May SO, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



377 



\mm §ng mid 



BRANT SHOOTING AT CAPE COD. 



THE past winter in New England was a very mild one, 

 and migratory birds Avere seen earlier in'the spring 

 than usual. Brant made their appearance on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast about March 1. The first one was shot at 

 Monomoy Match 11 About one-third of those killed later 

 on were young ones, which gave promise of a good sea- 

 son's sport. The work of putting down boxes and build- 

 ing bars progressed finely, and before the middle of the 

 month each of the four was in its proper place. It must 

 be understood that boxes and bars are each a part of the 

 same contrivai ce. the one being of no value without the 

 other. Then came the great storm of March 16, that 

 strewed our sh res with wrecks, ca^tdown trees and tele- 

 graph pi le- - , devastated sandbais and beaches, and also 

 utteily ruined our brant works, which sent dismay into 

 the hearts o( the branters. They struggled on, however, 

 from day to day with a diligence known only to the busy 

 bee and the bar builder?. A box is planted in the flats to- 

 day, wheelbarrows and shovels are industriously plied 

 through the whole of low tide and a neat bar constructed 

 around it. To-night the easterly gale continues and 

 forces the tide high up over the box, and the big waves 

 dash against the bar, and lo! in tbe morning not a ves- 

 tige of it is left. It again t imply forms a part of the 

 grr ai flats. The second day is merely a repetition of the 

 first, with the same result. "Certainly, the men say, 

 "to-morrow will end the suite — the storm must cease," but 



"To-morrow and tc-morrow and to-morrow. 

 Creeps in iis petty pace from day to day," 



and for six wearisome days did the local members of the 

 club with lusty sinews buffet the flood, each day losing 

 ground, till at last all the boxes— except the mud hole — 

 were out of the flats and had to be filled with sandlo pre- 

 vent thtir going ashore or to sea, as wind and tide might 

 favor. So strong was the current that rushed through 

 '•Uncle Sol's drain''- that the south box had to be anchored 

 to save it. 



Tne great Nauset high beach, which for generations 

 has stood as warder of the channel, is now removed by 

 the huge waves, and for more than a mile up and down, 

 east oi the club hou-es, each high tide makes a clean 

 breach over the entire distance. From day to day the 

 tide moves more or less of ihe sand westward, as the tide 

 runs from ea-t to west. Again, our heaviest of gales, 

 which produce the highest tides, are from the east, and it 

 is these sweeping tides that break up and move these 

 immense sandbars and dunes. Nor can we predict where 

 the end will be. If sand, like "the btar of empire west- 

 ward holds its way," then, wherever those powerful 

 moving agents — wind and water — are found, all the sand 

 and sdc on the eastern portion must drift westward till it 

 reaches some permanent island or continent. Any one 

 familiar with the seaboard of our Southern States knows 

 very well that all the land between the Blue Ridge and 

 the sea has been formed in this way, and that the accre- 

 tions are much greater on the eastern than on the western 

 side of a continent. 



But the sand is not destroyed. It has only been moved 

 further wtstwaid, and being deposited in the channel 

 has ruined that fine feeding ground, which is now graded 

 nearly on a level with the great fla ts. The fishing ground, 

 winch extended from nearly abreast the club house to 

 Chatham Light, a distance of about three miles, proved 

 so attractive to the brant that every day they would be 

 drawn acioss the flats to the rich repast. All these miles 

 of eel grass are now buried under this same sand, and the 

 brant have no place to feed, except in the bay or on the 

 common flats, more than a mile to the westward of the 

 boxes. A patch of feeding ground is still left to the 

 northward of the fljts, and in passing from the bay to 

 this the birds are liable to come within sight of the de- 

 coys, giving some hopes of a continuance of a portion of 

 the sport hitherto so liberally vouchsafed when the brant 

 have to cross the flats to reach the channel. And then 

 the brant, finding their feeding ground destroyed, have 

 sought others at Nantucket, Muskeget and elsewhere, 

 which have drawn away many of the birds that formerly 

 fed here. StiJl, about the Usual number have passed this 

 point, and many of them have stopped in a friendly way 

 to inspect their old haunts. 



As soon as the storm ceased the hummock box was 

 replaced and a bar thrown around it. On the 27th of 

 March, eight men with wheelbarrows and shovels were 

 employed to puc in place the north box and build the bar, 

 which was covered with heavy canvas. This is supposed 

 to hold the boxin place against ordinary tides and winds. 

 Still we doubt if a canvas cover has so winsome a way, 

 so easily beguiles the birds, as a natural or artificial sand 

 bar. They seem to view it with suspicion, nor do they 

 ever fraternize with our live decoys in that degree of con- 

 fidence they would on a natural bar. On tne 29th the 

 south bar was planted and sand wheeled around it to 

 form the bar. This completes the placing of boxes. Not 

 so the work of keeping in repair the boxes. Every high 

 tide and wind cuts tnem away more or less, which dam- 

 age must be repaired before they can be used. The mud- 

 hole alone survived the great gale. 



The Manchester ^ Providence and Monomoy clubs have 

 this season, as for several years pa^t, united as one club, 

 each assuming control of the property and privileges for 

 a definii e period. By this plan we have avoided unpleas- 

 ant antagonisms. Tne records of the three clubs are kept 

 on the journal of the Monomoy Branting Club just the 

 same as if it were one club, and this may stimulate a lit- 

 tle pleasant rivalry to see which of the parties is the best 

 shor. 



We may indulge possibly in a just degree of pride at 

 having been one of the originators and organizers of the 

 M. B. C, that we believe we have the most perf ect club 

 journal in the United Slates. Here are two volumes and 

 part of a third, containing about 800 l olio pages in manu- 

 script, covering a period of more than a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, embracing minute details of the doings of the club, 

 with all the names of the persons present at the c!ub 

 house, with portraits of many of them, the box each lay 

 in, the number of birds killed at each box, the condi- 

 tion of the weather, windB, tides, mercury, prospects 

 and probabilities, together with any remarkable incident 

 that occurred, such as wrecks or vessels ashore, great 

 flight or 6caicityof birds, or any other item that was 

 brought forward and discussed. The endeavor has been 



to keep so perfect a record of the doings of the club that 

 our successors may be able to compare the shooting of 

 their day with that of ours— tbe results of the past with 

 those of the future. "We should be very glad if any per- 

 son or club having a more perfect journal than ours, or 

 one covering a longer period of time, w r ould kindly inform 

 the editor of Forest ami Stream. ' 



The first regular weekly party went to tbe club house 

 March 20. Previous to that date" 23 brant had been killed. 

 As the havoc of the great storm had not been repaii-ed, 

 only two boxes being available, the party killed only a 

 dozen brant. The second party, March 27, found the 

 south box still anchored on the flats. Although there 

 were a goodly number of birds in the bay, they did not 

 shore well, and the week footed up only 22 brant. The 

 third party was more successful, bagging 61. 



The Providence Club came in April 3 as the fourth 

 party with a bag of 51. The last regular party was the 

 Manchester Club, which had the good fortune to beat 

 the Providence 8 birds. Between the departure of tbe 

 fourth and arrival of the fifth the local members killed 

 22 brant and made two decoys. 



This matter of keeping up the supply of live decoys 

 requires skill and tact. The club wants about fifteen live 

 decoys, in addition to some hundreds of wooden ones. 

 But in the course of events each year, many of the live 

 decoys sicken and die. To make good this loss, care 

 must be taken to save any brant that is wounded in the 

 wing near the carpus, and a portion of the wing is am- 

 putated; then, if it survives, it will be counted as a decoy. 

 Sometimes such a wounded bird gives his pursuer a long 

 chase, especially when wind and tide are in his favor. 

 Before breechloaders were so common such cripples must 

 be captured alive or lost. Not so now. As soon as a shot 

 is made, the occupants of the box rush out, breechloader 

 in hand, and if it is found tbe cripple can keep pace with 

 his pursuer he is shot and lost as a decoy. Particularly 

 is this done where the pursuit is long and the water oil 

 che flats grows deeper. But with proper pains we have 

 been able to keep our stock of decoys fairly up to our 

 needs. 



Our season for shooting usually ends about the 25th 

 or 2Gth of April. There are many people whose business 

 cares weigh heavily upon them as the warm weather 

 approaches who are glad of an opportunity to escape for 

 a week's rest or recuperation. We know of no place 

 where this can be accomplished more rapidly than in the 

 pure air of Cape Cod. Fortv years ago one could find 

 fair shooting almost anywhere along our shores in spring. 

 Not so to-day. The brant shooting is about all that is 

 left for the sportsman. There was a supplementary party 

 made up of such individuals for April 24, but we do not 

 presume this will materially change the results of the 

 season's work, which foots up 250 brant. This is a little 

 less than the average for the past twenty-five years, but 

 when we consider the rapid decrease of all sorts of game, 

 it may be regarded as quite satisfactory. Then again 

 these birds for several years have been shot in winter on 

 their feeding grounds at Hatteras Inlet and Pamlico 

 Sound. One man from Chatham last year killed over 

 1,300. The birds before they arrive at Cape Cod have 

 been educated to keep clear of all suspicious objects. If 

 a Northerner can go down there and make a few hun- 

 dred dollars each winter it will set the natives, who are 

 not a wealthy class, all crazy. As they are all good gun- 

 ners, they will not be likely "to let the opportunity slip to 

 take a hand at that game. W. H a.pgood. 



Boston, Mass. 



HOLLOW BULLETS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Absence from home has prevented my writing sooner, 

 with reference to a letter by Mr. Stark in yOur paper for 

 Feb. 28, respecting the behavior of hollow bullets in his 

 Winchester rifle. 



It is evident, from his description, that the hollow is 

 too small for the charge of powder and hardness of the 

 bullets. Any required degree of either smashing oi 

 penetration can be obtained by modifying the hardness 

 of lead, the depth and diameter of the hollow or the pro- 

 portion of powder, always remembering that penetration 

 decreases as smashing increases. 



Mr. Stark might find his bullets act more satisfac- 

 torily if the hollows were filled with beeswax instead of 

 copper tubes, and no doubt making them of pure lead 

 would have a still greater effect; but perhaps the accuracy 

 would be slightly decreased, as the proportion of tin 

 which he mentions is that recommended by the Winchester 

 Company for their rifles. Their 300grs. 'hollow bullet is 

 made for 125grs. of powder, and if it act properly with 

 that charge, the size of the hollow ought to be increased 

 when only lOOgrs. are used, in order to obtain the same 

 degree of expansion. 



The .45 express bullets used with British rifles generally 

 weigh from a60 to 280grs., and are hardened with -fa to 

 -iV of tin. The hollow is of such a size that with 110 to 

 l25grs. of powder the fore part of the bullet, shoitly after 

 passing through the skin of an animal, breaks into pieces 

 which tear a terrible wound, the base, in shots behind 

 the shoulder, generally penetrating to the opposite side 

 of the chest. For side shots at that part nothing can well 

 be more deadly, but as it is often necessary to lire at the 

 point of the shoulder, or at the space between the hind- 

 quarters when animals are running straight away, it is 

 better to have the hollow of such a size that the bullet, 

 instead of breaking up, will expand into a mushroom 

 shape. It will thus give great striking surface, and at 

 the same time penetrate deeply. 



With the large hollow generally used I have had a 

 bullet from my own rifle tear out a great mass of flesh 

 from the inner side of both hindquarters of even a small- 

 sized deer, and not penetrate any further. Of course in 

 such a case the game is unable to pet away, but a second 

 shot is necessary to put it out of misery; and besides 

 spoiling the meat, a disgusting smash of that kind is not 

 satisfactory to a true sportsnnn. I once shot a spoonbill 

 duck at 120yds , and the bullet carried clean away the 

 whole of the chest and abdomen with the skin which 

 covered them. 



The hollow in bullets is generally reduced by diminish- 

 ing its depth; but for rifles with a slow twist it is better 

 to diminish the diameter and leave the depth unchanged. 

 The accuracy is thus maintained for long shots, because 

 the proportion of weight at the base of the bullet is not 

 increased. When the old English rifles of the British 

 army were converted into Schneider breechloaders, bul- 

 lets with a hollow in the center were substituted for the 



solid kind previously used. These were found to give 

 greatly increased accuracy at long ranges, doubtless 

 through keeping up their spin on the prinriple of the 

 flywheel. TIiq grooves of the rifle had only one turn in 

 Oit. 6in., which was not enough for the solid bullets. 



Mr. Stark speaks of trying the expansion of his bullets 

 in wood or sand, but (his will not give a correct idea of 

 their behavior upon game. There is, I believe, no way of 

 testing it except firing into the carcass of some animal. 

 The lOOgrs. which he uses are quite sufficient for an 

 express charge. Mr. Scions, the celebrated African 

 hunter and explorer, uses .'15 rifles w th only 90grs. of 

 powder and bullets of Hi.Ogrs. As he states that these are 

 perfectly satisfactory upon various large animals, includ- 

 ing lions, there is no doubt but that the bullets expand 

 properly. J. J. MEYRTCR, 



Dublin, April fl. 



DEER HUNTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



CACHE CREEK, British Columbia.— We were blessed 

 with an abundance of game through the season, 

 and with exceptionally fine weather for hunting it in. 

 The rifles in general use here for deer and other large 

 game are the Martini- Henry, and the .45-90 and .40-82 

 Winchester, model "86. They are all good rifles for the 

 business, the timber being open, and long-distance shoot- 

 ing having frequently to be adopted. I use a Martini- 

 Henry, and I find it more difficult to hit the broadside of 

 a deer, at a distance of 100yds., than to knock over a 

 grouse at the same distance. " There is a glorious uncer- 

 tainty about that ridge of furze along a deer's back, that 

 makes him appear taller than he really is, sometimes, 

 and causes the hunter to feel sick as he notices that his 

 bullet has ranged too high, and instead of penetrating the 

 animal's heart has torn a tremendous hole in the snow at 

 some distance beyond. 



On Thanksgiving Day I secured a cayuse, and shoulder- 

 ing my rifle, started off for a mountain, the base of which 

 is about two miles from here. The ascent was easily 

 made, and scarcely had I reached the first bench when 

 certain sounds indicated the presence of deer, a little to 

 the north of me. Steering in that direction I had the 

 pleasure of seeing a fine buck standing on the side of a 

 gentle rise that led to another bench a short distance 

 above me. I judged him to be 20yds. away, and getting 

 off the horse I adjusted the sight, and was about to call 

 him when I noticed a still larger one standing to the right 

 of me, under a large fir tree, whose branches nearly 

 touched the ground. The background was so dark that 

 I could scarcely make him out, but from some cause or 

 other I tinned and blazed away at him. Not a move did 

 he make, and after blessing myself for shooting at a lump 

 of mud when a real deer was in sight, I remounted, 

 when what was my surprise, to find the supposed lump 

 of mud bounding saily out of sight over the ridge. I 

 pushed on up the hill and had nearly reached the bench, 

 when a great snort caused me to look up, and there stood 

 my friend, looking straight at me, not 50yds. away. The 

 cayuse was blowing so with climbing that the rifle was 

 carried from one side to the other, and in spite of all my 

 efforts to pull at the right time I scored a clean miss. 



Seeing that this would not do, I threw the bridle over 

 the horse's head and started to follow up the deer on foot. 

 I had not gone far when I saw a doe standing on the top 

 of a rock about 100yds. in front of me. Taking aim at 

 her shoulder, I had the satisfaction of seeing her fall back- 

 ward off the rock, but tbe next minute over the rock 

 came a doe, and directly towards me. A snapshot failed 

 to connect, and the deer sped down the hill in the 

 direction I had come. Going up to the rock to investi-' 

 gate, I found the snow painted red in all directions, and 

 that the deer that had passed me was the very one I had 

 wounded. Following down the mountain, on her trail, 

 it led into some thick undergrowth, in which I found her, 

 but she hustled off so lively, at sight of me, that I failed 

 to get a shot. Seeing open ground a little way ahead, I 

 hurried along, and reaching it, the next snapshot proved 

 successful, and the doe was my victim, 



Hastily bleeding her, I started back for my horse, and 

 as I was about to hitch the deer to the pommel of my 

 saddle, I saw a buck coming down a small gully toward 

 me. My gun was standing about 10ft. away, and while 

 I-was getting it. he saw me and stepped behind a tree, 

 from the side of which I could see one eye and about half 

 his head as he watched me. I mention this, as I fre- 

 quently have seen deer doing it, and have hot noticed any 

 of your correspondents mention it. They glide from tree 

 to tree so quietly, and show so little of their heads past 

 the side, that they may easily be gone by without being 

 seen. Fortunately for me, the next tree was smaller, ana 

 his ribs were in sight on both sides of it. Taking aim, I 

 blazed away. At the crack of my rifle he ran up the 

 brush, apparently unhurt, but I afterward found that the 

 bullet had passed under three of his ribs. Hurrying 

 along, I soon came to an opening, where a good view 

 could be had. Sitting down, I fixed my rifle sight for 

 200yds., and had got a breath or two to steady me, when 

 out came my deer and turned broadside to me. Laying 

 the gun over my knee, I succeeded in planting the bullet 

 through both his front shoufders, thus completely dis- 

 abling him. 



I had now secured plenty of meat, but the next thing- 

 was how to get it home. The cayuse is a very uncertain 

 animal, and mine proved no exception to the rule. He 

 refused either to draw the deer or come without them, 

 in spite of my persuasive powers (a spur and a fine 

 switch). Finding that I could neit her ride nor lead him, 

 I got him backed up to a tree, where I tied and left him, 

 going home on foot. There I secured a better animal, 

 and a friend coming along, we succeeded in getting 

 the cayuse, as well as the deer, safely home before dark. 



On other occasions, which I may write of again, I have 

 made better shooting, and got larger deer, but the sport 

 and exercise combined on that occasion were about the 

 best I have experienced during the season. No very 

 large antlers have fallen to my rifle, though other hunters 

 in the neighborhood have secured some fine specimens, 

 but there is no kick coming to me, for all my ueer have 

 been very fat, and their meat very tender. " C. O. 



Ohio.— Ironton, May 20 —I was out on the old camp 

 ground this week and found game, in the greatest plenty ; 

 never saw the like of quail, rabbits and squirrels. We 

 look forward to a splendid hunt next fall. Wild turkeys 

 are plenty; I saw five gobblers in one bunch; the hens 

 were out on business— laying eggs.— J. D. 



