

FOREST AND STREAM. 



67 



minutes." The slime writer relates something which h:rp- 



i ai i he same place lasl December, and -which may well 



.1 ITr Waddle to lake the feather out of his hat in 'defer- 

 ence to superior skill or lock. He says: "A man well 

 known in this city, having gone there hunting turkeys, heard 

 the approach of a pack of hounds, and S0011 two tine buck 

 deer appeared in range, both <f which he killed at one dis- 

 charge, and before he had lime to reload, two more, a buck 

 and a doe, came in Bight, which he killed with the other bar- 

 rel." 



Kow. having heard from the mighty Niuirods of 1883, per- 

 mit me to suggest that when 1 was a boy we did these things 

 belter. 1 remember one instance in point, and perhaps sonic 

 of your Maine readers may recall the fads and substantiate 

 what I say. Down in Maine— that was a big country for 



f unc then— one day in Februair, 1-351, young Tiill Hall of 

 llsworth, a stout, sharp-eyed boy of fourteen, went out 

 with his father's rifle tor meat. He got it. Came running 

 home all out of breath with eyes us big as saucers and face 

 glowing with pride, to announce two fine moose. And he 

 had brought them d.rwn with one discharge of his rifle, 

 actually killing two moose with one bullet. The meat was 

 afterward sold, I remember, in Ellsworth, netting 1he young 

 fellow almost $20. 



The Waddle 400 yards buzzard shot is unsubstantiated; we 

 have for it only the "Certain knowledge" of an anonymous 

 newspaper writer. The yam about repeatedly striking ti 

 nail on the head at 1 00 feel we may dismiss, there are bund 

 reds of men who can do it on paper. Mkat-Hawk. 



NEW JERSEY SHORE BIRD SHOOTING. 



lyf ORE grass plover have stopped in tl 



| ORE grass plover have stopped in the meadows in 

 Philadelphia and Delaware counties this summer than 



for many year- past. They began coming two Weeks ago, 

 and He- flight has only just ceased. Very few are being 

 killed, owing to their wariness, and want of knowledge on 

 the part of our low I gunners to approach them. During the 

 week just ending, those of our city who tried the bay birds 

 on the New Jersey coast, were disappointed in having ad 

 verse winds, which carried the birds in their nights at too 

 great a distance from the different hiding places along the 

 beaches, to he ••hailed" by either the seductive whistle, or to 

 be brought near shore by the deCOJ 



i I ' set. which shOWs itself more plainly each year, the 

 gri ; bulk of bay birds, which corne from the northward 

 every summer with their young, will not stop, as they once 

 did, on the New Jersey coast, but pass on further "south, 

 where tie- coasts are less thronged with summer resorts. 1 

 notice this year there is a project on foot to make the lower 



end of Long Beach into a watering-pl 

 for sale at fail 1 prices, and Sea Havi 

 the new cily. Now, right at thispoi 

 I lie inlet, is situated one of the grant 

 hay birds I ever knew, andrnahv a I 

 I killed there [but for the j 

 ingthat hai bt 

 of Little Egg fl 



■ -lit. resorts of this section and a consequent increase of gun- 

 ners both professional and amateur, the birds pay this one, 



Lots are offered 

 i be the name of 

 short distance, up 

 ling grounds for 

 robin-si ipe have 

 'ng to the build- 



ing on on Long Beach, to the northward 

 r Inlet, aud the opening up of the differ- 



Dg Is 



d— but 

 •arlv in th 

 .re 'a few 



n in their 

 ipring. I 



, the. 



famous spot — A nel 

 summer, and thus it mi: 

 sportsman gets time tc 

 invariably start the bin 

 tn return until the folio 

 the actions of the bay 1 

 years, and feel that it will be 1 

 passing birds will be difficult h 

 if [thought enough of mak 

 hay birds in the summer time, 

 continually to the .-tools dur 

 entertainment whatever, 1 should not tl 

 grouud north of Cape May, If- J- In th 



which shall be collected uuder suits brought by you, and to 

 your traveling expenses (not exceeding two' hundred and 

 fifty dollars per year), it is expected that you will devote 

 your principal lime to the public service, and that you will 

 not permit any other avocation or occupation to interfere 

 with the performance of your official duty. 



"The commissioner 1 -: will furnish you 'with copies of the 

 laws under which you are to act, as soon as they can be pn> 

 cured, They will also furnish you with blank 'forms of the 

 monthly returns you are to make, and they will require that, 

 you shall make them promptly and with all the particularity 

 t fiat shall be necessary to give them full knowledge of ail 

 your proceedings." 



A NEW RECOIL PAD. 



DR. HENRY G, PIFFARD of this city has been grauted 

 a patent on his recoil cushion for firearms. From the 

 specifications we quote: 



"The object of my invention is to produce an improved 

 form ot cushion possessing greater durability, solidity and 

 compactness than those now in use, and one that is less 

 liable to sway to one side at the moment of recoil, and that 

 ran be produced at such slight cost that it can be brought 

 into common use for military and sporting purposes. My 

 invention consists of a cushion or pad, of soft rubber or 

 other suitable material or materials, which is applied to the 

 butt of the gun, rifle, or musket, and retained iti place by a 

 skeleton butt-plate of any suitable form or material, 



"In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is side view of the 

 butt of a gun, showing my improved recoil cushion applied 



Fio. 2. 



short "visit each 



ruins when the 



ts. which now 



hern flight, not 



been watching 



losely for some 



it a short time before even 



get at. 



ig a special shooting trip for 

 nd they would have to come 

 low' water to give me any 

 : of choosing my 

 spring bay bird's 

 stay for a longer time .luring their northern migration on 

 the' New Jersey coast, but these visit* also of late years are 

 becoming shorter and shorter, arid it will finally result as 

 if has in the Summer when they are passing southward. 



lam hearing daily that the b.y bird shooting on Linne- 

 ptixent Sound, Md., is good. Curlew, willet and brown- 

 backs ore numerous and have taken up their quarters in this 

 section. It is yet a little, early there fur robin-snipe and 

 black-bellied plover, but these latter named varieties will 



shortly be oa the grounds. 



Homo. 



NEW YORK GAME PROTECTORS. 



]?ROM a circular of instructions addressed to the New 

 York State Game and fish Protectors, by the Secretary 

 of the Commissioners of Fisheries. Gen. Richard U. Sher- 

 man, we take the foil' 



"Though vou have been detailed to particular service in 

 the district iin which you reside, your jurisdiction, neverthe- 



Fl... I 



thereto. Pig. 3- i9 an end view of the same. A indicates 

 the butt of the gun, and B a butt-plate, of iron, brass, horn, 

 hard rubber, or other suitable material. The center of 

 said butt-plate is cut away, as indicated, so as to leave an 

 opening for the face «' of a cushion or pad, C, which is 

 made of soft rubber or other suitable material designed to 

 take up or ease the recoil of the gun when discharged. Said 

 pad or cushion is applied to the butt of the gun aud is re- 

 tained in place by the skeleton-plate B, whose edges grasp 

 Ihc edges of the cushion or pad. The plate B is secured to 

 the butt by means of screws, as usual, or in any other suit- 

 able manner, The wearing face a of the cushion or pad is 

 flush with the outer surface of the skeleton-plate, or prefer- 

 v projects slightly bevond such surface, as indicated. 1 

 do not limit myself to the form of the skeleton butt plate, 

 uor lo the shape or number of the openings made thereon. 

 The cushion or pad might he made ot other materials or in 

 other ways. I am aware that rubber cushions or pads 

 intended "to diminish the force of the recoil are not new. 

 What I claim as my invention is: 1. A recoil cushion or 

 pad for firearms constructed of soft rubber or other suitable 

 materia) applied to the butt of the weapon, and projecting 

 through and retained in position by a skeleton butt-plate, of 

 meUl, born, hard rubber, or other suitable material. 2. The 

 combination, with the butt A, of the skeleton butt-plate P.. 

 cut away at its central portion, so as to leave a narrow mar- 

 gin, aud a cushion the edges of which are clamped by the 

 butt-plate." 



We examined the recoil cushion some months ago ; it is 

 so simple aud cheap, and accomplishes Us purpose so well, 

 thai we think it must grow popular. 



remained undisturbed until tbe following spring, when 1hey 

 were devoured by a large flock of ravens which were attracted 

 to the spot. 



The locality 1 refer to, which is only some ten miles from 

 this cite, at that fin...- abounded in dee'r and wolves. I have 

 night afic-r night and frequently during the day, if it hap- 

 pened to be cloudy or raining, when camped out, heard them 

 howling in too close proximity to be pleasant for ones nerves, 

 but never was fovtuti'ite enough to get a shot at one. I agree 

 with "Penobscot" when he says "the howdiug of a pack of 

 wolves is simply^ blood-curdling."' 



I remember on one occasion, when ensconced in a brush 

 pile on a bright moonlight night, watching a small turnip 

 patch on wliich the deer were in the habit of feeding, I had 

 been in a cramped position for some two hours. The night 

 air was cold: there was uol a sound to break the stillness 

 except, the mice and Hying squirrels rusUing among the dead 

 leaves, when suddenly lucre arose behind and within five 

 rods of me such a series of blood-curdling yells and howls as 

 to, for the moment, make my hair stand erect and every 

 muscle quiver, and had I been alone I think I should have 

 beaten a hasty retreat. They, however, did not disturb me 

 further, and strange to say that notwithstanding the infer- 

 nal racket they had made, in less than an hour two deer 

 entered the field, and 1 bad the satisfaction of getting in a 

 broadside which secured to me a fine i at doe. 1 have fre- 

 quently tried to poison the wolves, but they would never 

 take the bait, although 1 often got fisher and foxes. Like 

 your correspondent "Penobscot," 1 will at some future time 

 relate some incidents which also occurred to me with the 

 critters. 



II not too late, I wish much joy on the occasion of your 

 tin wedding. I have been a reader of Fokkst and Stream 

 for some years and could not do without it. May you go 

 on aud prosper. B. H. 



Ottawa, Canada, Aug. 14, 1883. 



.Musk-Ox Hunting. — Lieut. Fred'k Schwatka has an ar- 

 ticle in the September Uenfwry on musk-ox hunting. The 

 illustrations are by Beard. We quote: "Great fears were 

 entertained by the experienced hunters that the musk-oxen 

 had heard our approach, and were now probably 'doing 

 their level best' to escape. The sledges were immediately 

 stopped and the dogs rapidly unhitched from them, from one 

 to three or four being given to each of the eleven men and 

 boys, white or native, thai were present, who, taking their 

 harnesses in their left hands or tying them in slip-nooses 

 around their wasts, started without delay upon the trad, 

 leaving the two sledges and a few of the poorer dogs in 

 charge of the Innuit women, who had come along for that 

 purpose, and who would follow on the trail with the empty 

 sledges as soon as firing was heard. The dogs, many of 

 them old musk-ox hunters, and with appetites doubly sharp- 

 ened by hard work and a constantly diminishing' ration. 

 tugged like mad at their sealskin harness lines, as they half 

 buiied their eager noses in the tumbled snow of the trail, 

 and hurried their attached human being along at a flying- 

 rate that threatened a broken limb or neck at each of the. 

 rough gorges and jutting precipices of the broken, stony 

 hill-land, where the exciting chase was going on. The 

 rapidity with which an agile native hunter can run when 

 thus attached to two or three excited dogs is astonishing. 

 Whenever a Steep valley was encountered the Esquimaux 

 would slide down on their feet, in a sitting posture, throw- 

 ing the loose snow to their sides like escaping steam from a 

 hissing locomotive, until the bottom was reached, when, 

 quick" as thought, they would throw themselves at 

 full length upon'the snow, and the wild, excited brutes 

 would drag them up the other side, where, regaining their 

 feet, they would run on at a constantly accelerating gait. 

 their trims in the meantime being held in the right hand or 

 tightly lashed upon the back. We had hardly gone a mile in 

 tins harum-scarum chase before it became evident that the 



DEER AND WOLVES. 



KEADINCt the communication of "Penobscot" in your 

 . issue of the 3d itist. regarding wolves, brings to my 

 nice which happened to me some 

 df and a younger brother were go- 

 amp known as the Mer Blue, much 

 iv both deer and wolves. It was a 

 i month of December and there was 

 iw or. tne ground. We were follow- 

 d timber road wdien we discovered 



recollection a CJICU 

 twenty years ago. My 

 jug- through a large s 1 

 frequented' at that Biff. 

 very cold morning in tl 

 abBut three inch es of si 

 ing an old and tin 



s. crossing the road the track of a large buck with patches of 

 less exlends lo eve.-,' part of tbe State, and if any infraction blood on the snow. Other tracks in the snow also attracted 



,- . , i . „ , - ,.. -......,.-..,.„ ; n J:^;..: •'. ..* ..^...-.Vt, t,,!,;..!. nrn t l,,u,rrl,l tr, ]\r- llie I IsietiS Of bounOS 



musk-oxen 



and the foremost hunters I 



the oxen to bay as soon 

 time, these intelligent en 

 baying, as they shot forw: 

 over the crests" of the hills 

 flying snow aud fluttering 



■t distance ahead on the keen run, 

 egan loosening their dogs to bring 

 is possible; and then, for the first 

 atures gave tongue in deep, long 

 ird like" arrows, and disappeared 

 amidst a perfect bewilderment of 

 traces. The discord of 



of the game laws comes to your knowledge in an adjoining 

 district, you ai« either to follow up the case yourself or to 

 notify the protector in that district of it, so that it may re- 

 ceive prompt attention. The game laws of the State and 

 the laws under which you were appoinled (Chapter ."iwl 

 Laws of 1880 and Chapter 971. Laws of 1883), are to be 

 taken for your instructions, and you are not to wait lor any 

 particular orders from file Commissioners in any ease, except 

 when you shall be especially directed to do so; 'but are to act 

 always upon your official responsibility and upon your lies' 

 judgment in. the execution of the law. You are placed 

 under (he supervision of the Commissioners of Fisheries, 

 not so much that you shall look to them for directions in 

 the details of your duty, as that you shall be responsible to 

 ■■.-■ official' authority for their performance. You will 

 place yourself at once in communication with what game 

 pip tectum societies may exist in vour district, and act as 

 far as you shall deem ft politic in conjunction with them. 

 Your are also to put yourself in communication with each 

 district attorney in your district, and in ease you shall need 

 legal advice in any matter in which this officer maj lie re- 



1 1 subsequently to act, you are to apply to him lor it. 



"You arc recommended first to study closely the game 

 laws of the State, so that vou mav readily decide what are 

 infractions and what is your jurisdiction, When a case 

 ,,i infraction shall be reported 'to you or shall come other - 

 tl . to your knowledge, you are to investigate it with care 

 and prudence, and you should satisfy yourself that the case 

 can be supported by proper evidence before you order a 

 l- .i- vutiou. Vou are also, in eases where there is reason I" 



believe infractions are habitually committed or are likely to 



occur, to watch for and to exercise a judicious vigilance to 

 them, As you are entitled bylaw, in 



our attend 



as the nl; 

 that we : 

 was beii 

 double n 

 half a m 

 had agi 

 time.' 



, wliich v 



rived at 

 ; follow 



zzle-loa 



thought to lie the tracks of hounds, 

 ... resort for hunters. The conclusion 

 wa- that the deer had been wounded and 

 ed up by the dogs Being armed with a 

 .Jer we look the track. After going about 

 nile we came to wheTe the deer had lain down and 

 lingotupand gone on. This was repeated several 

 :aeh time the tracks getting fresher. At last we came 

 where the deer had been brought to bay, as evidenced by 

 tin- snow and brush being trodden and broken down, with 

 patches of skin and hair lying all around. The suowat this 

 point being so beaten down, we had no difficulty in discov- 

 ering that'It was wolves that were running the deer down. 



Proceeding with more caution, in the hope of getting a 

 shot at the wolves, we soon came to a patch of alders, which 

 was, for the space of two rods square, all broken down, 

 showing the nature of the desperate conflict which had taken 

 place and in the center lay the bodv of the deer, yet warm, 

 the limbs not even stiffened, which showed that it had beer, 

 verv recently killed, as the weather was extremely cold. 

 The haunches were badly torn and the bowels protruded 

 through a large opening in the abdomen. 



Our first thought was to look out for the wolves in tbe 

 hope of getting a shot, but they had made themseb 

 on our approach: we then looked alter the deer and found 

 thai the hind quarters were too much mangled to lie fit for 

 use- so we simply cut the carcass across behind the ribs, 

 skin and all, and'earried off the fore Quarters and head from 

 wliich the horns had been knocked oil in lite last struggle 

 for life Before leaving we hung up the ha.mches and en- 

 trails in the hope of getting some of the wolves i.< | 

 in this, however, we were disappointed, as they never re- 

 turned to finish their disturbed repast, which is not in accord 



addition to your aalarj of $500, to one-half in.- penalties with "Penobscot's" views The portions which we hung up 



shouts and bowlings told US plainly that some of the animals 

 had been brought to bay not far distant, and we soon heard 

 a rapid series of sharp reports from the breech-loaders and 

 magazine guns of the advanced hunters. We white men 

 arrived just in time lo see the final struggle. The oxen pre- 

 sented a most formidable-looking appearance, with then- 

 rumps firmly wedged together, a complete circle of swaying 

 horns presented to the front, with great blood-shot eyeballs 

 glaring like red-hot shot amidst the escaping steam from 

 their panting nostrils, aud pawing and plunging at the circle 

 of furious dogs that encompassed them. The rapid blazing 

 of mazagine guns right in their faces— so close often as lo 

 burn their long, shaggy hair — added to the striking scene. 

 Woe to the ovcr-zeaious dog that was unlucky enough to 

 get his harness line under the hoofs of a charging and 

 iufn. iated musk-ox: for they will follow up a leash along the 

 ground with a rapidity and certainty that would do credit 

 to a tigl.t-rope performer, and either paw the poor creature 

 lo death or fling him high in the air with their horns." 



CoNNECTtctr. — Hartford. Conn.. Aug. 19.— Woodcock 

 shooting is still going on in this Si ate regardless of hW. 

 The season has opened in ^tassachusetts. and birds are re- 

 ported few and far between, i think only a few woodcock 

 have been shot here, as the birds do not nest here, but go 

 further north. They evidently get their baggage checked 

 throua-h, and endeavor to keep up with it. Unless laws are 

 framed so that a person can get some buds when the law is off, 

 the laws are going to be broken. Oct, 1 the law is off. and 

 then nothing but flight birds, and thev are like hens' teeth- 

 hard to find'. We have a law protecting the bald eagle, and 

 also for game birds, but 1 think a party would be intro- 

 duced lo the law quicker by shooting the emblem of liberty 

 than by shooting game binls out of seas&n. The law IS on 

 sora rail until Sept. IS, and if you cnu find any rail after the 

 September 10, you arc lucky. 1 do no', think human nature 

 any different here from that in other sections of the country, 

 and when la ,vs are aot up with some attention paid to the 

 fliehtof birds, etc., then we shall have fewer law breakers. 

 — Fuck Flick. 



Ik than Territohv.— Cleveland, Ohio. -A friend of mine, 

 just from Baxter Springs, Kan., Says that prairie chickens 

 and quail are more plenty in Indian Territory (where he ha-. 

 a sheep raiiche) Ihau they have been known for years 

 Towns ones ibout I wo-tlmd* grown and able to ilr.- 

 .1 w'l; 



