Hunting question

[K Hale]

I wasn't sure where to post this, because it doesn't really deal with the war...

In reading Porter Alexander's memoirs, I came upon a scene where he is hunting birds. The weapon he is using is an Enfield musket with chopped-up bullets used for shot. He shoots at a large bird (I think he said it was a wood-c-o-c-k) and sees the bird land apparently under its own power some distance away. He sneaks up on the bird and finds it sitting in the grass looking at him. Not realizing it's dead, he takes the ramrod out of the musket and uses it to spear the bird, because, he said, "it was too close to shoot."

My question is, how can something be too close to shoot?

My ideas...

1. The musket is too powerful and he will blow the bird apart at close range
2. He'll get black powder all over the bird, ruining it for eating purposes
3. He has come upon the bird suddenly in the grass and it is closer to him than the length of the musket, and he must quickly stab it with the rammer before it gets away (OK, least likely possibility)

I know some of you are hunters. Thoughts?

 

[5fish]

I bet he shoot the fable Ivory Bill Woodpecker. You have caught Mr. Alexander killing a soon to be extinct bird(Some say it be found of late)... It's a large bird..

 

[TxSouthpaw]

KHale - not sure how big a woodc o c k is but #1 is most likely the answer. Not sure why he would spear it and not just grab it and pop its head off, like one would do with a dove or quail.

 

[ole]

With Tex. You get too close to a goose or a turkey and you can blow it into little pieces.

And a wood-whatzit is as small as, if not smaller than a bobwhite quail. A smear of blood and a puff of feathers.

What I don't get is using an Enfield instead of a smooth bore, unless the Enfield had it's rifling bored out. The rifling imparts a spin to the charge. A "chopped up" batch of projectiles will develop a centrifugal spin and will fly off promiscuously upon leaving the muzzle.

Sounds like Alexander was taking poetic license in an attempt at levity.

Ole

 

[K Hale]

Oh, I had the impression it was a large bird, like eagle size or something. I think he mentioned that it was looking at him with its large eyes. I figured that was why he speared it with the ramrod instead of trying to wrestle with it. If it's tiny, then spearing it makes a lot less sense, although that does explain why it was too close to shoot.

Were Enfields always rifled? Earlier in the book he talks about using the chopped-up (his term) bullet pieces as shot because he did not have a shotgun. His body servant Charley would chop them up for him. I will consult that earlier chapter and see what else he had to say about how this worked. He went into more detail on it then.

 

[bama46]

Oh, I had the impression it was a large bird, like eagle size or something. I think he mentioned that it was looking at him with its large eyes. I figured that was why he speared it with the ramrod instead of trying to wrestle with it. If it's tiny, then spearing it makes a lot less sense, although that does explain why it was too close to shoot.

Were Enfields always rifled? Earlier in the book he talks about using the chopped-up (his term) bullet pieces as shot because he did not have a shotgun. His body servant Charley would chop them up for him. I will consult that earlier chapter and see what else he had to say about how this worked. He went into more detail on it then.

NOt sure what he shot, but doubt it was a woodpecker. Grouse are larger than quail as are pheasant, but I believe Pheasant were imported later. The first question is was it a game bird, a bird of prey, a songbird, or a nuisence bird.. that would help with size questions.
As for the enfield, one uses what one has and if no shotgun is available, then an old rifled musket with "chopped up bullets" will get the job done after a fashion

As to why not shoot it again, the chopped up pieces of bullet would be rvery destructive at close range. I get the impression he intended to eat it. Powder burns would not occur in any significant amount unless the muzzle was practically touching the bird.

I remember from my upland hunting days that in the bitter cold, one literally had to "kick" game up to get it moving so as to have a sportsmanlike shot at it..

 

[K Hale]

Thank you Bama, yes, this was a game bird and it was intended for Alexander's mess. Evidently he was quite the bird hunter and kept his mess pretty well supplied.

Here's Wiki's page on the wood-c-o-c-k, which is what Alexander said he was hunting. Seems tiny.

 

[Ellsworth avenger]

Timberdoodles are a reliable hunt in the spring as they arrive in the spring at the same time as the Robins.They blend beautifully. A spring hunt before to much growth is ideal.Spring ritual in a nearby apple orchard when I was young;Not sure what the spearing is about.

"A boy was taken by his father on a camping trip in the Adirondacks.They hired a guide, left the beaten trail,and spent a week in the heart of the woods. The boy was greatly impressed by the ability of the guide to see all sorts of things invisible to the naked eye.One day,after the guide had been pointing out some of the hidden secrets of nature,the boy asked with an awed voice,"Mister,can you see God?"
The old man replied,"My boy,it's getting so I can hardly see anything else when I'm out in the woods."Walter Dudley Cavert

 

[dvrmte]

Here's a picture:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock/lifehistory
There's enough meat for one chew.
The long flexible beak is specialized for eating earthworms.
Why he used the ramrod, I don't know. You can step on them or just grab them and thump them in the head to finish them off.
I use a 22 rifle with rat shot to kill hard to catch chickens and the rifling doesn't ruin the shot pattern inside 15 yards. The Enfield wouldn't be ideal for shot but would work at close range.

Sincerely,
dvrmte

 

[K Hale]

Well, after what you guys have said, I'm about convinced that what Alexander shot was not a wood-c-o-c-k, or at least what he called a wood-c-o-c-k is called something else today.

Here's the backstory on the gun. This part takes place in autumn 1862 while Alexander was camped at a place called Stephenson's Depot, five miles north of Winchester.

And my fondness for shooting could not resist the temptation offered by the great numbers of quail which swarmed everywhere. I first began to shoot occasional birds with my revolver, & at last I had gotten an old rifle musket calibre .58, & for shot, I would make Charley [his servant] mash up bullets flat & then cut them into strips & squares, & with these I killed quantities of quail, & I nearly lived on them. While encamped in the meadow near Stephenson's I killed 120 in a single field of broom corn, close by, of about 2 acres extent.

The wood-c-o-c-k incident took place in October or November of 1863 near Knoxville. Rations were short and everybody was hungry. Maybe it will be more clear why he speared it with the ramrod instead of grabbing it or the like.

I made Charley mash up some bullets & make shot for me, & I killed some rabbits & quail, & one wood-c-o-c-k, the first I had ever shot at. I fired at him, flying, three times, & apparently missed him each time, but ran back to camp for another load of shot, after noting where he lit, Charley being busy all the while at the camp chopping up the bullets. On my fourth approach, I suddenly discovered him squatting almost at my feet, his great liquid black eyes & beautiful smooth plumage making as exquisite a picture as I ever saw. He was too near to shoot, & I slowly & carefully drew the iron ramrod from the long Enfield musket I was using, & struck at him in his form. He was dead already. At my third shot, I had lodged a little slug in some artery, & he had died in his form without shutting his eyes or ruffling a feather.

Next question... what does "in his form" mean??

 

[dvrmte]

Well, after what you guys have said, I'm about convinced that what Alexander shot was not a wood-c-o-c-k, or at least what he called a wood-c-o-c-k is called something else today.

Here's the backstory on the gun. This part takes place in autumn 1862 while Alexander was camped at a place called Stephenson's Depot, five miles north of Winchester.



The wood-c-o-c-k incident took place in October or November of 1863 near Knoxville. Rations were short and everybody was hungry. Maybe it will be more clear why he speared it with the ramrod instead of grabbing it or the like.



Next question... what does "in his form" mean??

Still sounds like a tiny woodc-ock to me. I guess "in his form" meant the way the bird lay as if alive. The way he describes the eyes is a giveaway for a woodc-ock.

Sincerely,
dvrmte

 

[K Hale]

Well, I guess even a tiny bird is better than none if you are trying to stretch two days' rations over eight days, which is what they were doing at the moment.

 

[Baggage Handler #2]

Next question... what does "in his form" mean??

He poked him with a stick.

 

[K Hale]

Oh man, I understand it all now.

 

[gary]

I took "in his form" as to meaning the bird's posture. BTW, too close to shoot infers to me that blasting the bird would cause too much meat damage.

 

[Ellsworth avenger]

I took "in his form" as to meaning the bird's posture. BTW, too close to shoot infers to me that blasting the bird would cause too much meat damage.

concure with gary

 

[K Hale]

I read a passage this morning where Alexander described Ewell's nose as being long like a wood-c-o-c-k's. So, he knew what he was shooting at.