MARCH 31, 1B96.J 
FOREST AND STREAM 
287 
terests of sportsmen, and tha.t is about what they repre- 
sent now. If we allow them to become obsolete or be 
replaced by others in the interests of the market man and 
the restaurateur, so much the worse for us. 
All of which goes to show that sportsmen should stand 
together, decide on just what they want, and then work 
to secure it. And this leads up to the point which I wish 
to make — namely, that the laws regarding the killing of 
game in the State of New York are good enough as they 
now are, and that we "had better bear the ills we have 
than to fly to others that we know not of." Herbert Spen- 
cer's chapter on "over legislation" will apply to the game 
laws as well as to anything else. 
It ia-a rather widely accepted fact that deer, under the 
present laws, are increasing in the Adirondacks as well as 
in northern New England, where the laws are more lib- 
eral. Why then should sportsmen quarrel among them- 
selves about hounding and jacking and still-hunting? 
We all have our beliefs and our preferences regarding 
these things; but we know that they might be much worse 
than they are now, and that under changed conditions 
unthought of evils might creep in. 
The time will never come when men can shoot deer 
from the porches of the big hotels or go hunting success- 
fully with a brass band? but so long as the present order 
of things is maintained the real sportsman can go to the 
Adirondacks with more than an even chance of killing 
his legal quota of deer in a two or three weeks' outing. 
Let us be very frank with ourselves and admit that 
when we go hunting we go to kill something, and that 
we do not buy a shooting outfit and hire guides merely 
for the purpose of viewing the scenery or enjoying the 
days and nights in camp on a diet of salt pork. Venison 
is good enough for us. Arthur F. Eioe. 
CALIBERS OF HUNTING RIFLES. 
Cleveland, Ohio, March 7. — Editor Forest and Stream- 
It was in the fall of 1892 that I sat for hours on a stand at 
the inlet of Meacham Lake, and at last a splendid buck 
came crashing through the alders and took to the water. 
When he had got a fair distance from the shore we went 
after him, and were within 4.0yds. before the first shot 
was fired. Then I held my .4440 200 Winchester well 
down on the back of his neck and let go — no results. A 
second and third shot at the same spot were equally with- 
out effect, but the continued noise seemed to confuse the 
buck, he turned sideways to see, and the fourth shot was 
sufficient. 
When that buck was skinned we found the first three 
bullets within a 3in. space on the back of his neck. Every 
one had struck the spine and had flattened without pene- 
trating the bones. 
I am not defending shooting deer in the water. Like 
most men I have done my share of it, and now have had 
enough of such butchery. But my experience in this and 
other cases satisfied me that the .44-40 rifle did not have 
driving power enough to be a satisfactory weapon for 
large game. In my poor judgement, one does not want 
a rifle that will kill game only when they happen to be bo 
placed that you have a clear aim at a fatal spot, through 
soft tissues alone. On the contrary, your weapon should 
be able to send its bullet to the life whatever the position 
of the animal, provided the aim is correct. In the case 
under consideration a. 45-70 or .45 90, and possibly a .38-55 
would have killed the deer with the first bullet, 
This buck was a particularly large and fine one, weigh- 
ing nearly 2501bs. not dressed, and his splendid head hangs 
in my hall now; but my satisfaction in it is a good deal 
marred by the remembrance of the needless torture to 
which he was subjected through the use of an inferior 
weapon. 
Since that time it has been my privilege to use a .45 90- 
300 Winchester against elk, deer and antelope in the best 
preserved game region of Colorado, and for fair still-hunt- 
ing instead of aqueous murder. In penetration, accuracy, 
flatness of trajectory and general merit, this gun gave 
me the most eminent satisfaction.. It sent a 300-grain 
bullet completely through a great bull elk at 150yds., 
brought down a buck antelope at fully 350yds,, and was 
remarkably accurate at tbe target at any reasonable 
range. By the way, I found it adapted only to the 300- 
grain bullet, and that with the heavier ball of 405 grains 
the recoil was greatly increased and the accuracy lost, the 
gun throwing from 8 to lOin. high at 100yds. Aiming at 
the point of the chest of a blacktail buck facing me at 
about 90yds, , I put a 405-grain bullet exactly between his 
eyes. This was of course sufficient to convert him into 
venison, but was not satisfactory as a target shot. 
No rifle will do good work unless it is held straight; but 
why handicap yourself by using an inferior gun when a 
perfect one costs little more, weighs no more, and is as 
convenient in every other respect? 
A, St. J. Newberry, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The letters which have recently appeared in Forest and 
Stream about calibers of rifles for large game have been 
very iuteresting to me. 
Any person in selecting a rifle Bhould select it with 
some particular purpose in view. I certainly should not 
want the same gun for shooting woodchucks and gray 
squirrels in my old home in New England that I would 
i for shooting silver tips in these grand mountains, or the 
i antelope on the plains to the south of us. The last gun 
that I would select for shooting any large game would be 
the shotgun loaded with ball cartridges. The experience 
of mankind both in war and hunting in the few centuries 
{>ast has been such that the smooth-bore musket is no 
onger considered a valuable weapon, but has long since 
been discarded to give place to the modern rifle. Just 
why a man would wish to take the shotgun for shooting 
ball cartridges I cannot understand. In fact it is not quite 
as good for that purpose as the old smooth-bore musket. 
In accuracy and killing power at a distance exceeding 
50yds. it is not in competition with any of the modern 
rifles. 
If the desire is to have both a rifle and a shotgun in the 
hands at the same time, that can be secured in a much 
more serviceable form by using the three-barrel gun. I 
have one 12-gauge with rifle barrel .40-70-330 caliber, 
which I consider the best all-round gun that I have ever 
used; its weight is 8 Jibs , and length of barrel 28in. In 
aocuraoy at long and short range the rifle is equal to any 
Winchester or other rifle that I have ever used, and the 
ehotgun leaves nothing to b9 desired except that it is not 
hammerless. In the mountainous country here, where we 
may strike grouse, turkey, deer or bear in the same day's 
travel, this gun suits very well. 
We hear a great many talk about the great value of the 
rifle for decapitating grouse, and I suppose they would use 
it the same on quail if the opportunity should occur; but I 
do not claim to be so fine a shot that I prefer a rifle to a 
shotgun for either grouse or quail. I have a fondness for 
the good old scatter gun that may be of service on quail 
or grouse when under good headway. There may be 
some expert riflemen that actually believe that the rifle is 
the proper gun for grouse; but while I can plead guilty to 
having killed a few grouse with a rifle, I should not select 
that gun for the purpose in preference to a shotgun. 
In regard to calibers, I have never seen any game that 
I want a larger caliber than .40 to use on. I think the 
.40-70 330 is a most excellent cartridge, and am glad to 
see that the Winchester people have put on the market 
one of their repeaters using this cartridge. 
In regard to the small caliber smokeless rifle, I have 
only tried the Mannlicher. but believe they have come to 
stay. I do not like the action of the Mannlicher and 
would not use it on that account, but I intend to give the 
Savage .30 caliber a careful test with its different car- 
tridges on antelope at k ng range and on large game next 
fall. 
I think the greatest fault with most sportsmen in regard 
to securing the most effective weapon is their attachment 
to their first love in rifles; We frequently hear some old 
timer claim that the .44 caliber Winchester was one of 
the most effective weapons ever used in this country. 
That this little rifle was for years well to the front cannot 
be denied, but anyone who has taken the trouble to care- 
S. y. FULLERTON. 
Executive Agent Minnesota Fish and C4ame Commission. 
fully test one of them alongside a .45-90, or a .40-70 or ,40- 
65, cannot help knowing that in killing power the little 
short .44 cartridge is not in it, and for long range they 
are utterly useless. 
Many hunters, if they make a chance shot with a gun 
and kill some large game at fairly long range, believe that 
they can always do it with that gun and that no other gun 
could possibly equal it. 
It is not a difficult matter to make a practical test of 
the range, accuracy and killing power of a rifle. If not in 
a country where large game is plentiful for testing the kill- 
ing power of a rifle, by watching for an opportunity one 
can usually find a sick horse or a cow, or one with a 
broken leg that the owner would be glad to have shot, and 
the post mortem examination will clearly demonstrate 
what a rifle will do. 
I shall never be satisfied until I have tried a . 30 caliber 
smokeless rifle with expansive bullet on some large game. 
I do not feel sure that they will do the work, but I am in- 
clined to the opinion that they will. I know they have 
one excellent quality, that of a very low trajectory, and 
this of itself is a great point in their favor. 
I would like very much to learn the experience of any 
practical man who has tried any of these rifles on large 
game. H. B, Hersey. 
Santa Fb, N. Mi, March 3. 
Helena, Mont. — Editor Forest and Stream: If you 
have space in your paper for one more expression of opin- 
ion concerning the best caliber for large game, I would 
say, with all due respect to the many advocates of large 
calibers, that I have lived and hunted in the mountains of 
Colorado and Montana since 1877, have used all calibers, 
and have adopted as my favorite rifle the ,38-55 Marlin. 
It is light, and its great accuracy enables a good shot to 
drop the largest game animals to be found in these moun- 
tains dead in their tracks with a single shot, whereas the 
recoil of the .45 and ,50cals. is considerable, and has a 
tendency to disturb the aim, making it very uncertain; 
and any experienced hunter of big game knows that a -45 
or ,50cal, bullet will not stop a large animal unless hit in 
a vital spot. 
A correspondent in your last issue wants a rifle that 
will combine accuracy, very flat trajectory and great pen- 
etration with a mushroom bullet; but he will find that 
accuracy is not consistent with very flat trajectory, and 
that great penetration cannot be had with a mushroom 
bullet, 
If Dick of Connecticut ever hunts in the Rocky Moun- 
tains he will become convinced that shooting the heads 
off of grouse with a rifle is the only way we shoot them 
here; for if shot in the body with a rifle the result is a lot 
of feathers and very little meat, or a conglomeration of 
meat, feathers and intestines. A hunter will often leave 
camp an hour before sunrise loaded for bear, elk or deer. 
He will not deign to notice the grouse which rise in his 
path until the sun is several hours high, advising him that 
he is not likely to see any big game. He will then turn 
toward camp, and if fresh meat is scarce there he will 
begin clipping the heads off of the grouse; and any of the 
sportsmen who have hunted in the grand old Rockies, 
however they may differ in opinion with me on the sub- 
ject of calibers, will agree that young grouse make a 
most welcome addition to the bread, bacon and coffee in 
camp. G. A. T. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
The Death of Dr. Rowe. 
Chicago, Ills., March 11.— Dr. N. Rowe, editor of the 
American Field, died yesterday afternoon at his home, 
3011 Wabash avenue, after an illness of years which re- 
cently assumed acute form. He had been unconscious for 
two days preceding his death. His last hours were 
attended by friends and by his faithful wife, who has de- 
votedly administered to his slightest wish during the three 
long years of bis sickness. A meeting of the executive 
committee of the Illinois State Sportsmen's Association was 
held at the Sherman House this afternoon for the purpose 
of taking suitable action upon this sad event. A com- 
mittee of three, consisting of F. S. Baird, R. S. Mott and 
E. Hough,were appointed to draft resolutions and reported 
the following, which were passed without amendment: 
Whereas, Divine Providence has seen fit to remove from 
our midst our esteemed friend and valued co-worker, Dr. 
N. Rowe, whose name is a household word wherever true 
sportsmanship is recognized and appreciated, and whose 
efforts to elevate the better elements in sportsmanship 
through the columns of the American Field are universally 
known, and 
Whereas, Dr. Rowe for many years was a prominent 
and influential member of the Illinois State Sportsmen's 
Association, and devoted his best efforts to promoting 
game protection and the objects of this association, and 
freely donated his time and rare intellectual abilities in 
that behalf, and 
Whereas, Dr. Rowe was held in great personal esteem 
by all the members of this association for his many lovable 
traits of character, now, therefore, 
Be it Resolved: That the Illinois State Sportsmen's 
Association hereby expresses its deep sense of loss sus- 
tained through the death of Dr. Rowe, and that it extend 
to his family and friends its sympathy in this their hour 
of bereavement, and 
Resolved further, That a copy hereof be forwarded to 
his family and given to the press for publication and 
spread upon the records of this association. 
Funeral services are to be held at 8 o'clock Friday 
evening, after which the body will be removed to Brook- 
lyn, N, Y,, and there laid at rest in Greenwood Cemetery, 
on Sunday, March 15. At the Chicago ceremonies the 
Illinois State Sportsmen's Association will attend in a 
body. 
Minnesota State Warden S. F. Fullerton. 
The accompanying portrait shows how a good game 
warden looks. It is the likeness of Mr. S. F. Fullerton, 
the hustling executive agent of the Minnesota Game and 
Fish Commission. Forest and Stream has often had oc- 
casion to notice the work of Mr. Fullerton among that of 
other able Western wardens. Mr. Fullerton went into 
offine in April a year ago. Between that time and Deo. 1, 
1895, he made 124 arrests, out of which convictions were 
had in practically all the cases. It is not alone in the 
number of arrests, but in their importance, in which Mr. 
Fullerton's work has been extraordinary. He has waged 
relentless war on the markets and exporters, and some of 
the heaviest confiscations in the West have been made 
at his hands. Supplied with an appropriation of only 
$15,000 during his first year, he seized over $5,000 worth of 
game, and used tbe money in prosecuting other offenders. 
He has practically stopped the shipment of venison 
from Minnesota, and is rapidly making that a closed State 
for illegal game dealing. As related earlier in these col- 
umns, he stepped into the breach a few weeks ago when 
the Minnesota law was supposed to have a bad hole in it, 
and has found legal means to stop the inflow of Dakota 
game which made a menace to Minnesota game. 
Mr. Fullerton enunciates good Forest and Stream doc- 
trine in his confession of faith. He says, "The great 
principle in game protection is to stop the market, and this 
we have been endeavoring to do to tbe best of our ability. 
We believe, and the Supreme Court has so decided, 
that the game and fish of Minnesota belong to the State, 
and that all the citizens have an equal show at it, not 
merely a few pot-hunters, generally worthless, who pay 
no taxes, and make part of the lowest classes of people 
we have in the State. These people shoot and fish to sell. 
I claim that if they cannot sell their game and fish, they 
will give up the business and go to earning their living in 
a more honorable way." 
Minnesota is to be congratulated upon the possession of 
her active and practical warden, whose reputation for 
integrity and efficiency is above reproach, and promises 
well for the future of Minnesota game. E. HOUGH. 
909 Security Building, Chicago. 
Knights of the Rod and Gun. 
Augusta, Me, — The Knights of the Rod and Gun held 
one of their semi-monthly meetings on March 6. Inter- 
esting topics were brought up and discussed until 8 o'clock, 
then an hour was taken to debate on the shyest animal in 
the United States. I was decided that the big-horn, 
which was against the sea otter, waB the shyest. No 
debate of the club was ever listened to with greater in- 
terest than this, as every member tbat took part in it 
talked well and brought out their points plainly and 
forcibly. 
Never has the club been doing better than of late, never 
was such deep interest taken in it before. We are in 
hopes to be able to follow the rules of Forest and Stream 
and make better sportsmen of ourselves and others. 
Ebeeme, 
