280 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 18, 1833. 



3SHB. — Savannah, Oct 10.= — II has been some time 

 -ion i have sent any tidings to Forest vku Stream from 

 this part of the Bporting territory I am dad to be able to 

 say thai the prospect for sport next season isuinisiialh g< 

 Qun.il have increased to an unusual extent, and the be 

 are large ami numerous. I was out for a few hours 

 afternoon last week and found three bevies in one field, not 

 one-fourth of a mile fron) the town limits. I was not out 

 for the purpose of shooting, but lo give, a pointer pupp.v 1 

 first smell of Oiij/.r mri/iiiiuium. To my intense satisfaetic 

 lie pointed staunchly, and held his point until I flushed t 

 birds, which rose at least twenty yards from where lie < 

 ta Wished his point. He followed this performance up by 

 finding and pointing a single bird from the same bevy; 

 showing no disposition to break in or chase, Pretty fair 

 work fur a pup whelped in March, is it not? The weather 

 continues hot and dry. so we have DO ducks yet. except a 

 few green-winged teak There are several flocks of young 

 turkeys near town, [ was out a week or two ago,- and my 

 companion and 1 banged two turkeys and seven squirrels. 

 We could have shot dou dc the number of squirrels, but 

 being after turkeys, let the squirrels go by. i am anticipate 

 tog fine sport with the quaiinext month. We have no game 

 law in this section, but I rarely ever shoot quail before 

 November, as there L liitle satisfaction in knocking over an 

 immature bird.— Will. 



MOUNTAINS of North CakOLOTA.— Baltimore, Oct. 1.— 



... /<;.,-,../ and St n : nm: "Wells," in a recent: article ir 

 the POKEBT ASD Stream, descriptive of Western Nortll 

 Carolina, says: 1 quote entirely from memory) "For then 

 are to North Carolina ten mountain peaks higher than Mt 

 Washington in New Hampshire." Judging from the tone 

 and general style of "Wells's" letters, his knowledge of North 

 Carolina and all that concerns the State is beyond question, 

 Still 1 am inclined to accept Professor Kerr's (late State 

 Geologist) statement as official He Bays: ("Geology of North 

 Carolina, Vol I.) "There are twenty-three peaks' in North 

 Carolina higher than Mt. "Washington." The mountains in 

 thai Stale that reach a height of 6,000 feet can be counted bv 

 the scores, and the number of those of an elevation but a tittle 

 inferior is so great, that but few of them are named. Head- 

 ers of the Forest and Stream can get but a limited idea of 

 the grandeur of the scenery in Western North Carolina by 

 reading letters ou ihc subject. The scenery alone is worth a 

 trip over the western extension of the railroad from Morgan- 

 ton.— N. P. [We did not understand that "Wells" intended 

 to make an exact statement. If be said ten when there 

 twenty three, it only shows that he was. as usual, on the 

 safe side.] 



A Vctkkan Connecticut Trapper. — New Britain, 

 Conn., Oct. IS, l?8a.— Editor threat and Stream: From 

 time to time there have appeared in ihe columns of your 

 paper, from different parts of the country, various rea'sont 

 for the decrease to the numbers of our game birds. The fox 

 Minirn I, hawk, crow and tick, have each in turn been ac 

 aiding in the destruction, and no doubt the accu 

 sal ion is just. " But the inclosed slip which 1 cut from Ihe 

 Ha it Ion! Ttmei of the Sth. testifies to an enemy which in my 

 mind is the most dangerous of all. The slip speaks for it- 

 self, and is evidence that the law in regard to Hie snaring of 

 birds is a dead letter. The item reads: "Mr. Burton Hoad- 

 ley of PorostvillC is probably the oldest as well as the most 

 successful trapper in the State. He is now in his 84lh year, 

 but in the woods he can outwalk most men not half his" age. 

 For a number of years he was a trapper for the American 

 Fur Company. He possesses the secret of a peculiar bait 

 for foxes, which they are said to scent for a long distance 

 This morning he brought into Hartford forty partridges. 

 which he aad snared since Saturday. He reports game as 

 scarce this year, but thinks he can manage to get one hun- 

 dred birds n week. "— H. A. B. 



M.OKR0E, La.. Oct. 5. — Thomas O'Kelly exhibited to 



me a piece of deer's hide, having nine buckshot holes in it, 

 of which 1 inclose a facsimile marie by myself from the piece 

 of hide He shot thedeer near here to September, 1881, and 

 thinks it was about twenty or twenty-five yards from him 

 wheal he shot it- The gun used was 'a light No. 12 Parker 

 Which only cost $65. That was certainly a remarkable shot. 

 The heat score on squirrels I have ever heard of. was made 

 a few days ago by Or. Walter Braccy. of this place. He 

 killed Ufty-seven "squirrels in fifty-nine shots. All but three 

 i lack and red squirrels, and many of them in tall 

 c-\ -press trees. He used a cheap gun, I have forgotten the 

 maker. — Olaciuta. [The nine buckshot are within a space 

 SJin. by gfin. 



Connecticut Game. —Sharon, Conn., Oct. 8.— Can you tell 

 me how to C&tch 'coons with steel traps'/ They arc very 

 i. til ) here, and no one has a 'coon dog to hunt them with". 

 Foxes are very plenty, and the music of the hounds can he 

 heard most every day. Squirrels and partridges are not very 

 abundant, though partridges ate more numerous than last 

 jreat We have been bothered with a miserable pot-hunter, 

 too lazy to work, who has roamed the woods over and set 

 his snares by the hundreds, and sends the birds to New York 

 I.". i he dozen, lie has gone to that bourne from whence no 

 a i hunter returns, and we rejoice in the belief that our noble 

 bird may yet be found in goodly numbers. — 'Coon Skin. 



BJUPE Migration.— Apalachicola, Fla., Oct. o.— In your 



issue ol Sept. 20, "V." mentions shooting an English snipe 

 on the 7th of September and asks if it is not rather early for 

 them. On (be 12th of September, 1881, i killed seven En- 

 glish snipe. On the 4th of September, 1882, three, and on the 

 6th of September, 1W,, three. All shot at this point, which is 

 on ihc Gull 'of Mexico. These birds of course were Strag- 

 glers, but one or two make their appearance here every sea 

 son, between the 1st and 15th of September. These birds 

 are the Wilson snipe, and are known here as English snipe, 

 and squat lers. — SKIPS. 



DEEE SHOOTING Wanted. — A gentleman of our acquaint- 

 ance is desirous of discovering just the spot where he can 

 have some deer shooting in North or South Carolina, next 

 December. IE any ol cur readers in those States can direct 

 him to the desired" point, we should be- glad to put them ta 

 communication with him. 



Ai.AtiMiNo News from Montana.— Meagher County, 

 Montana Ter., Oct. 6.— EdM&r Wm-ettt and siren,,,: Shall f 

 hayeiny muz/.lo loading gun changed into a breech-loader, 

 or would it be cheaper to buy a. No. li breech-loading gun, 

 as I hear that they are outlawed to several place, in the 



II, - n.i. 



An AicrisTtc Shot.— The Sketch Club nearly lost a 

 valuable member, and Mr. George Grossman mourns the de- 

 struction of a sketch in color, as the result of flic ubiquitous 

 Small boy's recklessness The artist, was sealed near the 

 water's edge takit-g memoranda foi an especially pleasing 

 lele in und water effect. Suddenly a bullet from a .83 

 caliber target rifle passed over Mr. Grossman's shoulder 

 within two inches of his face, and crushing through the 

 sketch block found a permanent slopping place in a tree. 

 The shot was tired by a youth whose aim was nearly as de- 

 fective as the judgment of his parents who turned him loose 

 with the engine of destruction. The boy was engaged in 

 shooting ul a niuTk. — Okedand Shtch Book. 



Kansas Qu \ti„— Dclphos. Kan., Oct, 9.— Quail and 

 chickens are more numerous in Kansas this year than they 

 have been for many years, and the shootimr after Oct. 3 1 

 will be excellent. -C, M. S. 



Colorado. — Breckenridge, Summit County, October. — 

 We have elk, deer, wild sheep, bear, antelope, sage hens, 

 grouse, mountain email and trout, all iu a radius of live miles. 

 -W. II. 



\m nnd ffiver fishing. 



J.NULING EESOHTS.— We . lhall be glad to have for publi- 

 cation notes of good .fishing localities. WiU not our corre- 

 spondents favor us with notes of dcsirabU- points for angling 



excursions? 



To insure, prompt attention, communications should be ad- 

 dressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and not to 

 individuals, in ivhosc absence from the office matters of im- 

 portanee are liable to delay. 



OPEN SEASONS. 



The digest, of open seasons, printed in our issue of Aug. 16, has 

 been published in convenient pamphlet form, un,l will be sent to any 



address, postpaid, on receipt of 10 cents 



TIDINGS FROM "THE KINGFISHERS." 



I'jditnr la,, est and Siren,,, : 



After reading " Prairie Hog's " summer outing iu FoitiisT 

 and Stream, of Sept. 37, J am moved to make a few 

 remarks about the trip of the " Kingfishers " to Black 

 Lake. Mich., the past summer, mainly to relieve his 

 anxiety about that big maskalonge I was after, and did not 

 get, and to call his attention to a' very wide deviation from 

 the truth that lie made in hisstah men) coucirniug the " bot- 

 tles of spring water " he did Hot see in my boat while fishing 

 for minnows near the mouth of little Black River. 



" Wide deviation " is about as mild as it will bear, with 

 OUt too great a strain. 



But first about the big maskalonge. 



I fished for that particular old patriarch for two clays, 

 with the same tackle 1 showed the gentleman from Detroit 

 at the '■ head works, ' (stem-winding raft, one of our bovs 

 called it), and with the same kind of bait— an 18 inch pick- 

 erel— that he saw me fake oft" the headworks, but the fish 

 refused to be lured to his downfall with such everyday bait 

 and clumsy tackle, and after studying his case over care- 

 fully, 1 concluded that he was smarter than 1, and gave up 

 the pursuit in disgust and with a heavy heart, for- J, was 

 "consumed with violent yearnin" " to try conclusions With 

 the monster. 



1 console myself, however, yyith the thought that, should 

 we visit Black Lake next year. 1 may, somehow, coax the 

 old fellow iuto a fight, in which case one or the other of us 

 will come to grief, and I trust it will not be the writer. 



Now, the "well beloved spring water," as he puts it. 11.' 

 says (t quote the substance) "1 was loth to believe the party 

 pointed oul in the boat Was ■Kingfisher,' for wc had had 

 him in view foi the last two hours, and he had not been on 

 shore once to look for some 'cool spring lo get a drink of 

 ice cold water;' but the mystery was explained soon after 

 when we passed the boat which •Kingfisher' was in, by out 

 discovering several bottles, containing, no doubt, the well 

 beloved 'spring water,' " etc. Now. it may serve to "agitate 

 the fleas" it trifle on "Prairie Dog" when I assure him that I 

 do not, under any circumstances, use or fool 'round any of 

 the various and divers fluids that cheer, and at the same time 

 intoxicate, and it will perhaps increase the commotion among 

 the fleas, and make Ihe "wide deviation" more apparent 

 when 1 say most positively that he and his two friends saw 

 no bottles in cur boat, for the naked truth is, there were none 

 in it. Mr. 11. If. Muller, Assistant Postmaster of Cincinnati, 

 O., fa man whose word is his bond) was my cornini in lu- 

 boat that day. and he will vouch for the 'truth of what I 

 assert The inference is that the wot thy brother had left 

 his pocket flask at Long Lake that day, and his thoughts 

 ran mostly on bottles. T regret the necessity of spoiling 

 "P. D.'s"' little joke, and would not do so, only 1 don't want 

 the impression to go abroad among the brethren of the rod 

 that I don't practice what I preach— cold water iu and out of 

 camp, or that .1 would write anything for the widely read 

 pages of Forest and Stream thai f knew to he a ''wide 

 deviation." He is no doubt conect about the one of our 

 party interviewed on the shore having a vial of wrath with 

 him. The indications would be for an extremely cold day 

 when lie is caught out "a-ftskin' " without one or more. 



The efforts of our friend to hunt up the -Kingfishers" were 

 praiseworthy, and had he made himself and his frieud known 

 that .day on "the "stem-winder," we would have insisted cm 

 their going around the point to our camp and spending a 

 few days" with us, and 1 am quite certain we would have 

 made it pleasant for them. "Old Knots" and "Elder" Dick 

 M — ijjc two he found living in Ihe shade on shore— and 

 "Deacon-" It., would have taken himiuhand, and if he were 

 bibu)ously inclined, they would have had him "joinllcssly 

 overwhelmed" inside ol an hour, for they owned a conlroll- 

 in| interest ill that line of our provisions, and they never 

 let a husky-throated toother go away wheezing for at il 

 something' to moisten his thrapple. 



And I am inclined to believe he would have gone away 

 from our camp belter satisfied with himself and us. for w T e 

 ate. all, or any of us. ever ready to show a brother the good 

 places whcre'toiis.h, and teach him, if lacking, any id' the 

 mysteries of the gentle art we mav be versed in. While to 

 the vein, I will say— afl ''P. D. ""seems lo expect me to say 

 something concerning his last year's letter in Foi 

 Btream. giving Northern Michigan tits— th.-ii he need not 

 have feared to disclose bis identity thai dayontii stem 

 winder, on account of if, for our boys w'di tell him that I 



am good-natured and harmless, even under 11 < provocation 

 of being blown "liigher'n a kite 1 ' by an owgrOWn flre- 

 oracker^ while iu the midst of a pleasant 'reminiscence" for 

 their special edification i and besides, 1 looked on that letter 

 as the whining of some "fellah" wliosi- feet him him. and 

 Whose skin was too tender to stand the scratching of the 



im 3h" with which most of the (tout streams of that region 

 are infested, not to mention the melodious 'skecter, a few 

 swarms of black flies, the persistent attentions of a quart or 

 so of the invisible puukie, and a few other minor comforts 

 with which a day's trbuting up there is usually accompan- 

 ied. 



All the growls "P, D." can utter in a year will not rob 

 Northern Michigan of a single charm for the lover Of tod 

 and gun. Its lovely lakes, streams and foresU will still be 

 just as lovely to ihe' ■'contemplative angler" who loves the 

 cool shade and whimpering stream; and if no more destruc- 

 tive agj nt than the writer of "Our Summer Ouline.." break 

 the solitude of the trout streams of that region, then may ye 

 spotted troul laugh in his sleeve. BO to speak, and such' old 

 mossbacks as "Norman,* brother Turner, of Grand Bapids, 

 the '•Kingfishers" and a few score of belter ones, perhaps, of 

 thfl gentle craft, throw up our hats and rejoice, for wc mav 

 feel tolerably sore that the days of the trout will be long in 

 the laud (water), and the streams lu no danger of being 

 depleted to any alarming extent of their linnv treasures. 



And now a few words for the present about our nip to 

 Black Lake. We intended 10 make our camp on its shores 

 for a, three weeks' Stay, but were very much disappointed in 

 the bass fishing, and in const queiicc held out only ten days. 

 During this time we look about fifteen or eighteen bass, not 

 more, but they were all large ones, mine under three pounds, 

 and they were dead game to the last gasp, "What made this 

 small catch the more satisfactory, was the fact that they 

 were all of the small-mouthed tribe, irim built and -,<■ ■-.■■ 

 looking as a school-giri with two feathers in her hat. 



We made up our minds that there were few bass iu the 

 lake, 01 we were too early there in the season, and were con- 

 firmed in the latter belief when told by a friend iu Chehov 

 gan on our return thai we were too early for the best bass 

 lishiug iu that lake by at least two months. We started on 

 the trip about the middle of July. He told us, and we have 

 no reason to disbelieve him, thai lie had seen weiuhed small 

 mouthed bass taken from that lake thai pulled lite settle at 

 five, six, seven and a half, eight and a half and up to full 

 nine pounds, and this in connection with oilier similar state- 

 ments from two or three others made us feel rather out of. 

 humor with the n-sulto-of the Black Lake part of our trip, 

 and we will, some of the party at least, try it again nest 

 year later in the season. But it is a paradise tor i plcki ft 

 fisher. Wc caught them early in the morning and late in 

 the evening and all day; big fellows ami little. Outis, all Ihe 

 way from iwo to twelve pounds, and more over six pounds 

 than under. 1 believe we could have filled one of our boats 



wilh them any day during our stay. We caught them until 

 we were tired looking at them; until our nostrils n in Me. I 

 the smell ol the slimy, snaky-looking rascals, and we were 

 glad to be rid of them by giving Hlfim I igltbor Mer- 



rill, who cleaned and salted them down for winter use 



In a future letter I may have somei.hiug o> .-.ay all " SOmi 

 monster maskalonge we saw iu Black Lake, but 1 have seri- 

 ous misgivings about it, lest 1 be accused oi making a "wide 

 deviation." 



When -we returned to Cheboygan, "Old Knots"aud ml 

 Dick M." left for home; the "Editor" and our new member, 

 Brother Midler, .spun t a few days at Mackinac Island and 

 Petoskey, and thence home; while ihe Other four, "Old FVIi 

 tan" (TTuele Danny Sloan), the "Deacon," Ben R — v. and the 

 Writer, went back to nm old camp nea r the loot of Central 

 Lake, in Autrim county, where we spent two weeks in solid 

 comfort, hiking during the lime some line- bass, the Pell 



can getting the large one, a small-mouth of exactly Q] 



Wc inveigled, also, out of Central Lake (this 18 only for the 

 eye of Brother "Norman." whom we met at Mancelona as lie 

 was leaving with Iris partyior their camp at the mouth of 

 Speiiec'- Creek) five maskalonge— two Of U3 pounds each, one 

 or 15 pounds, and two of 4 pounds each, the latter link- fel- 

 lows that, hadn't cut their eye teeth. 



i might tell you how the writer did not take any of the 

 above-mentioned fish, and aboutsome of the original remarks 

 Ben relieved himself of on faking his first maskalonge -one 

 of the Set-pounders- and a few volleys of the quaint exple- 

 tives he fired «t the black flies the (lay be and I went trout 

 tog up the Cedar, Bare and racy and hbjfjicartcd old Ben; 

 may he never run short of a match wherewith to fife his 

 inseparable briax-root. And I could fell about .some of the 

 "pi-zen difrikiMes" the "Beacon" and the- writer got intoan 

 out of, during a four days' trip ivi Bins ' I small boat to 

 Fountain Lake, the head of the intermediate Chain, and. 

 about our different camps th ie-i summer; but I will wait 

 until the "slew'' is thoroughly done and the spirit moves me 

 to crave the indulgence of the brethren and the rcadi 

 Foijest vsd Stream in a longer ami I trust a bet ie It i- 

 Meantime, I am atocerely-yours, Kxnco i 



REEL PLATES. 



Editor For, si ,'inl Stream: 



You struck at a great evil when you wrote upon ihe lack 

 of uniformity in size of the reel plates and seats ol rods and 

 reels made by different manufacturers. There iveii i 

 anglers, I imagine, who were not glad to sec your article, 

 f,,r the \cr\ excellent reason that your experience has been 

 theirs also.' 



But flic evil is even mon than vouruotice 



would lead us to suppose. Lei me illustrate some time 

 ago I bought of one of the leading houses of Kew York, a 

 house, that has a national celebrity, one of their beert bass 

 rods, and oni flu i ' hi ' - ade multiplyrnc ri ■ 

 was told at the time of purchase that ihc two vynnli. nn M 

 liliic adjusting, they were left with the dealers for that pur- 

 pose. Imagine my feelings yvhen, upon examining my reel 

 that iiiiUd, I found that the reel plate had hot i I been 



shortened, but had been filed upon its upper surface al both 



ends in order to allow the rtogs of the reel teal on the rod 

 to pass over them. Thus iho beauty and. finish ol [he Ger 

 man silver reel plan- was destroyed, and' half my inter si in 



and eejoymeni of wiiai. in all oiher l-espcci wass most 

 charming reel, was gone. 



nd reel makers certainly owe it to their customers 



thai these articles of iinv particular house, at vc least 



should be so made as to fit without any adjustmen bj 61 U£ 

 or otherwise. But they owe us more than this; it is due to 

 their patrons, but Porwhom they would have no 

 thai a uniform standard should be adopted by all; 



v m Please urge this matti r I i ipliahed 



M. 



