The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-10
SPORT THAT FAT MEN REALLY ENJOY Some of the Attractions of
 Squirrel Hunting MUST UNDERSTAND ANIMAL The Kind of Gun and Ammunition That Is Most Used By Successful
 Hunters For the Nim-
 bIe Squirrel.
MUST UNDERSTAND ANIMAL

From the Washington Post.
 There is doubtless no way of proving
 that one cannot catch squirrels by climb | ing a tree and making noise like nut.
 But the difficulties involved, both minletic
 and athletic, are so great that the mar
 ket for shotguns will never be unfavor-
 ably affected by the general adoption of
 the newer method.
 Black and gray squirrels have been
 lawful prey for the hunter since Septem-
 Der 15, but they have not suffered much
 from amateur hunters up to date. The
 man that understands squirrels can get
 them, whether the leaves are off or on
 the trees, but such men are so much in
 the minority that there are still squirrels
 enough to make it worth the occasional
 hunters while to spend a day in the
 woods, now that the frosts are cutting off 1 the leaves And if he will remember the
 following words of wisdom, he may start I out with reasonable assurance that if
 there are any squirrels he will get his ] share.
 Be it remembered, therefore, that 1 fat tired man who knows nothing about squirrels habits is likely to get more of them than the lean, energetic individual who also knows nothing of squirrels habits. For the fat man will occasional ly sit down for rest, and if he indulges himself long enough he will-assuming that he is a good squirrel wood-hear bye and bye q threshing about in the top of tree, long distance away. The fat man, unskilled though he may
 be- will realize that something beside the wind is making the branches whip so sharply against each other This feeling will turn to certainty as the noise comes nearer
 He is perfectly sure that it can't be squirre; apparently nothing smaller than a husky tomcat could make such a dis turbance in the tree tops; but he sits still to see what Is it's, He can see the branches moving now, and as he watches, a lithe black or gray animals travels out to the end of a swaylng limb, gathers itself for a spring in the fraction of q second, and sails through the air, landing with a crash on limb of the next tree The limb dips far down, but the squirre' travels swiftly up to hill before him.
 Chance for Fat Men. If the fat man cannot shoot we'll enough to get the little animal on the run, as the l experts do he need but watch his chance. | Suddenly the squirrel stops.
 The fat man can count on three or four | seconds, maybe more, in which to aim and fire That ought to be enough, and if it is down drops ke quarry, The lean, energeNc man, meanwhile, has been tramping over acres of woods. Go he ever so lightly. the leaves rustic under his feet, or the dry twigs break, or the fallen trees on which he steps are | rotten and give way with a crash. | He watches the trees far ahead, but sees no squirrels. And why? Because l the squirrels have seen him first l If he be near they catch sight of 1 him. there are always holes or gnarled, crooked crotches in the tree where they can lie quietly until he has passed by If l he is still afar, there is nothing to pre- vent them from running away through the tops of the trees, which they do. And the fat man, still sitting on his log. shoots them as they come along. There, then, you have the main secret of successful squirrel shooting. Go into l the woods, pick out an easy seat, and l wait. 1 If you are there very early in the morn- 1 ing you will shoot most of your game on the ground It is the same in the late | evening.
 l Occasionally a big fellow will come | most of them will quietly slide down the most of the mwill quietly slide down the | trunks of trees near by and begin scam- pering over the ground If the hunter is | by nature tender-hearted it will be
 mighty hard job for him to kill those | squirrels, and he will sympathize with
 the man who does his hunting with q | camera.
 The Kind of Gun To Use. A woman would say that they were
 cute and cunning little dears and it's | really hard to describe them in any other
 way. They will play like so many kit
 tens, and if the man who came to slay
 will sit perfectly still they will gambol l about his very feet and run over the
 log on which he is sitting.
 Lacking the ability to make a noise
 like nut one must, of course, have d
 gun. There be naughty hunters that use
 a rife.
 Once upon a time Vet Schofeld told | Dan Wiggins that Hank Wilcox knew a
 fellow who always used a muzzle-loading | rifle carrying 140 balls to the pound
 always shot his squirrels in the head and
 missed only three in two years. One of
 those misses was due to the fact that a | piece of dirt on the foresight fooled him. | too. rt
 But for ordinary hunters 12-gauge
 shotgun, double-barreled or repeating, Is
 the proper equipment. There are some ob-
 jections to a repeater for use in shooting
 birds but they don't apply when squirrels
 are the game. l ff l Most squirrel hunters use No. shot
 and a few are satisfied with No or
 7ls. smaller number pin their faith l to No. 4. Results apparently furnish
 them with a strong argument in favor of
 the heavier pellet.
 1 For his weight and inches. the black or l gray squirrel has most surprising vital ity. The tenacity with which, though badly wounded, he clings to life, never 1 ceases to be surprise, even to the old 1 hunter.
 | Every hunter knows what 1t is to send
 charge of shot Into a squirrel 60 feet | from the ground see the little animal 1 fall clear to the frozen earth, and quick as ever race back to the tree from which
 he fell either to vanish In hole near the root or to ct up the other side of the | trunk out of sight. Probably death fol- l lows, but that squirrel has generally l cheated the hunter.
 How To Fool Squirrels. | Not always, however. If the latter has 1 plenty of time and seats himself near by,
 he may be rewarded a few minutes later | by seeing, the sorely wounded animal come down through the branches. unable | longer to keep foothold on a limb. and l strike the ground with a thud. Even l then it is wiser not to pick him up at | once Squirrels teeth are sharp, and there may still be some life in that mar vicious little frame. If a man were to re- | ceive charge of say seven pounds of | in h ic hp1 faII fat to