406 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



May 11, lawo 



POWDER AND SHOT MEASURES. 



Jersey City, May L— Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 connection with loading shotgun iihells the writer desires 

 to direct attention to the inaccuracy of powder and shot 

 measures which has come to his notice. It would seem 

 quite iinnecessaiy in this age of general mechanical pro- 

 gi-ess and accuracy to manufacture and offer for sale 

 measures which are in error as much as 10 or 12%,- as well 

 as possibly dangerous when used to deal out large charges 

 of the more powerful nitro powders. In proof whereof 

 note the following : Comparing a new measure nominally 

 graduated from 2 to 3drs. with one having a range of 

 from 8 to 5drs., I find that 3drs. measured by the forrner 

 more than filled the 3Jdrs. notch of th • latter. Weighing 

 out the range of charges in black and E. C, powder dis- 

 closed the fact that the first-mentioned measureis m error 

 by idr., giving that amount too much. Filing off the 

 markings and putting new ones on I have a measure that 

 I can depend upon. I firrther observe that Sidrs. of pow- 

 der by measure equals loz..of Tatham's No. 8 shot, mak- 

 ing precisely 80 loads from a 51b. bag. Therefore, since 

 there are 10 quarter drams in 3|drs. , and 10 tenths in an 

 ounce, it follows that variations in the charge by quarter 

 drams wiU give shot charges in ounces and tenths instead 

 of oimces and eights, as combination measures are grad- 

 uated. 



The following table gives weiglits of equal measures of 

 powder and shot: 



2 drs, powder equals in btilk ^iqOz. shot. 

 2Mdrs. powder equals in bulk ^loOZ. shot. 

 Si^drs. ijowder equals in bulk 1 oz. shot. 

 2p|drs. powder equals in bulk 1\qOz. shot. 



3 drs. powder equals in bulk l"joOZ. shot. 

 'dy^drs. powder equals in bulk l^jooz. shot. 



An equal measure of shot therefore weighs 6 j% times 

 that of powder. This measure will correctly deal out 



E. C. powder if lightly shaken down and struck off level, 

 allowing 14grs. per dram. 



I may also state that the above table, just as it stands, 

 gives satisfactory loads of nitro or fine grain black powder 

 for medium light weight guns for field wing shooting, 

 using from -,^,r to loz. of shot for 16-gauge and from loz. 

 to li^D'OZ. for 12-gauge, with the amount of jiowder set 

 opposite to the respective charges of shot. • For the above 

 powders one notch more powder than shot will give very 

 strong shooting, while two notches more is apt to scatter 

 the shot too much. In my opinion there is notliing 

 gained in a cylinder or modified choke gun by using high 

 powder charges, as it results in spoiling the regularity and 

 closeness of the pattern. Just how to load shells, how 

 much powder and shot and wadding, and what kind to 

 get the best result for the various gauges and weights of 

 guns, would afford a profitable subject for some expert, 

 and be of interest and service to the general class of 

 sportsmen, who have not sufficient spare time to make 

 conclusive tests for themselves. d ^ ^' 



NOTABLE SHOTS. 



West Chester, Pa., May 1.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I have read with interest the accounts of notable shots 

 which you have published, and would like to mention 

 one which I saw made. Although it was a "scratch," it 

 was none the iess surprising. 



Two years ago F. and I were rowing down the Brandy- 

 wine Creek in a rowboat. F. was sitting in the stern of 

 the boat and had witli him a Winchester repeater .32cal., 

 with which he was shooting frogs. As we passed by a 

 lai'ge oi^en meadow a plover sprang up from the grfiss 

 and my friend fired at it. It was then about 60yds. oft". 



F. said he did not expect to hit it and so he did not disap- 

 point himself. The bird w^as now nearly back of us and 

 flying about as fast as a plover can when scared. F. , to 

 give him a x^arting salute, fired at him again. This time 

 the bird was about 100yds. off and stiU on the move. The 

 bird fell and we sat and looked at each other. We rowed 

 ashore and picked it up, aad found that it was shot in the 

 body. 



Then F. said he was tired of shooting and thought he 

 w^ould rest on his honors until I made a better shot. He 

 is stiU resting. Lenape. 



tng through the tall grass up jumped one of the numer- 

 ous bitterns which infest a,ll of the sloughs in that State. 

 I despise the rascals for theh always rising just in front 

 of you. They look so big one thinks he is flushing some- 

 thing worthy his skill. I was mad at this particular one 

 and I took a snap shot at him just to scare him, and I 

 was sm-prised to see him fall aU in a bvmch as though 

 struck by Hghtning. I went up to him and he was sit- 

 ting back with his head drawn back just as a snake does 

 before striking. The cuss drove his bill through my shoe 

 as I was prodding him up with my foot. I took posses- 

 sion of him and examined him carefully, and could not 

 find a single scar, wound or bruise on him anywhere. 



I was studying natural history at the time, and I took 

 the bird home with me .and kept him in a large box, 

 feeding him on frogs w^hich I took the trouble to catch 

 for him. He would never touch one while I was watch- 

 ing him, but the momenfe I tui-ned my back he would 

 gobble them up with surprising rapidity. He afterwards 

 escaped from me and may be eating frogs to this day. 



I have often w^ondered whether the bullet went near 

 enough his head to daze him, or the noise of the bullet 

 to scare him into dropping. 



I once made a loon dive, while flying over the surface 

 of the lake, by shooting at him with my rifle, and I know 

 I never touched him. Old Avalakche. 



[A number of instances like the one related above are 

 on record, and it appears not very uncommon for bit- 

 terns and night herons to be "scared to death," or at 

 least so frightened that they will fall to the ground. A 

 friend who was duck shooting in a marsh in western 

 Wyoming having discharged both barrels at a brace of 

 passing ducks, discovered a female redhead flying close 

 by his head. Unable to load in time he yelled at the 

 bird, which fell in the water and was retrieved.] 



Indiana Quail. 



Riverside, Ind., May 4.— Quail have done much better 

 during the past winter than was thought. Many more 

 lived through the winter than was expected, Tiiey are 

 beginning to mate now. J. E. F. 



Snipe Shooting. 



Mr. Crittenden, of the Pi-incess Anne, Virginia Beach, Va., has leased 

 one of the best snipe grounds on the Atlantic Coast, comprising about 

 ' ..300 acres of land, and will preserve it in the interests of his guests. 

 Jportsmen who desire good shooting in conjunction with good accom- 

 modations would do well to drop Ittr. Crittenden a line, as this is a 

 chance for sport not to be had every c\a.y.—Adv. 



Fishing and Shooting 



is the title of a little boot published by the Canadian Pacific Railway, 

 which describes in detail the paradise for sportsmen which this rail 

 road has opened up. The kinds of Kame to be found in various locali- 

 ties are named and also the fishing to be had, and the book is iUus- 

 trated. It will be sent free on request to the Gen'l Passenger Agent, 

 Montreal, or E. V. Skinner, 353 Bi-oadway, Kew York.— ^dv. 



Speaking- about notable shots, my friend E. , who has 

 hunted bear with me for several years, killed three with- 

 out cutting theh hide, in the following manner: The first 

 he ever shot wa-s sitting in a tree about 30ft. from the 

 ground, having been run up by my hoimds. I told E. to 

 fii-e at the head, while I fired at the heart in case of a 

 miss. We fired and down came bruin stone dead. On 

 examination, my bullet hole Avas plain enough, having 

 gone clean through him, but no other wound could be 

 found. On skinning him, however, we discovered that 

 - the skuU was smashed to atoms, E.'s bullet having entered 

 the eye, shelving only the slightest graze on ■ the lower 

 lid. Being an expansive bullet it stopped and spHt up 

 inside the skull, 



The next bear was in a trap and I took the first shot, 

 breaking his jaw, E. then fired and the bear dropped, the 

 buUet had entered the ear and split up inside tlie head as 

 on the former occasion. 



The third case was that of a small black bear, which, 

 in his efforts to elude the hounds, ran straight in E.'s 

 direction. E. had barely sufficient time to jump aside 

 and avoid a collision. The bear passed and kept his 

 course. E. fired at the retreating beast and knocked him 

 over; in a few minutes he was dead, the buUet having 

 entered under the tail and tra^^ersed nearly the length of 

 the body. These facts are true and in each instance 

 there were several witnesses. 



Once when a. small boy I was out collecting birds for 

 stuffing. I fired at and killed a stone chat while it was 

 dodging from rock to rock; pausing a few^ seconds to 

 load my dear old single-barreled muzzleloader I went 

 after my bhd, and w hen stooping to pick it up a skv- 

 krk dropped dead .-it my feet. It had no shot marks and 

 could not have been hit, I alw ays concluded this was a 

 case of lieart disease. A. P, F. COAPE. 



Chicago, May X—Editor Forest and Stream: I have a 

 short tale to toll of a notable shot which I made, and 

 which is so imUke tl ie ones that have been pubhshed in 

 yoiu- journal that, instead of hitting all kinds of game 

 by the discharge, I hit nothing and stUl got what I vvas 

 after. 



I was hunting around a slough in Dakota with my Win- 

 chester, trying to kiU a few stray ducks. As I was walk- 



A TOUGH WOLF. 



Having read about fat wolves and lean wolves in 

 Forest and Stream some time ago, tough wolves are next 

 in order. I have before me a description of a little hunt- 

 ing incident which bears that heading. The writer, Eev. 

 H. Q. Schmieder, is like myself, a minister living in the 

 wilderness of the northwestern territory of Canada, where 

 moose and elk and deer and wolves, fat, lean and tough, 

 abound. When he visited me a few weeks ago he told 

 me of this story of a tough wolf, and thinking it might 

 interest my fellow readers of Forest and Stream, I asked 

 him to write it down. This he did, and I have translated 

 it from the German, for the better understanding of the 

 editor, printer and reader. My friend writes: 



Hunting and shooting have always been my favorite 

 sport. When a lad of nine su^mmers I roamed through 

 the fields carrying my little weapon and frightening the 

 sparrows, of which occasionally I brought one home for 

 breakfast. After a while I began to think rabbits and 

 partridges might be a more desirable food, and making 

 peace with the sparrow world I declared war on these. 

 Then came my college years. No more him ting and shoot- 

 ing—but studying from morning till night. Solomon 

 says, there is an end to all things, and fortvmately there 

 was an end to my college course. 



When I had taken possession of my humble block house 

 in the prairie of the Northwest, I secured a 16cal. shotgun, 

 at first only to frighten away the numberless hawks which 

 threatened destruction to any chickens and ducks. Then, 

 finding that the wheat fields were fairly alive with prairie 

 chickens, I began to hunt them, as soon as the law would 

 permit it, and often bagged twelve and more a day, though 

 I had no dog. As occasionally a fox or a wolf was seen in 

 the neighborhood, and when one day the news reached 

 me that a neighboring farmer had in one night lost five 

 sheep, which had been kiUed by wolves, I made up my 

 mind then and there to go on a wolf hunt. 



At the same time a brother sportsman, Mr. T. Karst, 

 informed me that he had seen the carcass of a horse at a 

 lonely spot which was the rendezvous of foxes and wolves, 

 and if I cared to go, he would call for me and take me 

 along. Did I accept? Well! The next day when he 

 came it was cold, 5° below zero, just the right weather for 

 wolf hunters. When we reached our destination we 

 fastened sleigh and horses in a thickly covered place and 

 awaited developments. After some fifteen minutes had 

 elapsed K. said: "There, I see one coming with great 

 bounds, but he is 200yds. away yet — there, he turns to the 

 right and disappeai-s." Not standing as high as he did, 

 I had not seen anything. After a few minutes K, called 

 to me to see, whether the wolf had come out on the other 

 side of timber. There, sure enough, not more than 12yds, 

 from me was the big fellow. 



Neither had time to express his surprise — ^he turned like 

 lightning and I brought my gnu to my shoulder just as 

 fast. There was a report and a cry, and a mortally 

 wounded wolf in the snow. But hold on, he was not 

 dead. On coming up to him he showed fight, he showed 

 his teeth and his eyes flashed. K., who meantime had 

 come up too, thought I should give him another dose, 

 but I did not wish to spoil the fm-, so I aimed at the head 

 and shot oft" his lower jaw. The blood was flowing pro- 

 foundly and now he seemed indeed lifeles, so we carried 

 him to Avhere we had left the sleigh, and after having 

 thrown him in we started for home. 



There arrived we carried him into the house, and, oh, 

 the joy of my little boys as they danced around that big 

 wolf. As I had asked K. to help me skin the w^olf, I 

 went out again with him to unharness the horses. Com- 

 ing back again I found my wife and children in great 

 excitement : "That wolf is alive yet, he has snored, and 

 he moved too," they all tell me in one breath. I tried to 

 quiet them and told them that a dead wolf would neither 

 snore nor move, to which they would not listen, however, 

 K. now got out his knife and began skinning. Hardly 

 has he loosened the skin of one of the hind legs, when 

 suddenly the wolf threw himself back and forth and 

 uttered such unearthly, blood-curdling howls, as I had 

 never heard before. My wife ran, my children ran, 

 eA^erybody ran. Only K. held on to the hind leg, and I 

 tried to put my foot on his neck and finally succeeded in 

 holding him down, until my stableman brought an axe. 

 Avith Avhich I managed to crush the skuU. 



After I assured the rest of the family that the wolf was 

 dead now they returned, but my boys said: "Papa, you 

 must not bring home any more wolves, only rabbits and 

 prairie chickens." 



So far the writer and we wiU all acknowledge that 

 that was surely a tough wolf. E. C. J. K. 



The Fish Ltms of the United States and Canada, inlhc 

 'Oame Laws in Brief," S5 cents. In the "Book of the 

 Oame Laws " {full text), 50 cents. 



TO ANGLERS ABOUT VISITING CANADA. 



The avidity with which the columns of Forest ajjd 

 Stream are seized upon by Americans in search of sport 

 is illustrated by themimber of inquiries that have recently 

 reached me concerning the opening of the angling season 

 in Canada, of which I Avrote in the issue of the paper of 

 37th ult. I have endeaA^ored, so far as time and circum- 

 stances would permit of it, to be as useful as possible to 

 my brother anglers in the United States, by furnishing 

 them with the information that they individually seek; 

 but it occurs to me that I can probably save myself and 

 others considerable correspondence, and can certainly 

 interest a large number of the sporting fraternity by 

 craving permission to rex^eat in Forest and Stream what 

 I liave conveyed by letter to some of its readere. From a 

 mass of correspondence before me I select a letter of in- 

 quuy from a gentleman in Bethlehem, Pa., a portion of 

 which runs as foUoAvs: 



"Your very interesting article in the Forest and 

 Stream of April 27, in reference to ouananiche fishing in 

 May and Jime, atti'acted my attention; sol take the lib- 

 erty of writing to you, as I intend visiting the Lake St, 

 John region the latter part of this month and beginnmg 

 of June. I visited the Metabetchovian last August Avith 

 splendid success, and Avhen I left I made fu rangementa 

 with my guide to telegraph me when the fish lic^iii to be 

 taken. What I Avould like to know is avIicu to get the 

 best fishing at each place, namely. Lake Edward for trout 

 fishing, the mouth of the Metabetchouan ; and if the 

 steamer runs to the Grand Discharge at that time, I would 

 hke to take a few days there." 



The steamer does not run regularly to the Grand Dis- 

 charge dm-ing May, nor yet during "the fir.'^t few days of 

 June, and even if it did I would nut advise anglers in 

 search of sport to spend any time there before the middle 

 of June or thereabouts, for the ouananiclie are not due in 

 the Discharge from the rivers until June 8 to 12 at the 

 earliest — that is to say in any number. My Bethlehem 

 correspondent has acted wisely in arrangmg Avith his 

 guide to telegraph him Avhen the fisli commence to be 

 taken, I alw^ays aw^ait similar adA'ices by av ire from B, 

 A. Scott, Mayor of EoberA-al, before rimning up to the 

 lake for my spring fishing, which I enjoy most in the 

 mouth of the Ouiatchouan. I am quite sure that Mr. 

 Scott would similarly oblige any brother angler applying 

 to him for similar information. Present indications point 

 to the improbability of the ouananiche fishing opening 

 this year more than a A^ery few daj's prior to June 1. The 

 trout fishing in Lake Edward often commences between 

 May 10 and 15, but this opening may also be delayed this 

 spring by the backAvarilness of the season. But while 



font iv alts and the at 

 this spring, stranger 



ng fraternity in this Province are, 

 ^ t, and separated by the thick icy 

 covering of our northern waters, and the law prohibiting 

 fishing through holes cut in it, oiu- western neighbora 

 have been taking trout in open waters for nearly a month 

 past. My friend, Linut-Col. Andrew C. P. Haggard, D. 

 S. 0., sends me a Victoria i B. C. i new.spajjer, by which I 

 see that in the Province by tlie Pacific, the lly-fishiug was 

 reported excellent dtmng the second week of April, and 

 Col. Haggard himself had been having good sport for 

 some days in Lake Cowichan, out of which he took sixty- 

 six trout in two and a half days, Avhioh averaged in 

 AV eight but a fraction less than a pound apiece. In Ontario 

 and the prairie province of Manitoba, fly-fishing is already 

 reported good, and Hon. John Costigan of OctaAva has en- 

 joyed good sport in the Du Lievre. 



Lake Beaupart, within tweh^e miles of Quebec, Avhose 

 brightly tinted ta-out haA'e of late years increased consider- 

 ably in both size and number, as a result of protection, 

 promises to become quite a popular rcsi iri: during the ap- 

 proaching summer, and some of tJte (■■ ■tlages are to be oc- 

 cupied by families from the United States, 

 Quebec, May 3. E. T, D. . CHAMBERS. 



Mink on a Hook. 



MONCTON, N. B.. May S.— Editor Forest and^ Stream: I 

 inclose you an accomit of mink fisMng in Kent coimty, 

 N.B., while fishing for trout. It is genuine: "A New 

 Industry.— On Saturday last, wlnle Johnnie Palmer Avas 

 fishing "through a hole in the ice near Mill Creek Bridge, 

 he hooked and drew up a fine mink. As the fur is of an 

 excellent quality. Johnnie expects to get !j|;2 for the skin. 

 Now. is not this industry Avorth prosecuting? Even sup- 

 posing only five were caught daily, it would pqy well, and 

 so far as is known, the GoA-ernment lias not yet estab- 

 lished a close season for fishing mink through holes cut in 

 the ice." It is supposed tlie mink cluAved at the Ijait and 

 hook fastened into the foot, and the animal was pulled up 

 thi'ough the hole in the ice. P. D. 



Flounders at Barnegat, N. J. 



BarneGat, N. J., May 8.— About 300 flounders were 

 caught here yesterday by Messrs. Peterson, Grant and 

 Brown. The fishing is poor just now. W. C. I, 



