The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-01-18

Ducks Plentiful on the Bay - Loadin,
Guns.

Ducks Plentiful on the Bay Loading
Guns.
The question of loug-distance shooting
guns will be always subject for argument
wherever n body Of spOrtSmen is congregated,
and the following on the subject is quite
aIropos:
a hard-hliting gun is one that drives its charge
OF shot up 10 The game 10 as compact Il mass
| as POSSIBLE consistent with lis bore, whether
cylinder or choke, tn pellets travelling from
muzzle 10 marx with but Il small proportion of
thru number Struggling behind through ihe want
OF velocity, or dlyeiging 10 the igit and left.
\ FIRST class shooting gun ana weak one may
both make good patterns. though one may shoot
hard and The other just The contrary, as IN the
former The bulk 81 The pellets may reach the
mark al the sane instant; IN tile latter they may
stIdggIe up many feet behind the fos emuSI ones,
| IN which case The shooter has, pelchance, not
much more Than half the amount OF his load OF
shot At LIS disposal Tor Killing crossing bind,
The remainder oI tie charge passing behind It's
tai.
have beard few old-fasnoned shooters,
and specially keepers remark that they like 10
feel lie ia give good KICK on tring-iheir
IDEA being that sucu IS 4 proof tile gun shoots
la q. ms i qul.e VI ong. "a win proper load
ing undue IecoI implies that the gun Is a bad
III, and, Ior TINS reason, cannot be correctly held
Uy the shooter when aiming; 10 then jumps from
his grasp, and an etIatlc am IS Il uaIuIal cOnse-
qu-uCe
II gun is too heavily charged, especially In
tie matter Of shot, excessive recOn, VIII, OF
course. result: and an uyelCHarged gun VIII
never shoot bard, though II may Kick most uu-
pleasantly. Su.aI.-huIe guns recoll more In p, O.
loIIluu than i.-Uu.es tOl various reasons; one
being that hey ale a. rule, overloaded win
shot, Win ANEW to obtaining a good pattern.
which II they Go POSSESS Is always al loss of
penetration.
II a 2u-bOre, for eXamD e has tile penetration
of No. u, It's atiern is much Interior. On the
other hand. # It's iaIIeU resembles That of a No
u. lis penetration is inferior. gun must be OF
suitable weight 100 urCer 10 absorb Tie recuil OF
The charge OF SHOT, I Tie idtter Is driven out
Win force 10 Kill well, aud at The same time
c"otaius enough Pellets TO make use
III! taiIern IL IS 10 their Efforts 10 attain these
qualities IN vtiy light guns int tie makers OF
The latter tati SO slgualy, tor they attempt an
imroSSblllIy, aud excessive recoII Is the usual
result.
Captain Smith, Tom brady and John
Stack had a tolerably iair shoot on
Staten Island on Saturday, Sunday and
Monday OF last week. Smith always
got home at night with the heaviest
bag, but DraJy accounts fr this by
stating that Smith had a habit of plungiRg
quite frequently into The cold water Of the
bitches Just for the sport OF The thing. No
wonder, remarked brady to his friend Col
oneI Barry, That Smith hta he heayie,t
bag At tine end OF every days sh Of Stack
says tlat Snlth Is one OF the Improving
kind, and, with little more practice, he can
pick the ear off a pelican at eighty yards
The captain, according to Stack, had a very
close call on Monday morning. lie was
shooting with a hair-trigger gun, which,
=
whenever 1t pleased to. While creeping on
all-fOurs within shooting distance Of flock
| of widow Maloney's fat birds, the captain
| unfortunately sneeZe1 just ut a time when
! silence was imperative. Whether it was
the noise OccasiOned by the irritation of his
noStrIlS or the sudden pitching of his head
that caused the gun TO Issue loud report
the captain was unable to decide, but the
upshOt Of the unexpected occurrence was
the probable las5 of half dozen succulent
tame green-heads, which would have graced
the tables Of some OF his many friends of
this city.
Owing to the absence Of rain duck-shoot-
ing on the marshes which margin the
bay has been very good, aud local
spOrtsmen have had no reason to
complain Of a scarcity of broad bills.
The markets have been glutted with
BIRDS, shipped principally to this city by
market hunters. who ply their vocation on
the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers
MalIaTds and canyasbacks, which always
command high price, can now be bought
Tor So and So dozen. Other ducks such as
sprg, teal, wldSeUn, etc, can be purchased
for almost a song.
In the localities where duck-shooting can
be had near at hand sprig and teal are very
numerous this year. The heavy frost which
visited the feed ne grounds Of the birds on
BOuldin and Staten islands last week de-
prved the market hunters of some good
shooting. The ducks having had their food
supply curtaIled by the thin ice which Gov
eled the ponds left the river country in
large numbers for the bay, and that Is the
| reason WHY such good sport was enjoyed by
! the local hunters who scattered shot on the
| Alvso aud SonOma marshes last week
! An Eastern exchange, commenting on
! question now being agitatcd all over this
/ country, and which treats on land preserves
! says: in whatever way We undertake to
| preserve our game, let us treat all sports
| men alike, giving the rich and the pnor an
! equal show. In fact let us do unto others
| as we would that others shonld do unto us /;
and above a H. remember that in union there
| Is strength"
| Some Of the Chinese pheasants liberated
| near Point Reyes, on the country pre-
serve" have wandered as far as Boinas
A few Of the birds were seen in that vicinity
recently.