Dec. 15, igoo.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
467 
jreat climbers. They thus have no difficulty in making 
heir way to the mouth of the hole. 
The wood duck is often kept in confinement, and is a 
beautiful pet. Ihere are many records of its having been 
ared in captivity. 
While a great many wood ducks are shot, they are 
lowhere sufficiently numerous to make it worth while to 
4un especially for them. Those that are killed are taken 
jhieriy by accident when they fly near to decoys put out 
for other fowl. Being shot at all seasoni of the year, they 
ire becoming very scarce, and are likely to be extermi- 
lated before long. 
Waterfowl in the Berkshires. 
New Marlborough, Mass.— The 10th of October was 
■ e of those st.ll, damp days, with almost a drizzle of 
iin at times, and considerable fog in the lowlands and 
wet places. I drove to the little village of Monterey, five 
iiiles distant, to make some calls. Stopping on the way 
10 make a social call on the veteran sportsman of these 
parts, George Shultis, his- wife told me that George and 
the boys had gone to Lake Garfield duck shooting. It is 
rarely that water fowl are shot here to exceed more than 
hree' or four at a time, and I laughed to myself, as I 
ag'ned the luck they must be having. As 1 neared the 
n wn, which is close to the lake, I began to hear the re- 
Iports of guns, and saw two or three flocks of ducks high 
!in the air. This arnused me still more, as I pictured those 
D lor mortals shooting at ducks at least 200 yards in the 
. When I got to the village, wild rumors of a "pond 
il of ducks" reached my ears, and judging from the 
jtioise I heard, reports were not exaggerated. 
After visiting my patients I began cast ng about me for 
1 gun, but found that even horse pistols were at a 
jpremium that day. In my despair I went to the village 
-tore and, oh, joy! lying right on the porch was a gun. 
L was contemplating running away with it, when out 
)obbed Hary Shultis with his hands full of shells, and a 
jcrfect torrent of information. '"We've shot over twenty 
Jucks; lake's so full of 'em they just crowd each othe " 
in to the shore. Come on," said he "and take my gun. 
Well, did I? We jumped in.o the buggy and starte i 
lor the lake. 
The nearer we approached the more it sounded like tli 
Fourth of July. There were all kinds of noises, froi 
zYz drams of nitro powder from a i6-gauge, to about ( 
had had no practical experience in their' use on game. At 
targets I had tried two of them and found them tir^t class 
in every way. Reports from various sources were con- 
flicting as to their killing powers. Heretofore m all my 
huntmg of large game i stuck to my .45-90 wi.h its load 
of 100 grains of biack powder and tCeene express bullet. 
In my hands it had done its work qu ckly and well, killing 
moose, caribou, bears and deer. My favorite hunting in 
all probability wdl not take in anything larger than deer 
and perhaps a bear now and then. The old rifle w.ll not 
go with me until 1 have good cause to think otherwise. 
A .303 will be my companion. 
Our hun.ing of last week was not in any advertised 
game region. It was in a locality just above the center 
of New Hampshire. It is so easy of access that 1 can 
leave my house here in the morning, drive nine miles to 
Concord, take the tram and be out hunting where we 
killed our game by 10:30 A. M. of the same morning. 
We stayed in the i^ocky Point cottage, on the shore of 
Stinson Pond in Rumney, New Hampshire. The cottage 
was fully furnished, aitd all we supplied was provisions. 
Each day's bag of game was dragged in the same day and 
hung in stable. My expenses of the trip from start to 
finish did not exceed ten dollars. All things considered, it 
was a satisfactory hunting trip. C. M. Stark. 
DuisBARioN, N. H., Dec. 1. 
Venison and a Brass Band. 
Boston, Dec. 8. — Mr. H. S. Fisher he9,rs from his 
guide, at Salmon Stream, Aroostook county, Me., that 
hunters have, killed two big moose and several buck 
deer. Mr, Fisher is obliged to lose his hunting trip this 
fall by reason of pressure of business. Mayor Wilson, 
of Auburn Me., and Aldermen Smith and Goss, with 
City Clerk Webber, were invited by Alderman Hastings, 
of the same city, to come up to his Itimber camps at 
Gilead. Me., and htint deer. They went and returned 
last week. Before their arrival the telegraph annptmced 
that the hunters had secured three deer. The r friends 
at once decided that some notice must be taken of their 
arrival. Accordingly, they were met at the railway station 
by a brass band, and a decorated van for accompanying 
the game. The conquering heroes were escorted to fke 
City Hall, where speeches were in order. The speakers 
all expressed the deep concern that had been felt for 
! he safety of the city fathers, who had daringly taken 
'/ifles in hand and hied themselves to the dark and 
drams of black powder belched from a miniature canno. S'-^^reacherous woods. One of the speakers closed with a 
n the hands of a freckled-faced red-headed boy of about 
seventeen years. 
I found everybody there (except the two patients I had 
visited), and for variety of weapons they certainly beat the 
world. One or two at least were using rifles oh a small 
sheet of water, with boat loads of hunters rowing in every 
direction. There every boat hunted for itself except ou" 
great show of satisfact'nn : "We were trembl'ng, in the 
balance. We are trembling no more. Asain we clasp 
them to our . bosoms, and give thanks for the , many 
blessings vouchsafed to us. But in this triumphant mo- 
ment, we do not forget that there are three deer to be- 
divided. We realize that we all like venison, and for the 
\ lext few and fleeting days we shall stick closer to our 
t riends than a brother. This is an hour when the feelings 
two, and there was many a merry race to see > wou: » » r ^t. ^ , r i 
get to a bunch of ducks when they struck the ,-^.r. Th. \ .C^^ ^^e' stomach overcome the emotions of the heart, 
lake which is abottt a mile long and half a mJe in the 
widest part, was literally covered with boats where it 
wasn't covered with ducks. The fowl Were mostly coots, 
a few teal and a sprinkling of black ducks. 
Everybody kept the birds moving, and by the middle of 
the afternoon all had depar,.ed except the killed and 
crippled. We then rowed ashore and laid our ducks on 
the sand. They counted up fifty-nine, a pretty good 
They kept their word, the result being a venison supper 
given by the returning hunters to their friends, with more 
Speech making, during Avhich it was "fully, freely and 
thoroughly" asserted that the deer were - not halter 
broken and led up for the city fathers to shoot. Even 
the ladies made sneeches, being present as hostess and 
guests. The mother of City Clerk Webber was very 
much at loss to understand how her son came to have 
a propensity for hunting, since as a* boy she never 
string for three people. It was estimated that about 2S0'^\ i x,-^^ i, tu- ^i. ' j 
birds were killed altogether. In the memory of the oldest ^™ to have anything worse than a wooden gun. 
inhabitant, there never had been such a day's sport there 
before. E. W. Stockwell^ M. t). 
A «303 Bullet on a Deer. 
A FEW days since I wrote Forest and Stream an 
account of our recent New Ham.pshire deer httnt. I 
wish now to give the effects of a soft-pointed .303 bullet 
from a Savage rifle on a deer. The killing of my big 
buck last week was as follows: I was sitting down on 
top of a ridge of hardwood and spruce, and my first 
glimpse was just the top of the deer's back. I rose to 
my feet, and could see the buck's head, part of his neck 
and a litt'e more of his back. There was a small ridge 
a few yards in front of me, directly between me a.nd tlie 
deer, which prevented a better view. I aimed at a spot 
just back of the deer's jaw, At the crack of the rifle 
the buck went down instantly. He was just 40 yards 
distant. I walked up to him, thinking he might need 
a second shot, but he never a tempted to get on his feet. 
He kicked about a little, and kept swinging his head 
about. I ran a knife into his neck well down toward 
his brisket, striking the right place at once, and the 
blood spurted and ran as T have never seen it before. In a 
very short t'me the buck was dead. My impression then 
was that the bullet had either broken his neck or taken 
a piece out of the bone. Cutting up the buck after reach- 
ing home, showed that it had not. The nearest point it 
came to the neck bone is one-half inch. From entrance 
of btillet to exit it is just five inches. Hole at exit meas- 
ured two inches in diameter, and is very ragged. The 
cla-'m of the makers of small bore nitro rifles as to the 
effect of such btillets on game bemg eaual to if not greater 
than any very larger calibers using black powder, seems 
in the above instance to be A'erified. 
The four deer and four hears we killed in our five days' 
hunting were all shot with two Winchester .,30-30's and 
one Savage ..303. In every instance, except on the bears 
(and they being in a large hole in a ledge, it was difficult 
to get in a shot where it was needed, or to tell when we 
had, and doubt'ess some shots were fired which were 
not needed), one shot killed the animal fired at. The 
first deer, a doe. was shot with a Winchester ..-^o-so as 
she lay on the ground. She did not get on her feet; the 
bullet went throusrh her back. The second deer, a big 
buck, was shot while rur^'insr at some distance in hard- 
wood growth, the Winchester bullet striking hind 
leg just below hock, cuttina off leg so it hune bv skin 
onlv; hone very badlv sh^'^'^red. The buck blM very 
badlv. and d'd not go far. Tlie third deer, a small buck, 
was killed in his tracks; a ,30-30 struck fair in center 
of "pri- iiict- be'ow thro?*-. 
Previous to our recent hunting trip T had not verv mudi 
'itli it? tji.e killing ^^tf&ri of x\lk stttall nfVrof rifle. I 
The hostess. Miss Wilson, sister of the Mayor, explained 
how a younger brother had declared- that he would ptit 
some' very pointed questions to. the hunters, but had 
finally come to her and said, on the sly: "I honestly 
be''"->'p tl-ia'^ rohn did ch^ot *-hat depr '^ttn^^flf " 
BosTOjsr, Dec. to. — It h.z'=- been another hard week for 
the Maine deer hunters. The storm of Tuesdav added a 
foot and a half of snow to the depth of more than a foot 
already oti the ground in all northern sections of the 
State. This has made it almost imooss'ble for the huTi*^pr"^ 
to move, though some hunting is being done by local 
htmters on snowshoes. This sort of hunting is rather 
hard_ on the deer, since the snow is =0 deep that thev are 
yarding, and can run only a short distance when started. 
But Boston and other city hunters are generallv at home, 
the weather and the snow being too much for them. Still 
they brought home a few deer late in the week, the most 
of which fotind their way directly to the Boston markets. 
The high prices na'd have prove<3 a temntation to return- 
ing hunters, and it is understood that if one ha ^ not been 
successful him=elf. it has been ea«v to bring out a deer 
shot by a guide and send it directlv to the market.-, In 
this way the hunter can cla=m the credit of hav'ng brought 
ou^ his deer, while the guide can get the pav for it. 
For the week 131 deer were recorded as shipped through 
Bangor, making the total for the season up to 2 gio 
against 3:260 for the same time a vear ago, or a falling off 
of 3.£;o. It now looks as though the la<;t week of the spa- 
son would make even a smaller showinor. the season clos- 
ing Dec. 15. and that the snow is proving very favorable 
to the stock of de^r to eo over. The number of deer 
coming out of the Kingfield section is still a large one, be- 
ing greater than that of a vear ago. But such i<; true of 
no other sect-on. I am inclined to believe that the falling 
off in the number of deer killed in ]\Iaine for the season 
will prove to have been nearly one-fourth. It is certain 
that most game boomers have been exceedingly unwill'ng 
to let the truth be known and that they have made the 
renorts appear as favorable to the game supply as pos- 
sible. Not as many moose are coming out after the close 
of the sea=on as anticipated, onlv four having been 
recorded at Bangor for the week. This leaves the season 
far short of a year ago. 
A curious instance of how the game laws are handled in 
Mame is reported. A local hunter in the Moosehead 
region supposed he was following a bull moose, and see- 
ine the animal through the thick bushe-. fired. The moose 
fell, but the hunter was soon much alarmed to find that he 
had shot a cow moose, while the bull was making off 
with all speed. The hunter did not want to try to cover 
up what he had done, neither did he want to pay a fine 
and go to orison for thirty days. He decided to at once 
notify tlie Game Commissioners of his mistake. Accord- 
ingly he did so. Comm?<^ioner CarV^nn ordered the 
mo^■^e yhinried tn Augusta to be soli The hone=t hunter 
tt«Jk hb4il an<i ttfJ^rtsfl get the cbNir motjse out, atiti it was smt 
to the State capital to be sold. It is understood that ^^r. 
Cai^le.on will not prosecute the hunter. Al! sorts of game 
legislation is proposed for the, coming ses^^inp of law- 
makers soon to convene in Maine. One guide of conMder- 
able prominence writes the Commissioners asking that ilie 
gu de license fee be raised to $5 instead of $1. as at 
present. He reasons that the number of worth'ess guides 
would be greatly reduced, while the State would gjt as 
much revenue from the system as at present. The Coiii- 
missioners are reported to have told the guide to lalk it 
over with his brother guides and see what tlu-j' lliink o£ 
such a law. I would add a clause to the guiile law, that 
it be made a punishable offense for a guide to shoot deer 
or moose for hunters, and above all, for theni to :^hoot 
game to be sent out to market by returning hunters. The 
Bangor marketmen. who for a couple of years have re- 
fused to take out licenses to sell deer, are making a great 
effort to have the law so amended that they may handle 
gatne. in either large or small quantities, providetl it is 
killed in open season. They agree not to send such game 
to other markets. It is reported in the daily papers that 
they will call a meeting of the delegation to Legisla- 
ture from that section and endeavor to pledge each mem- 
ber to forward such a measure. Thus it is a constant 
struggle to keep up the sale of game till the last vestige 
has disappeared. Will the Slate of Maine take such a 
backward step at this late day in game legislation when 
sortie progress has been made? SPfiCiAi,. 
Talks to Boys.— V. 
The Prcventioa of Accidents. 
I have already said to you a great many tiines that 
the gun is a dangerous implement, and I shall prob.il)ly 
say this many tiines more before we get iliruugli. I) [ 
can impress this on you. before you begin to use loads in 
the gun I shall have done a good thing. When I say 
that if is dangerous I do not niean that it is a thing 
for you to be afraid of; it is dangerous only when care- 
lessly, or-thoughtltssly handled. iNo doubt many of you 
boys have ridden spirited horses that were ready to shy 
and .bolt, and kick up and run away with you if you 
were careless when you were on their backs, but each 
one of you who is accustomed to horses and is a good 
horseman learned as he rode animals that were more 
and more spirited to watch them all the time and see 
that they were constantly under control. To keep a horse 
tmder control is usually easy enough, but if he once gets 
his head and fairly starts to misbehave it is often a dilTi- 
cult matter to regain control of him so that he will go 
along quietly. By constant practice in riding, you come 
at last to watch your horse without knowing that you 
are doing so. It is something like this in handling a 
gun. By beginning right, you form habits of caution 
•with I'egard to the arm, so that no matter what situation 
you may be in it is reasonably certain that the gim will 
do nO' harm. 
Two Dangers. 
r_ There are two great perils to which every gunner is 
always exposed, but those who have had good training, 
who are naturally carefitl, and who have had long ex- 
perience, are much less likely to have these accidents 
happen to them than are the young and the thoughtless. 
The first of these is the involuntary discharge of the 
gun in its owner's hands, by which he himself, his dog 
or his companion inay be injured. The second is the in- 
tentional discharge of the gun by the shooter, either at 
something supposed to be game or at game in sut'h a 
situation that a human being may be in range of the 
gun and the shot may wound him. 
Carelessness in Shooting. 
Absolute protection against injury from the first of 
these causes may be had by holding the gun in such a 
position that the muzzle is always directed upward or 
downward, as already suggested. But the amount of 
danger from the second cause depends wholly on the 
thoughtfulness and the care exercised by the man who 
is handling the gun. English books on shooting, which 
treat of a country traversed by hedges, and where it is 
• cttstomarj' for shooters to take opposite sides of the 
hedge and beat it out, warn young sportsmen that under 
no circumstances shall they shoot through a hedge. In 
this country we do not have nearly so many hedges, nor 
do we shoot in the same way as in England, so that the 
danger of shooting a companion in such a situation is 
not great. At the. same time I' knew of a case where a 
relative shot a bird through a fence and broke the skin 
on the face of another relative in the field beyond, and 
of another where a friend shot at the toj) of' his com- 
panion's hat, which he just saw through a brushy fence. 
In the autumn of 1900 a young man in Colorado was 
killed in a somewhat similar way. He and the young 
girl to whom he was engaged were in the country taking 
pictures, and while adjusting the camera he wore her 
plumed hat to protect his eyes from the sun. They 
Avere behind an embankment, above which, however, the 
hat, ornamented with birds' feathers, could be seen, and a 
gunner taking it for a bird shot at it, killing the wearer 
at the feet of his companion. 
, While on the rail grounds, where half a dozen men 
may perhaps be shooting near to one another, the boats 
in which they stand chan.ging their positions constan'Iy 
and the reeds among which they are passing being nearly 
as tall as the shooters' heads, it is quite common for 
gunners or their shovers to be shot. I have frequently 
been made -nervous when rail shooting by the apparent 
carelessness of neighboring gunners. Fortunately for 
my peace of mind. I never happened to shoot anv one in 
such a situation, but on one occasion I had my coat filled 
full of shot; the distance, however, was so great that the 
pellets did not penetrate to the skin. 
Accidental Discharge of the Gan. 
The danger of an accidental discharge with a hammer- 
less gun. except from carelessness of the gunner, is very 
slight. If the gxin is in good order, as of course it should 
he. there is no danger that the safety catch will slip 
forward and leave the gun in a condition to be pulled 
off. But too much reliance must not be placed on rhe 
safety cbtch^ fo* is handling tire gun the catch may pos- 
