Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



NEW YORK, NOVEMBER IB, 1883. 



( IS'os. 39 & i 



x York. 



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 respectfully invited. Anonymous communications will not be re- 

 garded. No name will be published except with writer's consent. 

 The Editors are not responsible for the views of correspondents 



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Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

 Sos. 39 and 40 Park Row. New York City. 



CONTENTS. 

 Editorial. Fishculturk. 



Congress and the Large Game. , The London Awards. 

 Woodcock Notes. ! Hatching Codfish. 



No Jugglery Measurement This : The K] 



Time. 



The Sportsman Tourist. 

 October. 



Our Kirsl :u>.l f.,- l: --i < vih . 



An Incident of Mexican Travel. 



"Old Joe Call." 

 Natural History. 



'. \'r n.il.lij [■'.!'-- ii 



"The Birds of Prospect Park." 



How to Prepare Bird Skins. 

 Uamk Bag and Gun. 



How ue Shot Them. 



Still-Hunting. 



Ducks ou the Susquehanna. 



Michigan Notes. 



Deer Notes. 



St. Louts Sittings. 



"'liladelphia Not. 



Ska akb River Fishing. 

 "The Saumon."' 



Megantic to Moosehead. 

 The National Rod and Reel As- 

 Netting in Greenwood Lake, 



Eastern Field Trials. 



c :::j ;H: '' ■ I . \ 



Land and Water Spaniels. 

 Cm-rent Dog Stories. 

 Kemiel Management. 

 Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 

 Friction of Bullets. 

 Range and Gallery. 

 The Trap, 

 The Louisville Tournament. 



Ca 



liUiintr 



List of Raets Sailed 1888. 

 The Past Season in Canad 



Waters. 

 The America Cup. 



How the T' ;■■!.". ■ ■ . .- 

 Seeing is Believing. 

 Fighting Windmills. 

 The Cost of Cutters. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



With its compact, type and in its permanently enlarged form 

 of twenty-eight pages this jo wrna! furnishes each -ween a larger 

 amount of first-class matter relating to angling, shooting, the 

 kennel, and kindred subjects, than is contained in all other 



American publications put together. 



CONGRESS AND THE LARGE GAME. 

 INURING the coming winter legislation of interest to 

 ■*~J sportsmen may be looked for at Washington. The 

 interests of the Yellowstone National Park will, we are con- 

 Undent, be cared for by Senator G. G. Vest, whose fidelity to 

 the trusts committed to him by the public has been already 

 proved. The act protecting this beautiful region, which 

 during the past summer has been visited by many of our 

 readers, will, if its provisions are enforced, do much for the 

 wild creatures who make their homes among its rocky fast- 

 nesses, and while perhaps not in all respects perfect, will 

 serve for the present. We look forward to a time, however, 

 when the public feeling shall be so strong on this subject 

 that a law having a far wider scope shall be enacted in be- 

 half of the National Park. 



There is another phase of the Park question which will 

 probably be discussed this winter. This is the project of 

 enlarging its boundaries. We have given reasons, based 

 upon an intimate knowledge of the country, and confirmed 

 by the opinions of others equally well informed, why this 

 should be done, and done without delay, and we have no 

 doubt that these reasons will commend themselves to those 

 Senators and Congressmen who may give themselves the 

 trouble to look into the question a little. 



Of course there will be others who will obstinately oppose 

 any measure for the protection of this National pleasure 

 ground, who will through sheer stupidity and inability to 

 comprehend the higher needs of the people, urge, as did a 

 certain distinguished {sic) Senator last year, that the appro- 

 priations for the Park shall be cut off, and the region thrown 

 open to settlers. Against such dull ignorance it is in vain 

 to do battle; such men cannot be convinced. We may, how- 

 ever, reasonably hope that u majority of the Federal Legis- 



lature will be intelligent enough to realize that the increase 

 in the Park's area is a matter of importance, and one that 

 demands prompt action. 



The large game of oui Territories is diminishing each year 

 with greater rapidity — a necessary result, perhaps, of the set- 

 tling up of the country. That it must be exterminated is a 

 conclusion which is inevitable, though something might be 

 done to retard the work of destruction which is now going 

 on. if Congress would only take hold of the matter in earnest. 

 There can be no doubt of the right of the Government to 

 legislate for the protection of wild game in regions where it is 

 the owner of the soil. On the ground of the public policy and 

 raUone soli (because it is the possessor of the land) it has this 

 right — a double authority. It is a right, moreover, which it 

 has already assumed, and one which other governments have 

 also exercised in the past. It is true that in regard to some 

 species of our wild game, such legislation would come too 

 late to be effective, but there are other species now rapidly 

 diminishing in numbers, whose tenure of existence might be 

 lengthened by a wise general law for the protection of game. 

 Such a law might be passed for all the Territories. 



The buffalo are practically exterminated, and it is too late 

 to hope to save them; but the elk, the antelope and the mule 

 deer remain, and in some localities are still sufficiently 

 abundant to tempt the cupidity of the skin hunter. The 

 opening of railroads iu every direction throughout the West 

 makos it now an easy matter for the merest tyro to reach a 

 good hunting ground, and men from the East and from 

 England run out West, have a week or two iu the moun- 

 tains, ami return, counting their elk, antelope and deer by 

 dozens or scores. Besides what they kill, the number that 

 they wound and that go off with broken legs or balls through 

 the body, too far back to be at once fatal, is very great. 

 Less than three months ago we had occasion to remain for 

 some days in the mountains, near an English hunting party, 

 and we found almost every day in riding through the hills 

 carcasses of dead elk. From some of the bulls the heads 

 witti antlers had been removed, but the cows were usually 

 untouched by the butcher's knife — were not even bled. 

 They had been shot down wantonly, and for no purpose. 



The game laws of the Territories as they stand at present 

 are inoperative. There seems to be behind them no strong 

 public sentiment calling for their enforcement. A Federal 

 law, backed by the power and resources of the Federal 

 Government, would change all this. Naturally, the intro- 

 djuction of such a bill would be greeted by a howl from 

 demagogues and politicians for "economy." These Solons 

 would recommend a penny-wise pound-foolish course of 

 hoarding up money, when the Nation's treasuries are over- 

 flowing with the revenues, for which it is unable to find a 

 use. The press of to-day is greatly exercised because the 

 Treasury is obliged to pay off the National debt faster than 

 seems wise, and the bonds deposited by the national banks 

 to secure circulation are being called in The expenditure 

 of a few hundreds . of thousands of dollars to enforce the 

 game laws on the Government lands in the West would be 

 an act of wisdom which past experience does not encourage 

 us to hope for. 



If we feel strongly on this subject it is because we have 

 seen with our own eyes how great is the change which has 

 taken place within the past fifteen years. We have seen 

 how rapidly the western country is settling up, how rapidly 

 the game is being destroyed even iu most favorable localities; 

 and from the past we can judge of the future. Years ago, 

 before the horrible slaughter began, which resulted in the 

 extinction of the bison over almost the whole West, we 

 advocated the protection of this species, and since then we 

 have not ceased to call for similar measures in behalf of 

 our other game. 



This subject is one which interests the people at large far 

 more deeply than is supposed by the average Congressman, 

 who seems too often to be rather pachydermatous on any 

 subject where dollars or political preferment are not con- 

 cerned 



•'American Kennel Register."— The November num- 

 berof the American Kennel Register contains the pedigrees of 

 no less than ninety-four dogs of all breeds. It has also a com- 

 plete set of the show awards at London, Louisville, and the 

 various agricultural fairs, together with a special report of the 

 London show. It is announced that the first volume will close 

 with the December issue so as to make each volume ayearly 

 one. Owners will see how desirable it is to get in as many 

 entries as possible before the close of the present volume, in 

 order to get the benefit of having their dogs included in the 

 index. They will oblige by sending their entries iu as 

 speedily as possible 



WOODCOCK NOTES. 

 T AST Saturday the weather was mild and muggy, with 

 -*-^ occasional showers of rain, a capital day to go shooting. 

 Sunday was almost the same, but was a little brightar. That 

 night the weather cleared, and the woodcock, we venture to 

 say, started for the South. Monday was clear and cold with 

 frost, and during the morning snow squalls and a piercing 

 wind. The woodcock shooting, which during October and 

 the first ten days of November, was unusually good in New 

 York and New England, may now be considered over for 

 this season, though a few old stragglers may perhaps be met 

 with for a month yet. During the fall we have heard of 

 some very good bags of these birds, one of the most notable 

 of which was made by two Massachusetts sportsmen, who 

 secured forty-two in one day. Those who go into the brush 

 from this time until the season closes must content them- 

 selves with killing the ruffed grouse and the quail, and these, 

 if we are not mistaken, will be found more abundant 1his 

 year than for many seasons past. 



On Tuesday last, Nov. 13, a woodcock was discovered on 

 the roof of a building in Duane street, in this city. It was 

 seen from an office window, and for some time stood in one 

 place without moviug, being apparently cold. The tail of 

 Monday's storm was still passing over the city. The gen. 

 tleman who discovered it at length sent a porter on to the 

 roof to try to catch it, but the bird declined to become a cap- 

 tive and flew off. We have more than once seen these birds 

 in the uptown streets during the summer and in September, 

 and have been told by a gentleman that years ago he used 

 occasionally to shoot them on the old Houston street grave- 

 yard. 



Red-Letter Days. — They come in October and Novem- 

 ber. The sportsman who finds game abundant knows noth- 

 ing of the "melancholy days" sung by the poets. Now and 

 then a field tramp ends in disappointment and a touch of 

 disgust, but there is compensation in reading of the happier 

 experiences of others; that is one reason why the accounts 

 contributed to the Forest and Stream are so acceptable to 

 its thousands of readers. We have heard from the sports- 

 men who had hard luck, and from the veterans who praise 

 the times of their youth to decry the present state of things; 

 now it is in order to know of the red-letter days> 

 when the birds were flushed in the corn, the wild duck's 

 flight cut short, and the deer hung up before the tent. Tell 

 us of the time when you had "good luck." 



Harvard has a rifle and gun club. Princeton has some- 

 thing of the kind , and so has the University of Pennsylvania. 

 Why can we not see a series of inter-collegiate rifle, or clay- 

 pigeou matches? When students graduate, they put away 

 ba:e ball (unless they join the professionals), boating, foot- 

 ball, and other like amusements; but the collegian who 

 learns to use the gun or rifle has acquired something that will 

 last through his lifetime. The recreation of shooting is one 

 that will not interfere with the dignity of any station in 

 life. 



Lieut. Fred'k Schwatka has promised us a series of 

 papers relating to his recent explorations m Alaska. We 

 also have on hand for immediate publication a valuable 

 series of chapters descriptive of "Life Among the Blackfeet." 

 They are by one of our old contributors, "Ap-pe-kun-ny." 



Beast, Bird and Fish have seasons which nature has set 

 apart for their vacation; men theirs, which are not fixed by 

 any unalterable law. Which should be most respected? 



Shooting at a Mark is sometimes profitable. One Con- 

 necticut marksman, who has attended eight shooting matches 

 this season, shows $200 as the profit. 



There is a Vast Distinction between a "sporting man" 

 and a sportsman, and between a ' 'sporting" paper and a 

 sportsman's paper. 



The Owl Quarreled with the hawk because he took 

 in the daytime what the owl would have taken in the night. 



If Every Sportsman would be a game protector, game 

 would be well protected. 



GoRKKM'ONDENTS are respectfully REQUESTED ('/ 

 write on one side of the paper only. 



