The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-26
CURIOUS SHOTS AT GAME.
EXPERIENCES WHICH SPORTSMEN
HESITATE TO TELL.
Travels Taken by Bullets Fired mt Rabbits
and M~oose-Freaks of Shot in wild Fowl
Played on an Englishman ana
iii. R.ioinder-A Queer Pigeon Shoot.

and Noose-Freaks of Shot in wild Fowl
Played on an Englishman and
Ills Rrioinder-A Queer Pigeon shoo''
The talk was about a clay bird at the Sports
mems Show which. being shot AT. scared al
most vertically into the air and after travelling
POSSIBLY twenty yards burst like n shell. rms
was explained bv the scientific man of the
| party as due to the fact that n number oil shot
had perforated the clay presumably Mt equal
distances from the edge and hat the rotary
motion OF tho clay bird had caused these TO
crack simultaneously TO the outer edge anu
produce dissolution in several fragments 'he
| towering being due TO the varying OF the BAL
ance 10y the impact OF shot. The old sports
man leaned back and said;
THAT may he so. but lots OF things happen
in the fields and woods which never get into
print simply because the narrators' are greeted
with Ghost story! = Fish talel' every time they
| tell anything out OF the common. Some.years
ago up in Genesee county there was n farm
rich in rabbits, attracted by the yerdure on
an old sheep farm OF thirty years ago. when
every farmer had sheep and quails were
| plenty: the old-tiners say the game birds
| went away with the decrease OF sheep farming.
Well. there was n hillside with q twenty-foot
bluff, and at.tho base OF this rabbit holes were
thick as leaves. The blufr was all sand and
ran southeast to Join another upland swell
luhulhe Nv
tween being heavy clay. and in extent about
800 yards long by exactly 135 yards wide.
measuring from the foot OF the BLUM to the
lower point OF the triangle. In the late after
noon the rabbits used to be around there by
the half dozen. and IA friend and myself. taking
the good little Ballard rifle. not manufactured
now. used to go there and pot the rabbits at
the measured distance. sending the retriever
to fetch any We killed.
One day my friend shot at a rabbit, which
jumped four feet in the air. kicked and rolled
over. The dog brought 1t in and not a wound
could be found. l skinned it all but the head.
and still no wound and then opened It. to find
the ~entrails all cut up. A careful examination
showed that the small .32-calibre bullet had
pas ed clean down its throat. breaking the
teeth. along through the stomach. &c. and
lodged in the flesh. l was going to give the
story to a shooting paper. but was persuaded
not to do so for the reason stated above. An
other dav at the same place there we're three
OF US. / shot from A to B Of the triangle.
missed the rabbit and Immediately the other
two fellows called out. Where in thunder are
you shooting?' Investigation proved that a
bullet had Just gone through the maple leaves
about three feet above their heads aud
lodged In the trunk. There was no stone at
the bluH to defect the ball. yet something
what we could never learn-had SO detected 1t
and sent It back almost at tight angles another
1870 yards in.addition to the original 1875 of the
A to b range. DETECTING it across from b to c.
Tho ball WAS the same. for we dug it out.
There is a man in this city now who has
done q good deal OF Western shooting. and 1
believe once in u spirit OF investigation walked
down an antelope. never shooting at II until The
tired it out and1ooked into its conquered eyes.
this being an old Indian trick. The late DIR.
Rowe told me this hunter did this to his GER
tain knowledge. Well. he was out shooting
moose one day and by and by located one.
Crouchlng down In a gulley and bracing him
self against the half rock. half clay that formed
the sides. he called until the animal appeared
in the glade beyond. Then waiting until the
flank was turned to him he fred. He had
slightly to raise himself to get his arm
clear. his weight having caused him to
settle a bit. and us he pulled the trigger
his foot slipped. He saw the moose give n
jump. and then down he went some eight
feet into the gulley. Scrambling out he
went to see II he had drawn blood. but nary n
sign. The animal had gone off due north. and
he faced southwest for the camp. disguised.
lie had not gone fifty yards before he saw
fresh blood. and following the trail for quite
a distance found a crippled deer. He shot It
and Investigated. The bullet had entered at
the base OF the ribs. plouGhine upward. until it
| lOlEtu III ~ llS wy "a nv AtcAiAO ooNhNNs
which the impact had evidently splintered.
and then the beast running away. the weight OF
its body had eventually cracked the bone and
brought II down. A bullet finished its misery.
Then the hunter returned to the SPOT where
the shot took effect. A careful search showed
that the first bullet had hit n bush bough. had
been detected to the ground at a very slight
angle. had ploughed a cut an inch deep and
struck a piece oi.iron stone.and had been de-
% -. - MI 1T. NlA 10. Il $40.
following the moose call out OF curiosity. as
deer will do. Now who would believe such a
yarn in cold blood? And yet I have not the
slightest doubt that it Is perfectly true. 1
think Gov. Roosevelt tells Of getting q noun
tain sheep witt q bullet which was DETECTED
from a piece Of rock. The instances of men
in sink boxes who have been hurt by shot de-
dected from the water are almost innumerable.
A man in a boat fires, say. at a cripple. the
shot hits the water and goes on, ricocheting
to a greater range than it would in a direct
flight. and then some one gets hit Just above
the water line. There are few old hunters
who have not seen two men fire at the Same
bird on the wing almost simultaneously and
the bird knocked by the impact o. he shot
first one way and then the other befJle 1t falls
to the ground.
"A very curious shot occurred last fall up In
Oregon. There was u party in camp and the
girls sometimes accompanied the men grouse
and quail shooting in the scrub and patch
clearlngs. A young woman accompanied her
husband one day and coming back to camp
they came across a mountain lion emerging
from the brush. Not nowing the nature OF
the beast the man turaed quickly on his heel
to take a shot with.a shotgun. He was of.full
habit. LOADED up with govt. and. as he turned.
without warning the govt snapped in the calf
of each leg. right in the sciatic nerve. in q play
full. way. it.has.' crippling him totally for any
time from two to twenty-four hours. AS he
dropped shrieking with pain. one barrel OF
the gun went of as 1t fell from his hand. and
the beast came: right at them. In less time
than it.takes to tell It that pIucky little woman
picked up the gun, and without ever having
fired one shot in her life before. literally blew
the top Of the brute's head of at very close
range. and she did not burst out crying or &c
swooning whom 1t was done. either. Her hus.
band was In a bad way. and she had to sit with
him firing and calling for helm. for n cOuple nj