384 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 8, 1887. 



advantageous for a man living in the bush and using 

 even the smallest practicable charges when shooting for 

 food. 



I may add that the trials upon birds of the charges of 

 90grs. of shot and 20grs. of powder were exactly m ac- 

 cordance with those on the strawboards. During the 

 past summer I tried both barrels in clearing off the spar- 

 rows which infested my fruit and vegetables, and found 

 that while the .55 barrel almost invariably killed them 

 on the spot, the .65 frequently only wounded them. 



While it is generally understood that the larger bores 

 are superior to the smaller with their own proper loads, 

 I certainly did not expect to find an 18-bore better than a 

 28 with the loads best suited for the latter. Of course a 

 long series of experiments with different guns and with 

 various lengths of barrel woidd be necessary before thor- 

 oughly reliable conclusions could be come to, but it seems 

 to me that a 12-bore might probably beat a 16 with the 

 charges of the latter, and a 10-bore beat a 12 in the same 

 manner. If this prove to be the case there can be no 

 advantage in using small bores for ordinary shooting, 

 now that 12-gauges are made which are perfectly safe at 

 61bs. weight. Small bores will indeed be only useful to 

 travelers in wild countries who wish to fire bullets as 

 well as shot, when of course the smaller weight of the 

 ball as compared with that of the gun would give it 

 superior accuracy. 



Since making the above experiments I have tried a 

 few more in order to see whether the opinion is correct 

 that the smaller grain powders give more penetration 

 than the larger. I loaded some ordinary cardboard shells 

 with 2-Jdrs. of Curtis & Harvey's powder and loz. of No. 

 7 shot, using strawboards of fifteen to the pound; one 

 thin card wad, one thick felt and another thin card were 

 over the powder; one thin card over the shot. Distance, 

 40yds.; gun, the 16-bore, 28in., by T. Turner, full choked 

 in both barrels on the recess principle: 



Boards pierced Shots through 

 by 3 pellets. 1st hoard. 

 I 6 7 



No. 2 powder, 3 shots with right barrel. < 5 15 



( 5 20 



No. 2 powder, 2 shots with left barrel ..| 5 -J" 



( 5 15 



No. 4 powder, 3 shots with right barrel, j 5 10 



Same gun with brass shells uncrimped. 2 14-gauge cloth 

 wads over powder and 1 over shot. Charges the same: 



Boards pierced Shots through 

 by 3 pellets. 1st board. 

 ( 4 4 



No. i powder, 3 shots with right barrel -A 4 3 



( 5 33 

 { 4 13 



No. 6 powder, 3 shots with right barrel, i 5 8 



( 4 14 



No. powder, 2 shots with left barrel • • •} ^ 4 ll 



1 5 14 

 No. 6 powder,'^Mdrs., shot as before ....< 4 



( 5 11 



Maynard .65 barrel, recess-choked, homogeneous steel, 

 26in., 2^drs. No. 4 powder, loz. No. 7 shot, 2 cloth wads 

 over powder.. 1 over shot, brass shells: 



Boards pierced Shots through 

 by 3 pellets. 1st board. 

 ( 4 10 



Maynard .65 barrel H <5 



( G 6 



Fourteen-gauge muzzleloader by Purdey , 30in . Damas- 

 cus barrels, cylinder bore, 21drs. No. 4 powder, 1 cloth 

 wad, loz. No. 7 shot and 1 cloth wad: 



Boards pierced Shots through 



by 3 pellets. 1st board. 



Right barrel 5 8 



Left barrel 5 3 



Same charge of No. 2 grain powder: 



Boards pierced Shots through 



by 3 pellets. 1st board. 



Right barrel 6 9 



Left barrel G 14 



Right barrel 5 



Left barrel 6 11 



Sixteen-bore Turner gun, with ordinary cardboard 



shells loaded as before, with 24drs. powder and loz. No. 

 7 shot; 40yds.; strawboards 25 to lb.: 



Boards pierced Shots through 



bv 3 pellets. 1st board. 



I 13 16 



No. 2 powder, right barrel, 3 shots -< 11 12 



j 13 9 



I 10 11 



No. 4 powder, rightlbarrel, 3 shots. . . . < 10 14 



'I S 1 



( 12 , 9 



No. 6 powder, 2jMdrs., shot as before. .A 10 11 



i 13 15 



The above charges of powder may seem small to Amer- 

 ican sportsmen, but nothing imzzles me more than the 

 enormous charges used in America as compared with the 

 weight of shot, and also the very heavy guns that are so 

 much in favor. Why should any one carry an 8 or 91b. 

 gun all day, when a 19-gauge of 6-£lbs. or a 12-gauge of 

 7ilbs. can be fired without the least uncomfortable recoil, 

 although the cardboard shells may be loaded with as 

 much powder and shot as can be squeezed into them? 

 When Captain Bogardus's book on shooting was first pub- 

 lished I bought it, and found that for a 10-bore, LOlb. gun 

 he recommended only loz, of shot and 4J to 5drs. of 

 powder. That was before chokebores were much used on 

 this side of the Atlantic. I had then been shooting for 

 some years with a double central fire cylinder gun, with 

 30in. laminated steel barrels, one of W. W. Greener's 

 best, which had cost £45 in his shop. I had made fine 

 bags of ducks, sand grouse, quail and snipe with the 

 ordinary loads, but tried the system advocated by 

 Bogardus both at game and at the target. The result was 

 a complete failure. The heavy charges of powder caused 

 the shot to scatter so much that there was little chance of 

 the game being hit by more than one pellet at 40yds. , and 

 when smaller shot was used to remedy this the penetra- 

 tion was too poor except at short ranges. I doubt if any 

 amount of powder would give No. 8 shot the same force 

 at or beyond 40yds. , as is given to No. 5 by the usual 

 charges. I think Captain Bogardus himself proved this 

 while in England. In a pigeon shooting match with 

 Mr. Coventry at 30yds. rise, the latter used a 12-bore of 

 6flbs., loaded with 3|drs. of powder, ljoz. of No. 6 shot 

 in one barrel and the same of No. 5 in the other. 

 Bogardus had a 12-bore of lOlbs. weight, loaded with 

 5drs. of powder, l^oz. No. 8 shot in one barrel, 

 and the same of No. 6 in the other. He killed 79 of the 

 blue rocks and lost 10 wounded. Mr. Coventry killed 



78 and lost only two wounded. The reporter of the 

 London Field who was present attributed the large num- 

 ber lost by Bogardus to his using the No. 8 shot. 



During three or four successive years, long before I 

 heard of Captain Bogardus, I had tried various sizes of 

 shot and various proportions of powder to lead, and 

 finally settled down to certain loads simply because they 

 bagged most game, at least with my guns, which were in 

 the muzzleloading days a 30in. Damascus barrel, 16-gauge, 

 6ilbs. weight, by Sam Smith, of London, and afterward 

 the 12-gauge central fire by Greener mentioned above. 



For snipe and quail I tried every size of shot from No. 

 10 (1,700 to the oz.) to No. 6 (280 to oz.), and found that 

 No. 8 (600 to oz.) was by far the best. On very calm days 

 No. 9 (980 to oz.) did as well but not better, and it was far 

 inferior when there was any wind. For ducks I tried all 

 sizes from No. 6 to No. 2 (112 to oz.), and finally settled 

 down to No. 4 (175 to oz.). No. 5 (218 to oz.) hit as many, 

 but I gave it up because they often escaped when 

 wounded by diving under weeds. The shock given by 

 No. 4 seemed to paralyze them, so that even when not 

 killed at once they were rarely able to get away. For 

 wild blue rock pigeons, hardly I think so large or strong 

 as those bred for English trap shooting, No. 7 (340 to oz.) 

 always seemed to me to make the largest bags. 



For large birds nearly always killed at long range, such 

 as wild geese or coolen (a kind of large crane), I found 

 nothing so good as BB (60 to oz.) or A (50 to oz.). 



The loads which did best work in the 12-gauge cylinder, 

 and afterward in a 12-gauge, 28in. recess chokebore, 

 were: 



No. 8, 1 oz. to 3 drs. powder No. 5, l^oz. to 3^drs. powder 

 No. 7, 1 oz. to 3}drs. powder No. 4, l^oz. to 3|drs. powder 

 No. 6, Hoz. to 3£drs. powder BB or A, lfoz. to 3drs. " 

 Always using the strongest No. 4 or No. 6 grain powder 

 for the breechloaders, and No. 2 for the muzzleloader. 



I may add that when making the above-mentioned ex- 

 periments I was living in parts of India where game was 

 plentiful, and was out shooting once ar twice a week and 

 sometimes from three to ten days at a time during about 

 six months of each year. My conclusions were, there- 

 fore, not formed hastily. 



I do not, of course, mean to assert that any rule can be 

 rigidly adhered to, for some guns throw certain sizes and 

 charges of shot better than others. For instance, I have 

 a combined gun and rifle, the right barrel of which is 16- 

 gauge for shot. It is 28in. long, by the same maker as 

 the No. 16 double shotgun, and recess-choked like the 

 latter. Yet, while it makes a good pattern with No. 4 

 shot and bad with No. 3, the double shotgun makes a very 

 close pattern with No. 3, actually putting far more pellets 

 into a 30in. circle than it does of No. 4. 



We regard to the recess system of choke boring, Mr. 

 Long, in his work on American wildfowl shooting, says 

 that they cannot give as close or regular shooting as the 

 true chokes. It is very likely that he is right, but I am 

 inclined to doubt if he has seen recess chokes by makers 

 who have thoroughly studied that system of boring. At 

 any rate, they have advantages of their own. They 

 carry soft shot as regularly as hard, while the true chokes 

 require hard to do their best shooting, and in some cases 

 seem to throw soft shot worse than cylinder bores. Some 

 of your correspondents have complained that they do not 

 throw buckshot so well as the latter and they are cer- 

 tainly not fit for ball shooting. If the bullet fits closely 

 from the breech upward it must be likely to split open 

 the muzzle, and if it passes readily out of the muzzle it 

 must be loose in the after part of the barrel and liable to 

 dent it. These are certainly defects for all-round work 

 in the bush, and a properly made recess choke is free 

 from them. Mine carry bullets, one size smaller than the 

 bore and tightly tied in linen, accurately enough to kill 

 deer regularly up to 50yds. , and they shoot buckshot with 

 great closeness tip to 40. 



With loz. No. 6 shot and 2£drs. of powder, the number 

 of pellets put by the 16-gauge on a 30in. target at 40yds., 

 with the left barrel in five shots were 189, 179, 182, 171, 

 187; with the right barrel and 2Jdrs. of powder. 171, 197, 

 220, 198, 173. 



With the shot barrel of the combination gun I tried 

 three cartridges loaded with 3drs. of powder and nine 

 buckshot of a size which form 3 in a layer at the muzzle. 

 At 40yds. the first shot put the nine pellets into 25in. 

 wide by 19J deep, the second into 13in. wide by 10£ deep, 

 and the third into 15 wide by 15 deep. J. J. Meyeick. 



Dublin, November. 



Adirondack Deee Hounding.— At the meeting of the 

 New York Fish Commission last Monday, according to a 

 report by the Times, "a gentle breeze was raised in the 

 Commission by Gen. Sherman's somewhat scathing criti- 

 cism of the manner by which deer are slaughtered during 

 the hounding season. Gen. Sherman wanted the report 

 of the Commission to advise the Legislature that these 

 abuses had all crept in since the laws had been revised, 

 bo as to permit a limited hounding season. He said that 

 it was a common occurrence since hunters had been al- 

 lowed to take dogs into the woods to find the remains of 

 the deer rotting on the ground where they had been left 

 by sportsmen who were unable to use what they had 

 killed. Commissioner Bowman thought Gen. Sherman's 

 language a little too strong. He had heard that there was 

 a strong difference of opinion among sportsmen as to the 

 effects of hounding upon the deer. Those who knew all 

 about the subject contended that hounding benefited the 

 game and stimulated the deer to breed. If gentlemen 

 sportsmen were only permitted to still-hunt for deer, 

 they might as well give up going into the woods at all. 

 If a hounding season were abolished the only persons 

 benefited would be those who lived in the locality of the 

 woods. Chairman Roosevelt agreed with the views ex- 

 pressed by Judge Bowman and believed that no harm 

 was done the deer by the recurrence of a hounding sea- 

 son, but rather that they were stirred up and benefited by 

 it. The other Commissioners maintained a discreet silence 

 during the discussion, and even appeared a little alarmed. 

 Gen. Sherman stuck to his first position and said he merely 

 spoke of what he had seen. Commissioner Blackford, 

 who probably knows more about the ways of the finny 

 tribe than the fish do themselves, said he wasn't an ex- 

 pert on deer and was therefore mclined to pin his faith 

 on the statements of Gen. Sherman. Gen. Sherman 

 said he would be contented with a minority report which 

 should express his views as they were set forth in the re- 

 port. At this point the situation, which was rapidly be- 

 coming strained, was relieved by Judge Bowman offer- 

 ing to accept Gen. Sherman's recommendation, and the 

 meeting arrived at a peaceable termination." 



HUNTING IN FLORIDA IN 1 874.-IV. 



THE next day being Sunday we spent in camp, cook- 

 ing and wishing we might hear from home, as no 

 letter had yet reached us. About 2 o'clock Mr. J. rode 

 into camp, horseback, with letters for both of us, and 

 said he had a good chance to trade with the Indians if 

 be had silver. So I accommodated him with $15 and 

 engaged him to come for us in nine dajs. Wandering to 

 the further side of our 50ft. island for meditation the 

 thought suddenly struck me what should either of us do 

 if the other should perchance be killed? Until that 

 moment such a possibility had not occurred to me, and I 

 felt the cold shudder creeping over me till I had worked 

 out a plan that seemed feasible for preserving the re- 

 mains in such an exigency. My plan was to sew up the 

 body in our stout tent cloth and my India rubber blanket 

 and suspending it in a tree, the survivor find his way 

 back to Mr. J.'s as best he might. In case of severe in- 

 disposition or maiming only the problem was loss easily 

 solved, as the indisposed or injured could not be left 

 alone. Considering all the risks I began to regret there 

 was not a third member, of the party, and I resolved then 

 and there that I would run no such risk again. 



On our third return to the cypress-slue, while Fred was 

 bailing out the scow I was attracted toward the margin 

 in an effort to get within gunshot of a spoonbill circling 

 overhead. Was it indirect vision or was it God's over- 

 ruling providence that caused me as I raised my gun to 

 fire to look down instead of up to see that I was within a 

 gun's length of the snout of a 10ft. alligator half con- 

 cealed in the water, but whose jaws were slowly opening 

 to close about my limbs with a snap defying any mechan- 

 ical motion for quickness. To pom the contents of three 

 chambers of buckshot into his side just back of the fore- 

 leg was the work of a moment. As he rolled over on his 

 side we left him for dead, but returning to the spot three 

 hours later he was gone. 



We often found on the same tree eight or ten different 

 kinds of nest's, and observed that no nest was ever left 

 vacant when undisturbed— one mate instantly taking the 

 place of the other— as a regular system of robbery was 

 constantly carried on between the* rapacious hawks and 

 crows, and the inoffensive herons. The slue was not 

 very extensive, and after robbing the lower nests from 10 , 

 to 20ft. in height, and shooting the owners, we turned ' 

 our attention to those nests from 30 to 40ft. in height. 

 On the fourth day Fred's shoulder became so lame from 

 climbing he could hardly raise his arm and was forced; 

 to exchange work with me. Unfortunately we had no; 

 climbing irons, but fastening my claw-hatchet securely i 

 to my wrist and carefully testing the strength of every j 

 lirub with a pull upon it before trusting my weight to it, j 

 I succeeded in mounting higher than I had ever done on 

 trees, since the venturesome period of childhood. It wasj 

 not a pleasant sight in my elevated position to see a dozen] 

 heads of alligators with pop-out eyes watching all my 1 

 movements, and I knew that a treacherous branch might 

 furnish them with a feast. Merely throwing them down 

 a stick would start them out of their lurking places, and 

 bring into display then activity in the water, as well as 

 their flexibility in winding in and out among the half 

 concealed cypress knees. The climber let the eggs and 

 young birds down by a string in a handkerchief to th& 

 one remaining in the Scow. 



One of the Crackers in the settlement happening to be 

 at Fort Capron when the semi-weekly mail arrived byi 

 sailboat from Jacksonville, be undertook to bring our 

 second batch of letters to us with a package of my 

 photos for which I gave a sitting the morning before I 

 sailed from the North. But after searching for us two 

 days he gave it up, and delivered the letters to Mr. J. to 

 bring to us when he should send for us. Another Cracker 

 learning that we had taken a scow to the heronry laid in 

 with Mr. J. to direct him to it that he might avail himself 

 of our means of navigating the slue to secure egret 

 plumes, which were in great demand for ladies' bonnets. 

 When half way back to our camp on the fifth day, we- 

 found Mm wading toward us. Joyfully welcoming him 

 he returned to our camp, but as our tent was hardly large 

 enough for Fred and myself he slept outside rolled up in. 

 his blankets. 



We frequently saw deer feeding in the open water-; 

 prairie, but as there was no cover for still-hunting were 

 unable to secure any. 



Our constant firing had either killed off or frightened] 

 away the more timid spoonbills, so that Fred and the] 

 "Cracker" decided to take night and morning rations and] 

 spend the sixth night in the heronry to secure egrets as" 

 they should come in at night from their feeding grounds* 

 or go forth in the morning — thus leaving me alone at the 

 camp for that night. It was a new experience for me, 

 although I had become accustomed to our nightly 

 serenade medly of alligator bellowing, wildcat yawling, 

 frog peeping, turkey gobbling, heron screaming, owl 

 hooting and every other kind of unearthly sound pertain- 

 ing to a wilderness swamp. The death rattlings of 

 alligator or wildcat victims were frequently repeated on 

 every side of me, and about midnight I was aroused by a 

 second visit from our prowler of the first night. Again 

 he tapped the canvas over my head as though clawing it, 

 and bounded away with a heavy tread as I tapped back. 

 Determined to identify the creature and, if possible, 

 secure it for the museum, I hastily lit my dark lantern, 

 and lifting the side of my tent, saw a little way off in the 

 darkness two eyes gleaming upon me. Fearing to shoot 

 my gun lest I should alarm my companions two miles 

 distant, I fired my pistol at the eyes, with only the effect 

 of elicfing a yell and a bound into the thicket. I was 

 soon asleep again, not waking till long after sunrise. 

 Fred and the "Cracker" returned toward night well laden 

 with birds and plumes. Our provisions growing short, 

 we sent the "Cracker" into the settlement on the morning 

 of the ninth day to hasten Mr. J.'s coming for us, as we 

 had only flour enough left for one meal, nine eggs and a 

 little coffee. Our spoonbill carcasses being all gone, we 

 were forced to eke out our larder with white ibises. 

 About noon the next day Tom arrived with the team, 

 and after loading on to the axles the scow, we filled it 

 with our luggage and started for ci vilization , such as it 

 was. While on the island Fred was stung twice by 

 scorpions, but our bottle of hartshorn brought quick 

 relief. About dark some of Tom's family met him, and 

 they held a long consultation apart from us. As yet Tom 

 had no reason to suppose I knew anything about his being 

 one of the murderers of Mr. Lang, but I saw from their 

 countenances there was trouble brewing for them. When 



