282 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



bayous on the river are full of the finest game, some of 

 them showing up handsomely in tin- way Of bear, pantlier, 

 Wild cats, wolves, deer, and occasionally elk arc found, 

 and especially is I his the case at Bayou Pemiscot above 

 here, which lies on Ihe river, partly in' Missouri ami partly 

 in Arkansas, and Just now about a dozen ' ' sports" are 

 there, some from Ibis city and some from St, Louis. The 

 cane below here is equally well supplied, and hardly a day 

 passes that parlies do not leave hero for a few day's guii- 

 ning, and all have good luck. Borne of the lunaicui's 

 make some terrible mistakes— that's what they call it -in 

 their shooting, as was the case a couple . <>• day's since, 

 ■when a Couple of gentlemen titled themselves out Villi 

 wagon, mule, camp equipage, &c, and located in Ncmcon- 

 nali bottom, and after a day's sport would tether their 

 mule close to the cane and near the camp. On Friday 

 night his muleship longing for a square meal of oats, 

 broke louse from his fastenings and wandered off to a 

 neighboring farm house for a !.» nuliliiii or two,'' and there 

 lie was met by a pack of dogs wlro gave chase, "Muley" 

 making for camp, head and tail erect, in dashing 

 through tbe camp woke the sleeping haulers, one of whom 

 declaring that the noise, in the cane was occasioned by a 

 deei chased by a pack of hounds in pursuit, planted him- 

 self near an opening where suddenly the mule popped out, 

 and the hunter (?) let go both barrels of a double barrelled 

 gun "loaded with mugs to the sluz/.le'' and, to make a 

 long story short, 1 need only say that the mule didn't even 

 kick, lie was so dead the hunter had to foot it to the city 

 and get another vehicle, but declares that lie never will 

 shoot al another " animile" until he knows what it is. It 

 must not, however, be considered from this one mistake, 

 that even our amateurs ate prone to such errors. On the 

 contrary, 1 hey are skilled in the deer hunt as a general 

 thing, and seldom return from a hunt wil bout plenty of 

 meat. The present cold snap will serve to improve the 

 supply of game in this immediate vicinity, as well as in fire 

 central pail of the State; but, there, from lite latest reports, 

 tMy do not require even a dog or gnn lo bag their game, 

 but' wait for a iirst-class hail" storm, as was' the ease one 

 day last week, and then start out with a coiiou basket, 

 which they till in a short lime with birds killed by the fall- 

 ing bail s'lones. Mississippi is well supplied with large 

 game this season, but quail, partridges and the like are 

 not abundant. However, the old sports (here make up the 

 deficiency in the latter by devotingtheir time to the former, 

 and their average luck is shown by the hunt of Mr. A. F. 

 Lewis, of Coahotno County, who one day last, week, with 

 his dogs, ran four yearling 'bears up a tree and killed three, 

 capturing the fourth alive. The swamps and cane along 

 both the Arkansas and White rivers in Arkansas are full 

 of game and the many interior lakes abound with fish and 

 wild ducks. Red River is also equally well supplied, and 

 there I learn that vast numbers o( ducks are slaughtered 

 daily; so many, in fact, that Shreveporl's citizens are living 

 on luscious mallards at from ten to fifteen cents each, the 

 average dav's yield for gunners in I hat stream being Irom 

 100 IrTloO." Our fox chasers have not been idle during the 

 week, but have bad two days tine sport. On the first chase 

 reynard was turned loose at noon and left to roam at will 

 until 7 o'clock the following inortiitir, when Ihe dogs look 

 the trail — then nineteen hours old— and followed it until 

 afternoon, when the fox war started from cover, and aftei 

 a three hours' chase he saved himself by crossing a creek, 

 into which Alley would not let the dggs go, as the weather 

 had changed suddenly from warm to cold.' In the next 

 chase a native fox was started and followed I hrec hours 

 through brush and thick cane until four of the best dogs 

 were badly bruised aud cut, and then they were called OB, 



Kentucky. — Shelbyville talks of organizing a shooting 

 club. 



North Carolina.— Messrs. C. P. Keeler, Judge Tufts 

 and R. P. Richer, of Boston, ami members of the Monkey 

 Island Club, shot in eleven days, between Nov. 13 and Nov. 

 25, in Currituck Sound, 55 canvas backs, 7 swan, 8 geese, 

 and -100 ducks, mostly red heads, bald pales, black ducks 

 and sprig tails. Mr. Noah Curtis, of Boston, joined them 

 Nov. 27, and the first day's shooting brought in ll canvas 

 backs, 35 other ducks and geese. 



Illinois.— Elkhart, Dec. 3.— The hunting has been good 

 here this Fall and Winter, and the quail and chicken are 

 plenty In five days— Friday and br.U-rd.iv of- last week 

 and three days of this week— I killed 223 quail and 74 

 chickens, aud mostly in cornfields and along hedges. There 

 are no ducks here now. A. II. HqoabBUS, 



Champion Wing Shot of America. 



Netting quails is indulged in very freely by pot-hunters. 



Oaw.— Tiffin, Dec. 5.— In publishing an extract from one 

 of my letters you make me say, " killed I he f r *t buck, "Ac., 

 which is a mistake, of course, finest being Ihe word used in 

 my letter. Several larger ones, however, have lately been 

 ! i i,l Since writing the letter above referred to the 

 slaughter oi deer has been immense, seventy-six having 

 been transferred in one day at this point alone. As the 

 deer shooling season has closed, this class ul' sport must be 

 postponed until nexL Pall, wdieu 1 fear they will be nearly 

 exterminated. G. D. L. 



Sportsmen will do well to take notice that the season for 

 killing deer in Ohio closed December 1. 'ihe penalty for 

 violating the law, which will be rigidly enforced by the 

 Sportstneii's Association and local clubs, is a fine not less 

 than s.ir,, n,.f more than SS5U ; or imprisonment not more 

 than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the Court. 



wis, otfsns.— Movtello, Dm.- 5.— Although duck shooting 

 ,s over ai Ptrckawny LaUe. comparatively good jsuuoltug 

 may be had along Hie Fox River, as considerable numbers 

 oi mallards and red heads seem loath lo leave the "chill 

 North." I bagged a few brace of the latter three days ago, 

 but do not consider the sport sullieient to sacrifice oiie'a 

 self to the "keen blasts of Winter," nor could it be com- 

 pared to Pall shooting, even were game as plenty. There 

 is something far more exciting and exhilarating in culling 

 down a mallard as he rises from the rice, than in getting 

 ftn occasional shot in Winter by walking along the rivet- 

 bank with numbed hands and using all caution to prevent 

 being heard in the crusty snow, i Anticipate some fair 

 sport ere long atliutfalo Lake, the margin of which abounds 

 with spring holes, aud here ducks arc plenty all Winter. 

 My usual plan is to hunt on skates at this lake, a some- 

 what novel mode, but it adds to the attraction. 1'ked. 



j\Iis>'ESota. Bruinard, Deo, 3. — Suow a foot deep (splen- 

 did lor deer hunting) and buffalo overcoats at a premium, 

 li ie safe -to say that 150 deer have been killed within four 

 'idler! jjrOjJBjj by fixe hiitj. 



dred. Peer shouting will be over on the 15th, and it is a 

 good Ihing. F. P. C. 



No deer shooting in Minnesota after the 15th of De- 

 cember 



IoWA.— B&rlingfan, T)ee. 1. — On the river are plenty of 

 geese and brant, floating down on the ice blocks; quail 

 plenty ; chickens scarce op the bottoms ; deer found only 

 beyond the Des Moines, in a southwesterly direction iu 

 abundance, on the line of the Rurlinglon and South 

 Western Railroad, now completed to Unionville. Missouri, 

 130 miles. There is not a thoroughbred dog in this town, 

 though there are some first-class sportsmen. M. M. B. 



NrmiiAsKV .— The. Sioux tribes of Dakota, Wyoming, are 

 hunting buffalo in Ihe Republican "Valley, Their luck has 

 not been great so far. 



Mast Destroyed.— Heavy frosts several weeks since 

 destroyed the masl in a number of counties in Arkansas. 

 Notwithstanding that, however, Horsfall, Who has emi- 

 grated from Memphis to that peaceful ( y) State, is having 

 lib any of spoil,, and has thirty-nine dogs in training. So 

 many that it required two steamers lo transport them. 



— Company C, Third New Jersey, had a match on the 

 SatU at 100, 200 and 600 yards, wilh the following result, 

 the highest points possible being sixty: Captain W. 11. 

 Deflarl 26, Corporal Spinning 26, Private Hoagland 24, 

 Corporal Freehold 21, Private Angus 21, Corporal Olivet 

 20, Privaie Houston 20, Private Gregory 20, Sergeant 

 Moore 19, Private Robst 18, Private Clay 17, Private Naur 

 16, Private Narr Hi. The lie in the first and second score 

 Was shot OS and won by Captain De Hart 15 to 14. 



—Congress at ils lasl session made an appropriation of 

 $10,000 lor Ihe purpose of teslingLee's breech loading arm. 

 A small number are now being made, at the National 

 Amory under the supervision of the inventor, and when 

 compleied wall be sent into the field for trial. 



—Mr. Post, of New Vork, and Mr. Baylis, of Brooklyn, 

 accompanied by a number of sporting friends, went" to 

 Long Island last Wednesday to test their skill in a pigeon 

 shooiinu match. The conditions were 25 birds, 25 yards 

 rise, fSSU a side, II. AT. traps, Long Island rules." Mr. 

 Baylis, "wlio was the favorite among Ihe belting men, used 

 a Scott ten-bore, and his rival a Dougall twelve gunge. Mr 

 Baylis won ihe match, having killed 13 out of IS, while his 

 opponent only killed 4 out of 18. 



After this' Mr. Greene, of Brooklyn, and Mr. Post 



agreed to shoot 15 birds each, froth 5 traps, ^ngMsh rules, 



for $25 aside. Mr. Greene had never before shot under 

 the rules, and not having a twelve gauge gun, as called for, 

 was compelled to allow his opponent one yard for the ten 

 bore, which he desired to use, making the distances : 

 Greene, 81 yards ; Post, 30 yards. At the fifteenth bird 

 they had each killed six, when Greene missing and Post 

 scoring, the hitler proved the winner, killing seven to six 

 for Greene. 



Following tame a match for 10 birds each, 30 yards rise, 

 5 traps, and English rules, between Mr. Baylis and Ira A. 

 Paine, Baylis took the initiative, and at. the' tenth bird had 

 killed seven, which obliged Ira to retire, as he had scored 

 but five out Of nine, and Could not win. 



A second match of 10 birds, 80 yards rise, English rules 

 to govern, for $30 a side, was gotten up between Mr. Post 

 and Mr. Hiekock, of Brooklyn. The latter at the ninth 

 bird had missed but one, which left Mr. Post the privilege 

 of retiring, as out of eight he bad killed but five. 



A handicap sweepstakes of $5 each, 3 birds, II. & T. 

 traps, wound up the sport of the day. Eight entered in 

 this, these being Messrs. Van Buren," 25 yards; Baylis, 25 

 yards; Loft, 21 yards; Ireland, 24 yards; Monroe, 21 yards; 

 Posi. 24 yards;" Paine, 27 yards, and Wingate, 24 yards. 

 Baylis, Monroe and Wingate each killed their three, when 

 they shot oil the lie. Monroe went out on the third bird 

 and Baylis and Wingati 

 the money. 



— Messrs. Belniouf and Robinson shot a pigeon match 

 against, Messrs. Lowry and Grymes at New Dorp, Staten 

 Island, lasl Saturday. It resulted in a victory fur the lat- 

 ter. The following is the score:— 25 birds each, 28 yards 

 rise, 5 traps, English rules, Grymes, 15; Lowry, It); Bel- 

 mont, 11; liobinsun, 20. 



QUAIL SHOOTING IN GEORGIA. 



oe went out on the third bird, 

 h killing three straight, divided 



Eiirron For 



Yesterday 



proposed tha 



with i 



-.■Hill 



Savannah, November, 1874. 

 > Stream:— 

 ;, while in the office of a friend on Bay street, he 



Of c 



Be I had n 

 igcd I 



objec 



nil after 



'1:1 li 



9 how 



nboi 



ue we were both ready, and getting into his 

 hind, the dogs, three in number, two hand- 

 , the third a flue white setter bitch, got. by 

 n either side the road, we speedily bowled 

 r proposed shooting grounds. Some four 

 oad we gol out; leaving Dick in the buggy 

 i [joint nearer town, we loaded our guns, aud 

 i rice field in which the rice had been cut 

 uore than fifty yards bad we gone before the 

 dy, boys,' 1 says my friend R,, and stepping 



dOKI 



up to them. »c Hushed a tine covey of a dozen hircls. mree oarreis rang 

 out, their full, round reports, and two birds are down. Marking the re- 

 mainder of the covey down in a piece of heavy cover along the edge of a 

 ditch, we go on aftur them, first placing in our pockets our birds, which 

 the dogs retrieved handsomely. Keaching tbe place where we had 

 marked I hem down, the dogs again came to a point on different birds. 

 Four are tip in front of R., two of which are knocked overhy a beiiutiful 

 double diet, while a single bird Unshed from under my feet is at once 

 cut down, and loading ear guns another gets up one goes off unharmed. 

 Two of our birds are speedily bagged, the third.a crippled one, defying the 

 attempts of the dogs to find him. Two more, single birds are put up and 

 knocked over, and bagging (hem we work toward the road, and getting 

 Into ilie bnggy, drive op to another field. Here we find a fine, large covey 

 near the edge of a swamp, hut. they are flushed by the young pointer 

 who run ia wild on them. After administering a severe Hogging to him, 

 we hunt them up. lie dogs pointing them beautifully, and as they rise 

 one fulls to the right barrel of lt.'s Lancaster, while the contents of the. 

 left g" mi an exploring expedition through the top of a fallen tree. 

 Catching two as they cross, a quiet shot brings them down, while Ihe. 

 Old cock, thinking, no doubt, he was going to get off, silently falls to my 

 second hunvl. rocketing our birds, we try another field, as the rest of 

 the covey liad gone into the heavy swamp; but here no birds are to be 

 found. Iu the next one, which was heavily planted In griiis. we tblah a 

 1 n ', large covey, out uf which we get three fine birds. Marking them 

 down, the dogs" soon find them in the cover, and in a short time three 

 more are down, two of which are only wing tipped, and running into a 

 swamp, we two compelled to ul»e up the kwcIi for them, it getting late, 

 ijjng aollgoti to b 



80 we return homeward, perfectly satisfied with our afternoon's sport. 



R. is expecting soon a \alunblc addition to his kennel of a splendid 

 young setter of the famous Gildersleeve strain, tired and raised by thai 

 veteran sportsman, Horace Smith, Esq., of Philadelphia, and If hedocs 

 not get an A No. 1 dogiu every respect. I am much mistaken. If he is 

 half as good as my dog "Jack," which I got from Mr. S. some year* Bgo, 

 and which was pronounced ny several of the fincsi shots aud best spoils- 

 men then and now living in this city, to be the hesl und most perfecily 

 hroken dog they had ever shot over, he will hnve a dog which any Sports - 

 man would be glad to have. Ueoiuua. 



GAME IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



New York, November SO, 1814. 

 Editor Forest Axn Stream.— 



A year or two since I spent some weeks alone of those mineral spring 

 which are so nuraerons in the Alleghany Mountains of Wert Virginia 

 and t was really amazed nl the abundance of game of all descriptions, 

 making it a very paradise for sportsmen with either the rod or gun 

 Thinking a few lines on the subject might Interest ihe. readers of jour 

 valuable paper, I will trespass on yonr space to a limited extent. 



The Virginia Springs, as most New Yorkers are well aware of, are but 

 twenty-four hours distant from the metropolis, and the last twelve hours 

 ride Is through u most beautiful region, passing by Ihe Shenandoah Vtil 

 ley. and the fine mountain scenery of West. Virginia. At the period of 

 my sojourn at the springs the Chesapeake and Ohio Kailmad (since com- 

 pleted) was only running to Covington, W. Va, rrom whence a line of 

 stages connected with the White Sulphur, Sweet, Red Sweet, Bath- 

 Warm, Rockbridge, or whatever point the tourist might wish to be trans- 

 ported to. Well do I recollect arriving at Covington in the dusk of a 

 Summer evening, after a rapid railroad ride, the last fifteen miles dowai a 

 grudeof sixty or seventy feet to the mile, and rnn in sevenleentuinut.es 

 by the watch, and then putting up at the village hotel, where was spread 

 a supper of chicken, venison, brook trout, &c", such as an epicure might 

 envy. Some of our party left by the night, stage, but myself and a 

 number of others, comprising moat of the ladies, preferred waiting until 

 daylight, especially as there was a risk of too "rapid transit" by the. stage 

 missing the road and tumbling down the mountain side, which calasl.ro- 

 phc had happened a short tune before. After a refreshing night's rest, 

 we were np and away next morning at fi A. M., and after a lovely ride or 

 from twenty to thirty-five miles, according to destination, up and down 

 the mountain sides, fording streams with the water over the hubs, and 

 which were so sinuous that we crossed one rivulet seventeen times in 

 twenty miles. We reached oni objective poiuts. some going to the. 

 White Sulphur.and others.including myself, keeping on to the old Sweet, 

 which was— if my recollection is correct— about thirty-five miles from 

 Covington. 



Now, since the completion of the railroad, the traveler, by leaving the 

 train at Alleghany Station, has only nine miles staging to the old Sweet. 

 Springs, and to the White Sulphur none at all, the cars stopping 

 within a stone's throw of the hotels. The White Sulphur Springs are 

 the most frequented, hut for my part. I always preferred the old Sweet 

 to any of tbe other resorts, ou account of its being less crowded, and or 

 its uueqnalcd location. Situated in Monroe County in a beautiful val- 

 ley, it is surronntted by charming highland scenery, and the temperature 

 is delightful, even in July and August. The hotel and cottages accom- 

 modate 700 or 800 guests, aud was very well kept, at that lime, by the gen- 

 ial Mr. C, formerly of tbe Palueki House, Savannah, Go. "The bath 

 houses are superb, and one can bathe in the limpid element as clear :is 

 crystal, and which has a temperature of 75° the year round. 



These springs were discovered in the last century by the Indian--, who 

 would bring their sick and infirm, aud bivouac by their side. Some wou- 

 dortul stories are told of the cure effected by these highly medicinal 

 waters, which I will not. wear} you by relating here. Bin I am digressing 

 from my subject. 



Game of all kinds, fish, flesh and fowl, is so abundant as not to he ap- 

 preciated. Woodcock frequently were shot within ft\e hundred feet of 

 the house, and a mile or two back in the hills was one or the finest Srtvea 

 for deer to be imagined by the most rrdent sportsman; while for the dis- 

 ciples or Isaac Walton ten minutes walk from the house was a trout 

 brook, where the capture of two lo tluee pounders was an every day oc- 

 currence. Every day we had the speckled beauties served up on the ta 

 ble, which, with tender. Juicy, venison steaks and side dishes or wood- 

 cock, pheasant*, &c, formed a menu unsurpas-.d nil) <\y bere. The dee.r 

 were actually so plentiful that on my return ride lo Covington, when 

 about half wav to that place, as we stopoed hv the wayside to let the 

 team drink, tho driver said to me (I was sitting on the front, seat): 

 "There, sir; if you wish to see a grand sight, loot there." I did look, 

 and lo and beholdl ou a mouud about one hundred yards; distant, stood as 

 fine a stag as ever I beheld, with his head erect, and bis large, soft .yes 

 staring at the (to him) wondrous sight of so ninny intruder, on his rojnl 

 domain. A moment he stood there, hut one of ihe horses laising his 

 bead, he was off like the wind. None of us had a gnu unpacked, or 

 we could have shot hirn Willi ease. The driver told me that lie frequently 

 saw them crossing the road ahead of him. Altogether, I know of no res 

 gion within a day 's. journey of New Tork that otters such indiicctoeiii.-i to 

 the hunter, whether of fur, flu, or feather. I have just finished reading 

 your letter on Salmon Falling in California, in your lb i c of Sov IPtl, 

 and can verify your correspondent' s assertion thai there can be ii,i"v< M 

 the finest salmon fishing in the world. When I was in Ban FrtMlcisoo, 

 in 1870, ealuiouwasBo plentirnl that, it sold tor 5 cents a pound , ami I 

 suppose that tbe succeeding years have caused no diminution in quan- 

 tity. Should it meet with your approbation, 1 might send you n short tic 

 count ot ray experience during a Winter trip across the continent the 

 first Winter the railroad was completed, with an account ot a day's fish- 

 lug near Ogden, Utah. Yours truly, Pikuion. 



A QUEER OLD CASE. 



i Bpiiio unfinished btwliiiji 



DeerI'ark, Md., December 4, 1871. 

 Fnrron Forest an n Stkkam:— 



I took a trip into West Virginia some time ago, and had some amusing 

 incidents happen to me. Oue "genius" whom 1 met deisar'te 

 He was a tall and thin man ot about forty year.- of age, and wdio (as he 

 told me) had not had a razor on his face i or thirteen years, which met 

 caused bis face to resemble the "jack oak underbrush on Hie sides ot 



our road. He was dressed in buckskin breeches and a hone -: i 



which be had bought of one of his neighbor.-, mid e ere i ne only ankles 

 of "bought clothes" that he. hud ever worn We rode ■' Ogi ithei i infli 

 time, and he informed me that he lived at a place called ■•Thunder- 

 struck. " On the. previous mtttningtiB heard ono ot his hogs sujicallair, 

 and ou going out discovered four bears, two old ones and two du 6 , 

 dragging the bog oft, He was afraid to "tackle" litem alone, and [hoy 

 took themselves and tho porker into a neighboring laurel thicket. Dur- 

 ing the conversation 1 bad been smoking a cigar, and was so much inter- 

 ested in tiie "talk" that I forgot mvpoliien.-s .mi did not offer him cue. 

 Presently my companion said: "Say, Mister, will ySi let me smoke 



awhile on that seegar* I'll give it right hack. Idin'mhi , 



Ihe sore; they're two cents apiece, mid ain't never no count, nohow. " 



Afn-r a -In. ri, but violent Ktrugejo wiih mj ri-lbiliiies, 1 ennq 



offered him a cigar from my case. "No. thank yer; I'd rather mWc Mb 

 one you've been smoking on." t gave It 10 him, and he told me thai ii. 

 ••gave him good luck to smoke the same seegar that anyone else had been 

 smoking." 



The couutri fairly swrnioed will, ltito or all kinds. Intel emou, 



who .told me he bad kuKl <ir I retmlll , , 



previous Winter and Fad. It? Is II ,1 p i 6 for hunting, atttl quite 



handy, belnglut fifteen mites from the B. ami O. It. K. 



Tours respectfully; AiXEoruNv. 



*♦*- — 



—Great Brittain amniuHy consumes ;'7,000,fJOO home. 



>>rml rabbits, not p..mntitn: tlt« Wclsll one- on to 



