
494 

him up and packing the pieces to camp, leaving 
a portion tor our Dutch friends. : 
The chief and one of the party spent a night 
above timber line on one of the mountains, and 
were disturbed by bands of caribou that came 
to drink at a pool nearby. One big bull that 
repeatedly came blowing and shaking his head 
in the firelight only escaped because it would 
have been a waste of meat to shoot him. 
Along the river were plenty of signs of beaver, 
and I secured one of the tribe, and we enjoyed 
beaver tail for supper. Just before reaching the 
place where we were to portage across to Quiet 
Lake I was panning some gravel, and finding 
good “colors” near a towering cut bank of clay 
and gravel, I was so absorbed in the find that 
a persistent splashing further up the stream did 
not at first attract my attention. When I looked 
up it was to see a magnificent young bull caribou 
about 500 yards away, splashing the water with 
his feet while he sniffed in my direction. Drop- 
ping the pan quietly, I hastily sneaked behind 
some trees, climbed a low shoulder of the bank 
and waited his pleasure. 
The animal was both curious and alarmed. 
He wanted to know what new creature this was. 
He would trot toward me and then dash back 
again, approaching nearer each time. I sighted 
the little carbine for 300 yards and waited. The 
tantalizing. brute could not make up his mind 
until he appeared to get a whiff of my scent, and 
then he started up the steep hillside at a won- 
derful gait, which was not lessened by the hum- 
ming of a bullet. 
That evening we camped a mile further up 
stream. One of the party was down on the 
gravel beach, washing. ‘lwo others were at the 
edge of the bank. I was at the fire, when I was 
warned by a hissing call: “Get your rifle.” 
Catching up my carbine, I ran over to the edge 
of the wooded bank and looked down stream 
Not 200 yards away was my friend of the after- 
noon, prancing up a gravel bar toward camp. 
Nor did he pause until he was within 100 yards 
of me, then he turned suddenly and sprang into 
the water. In a moment nothing but his antlered 
head and part of his back was visible. Mr. Carry 
waited for me to open fire, but now his artillery 
roared out and the buck appeared to spring 
bodily up in the water as the heavy bullet passed 
through the upper part of his shoulder blades 
Then the carbine barked and a bullet brushed 
over the exposed back. The next one made a 
hole through. the right ear and the third soft- 
nosed missile struck him just below the root of 
the left antler, leaving a ragged hole as it split 
up in the head. 
He had just got footing on the gravel shore 
and was making powerful leaps, but now he 
dropped as if the key pin had been jerked out, 
and the water swept him away, only his antler 
tips marking his course. It took three men in 
a boat half an hour of hard work to drag him 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

upstream to camp again, and the united strength 
of four of us could not lift him clear of the 
ground to a tree where he could be dressed with 
convenience. He was rolling fat and his meat 
tasted exactly like mutton. His new horns were 
shedding their velvet covering. 
The meat was smoked or jerked to preserve 
it, and made a very acceptable addition to salt 
bacon. Then we crossed over by a portage to 
Quiet Lake and prospected some of its streams 
for gold. Better to resist the temptation of shoot- 
ing uselessly, we left the firearms in camp, and 
when we saw or heard moose we noted them 
while visible or audible to our ears. Quiet Lake, 
though remote from trails and posts in northern 
British Columbia, would be an ideal autumn 
hunting ground. .In the mountains close by are 
to be found wild sheep and goats, ptarmigan and 
all manner of other game in the valleys between. 
Strawberries, raspberries, currants, cranberries 
and thirstberries grow luxuriantly in the low rich 
valley bottoms and on the hillsides. Beautiful 
wild flowers bloom on the river banks and bars. 
Tall forests of spruce and mossy carpeted camp- 
ing grounds; ponds and lakes frequented by the 
moose; bear and wolf tracks on the sand, all 
invite the sportsman to these happy hunting 
grounds. The lakes and rivers are full of gamy 
fish, the air is clear and bracing, the heat is not 
too great in the day time, while the nights are 
cool. Even the mosquitoes and flies, although 
short lived, can be kept away by the use of sweet 
oil and tar. Henry J. Woopsipe. 

“Brush” Loads for Choke Bored Guns 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
There are three things that cause a charge 
of shot to scatter: The charge leaves the 
muzzle of the gun in a compact mass, but as 
soon as the forward part of the shot charge 
leaves the muzzle, the pellets which are still 
in the barrel are pushed against the forward 
ones, and they, being no longer confined by the 
sides of the barrel, are pushed apart and begin 
to travel along diverging lines, and the diverg- 
ence is doubtless increased by the shot charge 
compressing the air in front of itself, and as 
the compressed air offers more resistance than 
the air at the sides, the pellets are turned aside. 
This, however, lasts for but a few feet of their 
flight, as the compact shot charge emerging 
from the muzzle is quickly separated into its 
individual pellets. The third cause of the 
spreading is the powder gases which have 
leaked past the wadding and which fill the in- 
terstices between the pellets. This gas is under 
pressure of some thousands of pounds to the 
square inch while in the barrel, the compres- 
sion of the gas being maintained by the friction 
of the top shot wad against the sides of the 

A CAMP ON THE NISUTLIN RIVER. 
Drying and smoking moose meat in strips to keep it for future use. 
[SEpt. 28, 190! 

barrel, but mostly by the resistance of the} 
column in the barrel. 
As soon as the charge has passed out of | 
barrel the compressed gas in the spaces | 
tween the pellets is free to expand, and in j 
panding it blows the pellets in every direct! 
The effect is exactly as it would be if the s 
charge was confined in a shell of great stren 
and the shell should burst. In the case of 
discharge from the gun, however, there is 
difference: The pellets of shot are moving y 
great velocity, and resist being turned a 
from the straight lines along which they 
moving, thereby largely counteracting the s 
tering effects of the gas. It is the violent 
pansion of the gas between the shot pellets | 
causes what is called the stringing of the sl 
that is, some of the pellets reach the target c 
siderably in advance of others. This is d 
by the gas pushing the pellets that are in fr 
forward, and those that are in the rear, bz 
ward. 
Various systems of boring the barrels h 
been devised, and these overcome much of 
scattering of the charge, but much more 
been done by the use of wadding that fits p: 
tically gas-tight as compared with what 
used or could be used in the muzzle-load 
guns. In support of this statement, the 
lowing tests are cited. A full choke gun 
standard make was used in making these te| 
using a factory loaded shell and the tar 
thirty yards distant, practically the en 
charge was within an eighteen-inch circle. ‘ 
shell was loaded with 3 drams of bulk smoke} 
powder and 1% oz. of No. 7% shot. | 
The first tests were made with same load, | 
cept that but one 1%-inch felt wad was used} 
powder, and 3% drams were used. The spr 
was an average one of three feet. The rej 
was light and the penetration poor. | 
The next tests were made with same chat} 
except that a %4-inch thick felt wad was ul 
on powder. The average spread was two f| 
and the penetration good. This load, giv) 
about the desired spread, the tests were | 
carried further. 
The idea in using light wadding was to all’ 
the gas to get into the shot charge, and 
heavy powder charge was used to spare 
leakage around the wad, and still have eno. 
powder left to give sufficient velocity to 
shot. There seems to be no reason why « 
cannot load one’s own shells so as to m: 
the spread whatever is desired, though beyc 
a certain limit the penetration will be poor. | 
spread of two to two and a half feet at thi. 
yards is about right. Such a spread will rar. 
fail to bring a quail down, but if it is a grea, 
spread, there are too many holes in the patt 
which might allow the bird to escape. This e. 
mate is based on the supposition that quail 
usually fired at when between twenty and thi) 
yards distant. 
It is a very simple matter for any one to || 
periment along these lines, and get whate'| 
pattern is wanted. Increase the powder cha 
and decrease the wadding on powder, incre: 
ing the wadding for closer and decreasing. 
for wider pattern. Use the heavy pow 
charge in all cases. Three and one-half dra! 
of standard bulk powder is about right. 1, 
strain on the gun with this charge and lis), 
wadding is probably less than a three-dr|' 
charge with full wadding. I will be plea:'' 
to have the results of any Forrest anpD STRE}; 
readers who may take up the matter. | 
ORT: Hampton) 
lL 
THE CAMPER’S FRIEND. 
Pure Milk is desirable wherever you cari 
Borden’s Eagle Brand Condensed Milk alwilit 
opens up perfectly fresh, pure and satisfactol 
It is the first item thought of by the vetert 
camper.—A dv, 
( 
| 
| 
{ 
! 
I 
] 



| 
THE Forest AND STREAM may be obtained fri 
h 
0 
t 
any newsdealer on order. 
Ask your dea‘er | 
supply you regularly. q 

