228 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 14, 1895. 



GAME SHOOTING RANGE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The question of what is the limit of distance at which 

 large game should be shot at depends almost wholly, I 

 think, on the rifle and the man using it. Too many- 

 sportsmen go after big game in a sort of haphazard man- 

 ner, often taking a rifle they have never tested in any 

 way. 



Rifles as a rule shoot accurately, but often the sights get 

 slightly displaced and no one but an expert would notice 

 it unless testing at a target. I once tried a rifle for a 

 companion who had just missed a very easy shot at a 

 deer. The sights of this rifle looked to be in place, but a 

 careful test at 50yds. showed it shot about a foot high and 

 some 15in. to the right. A few moments' work with a 

 hammer and file and it shot where it was held. 



I will give two instances showing how shots which 

 should have been sure were' missed. A couple of years 

 ago I spent two days at a camp ia Maine. There were 

 three men there and we were in a good caribou region, 

 and in spite of deep soft snow and hard traveling I put in 

 all my time looking for game. On the second morning 

 one of the party said he had had enough of such walking 

 and should stay in camp. On the afternoon he went out 

 on the lake near camp to try his snowshoes, taking his 

 rifle. Looking up he saw five caribou quite a distance 

 away coming down the lake; he slipped into the woods 

 behind a fallen spruce and waited. The caribou came 

 straight toward him and stopped within 40yds. Four 

 shots were fired at the bull who was leading, and the man 

 who did the shooting said that caribou never winked. At 

 the fourth shot they all turned and ran up the lake. Now 

 this man wanted badly to kill a caribou and said he would 

 have given $50 to have killed the two largest, and that he 

 never expected to get another such chance. 



Again, when hunting near Dunravenbogin Nova Scotia 

 I was shown where a moose was called up for a sports- 

 man, the bull came readily to the call and was seen quite 

 a distance away coming along the edge of a bog. He 

 came up and stopped broadside to the sportsman in plain 

 sight on the open bog 35yds. away, and was shot at and 

 missed three times. Now, for men who will shoot in this 

 way I should say the proper distance for an absolutely 

 sure shot would be for the animal to stand witbin 3ft. of 

 the muzzle of the rifle. 



I have always been rather particular about the rifle and 

 cartridges I use for large game. I spent over a week's 

 time and a great many cartridges regulating my sights 

 for distances from 50 to 400yds., and have them so marked 

 that I can tell at a glance whether they have become dis- 

 placed, and I have also shot hundreds of cartridges at 

 various objects at different estimated distances. Of course 

 there is a good deal of work in it, but I feel I have been 

 repaid, as I have killed some large game, and so far have 

 not lost a fair shot through lack of knowledge of my 

 rifle. It is a poor time to find there is something wrong 

 with your sights just after you have missed an easy shot 

 at a moose or caribou or deer. 



Your correspondent Tiam, of Nova Scotia, has 

 evidently taken pains to become acquainted with his rifle, 

 and I certainly think he was justified in expecting to kill 

 the moose he speaks of. I would take such a chance; 

 and have faith in my rifle and confidence in my ability 

 to hold it, to think I can kill such shots. Of course I 

 prefer easier shots, and it is better to have a big bull stand- 

 ing still inside of 100yds. I saw six moose which were 

 killed at the following distances: One at 175, one at 220, 

 one at 235, one at 295, and two at between 450 and 500yds. 

 The first four were killed with five shots, the last two 

 had a number of shots fired at each. The men who made 

 the above shots I know personally, and they are all good 

 cool shots and also pretty good judges of distances, °and 

 under such conditions, I think a man stands a pretty 

 good chance at such shots as the one described by Tiam. 

 There have been times when I felt like taking any sort of 

 a chance. Tramping day after day when still-hunting and 

 failing to even find signs of the game I was after, or 

 lying out night after night when calling moose, has a 

 great tendency to break resolutions made before starting 

 on the hunting trip. 



If a man really means to bind himself to shoot only 

 when he is absolutely sure, my advice to him is not to go 

 moose hunting. Stay at home and talk about what you 

 would do— it is much easier. C. M. Stake. 



Dumbarton, N. H. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE GUN AND GAME. 



Nashua, N. H., Sept. 6.— The safety of nitro powders 

 is an important subject to any sportsman using it. I have 

 used nitro powders for a number of years with excellent 

 results, the only advantage, though (to my mind), being 

 the absence of smoke — an enormous advantage when 

 shooting in the brush or in the open on a damp day. My 

 charge is 2£drs. With 3drs. there is a perceptible recoil 

 or jump to the gun, and I cannot see that either penetra- 

 tion or pattern is improved by the extra idr. While I 

 occasionally hear rumors of accidents with nitro powders 

 I have no personal knowledge of any, and if a number 

 have happened with properly loaded cartridges and well- 

 made guns, I should feel inclined to return to "soft coal" 

 and avoid all danger. It would not surprise me much, 

 though, to hea£ of one or two 'most any day — one of them 

 being a gentleman whom I met on the tram recently, and 

 who blandly informed me that he thought "3£drs. of 

 nitro about right |pr woodcock" in a low-priced gun. 



I have never heard of partridge (ruffed grouse) being 

 as plenty as this year; reports of large coveys came from 

 all parts of the State and our sportsmen are eagerly looking 

 forward to the 15th, when the season opens. 



Our last Legislature changed the date from the 1st to 

 the 15th on partridges and woodcock (a most excellent 

 change I think), but in doing so they left the law oh 

 squirrels and rabbits as at present, Sept. 1. The result is a 

 "hash," and I have no doubt many birds have been killed 

 by so-caMed rabbit hunters already. I believe in a uniform 

 game law for this State, so that a man in the woods may 

 legally kill anything that runs or flies after the season 

 opens. Personally 1 prefer the 15th, but should rather see 

 it the 1st than the way it is now. 



On deer it seems to me our legislators made a bad 

 break. They not only abolished hounding (a good move), 

 but they cut the season off Nov. 15, thus putting a stop to 

 the best of the stiM-hunting, as the snow does not arrive 

 till Nov. 1 or thereabouts. And Y believe the result will 

 be a great many deer killed out of season. 



On a recent visit to Coos county I met and talked with 



a number of guides and residents who are largely depend- 

 ent on visiting sportsmen for their ready money, and the 

 feeling toward the new law (from what I heard) is 

 decidedly hostile. With the open season extending to Jan. 

 1, which seems to be eminently proper, then some 

 residents would feel more like aiding an enforcement of 

 the law than they do at present. There are plenty of deer 

 in New Hampshire and I cannot understand why the best 

 part of the season for still-hunting is cut off. However, 

 deer dotn't interest me much. A good steady pointer, a 

 good friend to enjoy the sport, and a dozen partridges 

 and woodcock at the end of the day, that is enough for 

 me. 



By the way, why can't Dr. Robt. T. Morris tell us a little 

 more of his experiences shooting ruffed grouse? I remem- 

 ber an article by him which appeared (in Forkst and 

 Stream) about three years ago. It was one of the best 

 descriptions I ever read. Though, as I am a little bit 

 "daft" on the grouse question, perhaps I am not a quali- 

 fied judge. B. 



MAINE GAME AND FISH. 



Boston, Sept. 4. — The reports concerning partridge, or 

 ruffed grouse, in the Maine and New Hampshire woods 

 have not been better for years. A prominent lumberman 

 in Boston, Mr. O. H. Smith, with mills at Bartlett, New 

 Hampshire, says that he has had a man or two in the woods 

 exploring for lumber nearly all summer. Theee men say 

 that they do not remember having seen as many par- 

 tridges. Mr. Smith is himself a lover of the rifle, and will 

 try the birds, if time permits. An Upton, Maine, guide 

 writes a Boston merchant, who is very found of partridge 

 shooting in that State, that the birds are unusually plenty 

 in his vicinity. This is probably no "guide's story," for 

 he is a guide that can and will tell the truth. J. A. 

 French, of Andover, Me., writes me that partridges are 

 more plenty than usual, and as for deer they are fre- 

 quently seen feeding in the fields, and are far more 

 abundant than last year even. 



Fish Commissioner Henry O. Stanley was in Boston the 

 other day. He believes that the shooting season in his 

 State cannot be otherwise tnan a prosperous one. The 

 Commissioners, with their men, have been in the woods 

 and the wooded section a good ddal, attending to the pro- 

 tection and propagation of fish and game, and it is Mr. 

 Stanley's opinion that partridges are unusually plenty in 

 nearly all parts of the State. But the gunners must re- 

 member that the legal shooting season for these birds does 

 not begin till Sept. 20 instead of the 1st, as under the old 

 law. But the open season on woodcock and ducks begins 

 on the 1st of the month. Deer Mr. Stanley finds to be 

 most remarkably plentiful. The Commissioners have 

 lately made a trip up the river from Parmachenee Lake 

 to Little Parmachenee. They went up with the view of 

 giving a hearing under a petition for closing thiB river to 

 trout fishing and making it a better breeding place for 

 trout. On the way, six miles on the river, fifteen deer, 

 by actual count, were seen. In other sections, where the 

 Commissioners have been, they are also remarkably plen- 

 tiful. Mr. Stanley freely expresses the opinion that there 

 are twice as many deer in Maine as last year, when, it 

 will be remembered, they were most remarkably 

 plenty. It is something of a surprise to him, this in- 

 crease in deer, and yet a matter of a good deal of satis- 

 faction. He well remembers fifty years ago, when, with 

 his father, he made a trip to the Rangeleys, fishing and 

 hunting, they saw several moose— in fact shot a big 

 moose. But not a deer did they see; not even the tracks 

 of deer to any extent, Mr. Stanley laughingly remarks 

 that there are more deer in Maine than sheep, and fur- 

 ther adds that a deer is worth as much to the people of 

 the State as a sheep for food, and a great deal more to 

 draw the patronage of sportsmen. There are deer in al- 

 most every town in Maine. 



At the State Fair in Lewiston, Me., this week, the State 

 Commissioners of Fisheries and Game will make an 

 exhibit of the native fish of the State, from the State's 

 own hatcheries. The exhibit will be in glass cases, the 

 same as the World's Fair exhibit at Chicago, in which the 

 Forest and Stream took so much interest. Some very 

 remarkable features will be shown, illustrating the 

 growth and propagation of fish. A very large salmon 

 will be shown, raised in the hatcheries at Lake Auburn. 

 Trout of several sizes will also be shown, both native and 

 foreign. Their growth will be made a particular feature. 



Sept. 6.— Monday, Sept. 2, was another legal holiday in 

 Massachusetts— Labor Day. The gunners generally took 

 to the seashore with gun in hand. The day was fine, but 

 the universal report was: "Very few birds, all along the 

 coast." At Biddeford pool the gunners got few birds, 

 At Plum Island and Castle Island there were a number of 

 gunners, but they got no summer yellow-legs. Harry 

 Powers says that there was considerable shooting going 

 on over on the other side of the island from where his 

 stand is located, but he has since learned that they were 

 getting peep only. L. W. DePass was down to Marshfield 

 andCictuatefor*the day, and he seems to have had better 

 success than most. He got about twenty birds in all— a 

 number of yellow-legs and several grass birds. But even 

 he reports the shooting bad. He says that he should have 

 taken 75 to 100 birds. The Plummers, of the leather 

 trade, were down on the Cape at a favorite shooting 

 ground, but they got very few birds. The theory 

 advanced by almost all is that a big storm is needed to 

 drive the birds inshore. 



I saw a gentleman yesterday just in from a trip among 

 the farmers in New Hampshire buying produce. He says 

 that he left the train at Gorham, and looking back a few 

 rods down the track, he with others saw a deer quietly 

 feeding not far from the iron, though the train had just 

 passed. He talked with the farmers in that section and 

 from there on to Colebrook. They all claimed that the 

 deer have been so numerous as to destroy their oats and 

 their beans. One farmer declares that he had a half 

 acre of peas entirely destroyed. They came in at night. 

 He says that the law protects the deer and he is°not 

 allowed to protect his crops. He thinks that the State 

 should be responsible for his peas— another argument for 

 downing the game laws. A gentleman well posted in 

 farming in the back New England towns remarked that 

 with ten bushels of oats, five bushels of peas and a barrel 

 of beans be would guarantee to pay for every honest and 

 actual loss the farmers of Maine and New Hampshire 

 have sustained this year from deer. 



Mr. Gardner Chapin, with his son of fourteen, will 

 start for Aroostook county, Me. , this week. They will try 

 ._e fishing at several points along the Aroostook Railroad 



and after the 20th the boy will use his shotgun on what- 

 ever partridges he can find. A year or more ago his 

 father made him a Christmas present of a breechloading 

 shotgun, and the boy has been "wild" to use it on actual 

 game ever since. They will make an extended trip from 

 Maine into New Brunswick, and it is likely that the boy 

 will get such a taste of actual gunning as will make him 

 a thorough convert. 



A private letter from Lewiston, Me., informs me that 

 the fisheries exhibit at the State Fair, now in session in 

 that town, is attracting more attention than was expected 

 even, The exhibit is under the direction of the Commis- 

 sioners, and directly managed by Superintendent Merrill, 

 of the Lake Auburn hatcheries. There are ten large 

 tanks, showing trout and salmon of all sizes, from the little 

 fish of a few months old up to a salmon that is over 2ft. in 

 length. Special. 



IN SOUTH FLORIDA. 



Fort Meade, Fla., Aug. 31.— One of our farmers within 

 the town limits has just reported a fine bunch of young 

 turkeys feeding daily in his field, and it arouses my en- 

 thusiasm so that, as I cannot shoot them yet, I want to 

 let off steam through the safety valve of my pencil. 



Last year fourteen wild turkeys were killed within our 

 town limits (which on the east side are bounded by the 

 Peace River) by Nov. 14, whereas the season opens only 

 Nov. 1; but I happen to know that eight of them were 

 killed before the season opened, and if the same thing 

 occurs this year I think it likely that the town and 

 county treasuries will be the richer, as we have a few 

 genuine sportsmen, who are waking up to the necessity 

 of observing the seasons, even in south Florida, and the 

 formation of a sportsmen's protective association is being 

 seriously talked of. 



Our fishing has been remarkably good this spring and 

 summer, both in the streams and lakes, and very fine 

 catches have been the rule. One party caught seventy- 

 eight black bass (locally called trout) in Crooked Lake in 

 fifty minutes, none under lilbs., mostly from 2 to 4lbs., 

 and a few as high as lOlbs. in weight. 



Our outlook for quail this year is fine — large coveys and 

 plenty of them reported from every quarter. 



I have lived in England, hunted in Scotland and Ire- 

 land, and once only in France, as well as resided three 

 years in the Northwest, and this eclipses any place I ever 

 saw for hunting and fishing. It strikes me that if some 

 of your readers only knew the actual position here hun- 

 dreds of them would come to the sunny South this winter 

 and help us out. 



Snipe, quail, doves, turkeys, deer, bear are numerous, 

 and all within a day's drive, while those who want 'gator 

 shooting can find plenty of sport. J. Northcott. 



Caliber for Big Game Shooting. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read the article of Lieut. Charles F. Kieffers, 

 Fort Buford, North Dakota, in your issue of July 6, and in 

 justice to the manufacturers of the small caliber rifles 

 would like you to correct the mistaken idea which some 

 people may get through reading the article above referred 

 to, 



Lieut. Kieffers states that in shooting the nickel steel- 

 jacketed. 30cal. bullet;he did not get the killing or stopping 

 power that he did with his large caliber rifle, and I am 

 not at all surprised, for these nickel steel- jacketed bullets 

 are not made for sporting but for military purposes, 

 where the first consideration is great penetration, and it 

 has been proven that with these bullets more men would 

 be disabled than killed, which result is, for obvious rea- 

 sons, desirable in warfare. 



If, however, the part-mantled bullet be used, Lieut. 

 Kieffers would find that it would stop as much if not 

 more than the large caliber, as the protruding soft lead 

 point, on impact with the target, and owing to the im- 

 mense velocity, spreads out (mushrooms), making a wound 

 as large if not larger than a ,45caliber ball, and further- 

 more, he would have a much lighter gun and ammunition 

 to carry on his trip, giving a much greater muzzle veloc- 

 ity and consequently flatter trajectory. A. H. F. 



Pennsylvania Game. 



DixXiIngersville, Pa., Sept. 2.— Grass plover have been 

 very plenty the past month, large bags have been made 

 daily by the local gunners. From the early part of 

 August until within a few days large flocks have been 

 passing over on their way south. The birds are in fine 

 condition. I killed sixteen last week in about two hours, 

 five or six of them were so fat that they burst open on 

 striking the ground. 



To-day the squirrel season opens and as I am writing I 

 can hear the crack of the guns on the neighboring hills. I 

 expect some very good bags will be made, as from all 

 reports they are plenty. 



Quail and rabbits will also be quite plenty for this section 

 of the State. I took a walk with my dogs yesterday 

 although it was the Sabbath, and located two nice coveys 

 within half a mile of the village. There are also a few 

 pheasantsto be had on the Lehigh and Coal Mountains, 

 but I suppose as in other years they soon get to know how 

 far No. 6 shot will shoot and most always give you the 

 benefit of the doubt. Smart bird is Mr. Grouse. 



L. W. M. 



Picking Off Grouse Heads. 



Portland, Ind., Sept. 6.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I suppose I am one of the fellows to whom Dick of Con- 

 necticut refers in this week's Forest and Stream. I have 

 no doubt Dick can clip a grouse's head with a rifle, and I 

 don't see why he should question others' ability to do so. 

 True, it takes quick work if the grouse is slipping away 

 through a thicket of underbrush, for their heads are still 

 scarcely more than a second; but I have picked many a 

 one. In fact, I don't shoot at any other part of the bird, 

 nor with anything but a rifle. 



In northern Michigan, in a thicket near camp one even- 

 ing in October, 1890, I stood on a log and with a .32-20 

 Winchester shot the head off a ruffed grouse that was 

 walking in the brush. At the crack of the gun another 

 one jumped upon a small log and started away frome me, 

 and I swung my gun aroundand picked its head. I then 

 stepped the distance— just twenty -nine long steps to the 

 first and thirty-three to the second. Do you believe it 

 Brother Dick? G. W. Cunninoham. 



