The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1921-12-29
HUNTING THEORIES EXPLODED
Popular Fallacies Reduced to Nothing
BY Unknown Experts.
(From The Columbia State)


it takes big shot to kill game and
that wild turkeys are easy to hit.
AS to the first theory, the bird
most sought after and most popular
as game in the South is listed in all
bird guides by authorities as the bob
white. 1t is neither partridge nor
quail but is said by experts to be
more like the English partridge than
like the quail, which is much smaller
bird and migratory, travelling in inn
mense flocks.
Up until recently the birds were
called "partridges" in the South, but
Northern brothers began to come
down to spend the winter and dubbed
them quail, which is the name by
which they are known in the North.
The explanation of the two names
is simple. When the English settlers
first came to America they gave the
name of partridge to the largest game
bird they found, after the popular
English fowl, though this bird was
smaller. In the North this was the
,ruffled grouse, which must then have
been the most plentiful bird, and in
the South the bob white. When the
Northerners found the bob white,
they likened it to the European quail
and dubbed it accordingly. Similarly
when the Southern hunters came
across the ruffled grouse they named
it the pheasant after the gaudy Euro
pean bird.
As a consequence there is no quail
In the South and no pheasant in the
North. The bob white Is smaller than
the English partridge but looks much
like it and the Southern settlers
thought the name would do. The
grouse was larger but that did not
bother the Northern huntsmen.
As to the shot. When sportsman
goes into a sporting goods store to
supply himself with ammunition for
duck shooting the dealer persistently
wishes to sell him "No. S chilled"
though he has always shot with small
er shot.
Of course the "fves" have the ad-
vantage that if the game happens to
be struck at considerable distance
in a vital spot of its anatomy the load
is effective, as the velocity is not lost
so quickly. On the other hand, with
large shot there is more space be-
: tween them and not so many take
!Afect, as with small missiles when
there is much greater probability of
a vital spot being hit and large
number of punctures are effected.
Hitting is what counts, the weight is
unimportant, old hunters say.
Moreover No. and No. Z shot
make the poorest patterns of all shot;
that is, they do not chamber evenly
in the gun and the shot are too thick
in one spot and too thin in another,
50 that the bird might be totally sur
rounded by shot and yet not touched,
hence the invention of No. 1-2 shot,
for use. where a shot slightly larger
than eights and smaller than SKIES
was desired.
Since most people take only the
comparatively easy shots, small shot
would be more effective, as the veloc-
ity is high enough at close range.
A letter was received in Columbia
a few days ago from Theodore Raw
enel, hunter of undisputed renown.
stating that he had killed the limit of
ducks by noon one day and could
have killed 100 with ease had he re-
manned in the field all day.
81 was shooting No. 7 1-2 shot"
said the letter. 81 prefer sevenS or
sixes,"
Hunters who seek turkeys on the
Wateree swamp use No. 6 shot in
variably and the big birds have been
killed at 60 and more yards repeated
ly. "Its the hitting that counts. If
you hold the gun right the shot don't
matter, and the more you hit 'em
the harder they fall" these big game
hunters are wont to remark.
Ducks and turkeys are known to
have been killed with No. 9 shot with
al ease.
Speaking of turkey, the uninitiated
have often been heard to remark:
"Why, they ought to be easy to kill,
they're so big" One of the most ex-
perienced hunters in South Carolina
says that turkey is the hardest OF
all birds for him to hit, barring none.
In this connection General Hampton,
called by Roosevelt "the mightiest
hunter North America ever produced" !"
is remembered to have said that he
could make" a man kill deer or