FOREST AND STREAM 
797 
THE DEN 
Unfortunate the sportsman who does not 
possess one, but Forest and Stream has 
opened a cosy one here where everybody 
may meet and talk over experiences. 
Conducted by Dr. Samuel J. Fort and 
Associate Contributors. 
U nfortunate the sportsman who is 
minus a “den.” Be it large and preten¬ 
tious, or smaller but none the less com¬ 
fortable and cozy, this is the place where sporting 
gear accumulates, trophies of the chase are dis¬ 
played, and much incense is burned to the God¬ 
dess Nicotine. Here, too, friends may meet with¬ 
out disorganizing the family arrangements, put 
their feet on the mantel piece and swap experi¬ 
ences. 
This particular Den belongs to the whole fam¬ 
ily of Forest and Stream readers, the latch string 
is out at all times, and meetings take place regu¬ 
larly each month. 
Over the fire-place, which is large enough to 
accommodate a six-foot black-log, in gleaming 
letters are the words “Forest and Stream,” three 
words pregnant in meaning to every red blooded 
sportsman taken separately or together, standing 
also as the title of a journal which for nearly 
half a century has stood for clean sport and 
sportsmanship—a journal which has wielded a 
mighty power throughout the land in conserving 
the remnant of our forests and game, and which 
has done its share, possibly a little more, in cre¬ 
ating a wholesome attitude towards this conser¬ 
vation, upon the part of neutrals and those ac¬ 
tively resisting the efforts of thoughtful men to 
bring about different conditions. 
It is a pleasure to render this tribute to Forest 
and Stream at a time when a concerted effort 
must be made by all those who are interested in 
helping make the fight for saving our game. Let 
us never forget that Forest and Stream was the 
first of the leading journals devoted to field 
sports, to come out and demand laws prohibiting 
the sale of game. No lady-like request—far from 
it. A bold, ringing clarion call that has brought 
results, evidenced by legal restrictions along this 
line in forty-six States. 
No more pertinent article has appeared recent¬ 
ly than that to be found in the November and 
December issues, “Let us restore Americart Wild 
Life.” It is commended to every reader who is 
interested in the matter not only of saving game 
but saving wild life in general. 
If some of our millionaire pacificists would do¬ 
nate a few million dollars of their surplus to this 
great work, while it would likely make America 
a still better prize for some war-like country to 
take a fall out of, we could very well run a 
chance so long as our coverts and wild places 
were filled with their proper inhabitants. 
Remember what a howl of protest went up 
when the io-gauge shot-gun was eliminated from 
trap-shooting? The same howl will go up if the 
12-gauge follows its predecessor, but can any one 
offer a legitimate reason why the 20-gauge should 
not be adopted as the general utility shot-gun? 
There seems to be a-plenty of reasons in favor 
of this change, what are the objections? 
It is confidently asserted that 500,000 men en¬ 
gage in the sport of trap-shooting, which if true 
is highly important inasmuch as such a number 
would be a strong argument against the alleged 
high cost of living. The suggestion is ventured 
at this point that more men have given up trap¬ 
shooting in the last five years because of the ex¬ 
pense, than have joined the ranks during the 
same time. 
Here again is a highly important matter if it is 
correct, for while the recruits may be numerous, 
they don’t stick, simply because it is a losing 
game from start to finish, for any man not able 
to break at least 95 per cent. 
While on this subject another suggestion seems 
pertinent. Why can not the small-bore rifle be 
used for flying targets? It is not an impossible 
feat to perfect a trap to project a target suitable 
for breaking with a .22 caliber bullet, neither is 
it a difficult job to provide a back-stop for pro¬ 
tecting the surrounding country. The shot-gun 
is a weapon, the use of which unquestionably 
makes a man conversant with the general man¬ 
ner of shooting and an expert would have less 
trouble in learning to use the grooved barrel 
than the man who has never fired any kind of a 
weapon. But the rifle is and should be the Na¬ 
tional weapon. We teach the soldier how to 
shoot rapidly and accurately, using disappearing 
targets, or by shooting at stationary targets and 
penalizing by loss of points for shots fired be¬ 
fore or af-ter a given time. 
The general idea of this method of training is 
to teach quick and accurate alignment of sights 
upon a given object or to cover a certain zone 
with a rain of bullets. Practice at moving tar¬ 
gets with a small-caliber rifle is just as good 
training for the higher art of using a high-pow¬ 
ered military rifle as can be supplied with any 
other weapon except the military weapon itself, 
and if the army of trap-shooters now existing in 
this country were as expert with the .22 caliber 
rifle as they are with the shot-gun, much of the 
work required in placing a volunteer army in the 
field would be accomplished already. 
For ordinary practice with the .22 caliber rifle, 
there are several models, which when equipped 
with proper sights, fill the bill and may be used 
up to 100 yards with excellent results. It is 
doubtful if the usual model of so-called target 
rifle would suffice for shooting at moving tar¬ 
gets, simply because these models have been built 
for the purpose of making close groups in the 
prone position. The sights suitable for target 
shooting are not the best for moving objects, ex¬ 
cept it be a disappearing target, so it is likely if 
we go into trap-shooting with the rifle, the re¬ 
peating models will come into their own. 
It has been stated that the repeating rifle is 
not as accurate as the single-shot and so far as 
the tubular magazine is concerned this may be 
true, the successive shots taking off a bit of 
weight at each shot and possibly disturbing the 
balance, but this need not interfere with shoot¬ 
ing at moving objects any more than appears 
when using a repeating shot-gun with full maga¬ 
zine. No one has ever complained that the loss 
of two or three cartridges from the magazine 
has been responsible for a missed shot. The great 
desideratum in this style of shooting will be 
found to be the rear-sight and so long as one 
uses a sight like that turned out by the Lyman 
people, there need be no difficulty in finding and 
hitting the object whether stationary or moving. 
February is the “Hunger Moon” of the In¬ 
dians, and this month demands a supply of feed 
for the birds. Not alone for the game birds but 
our winter residents as well. A piece of suet 
nailed to a tree will be found a source of inter¬ 
est to the feathered tribes on our lawns and to. 
the owner, if he or she will take the trouble to 
watch it with a pair of glasses. 
The number and variety of birds visiting the 
free lunch every day will be surprising to the un¬ 
initiated. Bread crumbs and bird seeds may be 
placed in rude shelters mounted on tall posts, 
and the hungry little fellows will soon find the 
supplies and return regularly for their meals. 
Wherever a covey of Bob White use, scatter 
wheat and cracked corn, and if Bre’r Rabbit vis¬ 
its the turnip patch or the celery bed, let him 
have his share without protest. 
If the sparrows become a nuisance, buy an old 
.22 caliber rifle and shoot them with shot-shells. 
It is hardly necessary to warn against shooting 
such cartridges from a good barrel, any more 
(Continued on page 823.) 
