Part V. SHOTGUNS: EQUIPMENT, CARE AND CLEANING

Chapter 13. The Makings of a Small Game Hunter

Out west they call it the "makings." If you have tobacco and cigarette papers you have the "makings" of a smoke. If you have killed a brace of blue grouse, you have the "makings" of a stew. The "makings" of a small game hunter are those essential bits of equipment which make a definite con­tribution to the success of a hunt.

Take the item of proper clothing for example. How many small game hunters actually wear clothing which makes a direct contribution to the overall success of their day afield? Not many.

Most small game is alarmed by about the same things as the big game, which you will eventually hunt. When you go pre­pared for the one type of hunting, then you are prepared for the other, so far as proper clothing is concerned, except for color. In addition to being alarmed by the same type of unusual noise as big game, the smaller game are touched off by other factors which deer and elk do not find alarming. Both deer and elk find it difficult to distinguish a hunter at rest. But ruffed grouse, and squirrel will both distinguish silhouette and color.

You will not get much squirrel or grouse shooting dressed in scarlet, though a touch of red is essential for protection from other hunters. Best bet is a red hunting hat or cap, with the rest of your clothing neutral to blend in with the browns and golds of the multi-colored autumn woods.

Clothing for grouse and squirrel shooting, or rabbit hunting should be as soft as a fawn's coat. It should only whisper, or remain silent when it touches the cover. Let the other hunters have their harsh canvass hunting coats and trousers, with their propensity to scrape against each bush or bough with harsh, unusual noise, totally foreign to the cover, and double alarming for that reason. It is better that you go dressed in light wool, or woolen and cotton outer garments, even at the expense of getting damp occasionally.

For those real old stinkers of a day there is nothing better than light nylon rain clothes. These should be large enough to slip over your regular hunting clothes, and can be removed when the weather clears. They are not bulky, and can be car­ried, during questionable weather, in the back of your hunting jacket.

Remember what I said about a great hunting dog reflecting his master's ability afield, and that back of each great dog there was also a great hunter? The same factors enter into a hunter's field dress. Just as surely as you find a good all around hunter, you also find a man who is very careful in his selection of cloth­ing, equipment and guns. Nothing is left to chance. Anything which will contribute to the success of the hunt is carefully considered.

Shoes have ruined more hunting trips than any lack of game. What are good field shoes? Here is my selection after a quarter of a century of hunting. For deer, grouse, or other game, good field shoes should be made of leather with tops 10 inches high, crepe rubber soles thick enough that you do not feel each rock or stick on which you step. There is only one quality leather— the best.

Shoes of this type will serve for bird hunting. They are ex­cellent in the squirrel woods, and for still hunting deer, they are a must. The crepe rubber soles give you quiet going. They cushion your step for tireless, all day tramping.

Please note those 10 inch top requirements. They are very much more important than would at first appear. A top higher than this tend to bind the muscles of the legs. Hunting shoes with 16 and 18 inch tops are especially at fault in this. In addi­tion to binding the legs, those higher tops add needlessly to the weight of field shoes, making them very tiring to wear for a day's hunt. A 10 inch top comes below the calf of the leg, but is sufficiently high to give comfortable support to the feet in walking.

Shoe fit is most important, yet few outdoorsmen really know what is meant by the word. A shoe properly fitted, should not make you conscious of your feet, uphill or down, all day long. To achieve such fit requires plenty of test and try, plenty of testing the various lasts: narrow, medium, wide. Plenty of trying various brands until you get a shoe which feels right to your feet.

You must remember that in hiking and hunting, there is a tendency for the feet to swell slightly. A shoe which is just right for normal street wear is seldom the correct size for field use. It may feel comfortable enough in the morning, but after a day's tramp in the woods with your dog, hunting ruffed grouse, that snugness grows to a painful tightness.

A good rule is to buy your hunting shoes about one size larger than street shoes, then fill them with extra pairs of socks. Best bet for such sock is a light inner woolen one, with a medium weight woolen outer sock. By wearing two pair of socks with your outdoor shoes you have much better insulation than you would have with one heavy pair of woolen socks. And, of course, if your feet do have a tendency to swell, one pair may be removed afield to correct the fit.

Hunting shoes should be bought and properly broken in several weeks before your planned hunting trips. In breaking in field shoes work plenty of neat's-foot oil into the leather, both from the inside and outside of your shoes. This will make them soft and pliable. After this soft leather has set to your feet, from making several short hiking trips, and from wear around the house, treat your shoes with any one of several brands of leather dressing and water proofing compounds presently on the market.

There is only one good material for shoe laces, leather. They should be well oiled before use. One other item should be used with these laces, too. For a comfortable fit, as well as to keep your shoe laces from eventually wearing through the tongue of your hunting shoes, have your shoe repair man make you two false tongues for your hunting shoes.

These are two pieces of soft leather about two inches wide and eight inches in length. You may cut them an inch or so longer than this to allow for a leather fringe at the bottom, logger fashion, making for a bit more dressy appearing outdoor shoe. Two holes are punched at the bottom of your false tongues through which the lacings are passed before placing them in your hunting shoes. These false tongues are very valuable additions to any hunting shoe, and once you have used them you will recognize their merits at once.

Hunting shoes, of the type I have described here, are ex­emplified by Chippawa, Bass, Redwing, and Russel. Any of these brands have very high quality oil tanned leather in their makeup. There are several other, less expensive hunting shoes on the market which appear to be bargains, but in the long run, are more expensive and much less serviceable than those high quality brand name shoes. After a few trips afield with those cheap hunting shoes, one realizes that they lose their shape, and are impossible fits. The leather from which they are made is usually split cowhide, so porous they will not turn dampness, even with the best waterproof leather dressing.

When it is wet and you are hunting late autumn squirrel, rabbit or ruffed grouse, there is nothing to equal rubber for footwear. Like your leather hunting shoes, your rubber ones should be a size larger than footwear for street use. They also should be worn with two pair of medium weight woolen socks to afford proper insulation. The requirements of a good rubber hunting shoe are about the same as those of leather: 10 inch top and just the proper fit without binding. The only excuse for rubber shoes or packs with higher than 10 inch tops is deep snow or wet ground where a 16 inch top affords more pro­tection.

These rubber packs may be obtained with lacings extend­ing to the instep, or they may be had with ankle fit legs, and lacings at the top. I personally prefer the latter. Properly fitted they are less binding around the leg, but are still snug enough for all day hiking without chafing.

There is one other type of shoe available which has merit for many types of small game hunting. This is the rubber footed, leather topped shoe pack, quite often used when hunting in snow—small game or large. These are very good, if the tops are made of the best quality leather which can be treated to water­proof them. But if they are made of inferior leather, melting snow will seep into your packs regardless of your waterproofing.

A handwarmer is one piece of small game hunting "makings" which makes a direct contribution to good shooting. They are light to carry, but have a ton of comfort in them on a cold autumn morning when you are prowling a ruffed grouse cover or hunting rabbits. Keep one in your pocket and warm your trigger hand occasionally.

Binoculars, of course, are essential for any type of hunting or hiking. In my book Advanced Hunting a chapter is devoted to their selection and use. It is sufficient here to point out then-importance in small game hunting. Select the best, learn to use them, and you will be surprised at the new world they open for you.

Learning to use them is something very few hunters actually do. They adjust them to their eyes for all distances from about a hundred feet to infinity, and let it go at that. In doing this they are not realizing the full potential of their binoculars. For there is another adjustment on your binoculars with which you should experiment—the close in focusing which gives you a stereoscopic effect from about twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet. In heavy cover, with your binoculars set for this close viewing, you can see through thickets, down the small avenues of the forest, and examine an oak or beechnut harboring squirrel. It is a revelation to hunters who have only used their binoculars for longer viewing.

The small game and varmint sniper has another piece of equipment which the average squirrel or rabbit hunter would find awkward and impractical. That is a good spotting scope. It is surprising the lost opportunities a hunter has on a day's woodchuck or ground squirrel shooting, unless he has some means of searching the cover in detail out there at two and three hundred yards. Piles of fresh dirt along an old stone fence are evidence of woodchuck workings in clover fields and along creek banks. These will be spotted with binoculars, but for more detailed study of game activity at such distances, there is nothing which will take the place of a good spotting scope.

In selecting one for your field use, remember that the stand is almost as important as the scope itself. The stand should be low in silhouette, because you will usually use it from the prone position. It should be sturdy and wide angled to give a stable support to the spotting scope. Unless it meets all these require­ments, the high power of your spotting scope is lost.

Best power in a spotting scope for general use ranges from 15 to 25X. I personally prefer the 25X scope. A spotting scope should take over where binoculars leave off. There is no use in carrying a scope of 10X power when you are using 7 X 35 binoculars. A 25X spotting scope takes over where medium powered binoculars leave off.

A spotting scope is not only a fine way of currying your hunting cover in detail, studying game and game habit, but it is also excellent for spotting those unaccountable misses at the longer ranges. Where is my rifle shooting under actual field conditions, at estimated ranges? That can only be answered by your hunting partner spotting your shots while you try your skill at a few typical field shots.

Last season, while hunting ground squirrel, I got three straight misses at ranges around two hundred yards, my first three shots of the day. In the tall sear grass of late August, shots were difficult to spot through my hunting scope. There would be an obscuring puff of dust around my target, and that was all. Was it high, low, right or left?

Out of my rucksack came the spotting scope. The next target, a big old grizzled ground squirrel of aldermanic propor­tions, was carefully focused in the 25X field of my Bushnell spotting scope by my partner. At the shot he said just one word, "High." I clicked my elevation down a point. Another shot some fifteen minutes later, with the spotting scope again set up and focused on my target, was a different story. This time my partner said, "On, but still a bit high for the range." Another quarter point of elevation correction and I was all set for the day.

A spotting scope afield poses the problem of transportation. They are bulky and cumbersome to carry, and you are not constantly using them, either. During a day's hunt after ground squirrel or woodchuck, there are plenty of short range opportuni­ties where ordinary binoculars give you sufficient power for detailed observation. Best method of carrying a spotting scope is in a rucksack. Fact is, a rucksack is almost a must for any outdoor activity from hiking to big game hunting. I use one constantly on my small game excursions to not only carry my spotting scope, but also for such items as camera, light meter, extra ammunition, lunch, and all the odds and ends of equip­ment which I might use during the day.

Selecting a rucksack for small game hunting requires plenty of thought and plenty of testing. There are several bulky can­vass bags designed for cargo carrying, such as bedding, tents and equipment on a portage, but which are not practical for small game hunting. A rucksack for hunting should be on the small side. It should have plenty of wide pockets for storing items of equipment. Another requirement is that it ride high between your shoulders where it will not touch the cover as you move about. Shoulder straps should be wide, but not bulky or padded, unless such padding can be slipped down the shoulder strap on the shoulder you normally shoot from. Any padding here is very apt to throw your carefully stocked rifle out of balance.

For my own use this adds up to a light tubular frame pack-sack. It has plenty of room for an overnight camping outfit, when I am off on a back country hiking and hunting trip.

There are several other rucksacks available which serve the purposes of a small game hunter quite well. A small Duluth-type pack is excellent. So is the Norwegian type rucksack with its many outside pockets.

You will be surprised at the many items of equipment which eventually find their way into your rucksack such as an extra packet to slip on during the early morning hours when an autumn nip to the air makes for cold hunting. There will also be times when Indian summer touches the cover like a bene­diction and you will appreciate a rucksack for carrying your hunting coat and gloves.

All in all, the "makings" of a small game hunter means the difference between going prepared for an enjoyable day afield, with equipment which enables you to take every advantage of your hunting, and being less prepared for eventualities. Field experience will tend to make such equipment highly individual, just as field experience will make its selection highly prac­tical. When your "makings" are right, your hunt is off to a good start.