288 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 8, 1P88. 



out iu the prairie. Before I could cover him he was away 

 off and going like a locomotive let loose; but when my guii 

 ipoki In- came down. 1 sent, my dop to retrieve, him and 

 when she wont on and on out into the prairie the boys 

 said -'What air vou sending her out there for?" Thev had 

 not seen the bird fall and dul not believe there was a dead 

 bird out there so tar, but. she round it and brought it to bag. 

 One fellow said. ■'Yon may just .shoot at them a mile off and 

 1 won't be Burprised to see them Ball." 



I have broken thirty-lour consecutive balls over a Iluber 

 trap, which threw them in live directions from behind a 

 screen. I could fill pages about this gun and what it has 

 done, but I sold it for about what I gave for it, and bought 

 another, made by Nichols & Lefever. niue pounds, thirty- 

 inch barrel, No. 10, three-inch drop: hn'eused this gun live 

 years, and it is just as light and close-fitting now as ever. I 

 believe that men tied fault with the shooting qualities of 

 guns sometimes, when in reality it is the man behind the 

 gun that should get the blame. Mabk. 



Iowa. 



ALTERATIONS IN GUNS. 

 SHitor Forest and Strmft: 



In your last issue 1 saw a note about the alteration of 

 cheap army muskets into shotguns. No man who has any 

 taste would rejoice in such an arm : but there are very many 

 line guns that have been altered from muzzle-loaders Co 

 breech-loaders. I have such a gun. Originally the gun v. us 

 an 11-bore muzzle-loader. I wanted to have it changed to 

 a breech-loader, and as it was an odd size— so that I could 

 not procure shells and wads for it— I had it also re-bored to 

 a 10-gauge. It weighed originally 9 pounds, and by ad- 

 dition of breech-block weighed after alteration 94- pounds. 

 TfiL- gnu gives perfect satisfaction; I have been unable to 

 determine any change in the sttootina qualities since the 

 alteration was made." The expense was $B5, 



As many of your readers may have muzzle-loading gitns 

 which they would gladly have altered to breech-loaders if 

 they were sure of the result, I suggest that those shooters 

 who have had experience (good or bad) in this line detail the 

 satne for our benefit. My Name is John. 



[We quite agree -with the writer of the above note, and 

 shall be glad if our friends will relate their success or failure 

 in alteration of guns. The experience need not be confined 

 to the change from muzzle-loaders lo breech-loaders. Notes 

 of actual experience with guns that have been re-choked, 

 shortened in the barrels, etc.] 



GAME IN NEBRASKA. 



THE geese and duct, are acting funny this year. It looks 

 as though they rateudad giving this region "the go by." 

 Very few of either Lave made their appearance. Some flocks 

 of ge.se hrivi beer seen and heard in their flight southward. 

 and they are reported as fairly numerous at a few points 

 on the Platte. None have been seen in this vicinity for over 

 a week. The party that killed so many last year about a 

 hundred miles west of this city have been ready to go for 

 several days, but they get no call from the farmer with 

 whom they quartered before, indeed, they hear from other 



ttfCd lial :!'■: -e-i !.,:■ qoI : in there. It is feared 



the great amount I -.... ing at th it point last year has had 

 the effect to turn the geese to other lines. 



Twice this fall the ducks have appeared here in goodly 

 numbers, hut in both cases they were" off and gone almost 

 as quick as vou could say "Jack Robinson." Let me illus- 

 trate: On Tbm :!.:;, afternoon Mr. Webster and I visited 

 qhito a number of the best ponds, anu saw only five ducks. 

 The next morning they loom, d up everywhere. Mr. \V. drove 

 out in the altera. am with a wild horse" taking his wife with 

 him, and bagged twenty-four. One day later the birds had 

 taken their departure, and in a long drive in quest of them I 

 got "skunked" for the first time in Nebraska. Three of us 

 Were OUt yesterday and picked up only two, one a mallard, 

 the other a bluewing. Where are they anyhow? Prairie 

 chickens have "flocked," and chicken shooting has practi- 

 cally been over for twenty days or more. Quail are unusu- 

 ally abundant, but for the" present the cover is loo dense to 

 allow satisfactory results in that direction. 



Bi en II. Poi.k. 



Lik.'iiln, Nebraska, elet. ;.'l. 



Killing a Deeh witb Shovels. — Mr, JohnT. Daly, Jr., 

 writes us the particulars of the killing of a deei near Buzzard 

 Boost, in Twigg county, one day last week, under very 

 singular circumstances." Mr. Daly is foreman of "Gang No", 

 a, 'on I lie East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. 

 On Tuesday of last week Mr. Daly had his gang at work on 

 the railroad. A party of hunters from about jeffersonville 

 were deer hunting the same day in what is known as Tar- 

 ver's Swamp. The dogs started a deer, which left the 

 swamp and took its course toward the railroad. Mr. Daly 

 discovered the deer, and decided it was coming directly 

 toward his gang. He told the negroes to get back iu the 

 hushes, and told them to kill the deer with their shovels if 

 it came near enough to them. The dogs were at least a 

 quarter of a mile away. The deer came right down the 

 ditch, and the first negro it came to struck at it with his 

 shovel, breaking both of its hind legs. One of the hunt- 

 ers was near enough to hear the deer cry when it was 

 caught by the railroad gang. He came up and claimed the 

 deer according to the laws of hunting, as he stated. Mr- 

 Daly gave up the game after a promise that he and bis gang 

 should have a share, but up to last accounts the Jefferson - 

 villc hunters had not divided.— IlawkinsviUe (.Ua.) News. 



Neal Dow'a Beak Story.— The Hon. Neal Dow, who 

 has been traveling in the wilds of Northwestern Maine, 

 writes to the Portland Prm: "It was night and bright 

 moonlight; but the moon was often obscured by clouds. ~ It 

 was in a little opening in the thick forest, where the moon- 

 light could reach the ground. I was startled by the creak- 

 ing and breaking of brushes and branches. An immense 

 tree without top was lying on the ground. I sat on it and 

 waited. Presently 1 saw a huge black object slowly ap- 

 proaching; it was a bear. 1 opened my knife and stuck it 

 into the tree trunk and wailed. The bear was within thirty 

 feet of me. and as he sal down on his haunches and snuffed 

 the air for prey the moon was left uncovered by a cloud. 

 Both barrels of my gun made one report. 1 seized my ereat 

 knife and waited' for the onset; but, the huge beast did not 

 move. He continued to sit with head drooping to the ground. 

 Hastily reloading my gun I approached him and waited for 

 the end. Presently he fell over on his side and breathed his 

 last." 



Maine Gamk Wardens' Dilemma.— Game from Maine 

 does appeal- in the Boston market, sac, the H- rold of that cttv. 

 notwithstanding the law and the refusal of the transportation 

 companies to forward it. A trunk full of partrid 

 « arded from Maine as baggage, has been seen in lh" 'market. 

 Also a Hour barrel, marked' "potatoes," showed partridges 

 When opened, each bird nicely wrapped in paper. But a 

 letter, just received, says that the wardens arc on the alert, 

 and the seizure of packages of game at the railway stations 

 and wharves is of almost daily occurrence. The railway 

 officials and officers of steamboat companies are also Tender- 

 ing aid to those determined to enforce the game laws. An 

 amusing dilemma was dropped into bv the game wardens 

 themselves at a station on the upper Maine Central the other 

 day. The superintendent of that road, as soon as lie- position 

 of the new lira- was laid before him, issued orders to all his 

 station agents not to receive game to be forwarded out of the 

 State. The law does not prohibit the forwarding of one 

 moose, two caribou or three deer by any one person in a 

 season, but the orders of Supt. Tucker were peremptory. No 

 one of his station agents could possibly know how many deer 

 a person had forwarded from another station, and the 

 superintendent decided to take no risk. Eesides. it is claimed 

 thai be is Warmly in favor of enforcing the game laws. The 

 game wardens had seized several carcasses of deer,*lud they 

 desired to present them in court, at a station a number of 

 miles further down the track, as tangible evidence against 

 the poachers who bad broken the law. They pre-.' 

 deer at the Maine Central railway station to be. forwarded, 

 The agent would not receive them. The superintendent was 

 telegraphed, but the order came back to obey former orders. 

 A further explanation was telegraphed, but thesuperintendent 

 replied that lie was obeying the law from principle, and they 

 could not go over the road.- Hence the deer did not appear 

 in court that day. Game wardens MeLain of Mattawam- 

 keag, and Davis of Winn, in that State, have lately returned 

 from a successful hunt after deer shooters in the vicinil v Of 

 BagJe Lake. On the woods road to Brandy Pond they met 

 a party with several deer which had evidently been sb.oi after 

 being driven into the water by dogs. Thev seized six deer. 

 five of which were of unusual size. Of the deer taken, all 

 but one had been shot in the back of the head, show in" con- 

 clusively that, they had been killed while in the water. Some 

 of the wounds went downward diagonally, indicating that 

 the person shooting had stood in a canoe, and shot downward 

 at near range. The parties from whom the deer were taken 

 had hounds with them, but denied that they had used them 

 in hunting deer. They made considerable loud talk, declar- 

 ing that they would slioot before the deer should be taken 

 from them, but they did not execute their threats Upon the 

 wardens, and the game was taken to MaUawamk.ag, The 

 poachers will have to appear in court. 



Duces and Nets.— Eutaw, Ala,, Oct. 33.— Editor Forest 

 and- Stream: I noticed in your paper las! winter or this 

 spring something about wild" ducks be. r.g caught or taken 

 by pot-hunters in quantities about Norfolk, Va. I have lost 

 the paper, and now write to ask if vou can refer me to any 

 one with whom 1 can correspond, to ascertain the kind of 

 nets and how used. From now until February ..u- March 

 we have in Greene county, Ala., millions of ducks, an abun- 

 dance for the true sportsman and pot-hunter, too. All mem- 

 bers of our sporting club arc not expert shots, and can do 

 better shooting at same in a net than they can on the wing. 

 Partridges, squirrels ami turkeys are more plentiful with us 

 this season than usual. Some of our young Ximrods are 

 having a tine time just about now.— Blackstonk [The 

 Forest «d Stream is published in the interest of sports- 

 men, and we can conceive of no possible reason why it 

 should be expected to give aid to would-be duck netters. 

 Our correspondent might be belter engaged in encouraging 

 wing shooting than Qi showing his friends how to scoop in 

 the fowl.] ' 



Quail Shooting in tue City.— Lockporl, N. Y„ Nov. 2. 

 — Yesterday Mr. George II. Moody, residing on Pine street, 

 beard quail calling in a vacant lot" in front of his residence. 

 Taking his gun and going across the street, he found and put 

 up a bevy of about a dozen and succeeded in bagging two of 

 them. George is a good shot las his score iu the club shoot- 

 ing will show), and if there had been but two instead of 

 twelve birds the result would probably have been the same. 

 I have been through the same lot not less than half a dozen 

 times within the past month and have not seen or heard of 

 any quail being seen in or neat the city, and that this bevy 

 should come iu on the first day of the 'open season is a little 

 queer. Frank Conover and John Freer bagged twenty quad 

 yesterday north of the city. In last issue, "Owl Rapping at 

 the Door" the type made' me say "pigeon owl;" it should 

 have read pigmy owl— J. L. D. 



TheRescltof One Pellet.— Fort Lyon, Col., Oct. 2S.— 

 1 find that taxidermy euables me now and then to account 

 for the results of a shot that puzzled me at the time. A lew 

 days ago I shot a Western red-tailed buzzard hawk (Buteo 

 borealis cilurus) measuring fifty-two inches iu extent and 

 weighing lour and three-quarter pounds. I fired just as she 

 had raised her wing to fly, and with no idea of killing, yet 

 she dropped stone ttead. "As 1 did not believe such a largo 

 bird could be killed with No. 6 at the distance this was un- 

 less hit in the eye, I could not understand it. Skinning 

 showed that five shot had struck in the side and breast, but 

 had penetrated a short distance only, and that a single peilet 

 had entered a corner of the eye and gone into the brain, not 

 breaking the eye-ball and leaving uo external mark. — T. 



Ten Ye.vrs. — Gen. Langhorne Wister, of Germantown, 

 a few days ago returned from a visit to Minnesota. He says 

 that during a" journey of hundreds of miles across the plains 

 the only sign of life he saw were three antelope, where ten 

 years ago large game was abundant, and during a day's ride 

 through a great forest in Minnesata he saw mo game, a few- 

 squirrels being the only indication of animal life. Since 

 the introduction of repeating rifles large game in the far 

 West has been rapidly diminished, and the lime is apparently 

 not far distant when it will be extinguished on the plains. — 

 QermcmUwn Telegraph. 



Albino Grouse.— Mason City, la.— On the 15th of August 

 I went out for a half day's shooting at prairie chickens, and 

 while in the act of shooting my eighth bird I saw a pure 

 white chicken fly up at one side, iu company with six or 

 eight others, which were all of the natural color. 1 followed 

 it aud flushed it a second time, and failed to get a shot. — C. 

 F. V. 



Anent a "Flickering. "— Guvmnrd, November.— Editor 

 Forest and hirenm: I am extremely sorrv lo see you lend 

 your valuable columns in you < o: in l-.t i'nst. to such a dis- 

 graceful and disgusting description, as given he "Thorough 

 Sportsman" to your readers about his neat! poi : 

 perience, for "filthy lucre" at that, by muideiiug our noble 

 woodcock by electric light in Louisiana. I am sorrv there 

 are no laws iu that Stale to prevent such slaught 'I 

 pity the rifle ball he writes about did not slop him forever 

 from poaching. How can game prosper witb such fellows 

 around'.' Its baa enough that such things happen, but vou 

 certainly ought not to publish them to the disgust or all true 

 sportsmen.— Ckoxteth.— [Two it's.— If our correspondent 

 knew anything about a eanebiake bis eve ; •■ - ■, ,,, 

 have been in behalf of the woodcock, but of die mule team. 

 IE game birds were as plenty as the folks who can give an 

 editor points on what he ought and ought nut to do, the 

 shooting would be good all over this country.] 



Non-Besidents in New .Ieksey .— New York. Nov. ;.', 

 1883. — Editor Forest and Stream: I noticed in the Evening 

 Post of Oct. 31, the following insertion: "The Game Asso- 

 ciation of New Jersey this year will pay particular attention 

 to the enforcement of the law against shooting by non-resi- 

 dents. Iu Bergen county non residents are warned not to 

 appear with dog and gun." Although a resident of Bergen 

 County, I have a fellow feeling for sportsmen in general, and 

 1 heartily concur with the advice given outsiders by the Game 

 Association of New Jersey not to appear with dog and gun. 

 As the natives of said county have for the past two months, 

 Sunday included, been shooting St everything wearing 

 feathers, would not a good example at home prove more of 

 a protection to our game than warning our neighbors not to 

 shoot upon our premises? — 6. TV. D. 



A Buouklyn Beak Bag GEK..— Edward 11. Litchfield, the 

 sou of the millionaire president of the Brooklyn Improvement 

 Company, is a mighty hunter. Recently he" has been shoot- 

 ing bears in the wild countrv of the Lit fie Medicine i ; i ■.-,- 

 near Fort Fctterman. The lies Moines ,., ..'>c,- speak, of 

 him as -'bagging" thirteen hears on a I v. .J- B days' hunt this 

 mouth— nine grizzlies and tour black b.-ais. three of them 

 in oue morning jaunt before breakfast, The 

 caught in steel traps weighted with loss lhai make a broad 

 trail across' the country and enable tin tmnl to come up 

 with and fight the wounded and enraged beast.- Tlie jporl 

 which is said lobe full of peril, has nevertheless become 

 tame to Mr. Litchfield, who is represented as coveting next 

 an encounter with panthers. — Trilio,,,'. 



Maine Game Notes— Raugeley . Nov. 1 — Black and 

 sheldrake ducks have been v. i\ plenty this fall around our 

 lakes, and large numbers have been shot. Partridges are 

 very plenty. Two gentlemen, with Mr. Henri Fuller, 01 

 Phillips, as guide, bagged in two days, near KennebagO 

 Lake, thirty-three partridges. Quite a number of hunters 

 have gone back imo the forest around Seven Pot 



deer, caribou and moose. Deer are very plenty, and - -e 



caribou. Moose are not so abundant 'as they have been; 

 still there are some left, yet, and the game law says vou can 

 kill them until Jan. 1. The fall thus lar has been all the 

 hunter could ask for, and the trappers have imprn. - : 

 Kennebaijo. 



Long Island Wildfowl.— Two years ago the Suffolk 

 County Board of Supervisors pas^.-d : n olutlOE prohibiting 

 the shooting of wildfowl from boats or bait, ries in the waters 

 of Northpoit Bay. A petition has noyj ent to thi 



Board asking lliai the resolution be annulled l ' . . I , 

 of the locality claim iu defense of the resolution that inside 

 gunning had frightened the hints so badly that they would 

 not come in and Iced. Oue hundred and seventeen residents 

 signed the remonstrance against the repeal of the resolution 

 aud eighty -oue the petition for its repeal. 



Florida Hunting Q-hoiwds.— ZaJaha, Sumpter County, 

 Fla. — Many Of the old huutiug grounds of Florida have been 

 broken Up by I he great number ,.| settlers arriving continually. 

 For large game, deer aud turkey, fishing for has , etc. 

 would recommend the Peatlucha Creek, emptying into Lake 

 Harris, .Sumpter county: it heads about forty 'mil 

 What is known as Green Swamp. Deer ami turkeys, bears 

 and some wildcats, wolves, li..,, etc., are found there. 

 Shall be pleased to give further information. — K. R. Laws. 



l-'t'.un.ofs Dlci; Shooting — Last weeS we reco 



experience of a Maine man wdio was nearly drowned while 

 on a duck shoot. News of a sadder calamity com. i . 

 Erie, Pa., Nov. 2: Fred C Kelsey, news agent, Giles Rus- 

 sell aud John W. Eyster, mail agents on the Philadelphia 



and Erie Railway, and t.'harle,- Brown, a well-to-do young 

 man, were drowned in Erie Bay while duck hunting. Eyster 

 aud Kelsey leave families. 



St. Lawrence and JEFEEiBSQN Warden.— Edihr Fond 

 oiul Struun: Mr. Griffin was first appointed, but declined, 

 and Mr. P. R. Leonard, of Ogdeusburg, N. Y.. was 

 appointed instead, and is now the warden tor St. Lawrence 

 aud Jefferson counties, anil is doing splendid and efficient 

 work.— E. F. B. 



Tue FniST Flight of Geese that passed over Boston 

 this year were announced to the congregation of the West 

 Church in a sermon preached Sundav. Sept. 23, by the Rev. 

 Dr. Burtol. 



A Connecticut 'Coon Thee.— A party of four went out 

 'coon hunting at West HartUtud, Conn., a few nights since, 

 ami killed eight 'coons in one tree.— Dorkln. 



Pennsylvania Deek. — The Pennsylvania deer law pro- 

 vides that the open season shall be from Oct. 1 to Dec. 16. 



The Virginia City (New I I \ 

 Piute feast: "A favorite dish wii 

 tule potatoes, and pinenuts. So 

 families join in a feast, a camp-! 

 is placed on the lire. Ie t hit 

 that the men, women, and child 

 lug. Ducks, minuo ws by the 



rise gives a discriptioD of a 



: them is a stew of duck, fish, 

 letinies. wheu two or three 

 itUe holding a dozen gallons 

 re thrown promisee 

 in have succeeded in gather- 

 -e, ground squirrels entire— 



except that the liair had been Singed oB— wild rose berries, 

 grassnuts, pmenuts, and the like all boil and bubble together 

 in a rich mess— meat;, soup, and bread all in one," 



