46 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Feb. 10, 1887. 



PENETRATION TESTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have heard a great deal of discussion regarding the 

 penetrating power of shells loaded in certain ways, and 

 to satisfy mj self I made some experiments this afternoon, 

 the result of which I give to your readers: 



2% drs. powder, 5 thick wads. 1 oz. shot, 1 thin wad CO 



drs. powder, 4 thick wads, 1 oz. shot, 1 thin wad 70 



3 drs. powder, 3 thick wads, 1 oz. shot, 1 thin wad 85 



3 drs. powder, 2 thick wads, V/r oz. shot. 1 thin wad 75 



Wl drs. powder, 2 thick wads, Wa oz. shot, 1 thin wad 90 



3% drs. powder, 2 thick wads, oz. shot, 1 thick wad 120 



The gun used was a 13-bore W. & C. Scott & Son, T^lbs., 

 modified choke, at 30yds. The outside figure refers to 

 the number of pages 'perforated of a Government Agri- 

 cultural Report, about SOlbs. calendered book. The powder 

 was Laflin & Rand No. 3 Eagle Ducking, and the shot 

 No. 8 drop. The experiment showed that the wads have 

 very little to do with penetration, and that powder is the 

 main thing. I think the resvdt would have been better 

 had I fired a charge of drs. and only an ounce of shot. 

 After this experiment I tried one shot with No. 1 shot, 

 8 J drs. and loz., and perforated 170 pages of the same 

 book, all the shot put into it flattening. J. M. W. 



Augusta, Ga,, Feh. 2, 1887. 



HUNTING HARES IN CALIFORNIA. 



TT is the exercise of skill, tact, nerve and judgment that 

 J. brings delight to the time sportsman in pursuit of 

 game; hence there is little real pleasure in bagging game 

 that does not call into requisition these acquirements. 

 True he may get the exhilarating benefits of the tramp 

 through field, forest and glen, and listen to the "ser- 

 mons" nature preaches in "stones ' and in her "running 

 brooks," and these undoubtedly will make him a better 

 man morally, mentally and physically; but the zest and 

 keen enjoyment of shooting arises from pursuit of game 

 that is fleet of foot or swift of whig. To bag game re- 

 quiring no skill in its capture is much like murder in the 

 first degree, or robbing from nature's great market with- 

 out any adequate compensation. 



The hares of California can be slaughtered in this way, 

 but when properly hunted will afford keen and lively 

 sport. They are quite plenty in the lower foothills, flats 

 and valleys of the Nevada Mountains, keeping generally 

 in the sparsely timbered sections, seeking for cover the 

 tangled chapparel or manzanita. They are less frequent 

 in the higher timbered region, generally keeping below 

 the deep snow line. When found in these sections, my 

 experience has been that they are somewhat larger than 

 those found below. I have weighed one turning the 

 scales at six pounds, and think I have seen them that 

 would have weighed much more. To me they are not in- 

 viting food, being somewhat rank and not tender unless 

 par-boiled thoroughly before cooking in any manner for 

 the table. A dish once or twice during the fall or winter 

 may be acceptable, but oftener than that one becomes 

 tired of it. There is little trouble in shooting them after 

 the fall rains, when the grass has started fresh and green. 

 One need only go quietly and take a station beside the 

 cover and near a grassy spot, when, as the sun goes 

 down, they Avill amble out for their evening meal, and 

 can often be picked off with the rifle or shotgun; but this 

 affords little pleasure to one who is willing to give game 

 a fair chance for its life ere taking it. In hunting quail 

 your dog will occasionally start a hare from his cover 

 within gunshot, when, if you care to take so big an in- 

 cumbrance, you can blaze away at him. 



But the only real sport in hunting the hare is derived 

 while hunting him with a dog and on horseback. One 

 moderately fast running, good trailing hound, and two 

 men on horses that are not gun-shy make up the party 

 that suits me. The horses are convenient in going to and 

 from the hunting ground, and also in going from one 

 point to another to gain a position where the hare is likely 

 to pass while being driven by tbe hound; and from the 

 ■elevation of the saddle one can get a better view of the 

 slight openings and cattle paths among the thick cover 

 in which one must be prepared to make his shot as the 

 hare in his flight presents himself for an instant— and, if 

 one has any luck in bringing his game to bag and de- 

 sires to take it home, he will find that he can do it much 

 easier while tied to his saddle than when strung on his 

 own shoulder. For these reasons I generally did my hare 

 hunting on horseback. When the hare is once started 

 the real sport begins, and he will lead your dog as lively a 

 race as his speed may dictate, always finding an "extra 

 link to let out" whenever occasion requires, or he is hotly 

 pursued by the dog. No foxhound can worry him seri- 

 iously, and the ground is generally rmsuited for the fleet- 

 ness of the greyhound. The hare will wind about from 

 ridge to ridge, much like a fox when pursued by hounds, 

 but will never strike off from the point of starting more 

 than a quarter or half a mile, and his locality and course 

 can generally be determined by the baying of the hound. 

 If you judge that he is making for a certain point put 

 spurs to your mustang and get there before him; and if 

 you get a sight of him, even for a couple of bounds, lot 

 him have "the best you have got in the shop," for the 

 next instant he will be hidden in the dense cover. Quite 

 likely you will be a little late in getting to your position 

 and a glimpse of your game may require you to do your 

 shooting while your pony is on the run; or the hare may 

 have heard the tramp of your horse and dodged in be- 

 hind you, causing you to turn in your saddle and give 

 him a stern shot like a fleeing ship. It requires quick 

 shootmg and no little skill in the saddle to meet with 

 success, but it is lively and enjoyable sport. 



I once had a little excitement' for which I was not en- 

 tnely prepared, and which afforded my companion the 

 best end of the fun. My friend, Tom B., a Missomian, 

 good fellow, excellent shot and expert horseman, started 

 out with me one day to ride about four miles where there 

 were plenty of hares, in a comparatively open country. 

 The pony I usually rode on such occasions being away,' I 

 took a wild mustang, so wild that he would not allow me 

 to mount with my gun in my hand, but it had to be hand- 

 ed to me after I was in the saddle. I intended to ride to 

 our hunting ground, where I expected to hitch my horse 

 and take my sport on foot as best I could. We had just 

 got to our hunting ground and I was riding on the top of 

 a small ridge while Tom was below me some eight or ten 

 rods, when I heard him exclaim, "Look here; there comes 

 a hare!" Almost at that instant I saw the game cross in 

 front of me, and without stopping to consult my pony in 

 the matter, I flopped my gun from my shoulder directly 

 over his head and banged away. The mustang was 



strictly on time with his part of the performance, for. at 

 the crack of the gun, he settled back on his haunches 

 whirling to the right on his heels like a flash, when over- 

 board went your humble servant, and then away went 

 the pony on a keen run through the chapparel toward 

 home, ! neither dropped my gun from my hands nor 

 cigar which I was smoking from my mouth, but just as I 

 gained my feet, Tom came riding up and says, "Where 

 is your horse?" Oh, how he laughed when I pointed 

 down through the bushes in the direction he had gone, 

 and away he went at full speed in hopes to head him off 

 before he gained the road. This he accomplished, driv- 

 ing him back, when I joined in the chase, and Tom 

 finally succeeded in throwing a lariat over his head, 

 choking him into submission; then I found that the 

 machere of my saddle was gone, and we began following 

 the back track over the ground we had raced until I 

 found it. Then I seemed the pony to a tough young sap- 

 ling and we began our regular programme; and in a few 

 hours had six of the big fellows hanging by their heels. 



It is somewhat amusing to shoot one while running 

 rapidly down hill, for his speed will often cause him to 

 turn like a hoop for some distance. The breaking of one, 

 either fore or hind leg, will not give yoar dog a chance 

 to fasten upon this fleet-footed quadruped without a long 

 chase. If they were better food the sport of this chase 

 would be somewhat heightened, but as it gives play for 

 quick shooting, and a fair test of one's capacity in the 

 saddle, and is an exhilarating exercise, it may be classed 

 as a fairly good sport. A, 



WINTER GAME NOTES FROM THE PARK. 



\M AMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Yellowstone National 

 1x1 Park, Jan. 28.— Editor Forest and Stream : Last 

 night Mi-. F. Jay Haynes, photographer, with three as- 

 sistants, came in from the Park via Yancey's. Mr. Haynefj 

 started out from here with Lieut. Schwatka's "exploring 

 expedition" as photographer for the party. The exploring 

 party soon came to an end by the collapse of their chief 

 at the Norris Hotel, but Mr. Haynes engaged help, and 

 with three men, Dave Stratton, Charles Stoddard and 

 Ed. Wilson (old hands in the mountains), went on to 

 Geyser Basin, back to Norris, then to the Falls and Grand 

 Canon of the Yellowstone, then over Mt. Washburn to 

 the Springs. The party were three days making the trip 

 from the Grand Caflon to Yancy's, twenty-two miles. 

 They were lost several times during a blinding snow- 

 storm, one day returning to a point within a mile of 

 where they started in the morning. As they had no 

 tedding nor provisions, expecting to make the twenty-two 

 miles in one day, they suffered some hardships. Mr. 

 Haynes secured some seventy-five negatives of winter 

 scenes in the Park; he deserves great credit for his pluck 

 and enterprise in securing these pictures. The explorers 

 who started out with him found the Park much more 

 difficult to explore than Alaska, or floating down a river 

 on a raft. It requires the expenditure of considerable 

 muscle to snowshoe it through the mountains, besides 

 enduring some hardships and exposure. 



Very little game has been noticed lately, for most of 

 the travel through the country where it is has been 

 stopped. Elk are seen by those on the road to and from 

 Cooke City. A few buffalo are reported to have been 

 seen near Soda Butte. Antelope still stay on Mt. Evarts. 

 Soldiers acting as herders drive them back when they 

 attempt to go down on the flats, fearing they will stray 

 into Montana and be killed; but as they are liable to 

 starve where they are, there is more danger of death to 

 them than in Montana, where there is some feed and pro- 

 tection as well, for the game law is now in force. 



The snow is constantly increasing in depth, a little fall- 

 ing every day. At this date there is more snow through- 

 out the country than there has been in an entire winter 

 for years. Even the elk find difficulty in getting about, 

 the high winds crusting the snow very much. Snow 

 slides frequently occur in Gibbon Canon, on Mt. Wash- 

 burn, and in many other places in the Park, where they 

 have never been known to have run before. The place 

 where a snow slide occurs can be readily distinguished, 

 even in summer, by the timber, rocks and rubbish it 

 brings down with it, littering the ground where it stops. 



The rod and gun clubs of Montana are doing every 

 thing in their power to induce the Territorial Legislature 

 now in session to pass a bill making the close season 

 commence December 1, instead of January 1, as now. 

 They are also trying to make the law as protective as 

 possible. This la w, if passed, will be of great benefit to 

 the game in the National Park, for the antelope, etc., as 

 they drift into Montana during the winter, where they 

 have often been killed for hides and heads. The Bozeman 

 and Helena clubs are the ones doing most of the work 

 to secure the new law, and deserve great credit for their 

 efforts. The soldiers stationed here have very little to do, 

 the deep snows prevent then' moving around except to 

 the town of Gardiner, where some of them manage to 

 fill up with "tangle foot," preventing their return to 

 quarters on time. This offense is punished by a few days 

 in the guard-house. No whisky is sold to them in the 

 Park— nothing but beer; this can be had at one of the 

 hotels in this place. 



All freighting between Cooke City and Cinnabar has 

 stopped. The mails are carried from Soda Butte to 

 Cooke by men on snovvshoes. Cooke City, as a mining 

 camp, is almost dead; even a railroad would not bo of 

 any help to it now. The Park branch of the N. P. 

 which it was proposed to continue through the Park 

 under the name of the Cinnabar & Cooke City R. R., is 

 virtually closed; the last trip made over it required three 

 engines and forty men three days to get to Cinnabar frotn 

 Livingstone, a distance of some fifty- two miles. The last 

 train took Lieut. Schwatka down to Livingtone after his 

 Park trip, x. 



The Massachusetts Snow Bunting Case.— Boston, 

 Feb. 5.— Editor Forest and Stream: In justice to the 

 Essex Gun Club, the Massachusetts Fish sn 1 Game Pro- 

 tective Association wish to make a statement regarding 

 the "snow bunting" case mentioned in Forest and 

 Stream of Dec. 23 ult, Upon inquiry by us the Essex 

 Gun Club promptly expressed their legret that, uninten- 

 i tionally, they should have broken the law, and made 

 I amends for the same. We understand that the members 

 : of the club havo done good work in the past for the pre- 

 servation of game, and are heartily sorry for the unfortu- 

 nate occurrence. For the association, Henry J. Thayer, 

 1 Secretary. 



WITH THE BEARS IN COON BAYOU, 



MAJ. M. HAMBERLIN, who lives on Little Deer Creek 

 in Sharkey county, Miss. , is noted for his success 

 as a bear hunter. He lives in a region where this game 

 is often plentiful, is the owner of a pack of fine dogs, well 

 trained, is fond of the grand old forests and ondeisure 

 days often indulges in his favorite sport, generally in 

 company with one or more congenial companions. He is 

 considered no mean hand with the rifle, being abundantly 

 able at the critical moment to put a ball where it will do 

 the most good. 



B. V. Lilly, equally fond of the sport and equally suc- 

 cessful, is regarded as the most rapid and unerring shot 

 at running or flying game with a rifle in the country, and 

 as to indulging in the sport, ho has literally lived in the 

 woods for nearly two years. He says he has "gone wild 

 and one who knew his history for the past two years 

 would almost think so. I saw him last April for the first 

 time. A party of three of us were off on a turkey hunt 

 and had stiuck camp in the dense swamp on the east 

 bank of Steele's Bayou, fifty miles by water above Vicks- 

 burg, Miss. Night had come on; we were enjoying our 

 first camp-fire when the musical notes of a horn were 

 heard a mile or so away. Off in another direction the 

 baying of a dog could also be heard. The horn was evi- 

 dently a call for the dog. An hour later the breaking of 

 vines and the rattle of brush not far off' announced the 

 approach of something — at that moment we knew not 

 what. Our curiosity and interest were not a little aroused 

 when the man of the horn and dog came up. He intro- 

 duced himself as Lilly, and from that night until this 

 time Mr. L. leads my list of men who love the free life in 

 the forests where game and fish are plentiful. On that 

 particular day he had undertaken to move camp from the 

 vicinity of our location, at the head of Big Island, to Coon 

 Bayou, a distance of but a few miles, but unfortunately 

 for this ardent sportsman the camp plunder was precipit- 

 ously abandoned early in the day for the pursuit of a bear 

 which had been jumped by the dogs. L. s intelligent In- 

 dian pony not being at hand the chase was given on foot 

 through the roughest kind of swamp, which was con- 

 tinued for horns by jumping logs, tearing through 

 vines, wading shallow sloughs and swimming deeper 

 ones, racing through prickly palmetto slashes, taking 

 short cuts where feasible, but following with spirit and 

 hope on the straight reaches. Some fifteen or twenty 

 miles had been gone over and the pursuer had sought our 

 camp at that hour in the night, leaving bruin at liberty 

 with a sound hide in which to store away during the fol- 

 lowing summer the juicy pigs and succulent roasting ears 

 of the Deer Creek planters. The vines, briers and brush 

 had put in some effective work on L.'s clothes, though 

 physically he appeared sound, buoyant and apparently 

 without fatigue. In a rapid conversation, a brief sum- 

 mary of his experience in the vicinity of our camp, where 

 he had been for two weeks, was given. Among other 

 game he had killed fourteen turkeys. Likely places for 

 us to hunt them were suggested. Early the next morn- 

 ing our new acquaintance took Ms leave with a cheery 

 "good bye," wishing us good luck, and was off for another 

 effort to move camp. Since then I have learned more of 

 this "gone wild" man. He is a resident of Louisiana, 

 where he is in comfortable circumstances, being the 

 owner of three plantations. Being a widower his children 

 were placed in school and his plantations leased before he 

 took his leave for his long stay in the woods. Since last 

 April his home has been in the woods in the heart of a 

 game country with his dogs, his pony and a faithful negro 

 servant as his chief companions. He leaves his camp for 

 an occasional visit only to the plantations. He is not 

 essentially a "backwoodsman," as one might expect, but 

 intelligent, using good language fairly free of slang, 

 entirely free of oaths: he touches no "tobacco, uses no 

 strong drink, not even coffee, and Sunday is said to be. a 

 hallowed day with him; the wildest animal is free to 

 nudge him in camp on that day if it wants to, but is 

 warned to leave no tracks for Monday. His pony wears 

 a bell, muffled when the hoise is used, when left, the 

 clapper is released as an aid in finding the animal during 

 the day, and if not returned to the intelligent creature re- 

 turns unerringly to camp at night, where his master is 

 generally found, though not always, for he has been 

 known to sit all night under one tree for a very old 

 gobbler, and another night at the root of another tree in 

 the hollow trunk of which a bear had taken refuge, each 

 game being killed early the following morning. "Such is 

 Lilly, the most ardent hunter in the Mississippi swamp. 



Maj. H.'s residence being but two and a half or three 

 miles from Coon Bayou, the two sportsmen were not long 

 in joining hands in the chase, then two packs of dog's 

 becoming one for making havoc along the "stepping 

 paths" of the black bear. These two gentlemen are re- 

 puted to have killed more than thirty bears last summer, 

 twenty-seven of them having been killed during the 

 months of June and July. 



The requisites for a pack of good bear dogs are that some 

 of them have good noses, trained to follow no other trail 

 than that of a bear, and that others have fighting qualities 

 with ample courage to tackle a bear, combined with 

 caution and alertness sufficient to keep beyond the reach 

 of his powerful fore paws. The bear, having been trailed 

 to his lair by the hounds, is jumped and pursued by the 

 pack. As he runs the fighting dogs nip him in the rear, 

 and, if there are a sufficient number of them, he is com- 

 pelled to stop and defend himself. As soon as the dogs 

 are forced to a distance his bearship makes another break, 

 but is soon overtaken and forced again to fight. It is 

 fight and run, run and fight, until the bear becomes satis- 

 fied that miming will not save him, when he gets in a 

 deme thicket or cane brake, if he can put his back in as 

 much rubbish as possible to protect his rear from the on- 

 slaught of the dogs and gives himself up to the business 

 of defending himself. Woe to the dog then that gets 

 within reach, for an ugly wound or death would be meted 

 out to him. Valuable dogs are often killed in a fight of 

 this kind. While the fight is progressing the hunters 

 make all haste to the scene of conflict, and the first to 

 arrive generally wins the honor of bagging the beast. It 

 is often a critical proceeding at close quarters, where a 

 fine dog may be ohot, if indeed the bear is not made 

 furious by awkward work and the life of the hunter him- 

 self put in jeopardy. Experience and coolness are needed 

 about that time. A black bear, however, is not con- 

 sidered dangerous by those most experienced in hunting 

 him, except in certain cases. Females, to protect their 

 cubs, or, occasionally wounded ones, will show fight. 



