FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Maboh 3, 1881. 



the Slate, or actually being transported out of lite Slate, will 

 bo presumed to have been killed for I hat purpose. That the 

 bill can be improved we have Tin doubt, and we hope it will 

 be considered by the association for that especial purpose. It 

 may be by the association deemed best to amend the bill by 

 adding to it provisions which shall provide — 



(1). That it shall b&prtmafaeie evidence of the fact that 

 gape has been killed for other than its proper purpose to find 

 it in the possession of persons, consigned to persons, or being 

 carried out of the State. 



(2), Providing for the confiscation of came consigned to 

 ptirties, or being carried out of the Slate." 



As to what species of game shall be inserted in the blanks 

 in the said bill herewith submitted, whether other than deer, 

 such as ruffed grouse, quails or gravlirrgs, for instance, we 

 submit to the good judgment of the association. 



A general revision of the game laws, including a condensa- 

 tion and simplification of the same, and an improvement, in 

 ■r instance, inserting the correct scien- 

 :s or kind of game protected, defining 

 Qason," "open season." etc., is tlesir- 

 i tempted by your committee, for the 

 suggestions herein proposed embody 

 additions to existing laws, some of 

 aturc, and it. is desirable that a part 

 cted if n'l of them cannot be placed 



many items of deta 1 

 titic na 



the me: 



able. 



followi 



which are or a r 

 of these cluing - 



on the statute bo 



Such a revision, embodying all of these suggestions and a 

 simplification and condensation of all existing statutes, might 

 fail to become a law, when all or nearly all of the same, if 

 separately presented on their own merits, might he enacted. 

 And such revision might be vetoed after its passage by the 

 Legislature for a single objectionable clause— the bill would 

 tie no stronger than its weakest point. 



Revision Jg the proper course, when no radical changes are 

 contemplated, and BimpHfioation ami condensation are the 

 main objects. But separate and independent acts which can 

 be separated and independently considered and acted upon 

 are the proper mediums for engrafting new and material 

 amendments on existing laws. 



Respectfully submitted, C. L. Collins. 



R. J. Biuxkv. 



(Judge Shaw, of Eaton Rapids, the second member of the 

 committee, was not in attendance at the convention.) 



The drafts of the two bi Is, as reported by the committee, 

 ■were then read by sections and full and extended discussion 

 followed and was participated in by nearly every person pres- 

 ent. The results of this discussion were the following 

 changes from existing and recommended laws adopted by the 

 association, viz.: 



1. Making ibi l< ± al season for killing deer uniform as to 

 time in both pe::ir:ul::::, On tli ground that th. riimr.tic dif- 

 ferences between the two sections were not sufficient to war- 

 rant the legal season in the upper peninsulaopchjiigsix weeks 

 in advance of that in Ihc lower peninsula. 



2. Striking out the words " buck, doe or fawn " and insert- 

 ing the words "deer, Cermtx ■eirgininmis," it being held that 

 l he correct scientific name was essential to indisputable clear- 

 ness. 



3. Opening the legal woodcock season upon August 1, in- 

 stead of July f). 



4. The interdiction nf the killing of any prairie chicken un- 

 til after September 1, l- - 



5. The commencement of ihe legal oollri or quail season 

 upon November l, instead uf October 1. 



L The prohibition of shooting from batteries and sink- 

 boxes. 



7. The prohibition of shooting ducks after sundown. 



8, Allowing but five days for "the transportation of game 

 after the expiration of the legal season, instead of fifteen, 

 and eight days in which to sell or expose for sale, instead of 

 fifteen. 



!). Prohibiting the taking or killing, save for the purpose 

 qf consumption as food, within the. limits of the Stale, any 

 deer, ruffed grouse, colin or quail, pinnated grouse, wild tuf- 

 Keys, speckled trout and grayling except such as are the pro- 

 duct of private ponds or hatcheries or State or United States 

 hatcheries. 



10, The prohibition of killing deer in water in any of the 

 ponds, lakes or streams in the State. 



The bill of the Secretary for expenditures since September 

 18, for *17.0fi, and bill of the President for expenditures, 

 $19.30, were allowed and ordered paid. 

 [To Be Continued.] 



GAME AND SPORT IN NEWEOUNDLAN I). 



NEWFOUNDLAND is a country where a good deal of gen- 

 uine sport may be had. Sparsely populated by fishermen, 

 who reside near the seacoast, ils vast interior abounds with 

 wild animals, Ihe chase of which often provides splendid 

 sport to the hunter. Large herds of caribou (UerWi tnrah- 

 duti), a species of reindeer, si ill roam comparatively unmo- 

 lested through its glades and woodlands, I heir only euemy, 

 besides man. being wolves, which must be pretty numerous 

 iu the island, though our knowledge of the latter is very 

 meagre. The flesh of those deer furnishes the choicest veni- 

 son, pronounced infinitely superior to that of Ihe moose or 

 elk of Nova Scotia and other parts of the North American 

 continent by persons who have shot and eaten of both. Our 

 caribou is not nearly so large an animal as the latter, the 

 maximum 'weight of a fat stag being about four hundred 

 pounds, while the bull moose reaches double that. 



Sporting gentlemen from Great Britain come to this coun- 

 try every fall to hunt, the deer, and among others, we have 

 had more than one visit, from the sporting and distinguished 

 author of " The Great Divide." 



It has sometimes (whether rightly or wrongly) been laid to 

 their charge that, not content with satisfying Ihe demands of 

 legitimate sport, they have slaughtered in some cases ;un v 

 head of deer that could not be utilized as food, these animals 

 being most frequently shot in parts of the island, lo and from 

 which there are no means of transport save the backs of those 

 who may happen to form the hunting party: 



I regret to say that our own people do not always discrim- 

 inate between what is rational and what is wanton in dealing 

 with the caribou, for it is said that large, numbers have been 

 slain for their skins in some parts of the island remote from 

 settlement, those skins and anllcrs having a small commer- 

 cial value. 



There can be no question lhat deer-sialking in this counlry 

 affords fine sport, but requires flout thews and some mean's 

 to prosecute it thoroughly, owing to ihe rugged physical 



character of the country and the absence of faeiliti 



municalion between the various parts of the interior and the 



seacoast. A set of antlers of an old stag caribou is a trophy 

 fit to adorn the halls of the palace of a king. 



Mic-Mae Indians, who have a small colony in one of the 

 southwestern bays of the island, arc generally employed by 

 deer-hunters as guides and porters, being best qualified for it 

 by their knowledge of the interior, acquired in I heir constant 

 pursuit of huuling and trapping, which they have nearly 

 all to themselves. 



It would be more than a pity if those noble animals should 

 ever become extinct from indiscriminate slaughter or other 

 cause. Each successive year the army of hunters, still very 

 small, appears to increase, the reports of success of those 

 who have already occupied the field seeming to stimulate 

 others to prove themselves as doughty Niuirods as those who 

 preceded them. These agencies, in concert with the explor- 

 ation of the island now going on, and its future opening up 

 and settlement, will, at some future time, accomplish the ex- 

 termination of the deer of Newfoundland. 



It would be interesting to be able to form a tolerably ap- 

 proximate idea of the number of deer roaming through the 

 country. The area of Newfoundland is about 42,000 square 

 miles and the population dwell along the coast line, in 

 scarcely any case more than half a dozen miles from the salt 

 water, so that the vast interior still remains almost a terra 

 rncognft/i, through which many herds of deer may range un- 

 seen and undislurbed from year's end to year's end. If has 

 bi en supposed by many persons in the colony that their num- 

 ber was becoming very much reduced, but a friend of the 

 writer, who crossed the island the summer before last, told 

 me he was informed by two of his Indian guides that in the 

 preceding spring they had seen, from a rismg ground on the 

 southwestern part of Ihe island, deer passing north in thou- 

 sands ; that they had leisurely watched their migration, which 

 continued passing their point of observation for hours. 



Such being the case, there need be no fear of their extinc- 

 tion for many years if ruthless slaughter he avoided and prac- 

 tical protective legislation be brought to bear against it. 



St, Joltm, JV. F. Terra Nova. 



THE PAST SHOOTING SEASON IN VIRGINIA. 



NEVER has the season in this portion of Virginia opened 

 With better promise of a good supply of birds, and 

 never have sportsmen as a general rule been more bit telly dis- 

 appointed. The disappointment, however, came not from 

 the birds themselves, but from a source that in these favored 

 ill we are hardly accustomed to take into our calcula- 

 tions — namely, the unprecedented and relentless persecution 

 with which the weather dashed hopes and plans to the ground- 

 To many sportsman this quail season has been an absolute 

 blank. Those whom business arrangements compelled to pin 

 theirfaithouDeeeinberor January, vvhich in an ordinary year 

 isaperfeetlysafe thing to do, were al most entirely cut off; while 

 November itself was so chary of those suuny days that have 

 ever made its name dear to the sportsman, that the latter end 

 of it, which the writer devoted to his annual hunt with a small 

 party In the counties of Pittsylvania, Halifax and Campbell, 

 produced less than one-half of Ihe birds per gun that under 

 exactly similar circumstances and over similar grounds the 

 last three years have done. The week's shooting in Novem- 

 ber '78 produced to our three guns350 birds. Tlfesame week 

 ill '79 to Ihe same three guns 400, while this year from very ex- 

 asperation at the elements, at the unprecedented wilduess of 

 the birds, and at the everlasting, gloomy and dripping forests 

 they clung to, we let away less birds than usual and only suc- 

 ceeded in accounting for 170 without even seeing so much as 

 the tip of a woodcock's wing— a most unusual occurrence. 



And this too when we knew from the experiences of the 

 opening of the season proper, which in these counties is Oc- 

 tober 15 (though on account of the dry, warm weather of that 

 season not. often I aken advantage of), that the coveys were 

 unusually numerous. 



In my opinion the cream of quail shooting conies when the 

 birds scatter in the woods. Bui, loo much nf a good thing is 

 never desirable, and when you get nothing but cream it isapt 

 to sicken, especially when accompanied by successive days of 

 cold rain, alternating with hail and sleet. I have seen' this 

 fall in Virginia what I have never seen before, and should not 

 have believed to be possible— namely, three coveys rise wild 

 in different corners of a ten-acre stubble almost simultane- 

 ously before our party bail well got over the fence, and that 

 on ground, too, that had been "strictly preserved, not only 

 against the public, but had been left unmolested by the own- 

 er for our special benefit. 



My friend and host in those parts who in bright weather is 

 a splendid shot, but owing to defective eye -sight is heavily 

 handicapped on dull days, was in a terrible state of mind a's 

 he insisted on Inking upon himself some part of the responsi- 

 bility of our unwonted ill luck, which was entirely due lo the 

 complete demoralization that Ihe weather had spread among 

 the birds; and he would not be persuaded that good roaring 

 oak fires and pleasant reunions around them beneath his roof 

 after the hardships of the day were over, quite compensated 

 for the hitler. So we left him making the most solemn vows 

 that, he would not merely never shoot again as long as he 

 lived, but lhat he would destroy his gun and shoot every dog 

 in his kennel— which, by the way, is a most serviceable one. 

 In spite of these dire threats I have no doubt but that the 

 gun and the dogs, with probably some additions and the 

 cheery face of their owner, will be well to the fore in the fall 

 of;'81at the old place. 



Game preservation and sporting interests seem making con- 

 siderable headway in Virginia as elsewhere. In the County 

 of Kedford, for example, never has so much land been post- 

 ed. It has generally been the custom for gentlemen owning 

 any extent of land, whether they lie sportsmen themselves or 

 not) to exercise some sort of discretion, at any rate, as to who 

 shoots their birds and hares, and rightly so. But this vear 

 even little holders of fifty acres, every mountain squatter 

 within reach of the county. town or railroad, has plastered 

 his trees with notices lo the effect lhat the whole rigor of the 

 law will be poured forth on the uulucky head of the trespas- 

 ser, more especially, it might be added, if be has on good 

 clothes, carries a breechloader and looks like a gentleman. 

 There tan certain class of men, not common by any means 

 to this county or State, who hate to see any one surrounded 

 by Ihe accompaniments of sport and deliberately bent on en- 

 joying it. The motive is not easy to detect ; but may, I 

 think, be traced to a vague sort, of idea that it is trilling 

 or idling. But, of course, sitting the whole winter's day ou 

 a country-store counter, spitting tobacco- juice at the stove 

 and talking about other people's business— not to speak of 

 mean whisky— is not. I'pon the whole, however, such grow- 

 ing jealousy about game, though often of the most dog-in-the- 

 manger order, is beneficial to the future prospects -of sport, 

 as every resident is sure to have all the facilities for shooting 



through private sources ; while for the stranger, even if he 

 were introduced, there would be no more difficulty than of 

 old in getting permission from gentlemen to hunt on their 

 places. 



With the class of people above alluded to his best chance 

 of escaping molestation would be to stop his ablutions for a 

 month, to let his hair and beard grow, to borrow a beggar- 

 man 'a t very-day suit and a rusty muzzle-loading gun. Armed 

 with these precautions he would probably meet with no op- 

 position from the trainers of the remarkable posters, whose 

 orthography would render them a valuable collection. 



Comparatively few quail have been shot this season out of 

 what there is every reason to suppose was a full supply. I 

 see by the papers a game association has been formed in 

 Lynchburg, who offer premiums for the destruction of 

 hawks— a capital idea and one which embodies the most im- 

 portant of all the measures that can be taken for the preser- 

 vation of game. The amount of hawks one sees in a clay's 

 ride through the country here is incredible, and the damage 

 done by tl em is far greater than by the shot gun. 



No ducks or snipe have as yet arrived in this locality. 

 March often brings them in considerable numbers, more es- 

 pecially, though, after mild winters. The number of " old 

 bars," as far as I can learn, has generally been up to the aver- 

 age, while the continuous snows before and after Christ mas 

 afforded excellent facilities to that, branch of the fraternity, 

 abounding more or less in the neighborhood of schools, who 

 look on " tracking" as the higlicst'fonn of recreation. 



To sum up, however, the quail season of 1880 in Virginia 

 will be remembered by sportsmen as an unfortunate" one 

 and will not be that feast of memory redolent of bright 

 skies and sunny days that other years have left.in their track. 

 It remains ouly nowfor those of us whoaieauglers to look up 

 our trouting and bass tackle ere April proclaims that brook 

 and river are ready to yield up their store. RiNOWOOD. 



. •— *♦> — 



JACK HUNTING AND " BUCK FEVER." 



CUT. lUrtKKE's DESCRIPTION OF TOK MAlSB NOVTCB. 



WHILE collecting material for an article for your 

 most interesting paper in regard to Ihe new role in 

 which C.pf. Frederick C. Barker, the famous guide of the 

 Ibmgelcy Lake region, has appeared, much to the delight of 

 many a Boston boy and several members of the sporting fra- 

 ternity (gentlemen who make Indian Rock and Camp Cari- 

 bou at Lake Parmachene their home dining their summer 

 vacation) through the kindness and forethought, of Mr. Win. 

 H. Lndd, or Chauncy Hall School, I find an article in your 

 paper of February 10", taken from the Boston. Iferald, which 

 rubs me of a part of my Communication; and just as lain 

 about to launch at you with a full broadside 1 find a part, of 

 my guns spiked. But as I have some powder left, you shall 

 bear from me. Although this is the first appearance of Capi. 

 Barker in the role of lecturer, yet his modest bearing, his 

 plain, straightforward statements, and his power of deserip- 

 -*'-i at once attracts and holds the attention of his listeners, 

 ledge of his subject, acquired by veers of 

 ml -Hiding, and the facility and ease will, 

 iial. knowledge renders him not only inler- 

 iingly instructive ; and (he round of ap- 



appearauce shows how thor- 

 s youthful hearers. I have at- 

 Ithough an old sportsman pos- 

 voodcraft, have learned many 



His I lion 



hunting, 



which he 



eslinir bv 



plause which grids ids every 



onghlybe is appreciated by hi 



tended all his lectures, and al 



sessimr some knowledge of 



things of great value to me. 



During ihe course of his lectures, first in number he has 

 described the hunting or fur-bearing animals or Main.', their 

 habits, tin: signs by which they may be found and the meth- 

 ods of trapping each. He also exhibited the skins of the 

 beaver, otter, mink, fisher, sable musUriit and fox, and de- 

 scribed the method of skinning them and stretching their 

 skins. 



He also gave a detailed description of camp life, the needs 

 of the sportsman, the method of building camp and camp- 

 fires for comfort, and safety, illustrating each by mimic camp 

 and camp-fire, as mentioned in your number of February 10. 

 Prom him 'lie boys have learned the signs lo be observed in 

 the woods, how to handle, load and trim a canoe, run rapids, 

 use the selling pole, and the proper method of finding the 

 best channel, all of which will lie of great value to his listen- 



ers, requiring, of course, the addit 

 told the boys about his annual fall hunt v 

 S. Danfoith, of Camp Caribou, during 

 days' duration seven caribou fell at the 

 how they skinned them, hung them up £ 

 the woods; tdso the habits of deer, moo 

 Indian method of killing moose and dryi 

 :1 gave a clear description of fb 



if experience, lie 

 ith his friend John 

 which hunt of I en 

 crack of the title ; 

 •nd got them out of 

 se and caribou; ihe 

 ng or jerking their 

 aphy of the 



:ountry between Indian Rock and Majanfic Lake, illustrated 

 by a map drawn by himself. 



I wish lo give his account in his own language of the 

 youthful sportsman's first, still-hunting by the light of a jack. 

 Your paper has contained many accounts of the Successful 

 hunt, but none that I remember which will compare with 

 this, and I doubt not, that, many of your readers will enjoy a 

 quiet laugh, as this recalls to his mind a similar experience 

 in which he was the principal actor. 



'•It is a curious sensation for a beginner to he paddled 

 along the shore of some mountain lake Or up some wild river 

 in the dead hours of the night under the light of the jack. 

 Not a sound does he hear from his guide, who is paddling in 

 the stern. The canoe seems to glide along of its own accord. 

 Everything looks odd and strange to him, and the place 

 which he has passed twenty times by daylight he does not 

 recognize when .«ecn by the light of the jack. The hoot, of 

 the owls, high up on the mountain side, together with the 

 occasional lonesome, cry of the loon far out on the lake, all 

 terve to nerve him up and make it seem more wild, and as 

 he canoe passes along within two or three rods of the shore, 

 ■verything that Ihe light strikes upon looks to him like a 

 deer. He sees a bunch of bushes close by the wafer's edge, 

 magincs lie can see a deer in them, can see his eyeballs 

 ,hiue, and almo-t makes his mind to shoot.. Then as he 

 passes an old upturned root he makes a deer out, of that — 

 antlers and all. A frog jumps from a lily pad into the 

 water. He jumps too, and thinks that surely is a deer just 

 entering the lake. The nmskrats swimming along in front 

 of the canoe, or diving under it as it approaches them, looks 

 odd to him. The sentinel beaver that is stationed out in the 

 pond to warn his working brethren of the approach of dan- 

 lies with just lii.s noes and eyes out of the water, and 

 iders whether there \s any thing dangerous or not in the 

 approaching light. When the bow of the canoe almost 

 ouches him he suddenly mukes up his mind that something 

 is not right and down he goes, strikes his tail on the water, 

 makes a tremendous splash ajjcl spatters the hunter all over. 



