882 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 2, 1895. 



BULLETS IN SMOOTH BORES. 



Smooth bores are more affected than rifles by defects 

 in the bullets, such as air-holes in the interior, wrinkles 

 on the surface, or want of perfect sphericity in the shape. 

 It is therefore advisable to use moulds of improved 

 pattern, which are cut with great care and are provided 

 with very deep holes through which the lead is poured. 

 The leather should be hardened with about one-twelfth 

 part of tin in order that their roundness may not he im- 

 paired by the explosion of the powder. With the same 

 object it is better to use No, 6 rifle powder rather than 

 the finer quick-burning brands. The part of the bullet 

 from which the neck is cut should be placed undermost 

 and in the center of the wad on which it rests. Turning 

 down or crimping the cartridge case diminishes the ac- 

 curacy to some extent, and crimping is not necessary ex- 

 oept when such heavy charges are used that the recoil of 

 one cartridge jerks forward the bullet in the other. With 

 a moderate load of powder, balls which fit properly can 

 be kept in their places by pouring a little melted lubricant 

 around the part where they touch the inside of the car- 

 tridge case. The best lubricant is a mixture of paraffine 

 candle with sufficient vaseline to give it the right degree 

 of hardness. By varying the proportion of one or the 

 other it can easily be made to suit either a hot or a cold 

 climate, and it has one great advantage over any kind of 

 oil or fat in not corroding on the bullet, even if left in 

 contact with it for many months. 



Barrels which have a straight slope from breech to muz- 

 zle seem to give better average shooting than those which 

 are thin, and consequently dished inward for some inches 

 below the muzzle. With my own guns, barrels that were 

 recess-choked have been as accurate with ball as those 

 that were cylinder-bored, and its frequent use has not in 

 any way spoiled their patterns with small shot. I never 

 risked firing it from muzzle chokes, believing that if a 

 ball could pass easily through the muzzle, it would be 

 likely to injure the barrel in its passage by rebounding 

 from side to side. If, on the other hand, it fitted the 

 lower part of the barrel closely, there was a possibility of 

 splitting open the choked part, or even carrying it away 

 altogether. With a muzzle-choked barrel I would always 

 prefer using buckshot, although, judging from my own 

 experience, the largest size that will chamber in al2-bore 

 has not sufficient penetration to insure killing an animal 

 the size of a fallow deer at distances beyond 35yds. I am 

 convinced that, beyond that range, for one deer bagged 

 fully three escape wounded. The manager at the shop of 

 a prominent London gunmaker once assured me that even 

 light, thin barrels were never injured by bullets if the lat- 

 ter be one size larger than the gauge of the gun. He was 

 very probably right, and yet it does seem possible that 

 there would be a severe strain upon the breech while the 

 ball is being suddenly compressed from the larger to the 

 smaller diameter. Most gunmakers advise the use of a 

 naked ball of such a size that it touches the barrel all round , 

 without being either loose or tight enough to require force 

 when pushing it through. I have frequently found bullets 

 fitting in this way, and only once injured a barrel. On 

 that occasion the bullet scored a broad spiral mark for 

 several inches along the inside— which no amount of rub- 

 bing ever sufficed to remove. I have always obtained the 

 most regular accuracy with bullets one size smaller than 

 the gauge of the barrel, so that, when covered with a 

 patch of tough Linen, they fitted snugly enough to require 

 one steady push of a cleaning rod to force them from 

 breech to muzzle. The patch should be applied by tying 

 it tightly over the ball with strong thread and cutting off 

 all but a short neck, then leaving the ball for a few 

 moments in melted lubricant until the latter has soaked 

 into the fibers of the linen. If there be any dread of in- 

 juring a gun, a cloth wad with a small hole punched in its 

 center should be placed oyer the felt wad, and the neck of 

 the patch should be put in this before the ball is pushed 

 home. Loaded thus there is no possibility of hurtin > the 

 most delicate barrel, and the shooting is good up to 40 and 

 often 50yds. I prefer placing the ball in the mouth of the 

 cartridge case with the neck of the patch uppermost, and 

 cutting off the latter before pushing the ball down to the 

 felt wad. The patch is so tightly glued on by the lubricant 

 that it adheres, while the ball passes along the barrel, but 

 drops off at the muzzle. Loaded in this way with drams 

 of powder, one of my guns, a 16-bore receptacle, has put 

 several successive bullets into a ring, eight inches in 

 diameter at 60yds., and would doubtless do much better 

 if fitted with a rear sight like a rifle— J". J. Meyriek in 

 Shooting Times. 



Maine Hunting Season. 



"Augusta, Maine, Oct. 26. — This is proving a great 

 season for hunting in Maine. Small and large game is 

 plenty, and large numbers are taken by hunters. 



Partridges are very numerous, and duck shooting has 

 not been better to my knowledge for years. I refer to 

 such birds as frequent our inland waters, the black wood 

 teal and the "blue bills," which come in quite large num- 

 bers, Btopping in our ponds and lakes on their way south. 



This month will without doubt have taken a thousand 

 deer from the woods, with a usual number of moose and 

 caribou. It has been bad "still-hunting" weather, as the 

 leaves have been dry, and the record shows that game is 

 plenty. With the first snows, which may soon be expected 

 in the woods north, the numbers killed will -increase and 

 we may look for five or six thousand at least as the hunters' 

 crop for 1895. This number taken will not harm in the 

 least the future supply. E. C. F. 



Mr. Ronoo Shot no Deer. 



Arlington, Mass., Oct. 22.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I find on reading your paper of October the 19th issue an 

 item in regard to an Arlington barber who has just re- 

 turned from a trip in Maine and showed three deer, or, as 

 your correspondent writes, had them in his possession in 

 the close season. Now what I wish to set aright is this: 

 Mr. Eonco has been to my camp on the west branch of 

 the Penobscot River three years as my guest, and never has 

 shot a deer, nor at one, in all of that time; as he only 

 comes to fish; and as for his bringing home and showing 

 three deer, it is a downright lie, which I stand ready to 

 prove by the remainder of my party of seven. I would 

 have paid no attention to this notice whatsoever had it 

 not reflected a great deal upon my good principles of 

 allowing no one to fish or shoot at my preserve in the close 

 season, A. A. Tile-en. 



Ontario Oddities. 



Belleville, Ont., Oct. 23.— When the church officer 

 opened the Halloway street Methodist Church on Sunday 

 morning he found a dead partridge (ruffed grouse) on the 

 floor beneath a window, one of the panes of glass of 

 which the bird had shattered in its flight. 



Gen. Davies, of New York State, on the last afternoon 

 of his fishing in Hay Bay, Bays the Picton Gazette, hooked 

 a 401b. maskinonge, and when he was playing the fish a 

 25lb. one hooked on to the other spoon. The latter took 

 care of himself till the first one, after a tussle and towing 

 of near an hour, was safely landed in the boat, then the 

 second fish, which had been towed by the untouched pole 

 till then, was getting very tired and tame, and was safely 

 landed in the boat. He also took just before a 151b. 

 masco, making three for the afternoon. Gen. Davies is 

 the same gentleman who is credited with having caught 

 a 5 1 lb. maskinonge at Mosquito Bay some years ago. 



Plover have been more numerous hereabouts this season 

 than for many years past. A short time ago a party of 

 three shot 120 in an afternoon, and a friend reports that 

 on Monday he saw a flock of golden plover which num- 

 bered not less than 1,000. E. S. B. 



Deer Killed with No. 6 Shot. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Up in Camp Old Stream, Washington county, Me., 

 Billy Wheeler and I had hardly been settled in camp on 

 Friday, Oct. 11, after a hard day's hunt, when James 

 Dawson, of Providence, E. I. (who was also stopping at 

 our camp), burst open the door in great excitement, yell- 

 ing that he had killed a deer with No. 6 shot. Sure 

 enough, not 300yds. down the path from the camp lay a 

 yearling buck which had been killed with shot. Dawson 

 had stood all of 50ft. away from the deer when he shot, 

 and had literally peppered it for a space of Bin. in diame- 

 ter; and when we opened it we found where the shot bad 

 torn the liver to pieces and we found two of the ribs 

 broken. All this was done with a 12-bore Parker gun, 

 loaded with No. 6 shot, at a distance of 50ft.; and if any 

 of the readers of Forest and Stream have ever seen any- 

 thing to beat this I would very much like to hear from 

 them. Deer are very thick this fall in Washington county, 

 and I am glad to say that the game laws are very well en- 

 forced in that section of Maine, which means good shoot- 

 ing for many years to come. Ulric X. Griffin. 



Foxes Shot Over Setters. 



New York. — Editor Forest and Stream: In November, 

 1884, while shooting partridges near Valdby Kro, in Den- 

 mark, in company with Dr. P. H. Warming, our setter 

 came to a point in a turnip field and I called up the Doc- 

 tor for a shot. Much to our surprise a red fox j umped out, 

 and we fired together and killed it. This seemed such an 

 extraordinary occurrence that it was rarely interesting; 

 but on Monday of this week, while hunting ruffed grouse 

 in Lansing, N. Y., in company with Mr. M. Norton, I re- 

 peated the performance. My setter came to a point near 

 a drumming log, and I called to Norton to come up for a 

 shot. Three or four minutes elapsed before Norton could 

 get to me, but as he approached a red fox sprung out from 

 under the log, and I killed it. This fox was killed with 

 No. 8 shot, and I think that the former one waskilled with 

 No. 8 also. Neither fox was more than three rods away 

 when he sprang from cover, and both foxes had lain to 

 the dog while I called up my companions for a shot. 



Eobert T. Morris, 



Louisiana Rice Fields and Ducks. 



Opelousas, La.— Editor Forest and Stream: The open 

 season on quail begins on Nov. 1, now close at hand. The 

 weather and rank cover in the fields, however, will inter- 

 fere with hunting, and it will be fully a month later before 

 good and enjoyable hunting can be obtained. There are 

 no snipe this fall. The long drought has dried up the 

 ponds and marshes, and consequently the long-billed birds 

 gave us the go-by. Usually at this time of year we have 

 some duck shooting, but up to date I haven't laid eyes on 

 a single one. Later in the season, after several heavy 

 rains fall and the weather gets colder, I suppose we will 

 have pretty good duck shooting. The rice crop this year 

 is large, and when the harvesting is going on there is 

 abundance of shattered rice that falls. This is great food 

 for mallards, and I saw them winter before last by the 

 thousands in the rice fields. T. A. Jackson. 



Partridge in Town. 



Elizabethtown, N. Y., Oct. 24.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Two curious incidents in the line of partridge 

 shooting occurred in this town Monday last. At 7 o'clock in 

 the morning of the day named above Carl E. Daniels shot a 

 partridge while she was sitting on the roof of the Mansion 

 House, doing the shooting from his bedroom window. The 

 Mansion House is in the center of this village. Friend 

 Morhous, who resides near New Eussia, a settlement threo 

 miles south of this village, killed three partridges at one 

 shot on the day mentioned above. Hermit. 



Reports from Kingfield. 



Boston, Mass., Oct. 27.— A wide-awake party of sports- 

 men arrived in Boston from Kingfield, Me., Saturday 

 afternoon, accompanied by three deer, one doe and two 

 bucks as a result of a few days' gunning in the vicinity of 

 Mt. Abraham. In the party were H. S. Starr and M. H. 

 Adams, of Cambridge; C. E. Belcher, of Medford, and S. 

 Mills Bevin, of East Hampton, Conn. 



It is almost needless to say that the writer gets a gener- 

 ous slice of venison for the part he plays in the affair. 



Cacoethes Scribendi. 



Quail in Craven. 



New Berne, N. C, Oct. 25. — The open season for quail 

 begins on Nov. 1 in Craven county, N. C. The birds have 

 dry weather for nesting and are more abundant than 

 usual. Boys have been possum hunting in the pocoson 

 near by and brought in five yesterday. 0. H. 



Carrier Pigeon 541. 



Scranton, Pa.— While out hunting to-day I found a 

 dead pigeon with band on— No. 541, C. J. E., 92. It was 

 ten miles south of Scranton, Pa. H, D. Swartz. 



ONE EVENING WITH SALMON ON 

 PUGET SOUND. 



An Indian, a salmon, a syenite rock, and an August 

 evening on the North Atlantic coast form the pleasing 

 subjects of a graphic sketch by Eobert T. Morris in the 

 September 14th issue of Forest and Stream. My perusal 

 of the article has impressed me with the existence of an i 

 apparent coincidence. 



Acting on the assumption that your Eastern corre- 

 spondent is an alumnus of Cornell, it then appears that 

 about the time he was doing battle with the mighty 

 salmon of the Labrador coast, another Cornellian, 4,000 

 miles distant, on the North Pacific coast, was making an 

 analogous fight with a similar adversary. 



But the environments differed somewhat, for in lieu of 

 an eminent surgeon, a thin-faced, patois-speaking Indian, 

 a Salmo salar and a rock of syenite, that constituted the 

 mis en scene on the Atlantic seaboard that balmy August 

 evening, the rencontre in the Pacific Northwest com- 

 prised the personnel of a frontier lawyer, a broad-faced, 

 Chinook-speaking Siwash, a cedar dugout, and a 191b. sil- 

 ver salmon. 



The fish that Jo-mul had impaled was lured to its death 

 by an over-susceptibility to color and an appetite deceived 

 by the empty puffiness of a gaudy fly, but the salmon 

 that the Siwash had gaffed in the waters of Puget Sound 

 could never have been enticed from his lair by any simi- 

 lar combination of tinsel and feathers. 



The hazy midsummer day was passing into late after- 

 noon when I stopped at the Tulalip Indian agency on my 

 way home from trouting in one of the many small lakes 

 lying along the borders of the reservation. Everett, six 

 miles up the Sound, was my objective point, and my mis- 

 sion at the agency, which is located on a little land- 

 locked harbor, was to find passage on some passing 

 freight boat, or with one of those nomads whose canoes 

 are constantly flitting along the shores of the Sound. 

 The harbor was thickly dotted with the shapely craft — 

 which only the Indians on this coast can build — while out 

 on the broader waters of the Sound, dimly seen through 

 the narrow harbor entrance, enveloped in the smoky air, 

 were drifting specks indicative of other canoe loads of Si- 

 wash engaged with the running salmon in a sanguinary 

 dispute for the survival of the fittest. 



The exhibition of a silver dollar and a discussion in 

 Chinook-English speedily induced the owner of a canoe 

 and his klootchman to undertake the journey. As we 

 rounded the jutting headland that guards Tulalip Bay and 

 paddled out on the smooth waters of Possession Sound, I 

 tossed overboard the large trolling spoon used by the Si- 

 wash, and which is ever present in their canoes. The 

 gear is crude, but effective. I had paid out something 

 over a hundred feet of line and had taken a turn around 

 my arm, for the speed of the canoe and weight of the 

 troll made the pull uncomfortably strong, when there came 

 a strike — shock is the better term — and a large salmon, 

 apparently 40in. long, broke water in our wake. Three 

 times the glistening silver sides leaped clear above the 

 water before he realized that he was well in leading 

 strings, and then he darted forward on the line. 



"Hy-ak! hy-ak!" shouted the Siwash to his klootoh, 

 and then both bent over their paddles, sending the boat 

 forward with fresh impetus, while I took in line. Close 

 up to the canoe I lead the graceful swimmer, knowing 

 well that his apparent docility was of but brief duration; 

 and so soon as his crafty eye sized up the cause of his em- 

 barrassment, he gave one splash with his supple tail and 

 whirled away, carrying out line with some portion of the 

 cuticle appertaining to my fingers. Then I realized 

 what a fight he would make on light tackle. So surely 

 was he hooked that it was simply a question of main 

 strength to haul him in to the gaff. My rod, which I had 

 been using on trout, was a stiff, heavy fly -rod that had 

 seen service with 5lb. mountain trout, and my reel held 

 something like 300ft. of strong braided silk. Why not 

 try an experiment? was my immediate thought. 



The thought was parent to the act; so bidding the In- 

 dians to steady the canoe, and giving the buck the trolling 

 line to hold, I jointed my rod and then told the Indian to 

 haul in the salmon. Eunning the fish alongside of the 

 canoe, the Siwash, as I careened the boat over until the 

 gunwale was level with the water, fairly led him into 

 the boat. It required the united efforts of the Indian and 

 squaw to hold the plunging salmon, enveloped in a blan- 

 ket to prevent bruising him, while I disengaged the troll- 

 ing hook and substituted the hook on my light line. But 

 I succeeded in securing him to my light tackle with some 

 laceration to my hands, and then straightening up, with 

 the rod well in hand, the Indians slid the mammoth 



salmon overboard. ! !! !!! These dashes and 



exclamation points imperfectly translate the Chinook ex- 

 pletives that greeted my ears from my astonished paddlers 

 as they beheld the light and supple rod writhe and bend, 

 and heard the screaming reel, simultaneous with the dis- 

 appearance of the flying salmon in a swirl of troubled 

 water. 



If the finny projectile had been fired from one of the 

 coast guns at Marrowstone his flight for the first 100ft. 

 seemingly could not have been of greater velocity. My 

 trusty lance that had vanquished some prodigious fresh- 

 water fighters had indeed met a foeman before whom all 

 others seemed as pigmies. Suspecting that the staying 

 powers of the salmon would extend beyond the limits of 

 my line, I bid the Siwash to jog the canoe along faster in 

 his line of flight. It was fortunate that the fish did not 

 sound, for as we were in about seventy fathoms of water 

 he might have torn away clear from the tackle if in his 

 first rush he had headed for the bottom. Fish and sec- 

 onds flew apace, and two-thirds of the reel was uncovered 

 with no apparent intention on the part of the salmon to 

 discontinue his flight toward the broad Pacific. He had 

 the butt fairly, and the tip was dancing and swaying 

 across my wrist in a manner to test the fiber to its utmost 

 extent, when I pressed my thumb to the flying line. It 

 was like touching red-hot wire. But still the tremen- 

 dous rush continued, and both fish and canoe were going 

 at race-horse speed. Barely 20ft. of line remained when 

 the tip slightly relaxed, and the great strain was ended. 



Swiftly went the canoe while I worked the quadruple 

 multiplier with all the rapidity possible. Probably three- 

 fourths of the line had been recovered when scarcely 

 30ft. ahead the salmon again broke water to instantly 



