The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-03-03
PUMP GUNS AND AUToMAr,
Solution Of the Game Bird pros,
Lies In Their Prohibition

directing its campaign largely agabs
automatic and pump-shot gun. M.
no question rs TO their destructive y.
ties in the hands OF an expert, and \
! are bound 10 write their name. hs.
the history of American sport unle,
legislatures of other states follow M,
OF Pennsylvania and prohibit Their y.
the field Canada does not CouB,er,.
them. and we should not be behind J
neighbors to the north, who now OIL, }
sportsmen so many attractions III, |
nous ducking grounds OF the Chesr.!v
have their story OF the swiye gun atB
battery, and ii is not one that Is to1 !
piIsto by the men OF the closely prsss,
clubs there today. They did much \
away with the wonderful cahwa,E
shooting OF olden times, and while
were prohibited in time 10 save The :
nants, they did their work OF de,tu-N
for the markets only too well
The solution OF the game t0userah
problem lies in the protective game
enacted by the various states Mos
portant OF all is the length Of the a,
season allowed. Then comes the mattel
restricting the kill Of the individual n
lastly. the methods TO be permitted IN
destruction of bird life. Our Massi
sets laws are sane and generally vel
served, but they came a little too lac
save our real shooting Men whose n
Is not vet tinged with gray can remenN
the days when the Hampden covers va
Weld II or 30 ruffed grouse, few al
ing woodcock and, perhaps, coyey o.
of quail. Birds were plentiful and u
I problems OF the future were scfshly Il
/ to the future. The result, in spite q II
I shortened open season, is that the o,
are, to all intents and purposes, gone.
ruifed grouse are few and far between.
the fight woodcock afford but day o.
OF sport. Such are the condition, in Il
western part OF the state. The pump p
and the automatics are of no concen I
our hunters. There is no call for then
But along the coast the prob en- i Il
4 ferent. Fortunately the spring shooting j
4 been eliminated, and ii is difficult 70 II
derstand how any sportsman who
claim to brains can wish II perm.-Ii
again. A man who raises chickens Ion n
market does not kill his laying pulle.s
before he starts to fill his incubaton.
would be a disgrace to the state 10 ID
the spring season again In the fll Il
ducks and geese return to sOut heIn val,
conditions the shores of the capes are Il
ceIlent hunting grounds. On one SnpjI
in the middle of last October ii was Il
sible TO see thousands of duck With |
mile of the coast near Minot's light. h
shooting was excellent, and, be It said u
the credit Of the gunners, IL was sporl
manlike. No pump guns or automaa
were heard.
TT J,t;n,,, f,,,+b ar ao,.b lo.-.-
There one finds the automatic and n
pump gun in far too many duck Blind
They are bad things in the hands o. Il
expert. The one will fire five shots in "
seconds. the other five in five or six IN
ducks come in from the sea to the bl,sI
singly, in pairs, or in great hocks A Ill
ble-barreled shotgun is the sportsmanLsj
weapon TO kill them whit Is taken n
granted, for the moment, that kill.I
birds is sportsmanlike. Supposng, for Il
ing in. You see them first as bad
of the sunrise. Your decoys soon nd
The wedge swerves, heads in like an II
instant. II you aim at the leader you vi
perhaps. Mallards in flight are no al
CARDS; with double-barreied gun you Z
your two ducks, if you are lucky and ~
more modern guns, and can handle II
only two birds fly off. These guns are I'd
delight of the true game hog. They vi
show them to you, explain their nd
points by the hour, tell Of the huge ha|
ms thphurl, baI nd
act as if they had something to be prol.I
about.
Now here are two true stories about
pump guns and their work that hsn|
never been told in print. Not so marI|
years ago the prairie shooting in a certain
section of Wyoming was much better thn|
it Is today. In the party Of army ofHcen|
and civilians who were shooting was III
man who was the crack shot of the aH1l|
at that time. The conversation turned u
pump guns one night. One was in Gang
but none had use for it. Most CONSIDERED
it too wicked. but there was one whj
doubted. The big fellow had more medls
han he had room for, and who later ws|
obliged to move some to let the president
pin a medal of honor on his blouse, sad
he'd take the corn plucker out the neII
lay and show this man what it would al
They found bunch of chickens, and tht3
expert told the easterner to shoot his tvrl
chickens first, and then he'd cut loose TIL
pump gun. And so it happened. The eas /
arn man was ratified, or something hi
got. his double. Then the flock began III
melt. The pump gun went off like a gi /
ing, and tive birds were down before ta K
punch were out Of range ''And they cal \
hat sport, said the expert.
The other story is of the pump gu
lmong the North Carolina quail. In thu
particular section of the Piedmont i'll
lot good form to be a game hog. It's Ia |
'nough from the railroad to have some d
he traditions of the old south kept alive
! young northerner came in for soEs
With him was a pump gun, lk
outherner had never shot one Of th
hlngs and was rather emphatic about th
IRE evil he trusted might happen to hin
Mould any Of his relatives place one neai
lis grave. The northerner. who had neygi
cen him shoot, thought it all bluff and
old him, he couldn't handle a pump gun
ne southerner was too much of gentle
nan TO take his money, but he took tn
un when the dogs came to a point. H
reckonedN that there were five shells
:. The .northerner guessed" there were
lie added that if two quail fell from th:
We the southerner would be "some shot
he other northern man, who had beel
here, all winter, smiled and sat down. !
,asn't his affair. Then spoke the man d
ne south: boy, you-all jus stay ovei
onder where you-all is. I'll kick up the'
artrldge and the old dog will bring EN-
0 you-uns." The birds rose with a whr
was some fancy shooting. At the frs
hot, two birds, that rose close togethtei,
lmbled, two more followed them in quirs
accession at the next two explosions, the
'urth shot accounted for two more who
nanced to cross, and the last tumbled
lrd which had swung to the right. Seven
lails in five shots! The southerner look
], at the gun in his hands. Yere, yolal
IKE Ike this - niger machine" he said.
hese are two instances of what pump
IN is good for in the hands of exnertts
uIomatlcs are even more deadly. II ths
rds are to be conserved, if insects are
be kept out of the farmers crops, its
gh time such weapons were given up W