Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-08-11


Mourn down the misty valley;
" would my heart against your own
To every beat kept tally.
" Is life not short7 Is love not SWEET
But how the days fly over;
had not found the hours 50 fleet
Until you were my lover"
BOB WHITE SHOOTING in the Century
is charming article in Bob White shooting
by Professor Alfred NJ. Mayer of the Ste
vens Institute Of Technology. OF the diff
fculty of bsgging Bob White he says
To become successful shot at Bob White
the sportsman should bear in mind that
Bob, Immediately after he has sprung flies
with velocity which probably exceeds
that of any other bird and slso that, I'M
less fairly hit, he can carry off large num-
Der Of pellets. When 5 covey springs, it
rises at a considerable angle with the
ground. Hence, in shooting at bird in
flushed coyey, the sportsman OF unsteady
nerve and sluggish muscles is apt to under
shoot, the bird rising with such velocity
that by the time the gunner has brought
his gun in position the bird has passed
above his line of sight As a rule, think
that about one second generally elapses be-
tween the instant of springing of the bird
and the moment of fire. This interval
gives the bird time to gain moderately
horizontal line of fight, and allows the
sportsman to get fair aim. In shooting
at an incoming bird, let him be out of sight
and just below the rib of your gun at the
moment Of firing. At a bird going over
head. wait till he has passed well over,
then shoot under him. At strsightaway
shots hold little high, SO that you just
catch glimpse of the bird over your bar.
rels. In shooting at cross shots it should
be understood that the velocity of an ounce
$ shot driven with three drains of
pow Il near TO 800 feet per second. In
tina - Bob White, if under full
heacseay, will 90 IS feet, if we estimate the
velocity of bis fight go low as only mile
minute. If he is flying directly across
your line of sight and thirty yards off, the
shot will take One.tenth of a second to
reach that distance, and in one-tsnth of
second the bird has gone over eight and
eight-tenths feet, So if We should fire a
snapshot directly at a GROSS flying bird
thirty yards distant, the center Of the
cloud of shot would fall about nine feet be-
hind him, and he would pass by unscathed.
To kill him clean" you must hold nine
feet ahead OF him. To some sportsmen
nine feet may seem great distance to
"hold ahead" on q cross-hying bird thirty
yards away, but not to those who have no.
ticed attentively the relations Of the line of
their aim TO the position of the bird at the
very moment they hear the report Of their
gun. Also, estimatious of distances in the
air beside a small s-d quickly moving OBJ
jeot are very unreliable, and often when
the sportsman thinks I've has fred only one
foot ahead of bird he has really held
ahead three feet. Let some one suspend
horizontally in the air an unfamiliar object
that must be distant from fence rails and
other things whose dimensions you know,
aud then guess its length. You WILL after
few trials, be satisfied that the estimation
of actual lsugths at thirty yards IS very
loose guess work. A beginner who, out Of
three shots, can bring one Bob White to
bag, need not be discouraged or ashamed
with sufficient practice he may one day kill
one out Of two birds fired at. Tne sports
man who does not select bis shots land no
man really a sportsman can do that, but
takes his chances in the open and in covert
on ell birds which offer a probability of
success to his skill, and who, the season
through, brings to his bag three ont Of five
birds fred at, is an accomplished sports.
man. Ii he can make three successful
shots out Of four, he is . phenomenal marks.
man.
THE GUN 1t would be an interesting
and not altogether modifying speculation
70 determine the number of persons who
use the gun to-day compared with the num-
Der say fifteen years ago. Certainly the
hosts Of the present could out.vote or out
shoot those OF the former period, IS Hum
bodt would say, "past al whooping
The civil war gave an impetus to field
sports, for when the strife was over and
"the boys came home again, they brought
back with them the mysterious knowledge
of how 60 load and shoot and handle fire.
arms; and the transition from weapons OF
war to those of peace was an easy and nat
ural one. Their swords may have been
converted into pioEshares and their spears
into reaping hooks, but the muskets were
exchanged for shoteuns and the veterans
gave their attention TO targets and game.
Follow this came the introduction of the
breech.loader and the most notable change
In shooting wrought within ten years has
been the almost complete supplsnting of
the Misunderstanding shotgun by its rival. In
1873 the guns making up livestock Of dealer
were three1ourths muzzle-lOaders and one
fourth breeon-loaders 20 day the proper
ton is very nearly the reversal indeed,
the muZz, e-lOaders can muster their one
fourth. Bceeoh-loaders have been vastly
improved and are cheaper now than then
but fine grade muz2e-loading guns are no
longer made. OF the many varieties of the
breeeh.loader, of its wonderful develop.
ment and OF the perfection to which it has
been brought, we need not here psrticu-
larize.
THE FISH HATCHERY. hatchery
located al Shebley's, in Grass Valley town.
ship, between Grass Valley and Colfsx, and
by the side OF the Narrow Gauge Railroad,
is State institution, and is under the con-
troll and direction of the State Board of
Fish Commissioners. It was located at
Shebley's for the reason that the water and
other surroundings were most favorable for
the scheme From that hatchery fish viii
be distributed to lakes and streams of the
State, and more especially TO those of the
mountain regions. The hatchery was
started as an experiment, but as it has been
SO successful it viii now, most probably, be
made permanent affair. Such an institu.
ton located IN our own county does not
hurt the .cornty-does not hurt anybody.
Mr.. Rics ~, competent and expert