Sept. 1, 187n. 
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LETTERS FROM SPOBTS MEfj. 
Slimmer tVooik-ock Sliootiii^ — Kail. 
tZi.KTOx. .Mil., Aug. 20. 
•Summer woodcock shooting has been discussed in 
your pages this scitson pro and con, and these discus- 
sions, probably, directed my attention more to the sub- 
ject than heretofore, and after careful observation and 
reflection, I most decidedly agree witli the .'ulvocalts of 
extending the close season into tlie early fall. 
In our Stale, the season for shooting opens .June 10, 
which is probably not earlier thau July 4 in Xew York, 
when the dillerence in latitude U considered. But it is 
merely the murder of innocents without sport to shoot 
the birds in tli.it season. Though pretty well grown, 
the young birds get up slow and sluggish as rail, and 
fall easy victiiiis to the most ordiniu'y shot. Few genu- 
ine sportsmen indulge in shooting at this midsummer 
season, and the market gunners have eveiy family of the 
birds spotted, and when the law permits the slaughter — 
for slaughter it is — to commence, they are out' by day- 
break, if thej' do not steal out the eveniig before, and 
bag whole families of the helples> birds, which are sold 
at a high price to some gourmand always ready to pay 
for tit-bits inviting to the palate. Such mercenary sport 
ought to be prevented b}' law. Xo man with the in- 
>tincts of a .<portsnian cares to indulge in it. A couple 
of hours’ range through the bushes, and your dog is full 
of disgusting ticks. The whole business is repulsive, 
and calls loudly for reformation. ^Yith us the wood- 
cock stays till December, and if the season for shooting 
them was fixed within the partridge season — the SOth of 
October— tine sport might be enjoyed. The birds have 
then acquired tlieir full growth, are fat and strong, and 
altogether a splendid bird as ever lay to a dog. Under 
cover of gunning for woodcock, these pot-hunters .and 
market gunners violate the law by killing the bobwhites 
weeks before the season for shooting opens, and the law 
a-i it stands in this and other States, only plays into the 
hand.s of the men its object is to restrain. If summer 
shooting wore prohibited by law, the woodcock, whii-h 
is being surely exterminated, would increase in num- 
bers rapidly. The families, in place of lieing murdered 
before they separate, as at present, would scatter, and 
the birds become strong and active, if protei ted till Oc- 
tober, the numbers that summer shooting slaughter 
would escape to replenish the stock in following seasons. 
The National Sp-ortsmen’s Association will do a good 
thing if they will draft a game law which prohibits 
woodcock shooting till the partridge season opens in the 
different States. 
liail have begun to put in an appearance on the Elk 
marshes, and by the time the next morning tide makes, 
they will be ready to shoot, and then we will have some 
lively sport till the frosts drive the little night rovers 
farther south. F. E. E. 
ZJittuiar on Ex.-liitiiuiaker. 
Nepoxset, Mass., Aug. 21. 
Your correspondent, “ ex-Gunmaker,” >eems to make 
war against everybody. If he only would do it in a 
more gentlemanly and reasonable manner— one more 
adapted for your highly-esteemed paper— I think it 
would suit your readers better. I would not care much 
what he 'ays about myself, only 1 shall defend those 
whom he altaclcs on account of what I told them. 
First, he quotes from one trial with one kind of my 
powder in a rifle for which it was not adapted, while 
Medious ” has used, and seen me use, a great man}' 
different kinds. “ Ex-Gunmaker's” trial.* are absolutely 
worthless, as he u.'cd a kind of powder which was ex- 
pressly made for short-range rifles, while he was trying 
it in a long-range rifle. From what he says about the 
Maynard rifle, I am inclined to think that he never has 
seen one. Every one who has used it knows that it has 
a splendid penetration. 
Second. Durability of the Maynaid. He, as an ex- 
gunmaker. ought to know that a rifle which cannot 
stand .5 POO charges would be a very poor one. and the 
Maynaid is understood to be a first-class weapon in its 
line, in accuracy, durability and conveuience. The bar- 
rel A\ hich I used so much will stand several thousand 
charges more without injury, although I should not 
charge it as I did at fli-st, ramming tJie powder into the 
shell. Xo Maynard will be injured by 2,000 shots, as 
he says his hud been, great carelessneas excepted. I am 
also using Sharps and Keiniiigton rifles daily for over 
eight months, and I cannot see that they wear out in- 
side. His theory of eating out the rifling is real non- 
sense. Before ■“ ex-Gunmaker ” writes again on rifles, 
I chiefly on Maynards, he had better get some more in- 
I formation about it, which other people possess whom 
he stj'les ignorant. He does not know that the 50 calibre 
long cartridge for Maynard holds 100 grains black 
powder. 
Third. He does not say what kind of powder he has 
used in his Tolley 14-gauge gun. 1 recommend my rifle 
powder for 14 bore, and if he has used shot-gun powder, 
he has used too much, according to my instructions. If 
he does not give all particulars, his trials are good for 
nothing, and as he shows such great enmity', I doubt his 
trying fairly. I, for my^art. have finished with “ex- 
Gunmaker."’ He may write against me what he likes, 
I do not think he can do me damage. Others have taken 
up my defense against “ ex-Gunmaker,” very nicely, as 
I can see in a IV estern paper, the Field, where 1 found 
a communication from De Kalb, Illinois, signed "R. 
T.,” in the last issue. C.xbl Dittm-xr. 
A Week Among the Grouse. 
Flotd Co., la., Aug. ‘25. 
Your correspondent has a little story to tell,^but 
what's he to do for a name ? Dogwhip, Setter, Snap- 
shot, Ramrod, and every other name of that ilk, has 
been pre-empted to the last one. Besides, it isn't ortho- 
dox to tell a sporting story without enlarging upon the 
joys of the flowing bowl and the fragrant pipe. Now. 
this correspondent’s education has been so shabby, so 
lean and impotent, in that direction, that a due regard 
for truth estops him from dilating upon the pleasures of 
the F. B. and F. P. aforesaid. Add to this the fact that 
he has no ^580 Purdy, nor any 70-guinea Laverack to 
carry with him on his sporting raids — in truth, he is 
now sporting on a $17 gun and a $4 dog. The entire 
outfit of himself and friend would scarcely command 
$.50 current funds. You see, we are so very modest 1 
But to the story. On Monday, the 16lh inst., by five 
o'clock A. M., with our jackets lined with breakfast and 
our lungs filled with the sweet breath of the morning, 
a heavy dew on the grass, dogs in full feather and eager 
for the fray, we were afield. We had scarce walked the 
width of an “80,” when the dogs made an earnest 
point. The covy proved to be a large one. The birds 
all took wing together, and settled again a few rods 
away. After loading and gathering our two birds 
apiece, we started after, but before we got half way to 
them the dogs came to a stand. Soon after we reached 
them another large covy raised. Again bagging our 
two apiece, we went forward, and again put in our two 
barrels apiece before we had advanced fifty yards. Five 
and a-half brace, as the Britishers say, in three rounds, 
in a trifle less than thirty minutes. In short, it seemed 
as if the ground had been sown with grouse, and the 
harvest at hand. By ten o’clock we were glad to quit, 
tired with the uniformity of loading and firing, with the 
monotony of knocking down birds, of filling our game 
pockets and emptying them again. We were disap- 
pointed in the evening shoot because the birds could 
not be used. We had killed so many in the morning, 
that it took all day nearly to find places where they 
would accept and eat them. There were no shipping 
facilities, and the country couldn’t consume the half we 
could leisurely shoot. We were unwilling to let asingle 
bird go to waste. And there we were. Verily, the nig- 
ger preacher made a neat double shot when he said, 
“ Blessed is dem dat don’t expect nuflin, fur dey shan't 
be disappointed.” 
It was suggested that we get a patent meat-cutter, and 
visit every family, apply the spout to the mouth of each 
member, and gi'ind the birds into ’em, as long as they 
would hold any. But this would require three persons 
— one to feed the machinery’, one to turn the crank, and 
one to hold the “patient.” We did not get out again 
until Wednesday morning, and oiily then after canvas- 
sing the terr^ry and making a list of the exact 
number of birds that could be used, and when the num- 
ber had been bagged we game in. And so the week 
was filled in — alternately waiting and shooting, until 
Saturday noon, when we departed, having had about 
one and a-half days’ shooting, instead of four or five 
days, as anticipated. 
To those sportsmen among your army of readers 
whose eyes are turned in this direction, it may be said 
that they cannot go amiss for good shooting at any sta- 
tion on the. line of the Iowa Division of the Illinois Cen 
iral, or Dacotali and Iowa Division of the ?iilwaukee 
and St. Paul Railroad, between the third county west 
of the Mississippi, and the Missouri River. The board 
charges -are light, and the fodder, as a rule, of a rude 
and primitive character ; but “ wot’s the hodds so long 
as you’re ’appy.” Ycba D.xm. 
Which is the Gun 1 
New Orleans, Aug. 15. 
Jlr. AV. AV. Greener, the celebrated gun-maker of Bir- 
minglrain, advertises guns of improved boring, which, 
for paUei'n and penetration, greatly excel other guns. 
They sfipov more closely, and at the same time with move 
penetration, so he adv’ertises. The question arises iu 
my mind, does he really’ do this? Are his guns as much 
superior .as one would suppose? I should like to have 
these questions answered by some of your correspond- 
ents or contributors, many of whom are. no doubt in- 
formed on the subject. Air. J. W. I.ong, in a long and 
intcre.sliug article, in a late number of Rod and Gcn, 
partly answers these questions. There is the further 
question, also, to be discussed, which Air. Long a.'ks, 
but does not answer, viz. ; AVhat is the maximum de- 
gree of closeness desired? As I have Heretofore stated, 
however, it might be practically-tiieoretically, a gun 
might shoot too close. A rifle, for instance, when load- 
ed with ball, does so. It delivers its whole charge in a 
single spot ; it does not answer for a shot gun ; it does 
not scatter any. AVe want a gun to scatter some; but 
how much? That is a question. It is underetood that 
the Greener guns referred to arecho'Ae-bored — is this the 
case? and if so, are they a safe and durable gun I These 
are very important points. Air. Long thinks there is no 
doubt about the superiority’ of choke-bored guns. 1 
would be glad to hear from others on the subject. If 
guns of this kind are better, why not have the constric- 
tion of the bore near the breech instead of at the muz- 
zle? I should suppose it would be safer. I am glad to 
see that Amateur, of Clarksville, has commenced Ida 
proposed experiments at the target. I have been too 
busy to do anything in that way myself, but hope to'be 
able to give a few shots this fall, and report the same 
through “our paper.” I think Amateur has the ri;tht 
kind of target, the right distance and shot, and hoiie 
others will let us know what their guns can do under 
the same conditions, viz. : target a JO-inch ciicle. at 40 
yards; charge, 1 oz. Leroy’s or 'I'atham’s Xo. 7 shot; 
fiowder, ad libitum. Since the excitement about choke- 
bore guns and their extraordinary shooting powers, I 
suppose our old targets will appear ridiculously jioor. 
However, I will give some of my own, made a ft'A 
months since, by’ way of apology to Amateur for not 
taking hold of oar proposed gun trial with more alac- 
rity. 
The gun is a new 12 gauge, laminated barrels, weighs 
8 lbs., breech loader, top snap, made by AY. & C. .8cott 
& Sons, cost $200. Target, 30 inches square at 40 yards. 
Load, 14 or. Leroy’s Xo. 6 shot; 24 drachms (.•range 
ducking powder. These were trial shots, and the prop- 
er charge had not been ascertained yet, but it was near 
the proper one. The first shot the paijer shell in the 
R barrel blew out, and spoiled the pattern. Paper .-hcli*, 
R 64. L 98, R 97, L 142. Brass shells, R;140, L 138. Av- 
erage pattern, 122. The penetration was about 20 shot, 
penetrating 38 sheets of tough hardware wrapping pa- 
per. 
At some future day I ho|)e to inform the readers of 
Rod and Gen what the same gun w ill do on a 30-inch 
circle with Xo. 7 shot. Now, gentlemen, “trot out” 
your fine guns that you think can’t be beaten, and let us 
know what they can do. Let us know what a good gun 
is. Inform us of the weight, size, kind and cost of your 
guns at the same time. Then we may know, after com- 
paring notes, whether our gun-makers are giving us good 
work or not. Let us hear from Xovice-and at least a 
hundred more, w’ho know how to use the quill as well 
as the gun. Shooting affairs are in a dormant sTate here 
now, with the exception of the riflemen, who a 5 ,e quite 
active. Papa Botte. 
AV estern SiKirls. 
St. Lovis, Aug. 20. 
Seeing numerous^ inquiries about chicken hunt- 
ing iu the AA’^est, thought I would let your readers 
know where they’ can get good shooting at prau'ie 
chicken.', and also ducks, later in the season. L. AY. 
and P., accompanied by’ myself, w’ent over last week to 
Olney, one of the Illinois stations on the Ohio and Miss- 
issippi R. R., and took stage from then' to .Vewton, 
twenty miles north; or rather wc- hired a light wagon 
from one of the lively stables, w hich is cheaper a-ad 
much more pleasant if there are several in the pai'ty, and 
