Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-08-26
A CRACK SHOT.
EXHIBITS of a MOuntaineer Whose
Unsrring Ain is Certain Death.
His Experiences in West Virginia-KilIing
Four Deer Without Moving Out Of
His Tracks-HuRtiHg on
Chesapeake Bay.
Sp,ra,: C5re1ordelre.

CHARLESTON, w. VA, August 3D.
Among the spurs of the Blue Ridge
Mountains none are more picturesque
and rugged than the Capon range
Here lives Julius S. Waddle. Coming
OF a pioneer stock, his grandfather hay.
ing been among the first settlers in this
section of Virginia, and born, as it were,
with a rifle to his shoulder, his natural
inclination and instinct led him at an
early age to become a master, both Of
his weapon and of woOdcraft.
Waddle was brought up to use the
old-time
Long sporting RIfe,
indentical, except for its percussion
lock, with those used by the Culpepper
Minute men in the revolution and by
all of the characters in COOper's Heath
er Stocking" tales. He was more pro-
gressive than his neighbors, and for a
time used q double. barreled, muZzle-
loading shotgun, but at the expense OF
the TldlCule of many of his less progress
i've companions. But thrice during this
period did he bag a brace OfdeeT rs they
ran past him, one with either barrel.
This to be repeated so often Is of itself
quite remarkable, but not by any means
the climax of his success in this sport.
Not being satisfied with either the
rapidity or range of the shotgun, how
ever, when the Winchester repeating
rifle Became known to him he adopted
ii % his weapon, and was again the
subject of many jokes in regard to his
"pOpgun."
Joining a Party
one day in the fall Of 1875, a long drive
was made. For tue benefit Of non.
sporting leaders it may be explained
that ~ driven for deer is about thesame
as n beat" for tigers. \ mountain or
scope of country is selected, and a large
party OF men start in the anne direction
and for y given point, keeping quite a
distance apart, and by noise, etc, drive
every animal before them, the ground
being always selected, so that all the
game to keep under will have to
pass through 3 narrow body Of woods or
some such natural road. Here The best
shots are invariably stationed to do the
execution of the day. II was at II OF
these crossings that Mr.. Waddle was
standing on the occasion mentioned
when the drivers heard him
shoot Five Times
with wonderful rapidity. One Of them,
All old man, remarked: THAR goes
julius with his ~uew-fangled pOpguu a
scarin' everything in the mountain"
But when they came up to the place
where this fusilade had taken place il
was found that Mr.. Waddle had had
four deer take his crossing, three does,
and a buck; and being on the side Of a
ravine, the season late in the fall, he
had an uninterrupted view, except for
the tree trunks and limbs. As o W as
the deer came in sight, aud at long
range, he opened fire, and dropped n
In his tracks, another the buck-as
they passed him, y third was shot q
hundred yards further on, and the
fourth, stopping to smell the wounded
one and in confusion was shot in the
head and fell dead, while the one it was
snellug got up aud attempted TO run,
hut was stopped by the fifth shot from
Mr.. Waddle's unerring rifle. Thus he
completed his work of
RiIIIBK Four Deer
without moving out of his tracks. The
time consumed could have been but lit
tie over 3 half minute. This L believe
70 have been n of the g~reateS-lf not
the greatest-pieces OF shooting ever
done i'm the field ~Ofactual sport.
have also known this gentleman to
kill q doe that was standing behind a
tree with only her head in sight at a
distance of 2O0 yards. On the other &C.
casion | knew him to strike a buck in
the head four times in as many shots. Ii
was swimming the South Branch River,
near Romney, at 3 distance Of about l5O
yards from where Mr.. Waddle was
standing when he sank, but was gotten
with a boat.
In practice shooting with this same
weapon he has broken eighteen glass
balls in succession, sprung from a re-
yolving trap at eighteen yards rise;
from the same trap, with q shotgun,
sixty-siX without q miss, 81 the usual
rise.
Ata Pigeon shooting Match
In Baltimore, i think, in 1877, he killed
twenty-three straight birds and then
stopped winner OF the match; they
were single birds, but thirty yards
rise.
Mr.. Waddle Is also q prodigy with
the pistol, having to my certain kuowl-
edge killed a buxzard that was sitting In
a tree 400 yards of with q navy revolv-
or, and also two crows on the wing,
falling dead l25 yards from him. While
hunting on Chesapeake Bay / knew
him 10 kill two wild geese that were out
of range of shotguns and swan shot,
probably 300 yards. One was shot
from the blind and the other from the
shore, with this same remarkable pistol.
There may have been, and was, Ia all
probability, some luck In these last few
shots, but / have seen him strike 8 large
nail on the head repeatedly, in q
friendly pistol practice, ut the measured
distance of 100 feet.
THAT poor bedridden, invalid wife, sis
ter mother or daughter, can be made the
picture Of health by a few bottles of Hop