Mat a, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



267 



box -where they have been for over ten days, receiving a 

 great deal more attention than the balance of the family. 

 The old cat will allow her kittens to crawl out of the nest, 

 but she will not allow the squirrels outside at all. A good 

 many of our citizens have visited Mr. Forster on purpose to 

 see this, to us, new and strange family.— W. L. 



A Trer Clt.mbisq Snake. --Twin Lakes, Fla., April 20. 

 I saw, while hunting, not long since, a water moccasin lyiug 

 on the body of a six-inch pecan tree which might have leaned 

 a trifle from perpendicular, only a trifle, though. His head 

 was down, and body laid sfaigut as an arrow up the tree, 

 which was smooth and straight. His neck (if snakes have 

 necks) was bent to one side two or three inches back of his 

 head, rest, of body perfectly straight. Did he crawl down 

 the tree in this position, or how did he take it? It was cer- 

 taiuly very odd and new to me.— S. 



Arrival ot Btbds at Lookport, N. T.— Song sparrows, 

 arrived March 7; meadow larks, 13 ; robins, 15 ; cow black- 

 birds, 15; bluebirds, IB: cherry birds, 22 ; crow blackbird, 

 April 6; redwing blackbirds and mourning doves, 7. Snipe 

 have not made their appearance yet. — W. P. D. 



Death of an Arctic Explorer— Lieut. Karl Weyprecht 

 died March 29 of consumption at the age of forty -tlrree. He 

 was, with Lieut. Payr, the discoverer of Franz Josef and in 

 the Austrian Arctic expedition in 1872-4. 



Recent amuv w.s 



One white-haired |» 



buzzard", Butoo lina 



lagcmut-were purcl 



0!>1-.SI1')1K, llnir,,,!,.,.-. 



two rabbits; twp ra 



ticn ; three screech 



crested cockatoo, (' 



were presented. Ono n 

 great kangavo >, Moereji 



zebu. Don indiau ; one B: 

 raccoon, J'rocyon inVor— V 



olio dlng,», Canix dingo ; one 

 Ciimtluv bactrianut, and one 

 e Garden. 



HOUNDING VS. STILL HUNTING. 



WE begin the publication this week of the numerous re- 

 plies received in response to our request for experience 

 and observation on the subject of deer-hunting. The par- 

 ticular points of the inquiry were as follows: 



1st. What is the character of the country referred to? 



2d. What is the prevailing method of hunting deer? 



3d. Describe hounding deer, as practiced in the section referred 

 to, and it* offectt). Doea it drive deer out of the country ? 



4th. Describe iu like manner still hunting and its effects. 



5th. S\ hat class of men kill the most deer ?— market hunters or 

 parties of Hportsmen ?— residents or non-residents? 



6th. Would resident sportsmen approve of a law prohibiting 

 hounding deer? Would the re&idetltB assist iu enforcing it ? 



7th Would they approve of a law permitting hounding, but pro- 

 hitjiting the killing or capturing of the deer after it has been run 

 into the water ? would such a law be practicable ? 



8th. What is the open season for deer 1 



9th. What are the winter habits of deer, so far as you have per- 

 sonallv observed them. 



In addition to the following communications, we have on 

 hand, and will publish from week to week, letters from J. P. 

 F., Hunter, Still Hunter, Edw. Norton, Rifle, S., J. W. 8., 

 C. Fenton, G. F. W., II. B. Honey, D.' F. McD., G. K. B., 

 Adrian Onclack, A. 0. C, The Whooper, and H. G. These 

 writers are scattered over the country, and the mass of testi- 

 mony thus furnished is of corresponding value. 



MAINE. 



Having visited and thoroughly explored a tract of country 

 lyiDg between the headwaters of the Passaduuikedg, Narra- 

 qtiagus and Union rivers, this fall, during the hounding season. 

 1 will endeavor to give your readers the benefit of my obser- 

 vations. 



The tract alluded to is bounded on the west by Brandy 

 Piflid, north by Nicketoaas Lake, east and southeast by 

 E gle and Alligator Lakes, and south by William's or 

 Great Poud. It comprises a tract of land which may be 

 roughly computed as six by twelve miles square. Nine-tenths 

 of this trace is "old burnt land," part of it densely and part 

 Bparsely covered with a second growth ot poplar, birch and 

 maple ; and scattered throughout the territory are small un- 

 burnt RwampB, so thick a3 to be all but impassable, into which 

 the does and fawns retire at the approach cf the rutting 

 season. On the east side of the tract there is an extensive 

 ridge of old-growth, hardwood timbers. No better cover or 

 feeding ground for deer exists in this Slate. It iB safe to say 

 that no season has passed, for twenty years, that has not wit- 

 nessed bounding in some, and frequently all, of the lakes 

 above mentioned, and my surprise was boundless when I 

 found twenty deer to every one which was to be found there 

 -when I visited the place ten years ago. It is nredless to 

 state that this was not because of the hounding, but in spile of 

 it, and wholly owing to the splendid facilities for cover made 

 by the growth of the timber during the ten years of my 

 absence, it being too small to afford the necessary protection 

 at that time. 



There were gangs of men and hounds at every one of those 

 lakes this fall. Twenty-four dter were killed in Eagle Lake, 

 presumably twice tlat number at Nicketonas, and very tew 

 at the others. The fact that deer abounded throughout the 

 entire length and breadth of that tract furnishes an umnswir 

 able argument in favor of thoBe who hold that bounding deer 

 does not drive them out of the country, and, I must confess, 

 completely revolutionized my ideas on the subject. The. 

 music of the hounds could be heard in almost every direction, 

 and yet the deer appeared totally unconcerned, and we ob- 

 tained two nice bucks which jumped up ahead of a small 

 Irish setter which accompanied us. 



Hounding in thiB section is practiced as follows. From one 

 to four canoes are placed in the lake (according to its size) 

 with usually two men in a canoe. They lie concealed near 

 the runways, where expenence has taught them the deer 

 usually take water. Perfect silence and quiet is necessary 

 when the deer approaches the beach. If he strikes boldly in 

 aDd swims away from the shore, his return is cut off and his 

 capture certain, but if he courses aloug the shore, in shallow 

 water, in a direction opposite to that from which the hunters 

 are concealed, he escapes for the time being, and has to be 

 given another run; and some of them are so wary in this 

 respect that their capture is a matter of no little difficulty. 

 Perhaps I ought to state that there always has to be a spare 

 man to put out the bounds, and when all are canoeists they 



usually take turns. Soma hounds can be turned loose and 

 will scour the forests till tbfy start a deer, paying no attention 

 to any but the freshest track, others will potter for half a day 

 on an ol I one, and have to be led till a fresh truck is found. 

 Formerly ten deer were killed in this dtate by St til hunting to 

 one by hounds, but as the rler grew scarcer the proportion 

 killed by hounding increased, until these, figures have become 

 netrly reversed. More are killed in this manner by noo- 

 re idents than by residents, but the numbers killed by visiting 

 sportsmen (properly so called) are comparatively few. 



There is, as is well known, a law prohibiting h mnd'mg at 

 any and all seasons in this Stale, but it is cot enforced, and 

 I doubt the propriety, of attempting to do so, as the great 

 majority of our business men si and aboul the same chance to 

 kUl a deer by still huntiig that a camel does to go through 

 the eye of a needle, or a rich man to enter the kingdom of 

 hraven. It would be better to repeal it, as the way it stands 

 at present any gentleman who has got a deer during theseason, 

 with bounds, feels a moral restraint which prevents him from 

 cotnpaining of the mau who butchers them when they s re 

 U Hindering helplessly in the crusty snow. But there is a 

 sliODg feeling agtinst the use of hounds iu Washington 

 county and the eastern part of Hancock county, which i3 

 fully shared by their senators aud representatives, and a repeal 

 is not practicable. 



As for still hunting, there are two ways of following up a 

 deer on light snow. Both have strenuous advocates, mid both 

 are equally successful when practiced by a master of the art. 

 The most common mode is to creep on the track with all tbe 

 silence and foflness of a car, to avoid the breaking of a twig 

 or the crushing of a stick under the feet, and to act at all 

 times as though the deir was within half a gun shot, watching 

 for tbe hunter, with every sense alert. The other, and more 

 rarely adopted method is to travel at tbe highest rate of speed 

 which the hunter is capable of sustaining through the day, 

 trusting to his quickness of hand arei eyesight to beat the deer 

 at his own game. 1 have seen this nv thod followed, with 

 great success, by a few who were peculiaily adapted for it ; 

 and it has this great advantage, that in noisy, crusty hunting, 

 one will have d<cent success under this mode, when it is im- 

 possible to get a deer by creeping. A 1 iw permitting hound- 

 ing, but prohibiting shooting in the water, would not be 

 practicable here, as shooting deer on their runways is almost 

 unknown, right royal sport "though it be. 



About the middle of December, at the close of the rutting 

 season, the old< r bucks retire to the most impenetrable swamps, 

 there to remain till their antlers drop off, no matter how shal- 

 low the snow may be, while the does aud fawns hetd together, 

 usually selecting their feeding grounds on the heads and along 

 the banks of small brooks, the extent of their travels being 

 wholly regulated by the depth of snow. 



In conclusion, I would staie that if is my unalterable convic- 

 tion that deer will increase und multiply "no matter if they are 

 bunted in all and every manner known to man, provided that 

 none are killed in ar.v manner between Jjn. 1 and Aug. 1. 

 Jack and crust hunting should be relegated to savages, or the 

 still meaner white man who has none of the instincts of the 

 hunter except the desire to eat when he is hungry. 



Penobscot. 



The very able defence of "hounding deer," by "J. C. H.," 

 in t he Pohkst and Stream of the 24th February, hits the 

 nail squarely on the head, and I am sure will be read with 

 pleasure by ihe hundreds of gentlemen sportsmen who take 

 an annual "outing" in the backwoods of Ontario, seeking 

 health and recreation and very necessary rest from the exces- 

 sive brain work of the other forty-eight or fifty weeks. 



My experience extends only to the Muskoka and Nipissing 

 districts, ihecounties of Haliburton, Victoria and Peterborough, 

 but I have, in company with a few friends, paid that sectiou 

 a visit every fall for tlie last sixteen or cigh een years, doing 

 a little bunting and fishing, having a good deal of canoeing 

 and camping out, aud returning home in better health and 

 spirits, aud in better*humor wilh ourselves and all mankind. 

 We go ostensibly to hunt deer, which being some thing to look 

 forward to, carries us over many trials and hardships. Some 

 of our trips extend seventy-five or one hundred mile* into the 

 wilderness - , iu canoes, with fifteen OT twenty "portages" or 

 " carries" of from oue hundred yards to three mi(C3 in leDgtb, 

 and varying from a good Indian (rail through a clean, dry 

 and comparatively level hardwood forest, to a climb over a 

 rocky ridge four or five hundred feet high, and 'iny amount 

 of fallen timber, or through an almost Impassable cedar swamp, 

 full of roots to trip oue at every step, and sink holes which 

 have even a greater tenderjey to send one headlong, especially 

 if he has a fifteen foot eauoe on his shoulders, and his hands 

 occupied with rifle, etc. These inconveniences are passed 

 over lightly, and are forgotten in anticipation of soon hearing 

 the exhilarating music of the hounds. 



On returning to camp in tbe evening, the following and 

 similar remarks are frequently heard: " I never heard a sound 

 of deer or dogs all day. If I could hate only heard Ihe dof/s 

 giving tongue for aw/ule, I should have been quite satisfied!" 

 The country is principally composed of granite ridges, cedar 

 swamps and small lakes, with an occasional stretch of hard- 

 wood. The lakes are so num rous that there are said to be 

 no less than fifty.two in one particular township, therefore 

 the only possible method of hunting deer in the fall is by 

 bounding them, and they can hardly run a mile in any direc- 

 tion without coming to a lake or river. Some few are shot in 

 the woods, but i early all after they have taken to the water, 



Aly experience g> es to show that shooting on runways 

 is pleasant sport for the huuter, if be be a good and quick 

 shot, but it is rather the reverse for the poor deer. It is no 

 exaggeration to say that not one in twenty are "killed in 

 l heir" tracks," that we so often read about, perhaps 00 or 

 75 per cent are wounded ; a few may not go more than 

 two hundred or three hundred yard?, and can generally be 

 found, the greater number can travel for miles before being 

 overtaken bv the dogs, and worried to death, or being left to 

 die by inches, in either case the hunter Lever heating any 

 more of them. 



The other method, shooting them in the lakes here, cills 

 for no little skill und judgment. Tbe lakes are mostlysuiall, 

 the larger ones being long aud narrow. A deer can swim 

 them almost before the hunter dare show himself, and when 

 pushed they swim almost as fast as a man can paddle a canoe. 

 In proof of this I know it to be a rare, thing in our country 

 for a party of five nr six gentlemen, with as many guides, to 

 kill more than eight or nioe eleer in a two weeks' trip. It 

 being a common occurrence for one or two members of a 

 party to never see a de r on the whole trip, except those 

 brought to camp by their more fortunate companions. Your 

 correspondent, "Adrion Oudack," is about right when he 

 says " Deer have many ways of fooling both dogs and men." 

 If some of those gentlemen who talk of "being paddled up 

 to & deer to slaughter it in the water," would learn to " pad- 



dle their own canoe," and relv on their own resources to ge' 

 the deer, and leave their guide at. the camp to have dinner 

 ready on their return, or make himself otherwise useful, I 

 rather think there would be less of this kind of talk, unless 

 it cime f rtim Borne of the disappointed ones! When a man 

 docs get within easy sho 'ting distance of a deer in the water, 

 ihe deer is almost always killed, preventing future suffering 

 to the animal, and miking it of service as food. 



Still htintiog is prac iced hereafter the first snow fall, which 

 usually occurs about the end Of October, away into the close 

 of the season, by both settlers and pot hunters, the latter kill- 

 ing them by wholesale, aud selling ihe meat to the lumber 

 shanties at four cents per pound. When it becomes a drug 

 there thev ship it lo a market, or as much of it as does not 

 spoil! I have known two men to kill more deer than a lum- 

 ber gong of fifty men c add be induced to eat. It is con- 

 sidered poor work indeed if each hunter cannot average one 

 deer a day, Sundays included. In one case, in the back part 

 of the county of Peterborough, one still hunter killed nine 

 deer in one day. 



It is a very rare thing indeed to hear of sportsmen still 

 hunting in this section of the country. The weather is so 

 very changeable, the country so very difficult of access when. 

 I lie' lakes are partly frozen up, and life in a tent not very 

 pleasant just then. 



Deer have a worse enemy thau the pot hunter in our 

 country. Wolves probably destroy mote than all other 

 agencies combined. With a crust on the deep snow, the poor 

 deer are completely at their mercy. We have a Government 

 bounty of four dollars, which is sometimes supplemented by 

 a township or county bounty of two dollars, for the scalps of 

 wolves. 



Id reply to your fifth question, I can safely say ten deer 

 are killed by settlers and pot hunters to one killed by aports- 



S xtb. — The game law of Ontario has been amended so that 

 it is now 1 1 wful to hound deer only between the 1st of October 

 aud the 15th of November. 



Seventh.— A law permitting hounding, but prohibiting kill- 

 ing deer in the water, would be usele^B and impracticable. 



Eighth. — The open season for deer in Ontario is from the 

 15'h of September to the 15th of December, with two weeks 

 to market venison in. 



Ninth— Deer congregate or herd in "yards" during the 

 continuance of deep snow, in the winter, in the lumber woods, 

 where there is plenty of fallen timber to browse on, or until 

 dispersed by two-footed or four-footed wolves. 



Taey fecm on y to diminish ou the approach of the settler, 

 there being as many today as there were twelve or fourteen 

 years ago on some of our old hunting grounds not as yet 

 invaded by the advancing footsteps of civilization. It is a 

 noteworthy fact, in this connection, that after the lumbermen 

 have cull, d the best timber off from a section, and have moved 

 farther on. deer have again become plentiful. 



In conclusion, if it were made unlawful to hound deer in 

 the section I am writing of, it would put a stop to deer hunt- 

 ing, as far as sportsmen are concerned, and would be a benefit 

 only to the. pot hunter, tbe settlers being quite willing to see 

 a party of gentlemen hunters come among them and engage 

 them at two or three dollars a day, each c-inoe and dog fifty 

 ceDts per day extra. I could name a party, partly New 

 loikers and partly Canadians, whose expenses on a two 

 weeks' trip to Muskoka, last October, exceeded one thousand 

 dollars, after leaving Toronto. Settlers get, all tbe venison 

 they want, and do not begrudge the few deer killed by the 

 sportsmen, for which they are so well repaid by having these 

 little extraB thrown in their way. G. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



In calling for information upon this subject, the Forest 

 and Stream has taken a wise step toward tbe Bolution of a 

 much vexed question. To the minds of many sportsmen, 

 however, it is already solved. With a bigotry and unfairness 

 which, happilv, is not characteristic of them, they see butono 

 side. Having" made up their minds that hounding is repre- 

 hensible, they would stop it by any means, even shooting 

 down the poor dogs whenever a safe chance presents itself. 

 But the man who undertakes, in this manner, to redress what 

 he coaceives to be a wrong, can hardly be classed among 

 sportsmen. 



If our legislators would recollect what an important part 

 game laws played in the early history ot England, perhaps 

 some of tbeir now latent wisdom might be aroused. The 

 abrogation of the Forest Laws was an important step toward 

 t hut 'freedom of which we are tbe heirs. In those early days, 

 to hunt with hounds was a courtly pastime, while still-hunt- 

 ing was followed by poachers and pot hunters. Time seems 

 to have reversed malters, and we now find th» still-hunter 

 seeking to put himself in the position of the ancient noblts — 

 no one must hunt except as he dictites. 



As yet. we can have no national game law, and it will be 

 well if centralization never rcacueH so far Our game laws 

 can be adapted to the necessities of localities, aDd we think 

 that sot-c localities may properly admit of hounding. In 

 West Virginia, where I have hunted for a number of years, 

 the death of a valued hound is often followed hy an unpleas- 

 ant occurrence — a cracked head, for instance. Let us look 

 for a moment at the results of hounding in that country. One 

 bright morning, several yetrs ago, I went out with an old 

 darkey guide to start the hounds. Our ground had been run 

 over all the season, and when we reached it several packs of 

 does were making the wi ods ring with their harmony. A 

 still-hunter would have sworn that hot a deer was life iu the 

 woods. 1 1 hought different ly, however, and climbir g slowly 

 up the mountain, I uncoupled five hounds, one at a time. 

 In less than fen minutes 1 had four bucks i tinning, and might 

 have as easily started a dozen. In conversing wih an old 

 resident that doy, 1 inquired how long hounds had ben run 

 upon ibis particular mountain. "S"ou must ask some one 

 older thau I am," said he, "they were run there before I was 

 bom." Here, then, is a piece of deer foieat in which the deer 

 have been bounded for at least a hundred yeBis. Of course 

 the deer have become Ecarcer, bu'. they seem to be iu goodly 

 numbers yet. Alter tho ground had been hounded over all 

 last season, a parly went, out still hunting in the snow, and 

 reported tracks so thick that they could not follow tbe deer. 



Does any one suppose that a ! l the deer within the sound of 

 a hound's voice get up aDd flee ? Not a tiit of it. Indeed, 

 even after liny "discover they are pursued, they will dodge 

 around for some lime before leaving theirnatlve woods. The 

 popular belief is that deer are always sure to be killed when 

 once started. I have hunted with hounds for twelve years, 

 aud during that lime have seen many escape. 1 feel perfectly 

 sure that out of every three deer started two escape, and once 

 free they are as sure to return to their old haunts as the bee 

 to bis hive. It would be well to pass a law prohibiting tbe 

 killing of deer in water, for here they have less chance of 

 escape 



