Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-06-08
CARVER ON SHOOTING
WHY A MhRkSMAN CAN SOMETIMES
HIT AND SOMETIMES CAN'T.

If a Man Gets Nervous, He May Not fse
Able to Hit n Balloon, and Again He May
Make n Bullseye at Two Hundred Yards
if He Is Feeling All Right.
Dr. Carver, the champion rifle shot of the
world, so widely known by the Indians of
the great west as the spirit Gun" eX-
planned to a reporter yesterday why it was
that dead shots, cowboys and other western
and southern characters, accustomed from
childhood to the use of revOlvers and rifles,
would make remarkably bad scores when
laboring under the slightest excitement.
''Why," said the doctor, Il have known
men who could snuff a candle at 40 PAGES
with a G-shoOter go out into the middle of
the street and empty gun at some fellow
who was blazing away at them n short dis
tance off and never touch their man. 1t
makes heap of difference to most men
when they are squirting along the barrel of
winchester or over the sight of n 6-shoot-
er whether they are cutting loose at an in
animate target or looking into the muzZle
of a gun. l don't mean to say that they
become frightened, rs l have seen many
men who didn't know the sensation of fear
and who take pride in their craftsmanship
get wrought up to such frenzy by being
opposed to any one that they get into
state of nervous excitement that renders it
almost an impossibility to hit anything
There was shooting match between two
bad men at PLAIN Creek across a billiard
table. Ne:thC" Ginched, and both cmp;icd
their guns, an'l Goth men were hit bat once,
and that exactly in the same placr. Thu
had each thrown their arm forward over IA.
heart 70 protect it, and both were lit il lie
arm rear the c.how, tn" ether she's q .as
wide OF the mark, cauSi;;., il stampede and
wrecking some of the glassware
The same thing applies to big game
shooting. When You take n quail or s2ipe
shootcr-a man who rarely misses in the
field and let him bc ever good y wing
shot lead him o2t into the timber or e.i
the prairie and show him Il moose, bear or
elk, it i a hundred to one that Ec will miss
the animal altogether. Good shots have
been known to empty the Inarca-iHr os n
winchester at the first big animal they
ever fired at, and then become mortified to
see the animal trot off urinjurcd. OF course
this is not fear; it is excitement. 1t is
known to all hunters rs buck ague,' and
few indeed there are who have not expert
enced it some time in their lives.
There are men, however, whonever shoot
except to Kill their man. They arc invari-
ably cold blooded, iron nerved, desperate
men, who have devoted their lives to hunt
ing men or protecting themselves &2i who
experience as little excitement while being
shot ut and shooting at man as the old
hunter docs while pursuing his favo~'=o
game. These Tcen carry the best reyOlvcrs
obtanable, their pistols always being OF the
largest caliber and single action. for a COW
boy or an Indian will have nothing TO do
with "A selfcocker. Such men wear their
guns in such a manner rs to be able to drop
their hand upon them without any false
motion or awkward gestures and wear
them where it is impossible for theln to get
caught in the clothing in the act of drawing.
lone of the coolest things 1 ever was
a man who had terrorized western Missouri
for a long time after the close of the war,
and who had emptied his 6-shooter at a
party of men opposed to him and his side
during one of those factional fights that
still occur in that section. After empty
ing his gun, instead of attempting to seek
shelter he rode boldly out into the town
and sat upright in the saddle coOlly reload
ing his pistol while under fire, and having
satisfied himself that he was ready for bat
tie again, he whirled around and did some
very effective work until the opposition
made it so hot for his party that they re
treated, fighting down a side street, and
escaped across the broad creek that ran
through the edge of the town. 1t is the
same with the shooter as it is with the bill
lard, baseball racquet or tennis player:
he must be in good form to do his best"
DR. Carver is an old buffalo hunter and
tells how, in the early days when buffalo
shooting he stayed in one locality until
game got rather scarce. Then he met some
Indians who spoke of n big herd further up
the river and said that in this herd was a
white buffalo.
Now" said the doctor, lever since i be-
gan shooting and roping buffalo l had
heard about white buffalo and was pretty
anxious to see one. l moved camp and got
up in the vicinity of the big herd. l located
them and did one or two days shooting
without discovering the white buffalo. /
had really not expected to see one, as i did
not believe there was such thing in ex-
istence. One afternoon, however, l came
upon a small herd near the mouth of a can
yon, and to my surprise and delight l saw
right in the middle of the bunch, feeding
with the rest, the white buffalo himself
Il Immediately Diet ermined to have this
animal, if / was obliged to kill a horse to
get him, and nearly did kill Red Dips, one
of the best horses / ever owned, for drove
up this canyon, dropping buffalo here and
there, and after hard ride, when my poor
horse was nearly tagged out, was in de-
spair, as the white buffalo remained right
in the middle of the herd, where it was i'm
possible for me to drop him. However, n
lucky shot dropped a COW in the center and
well in advance of the herd. Then the
bunch split, one-haf turning sharp to the
right, and the other half keeping right on.
Among those turning to the right was
the white buffalo. AS the animal swung
around / got n good look at what l had
been spelling my best horse for and wear
ing myself out to kill, and what do you
suppose it was?-a big white Texas steer,
that had evidently been brought up in some
herd and strayed- away and Joined this
band of buffalo. 1t is needless to say that
checked my horse and rode slowly back
to camp without an effort to even get re-
venge for the long ride oil, to spoil the In
dams pet white buffalo story by killing the
closest resemb lance to one that think ever
existed on the plains. "-Indianapolis Jour
ne