Oct. 2, 1909 ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
537 
Big and Small Bores. 
Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. 17 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: 1 was surprised as well as amused by 
the extract from the Scottish Field in your issue 
of Sept, ii, which seems to imply that the 
Yankees are abandoning the twelve-bore for the 
twenty. 
I have been an interested reader of all articles 
on small-bores and am aware that their advo¬ 
cates are exploiting their cause with great vigor 
and persistence, while the twelve-bore men, se¬ 
cure in the confidence of possessing the best to 
be had, were “saying nothing and sawing wood,” 
or rather keeping quiet and shooting game. 
What I did not realize was that the dust raised 
was sufficient to mislead our British cousins into 
the belief that the twelve-bore was losing 
favor on this side of the water. 
My experience is chiefly local and I cannot 
speak for the western parts of our great coun¬ 
try, but among gunners of the Eastern States 
I should say that the estimate of 94 per cent, 
twelve-bores is not far out of the way. We use 
the ten-bore quite a little for duck shooting and 
I should say that 98 per cent, ten- and twelve- 
bores to 2 per cent, smaller bores would be about 
the right proportion among local gunners. 
The shooting in the Middle and Eastern States 
calls for long shots and hard hitting. Most of 
us shoot at trap and do more or less duck shoot¬ 
ing. The open season for upland shooting comes 
late, when the birds are well grown and strong 
on the wing as well as wary and difficult to “ap¬ 
proach. The ruffed grouse is not an easy vic¬ 
tim for the hardest shooting gun, while the 
quail and woodcock are scarce nad hard enough 
to find to make the sportsman wish for all 
chances of success in the few shots he is likely 
to get. 
My lines have been cast largely among the 
trap and wildfowl men, which may account for 
the fact that I have never’ seen a twenty-bore 
in the field and very few sixteens. 
I thank Dick Swiveller for his timely letter 
in the same issue and beg to say that I agree 
with him entirely in all the main points he lays 
clown. It encourages me in the belief that while 
each sportsman will adopt the gun best suited 
to his personal preferences and the kind of 
shooting he chiefly indulges in, the great 
majority of sportsmen in America and through¬ 
out the civilized world are united in the belief 
that the twelve-bore is the best for all purposes 
and can be adapted to meet more requirements 
than any other gauge. 
I am aware that all guns chambered for the 
twelve-gauge shell are twelve-gauge, whether 
heavy or light, long barrels or short; but the 
point I was trying to make was that some 
small-bore advocates were unfair in their 
methods of comparison. Thus a 7j4-pound 
twenty-bore with 32-inch barrels taking extra 
length shells should not be compared with a 614 - 
pound twelve-bore with 26-inch barrels. Pit the 
extreme size twenty against the heavy twelve- 
hore duck gun and the light weights of each 
gauge against each other. 
Dick Swiveller’s idea of an effective battery 
coincides exactly with mine, except that for 
personal reasons I prefer my heavy and light 
twelve-bores about a half pound heavier each 
than the weights he gives. I also use a very 
heavy gun of larger bore for the hardest and 
heaviest wildfowl shooting. It handles heavy 
charges and large shot much more effectively 
than a smaller gun, but is, of course, useless out¬ 
side of its special work. My twelve-bores are 
good for anything from a reedbird to a canvas- 
back, and properly loaded and handled will give 
a good account of much larger game. 
Hit or Miss. 
Hunting. 
San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 20 .— Editor Forest 
and Stream: There has been but little hunting 
indulged in by the local sportsmen during the 
past two weeks, owing to the unfavorable con¬ 
dition of the moon and to the fact that one of 
the nearest and easiest grounds to reach has 
been closed to hunters. The season closed in 
Marin county on the last day in August, and 
those who now seek sport of this kind must 
journey a considerable distance. While a few 
nice deer have been killed in Marin county this 
season, the sport has been in the nature of a 
disappointment, even on the best of the private 
preserves. In the northern counties of the 
State hunting has been very good indeed, and 
it is reported that the bucks that have been 
killed there have been very large ones. 
Heavy forest fires have been raging along the 
coast during the past two weeks, and the deer 
have been driven from their usual haunts into 
the populated sections of the country, and bucks 
have been killed in sections where a deer has 
not been killed for many years. In Butte and 
Plumas counties a large number of deer and 
bears have been killed this season, and many 
more hunters are on the ground this year, 
owing to the fact that railroad transportation 
has been improved to such an extent that long 
stage rides are now unnecessary. 
Local sportsmen are making active preparations 
for the opening of the duck and quail season that 
takes place next month. The members of the 
various hunting clubs are visiting the preserves 
and are having these placed in shape for the 
season. In Marin county valley quail are re¬ 
ported to be quite plentiful, and other coast 
counties are sending in similar reports. From 
all appearances the season for ducks will also 
be a good one. Sprigs are also to be seen in 
goodly numbers in San Pablo Bay and home¬ 
bred teal are plentiful in the marshes around 
Suisun. The home-bred birds are also to be 
seen in large numbers around Los Banos, 
where the best sport was to be had last season. 
It is asserted by local sportsmen that more 
shooters will be in the field this season than 
ever before. The Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company has put into effect a gasolene motor 
car service among the valley towns, and this 
will enable hunters to get to places where un¬ 
satisfactory timetables formerly prohibited mak¬ 
ing the trip. A. P. B. 
Another Tale of a Dog. 
Nilwood, Ill., Sept. 23 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: “The Tale of a Dog” I have just 
finished reading. It is a good story and appeals 
to me, for I am in the midst of breaking a 
pointer pup for the fall shooting and am hav¬ 
ing a great deal of pleasure in it, for he is just 
beginning to know what a delightful scent there 
is attached to a bevy of nice young quail. 
Mr. Parkhouse challenges, “Have you a dog, 
pointer or setter, melancholy or gay, that can 
beat it?” I have not and I am melancholy be¬ 
cause I have it not, for I had it once. He lost 
his life because he was too smart in some things 
and did not look behind when sudden death was 
charging down upon him. When he was seven 
months old I sent him to my brother at Hornby, 
Minn., a place long since wiped off the map, 
there to receive his instruction relative to find¬ 
ing the noble ruffed grouse for the rifle shots. 
My brother took him in charge and made quite 
a hunter out of him, and some of the capers he 
cut were very amusing. The one related below 
is given in my brother’s words as near as pos¬ 
sible. 
“The first trip I made with him was one I 
shall never forget. We were working west on 
the railroad. About a mile from home I found 
a grouse in a thicket of balsam and hazel just 
off the right of way. I was using the old .45 
and when I fired the smoke from the black pow¬ 
der prevented my seeing if I had made a kill. 
However, I took the pup, and went into the 
thicket to investigate. Neither of us could find 
the bird, and finally left there, going west along 
the road. We went about three miles, and in 
the course of events picked up four birds. The 
pup got on to the thing quickly and made him¬ 
self useful. On our return, while passing the 
place where I had fired at the first grouse, I 
noticed the dog turn off and enter the brush 
where we had when hunting for the bird. I 
thought he was going to do a little investigating 
on his own hook and paid no attention to him until 
near home, when I felt a bumping on my heels 
and looked back to see what he was up to, and 
there he was with a grouse in his mouth. He 
was wagging his tail and looking at me in a 
way that said as plain as day, ‘Just see what I 
found!’ ” 
Remember, this was the pup’s first trip and 
before the first one was killed he had never 
seen a grouse and did not know what the game 
was, but after he caught on he remembered that 
there was one back on the road that he would 
get when he came to the place. 'He got it and 
carried it nearly a mile to his master. This 
performance may not beat Doc’s, but it fully 
equals it. Don’t you think so? 
This part of Illinois is going to be well stocked 
with quail this season and will be pretty well 
hunted over. A great many of the farmers are 
members of the A. H. T. A., whose member¬ 
ship is pledged to allow no hunting on their 
places without giving the hunter a written per¬ 
mit, which does away with so many fellows 
running over the farms who are not particular 
as to whether they 'destroy fences and other 
property, and who are careless about shooting 
around stock in the fields. J. P. B. 
Rabbit Shooting. 
When from the ancient peg, whereon it hangs. 
The old fusee some truant boy takes down, 
And slopes a* once to ’scape parental frown, 
And seeks the nearest wood—though loudly bangs 
The door he left ajar—a startling sound 
To those who dream within—he nothing heeds; 
But, whistling gayly, on his way proceeds, 
While slowly after limps the aged hound. 
But when he strikes a scent that leads him on 
To heaps of brush, and pokes therein his nose, 
And out the rabbit scuds, the sight renews 
The fire of youth—decrepitude is gone— 
He loudly roars, and swiftly then pursues 
Until the gun the quarry’s flight doth close. 
H. D. Aiwoos. 
