July G, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



7 



was used to such sights, so of course my nerves -were not 

 unauly affected. Carefully I raised my rifle and sighted 

 along the barrel. The next moment another monarch of 

 the woods would fall to my unerring aim. But no. Just 

 as I was about to pull the trigger he vanished. Ab, he 

 saw me, cunning old fellow I Chagrined, I picked up 

 my traps and started to get his track, for there was a fine 

 covering of snow that had recently fallen, but no track 

 could I find. Persevering in the search, I began walking 

 in a circle, enlarging the same as I proceeded, but all in 

 vain. What does it mean? thought I, and while won- 

 dering the old wizard popped into my mind. But I ban- 

 ished the thought and went for more game. I had not 

 gone far when just before me rose another fine deer. 

 His broadside was toward me, and a fine rnaxk he was, I 

 got a shot and brought him to his haunches, but he ral- 

 lied and ran, apparently badly wounded. Wondering 

 that I did not kill him instantly, I loaded and started to 

 trace him by his tracks and blood. But neither tracks 

 nor blood could I find. I adopted my circuit dodge, but 

 without success. There, Nelson, that is what happened 

 to me. I can't say what it was — you may call it witch- 

 craft or optical illusion, just as you see fit." 



N. D. Elting. 

 Central City, W. Va. 



CALIBER FOR BIG GAME SHOOTING. 



In general terms the best caliber would be described as 

 the one that with accuracy and a fairly flat trajectory 

 would combine good killing and stopping power. Or, in 

 other words, a projectile that would have sufficient pene- 

 tration to inflict a mortal wound and whose area of im- 

 pact would be large enough to cause sufficient shock to 

 stop an animal, whether running deer or charging bear. 

 Men become wedded to the old, and new things come 

 strangely to them. Sportsmen are very conservative, as 

 far as their armament is concerned ; and each one is apt 

 to uphold the thing which has brought him success. So 

 that the armament of the American sportsman, both as 

 regards weapons and projectiles, does not cover a few 

 years, but many. In this large western country we find 

 many of the old men clinging to the "old reliable" Sharp's 

 with its great weight of metal, or the '73 Winchester, and 

 they look with doubt— not to say suspicion — on the lock- 

 ing bolts and safer action of the '86 model. One old fel- 

 low will tell you: "I killed 84 elk in one day with that 

 ere old gun, and I reckon she's good enough for purty 

 much any killin' I want to do." 



Early in my professional career I saw a case that im- 

 pressed the question of calibers very forcibly upon me. 

 A man shot another man through the left lung just above 

 the heart with a .22cal. pistol. The man who was shot 

 took the pistol from the other and beat him over the 

 head with the butt of it so hard that he fractured his 

 skull. Then he walked home and four days later died of 

 pneumonia caused by the bullet. The cases where hunters 

 have been killed by dying bear are numerous enough. 



Ij have always been in favor of large calibers for big 

 game. Nearly all of my shooting at big game has been 

 done with the .50-110 Winchester with the 300grs. ex- 

 plosive ball. The longer I use it the more confidence I 

 have in it. I find it accurate, with a good flat trajectory, 

 dropping say 2in. in 150yds., and above all it stops the 

 game, so that a deer will not run off for miles in the 

 brush or a bear charge several hundred yards with a mor- 

 tal wound. I many times have seen this weapon spoken 

 of as a "cannon" and "inaccurate," and it has seemed to 

 me to be due to ignorance of the gun and its qualities. 



This particular military reservation under a wise system 

 of game protection has more deer on it to-day than any 

 other locality I know of. They are nearly all the Vir- 

 ginia deer, commonly known in this country as the 

 "white-tail" mule deer, and antelope are fairly numerous 

 in the broken country. The antelope are increasing, more 

 particularly since the decline of sheep raising in the im- 

 mediate vicinity. I think, with the exception of the 

 grizzly bear, it is commonly conceded that no animal will 

 carry off more lead or go farther with a killing hit than 

 the white-tail deer. This being true, the great desider- 

 atum in hunting these animals is a weapon with "stop- 

 ping" power. 



Daring this last winter I did a great deal of my hunt- 

 ing with Mr. Harvey Robe, the son of an officer at this 

 post. He is one of the best running-game shots I have 

 ever seen. His experience with me has been a marked 

 one in this point. He shot a .40-82-260 while I shot the 

 .50-110-300express. I recall one day when we were care- 

 fully working a narrow strip of brush about 50yds. apart. 

 A great white-tail buck jumped from cover about 70yds. 

 away and ran off quartering. As quickly as ever I heard 

 a gun shoot, four shots rang out and the buck disappeared 

 in the thick of the brush. We found him dead about 

 100yds. from the point where he was shot. Two of the 

 shots were within 3in. of each other behind the left 

 shoulder ranging forward, and a third shot was higher up 

 near the spine. The two shoulder shots had torn through 

 the heart, one through the junction of the auricles and 

 ventricles, and the other through the auricles, yet that 

 buck had run a 100yds. He had received the worst sort 

 of a killing wound, but the ball had not the stopping 

 power. A few days later, after having hunted without 

 success all morning, at about noon he had a shot at a large 

 ten-point buck. The deer squatted as the gun cracked, 

 ran into the brush some 20yds. and lay down in the 

 densest part of the thicket. On carefully working to the 

 place we found hair, and blood in three large pools, one 

 on each side of the trail and one in the middle, indicating 

 of course a severe lung wound. We trailed that buck for 

 five hours by the blood sign alone and then had to give up 

 on account of darkness. Several times we came near 

 enough to hear his labored breathing. On another even- 

 ing at dusk, when just about able to make out his front 

 sight, he shot another buck. He came into camp while I 

 was irritating the fire into a more vigorous blaze, quite 

 jubilant. 



"Doctor, I just shot a buck with horns so big they 

 looked like a pile of brush on his head." It was too dark 

 to get him, he said, but he had marked, the place and we 

 would get him in the morning. The next morning bright 

 and early we started and gave up after trailing him by his 

 blood for six miles. Harvey was very unhappy over this 

 and I do not blame him. I think if anything can spoil a 

 hunter's pleasure it is to wound game and not to get it. 

 J ust at the time when he should be enjoying the best part 

 of the camping day, when the pipes are lit around the 

 cherry fire, he begins to think of that poor wounded 

 thing lying out in the brush. If he is a human it hurts* 



him and spoils his evening, and he is glad to roll up in his 

 blankets and try to forget it. 



I want to add to this, as a graphic expression of results 

 with the .50-110 Winchester, a deer profile on which I 

 have marked off the shots in my last winter's deer hunt- 

 ing. It is not inserted in any boasting spirit, but is given 

 simply as an accurate record of carefully noted shots. 

 This iB as good average shooting as I have ever done yet; 

 although I know it is my best, it is a long way from being 

 the gun's best. During the winter I fired twenty-six 

 cartridges at deer, making seventeen single hits and one 

 double hit. All these with one exception were running 

 shots, and every deer hit was bagged; making eighteen 

 deer with expenditure of twenty-six cartridges, or one and 

 four-ninths to each deer. The [range varied from 30yds. 

 to 140yds. The average range was about 50yds. The 

 average distance run after being hit was not more than 

 10yds. The double hit was at a young buck standing, 

 the first hit of which is the one plotted at the edge of the 

 neck. The ball cut his throat like a knife. He bounded 

 off and a second shot in the shoulder dropped him. This 

 is a good showing when the circumstances are taken into 

 account. These deer were not hunted in the runways, 

 but were still-hunted in the brush. As said before, all 

 but one were running shots. The post game law limited 

 us to killing bucks and only one a day; so that a man 

 could not take the easiest shots offered, because they 

 were usually does. Many of these deer would never have 

 been brought to bag with a smaller caliber. 



How well the small caliber high velocity guns will do 

 as game guns is an open question. It seems from all ac- 

 counts that it will be a very uneven gun. A hit in a solid 

 organ within the shorter ranges should stop an animal 



26 SHOTS— 17 SINGLE HITS, 1 DOUBLE HIT. 



immediately— that is to say, up to 300 or 400yds., where 

 the bullet exhibits its shattering effect. A shot through 

 the brain, heart, liver or the solid muscular structure of 

 the neck and surrounding the spinal column would cause 

 such extensive comminution as to almost instantly 

 drop the animal from shock. On the other hand, a lung 

 or abdominal wound might not be fatal for hours. I 

 have shot the new Government, rifle, ,30oal., nickel steel 

 jacketed bullet propelled by Peyton powder, giving in 

 round numbers a 2,000ft. per second velocity, at a buck 

 antelope. Tho animal flinched badly at crack of the gun 

 and was manifestly hit. He lagged behind a while, then 

 closed up to the bunch with a rush and scampered with 

 them for miles over the prairie until they disappeared 

 from view. Charles F. Kieeeers, 



1st Lieut, and Ass't Surg. IT. S. A., Fort Buford, N. D. 



THOSE ADIRONDACK DEAD DEER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



When I wrote the letter which you published on June 

 1 containing the facts told me by Robert P. Froelich and 

 William Clark I had no idea that any member of the 

 League would do otherwise than thank me for bringing 

 to their attention the unusual mortality of deer in the 

 Moose River region — things which it appeared and ap- 

 pears they did not know. Much less did I fear that the 

 testimony of my friends would be doubted and character- 

 ized as "tattlers'" tales. But since their words are at 



E resent under a shade I must respect those of a prominent 

 eague man, Mr. W. T. Finch. 



He came out from Moose River, where he had been fish- 

 ing on the day that I sent the letter to the editor, and so 

 I had not heard him speak on this subject at that time. 

 He said when asked about the carcasses of deer found 

 there: "I never saw such a sight in all my life. Why, 

 they lay everywhere." 



Mr. Finch's friend, Wm. Cassler, had the same story of 

 dead deer everywhere, and William Pardy, their guide, 

 said that he had never seen so few signs in that region 

 before, and that seven carcasses lay between the river and 

 the pond hole where young Pell was shot for a deer some 

 years ago. 



Mr. Finch told me that the League constables took the 

 last dog from the lumber camps between Canachagala 

 Lake and Moose River, and that the deer therefore could 

 not have been killed by a lumber camp dog. Any one 

 who knows the average lumberman will say that they are 

 the most reckless of woodsmen. They are of a restive 

 nature, and though they work hard six days in a week, 

 on the seventh work harder yet— or play. In parties of 

 two, three, a dozen, they wander about the logging roads. 

 A deer starts from under a topping and away it flounders. 

 Who has not seen children chase one another through the 

 snow? The lumbermen are as children at times. They 

 chase the deer and a cruel death winds up the sport. 

 Then on they go again. And so deer after deer is slain. 

 The bosses at camp forbid venison or the regular hunter 

 supplies it, so there is no use of carrying the meat to 

 camp. 



"The deer lay everywhere," said Mr. Finch. On the 

 ridges and in the swamps. Some deer left the yards in 

 the thick dark swamps and fled far for their lives, but in 



the end died. In the spring the knife wounds in the 

 throats have rotted away, a pile of dismembered bones 

 and gray hair is all that remains of the deer. 



"Say, ye'd orter hev been thar," said an old-timer. 

 "He wa'n't sech a big buck, we'd killed lots bigger, but 

 ye'd orter heve seen him caper clean tew his ears in the 

 snow every time we'd cut him with a birch whip." That 

 is sport for a lumberman. Suppose now that a deer had 

 had a few such trials during the winter, in the spring 

 would not his hips be weak? Suppose that a doe heated 

 by a wild race for life in zero weather with a troop of 

 lumbermen and at last escaped, then lay down exhausted. 

 I have known men to get diseased lungs and throats even 

 in warm weather for lying down in a draft. 



From the West Canada creek lakes very favorable re- 

 ports are coming as to the number of deer. A letter from 

 there, less than two weeks old, said: "There are lots of 

 deer here. We haven't got anything here but an old shot- 

 gun and we loaded that with nails." The letter came to 

 North wood direct from the camps I think about nine days 

 ago, but it may have been written a week or so before it 

 was mailed. 



That the deer are so plenty there and so few over on 

 Moose River is taken as evidence by some that the deer 

 were so persecuted in the river region that they fled to the 

 Canada creek lakes, near where the arrest of two deer 

 killers as told in the Forest and Stream last spring bad 

 made the lumbermen cautious. 



"There is reason to believe that both the hunting and 

 fishing will be bettered by the scientific lumbering which 

 this club has specified and secured," said Mr.W. H. Board- 

 man in Forest and Stream of June 29. Mr. Finch will 

 take the stand again. 



"Two years ago I alone caught more than enough trout 

 to supply camp, but it took hard work for three of us to 

 get sufficient to eat from Moose River this trip," were the 

 things that he said to-night in the store, being just out 

 to-day from his camp on Moose River. He saw one deer 

 on this trip and his camp is on Canachagala stillwater. 

 He laid the scarcity of trout to the lumbermen who are 

 now culling out the spruce from about his camp. 



If I remember correctly, and if Mr. Wm. Light also re- 

 members correctly, the League does not forbid camping 

 on or crossing League lands, but the signs say that hunt- 

 ing and fishing it prohibited on those lands. By the re- 

 cent decision of a Utica court, Moose River and its tribu- 

 taries are a public highway, for State moneys have gone 

 to opening up the rocks, etc., that the logs might go 

 through, and also that it is a public highway to high 

 water mark. When Mr. Froelich and Mr. Clark were at 

 Moose River it would have taken better fly-casters than 

 they to have reached the river's water from League lands 

 with their casts. 



The indignation of the woodsmen against the Adiron- 

 dack League is increasing, It is even believed that so many 

 deer died because some aggrieved one dropped heaps of 

 poisoned salt about. Others would not in the least be 

 surprised to learn that the dried spruce tops along Moose 

 River had been fired and the region burned over. I have 

 heard that talked of, and some of the men are capable of 

 doing it. 



I am sorry that the meaning of my previous letter 

 may have been misconstrued. I said at the end of my 

 last letter: "It is earnestly recommended that the 

 Adirondack League take steps to see that such slaughter 

 does not again take place on their territory." I sincerely 

 meant what I wrote then and I mean the same still. I 

 cannot believe that deer are increasing on League terri- 

 tory as a whole, nor in the Adirondacks. A strange 

 disease carried off all the deer along the Tug River be- 

 tween Kentucky and West Virginia about the time the 

 Hatfield-Macoy feud broke out there, years ago. Maybe 

 such another disease has come to this region and is about 

 to devastate it because men cannot agree. 



Raymond S. Spears. 



Northwood, N. Y., June 30. 



In the Old Days. 



"Jacobstaff s" letter was, as you suggest, the best read- 

 ing for a fortnight. I well remember the old bored out 

 rifle, with its long birds-eye maple stock and trap trim- 

 mings, which was the first percussion "shotgun" I ever 

 used. I had begun with a fint-lock, but a neighboring 

 blacksmith, a great friend of my boyish days, who was 

 the terror of the country at the annual turkey shoots, 

 lent me a rifle from which, it not suiting him, he had 

 bored out the lands. 



It could not have been over .50 caliber, and as, like all 

 small boys, I believed in big shot, I used No. 4, and conse- 

 quently had very few in the regulation charge of a finger, 

 and though the gun carried true and close, its killing was 

 problematical. 



I remember one foggy October morning, when a com- 

 panion and I treed four gray squirrels in an isolated oak, 

 in a newly cleared cornfield. He had an excellent fowling 

 piece, made by Pratt, of Roxbury, a local maker of celebrity 

 in those days, a 12 or 14 gauge, as I should think now. He 

 secured his brace of squirrels, though having only one 

 barrel he had to reload between shots ; but mine both got 

 away in safety to the woods. 



After that I either fell back on the old flint-lock, or 

 used a little "Windsor rifle," which was made in our 

 immediate vicinity, and with which I was moderately 

 successful. My only trouble with this was, that the lock 

 being under the barrel, the caps were apt to drop off 

 unless they were a perfect fit, and thus cause an occasional 

 misfire, the. dull "click" of which, when I had a good aim, 

 was fearfully aggravating. 



I could match " Jacobstaff 's" experiences almost word 

 for word, all the way through, and you may believe I 

 enjoyed them. Von" W. 



"Jacobstaff" writes that the readers of his reminiscences 

 in our issue of June 22 might infer that be was still using 

 the Manton given to him in the '60s. That arm was laid 

 by years and years ago for a Scott. 



f REPORT YOUR LUCK j 



With Rod or Gun 

 j To FOREST AND STREAM, | 

 New York City. 



