186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 2, 1885. 



GUNS, SHOOTERS AND SHOOTING. 



I LIKE Robert B. Roosevelt's way of expressing himself 

 in regard to "remarkable shots"— that is, shots which 

 are remarkable to every one except the party who made 

 them. Every man who shoots at all has made a shot out of 

 the ordinary course of things. I have done it. I have 

 killed ten Bob Whites in ten consecutive shots. That was, 

 indeed, remarkable for me. I have missed "ten straight," 

 and that was not so remarkable. 



But when a man writes or says that he has the skill or luck 

 to go into the field and take such chances as present them- 

 selves, and usually gets even four-fifths of the birds he shoots 

 at, I must be pardoned if 1 bave doubts as to the truth of the 

 statement. Such talk is too severe a strain of the "sports- 

 man's license," He who goes out with fifty shells in his belt 

 and conies back with even twenty-five birds in his bag has 

 had a successful day and done excellent shooting. Occas- 

 ionally a man does better. If the shooting is done in the 

 open field, and no companion is present who pops away so 

 soon as he hears the flutter of the wings, an expert gunner 

 may sometimes do even better than this. But if he is 

 blessed with such a friend, or shoots largely in cover so thick 

 that he hardly gets even a flitting sight of' the bird, his suc- 

 cess will be much less. So, therefore, when 1 hear of a 

 man who boasts of his killing thirty birds in thirty shots, I 

 am not only incredulous, but con'viuced that he" docs not 

 speak the truth. 



I was present at the field trials (so called) 'at High Point, 

 in 1882, and one night listened, with some impatience, to the 

 extravagant talk of a fellow who was abing, ad nauseam, his 

 recent exploits in the field. He "vaunted himself in having 

 bagged thirty birds in thirty consecutive shots. Soon after 

 he had sought another admiring audience for his hyperbor- 

 eal expressions, 1 asked a well known wing shot if he 

 could beat that man in the field. He promptly ausw^ered 

 that he could. "What, beat a man who never misses?" 

 "No," said he, ' T can't beat a man who never misses, but 

 thai fellow shoots with his mouth. 1 can beat him and all 

 others who are like him." 



I recollet an occasion when 1 shot a cylinder 12-bore gun, 

 loaded with twelve No. 1 buckshot, at the bottom of a com- 

 mon wooden basket, placed thirty yards off. I hit the 

 object with eleven shot. Now 1 do not hesitate to say that 

 I could not have done it again in a hundred trials. No man 

 has a gun which can be relied on to make such a target. 



We hear, sometimes, of a gun of such remarkable form as 

 to kill snipe or partridge (not ruffed grouse) at eighty yards 

 with No. 9 shot. I don't believe a w'ord of it. Four drams 

 of gunpowder, in the best of guns, will scarcely make one 

 half of a charge of that sized shot even stick in a soft board 

 at tbat distance. I heard one of those boasters make the 

 allegation that he had a guu which would break glass balls, 

 if held right, at sixty yards. It cost him over a thousand 

 dollars. A gentleman who was present offered to bet him 

 ten dollars a shot that he could apt do it, with the ball placed 

 on the end of a cleaning rod, at that distance. The bet was 

 declined, but the trial was made. The gun was a full-choked 

 Purdey. loaded with five drams of gunpowder and one and 

 a quarter ounces of No. 9 shot. That gun was shot six times 

 and that ball and the cleaning rod escaped untouched. Let 

 the best of guns be shot at the side of a house at even fifty 

 yards, and many spaces between shot marks will be found 

 through which a bird could fly. It is an excellent weapon 

 which, with the most perfect aim, is seen to kill a snipe or 

 woodcock or partridge at thirty-five yards at every discharge. 



One of the most remarkable hunts I ever took occurred 

 when I was a boy. At tbat day even percussion guns were 

 not common in "our neighborhood. 1 was the owner of a 

 flint, and steel rifle, eighty balls to the pound of lead. With 

 that and a "rest" I could kill squirrels nearly eveiy shoot, 

 and indeed, rarely missed when I fired "off-hand." One 

 day I took the gun and went alone to a small piece of woods 

 lying on the bank of the stream near which I lived. Al- 

 though there were less than four acres in the tract, it was 

 generally well supplied with squirrels. Cautiously entering 

 it, and taking an eligible position, I soon saw one in the fork 

 of a tree. He presented a most excellent opportunity for a 

 trial of my skill. Just as I was "drawing a bead" on him, 

 i heard another chatter. I took down the gun and looked at 

 him. He was as "fair" as the first one. I sighted on him 

 and then 1 heard others. Examining the trees, I saw nine 

 of them — all good chances. I took aim at each one, and was 

 unable to determine which offered the greatest temptation ; 

 and inasmuch as I knew I could get but one of the lot, I 

 put the gun on my shoulder, and went back home without 

 shooting at all. I am not sure I should at this day be guilty 

 of the same folly. 



The old flint and steel gun is a weapon of the past, but 

 can be found now and then in those sections remote from 

 railroads. Even gun flints are getting to be a curiosity. The 

 percussion muzzleloader is becoming scarcer. No sportsman 

 will have one of these inconvenient guns who is able to pur- 

 chase the more modern article. How long will it be before 

 the present breechloader will be a historical arm? Some per- 

 sons say that hammer guns will give place to the hammer- 

 less, and that even the gunpowder of this age will be sup- 

 planted by some better, safer and more economical propul- 

 sive power. Who knows? The present gun and ammunition 

 suit me very well. If cheaper shells couid be had, "good 

 for one time," I should be highly pleased. Now I am forced 

 to pay for the highest grade, no second or third grade ones 

 being made of the size which I use. Why do not our manu- 

 facturers make cheap 14s, 16s and 18s, as they do 10s and 

 12s? 



My beau ideal of a sporting gun for small game, is a 14 or 

 16, cylinder, 28 inches long, and weighing 6i pounds. I am 

 not able to carry all day nine pounds, besides the loaded 

 shells and lunch. The old Roman soldiers carried sixty 

 pounds, but I am not a Roman soldier. Yet some silly fel- 

 low has said that he who can't carry with comfort all day a 

 gun of ten pounds, ought to leave the glories of field and 

 forest sport to him whose physical powers will enable Mm 

 to bear such a burden. With quite as much truth would I 

 say, that he who has such strength of muscle ought to stay 

 at home and wield a sledge hammer or a jack plane. When 

 1 go into the fields or woods, I go for sport and not for labor. 

 1 go to get strength and recreation, and not to see how much 



1 can carry. If that was my purpose, I would pull at a gate 

 post or try to handle an anvil. 



Yes, give me a 14-bore cylinder gun, with a length of 

 stock of 13£ inches, a drop at heel of di and at counter of 



2 inches. With such a gun I can use 3 drams of gunpowder 

 and an ounce of shot with comfort, and the gun being light, 

 1 can manage much better all the game I can kill. Men 

 with long arms can stand a length of 14£ to 14£ inches, and 

 if quite robust can undergo the labor of toting nine or ten 



pounds. But for most of persons who hunt birds I regard 

 a small gun as the most suitable. There is little doubt that 

 a 10-bore, with 1$ to 14 ounces shot, would prove more de- 

 structive, but the weight is such as to make it a prohibited 

 article to those who are unused to much physical labor. A 

 fair marksman, with a 14 or 16 bore, gun can get as much 

 game as the needs of his own table require, and occasionally 

 have some for his friends. If one wants ducks, a heavier 

 weapon is desirable, and the additional weight is of little 

 consequence, inasmuch as it is borne chiefly by the boat. 

 But most men would find a 10-bore weighing 9 or'lO pounds 

 an intolerable burden in a tramp over the fields to the extent 

 of ten miles or more. These, at all events, are my views. 



Why is it that gunmakers use such strong mainsprings? 

 Are not the most of them far more powerful than necessary? 

 The springs for all hammerless guns are far weaker, and yet 

 they are effective. The evil of a very stiff spring is that it 

 Strains (he pins of the lock and batters the striking pins. If 

 a stroke of ten pounds will explode the cap, there is no use 

 of any more. 1 have had frequent, occasion to grind down 

 the springs, reducing them at least, one-third, and yet never 

 had any trouble to follow. Besides the evil to which I have 

 referred, there is greater ease in handling, and all sportsmen 

 know how much more pleasant it is to cock his gun without 

 a heavy tax upon his thumb, than to get hold of one which 

 requires the muscles of a giant to get ready for a shot. 



Has it yet been settled how short gun barrels can be before 

 their effectiveness as field weapons is destroyed? I have seen 

 it stated that experiments had demonstrated that twenty-six 

 inches was about the limit. A friend of mine is the owner of 

 a, little Scott gun, which was originally a 16-bore cylinder 

 gun. thirty inches long. As such he shot it for several 

 seasons, when, desiring it to shoot more closely, he had it 

 choked by enlarging the bore an inch from the muzzle. 

 When clean it shot well; but it soon became foul, the de- 

 pression filled up with burnt gunpowder, and thus the effect 

 of the choking was destroyed. This disgusted him and he 

 sent it to a gunsmith for unchoking. To do this the barrels 

 were reduced to a 14. They were now exceedingly thin and 

 easily indented. At last one of them began to bulge. Fear- 

 ing it would burst, lie brought it to me and requested me to 

 saw it off. I did so, and the barrels are uow just twenty- 

 four inches Jong. With this he has done some good shoot- 

 ing, and tells me he has seen no difference in its effective- 

 ness. 1 confess I think it rather short. He says if he ever 

 gets another gun the barrels shall only be twenty-six inches. 



JS ow at all trap-shooting trials there should be handicap- 

 ping. It is not ju9t to place 10 and 12 bores under the same 

 restrictions as to distance ; and all shooters should be required 

 to place in the hands of the judges, before the shooting com- 

 mences, every shell which they use. Let them be placed in 

 separate boxes, properly labeled, and the judges should take 

 one from each lot and examine it, so as to see that too many 

 shot are not used. It will not do to say that all shooters at 

 these trials are gentlemeu and will confine themselves to the 

 law. Unfortunately aJl of them are not of this character. 

 There is a deal of jocke\ ing at such times. No honest man 

 could object to the plan proposed. If any one did it would 

 create a suspicion that he was guilty. 



Is it not provoking, when after a covey rises, or even a 

 single bird, for the sportsman to hear the unpoetic sound of 

 a snap? I have had those feelings, within the present sea- 

 son, and that too with a shell of the highest grade. It was 

 not the fault of the lock, but of the cap on the shell. This 

 rarely happens, even with the lower qualities. When it does 

 the gunner feels unamiably. At least I do. Can it be rem- 

 edied? I wish so. 



The open season for birds in this State is quite a long one, ex- 

 tending from the middle of October to the first of A pril . I wish 

 that the Legislature would prohibit shooting Bob White be- 

 fore November. Even in that month coveys are found which 

 are not half grown, and then anybody who can shoot at all 

 can easily kill. But in January, February and March all 

 are strong flyers, and the sportsman must exercise all his skill 

 to bring them down. It takes No. 7 or 8 shot, a good charge of 

 good gunpowder and a quick shot to fill the bag. In addition 

 to this, during the months of November and December in 

 our climate many of the birds are in the woods and do not 

 come back to the fields until January. Some of our best 

 hunts are in February and March. Wells. 



Buckingham, N. C. 



THE FIRST TRUE SPORTSMAN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In the "Encyclopaedia Brittanica," Vol. VI., page 232, in 

 the article on Confucius, the Chinese sage, it is stated that 

 Confucius "never shot at a bird perching nor fished with a 

 net, the creatures not having in such a case a fair chance for 

 their lives." I therefore claim the belt for Confucius as the 

 original true sportsman, who always cried "shoo!" when he 

 saw a Chinese ruffed grouse sitting on a limb, and disdained 

 to lift a Chinese speck — beg pardon, trout, out of the wet 

 otherwise than with a half-ounce split bamboo rod, horse- 

 hair single-strand line, microscopic fly tied to represent a 

 lo — I mean insect. As it is supposed that gunpowder Was not 

 used to throw projectiles until long after the Christian era, 

 the question arises, Did Confucius, 2,400 years ago, shoot 

 birds flyiug with his "bow an' arrer," or did he, like many 

 modern sportsmen, use a blow gun? Bobolink, 



"Wilmam sport, Pa., March 19. 



SOME REMARKABLE SHOTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Returning late one evening from a day's hunt we crossed 

 a wet pasture lot. A rabbit started and scudded down a cow 

 path. My brother fired in that direction. His dog retrieved 

 a fresh-killed woodcock, but no cotton-tail could we find. 

 We then routed several woodcock in this lot, but it was too 

 dark to shoot. I heard one get up near me and by sound 

 fired, and my dog found dead. 



Hurrying along a mountain wood road late one night a 

 partridge flushed from under the edge of a large rock, where 

 it had located for the night, and instiuctively I threw up the 

 gun and fired, the party with me exclaiming, "What are you 

 doing m the dark?" But the well-known tattoo told the 

 story, and gathering him in we went on our way rejoicing. 



Rebcck. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In the long ago in "Old Kentuck" squirrels were very 

 plentiful, and the old-fashioned muzzleloading rifle was the 

 favorite. My uncle, who is still living and whose word has 

 never been doubted, told me one day that while out hunting 

 squirrels he shot one from a tree near by, which fell dead at 

 the crack of the rifle. While reloading another squirrel fell 

 dead from another tree further off, both squirrels having been 

 pierced by the same bullet. Alpha 



Evansville, Ind. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some years since a neighbor of mine was out hunting 

 with an old percussion lock rifle. He got a shot at a deer, 

 but his old pill lock neglected to go off. As he stood with 

 the gun resting across his arm and pointing back into the 

 woods, trying to reprime, the piece was by accident dis- 

 charged. Hearing a commotion in the bushes, he walked 

 out in that direction, and some ten or fifteen rods from where 

 he had been standing found a deer which his bullet had 



k ' lled - BUCKET. 



Oakshade, O. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



This shot was with a stone. Prowling around in the woods 

 one day when quite a lad, I spied a woodpecker on the under 

 part of the limb of a tree, distant from me perhaps forty 

 feet. Boy-like I picked up a stone and burled it at the bird, 

 ami my aim was better than it has been many times siuce, 

 for I hit the woodpecker a tremendous blow directly on the 

 head, knocking it lifeless, and driving its beak well'iuto the 

 wood of the tree. 1 did not get the bird till I had climbed 

 the tree and pulled its beak out, which required considerable 

 force. This sounds like a "sea serpent yarn," but is a fact, 



Sous Bois. 



W'ashtnoton-, March 21 . 



SMALL-BORE SHOTGUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In your last number I see an article upon this subject by 

 "Syntax." The article is a good one, and I would be glad if 

 every lover of a gun could read it. i know from experience 

 that the 20-bore is all that is claimed for it. It has been my 

 favorite. Having tried the 10, 12, 16 and 20-bore find that 

 the 20-bore is the best of either for all purposes. All neces- 

 sary is to make the load according to the game and distance. 

 There are a great many people who are fond of hunting that 

 cannot afford a costly gun or buy ammunition for a large- 

 bore gun. In the interest of economy I have gone a little 

 further than "Syntax." Not long ago I bought a Reming- 

 ton rifle, New York State model, .45-caliber, 86-inch barrel, 

 had it made smooth bore and rechambered to use a .45-caliber 

 3-inch shell. The outside appearance w r as altered to a regular 

 sporting gun. I find that it is the best gun I ever shot, with- 

 out any exception, It scatters sufficiently for birds when 

 handled by a scientific hunter. It will kill as far as a No. 

 10-bore, is economical in ammunition, has no rebound, and 

 can be reloaded almost as fast as a repeater. The cost of 

 this gun complete does not exceed fifteen dollars. Firing 

 small cannon from the shoulder is played out with me. 



Economy. 



Evaj.svim.e, Ind., March 1. 



MICHIGAN DEER HOUNDING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The vote on the prohibition of deer hounding in the 3Iichi- 

 gan Legislature took place on March 17, after along and 

 warm debate, and prohibition was lost by a vote of 16 and 

 13 against, wanting one vote of a majority of the Senate, 

 which would have carried the measure. One Senator voted 

 against it who had made a speech in its favor, aud promised 

 to vote the same way. But the vote was reconsidered and 

 the bill laid on the table, so that another trial of the matter 

 will probably be had. 



A proposition has been made by the advocates of hound- 

 ing to compromise on a period of twenty-five days, during 

 which hounding shall be permitted. A Senator who in- 

 quired what had better be done, and if it was not better to 

 get half a loaf than none, received the following views and 

 advice respecting the matter: 



"I would not thus compromise; think it would be unwise. 

 There is no doubt but that deer hounding has got to go to 

 the wall, and if not prohibited the present session will be the 

 next. The great body of the people— the entire bodv, with 

 slight exception— is adverse to it. although only a portion 

 has been pointedly expressive. The best class of mind is 

 decisively against it; it has become the fixed belief with the 

 great majority of the people that its prohibition is essential 

 to prevent swift extermination of the deer, and this convic- 

 tion is founded on abundant and conclusive facts and expe- 

 rience which are fully entitled to respect. 



"And only a coterie really champion deer hounding. You 

 can readily see that the result in the Senate is purely the 

 work of a lobby, and does not spring from a manly convic- 

 tion of the right of a cause. It is generally looked upon as 

 a majority 'made to order.' The House was not lobbied, and 

 its spontaneous conviction of what is right was expressed in 

 the decisive vote of 80 for prohibiting hounding to 3 against. 



"The twenty-five days proposed would practically give 

 hounding sufficient time to efficiently accomplish its destruc- 

 tive results. Its devotees would aim to put in their time 

 during the allotted period, and would put it in effectively too. 



"The allowing of hounding at all will induce the care and 

 breeding of hounds for this purpose. They will be taken on 

 to or kept on the ground for this hunting, all of which will 

 result in their being used much out of season as well as in, 

 and thus the measure of damage will be enlarged. 



"No hounding at all is the only safety. Compromise will 

 only complicate and delay getting rid of the destructive 

 mode; it will thus become intrenched, and claim the right 

 of continuance by virtue of compromise, and be harder to 

 eradicate than now." 



Your interest in this question generally, and being a very 

 proper vehicle for the expression of fact and opinion relative 

 this class of interest, make it both pertinent and desirable to 

 publish the above relative to the exciting contest in this State 

 over the hounding question. * * 



Detroit, Mich., March 23. 



North Carolina Legislation. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: As soon as I saw in your paper that a bill to 

 repeal the non-resident battery law was before the Leg 

 islature, I immediately wrote a letter to the Daily News, 

 published at Raleigh, protesting against the repeal of the 

 law, and recounting some of the many objections to bat- 

 tery-shooting, as noticed by its effects in the waters of 

 the Chesapeake Bay. I also communicated with several 

 members of the Legislature, urging them to vote and use 

 their influence against the proposed measure. Fortunately 

 there are a number of intelligent and influential sports- 

 men members of the Legislature of North Carolina, and it is 

 not at all likely that such a bill will ever pass while they 

 hold their seats. The thanks of all sportsmen are due you 

 for the stand that you took in the matter, and there is no 

 doubt but that you were largely instrumental in defeating 

 the obnoxious bill.— Cues A. Peake (Baltimore, March 26), 



