Nov. 26, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
449 
fit. The grooves were cut with a "gaining twist," which 
commenced with a turn in five feet, and ended with a turn 
m about three feet at the muzzle. The result was a de- 
gree of minute accuracy which had never before been ap- 
proached, and which has hardly been surpassed by the 
most perfect rifles of the present day. A favorite size 
for deer hunting was one which carried round balls of 
Z5_to the pound and pickets weighing about half an ounce. 
The powder charge for the latter was 82 grains. The 
bullet fitted the grooves for 3-16 of an inch from the base 
upward. With this large charge and the very slight fric- 
tion between the picket and the barrel, the trajectory was 
flat, so that no allowance was necessary up to 150 yards 
when firing at the shoulder of a deer. I had a highly 
finished rifle of this kind by James, of Utica, N. Y. It 
was about ten pounds in weight and made for pickets 
weighing 140 grains, or 50 to the pound ; the round balls 
weighing 90 to the pound. The powder charge for the 
picket was 55 grains. For off-hand work at the target, 
or for quiet standing shots at game, it was excellent; but 
its long top-heavy barrel and short stock with crescent- 
shaped butt made it exceedingly awkward for shots at 
running, or even quick shots at standing, game. Within 
a year I exchanged it for a double English rifle weighing 
only 8y 2 pounds and carrying round balls 17 to the pound, 
and never regretted doing so. Not long afterward I was 
sent to a station in India where antelope of three species 
were fairly numerous, but very wild through having been 
hunted for two or three years by the men of a Highland 
regiment. In the open it was frequently difficult to stalk 
as near as 150 or 200 yards, and in the jungle snap-shots 
were often necessary. During the first cool season I went 
out with both shotgun and rifle whenever duty allowed 
time, and bagged thirty antelope without one escaping 
wounded, so far as I was aware. 
It appears highly probable that the American rifles with 
picket bullets first suggested the idea of the express sys- 
tem. Purdey made some express rifles in 1859, and by 
about 1866 they were used by numbers of English hunters. 
Those of .40 and .45 caliber gave a practically flat tra- 
jectory *up to 150 yards, and were accurate enough to hit 
the vital part of a deer at that distance, but they never 
equalled the American muzzleloaders with picket bullets 
in delicate accuracy at any distance, although far better 
for game shooting, owing to their lightness and handiness. 
All that I have written about the old rifles refers to 
those used when round balls were universal. I am con- 
vinced that notwithstanding their 4-foot barrels and heavy 
weights, the very best of them would be beaten, in trajec- 
tory as well as accuracy, at all ranges beyond 150 yards, 
by the Winchester and Marlin rifles with' 26-inch barrels 
and of nine pounds weight, chambered for either the .40- 
65-260 or .38-56-255 cartridges. The myths respecting 
their wonderful performances arose through a few well- 
known facts : 
1. The men who used them depended greatly for food 
upon close shooting at game, and often for their lives 
upon holding straight when fighting with Indians. The 
time required for reloading would frequently cost them 
their lives or the loss of food unless the first shot were 
well placed. Therefore they were forced to acquire the 
fixed habit of always taking careful aim instead of firing 
recklessly, as has become the habit of many hunters since 
the invention of quick-loading rifles. 
2. Owing to the plentiful supply of game and the neces- 
sity of using it for food, America contained during the 
eighteenth and first quarter of the nineteenth centuries, 
a far greater number of good marksmen in proportion to 
the population than had ever existed in any other country. 
3. The fire of such men, whether their rifles were long 
or short, light or heavy, -.vould necessarily be far more 
deadly than that oi any troops taught the use of guns 
after enlisting in an army. 
4. The British officers who, during the Revolutionary 
War, were astonished at the shooting of the backwoods- 
men, had, in most cases, not seen a rifle before going to 
America ; and few of those who had seen one were practi- 
cally acquainted with its use. Even in the Highlands of 
Scotland, ball shooting smoothbores were, long after that 
period, often used for stalking deer. 
5. Every one who fires a rifle for many years will, at 
times, make very extraordinary shots, or even several in 
succession, and those who are practically unacquainted 
w 7 ith the rifle often imagine that such shooting is habitual, 
and can be repeated regularly. The description of a 
marvelous shot is liable to be much exaggerated when ' 
passing from one individual to another. (Mr. H. W. S. 
Cleveland, in his work on the rifle, states that he once 
killed a partridge at an extraordinary distance in Maine, 
a shot which he knew he might not have been able to 
repeat in firing fifty times. But that shot was talked 
about far and near for years afterward as a proof of 
Cleveland's skill and of the accuracy of the Kentucky 
rifle, one of which he was then using. He says that rifles 
were then almost unknown in Maine.) 
J. J. Meyrick. 
Budleigh Salterton, Devonshire, Nov. 6. 
Bringing Game Through New Jersey. 
There are certain New York counties — Orange and 
Sullivan — which are reached from New York city by way 
of the Erie Railway. The Erie passes through New 
Jersey, so that a sportsman bringing his game home with 
him is obliged to take it out of the State of New York 
(which is forbidden by the New York law) into New 
Jersey, and then out of New Jersey (which is also for- 
bidden by law) into New York again. 
In former years the New Jersey wardens at the Jersey 
City ferries have seized and confiscated such game in 
course of transit through the State; but this season, act- 
ing under instruction, they permit the ..game to pass. 
Under date of Nov. 18, President Benj. P. Morris, of 
the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission^ writes : 
"Editor. Forest and Stream: The Commission promul- 
gated a rule last year that it was not a violation to bring 
game from some other State across New Jersey and take 
it over the ferry into New York ; that our law was simply 
designed to prevent taking of game killed in New Jersey 
out of the State. Of course parties with game in posses- 
sion may be examined, and it is the duty of the wardens 
to do so, and explain from whence they got the game. 
"Benj. P, Morris." 
Hawaiian Game Seasons. 
Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The game birds of Hawaii are fairly well protected by 
law. The laws are observed by the real sportsmen, but 
111 the country districts our. Oriental population disregard 
them and shoot game in and out of season. Another safe- 
guard is the law specifies a hunting license for each island, 
the fee for which is $5. 
Among the birds, both native and foreign, the following 
are protected by law during the closed season: Wild 
dove, wild pigeon, pheasant, quail, native duck, native 
goose, foreign duck, plover, snipe, akekeke, curlew, kuku- 
luaio and the mud-hen. 
The wild ducks, plovers, snipes, and curlews are migra- 
tory birds, and it seems incredulous that the little 
feathered birds that cannot rest on the water are able to 
sustain the long flight from Alaska, some 2,500 miles. 
But they go and come with the seasons, leaving us in the 
spring and returning in the early fall. 
When the plover first reach our shores they are in fine, 
fat condition; but after a few weeks become thin. It is 
said that birds, when about to migrate, take on a "fever," 
and even their notes of call are changed, and they fly with 
great speed, some of the best flyers making 240 miles an 
hour. In this case, the birds from the northwest make 
the journey in from 12 to 15 hours. There is no place for 
the land birds to alight to break their long flight. These 
same birds mentioned are found on the islands 1,000 miles 
further south of us. They are all here , now, and the 
island hunters are making good bags. 
Eight sportsmen went duck hunting last week and 
bagged over 150 wild ducks besides some plover. The 
duck hunting, however, is closely confined to hunters 
leasing ponds, which they bait and protect the game. 
These ponds are only shot over every few weeks, for if 
they were constantly hunted the ducks would leave the 
island. 
' Pheasant shooting is confined more to the uplands. 
They would become more plentiful were it not for the 
mongoose, a pest that was imported to rid cane fields of 
the rats, and these pests now destroy the bird eggs, the 
young, and even the full grown pheasants. Mongoose 
are about the size of a rat, know no fear, and have been 
known to take a good sized rooster off and kill it in broad 
daylight. It is essential for pheasant hunting to have 
dogs to get the birds flushed in the low shrubbery on the 
hills and higher plains. Hunters, however, are able to 
make bags of from 10 to 20, according to locality. 
The most popular hunting is dove shooting. They are 
very plentiful about the time the rice crop is harvested, 
when they are found on the fields of cut grain. It is no 
unusual thing for hunters to make a bag of 100 per gun. 
A great many of my acquaintances make bags of from 70 
to 90 regularly each Sunday during the height of the 
season. 
Plover, snipe and curlew are found on the marshes and 
along the shores. The use of decoys is very helpful in 
bringing them within range of a blind. The bags have 
not been very heavy this season. They seem to keep in 
small flocks and are very wild. Albert Delmar. 
The Adirondack Deer Season. 
The season for deer hunting in New York State, 
which opened on Sept. 1, closed Nov. 15. Taken all in 
all, the season has been a fairly good one, although it 
is probable that the aggregate number of deer killed 
was considerably smaller than in any open period for 
several years past. Several causes conspired to bring 
about this result, and no doubt all had a greater bear- 
ing thereon than is generally known. It is universally 
conceded that a great many deer perished in the Adiron- 
dack region last winter, and as a natural consequence 
there were fewer in the woods this fall than there 
otherwise would have been. There are certain localities 
where deer were apparently as numerous this season 
as they ever were, but in other sections a pronounced 
falling off was noticeable. There has been a wide 
difference of opinion as to the cause of the mortality 
last winter, but that many died cannot be successfully 
disputed. The theory that the severe cold weather and 
the deep snows proved fatal to many has had numerous 
advocates, and very likely they may have to some ex- 
tent contributed to that end, but there must have been 
other influences. Some people claim that the streams 
were frozen so hard that the deer were unable to get 
water and perished from thirst, while others say the 
snow was so deep the animals could not obtain food 
to sustain life. A few believe that the deer froze to 
death. Experienced woodsmen, however, do not hesi- 
tate to express the opinion, that if the deer had been 
left undisturbed in their yards, or chosen winter quar- 
ters, and not frightened out by men or dogs, the mor- 
tality would have been comparatively slight. Another 
explanation which appears very reasonable, is that 
many dead deer found when spring opened were 
animals which were mortally wounded or badly crippled 
during the previous hunting season. But whatever the 
cause of death may have been, the depletion in the 
ranks of the deer was one of the prime reasons why 
there were fewer killed this fall than usual. 
The remarkably heavy foliage on the deciduous trees 
and undergrowth proved a great disadvantage to 
hunters during the greater part of the open season. 
The leaves remained on the trees and shrubbery until 
very late, and thus made it difficult for a person to 
discover a deer, even though it was close at hand. 
Another thing which had an important influence in 
protecting the deer was the reluctance of hunters to 
travel about in the woods in quest of game through 
fear of being mistaken for a deer and shot at by some 
over-anxious and reckless marksman. The numerous 
shooting accidents which have occurred in the Adiron- 
dacks prevented many people from visiting the woods 
this fall, particularly while the leaves were on the trees; 
and those who did go were very careful not to incur 
any undue risks. Many hunters who had occasion to 
go through the shrubbery took the precaution to whistle 
or sing while doing so, preferring to take the chance 
of frightening game away rather than to give some 
careless secreted marksman an excuse for shooting 
rrj their direction on the theory that a moving bush 
might possibly conceal a deer. It was noticeable that 
a very large percentage of the hunters waited until 
after the leaves had fallen, believing that the danger 
of their being mistaken for deer would then be less 
than earlier in the season. 
The city sportsmen, as well as the guides here, come 
to realize the wisdom of wearing a red hunting suit, 
red sweater, red shirt, red coat or, at least, a red hat 
while tramping through the woods, and there is no 
doubt that it is one of the most efficient safeguards that 
can be adopted to prevent a person from being mis- 
taken for a deer or bear. The custom of wearing 
clothing of this conspicuous color has become very 
popular in the Adirondacks, and is bound to increase 
ill favor from year to year. It is believed by experi- 
enced woodsmen that red will not frighten a deer, and 
that oftentimes it will serve to attract and hold the 
animal's attention, so that the hunter who wears it 
will stand just as good a chance of seeing game as the 
one who declines to don it. 
After the leaves had fallen, the conditions for hunt- 
ing were presumably at their best; but hunters found 
themselves seriously handicapped when looking for 
deer by the fact that the woods were so noisy. The 
ground was heavily carpeted with dead leaves, and 
when these were dry, as was the case most of the 
time, it was an utter impossibility to still-hunt success- 
fully. It was out of the question for a man to' walk 
through the woods without making such a noise in the 
dry leaves as to alarm any deer that might be within 
a radius of a quarter of a mile or more, and so hunters 
found it very difficult to obtain anything like a satis- 
factory shot. There were a very few days, however, 
perhaps half a dozen in all, during the latter cart of the 
season, when the conditions for still-hunting were ideal. 
Twice or three times there was a light fall of snow dur- 
ing the night, and on the following morning the ground 
was covered to the depth of five or six inches with soft, 
damp snow. At such times hunters were enabled to 
move through the forest noiselessly and to readily 
follow the fresh track of a deer when they found one. 
November 14 was one of these days, and hunters who 
were in the woods at that time made a good record, or 
had no one to blame but themselves. It is believed 
that a very large proportion of the deer killed during 
the season were shot on the days when there was 
snow on the ground, and on the few other occasions 
when it had rained sufficiently to moisten the fallen 
leaves and make still-hunting practicable. 
It is predicted that when the reports are all in from 
different portions of the Adirondacks, it will be found 
that a good many deer have been taken this year, 
although, as has been intimated, the number is not as 
large as it was last year or the year before. The prob- 
abilities, in any event, are that the slaughter was fully 
as great as it could be and not exceed the present an- 
nual rate of increase. 
Thinking sportsmen are of the opinion that there 
is danger of going beyond these bounds, and in order 
to guard against it, they are advocating shortening the 
open season still further. Probably some additional 
protective measures will eventually have to be adopted 
in order to properly conserve the game supply, and 
it will be wise to take the necessary action before the 
deer have been too greatly reduced in numbers. 
W. E. WOLCOTT. 
Utica, N. Y., Nov. 21. 
In Nebraska. 
Omaha. — Nov. i the open season for quail began in 
this State and local sportsmen have been busy ever 
since. Duck shooting this fall has been poor, but the 
prospects are flattering for great sport with Bob White. 
Notwithstanding the excessively frigid weather during 
the latter part of winter the birds are reported in un- 
usual plentifulness in all favored localities. The heavy 
snow of February lay but a few days upon the earth; 
the havoc among the birds in consequence was small 
Had the white blanket lain for any considerable period 
and the weather maintained its intense severity, the 
quail in the least covered districts would have been all 
but exterminated. It is the inclement weather in this 
section of the country which works the greatest disas- 
ter to the birds. The sportsmen, hawks, owls and co- 
yotes cut but little figure by way of comparison. 
From a personal -standpoint, each lover of the field 
and wood has a preference in regard to the species of 
game he prefers to hunt and shoot to obtain the great- 
est amount of profit; and pleasure, and this preference 
naturally forms the individual's opinion as to which is 
the best of all for the purpose of healthful sport. One 
prefers wild fowl, and not taking into consideration his 
own personal fancies and idiosyncrasies, his peculiar 
success in this branch of gunning, or his advantages, 
which undoubtedly are mainly instrumental in deter- 
mining his preference, he emphatically affirms that this 
class of shooting is the best of all. And of this con- 
stituency I am honest in admitting that I am an ardent 
follower. And so with all the rest of the craft whose 
choice is the shooting of some other bird — whatever 
it may be it is certain to be extolled above all others. I 
am willing to confess, however, that it is my belief that 
from the standpoint of the greatest amount of pleasure 
to the greatest number, quail shooting, for numerous 
reasons, is the finest sport of all. 
It affords so much mixed shooting — in the open and 
in the cover, and slow and swift — that there is plenty 
to tax the skill and tickle the fancy of all, however 
crochety or fastidious. In the open country the shoot- 
ing is not too difficult to dishearten one of even the 
most moderate skill, while, on the other hand, in our 
tangled and matted creek bottoms, the pastime is we!! 
calculated to test the nicest skill of the best shot who 
ever picked up a hammerless. So, taken as a whole 
in the open or in the brush, the gunner of average 
deftness can manage to make a satisfactory showing 
and thus secure the consequent excitement which 
comes with reasonable success. In this connection I 
will add, and meet the approval.too, of all the experienced 
sportsmen, I think, that a certain degree of success is 
essential to the shooter's pleasure. Many writers de- 
precate the consideration of the bag, treating it as m 
