The San Francisco call., 1895-12-14
DUCK AND QUAIL.
Sea Erant Shooting in Tomales Bay.
They Forgot Game Promise.

you, come with me some clustering day
TO Tomales Bay, and l will give you the
shoot of your life"
The speaker is a we'll known local sports
man who spends considerable of his time
during the winter months shooting sea
brant in Tomales Bay, and last Sunday he
was heard to ask the above question Of a
quail hunter who.was among the passen-
gers bound for Point Reyes station.
The brant hunter in relating some of
his experiences replied as follows to a
question as to the system he employed for
the capture of those highly priced water
fowls:
The sea brant is an entirely different bird to
the common Canadian brant, which are so
numerous in the marshes and grainfields at
this season of the year. 1t feeds on the pulp of
q certain salt water plant which has very
prolific growth in two or three OF the bays OF
the coast.
The bird is migratory in its habits, arriving
here generally in the latter part of November
and departing for the northern country in
March. In size it is something larger than a
mallard duck, but in flavor there is no COM
parison, as the brant is far superior. and that
is saying great things for this grand bird.
From now until the brant will commence
to turn tail upon the coast, large iocks of those
birds may be seen during the early mornings
on the Bay of Tomales, between Hamlet sta
rough outside these birds will not remain in
the bay very long after sunrise, but as they fly
out to the ocean they frequently present good
targets to hunters who go prepared to give
them warm reception. During my brant-
shooting experience l have found that
the birds vary but little in the distance they
place between themselves and the water when
on their mornings journey TO the ocean. From
eighty to one hundred yards is about the aver
age distance of the fall of these birds when
shot, and some times they lat and heavy
that they actually split open when they strike
the surface. | use small boat that resembles
a floating mass OF some kind when on the
water. 1t is covered with tule and hay, and
within this blind conceal myself as best | can
from the view OF the brant,which are very cum
ming.
Sometimes can scull quietly within range
OF flock, but this is the exception and not the
rule. The greater part OF The brant killed i'll
Tomales Bay are shot when flying overhead
either as they are going out or coming from
the ocean, and it is seldom you will get shot
closer than eighty yards. | use a 10bore gun,
i've drachms of Eagle duck powder and one
and half ounces OF No. shot. wounded
brant can swim like duck out as they will
not dive they can be recovered by hard and
quick sculling. The morning and evening
shooting is, OF course, best for this kind OF
sport
President Ahern of the Sportsmen's Pro-
tectiye Association states that some very
able speakers will address the mass-meet-
ing of sportsmen. which will be held on
Tuesday evening at X. of r. b. Hall,
corner of Mason and O'FarreL streets.
This meeting is called for the purpose of
taking some definite stems looking toward
the future pleasure of sportsmen who are
yearly being driven off marsh lands which,
according to the present law should be
open property to hunt on.
Frank Vernon will leave this morning
for Point Reyes on Quail-shooting expe-
dition. Vernon has squared accounts with
the foreman of a ranch who now demands
tribute OF sportsmen who desire to shoot
thereon. Some few weeks ago the foreman
asked three well-know local hunters
who had secured some nice bags of quail,
to leave one dozen birds with friend of
his who resides IN this City. They prom
ised, but forgot. Vernon, who visited the
ranch on the Sunday following, was asked
If he would not comply with the request,
and answered in the affirmative. The City
friend OF the granger received one dozen
nice birds, and as consequence Vernon
can now shoot whenever he pleases, but
there is a very cold frost waiting for the
forgetful sportsmen who did not comply
with the game promise they made the man
of milk and cows,
Duck-shooting on the bay marshes last
Sunday was very poor, and unless the
wind Is pretty strong tomorrow it is
doubtful if many birds will come from
either the Sonoma or Alvlso marshes.
Ed Ladd and partye OF friends will
visit Commodore Bell tomorrow OH board
his ark Brunston, which is anchored in
Espinosa Slough, Suisun marsh. Ladd ex-
poets to get some good duck-shooting
when sculling the sloughs.
Al Cumming left this City for Byron
yesterday afternoon. He says that on
this trip he will not be so foolish as to re-
main in plowed field all night watching
for shot at incoming mallards.
John Lemmer, Dick Brooks, John But
Ter (of salmon-roe fancy and John Sammi
will leave to-day for Sherman Island,
where those famous duck shooters expect
to bag large quantities OF feathers.
Clarence Haight and J. Watson bagged
twenty-three quail on the Pacheco ranch
last Sunday. They found the birds wild
and scattered, having been shot at consid-
erably.
lsThe Mallard Gun Club will hold a busi-
ness meeting tomorrow Oh board its ark.
The good ship is anchored in the slough
that was blockaded by the Teal Club last
month.
1t is not generally known that gun-bar-
rels-that is, with the exception of rolled
steel used on the Winchester gun-are not
made in this country. All gun barrels are
now i'm ported, although an attempt was
made few years ago to produce them in
this country, but with only partial sue.
cess.
LHSldllu, OeTfndllV anu oelSlum supply
most of the barrels, the latter country
DOUBTLESS producing the larger quantity,
says Sporting Life. All gun barrels,
whether imported direct from the makers
in Belgium, or through an importer in this
country to the gun manufacturer, are re-
ceived in rough tubes, which very much
resemble couple of gas pipes. but being
somewhat larger at one end than at the
other. These barrels or tubes" as they
are called, are merely tied together in
pairs with small wire, and forty or fifty
pairs are packed in a box. There are many
kinds OF barrels and each have several
grades, the cheapest being the twist, of
which there are number of classes. Lam-
mated steel is better quality of barrel,
while the Damascus barrel, which is the
most popular, has the greatest number of
grades OF all. Many persons suppose that
barrel is strong one if it is Damascus,
when in fact a tirst-class twist barrel is
superior in strength to many of the cheaper
grades of Damascus.
When the tubes arrive from Belgium
they clearly show the figure of the twist,
or the peculiar curl of the Damascus, and
the different qualities can thus be distin-
gulshed from the construction of the maler-
ial shown, even III their rough state These
tubes are paired, trued up or straightened
out If crooked and soldered together; the
Tugs on the bottom and the extension on
top being braZed in but the top rib and