tend to be in any way authoritative, nor does it
claim to present the only or the best equipment in any branch of
wilderness travel, but only to set forth the results of my own twenty
years more or less of pretty steady outdoor life. So likewise it may
interest the reader to hear about the contents of my own gunrack, even
though he himself would have chosen much more wisely.

[Sidenote: My Rifle]

My rifle is a .30-.40 box magazine Winchester, with Lyman sights. This I
have heard is not a particularly accurate gun. Also it is stated that
after a few hundred shots it becomes still more inaccurate because of a
residue which only special process can remove from the rifling. This may
be. I only know that my own rifle to-day, after ten years' service, will
still shoot as closely as I know how to hold it, although it has
sixty-four notches on its stock and has probably been fired first and
last--at big game, small game, and targets--upward of a thousand times.
I use the Lyman aperture sight except in the dusk of evening, when a
folding bar sight takes its place. At the time I bought this rifle the
.33 and .35 had not been issued, and I thought, and still think, the
.30-.30 too light for sure work on any animal larger than a deer. I have
never used the .35, but like the .33 very much. The old low-power guns I
used to shoot a great deal, but have not for some years.

[Sidenote: Pistol a Handy Weapon]

The handiest weapon for a woods trip where small game is plentiful is a
single-shot pistol. Mine is a Smith & Wesson, blued, six-inch barrel,
shooting the .22 caliber long-rifle cartridge. An eight-inch barrel is
commonly offered by the sporting dealers, but the six-inch is
practically as accurate, and less cumbersome to carry. The ammunition is
compact and light. With this little pistol I have killed in plenty
ducks, geese, grouse, and squirrels, so that at times I have gone two or
three months without the necessity of shooting a larger weapon. Such a
pistol takes practice, however, and a certain knack. You must keep at
it until you can get four out of five bullets in a three-inch bull's-eye
at twenty yards before you can even hope to accomplish much in the
field.

[Sidenote: Revolver Experiences]

My six-shooter is a .45 Colt, New Service model. It is fitted with Lyman
revolver sights. Originally it was a self-cocker, but I took out the dog
and converted it to single action. The trigger pull on the double action
is too he