300 guns, in 

 their talk about cannon lO-gauges and 12 little ones. That 

 old shotgun of mine seldom failed to pick a pigeon or a 

 squirrerfrom the tops of the tallest maples, and it had to be 

 a mighty lively old cock of a grouse that got away from it 

 on the wing. 1 don't believe that your fellows know it all 

 yet, Common Sense. 



Creston, Iowa, 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As 1 have owned in the past twelve years nine different 

 breechloading shotguns, varying in bore from 14 to 10, and 

 in weight from 7 to 10 pounds, and having had plenty of 

 spare time to use them, think I know r something about a gun 

 for both brush and water shooting, and my judgment is that 

 a 10-bore, 8-pound, 30-inch barrel, both barrels very little 

 choked, is the best gun for any man to buy, and whoever 

 buys a 16 or 20 bore gun, unless he is more than an average 

 close shooter, will getleft by an ordinary gunner. The gun 

 I have used for the past three seasons is a 10-bore hammer- 

 less, weight 7 pounds 14 ounces, and I use from 2£ drams 

 for woodcock to 4 drams best powder for ducks; and 1 have 

 fired it with the latter load in line shooting on Long Island 

 Sound 115 times a day without feeling the least disagreeable 

 effect from it, I -never use bijt one ounce of shot 



for ducks, then use 1^ ounce No. 3. I would much rather 

 bag a partridge with my 10-bore loaded with 3 drams of 

 powder and 1 ounce of iNo. 6 shot (which is always mv load 

 for ruffed grouse) than to miss it with a 16-bore loaded "in the 

 same way, because it is a little more "tony" to shoot the 16- 

 bore gun. I do not believe in small-bore guns any more than 

 I believe in wearing skin-tight pants. S. H. 



Easthampton, Mass. 



NEW JERSEY SONG BIRDS. 



THE following bill, Senate, No. 162, has been introduced 

 into the New Jersey Legislature by Mr. Griggs: An 

 Act for the preservation of birds. 1. Be it enacted by the 

 Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, 

 that no person shall at any time within this State, catch, kill) 

 trap or expose for sale, or have in his possession after the 

 same has been caught, killed or trapped, any night hawk, 

 whip-poor-will, sparrow, thrush, meadow lark, skylark, 

 finch, martin, swallow-, woodpecker, robin, oriole, red or 

 cardinal bird, cedar bird, wren, tanager, catbird, bluebird, 

 snowbird, tern, gull or any insectivorous or song bird, not 

 generally known as a game bird. 2. And be it enacted, that 

 no person shall in the months of March, April, May, June, 

 July or August in any year, within this State, knowingly or 

 willfully molest, tear down or destroy the nest of any wild 

 bird, or take, carry away or destroy the egg or eggs of any 

 such wild bird ; nor shall any person, at any time whatever, 

 sell, offer or expose for sale or buy the egg or eggs of any 

 bird named in sections one and three of this act, 3. And be 

 it enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any person to kill 

 or catch, buy or sell any of the birds mentioned in section 

 one of this act, or any of fhe birds commonly known as game 

 birds, or any sandpiper, plover, willet, curlew, marlin, or 

 other bird of the species commonly called shore or bay birds, 

 or any heron, crane or fish-hawk for the purpose of preserv- 

 ing or stuffing the same as an article of ornament or apparel. 

 4. Aud be it enacted, that any person violating any of the 

 provisions of sections one and two shall forfeit the sum of 

 five hundred dollars for each offense, and any person violat- 

 ing the provisions of sections three shall forfeit the sum of 

 fifty dollars; the said penalties shall be recovered in the 

 same manner provided in the act entitled "An act." 5. And 

 be it enacted, that nothing in this act contained shall he held 

 to apply or affect the bird commonly known as the English 

 sparrow. 6. And be it enacted, that "this act shall take effect 

 immediately, 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



THE marshes along the Delaware River arenow open, and 

 the sprigtails are freely using them. Already a great 

 improvement in the condition of the fowl that are sent to 

 the market from below can be noticed. A flight of snipe last 

 week settled on the meadows below the mouth of Salem 

 Creek, N. J., and fifteen or eighteen were killed by a market 

 shooter and sent to a game dealer in this city. This occurred 

 on the 9th iust., and the birds were in good order. During 

 the three or four days of pleasant weather which we had the 

 first of the month, not a few snipe arrived south of Philadel- 

 phia, but it is only this week that any of them appear to have 

 been killed. 



The West Jersey Game Protective Society have been scat- 

 tering grain, this winter, in the woods of the counties over 

 which they have jurisdiction iu order to provide food for the 

 grouse and quail during the period when the ground has been 

 covered witti snow. This, it is reported, has resulted in a 

 great good, and many birds have been saved by it. 



I have learned that there are not a few out-of-the-way 

 places on the Chesapeake Bay where punt-gun shooting at 

 night with a jack-light is regularly practiced. Not only is 

 this done in Accomae county, Va., but at numerous points 

 south of it where the law can" be readily evaded. If a series 

 of arrests of these lawbreakers could be brought about, as 

 was done iu the case of the Spesucia Island poachers a year 

 ago, much good could be accomplished, but this can hardiy 

 be expected, as the sections where night-shooting with a light 

 is done, as I am told, are isolated ones and would be differ- 

 cult and expensive to reach. 



March 14.— Our game dealers do not attempt to cover up 

 their sales of quail, which can be purcUased at any of the 

 stands. Two or three straggling snipe were killed to-day on 

 the meadows at the foot of Broad street, and there were at 

 least a score of gunners out tramping these marshes, Satur- 

 day being just the day to tempt them to make the first try 

 of the season for the longbills. Next week all the meadows 

 bordering the Delaware River and creeks flowing into it 

 will doubtless be thoroughly worked, and it will be strange 

 if a single snipe dropping into them to feed will escape. 



Homo. 



Wildfowl at Socth Otster Bat, L. I. — March 16.— 

 The geese, brant and ducks are making their appearance in 

 the bay, and the gunners are having good shooting. The 

 birds were late in coming this season on account of the 

 severe cold weather, but now they are on hand ready for 

 business. I have often wondered why some of the sports- 

 men are in the habit of going South, East, North or West for 

 wildfowl and baybirds when they can get good shooting 

 nearer home. The Great South Bay at this point is quite 

 shallow, and there are a number of islands scattered through 

 the bay, which makes point-shooting good. And as there 

 is plenty of food for the birds, they are bound to come in 

 great numbers and remain, after they do come, until their 

 breeding time, when they leave and return again in the fall, 

 bringing their young with them. With a good south or east- 

 erly wind, or an overcast, stormy day, they generally bag 

 from five to twenty-five birds in a morning's shooting, and 

 occasionally fifty" or more. Now taking in consideration 

 that South Oyster Bay is only thirty miles from New York, 

 I think any sportsman will agree with me in saying that 

 from five to twenty-five birds is a good bag with which 

 almost anybody ought to be satisfied. I have occasionally 

 gone to different places at a greater distance and tried to do 

 better, but very seldom have done any better, and often have 

 not done near as well. — O. C. 



Nessmdk'b Insect Pheventive.— Boston, March, 1885 — 

 I should like to propound to following query to your corres- 

 pondent "Nessmuk:" In "Woodcraft" he recommends to 

 keep insects away, oil of tar, castor oil and oil of pennyroyal 

 to be mixed together and then "simmered over a slow fire." 

 As oil of pennyroyal (hedeoma) is one of the volatile oils, 

 where will it be when he is through simmering? I have 

 found oil of pennyroyal and glycerine of use when rnusqub 

 toes, gnats and midgets were about, but as the pennyroyal is 

 the obnoxious thing for the insects, you may be sure I did, 

 pot do nnv simmering.- CqbWES, 



