498 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 17, 1884. 



A.-BS3 IVit-Ulntkh's Raid.— A letter to the .Memphis, 

 Tenn., Amlanrh: records n pigeon massacre at a Missouri 

 roost Tlir writer .says: "Hearing that -ami: was abundant 

 00 the line of the Kansas City Railroad, and having a 1'ancv 

 for that line of sport, we formed a party to so out and 'try 

 our luck.' Near Augusta, Mo. (on Division P. O.), the roost 

 of pigeous was represented to us to be 'perfectly enormous,' 

 and to that point we hied us. Our party consisted of Messrs. 

 O. Huestisand II. P.. Mueslis, of Kansas Citv; Dr. II Bnsly, 

 of Tipton counlv, Tenn., and P.. V. Thayer, of Memphis, to- 

 gether wilii a pilot to guide us to the hunting grounds. Early 

 Thursday morning, with tent, blankets, and four day- ti 

 tions in our wagon, Ave made the start over the hills and 

 through tilt! valleys. On the way we shot a few quail and 

 exercised ourselves at various marks preparatory to attack- 

 ing the immense pigeon roosts that we beard of." Or. Buslv. 

 being ill, decided to leave us and still-hunt for deer. Before 

 the light of the morning came our tent and all hands were 

 in the wagon, and as the sun rose the birds began to flyover 

 us, and all day at short intervals we were shooting right and 

 left in the roost, The trees were literally crowded with 

 them, (-very limb being Idled, and thev would sometimes so 

 overload small trees as to break tbem'dow n They were so 

 thick that it was an easy matter to kill lifty at a shot. When 

 they Hew the souud would resemble 8 train of cars near at 

 hand. Their roost occupies a space of about five miles long 

 and three miles wide, and when the pigeons come in at oighl 

 mid leave in the morning they actually darken the earth 

 around. At 10 o'clock the second Bight we hail our wagon 

 box full and left for a camping ground. En rout(! we met 

 Joe Bowlinghouse, an experienced hunter, whose luck that 

 day brought him three fine deer. We soon pitched our tent, 

 elevated our wagon pole, on wHich we stretched a deer, and, 

 like old experienced hands at the business, had u nice slice 

 of venison ready lor broiling in a few minutes. If anything 

 was oyer relished by a hungry crowd, it was these "roasts. 

 At this juncture another crowd of hunters, with two teams 

 filled with pigeons, came upon us and partook of what hnspi- 

 tahty we had to extend them. At daybreak next morning 

 we all started for Augusta, and got there a little after ■ it 

 When our pigeons were counted (three wagons), we had 

 5.415, and iu our own we had 1,800. How is thai for high '■" 



Ahkassaw's Xeed of a Betted Law.— Dobmd, 111.. Dec. 

 27.— YY infer came on the 14th. and has been in earnest ever 

 since. Not much that the sportsman can do now in the war 

 of hunting, unless it be for rabbits, which are wiv plenty, 

 lam informed that a party of three killed 103 in one day 

 near this place. SlJOW is deep with a hard crust, which 

 makes it hard for little Bob White to get a living. They have 

 been very plenty iu this section, but 'the farmer's boy is pot- 

 ting whole coveys wiih the old musket while huddled iu the 

 hedge. Messrs, Liseuby. Morgan and Thatcher returned a 

 fewsdays since from their Arkau -ae. -doer hunt Thev re- 

 port few deer but numbers of turkevs and squirrels. Their 

 bag was two tine bucks, some half-deV.ee turkeys, some ducks 

 and squirrels. The bucks fell to the rifle of the first named 

 sportsman, who takes none of the ciedit to himself, but at- 

 tributes it all to his new Kennedy, which he says is the 

 "boss" repeater for deer. Several hunting parties have been 

 iu "Aikahsaw" from this State the past 'fall, and all report 

 tie: same gloomy prospect for deer shooting there in future. 

 "Deer were so slaughtered for their hides during tin- over- 

 flow of 1883, that -few are found since." Won't the Sports- 

 men of the State secure the passaue of a practical game law 

 at the convening ol their next Legislature?— Bio lx.iu.\ 



Rhode Island Game.— Providence Jan. It.— Quail and 

 partridges have been unusually abundant the past season, 

 and some very good bags have been made. Enough have 

 escaped the pursuit ol the hunter and the '•snares of the 

 wicked" to insure an abundance for another season unless 

 the winter is particularly unfavorable. From the 10(b of 

 December until within a lew days the ground has been 

 covered with snow to the depth of from twelve to eighteen 

 inches, and the poor quail must have suffered for the want 

 of sufficient nourishment. Fortunately for the birds, the 

 snow- lias now Dearly disappeared, and it does not seem 

 probable that we will have such another heavy fall of snow 

 this winter. 1 have learned of several farmers and spoils 

 men supplying food for the quail while the snow was at its 

 greatest depth. This practice, if more common, would add 

 greatly to the comfort of the birds and increase the pleasures 

 of the sportsmen in "the brilliant autumn time " Woodcock 

 have been very scarce the past two seasons, whether owing 

 to the drouth, summer shooting or a chanae of line of 

 m;g^ti;r it is .Llhcull to sa, V ::. fear that th:. pr-dieti ■':■:■. 

 that they will become an extinct species may be realized 

 within a few years. --F. II. 



Game Without Huktixg or a Guts*.— Vinton, Iowa.— It 

 was Sunday, the Elder had a service five miles from town 

 in the country. Snow to the depth of five or six inches lay 

 white on all" the ground, and a hazy mist was in the air, 

 covering field and fence and tree with a delicate »au/v 

 drapery. Being a brother minister 1 took a seal in the 

 sleigh and went along. Rapidly and noiselessly we SJ ICf 1 over 

 the road, soothed and pleased with the bracing air and de- 

 lightful scenery on every hand. To our left is a strawstack 

 aud on it within easy range is a prairie chicken. We think 

 — but no, it is the Sabbath, and we are goiuo- to church On 

 we glide, when, shades of Nimrod. look over there! In' that 

 field to the right, just over the fence, more than fifty prairie 

 chickens are sitting about on the ground. Some fluff their 

 feathers out like great balls of down, others spread their 

 tails and croon their necks and step about, while all seem to 

 say, "We know it is Sunday and are not afraid." When 

 within a few steps of them the beautiful birds rose one alter 

 another aud in groups, and winged their rapid flight thromdi 

 the air.— K. 



MrCHioAN.— Cedar Springs, Mich.. Dec. 17.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Quite a number of deer were killed near 

 here last season. One man and his boy camped near Rice 

 Lake about twelve miles north of here, aud in less than a 

 week killed nine deer. Ruffed grouse were quite plenty, but 

 owmgto the large territory they have to range over, few- 

 have been brought to bag. They move from place to place, 

 and where you will find a flock one day, the next you will 

 have your tramp for nothing. One great drawback with us 

 is that we have no good dogs. -Next season we hope to be 

 able to give abetter account of our shooting as we have 

 ordered a brace of dogs of Mi P. AlcKoon, and if they do as 

 well as advertised, we look for fun ahead. We have noticed 

 quite a number of fine flocks of quail in this vicinity, and if 

 we hay? a mild winter they will be plenty another season.— 



Peed the Quail.— This is the season of the year when 

 we feel like begging the farmers to feed the quail, A little 

 corn or Wheat during such a snow as we have had will pull 

 many a flock through, and give plenty to breed next season 

 The average Indiana farmer, however, don't seem to care 

 much for the quail on his farm, except when some hunter 

 gets after them. Then he stands on a hill in his apple or 

 chard and swears at the sportsman, and tells him that he 

 wants to save "them thai- part ridges, "and to "take his blank 

 dog and git out." If a man will argue with him, he (the 

 farmer) will try to convince him that he is a great pbilan- 

 tnropist, but the same, man will sit ill front of his loir fire and 

 toast his shins, and let every quail on his place 'starve to 

 death, when the question of giving them an car of corn comes 

 up, that is if he has to go out into the snow to do it. Theip 

 are some farmers who feed their quail, but they are as scarce 

 as the fabled hen's teeth.— Ifaansmk ijud.) Argus. 



COE, Fla., STEAK Mosquito Inlet. — The weather 

 so far this winter has been favorable for bringing Northern- 

 ers as well as wild ducks down from the North. The 

 thermometer on Ihe4th inst, at A. M., was 81* j Oih 7 A 

 M.. 28 : 0th, 12 M., r,7 . This is the coldest weather here 

 for ten years past. Mild ducks are flying along the coast 

 by the million; they go about twelve miles south of the inlet, 

 Where they give the sportsman the best ducking in the 

 United States. Large numbers are also killed in- flying 

 against the Canaveral lighthouse. Quail are scarce here 

 this year. Deer, bear and wildcats are numerous in Turn- 

 bull hammock south of us. Fishing never was better. The 

 Ocean House, New Smyrna, has been purchased by Capt. 

 F. W. Sams, an old sportsman and guide, aud completely 

 remodeled, now offering first-class accommodations. — Stjk 



SHINE. 



WHBBE Quail, "Tree."— Albany, Ga.. Jan. 8, 1884.— 

 Game may be found within a radius of ten miles of this 

 place — deer, bear, turkeys, quail and squirrels. Deer aud 

 turkeys, as well as ducks, are killed by the negroes occasion- 

 ally, aud oil'ored for sale in market. "A friend and myself 

 went out a few days ago with one gun between us and a good 

 dog, hunted only uutil noon anil killed fifteen quail, At this 

 season they are found in the woods, aud what was singular 

 to me wa.s that when flushed and shot at they almost in- 

 variably lit in the pine or live oak trees, and When there it 

 was impossible to see them. This section is B. sportsman's 

 paradise; excellent hotels or private, boarding can be ob- 

 tained, as well as living at reasonable prices, while the peo- 

 ple are genial aud hospitable. 1 have "no axe to grind. "— 

 Issaquena. 



Notes From Maine.— Oxford, Me., Jan. 9.— The receu. 

 heavy storms have proved very destructive to the game in 

 this State, especially along the Audroscogsin River. Snow 

 has fallen deep enough for the partridges to bury up in, fol- 

 lowed by heavy rains which imprison the birds, which soon 

 the or fall prey to the foxes. A great curiosity in the shapi 

 of a partridge with two heads has been shot" by one of our 

 local hunters. We do not know of many large bags of gai 

 being captured, except one man at, Norway shot 125 grouse 

 this fall. Foxes are very plenty, but there are not man;, 

 being shot, as the weather has been very disadvantageous 

 loward their capture. A petition is in circulation through 

 this vicinity, to the Fish Commissioner for fishwurs to he 



Jiut into Crooked River, which are needed badly. — Josn 

 I EJEMS, 



A Colorado Game Country.— Grand Junction, Col., 

 Dec. 30. — Two years ago this was a barren waste of sage, 

 brush and greasewood. The coyote and Indian held undis- 

 puted sway. Now there is a 'town of 1,200 inhabitants. 

 Game of all kinds is very abundant in the hills in almost any 

 direction from Grand Junction. Deer are in great numbers. 

 Two of us iu a few days have supplied ourselves with meal 

 for the winter, having killed twenty-three fine deer. Tht 

 Roan, or Book Plateau, north of here, is a hunter's paradise. 

 Game of all kinds abounds, and the streams are alive with 

 trout. A party of us came partly across it this last .summer, 

 and the deer seemed to be in every hill, and from the waj 

 they would stand and gape at us, never to have seen a man 

 before. 



An Iowa Side Hunt.— Rippey, lows.— Aside hunt was 

 held Dec. 28. Twenty-one men on a side; captains, Jot, 

 Law and Dr. W. Love'joy. Game shot: 14 prairie chick 

 19 quail, 1 jack snipe, 2 horned owls. 1 eagle, 1 hawk, 3 

 crows, 17 woodpeckers, 12 jaybirds, 5(i blackbirds, 1 gray 

 squirrel, 8 fox squirrels and 35 rabbits. Law's side scored 

 985 points; Lovejoy's, 2,235. At the close of the hunt we 

 had a grand banquet and a jolly good time. Game is very 

 scarce here at present. The amount of game killed for the 

 number of hunters is small. We propose to have it over 

 again in the spring, when the ducks, geese, cranes and 

 plover return on their way north.— Wild Doe. 



Cold Weather Sport. — Anoka, Minn., Jan. 2-. — I 

 begau the year by shooting a fine wild duck yesterday, and 

 to-day another fell at the crack of my gun. The Mississippi 

 River is all frozen over, with the exception of a. few air holes; 

 and in these a flock of about fifteen ducks appear to have 

 settled for the winter. I gave them until the 1st of January 

 to leave, but as they have not improved the time, I have 

 opened war against them. The thermometer was 16 : below 

 zero, and has been as low as 36 . I have to use single B shot 

 in my 12-gauge Remington, as the nearest I can get to the 

 ducks is seventy-five yards. — B. 



Yallaha, Sumpter County, Florida. — The hunting 

 grounds meulioued in my note Nov. 8, are regarded a; 

 healthy and favorable for 'camping. High rolling grouud 

 beautiful lakes. Do not camp on hamak land. Yallaha i: 

 at about center of Lake Harris, reached by boats m cornice 

 tion with railroads. I can furnish teams and experienced 

 guides. We use light flat-bottomed skiffs. Wall tents wi" 

 be comfortable. — E. R. Laws. 



THE New York Fanciers' Club will give its second 

 annual exhibition in Madison Square Garden, this city, Jan. 

 23 to 30. The last show of the society was very successful, 

 and a like success is anticipated for the coming exhibition. 

 The secretary's address is Charles R. Harkcr"62 Cortlandl 

 street, New York. 



Skyf-ral English Pheasasts were shot in Orange 

 county, N. Y., last tall. Probably they had strayed from 

 the preserves which have been stocked with them. We 

 have seen some of the mounted birds at Bell's, and they are 

 magnificent trophies. 



|jm* mid j§iver fishing. 



TROUT1NG ON THE BICOSH. 



IN CAJIP. 



ONE morning the weather looked so threatening that 

 hone of the parly thought it desirable lo go on the 

 lake, and the Colonel proposed that we put the "shanty in 

 good order to resist a storm, li had been hurriedly built by 

 jack and myself before the arrival of the Colonel and Uncle 

 Ben. and was merely a shed of poles and boughs, good 

 enough toward oil a light sliow'er, but nor thick enough to 



stand a bt'Gavj i continued rain. We had placed & heavy 



stick in the crotch of a tree, and supported tin, other end by 

 lashing it lo another tree with a grape vine, On this hori- 

 zontal stick poles wire sloped to the ground about a tout 

 apart, aud these were covered with leafy boughs, lapped like 

 shingles. The sides were closed in the same manner and 

 the front leit open. More boughs were cut and laid on 

 uutil our roof appeared to be water tight. While, 

 in this work a whoop was heard which all recognized as 

 proceeding from the Doctor, who, it may be remembered, 

 bad declined to come with the party to fish for lake trout. 

 Soon we saw him on the opposite "shore, and Jack volun- 

 teered to go for him with the boat. 



"1 thought he wouldn't slay alone long," Said the Colonel, 

 for fishing alone is stupid business, and the Dot 

 good company too well to stand alone on a si ream like a blue 

 heron and have no one to speak lo or help him en'jbj the 

 fishing, even if he has nothing to say." 



"Don t you suppose the heron enjoys fishing alone?" 1 

 asked. 



"Undoubtedly a heron does when he has no tongenlal 

 company, but even herons are not, a.-, unsociable as they ap- 

 pear, or as Tennyson pictures i hem in the deserted moat 

 wdiere he describes them as 'fond of solitude,' " replied the. 

 Colonel. "The 'solitude' they love, as 1 understand it, is 

 merely tlie absence of man, for I have seen herons When a 

 dozen' of them have been fishing within a few yaids of each 

 oilier. Besides they build their nests near each other and 

 are by no means an unsociable bird in their way. Man is a 

 sociable animal aud likes to have his fellow man eat aud smoke 

 when he eals and smokes,, and fish when he fishes! Do you 

 like to fish alone?" 



"Sometimes. There is a pleasure in being alone on a 

 stream occasionally, for thru one sees more of life in the 

 woods and waters than if he has some one lo talk to. Two 

 persons are never as still ns one, and it is only when no 

 suspicion of man's presence is felt that the loou swims un- 

 expectedly around a point of land and gives you a close view 7 

 of its motions. Only then does the raccoon venture in 

 plain sight to wash the frog he has caught and which must 

 be scrubbed before it is relished. Oiilyfhcn does the wood- 

 duck take courage to fly into her nest high up in a hole iu 

 the tree, and the birds go on with their courtships and house- 

 keeping without restraint. A day or two of solitary fishing, 

 as you call it. is really enjoyable and if a man has resources 

 within himself he is never lonesome on the stream or in the 

 forest ■" 



"Yes," said the Colonel, "if a man enjoys it, but it seems 

 to me thai 1 remember something of im apostrophe lo soli- 

 tude by the lachrymose Alexaudc] - Ikirl wherein be asks 

 ' ' in plain terms where her charms are, and intimates 

 that Bages have beheld them in her face, but perhaps she was 

 not hi opera costume on his island." 



"What possible connection has (his with the question 

 Whether a man likes to fish alone or in company f asked I. 

 "You asserted that the Doctor had been bored to death with 

 his own society, and had sought outs for relief. I claimed 

 that li eei DO He the ease.' anil then you got olT alter a 

 Robinson ClttEOe, who COUld find no pleasure in life even 

 wdth a goat, a monkey and a parrot. I am not so sure of the 

 monkey, hut then he had Friday, who was nearly as good 

 as one.' What Robinson really needed to make life enjoy- 

 able, if he really bad a, L'oat, a 'monk, v and a parrot, was a 



hand organ to play -The Sweet Bye aud Bye,' 'Paddy 



Duffy's Cart," and 'The Babies on Cur Block.' I think the 

 Doctor comes to see what fishing for lake trout is like, for 

 it .without knowing anything about it. llere he 

 comes and we will see." 



The Doctor and Jack came up from the shoie, biinging a 

 basket, full of canned goods which he had obtained from a 

 party which met at the town on their way loward civiliza- 

 tion," and as the assortment contained some needed articles 

 lie had carried the heavy basket four miles through the 

 woods in order that we might enjoy them with him, "lor," 

 said he, "you have stayed so long at this lake that I begau 

 to think that you were going to remain all summer, and thai. 

 you hail abandoned the' brook trout altogether. Had much. 

 sport V" 



He was assured that, sport orno sport, we had enjoyed life, 

 and on looking over our catch he expressed himself to the 

 effect that there had been an extravagant expenditure of 

 candle for an iufinitessima! amount of game. 



The Colonel sententionsly remarked; "it is not ail df fish 

 ing to fish." 



ol ,l," said I. "if you would only follow the example 

 of the late Artenuis Ward, and make 'imaginary quotation 

 marks in the air, when you do quote, we would then be able 

 lo separate your brilliant originalities from lie 

 thought that have been crystallized by others. Or if you 

 had merely added Dawson,' or 'Cheney,' parenthetically . 

 We would reach the same result. Dawson gave US the apo 

 thegm, and Cheney has elaborated it most gracefully." You 

 evidently recognize its force and trnlhfuluess, as both the 

 Doctor and myself have done long ago' 



The Colonel thought a moment, and then slowly said: "To 

 appropriate a thing' without (he credit of quotation marks is 

 a grave offense, which some people consider to be little less 

 than a ciimc. Yet this man who now airaigus me for an 

 unquoted sentence in conversation, has appropriated many 

 things without the Use of those appendage-. For instance. 

 he appiopriated the last biscuit si breakfast this morning, 

 and the last drop of coffee last night, and never placed a 

 •quotation around cither, and furthermore " 



'No more of that, Colonel, an' thou invest me. I plead 

 guilty, you shall have the last sbggy biscuit madi 

 to-day. * By the way! Take the Doctor with you on the lake 

 and let him lake a laker. 1 will give you the ranges Of the 

 new spot which Jack and I baited yesterday, arid we will go 

 up the inlet with a lauding net. and' explore" the Btl 



*.\s these eonversuia.ns occurred over leu years up>. ami ■ 

 With the Flv." which eonuuiis Ciieney's aniele. was only published 

 last month, 1 don't iriiid leHiny the reudei- that I am guilty of an an- 

 achronism! and will ask hiui what he is going to do about It. 



