Oct. 29, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



26 B 



a few paces and again stopped, not knowing whence the shot 

 came, but thinking it was from the boys below. This time 

 too fine deer stopped side by side, and taldngvery deliberate 

 aim 1 lii-ed, and had the satisfaction of seeing both deer fall 

 dead on tlie spot, which is somethiug that seldom happens, 

 as a deer is very hard to kill instantly. 1 have known them 

 to run more than 100 yards after being siiot through the 

 heart. I fired several more shots in rapid succession as the 

 deer hounded away, and succeeded in liilling one more and 

 breaking the leg of the fourth one, which was soon over- 

 taken and shot by Chas. Gregg. The Gregg boys killed 

 three more before "night, and it was again long after dark 

 when we reached camp. The next day we succeeded in 

 reaching the top of the rldee above the Hole with a four- 

 horse team, and Charles Gregg killed another fine huck, 

 making fourteen in all. Then we packed out to our wagon, 

 aod reached our camp late that night with a load of deer. 



The next day was stormy and we lay in camp. The fol- 

 lowing day as I was unloading an elk pack from my pony I 

 saw a large blacktail buck going over the hill about half a 

 mile above our camp. I called Elzy to take my pony while 

 I hiuried off down the creek, intending to head him off. 

 This I succeeded in doing, and killed him after firing three 

 or four shots at long range. He was a very fine, fat fellow. 

 The next day we went on an elk hunt for the Gregg bo.ys, 

 as we had all the game we could haul. Some five miles 

 from camp we came in sight of a herd of three or four hun- 

 dred elk, I and Elzy went to the left of the herd, while the 

 Gregg boys passed around to the right. The elk getting the 

 wind of us, passed over a ridge and came into range of the 

 guns of the others, when they opened fire on them and after 

 a hot chase they found that they had five fine elk dead on 

 the mountain side, where, by '"^'snaking" them a short dis- 

 tance with a horse, we could drive to them with a wagon. 

 This made it much easier to get them to camp than to pack 

 them in on our horses. 



Having now two full loads of game, we at once made 

 arrangements to pack up our wagons and start for home, as 

 we were very anxious to get over the plains before the bad 

 storms set in, which so often happen here at this season of 

 the year. On our journey down we shot a number of ante- 

 lope, and Elzy had some fine sport shooting sage hens with 

 a small squurel rifle. After nine days' hard traveling we 

 reached home. A. A. K. 



Bbrthoud, Larimer Coimty, Col. 



TEXAS ATTRACTIONS. 



1SEE in the columns of your paper many communica ■ 

 tions from the Southern States and the Pacific coast, 

 each setting forth the advantages of some particular locality 

 as a winter resort for Northern sportsmen, I do not know 

 that this part of the republic possesses any marked advan- 

 tages over all the balance of the globe, but if any of oar 

 Northern brethren are casting about with the view of select- 

 ing a place where they can find reasonably good shooting 

 and fishing during the winter mouths they will certainly 

 not be disappointed by a trip to the Gulf coast of Texas. 

 Almost any spot on the coast, away from the vicinity of the 

 cities and large towns, will furnish all the amusement the 

 most ardent "outer" could desire. The great drawback, 

 however, is the inaccessibility of most of the favored loca- 

 tions._ I have shot and fished over many a mile of the coast; 

 and, in ray opinion, Indianola, on Matagarda Bay, offers 

 the best inducements to a sportsman, as the place to estab- 

 lish lus headquarters. From there short excursions can be 

 made in different directions accordingly as one may be 

 seeking waterfowl, bay birds, deer, turkey, alligators (on 

 Bunnjdays), or quail (partridge, Bob White, etc. — take your 

 choice). The waters of the bay teem with several varieties 

 of excellent fish, including redfish, weakfish (called trout 

 here), pompano, etc. I have eaten the bivalve from Maine 

 to California, but nowhere found them superior to Matagarda 

 oysters. 



' Market hunters and skin butchers are warned not to come 

 here. Yon are not wanted to begin with, and it would not 

 pay if you were. It is not a question of game but of mar- 

 kets. There is no market nearer than Houston or Galveston, 

 and all kinds of game can be bought in those markets for less 

 than the freight charges from this place. Two hunters came 

 here last winter and in less thau a week killed over 1,200 

 ducks, geese, and other water fowl, which they shipped in a 

 refrigerator car. One of the men told me subsequently that 

 they lost sixty dollars on the venture, notwithstanding their 

 ducks arriving in good condition, and struck the market at 

 the best possible time — a week before Christmas. I will take 

 pleasure in furnishing more extended information to anyone 

 who will drop me a line and express a desire for it . Dago. 



VicTOKiA, Tex., Oct. 20. 



WIRE CARTRIDGES. 



Editor Forest a?td Stream: 



In your issue of Oct, 1 "N." wants to know whether the 

 use of wire cartridges will injure his gun. "C. A. E." in 

 reply, Oct. 8, says they will, and "Accomac," in same issue, 

 rather indorses that opinion of "N.'s" gunsmith. Tome, 

 this is very amusing. I have used the wire cartridge ever 

 since I have done any shooting, and used them extensively, 

 too, when in pursuit of the larger game especially, if ex- 

 tremely wild and difficult of approach, when long shots 

 were a necessity. Most of the time 1 used a muzzleloading 

 double gun of 11-bore, hut 1 have shot the cartridges from 

 my breechloader cyUnder barrels. I never observed the least 

 injury or any undue wear on the gun; the notion that injury 

 would result is all hosh. How a charge of shot, packed in 

 soft bonedust and inclosed in a soft copper wire case, could 

 injure a gun barrel is a question that would puzzle ^'N.'s" 

 gunsroith or anybody else to solve. 



I will admit that it will not do to use a wire caitridge, a 

 thread- wound cartridge, or, in fact, any prepared shot 

 cartridge in a "fuU choke" gun, for the shooting, instead of 

 being improved thereby, will be actually ruined, both in 

 force and pattern; and the reason of this is obvious, for the 

 shot cartridge, the instant it is put in motion by the powder, 

 is "jumped up," as it were, to the full size of the barrel at 

 the chamber; upon reaching the "choke," where the barrel 

 is smallest, it must of necessity, if T may use the term, be 

 jumped back again, or elongated and reduced in diameter 

 sufflcieuily to pass the "choke." This imdue force at the 

 muzzle is apt nearly every time to tear the cartridge asunder 

 and utterly destroy its efficiency, 



In a cyhnder-borcd gun the wire cartridge performs ad- 

 mirably. It is more certain and effective in its delivery than 

 any other shot cartridge 1 know of, and I have tried most of 

 them ; one can make long-range shots where a loose charge 

 wouki be fruitlessly thrown away. Backwoods. 



West Virsinia.. 



MINNESOTA GAME NOTES, 



A STRANGER, ^ leaving the train at Swanville and 

 driving to this village (two miles) might easily imagine 

 that two immense armies confronted each other and a lively 

 skirmish was going on. Crack! bang! sound rifle and gun 

 from every stream, lake, slough, valley and hillside. Every 

 man carries a gun of some description, and every dog with 

 life enough to bark or "tree" anything is in active demand. 

 Notwithstanding the wholesale slaughter of the past two 

 years, ruffed grouse are even unusually plenty. Yesterday 

 L. La Rue, with a singlebarreled muzzleloading gun, 

 bagged twenty five, Henry Alcshire fifteen, and from ten to 

 twenty in an afternoon are only considered fair sport. 



Rice Lake and Big Swan are teeming with ducks, prin- 

 cipally mallards. The wild rice crop is the largest we have 

 had for many years, and birds are found in prinie condition. 



Lumbermen and others who have been back into the woods 

 report having seen many deer and lots of "sign." 



Some ten or twelve bears have been killed in this county 

 within the past month, and almost every day brings the re- 

 port of one having been seen here or there."^ Last week I 

 was in high glee, a report having been brought in that a 

 young man named Ireland, while out after the cows, had 

 been attacked by a bear and sustained a fracture of one arm 

 and other injuries. Of course I was sorry for the young 

 man, but then I'd been w^aiting twenty years for an authen- 

 tic instance of a black bear wantonly '"'pitching into" a man, 

 and of course felt elated that the hour had arrived when my 

 doubts would be removed and the ferocity of the beast fully 

 established. I waited in suspense for the messenger to ar- 

 rive—he was said to be on the way — who would summon 

 me to afford surgical relief to the sufferer. No messenger 

 aiTived until the day following, and then the terrible catas- 

 trophe was narrowed down to the fact that Ireland's dog 

 had had a fight with some animal, name and antecedents 

 unknown. 



Small fur-bearing animals are plenty, and I notice that 

 the sagacious muskrats are building four-story houses; so of 

 course we are in for an open winter and floods of water. 



The weather is simply delightful, and X wish all Eastern 

 readers of the grand old Poeest axb Stkeam could have a 

 week's shooting in Minnesota. J. Frank Lockm. 



PiLLSBUBY, Minn., Oct. 14. 



SIDE-HUNTS. 



THE annual side-hunt of the Lowell (Mass. )"! Rod and 

 Gun Club was participated in by twenty -seven mem- 

 bers. The game was counted as follows: Deer oOO, eagle 

 300, coon 150, fox 150, mink 150, duck 100, snipe 35, hawk 

 35, blucjay 5, ringneck 10, rabbit 50. red squirrel 5, porcu- 

 pine 50, muskrat 10, partridge 100, woodcock 100, quail 100, 

 plover 100, yellowleg 100, wild pigeon 50, crow 35, owl 25, 

 sandpiper 5, hare 50, gray squirrel 50, woodchuck 35, 

 weasel 10, fresh water fish or eels, per pound, 25. The 

 agreement was that the hunt should begin at 12 o'clock 

 Wednesday night and continue imtil 13 o'clock Friday night, 

 all the fish and game to be counted that should be delivered 

 at 7 '80 Saturday night, when the count began. The hunters 

 were not restricted as to territory, and some of them went 

 up into New Hampshire as usual, and others down into 

 Maine, while the hunting places in the woods around Lowell 

 were thoroughly scoured. The contest was won by the 

 Wheeler team, score 31,383 points, the Frost team securing 

 22,903 points. The latter lost a great many points by the 

 faihu-e of five members to deliver their game before 7:30, 

 The person into whose charge it was given misunderstood 

 his instructions. However, the loss by this mistake was not 

 enough to overbalance the score of the Wheeler side, if it 

 had been counted. The game captured was as follows: 

 Fox, 1; coons, 6; gray squirrels, 191; red squirrels, 180; 

 labbits. 36; hare, 1; woodchuck,!; hedgehogs, 3; musk- 

 rats, 110; woodcock, 14; quail, 47; plover, 3; yellowlesrs, 

 2; ducks, 151; snipe, 3; crows, 38; hawks, 7; bhiejays, 87; 

 sandpipers, 11; ringnecks, 1; fish, 319 pounds. The fisher- 

 men who were notably successful were Frank H. Harris and 

 J, F, Hayes, who secured a 35 pound string of pickerel, 

 some of them weighing 2^ pounds each; Peter Corcoran, 

 who also caught a fine string of pickerel, and George A. 

 Marden, who brought in a string of twelve bass which 

 weighed 26 pounds, the largest turning the scale at 4i 

 pounds. His pickerel, perch and other fish brought the 

 score up to almost 1,400. 



Wheeler's side.— Morrison and Sawtelle — 31 red squirrels, 

 73 grays, 3 partridges, 7 bluejays, Score 4,140, A. Crowell 

 — 1 crow, 4 bluejays, 9 red squirrels, 4 grays, 3 partridges, 

 590. Geo. A. Marden (fish)— 13 black bass (weight 36 

 pounds) 9 pickerel, and perch, etc., total score 55| pounds, 

 1,393. Charles Runels— 1 hawk, 24 crows, 8 red squirrels, 

 ]1 grays, 1 partridge, 8 bluejays, 1,355. H. E. Hartford— 

 1 partridge, 1 hawk, 4 bluejays, 6 reds, 1 gray, 1 plover, 

 335. Peter Corcoran— 28 pounds fish, 1 gray squirrel, 5 

 rabbits, 950. F. E. Putnam— 3 red squirrels, 3 partridges, 

 315. W. H. Hope— 11 gray squirrels, 1 red, 5 rabbits, 1 

 partridge, 7 bluejays, 940. S. 0, Smith— 5 gray squirrels, 

 1 red, 255, Partridge and Young— 4 partridges, 3 red squir- 

 rels, 3 grays, 1 rabbit, 1 bluejay, 615. F. S. Berry— 3 

 hawks, 1 woodcock, 3 quail, 1 bluejay. 8 red squirrels, 395. 

 Henry Boynton— 4 partridges, 8 quail, 1 hawk, 2 bluejays, 

 1,335, Sargent and Gay— 7 partridges, 7 grays, 1 black 

 duck, I muskrat, 1,160, L. A. Derby, S. H, Jones, Charles 

 Wheeler, J. A. Faulkner, W, H, Burton, J. G. Favor, W. 

 H. Bagshaw, N. Brown, George Moore— 8 partridges, 11 

 gray squirrels, 7 reds, 26 quail, 1 snipe, 2 woodcock, 1 sand- 

 piper, 3 rabbits, 136 ducks, 17,916. 



Frost's Ride.— Hartf(»rd and Derby— 83f pounds of fish, 3 

 ducks, 3 partridges, 4 bluejays, 3 crows, 36 red squirrels, 10 

 gi-ays, 3,358. Hayes and Harris— 31 pounds of fish. 34 red 

 squh-rels, 3 grays, 10 rabbits, 6 partridges, 3 ducks, 1 wood- 

 cock, 11 bluejays, 1 crow, 1 woodchuck, 3,550. F. H. 

 Parker— 33 pounds fish, 4 red squirrels, 11 grays. 2 part- 

 ridges, 1 crow. 1,346. C, F. Foss— 4 red squirrels, 5 grays, 

 4 bluejays, 6 woodcock, 5 partridges, 1 rabbit, 1 crow, 1,465. 

 E. Whitman— 4 red squirrels, 10 grays, 5.0. J. H. Jovce— ■ 

 16 red squirrels, 10 grays, 5 l)luejays, 2 snipe, 1 plover, 1 

 partridge, 855. Richardson andj Smith— 5 red squirrels, 10 

 bluejays, 4 partridges, 1 hare. 1 hedgehog, 575. G. C, Bates 

 —1 muskrat, 13 bluejays, 39 red squirrels, 8 grays, 1 yellow- 

 leg, 1 rabbit, 1 sandpiper, LO partridges, 6 crows, 2 hedge- 

 hogs, 1 fox, 2,170. Downs and Varnum— 4 sandpipers, 1 

 bluejay, 1 red squirrel, 1 gray, 7 partridges, 1 duck. 1 yel- 

 lowleg. 6 quail, 1,580. A. ,). Derby— 5 partridges, 6 quail, 

 1 gray squirrel. 3 reds, 1 rabbit, 1 bluejay, 1,315. Frost and 

 Morrill— 4 rabbits, 31 partridges, 5 ducks,' 1 ringneck, 5 sand- 

 pipers, 1 bluejay, 3,840. S, Farrington— 15 red squirrels, 4 

 grays, 1 rabbit, 1 partridge, 1 crow, 4 bluejays, 479. M, J, 

 Brown— 1 red squirrel, 1 bluejay, 3 rabbits, 3 partridges, 1 



hawk. 335. Stiles and Owen— 7 red squirrels, 7 grays. 3 

 rabbits. 3 bluejays, 1 hawk, 9 partridges, 1.435, E. B. Co- 

 nant— 4 woodcock, 400. Stevens and Runels— 6 coons, 900. 



Worcester, Mass., Oct. 23,— The following are the re- 

 sults of the annual hunt yesterday by the members of the 

 Sportsmen s Club of this city: 



Capt A H. Perry.— W. S. Perry, 5 partridges, 1 wood- 

 cock; E. fo. Knowles and G. J. Rugg, 2 partridges, 1 wood- 

 cock; A. H. Perry, 1 partridge, 5 woodcock; W. L. Shep- 

 ard 3 quail, 1 woodcock; R. L. Golbert, 8 partridges; M. 

 A. Lmfield, 7 partridges: W. H, Cole, 3 partridges; J. F. 

 Davenport, 5 partridges; B, Mann, 9 partridges, 1 rabbit; 

 A. B, F, Kinney, 1 fox, 4 partridges, 1 woodcock; D, S. 

 Jackson, 9 partridges, 1 woodcock, 3 rabbits, 1 gray squirrel ; 

 M. D. Gilman, 3 partridges, 1 gray squirrel ; R. J. Healey, 5 

 partridges, 2 woodcock; V, Sheldon, 13 partridiies. 3 wood- 

 cock; A. O. Benoit, 4 woodcock, 3 partridges; F. A, Knowl- 

 ton, 3 partridges; E. E. Frost, H, B, Verry and W. G. 

 Strong, 7partridnes, 3 woodcock; E. W. Sweet, claim by 

 telegraph, 8 partridges; W. L. Davis, claim by telegraph, 

 score of 680. 



Capt. J. A. Titus.— L. J. White, 3 quail; Alzirus Brown, 

 4 partridges, 1 gray squirrel; E. T. Smith, H. M. Quimby 

 and C, B. Holden; 8 partridges, 3 woodcock, 1 rabbit; L. 

 E. Divoli and W, Thayer, 4 partridges, 3 woodcock; J. A. 

 Titus, 3 partridges, 1 quail, 1 woodcock. 



The total amount of game brought in was 101 partridges, 

 20 woodcock, 5 quail, 5 rabbits, 3 gray squirrels, Ifox, lowl. 



ANOTHER DAY WITH THE SQUIRRELS. 



ON the morning of Sept. 4 three boys of the old school 

 (one of them being past seventy years of age) might 

 have been seen starting out on a squirrel hunt. Two of 

 them carried rifles, while the eldest one was armed with a 

 stout cane. Uncle John was so highly elated over our 

 success with the ducks the day before that he concluded to 

 take another holiday and let the "crops" take care of them- 

 selves. _ During the tramp to the "oak lot," as Uncle John 

 called it, the conversation turned upon sharpshooting with 

 rifles, upon ancient and modern arms, etc. He said that in 

 his younger days he had practiced oft-hand Avith his rifle at 

 a burning candle (the purpose being to enable him to shoot 

 at the eyes of wild animals at night in "fire hunting") and 

 had snuffed the candle three times out of five at thirty yards 

 with the old muzzleloading rifle and globe bullet. Also he 

 informed us that he had "driven the nail, shot after shot, 

 when in practice, while barking off' squirrels was an every- 

 day affair," "Yes," he said, "old men are always telling 

 what they did when they were young, but I believe that I 

 could shoot now if my eyes were all right so that the sights 

 on the rifle would look plain to me, but it is of no use, my 

 rifle shooting days are over." I mentally made a note of his 

 remarks, for knowing that the Lyman sight is just the thing 

 for "old eyes," I determined to get the old man at it in com- 

 petition with Jack before night. 



We turned into a pasture where there were a few oak trees 

 growing alongside of the wah, and upon nearing one Jack 

 signaled us to stop. He raised his repeater, and as he did 

 so I saw a large gray squirrel crouched upon a limb about 

 fifteen feet from the ground. The bullet struck the limb, 

 but struck it too low, and although it knocked the squirrel 

 off on to the ground, he quickly ran up the tree again and 

 mysteriously disappeared. We looked the tree all over as 

 well as we could from the ground, but could see nothing of 

 him. "Gone into a hole," suggested Uncle John; "climb 

 the tree and punch it. " Jack was soon up the tree and found 

 the hollow where the squirrel had hidden, "Give me one 

 of those long sprouts from that apple tree," said he, and as 

 soon as he ran that into the hole the squirrel started for the 

 ground. Uncle John shied his cane at him and shouted to 

 me _ to "take after him" and drive him up the next tree, 

 which was some forty yards fmlher down the wall, I 

 started after him as fast as I could run ; but being rather 

 corpulent I presume that I did not make a very 

 graceful appearance. "Whoop-la, whoop-pee!" yelled 

 Jack, "go it, Maud S.; bet you a dollar that you 

 don't tree him." About twenty-five yards down the 

 hill another stone wall with a rail for a top rider ran at 

 almost right angles, and for some unaccountable reason, the 

 squirrel turned and ran along the top of those rails. 'This 

 maneuver was too much for Uncle John to witness and stand 

 around with his hands in his pockets, for promptly catching 

 up my muzzleloader, and taking aim at him^on the run he 

 fired and the squirrel came to the ground shot through the 

 hips and scrambled into the wall, but we soon had him out 

 and in the game pocket. The old man was excited over his 

 shot and said that my sights were the best for quick shoot- 

 ing that he ever saw. John said he wanted Uncle John 

 and I to run a race of 100 yards, and he would ' 'bet five 

 dollars on Uncle John." The old gentleman declined with 

 thanks, however. "Jack," I said, "I propose that after 

 lunch you and Uncle John shoot twenty paces at acorns 

 stuck upon the end of a stick and the acorn to be fairly 

 struck or not to count. Uncle John may use my gun and 

 we will again test the old muzzleloader against the modern 

 breechloading repeater for accuracy. If you. win I will pay 

 for that box of cigars at Smith's, and if he wins you may 

 have the same privilege." "All right," said he, "it's a bar- 

 gain, ten shots each and use a rest over the lower fence rail," 

 As the day was warm we did not get out of the shade 

 much, but kept in the woods. Jack killed two gray squir- 

 rels, while I succeeded in getting one and clipping off the 

 head of a ruffed grouse. Uncle J. used my rifle on several 

 red squirrels and chipmunks, and the execution that he per- 

 formed upon them clearly foretold the result of the acorn 

 match. We were passing through an orchard when Jack 

 discovered two hedgehogs up in a sweet apple tree. He went 

 to work on them with stones, but they seemed to enjoy the 

 sport as much as he did, and the stones bounded from them 

 like a rubber ball, but after a while a stone struck one of 

 them in the head and down he tumbled, while Uncle J. fin- 

 ished him with his cane. "Now," said LTncle J., "let's see 

 you shoot the other one. Do not hit his head and you wiU 

 have a target the rest of the day," Crack went Jack's rifle; 

 ker-klut uk went the lever — bang goes the gun again, and 

 five bullets were used before he was dislodged from the tree, 

 and again Uncle John's cane was used to finish him with. 

 They are the most disgusting animal to look at that I ever saw. 



After a lunch which we enjoyed with keen appetite we 

 found a suitable place for a rest, and the shooting at the 

 acorns began. Uncle J, hit eight of them fairly, one cut off 

 the stick below the acorn, and one missed it. Jack hit five 

 fairly, cut the stick three times, and missed twice, the bul- 

 lets making a good Une but going over. Thus ended the 

 shooting, part of one of the most successful as well aa one of 

 the most enjoyable outings that I ever enjoyed in my life. 



