-rtWE 12, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



417 



NEW YORK RIFLE CLUB. 



THE New York Rifle Olubbas concluded its in-door competition 

 on the 100ft. range of the; German- American Shooting Society 

 at 13 St. Mark's Place, New York. The long-distance handicap 

 competition will be continued at Creedmoor, ij. I., during I be 

 summer, and on the following dates: .Tune 7, 14, 28; August 0, 23 

 and 30. The in-door mutch was also a handicap match, but as 

 proficiency of the members at the short range was not well iuown, 

 Mr. T. J. Dolan Invented a novel, ingenious and unique plan, after 

 which all members started f rom scratch, the man making the 

 highest score being handicapped 10 points, while the man with the 

 lowest score received an allowance of 10 points at the next shoot. 



The shooter who had the score nearest to the mean between high 

 and low was handicapped 5 points at the next shoot. The prizes 

 were three medals of handsome design, the first, of gold, to go to 

 the man making the highest score (he greatest number of times; 

 the second, of silver, with heavy gold rim, for the shooter who 

 made the score nearest (o the mean between high and low the 

 greatest number of times; the third prize, the leather medal, not 

 only handsome, but also valuable, to be won by the man who made 

 the lowest score the greatest number of times. The medals were 

 won as follows: Gold medal. T. J. Dolan three times; V. B. Daly 

 t wice; M. O. Herrington, J. S. Case. A. H. isbell, C. C. Kinc, J. N. 

 Qstrom and Dr. E. Chadbourn one each, Dolan wiuning the medal 

 for good. The silver medal went, to M. C. Herrington. who cap- 

 tured it four I iroes. The other winners were King twice; Isbell, 

 Daly, Gensch, Huyler, Dr. Chad bourn, each once. 



The winner of the leather medal was Mr. A. L. Huyler, three 

 times: Dolan, Herrington. Case. Isbell, King, Macauley, Daly, 

 Shorkley, all won it once. The only two members who did not 

 get, one of the medals at least once during the 11 competitions are 

 Messrs. N. O'Donnell and J. Duane, their scores running usually 

 yery close to the silver medal. 



All ties were decided on the next highest targets of the 

 shooters without regard to handicaps, and every marksman 

 could shoot an unlimited number of targets each evening. 



The following table shows the number of shoots attended, the 

 highest actual score made during the competition by each marks- 

 man, the actual average of the highest scores at the respective 

 competitions, and the average of the scores with the handicap 

 added: 



Highest Actual Handicap 



J Duane .. . 



N O'Donnell 



AH Isbell -.. 



AL Huyler 



No. 



Score. Average. Average 



10 



245 



289.10 



225.10 



11 



247 



234.91 



226.21 



3 



233 



230.00 



233.33 



11 



238 



228.45 



225.73 



8 



239 



224.45 



824.35 



6 



231 



226.50 



226.50 



7 



236 



231.43 



211G 43 



9 



235 



229.22 



221.89 



3 



215 



211.00 



217.67 



7 



232 



227.71 



223.43 



3 



231 



210,33 



213.67 



a 



229 



226.00 



226,00 



5 



235 



224.00 



221.00 



5 



200 



194.80 



208.80 



2 



223 



218.50 



218.50 



GERMAN SHOOTERS.— The thirteenth anuual prize shoot and 

 bowling contest of the Dc-ntKch-Amerikaniscbe Scuutzen Oesell- 

 sehaft came to an end at 8 Jate hour on Tuesday evening, .Tune 3, 

 at Lion Park, New York. The names and scores of the winners: 

 King Target. 



Kanzler 



B Pettier 



Gully 



Stahl 



B Walther 



..54 Haefner 



Tabler 60 Kirohhuber. 



49 Stich 



B Walther. 

 Kahn 



Medal Target. 



Prize Target. 



. ...52 B Zettler. 



M Tropp . 



C Zettler 



Binders 52 Zapf 



Hinz 51 .) Wugner.. 



.48 

 48 



Rost 



...45 





45 



48 



Armbrust 



...44 



.47 



B J Meyer 



...43 



.47 



BUotUein 



...43 



.47 



Medlar 



...43 



.47 



Luf t 



.. 42 







42 



. 46 





., 42 



46 



Haas 



...42 



.4li 



Reinlein 



.. .42 



.45 



Scbwegler 



. ..41 



.45 



Spinuer 



.-41 



.45 



H Sohroeder.... 



.. .41 



.52 



Dr Boyken 



... 52 





OUehlein 



...51 



.52 



Lautz 



...51 



51 



Laubaclier 



...49 



.51 



H Schnltheiss.. . 



...48 



.50 



ITtschiz 



...48 



.50 



H Rost 



...47 





Odenhalf 



..47 



.50 



Medlar 



.. 47 



50 

 49 







Lindkloster . . 



...47 



49 



Rappstaedter . 



47 



49 





...47 









G Nowarth 



Premiums— F. Eisele, O. Armbrust, L. Enders and B. Walther. 



CANADIAN LEAGUE.— The second of the home range matches 

 of the Canadian Military Rifle, League took place on Saturday, 

 May 31. The conditions were favorable and scores ran: 



.,820 Charlottetown Engineers G33 



.-799 Ottawa, 43d Batt 630 



,..799 Toronto, Q O. 1st 



...775 Quebec. 9i h Vol 622 



..757 Prince Albert, S B A 619 



..600 



...m 



...559 

 ...46S 

 ...462 

 ...453 

 . ..607 

 ...437 

 ...590 

 . ..389 

 ...46E 

 . .209 



Essex Ceutre, 21flt Batt. . . . 



Quebec, 8th Royal 



Windsor Mills, 54th Batt 



Hamilton, 13th Batt 



Halifax, G A 1st 



Halifax, G A 2d 



Toronto, 12th Batt 



Toronto, 10th R G, 1st 



Toronto, 10th R G. 2d 



Lindsay, Team No 2 



Quebec, B Battery 



Bowman vi lie, 45th Batt.... 

 ChaTlortetown, 82d Batt. . . 



Pt. Art bur, 96th Batt 



Ottawa, 43:1 Batt 



Montreal, 1st VRC 



Sherbrooke, 53d Batt 



Ottawa Guards 731 Birrie, 35th Batt, 444 



Peterboro'. 57th Batt !B94 Montreal, 5th R 8 608 



Montreal, G A 6(15 Montreal, at h R 8, 2d 426 



COO Winnepig, 90ch Bat t. . 



744 Ottawa Guards 



732 Kingston, A Battery.. 

 585 Toronto, O Co RSI.., 



,760 Toront o, G G B G 



,707 Belleville. 49th 



Brantford, 38th Batt. . 

 St Johns, B Co R S I.. 



YorK, 37th Batt 



Montreal, 1st P WR... 



Regina, R A 



724 Montreal. 1st PKW 



.7. e 



St, John, 02d Fusiliers 

 Charlottetown, G A. . . . 

 Halifax, 63d Rifles .. . 

 Toronto, Q C. 2d.. 



.681 Niagara Falls, 44th Batt 634 



..072 Kingston, 14th Batt 570 



...m Mon>real, V R. 2d team 421 



..680 Montreal, 6th Fus 637 



Montreal, 6th Fus, 2d team. ..540 



Prince Albert (N WMP) F Div633 

 The following are at present the six higtest teams: — 



54 Regiment, Windsor M3Usl,8£)B B Battery, Quebec 1,515 



Halifax Garrison Artillery. 1,554 13th Battalion, Hamilton... 1,463 

 63d Regiment, Halifax 1,552 21st Battalion, Windsor, Ontl,445 



' BOSTON, June 7.— The Masschusetts Rifle Association held its 

 regular weekly shoot to-day with a large attendance, and some 

 fine scores were made at rest and off-hand. The shooting condi- 

 tions were good. Mr. Dohrman won the bronze victory medal. 

 Next Saturday the spring meeting of this Association will begin 

 at 7:30 A. M. and close Tuesday, June 17. There will be four 

 matches, with over 8500 wor< h of prizes, matches for rest, off- 

 hand, pistol and military rifles. Following are the best scores 

 made to-day, distance 200yds., Standard American target: 

 IRecord Off-band Match. 



CH Eastman 88 H Severance 78 T Reade 67 



J B Fellows 80 8 C Sydney 76 AS Hunt 64 



fRecord Rest Match. 



L R Avav 109 H Severance 101 W Peters 93 



J Francis 108 A H Ballard 96 



(h) All-Comers' Rest Match. 



J Francis 113 W Peters 105 RE Tenuie 97 



S Wilder 113 L R Avsy 102 A S Hunt 95 



F Daniels 110 F O Towne 101 N O Good 91 



W P Thompson... 107 8 W Carney 190 S D Martin 89 



J N Fames 106 M T Day 98 



(nj All-Comers Off-hand Match. 



JAFrye 87 J B Fellows 78 S D Martin 72 



H Severance 87 SC Sydney 78 W Barter 72 



W (i Hussey 82 OB Spring 76 J B Hobbs 50 



CH Eastman 80 D Bay lev 74 A S Hunt 69 



HG Dohrman 79 AKeaeb ....73 TF Small... 65 



(TO Practice Pistol Match, 50Yds. 



H Severance 89 A R Long 66 



t Only one entry allowed each week, (tO Re-entries allowed. 



CREEDMOOR, June 7.— The eleventh contest in the New York 

 Rifle Club's annual match for valuable prizes was shot to-day. A 

 tricky, fishtail wind was blowing all day, interfering greatly with 

 the making of good scores, in addition to those whose scores are 

 given below, Mr. S. Ward, Dr. Ohadbourn and A. L. Huyler 

 practiced experimentally with new rifles and cartridges: 



200yds. Allowances. Total . 



G A Strong 76 8 84 



J J Dolan 80 - 80 



Geo Shorkley 75 5 80 



IB Daly 72 9 81 



T Lloyd 68 6 74 



A Isbell 70 3 73 



OTMackey 62 9 71 



E W Barker 63 6 69 



KING CITY, Ont., June 3.— Bradford, Aurora and King City 

 shot an association match under the rules of the O. H. R. A., on 

 the range of the latter, to-day. The day was fine, the shooting 

 was good, and it was the best match of the season. The. three 

 clubs enjoyed themselves as only riflemen can. The score is as 

 follows: Bradford 833, King City 827, Aurora (8 men) 564. The 

 next match will be shot at Aurora, Tuesday, Sept. 2. 



THE TRAP. 



Scores for publication should be made out on the printed blanks 

 prepared by the Forest and Stream, and furnished gratis to club 

 secretaries. Correspondents who favor us with club scores are par- 

 ticularly requested to write on one side of the paper only. 



Secretaries of clubs and managers of tournaments are requested 

 to keep us advised of the dates of their shoots, so that we may 

 give due notice in our column of fixtures. 



FIXTURES. 



June 9-13.— New York State Association Tournament, at Lyons, 

 N. Y. W. 8. Gavitt, Sec'y. 



June 10-13,— Thirteenth Annual Convention and Tournament of 

 the Iowa State Association for the Protection of Fish and Game, 

 at Davenport, Iowa, J. W. Howard, Secretary. 



June 17.— Middlesex Gun Club AU-Day Shoot, at Dunellen, N. J. 

 Live and clay bird race. Ten bird race, $10 entry, 



June 17-20.— Tournament Rocky Mountain Sportsmen's Associ- 

 ation, at Cheyenne, Wyo. W. E. Ostrander, Sec'y, Denver, Colo. 



June 24.-27.— Tournament at Dayton, Ohio, under management 

 of Rollo O. Heikes and W. Scott McDonald. $1,000 guaranteed. 



July 910.— Springfield, Mass., Shooting Club Tournament, with 

 guaranteed purses. H. A. Penrose, or Corry, Pa., Manager. 



July!.— The Red Hook Gun Club's Tournament, at Red Hook, 

 N. Y- R, J. Carroll, Sec'y. 



July 15-17. — Saratoga Gun Club Tournamont, at Saratoga 

 Springs. N. Y. $1,500 guaranteed. All money prizes, no merchan- 

 dise. W. A. Coster, Sec'y. 



Aug. 18 23.— Third Annual Keystone Tournament, at Corry, Pa 



Sept. 9-12.— Cincinnati, O.— Al Handle's Sixth Annual Live and 

 Artificial Shooting Tournament, open to the World. Avenue 

 Ball Park. Sept. 9, 10, 11 and 12. Guaranteed Purse. Wm. E. 

 Limberg, Sec'y. 



FEATURES OF TRAP-SHOOTING IN THE WEST. 



THE present condition of the sport of trap-shooting, a sport 

 which is recognized the world over as essentially a diversion 

 of gentlemen, is not such as to encourage its devotees. For many 

 years past various abuses have crept in and gradually under- 

 mined the interest which formerly attracted all lovers of the gun. 

 In many cases these, abuses have been recognized as they appeared 

 and have been met with vigorous protest, but all to no avail. In 

 other particulars, the evils which assailed the sport were at first 

 welomed as friends, although now, seen in their true light, they 

 are bitterly denounced. Yet no remedy has been found for the 

 various ills, and it seems as if the sport were attacked by an in- 

 curable disease which must result in its eventual death. 

 There have been, as I say, many ills to ooutend with, and most 



who attended all the tournaments, was among I be first enemies 

 that trap-shooting had. His methods were well known. The 

 sport attracted him primarily, but the almighty dollar was 

 his god. No device too mean, no advantage too slight, but what be 

 would use it to his own ends. A few dollars either way influenced 

 his actions, and made honest shooting impossible. The expert 

 was after the dollars, not the sport, When, later, a o ombi nation 

 of expert sharks was formed, to work the same circuit of tourna- 

 ments, and "standing in" with each other, to fleece the unsus- 

 pecting amateur, who enjoyed the sport for the spori's sake, their 

 methods w T erc recognized and an effort made to prevent them. At 

 that time, in a sweepstake where, for instance, four moneys were 

 offered, the four highest scores took the prizes in order. Thus 

 four experts, by makiug straight scores in the main event, could 

 be reasonablv certain of shooting out their amateur opponents in 

 the ties and dividing the entire staKes. At all events, they bad so 

 much the best of it, that the combination was pretty sure to se- 

 cure the bulk of all the money- 



To prevent this the system of class shooting was adopted. In 

 class shooting, a straight score or the highest score in the main 

 shoot gets first money; the second high score in the main shoot 

 second money, and so on. In such a case, ties on the same score 

 for any particular money either shot out or divided. The system 

 became a snap for the experts, four of whom, in combination and 

 by shooting so that each one of them would get into a different 

 one of the four ties where four prizes were offered, became rea- 

 sonably sure that between them all a handsome profit would be 

 realized. This system has been worked for years and has wrought 

 vast injury to the sport. No amateur had half a chance, as when 

 in a tie with a professional, he was almost certain to be beaten in 

 the shoot-off. Thus the expert has for years been able to "work" 

 the shooting tournaments which have been organized by amateurs 

 and to the fullest extent supported by amateurs. Traveling in 

 squads from city to city, where tournaments were to be held, 

 their presence has finally become a signal of danger to the non- 

 professionals, and as a rule, he now maintains a very secluded 

 solitude. One problem for solution in trap-shooting 'is how to 

 keep the professional experts away from tournaments, or at least 

 to so hold them in check that the. amateur may have afair chance. 

 The American Shooting Association has attempted to accomplish 

 this result by its system of classification of shooters on the basis 

 of previous records. On the face of it, this seems the fair and 

 only method, and it is to be hoped that it may yet prove success- 

 ful. Certainly, the results so far attained in the way of increased 

 attendance at the Association's touruaments over similar affairs 

 under differcnl auspices, seem to indicate that the true road to 

 success has at last been found. When artificial targets are used, 

 a record of a shooter's abilities can be established and he can be 

 properly classified. In such a manner the expert can be effectu- 

 ally kept out of the road of the amateur, and some inducements 

 are offered the. latter to indulge in his favorite sport. 



But in live-bird shooting different conditions prevail. The 

 shooting is not uniform, and no estimate of a shooter's ability can 

 be made from any record he may have made. Many shooters are 

 remarkably expert when they shoot at none but easy birds, such 

 as are apt to be furnished at the summer tournaments, and can 

 make a long record of kills. Yet put these men at the swift, 

 strong and hardy birds of the winter, and they will go all to 

 pieces. To properly classify shooters similar conditions must pre- 

 vail, and this is not possible in the live-bird shooting of the pres- 

 ent day. When wild pigeons furnished the sport of the trap, a 

 man was certain to have good hard birds at almost all times. 

 Under present conditions, with the domesticated pigeons, nearly 

 all of them as tame as chickens, and during the summer, when 

 the majority of the hirds are young, poorly-fledged and barely 

 able to use their wings, it is little of a knack to kiil them as fast 

 as the traps open. Such shooting is not sport, it is bare-faced 

 murder. Occasionally, of course, mixed with the poor, weak 

 squabs, a man finds an old and strong bird which tests his skill. 

 Thus the result of a shoot depends entirely on t he luck in birds, 

 and that has caused many ardent sho iters to desert the sport. It 

 seems like brutal murder to deliberately blow to shreds a poor, 

 weak squab of a pigeon which is helplessly and trustingly flutter- 

 ing toward the crowd of human beings, whom it has not yet 

 learned to regard as enemies. So long as such shooting is regarded 

 as sport, just so long will pigeon-shooting be fought hy the hu- 

 mane societies, frowned upon by true gentlemen and avoided by 

 the men who claim the title of "sportsmen." When in the win- 

 ter, with birds fully fledged, strong on the wing, quick in getting 

 away, and old enough to know that men are the inveterate 

 enemies of all the feathered tribe, a pigeon shoot is held, the con- 

 ditions become different. It is then the shooting assumes the 

 character of a sport, and it is one which may well engage the 

 ardent devotion of an adm-rer of the manly qualities. A keen, 

 quick eye, a steady nerve, excellent control ot the gun, and a 



thorough concentration of the mental faculties then become the 

 attributes of a good shot. Relieved of the brutality of slaughter- 

 ing fledglings, pigeon-shooting becomes even more than a sport. 

 It is an art, and as such deserves |the appellation it has received, 

 "the sport of gentlemen." 



But as the conditions of live-bird shooting vary with the season, 

 and, to a vast extent, with the weather, no accurate classification 

 can be based upon a! shooter's record Therefore, tlie American 

 Shootiug Association's plan will not work on live birds under ex- 

 ist ing conditions. 



The fact is, ihat the present system of shooting live birds is, in 

 my opinion, radically wrong. It is based upon the English plan, 

 and is wrong for the reason that the English condit ions do not ob- 

 tain here. In England the birds for pigeon shooting are of a 

 peculiar breed, and are trained especially for the sport. Under 

 all conditions the English birds are quick, li vely and bard to shoot, 

 comparing favorably with the wild pigeons which we no longer 

 get. None of their birds are incomers, and but few cross the line 

 of fire. The shooting is difficult and their rules have been framed 

 to favor the shooter. We have copied-their roles as closely as pos- 

 sible, and in many cases adopted them without change. These 

 rules, framed especially for difficult shooting and intended to 

 favor the gunner as far as possible, arc not suited to our wants. 

 We, as a rule, have easy birds. We should, therefore, handicap 

 the shooter, not the bird. A fairly good shot, wifha 10-gauge gun, 

 heavily loaded and bearine directly on a poor bird white it is being 

 persuaded to open its wings long enough far a charge of shot to 

 reach it, really ought never to miss, especially as lie has a second 

 barrel to use if necessary. Wheu a bird gets away the instant 

 the trap is opened, of course the case is different: but such is sel- 

 dom the case in summer, when most of the pigeon shooting is 

 done. 



The onlv argument that can bo advanced in favor of placing tho 

 gun at the shoulder when the shooter calls "pull," is that it avoids 

 technicality and possible ill-feeling, owing to poor judgement by 

 a referee. In England, the rule was designed to give the shooter 

 a fair chance to score a bird which wa9 certain to be a rapid flyer 

 as soon as the trap was opened. In this country the rule favors 

 the expert and the practical trap-shooter at the expense of the 

 man whose experience has been gained in the field, and who has 

 not yet learned the knack of covering a bird on the ground and 

 pressing the trigger the instant a wing is spread. 



In the. old days when the sport of pigeon shooting reached what 

 has so far proven its highest development in America, and when 

 business men traveled hundreds of miles to attend a tournament, 

 a shooter was compelled to hold his gun below the elbow until the 

 bird took wing. Under such a rule, the squab which could barely 

 open its wi/igs and hop up a foot or so could not be ruthlessly 

 murdered as at present. The rule insured that the bird be able 

 to fly. 



The policy of the rule makers of late, years has been to increase 

 the advantage of the shooter over the bird. Favored thus, the 

 expert makes such long records of straight kills that the amateur 

 or inexperienced shot becomes discouraged and misses, through 

 lack of the necessary stamina. 



It has almost become a- question of staying powers and not of 

 skill. The constant, drift in this direction will most certainly kiU 

 the shooting of live pigeons. It is the constantly increasing num- 

 ber of straight scores that alarms the occasional shooter, and 

 keeps 'aim and his money away from- the shooting tournaments). 

 To increase the interest in live bird shooting we must make the 

 methods of shooting harder, and not easier as the past policy has 

 been. The 10-ffauge cannon must, be, or should be, discouraged, 

 and driven out of the field, as the old 8-bore was. The 12-gauge 

 should be made the standard, and its distance should not be less 

 than 30yds. from the trap. The vast improvements made recently 

 in guns and ammunition make a 12-gauge of the present day fully 

 as effective as the old 10. Extra inducements in the way of han- 

 dicaps should be offered the smaller bores and lighter weights, 

 thus encouraging superior skill. The attempt of the American 

 Shooting Association to fix a standard shot load for different 

 gauge guns is not, in my opinion, a wise move. Encourage the 

 small gun, don't kill it. Everything points to a renaissance in 

 guns. The 12-gauge, in spite of all opposition by interested par- 

 ries, is winning its way, and new converts are daily made. The 

 day of the heavy gun is passed, never, let us hope, to dawn again. 

 Lot those who admire expert shooting and clean killing, whether 

 in tho field or at the trap, experiment with a good 12-gauge gun, 

 and the old howitzers will be laid aside. 



We need improvements in our rules, we need improvements in 

 our guns, and as much as either, we need improvements in the 

 birds. It has become nearly impossible to secure a uniformly 

 good lot of birds, such as test the abilities of a good shot an d af- 

 ford, at least, amusement to the poor one. The element of luck 

 enters largely into pigeon shooting, necessarily, but when a few 

 good birds are mixed with a lot of poor ones, luck is the predomi- 

 nant element in deciding the result. Of course, it is a fault which 

 can hardly be remedied, but it yet remains a fault of the modern 

 style of pigeon shooting. For that reason, there are to-dav not 

 a few who advocate a return to the plunge trap for shooting dur- 

 ing tho summer tournaments. If five plunge traps, placed the 

 same as the present ground traps, were used and the shooter stood 

 at 30yds., we would get better shooting, and the progress of a 

 contest w T ould be greatly expedited, as the time spent in scaring 

 up weak birds would be saved. 



It would insure a bird being fairly in the air before being shot 

 at, and a sho'der, having five traps in front, of him, could scarcely 

 "snap" the birds wheu the trap was sprung, which was one of tbe 

 chief objections to the old style of plunge trap shootiug. Cer- 

 tainly, whether this idea is worthy of adoption or not, some 

 menus should be found to induce the bird to take wing instantly 

 upon the trap being pulled. In the winter and early spring, such 

 precautions seem unnecessary, but in the summer, when the 

 birds are poor, something of the kind is demanded. Mr. R, B. 

 Organ, of Chicago, is an advocate of the total abolition of sum- 

 mer pigeon shooting, but. though theoretically correct, this 

 would work a hardship on those who find little time except in 

 summer, to indulge in the sport. 



Of course, one of the vital objections to pigeon shooting is the 

 expense. The cost of the birds has become so great that it deters 

 many from indulging their love of the sport. In Chicago, at 

 present, each bird shot at costs the shooter twenty cents, besides 

 ammunition and other expenses. In nearly all other cities the 

 cost is from twenty-five up to nearly fifty cents a bird. In special 

 cases, where selected birds are demanded, of course the cost is 

 greater. Less than a quarter of a century ago, wild pigeons which 

 furnished the very acme of sport to a pigeon shooter, could be 

 furnished at about seventy- five cents a dozen. At present a man 

 can scarcely attend a club shoot for less than six, eight or ten 

 dollars, or more, as he may happen to fool with a sweepstake. 

 This is an evil we cannot remedy, since tame pigeons cost and are 

 worth the price demanded. Without a doubt, every shooter pre- 

 fers, for the sake of the sport, to shoot at a live target, and no 

 piece of pottery can ever awaken the same interest as a bunch of 

 feathers. 



Various birds have been offered as a substitute for pigeons. I 

 read recently an account of a shoot in the East where crows were 

 used. This strikes me as a piece of wanton cruelty. Any man 

 who can't hit a crow within range ought not to be trusted "with a 

 shotgun. The birds are hard to kill, and after being shot at 

 would perhaps carry the lead away. But who wants to send such 

 a, mean bird as a crow away, with a carcass full of shot, to suffer 

 and die. It is not sportsmanlike. 



The English sparrow, that insufferable little pest, has been used 

 at tbe trap and seems well adapted for the purpose. One could 

 scarcely urge cruelty in killing off the sparrows. They are 

 nuisances of the worst description, and since they are easily 

 killed by one or two pellets of shot, the argument of a wounded 

 bird getting away to suffer and die will not apply in this case. 

 They are very erratic in their flight and test the skill of an expert 

 with the gun. They can be furnished at a low price, not to exceed 

 ten cents each, in many respects they seem, to furnish a live 

 target to realize the wishes of many sportsmen. 



The red-winged blackbird has been tried, but without success. 

 There is no trouble in getting plenty o£ the birds out of the mill- 

 ions which infest, our cornfields and marshes, and the bird makes 

 a suitable target for the trap. The trouble is that the vicious 

 little creatures will kill each other when placed in confinement. 

 A separate cage, which means too great an expense, is necessary 

 for each bird. 



No substitute for the wild pigeon has yet heen found, nor ever 

 will be. It was the ideal bird for trap-shooting. Easy to handle 

 in confinement, a quick flusher when the trap was opened, swift 

 on the wing, easily killed when fairly hit, and yet, very difficult to 

 hit, the wild pigeon combined nearly all the qualities "requisite to 

 afford the best of sport. 



With the various artificial targets now in vogue, Chicago shoot- 

 ers will have little to do. The shooting is too much like machine 

 work, and the inequalities of shooters are too apparent for target- 

 shooting to take a strong hold in Chicago. There are but fewfair 

 target-shots in this city. The infinite variety of live-bird shoot- 

 ing is absent, and the sportsmen here have hitherto indulged but 

 little in "brickbat smashing." One reason may be that our 

 shooting grounds are so inaccessible. A little sport at the. traps 

 means an afternoon's absence from business, and no shooting but 

 jive birds can get a busy Chioagoan away from his work for that 

 jength of time. The proposition has been made to shoot artificial 



