486 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I Jam. 3, 1884. 



body from the s»ft bed of leaves, still we -wanted him, :md 

 as we could not take him alive, we were justified in practic- 

 ing any and every method known to "gunology" in reducing 

 him to ownership. 



All this for one and a half pounds of flesh? 



No sir— You couldn't, hive, coax, buy or drive us to un- 

 dergo the. laceration and fatigue lor any such thing. Then 

 why all this? I'll »evcr tell. Perhaps in after ages, aseaeh 

 succeeding age grows wiser, the yet unborn may, with a 

 gifted tongue and use of language 1 hen understood, he able 

 to portray in some feeble manner the consuming nature of 

 this thing, which for the want of a better name we term 

 sport. 



The earning and securing : of a grouse in this manner is 

 more valuable than a dozen shot down in some, unfrequented 

 spot where they know no better than to lie until flushed 

 under your feci, and afford an easy shot to the sportsman. 



Grouse shooting is a question of locution and surroundings, 

 and the following, sometimes by sight and sometimes by 

 sound only, of one of these educated birds through its many 

 flights, and locating its probable hiding place from a 

 thorough knowledge of its habits, and the final strategic 

 movement to outgeneral and capture the fleetest of all birds, 

 is an episode — an oasis in l.he desert life of the sportsman. 

 The event will show many failuies, and the balance sheet 

 will need propping up on 'account of its lopsidedness. but 

 the heart swells to its full proportions when the hand grasps 

 firmly the brown form, and the mute eostacies of your dog 

 are mingled therewith. ReebuCK. 



N'tw.uik, N .1., Sovernber, lf!38. 





WILDFOWL IN CALIFORNIA. 



WE have plentv of ducks, geese, rabbits, quail, di 

 in this vicinity. The geese are here by the t.hi 

 1 was going to say by the million, but will be positive and 

 say by the thousand. In places where they aVe tile thick- 

 est, six or eight miles from here, they are" pulling up the 

 young grain and eating the seed. There are localities in this 

 county where scarcely anything can be seen for five miles or 

 more but geese. This seems to be a hard story, but any resi- 

 dent of this county will vouch for the statement. They dam- 

 age the crops considerably, and the farmers are only too glad 

 to have you come and hunt them to your heart's content. 

 Ducks are seemingly as plentiful, but make their raids in the 

 nighttime. At the last session of the Legislature the law 

 prohibiting the killing of ducks and geese in certain seasons 

 of the- year was revoked, and they can now be killed at all 

 times. We have fair duck shooting at the month of the 

 Ventura River, just at the edge of the city. 



We have a Rod and Gun Club of forty or fifty working- 

 members. Our club is not a dead letter, but enforces the 

 game laws. This county is one of the best, if not the best, in 

 the State for wildfowl." Deer are within three or four miles 

 of town. Quails are very plentiful. Typo. 



San Buenaventura Co., Oft],. Dee., 18*8. 



found not enough extend it to two or three. I doubt not 

 but that the sportsmen of Atlantic, Cape May. Ocean and 

 Burlington counties will agree with me in this. 



The ice in our lower river is nidingduckcrs to paddle upon 

 wildfowl in open water. Tins kind of sport, if it can be 

 called sport, is not so much indulged in during the winter 

 months here a? it is in the spring, when there is a break-up 

 of the ice and the different varieties of marsh ducks have re- 

 turned from the South. A large flock of snow geese is still 

 below Bombay Hook and remain unmolested, in fact thevare 

 hard to be got at there al the best of times. Sportsmen 'who 

 have returned from Florida speak of game being unusually 

 plentiful there this season. One gentleman who owns a large 

 orange grove not far from Tocoi, on. tbe St. Johns River, 

 who has been absent superintending the packing and shipping 

 of his oranges, informed me that his men have shot a large 

 number of wild turkeys around him, and that the cove of the 

 river near his place' is alive with wildfowl of all kinds. 

 Travel to Florida thus far has been light, but now the holi- 

 days are about over it will be greater. 



Friends of Dr. Beekley will be glad to learn I hat he has 

 been moved from Port Penn (where he was domiciled since 

 his painful accident) to Philadelphia, and is steadily gaining 

 health and strength. HOMO. 



SNAKED BlCBDH.— Ktlilm FmvM ,t,n) Slrnnn.- What have 

 we a game protector for in New York county? Is il to 

 wnie lithe shooters'.- Is il I o watch the trappers?' No; there 

 is no game to Shoot; there are no live birds. What is he 

 for then? It is to watch the markets to see that there is no 

 game sold out of season; it is to see that no snared or trapped 

 birds a it: sold in or out of season. Watch that game peddler 

 coming down the street, loaded with quail and partridge. 

 Beckon to him, and ask him the price of his birds. The 

 first question he will put to you will he: "Do you want 

 good birds or common ones?" His "good birds" are the 

 snared birds; the "common ones" are the shot ones. Com- 

 ments of course are unnecessary. If, however, Mr, Editor, 

 you wan I proofs, please to take a walk to any of our public 

 markets, or stop the first game peddler you "will meet, and 

 if every word 1 have written or said is riot true, my name 

 is not— Wai.teb. 



MICHIGAN SPORTSMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



THE ninth annual meeting of the Michigan Sportsmen's 

 Association will be held in Jackson, Tuesday, January 

 8, 1884, commencing at 7:30 P. M. The meeting will con- 

 vene in the Council Chamber, and 1 am informed that the 

 Hurd House will be headquarters. 



The M. OB. R. and branches will carry delegates for one 

 and one-third the regular fare, and other roads will probably 

 do the same. Parties intending to attend should notify their 

 railroad agent, so that the proper tickets can be procured. 

 Each club, a member of the Association, is entitled to send 

 five delegates, and it h earnestly requested that there he a 

 good attendance. 



Sportsmen, not members of the Association, are invited to 

 bepresent, and the meeting will be made more interesting it 

 sportsmen and game protectionists will come prepared With 

 papers on any subject of interest to the fraternity. 



Our Association has done a great deal of good in the past, 

 and its usefulness will continue to increas if .sportsmen 

 will only put their shoulders to the wheel, and one of the 

 best ways to get at the wheel is to attend the meetiug. Try 

 and bring along your member of the Legislature, and let 

 him hearwhat a nice thing he did by defeating our "Game 

 Warden Bill." Wm. B. Mershon. Secretary. 



Fast BAgihaV, MJcli., Dec. ir», 1888. 



ion Notes.— I am told that certain gunners living 

 of this county were guilty of the very unsports- 

 L of shooting ducks on Braddock's Bay at night 

 i of a large lamp placed in the bow of their boat, 

 then rowed down on the fowl until the butchers 

 pot-shot. It is said that for days following 



Ron 



with th 

 which 

 poured 



the night shooting the bay was totally deserted by ducks. 

 The year lias been an uncommonly good one for woodcock, 

 and a few of them remained here until quite recently. 

 Grouse are scarce, but more quail are found in the county 

 than have lieen .seen here for years. A few bevies arc known 

 to frequent certain fields not far from the city, but they 

 have the reputation of being aware that they are sought for 

 by a score or two of shooters, and the danger appears to 

 have sharpened their wits and taught them to change their 



Maine Rabbits.— Cherryfield. Me.. Dec. 10.— There arc 

 some localities in this vicinity where rabbits can be found 

 in great numbers. About two weeks since a party of three 

 persons started one morning on a still-hunt, foi rabbits, 

 They returned iu the evening with forty-two rabbits and 

 three ruffed grouse. One of the patty had two snap shots 

 at a deer, but failed to hit. Good sport can be had here 

 within three-quarters of a mile of I his village, shooting rab- 

 bits in front of a dog, which is enjoyed occasionally by my- 

 self and the "Doctor." with his fine rabbit dog Prince — 



NAUUAqrAqCS. 



TENNESSEE Quail.— Grand View, Rhea Co.. Teuu.. Dec. 

 28. — Quail are unusually plenty this winter. They are never 

 traped nor hunted in this vicinity, neither do the Winter* 

 kill here, as they sometimes do further north. Their natural 

 enemies here in winter are the hawk, owl. cats, and oeyasi- 

 onally a gray fox. During the summer many eggs and young 

 are destroyed by what we call the chicken 'snake, which is 

 a large, clumsy-looking SUake, from three tO flV8 feet in 

 length, whose whole business seems to be to devour eggs. 

 young birds and small chickens.— Akti.kii, 



Niaoaha, N. Y.. Dec. 19.— On the 28th oi November, 

 while out looking for rabbits on Quecnstown Heights, I -uw 

 what ill first 1 thought to be a flock of robins, but on shoot- 

 ing one il, proved to be a pine grosbeak. Our winter ducks 

 arc still out iu the lake. The Game Commissioner from 

 Buffalo. Mr. Roberts, has lately seized some illegal nets, and 

 for the sake of future bass fishing, let us hope will keep on 

 in the good work. 



NonTii Carolina Quail.— New London. Conn.. Dec. 

 31. — I have just returned from North Carolina. Quid! not 

 found as plenty as usual. The long drought, of last sum 

 mer was not favorable to the growth, of the rag weeds and 

 broom grass, so the cpiail con not find shelter from the hawks 

 except in the woods and thickets along the branches, and 

 are hard to find except very earlv and late in day, when on 

 feed.-D. B. H. 



YViscon-slnDeer.— Apple.ton, Wis., Dec. 24.— Deer hunt 

 ing has been a success (for the deer) in this locality, very few 

 comparatively having been killed, although they were plenty ; 

 too noisy for'stlll-hunting, all the better for next year's crop. 

 Ruffed grouse were unusually abundant.— F. 1.'. 



camping grounds daily.— E. R. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



T^HEIJE are some fears entertained that the late snow.' 



_L will damage the 



the neighboring ones 



flened f 



days, hut the. fell 

 ound still remains deeply 

 >f the thermometer in tin 

 frozen everything fight 

 hard "times for both grouse and q 

 upon us before the present cc 

 We have yet to have two lonj 

 One week ago a woodcock 



face, 

 past t 

 and th 

 droppi 



has agi 



quail and grouse of our Stale and 

 The crust which formed on the stir- 

 by the rainy weather of the 



7 has bee 



i heavy- 



one 



ered, and the midden 



t twenty-four hours 

 re may surely expect 

 if other snows come 

 entirely disappears, 

 months of winter. 



>bot by a Gloucester, N 



J., sportsman near a springy spot not far from that place. 

 The bird was strong on the wing and in excellent order. 

 This is very late for even a stray woodcock to stay with us, 

 but the weather up to that time had been quite open. Sev- 

 eral years ago your correspondent shot a woodcock on the 

 24th of December while rabbit hunting, when the snow 

 covered the ground to the depth of several inches, not far 

 from Heightstown, N. J. The bird was put up near the 

 border of a spring hole in a, partly cleared wood, and, like 

 the one mentioned above, was in prime order and flew so 

 vigorously that it was missed with the first barrel. This is 

 the latest date on which I have ever heard of a woodcock 

 in this latitude to have been shot. 



The new party of the West .Jersey Game Protective 

 Society gained a complete victory at their meeting in Cam- 

 den on the evening of the 20th of this month, and elected 

 their entire ticket "of officers. Now that peace is promised 

 we have no doubt some good work will be done. .Not that 

 the past labors of this association have not neen commend- 

 able: indeed, they have been, but we fancy the want of 



harmony between its i 



attention from importan 

 of South New Jersey, w 

 acted upon. As an illu 

 dew- for three years iu the 

 done, a 



Canadian Non-Export Law.— The. following provisions 

 relate to the entire Dominion. It is n law passed in 1383 bv 

 the Dominion Parliament. Game authorities can act with 

 the customs officers, so the exporter can be "gone for" any 

 way. "The export of deer, wild turkeys and quail in the 

 Carcass or parts thereof, is hereby declared unlawful and 

 prohibited, and any person export ing or at tempting to export 

 any such art icles, shall, for each such offense, incur a pen- 

 alty "I $100', and the articles so attempted to be exported 

 shall be forfeited, and may. on reasonable cause of suspicion 

 of intention to export the same, he seized by Buy officer of 

 Customs, and if such intention he proved, shall be dealt with 

 as for breach of the customs laws.— OliStOW* Art, 1883. 



Wildcat kok Rabbit. — Ithaca. N. V.. Dec. to. — Mr. 

 Frank Fuller, conductor on the G., I. A S. R. R., shot, and 

 killed a few miles from here on Friday last a wildcat, three 

 feet long and weighing eighteen pounds. He was hunting 

 rabbits, and when he shot thought he was shooting a rabbit, 

 but, he soon found out his mistake. Wounded it with the 

 first barrel and killed with the second. It made an effort to 

 climb a tree after the first, shot, but one of its forelegs was 

 hroken. My son Fred litis mounted it, and it will attract 

 considerable attention. It is nearly half a century since a 

 wildcat wtis killed in this vicinity. Your correspondent. 

 "Mark West," has often hunted over these grounds. — W. 

 H. W. " 



MieiioiAX Dkkh.— A. late issue of the Montmorency 

 (Mich.) Tndrr says: "While in Alpena last week D. 15, 

 Hanover informed us that he had shipped during the two 

 mouths of hunting season, about 1.(500 deer, and G. N. 

 Blackburn also gave in bis count at ?i tons, or about 1,200 

 saddles, making in all '<!, 800 deer, besides upward of 1,200 

 hides that they have bought, which would swell the amount 

 killed iu the eastern part'of this county and all of Alpena 

 county !o at least 4,000. Besides this the settlers have most 

 all got in their possession yet from one to a dozen hides. 

 The deer cannot last, long at such a rate, and the time will 

 soon lie when hunters will be compelled to look for other 

 game." 



Tin-: Otn TiMEHS.— Dansville, N. V , Dee. Jo".— JB* 

 itur It'orext and S/muii: I am gratified to notice that the ex- 

 tracts from my little pamphlet have drawn out two excellent 

 articles on "early settler" reminiscences tthe latest being"Aut- 

 which are a.s interesting as anything 

 a variation from the current spoi'ls 

 sh others would follow iu same line, 

 tensive store of authentic old time 

 mnected with the game annals of our 

 h should lie preserved in print before 

 settler times pass away into oblivion. 



Icrs," Bill Aker's s 

 published, and no 



-ef'.i 



men's narrations. 



for there must lie i 



1 W 



incidents legitimat 



-lv . 



country stored up, 

 the, recollect ions o 



will 

 old 



— Eu-HRAUU BtJNK 



mi i 



§ nm$ 4ir$ glicheiimgs. 



'•That reminds me.'' 



WHICH ARE THE BEST? 



OUR issue of Dec. 20. 18S3, contained, iu a special supple- 

 ment, the entire series of Camp-Fire Flickering.-:, from 

 the beginning of the column in July, 1882. The ninety-six 

 stories were given in the order in which they were printed; 

 and each one numbered. Of tiiese ninety-six stories every 

 reader is asked to select liie ten Which he- flunks tin- best; to 

 write down the numbers of these ten, one below the other, in 

 their order of merit, putting the best first, the next best sec- 

 ond, etc., and then to send the list to the Fokbbt wii Si hjcam. 

 Each list, should he signed with the name and poSt-OfficS ad- 

 dress of the voter. It is requested that the lists be s>nt on 

 postal cards; if in envelopes they should lie written mi slips 

 of paper the size of a postal card. 



To send in this list of ten stories is all that the reader is 

 asked to do, 



There is no entrance fee. All who wish to do so ureeo* 

 dially invited to put in a vote. The balloting is nut limited 

 to subscribers, nor tothose whobuythe pager— the privilege 

 is extended to the. neighbors who borrow: the frii mi " 

 whom it is sent after the .subscriber has read it ; yes. even to 

 the postmasters who keeps it over Sunday and puts it into 

 the subscriber's box Monday morning (and who is hereby 

 warned to desist from this hick, for we have his uutuc, and 

 by and by the time will be ripe for civil service reform in 

 that village)) in short, this is an opportunity lor I hose to vote 

 who never voted before, and may never have a chance to vote 

 again, without, regard to age, sex or previous condition of 

 non-sportsmanship. 



Two sets of seven prizes each will be awarded, one to the 

 writers of the winning stories, the other to the voters who 

 scud in the best lists. The method of determining I he v. in 

 tiers in each olass was explained iu our issue of Dec. HO. 



The prizes for the writers and the prizes for the voters will 

 be the same. They will he for each class as follows: 



I -l H.ST PRIZK. 



A copy of the book "Sport with Gun and Bod." in embossed leather 

 binding, or any other boolf or books of same value ($15), at option 01 



- found prize, 

 "Sport with c,uu and Rod," cloth binding, or any ..it„ c tool 

 same value ($10), nt option ,,f winners. 



THinn inu/.K. 



Nonis's '•American Angler's Book" , ■■ -tonebengtt's 



■ling of the British Islands" t $7.60 ,. OS I Soubs's "Key fo Xorth American 

 Suds" i.S;-'. or any other beuk or boolcs of same value, .i i ,,, 



of late has necessarily dm 

 I. questions in relation to the ga 

 liich otherwise would have bi 

 rtration of what the protectioaof 

 southern portion of the State has 

 great increase in the number killed during 

 the past season ending Dec. 1 — the first open one that 

 followed the close years. Every alternate seasan .should be 

 one of protection for the deer in New Jersey, and if fUis be 



Smituvillk Flais. N. Y.. Dec. 9. — Gray squirrels 

 quite plentiful in this section now. Two months ago one 

 could tram]) all day and not see a squirrel ; they are now 

 migrating. Partridge (rull'ed grouse) are also numerous. 

 Fo\ bunting is fast becoming the winter pastime, among the 



SportBm6D here — E, L. If, 



Fi.omnA Wants a Kkkoum.— Cluster, Fla., Dee. 10.— 



Game is .scarce in this part of Florida. We have a few ducks, 



but they arc very wild on account of being shot at so much 



W"e have a few quail and they are fat. We 



are badly in want of a good game law for this State. — J. P.S. 



The Forest and .Stream tor i 



PRIZE. 



year. 



The FOREST and Stream for six months. 



STXTB PRIZE. 

 •'Training vs. Breaking," by S. T. llaininond (which, h] 

 contains sum- capital stories). 



siWI-NTH PRIZE. 



-Angling Talks." by Geo. Dawson. 



In ease of a tie the prize will be divided. No person will be awarded 



more than one prize. If two prizes are voted to r h iu<J 



he will be t;iven the highest of them, and tbe other will pass to ttie 

 next man on the list. 



Ballots should be sent iu as soon as hfpraeth b 

 giye distant readers W opportunity to rote, li 

 received up to February 3, and as the editor of bhi 

 Kermel Bqfisto)' so often says, -none can be receh 



The polls are open. 



