52 



JFOREST AND STREAM. 



thing of beauty and a joy forever. It is resplendent with silver flagons 

 and jugs, a large silver tea kettle, beer mugs and claret pitchers with 

 golden tops, while on his mantle ticks a beautiful French clock, all 

 prizes awarded at different times to his dogs, and trophies of their win- 

 ning. (To these must be added also many gold whistles, lt et settery, et 

 settery," as one of our party suggested.) 



Mr. Laverack expressed his admiration of the portraits of Fairy and 

 Pnde which appeared in your pages, and bidding him good-by, we 

 brought away with us many delightful and valuable recollections of the 

 hours spent in his genial society. Yours truly, Viatores. 



\mt[t j§ag and %nn. 



GAME IN SEASON IN SEPTEMBER. 



Moose, Alces malchis. 

 Elk or Wapiti, Cervus Canadensis. 

 Hares, brown and grey. 

 Wild Turkey, MUeagris gallapavo. 

 Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola. 

 ■■ Buffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus. 

 Esquimaux Curlew, Numtnius bo- 



realis. 

 Plover, Charadraius. 

 God wit. Limosinai. 

 Rails, Rallus Virginianus. 



Snipe and Bay Birds. 



Caribou, Tarandus rangifer. 



Red Deer, Cariexs Virginianus. 



Squirrels, red, black and grey. 



Quail, Optyx Virginia. 



Pinnated Grouse," Tetrao cupida. 



Curlew, Numenvus arquaria. 



Sandpipers, Tyinganaz. 



Willets. 



Reed or Eice Birds, Dohchonyx oriz- 



von. 

 Wild Duck, v 



Game in Market. — Yesterday saw the opening of the 

 season for grouse in this State and the stalls are well sup- 

 plied with both varieties. Pinnated grouse are selling for 

 $1 to $1 25 per pair, the young birds bringing the latter 

 price. The supply at present principally comes from Iowa. 

 Raffed grouse, called indiscriminately partridge and pheas- 

 ant in this and adjoining States, are not in such plentiful 

 supply, but the receipts will probably increase; the price 

 is $1 25 to $1 50 per pair. The season promises to be a 

 proline one for both varieties. A few woodcock are still 

 in market, and sell for $1 25 per pair. Reed birds have 

 also appeared; price $1 per dozen. The scarcity, of bay 

 birds in the market does not indicate much sport on the 

 shores and marshes. They sell for from 50 cents per doz. 

 for the smaller to $1 50 for the larger varieties. 



— A large number of the correspondents of Forest and 

 Stream are going this week and next to Rice Lake, Can- 

 ada, for ducks. This resort, and the Thousand Islands, 

 have long been favorite shooting 'grounds for sportsmen 

 during the month of September, one of the most glorious 

 months in the year in that latitude. We understand that 

 the hotels will keep open throughout the month. Indeed, 

 the golden sun that has now superseded the long, wet Au- 

 gust, has brought a sense of relief to the discomfitted and 

 weather-bound sojourners in the country, and created a 

 new incentive, not only for those to prolong their vacation, 

 but for others to follow them into the fields and forests. 

 It seems altogether probable that the Autumn will be long 

 and golden, and that the mildness of our Indian Summer 

 will be continued into the later months. Scientific men 

 base such an opinion, upon present meteorological condi- 

 tions. A pleasant and cheap trip for a shooting party is to - 

 take the steamer from Charlotte (port of Rochester) across 

 Lake Ontario to Port Hope and Cobourg, Canada, and 

 thence twelve miles by wagon or rail to Rice Lake; after a 

 few days there, take rail or steamer to Kingston, and thence 

 steamer to the Thousand Islands, Clayton, and Alexandria 

 Bay. 



— An acquaintance on Long Island informs us that Mr. 

 Nathan Raynor, two miles by stage from West Hampton 

 railway station, can accommodate a party of four during 

 the duck season. West Hampton is seventy-five miles 

 from New York. 



— The Connecticut State game club is taking active steps 

 for the detection of parties who are killing birds out of 

 season. Those who are anxious to preserve the game 

 birds of the State should promptly report every infringe-, 

 ment of the game laws to the Secretary of the State club. 



— We have received one of Dudley & Co.'s recappers, 

 a useful little instrument by which the sportsman can 

 be aided in recapping his cartridges in the field. It is 

 small and compact, and the price only 50 cents. Messrs. 

 Dudley & Co.'s address is Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 



Grouse in Great Britain.— -The grouse season, which 

 opens on the 12th of August, appears to be more promising 

 than the two which have preceded it. The severe Winter 

 seems to have had the effect of killing off the weak and 

 sickly birds, leaving only the vigorous and healthy to 

 propagate their species . The prices asked for the birds in 

 the London markets" on the first day of the season do not 

 indicate any very great abundance of game, 24 shillings 

 sterling, or $6 currency, being asked for a brace. On the 

 following day, however, prices had been reduced to 10 

 shillings ($2.50) per brace for the old birds, and a guinea a 

 brace for the young ones. Grouse shooting, being followed 

 over comparatively treeless moors, is somewhat akin to our 

 prairie chicken shooting, and is the perfection of gunning, 

 as your dogs are in full sight, there being nothing but the 

 heather to obstruct the view. With regard to the dogs 

 best adapted for moor shooting, we take the following 

 from the Field, the same remarks applying to prairie 



shooting:— 



"Very great difference of opinion exists as to whether 

 pointers or setters are best suited for grouse shooting. 

 Some men will tell you there is nothing like a pointer, 

 while others swear by the setter. The fact is, I have seen 

 first-rate dogs of both breeds. The setter has advantages 

 in some ways, while the pointer has the pull over him in 

 others. If the weather is such as we sometimes have in 

 August— boiling hot, with a scant supply of water to be 

 hau>-the.n the pointer is the best dog, as when in condition 

 they do not mind the heat very much, and they do not feel 

 the want of water nearly as much as their longer-coated 

 brethren. The setter, however, if the weather is cool and 



water to be had now and then, will stand more work than 

 the pointer; and, as a rule, his feet bear knocking about 

 much better, which is a great consideration for a man who 

 only keeps a small kennel, and expects them to stand work 

 regularly through the season. It is often a matter of won- 

 der to me how dogs that spend most of their lives shut up 

 in a town, and come down to the moors perhaps the very 

 day before the shooting, get through their work at all; and 

 I gennerally arrive at the conclusion that the dog's master 

 is, like the dog himself, out of condition, and consequently 

 not able for hard work, and so the dog gets two or three 

 days to pick up his wind." 



Maine. — Rallowell, Aug. 23. — I am just starting out for 

 a hunt. MyJbag of wookcock for the season is sixty birds. 



Lord. 



Rhode Island. — Newport, R. L, Aug. 30. — A party of 

 sportsmen shot forty-one grass plover and green-heads yes- 

 terday afternoon on Bateman's point. A few teal, wood 

 duck, and young black ducks have been shot in the ponds 

 back of the bathing beaches. Our marshes, which were 

 once famous for all kinds of bay snipe, are silent, not more 

 than a good "baker's dozen" having been seen this season. 



Shot. 

 !NEwJERSEY--Zfeac& Haven, Aug. %§. — Bay bird shooting has 

 been bad the last week, owing to the northeaster which 

 has prevailed. With a change of wind it will undoubt- 

 edly be as good as the week previous. Fishing, however, 

 has been good. Jay Cooke and a fotend made large 

 catches of weakfish, and "Homo" was quite successful with 

 striped bass, which have just begun to come. E. 



~Nww Yokk— Watertown,Aug.28.— A friend at CapeYincent 

 went out for plover yesterday, but only succeeded in get- 

 ting a shot at one. He was, however, fortunate enough to 

 bag eighteen snipe without much labor. S. 



Good Ground, L. L, Aug. 24. — Wm. Lane, Jr., and G. 

 B Eaton, of the Sportsmen's Emporium, on Monday bagged 

 52 «ay snipe, consisting of yellow legs, willets and marlin 

 before 9:30 A. M. 



Pennsylvania, — Baden, August .28— At Conequenessing 

 Creek, where it empties into the Beaver Creek, near Clin- 

 ton, there has been a pretty good hotel started in the old 

 Lock House. Any one going there can be sure of good ac- 

 commodations. Quail and grouse are about as plenty as 

 usual, but there is not so many now as there was two 

 years ago. Squirrels are not so plenty, although in some 

 places there are a good many. 



Pittsburg, Aug. 25.— Quail and grouswill be abundant 

 this season in the counties surrounding here. 



Augustine. 



Virginia.— Nottoway, Aug. 27.— We shall have plenty 

 of quail; shooting hard, and cover very thick. T. 



Texas.— Gainesville, Aug. 20. — No hunting news; Col. 

 McCarty has passed back toward Denison lately because 

 the " grasshoppers had eaten the grass up." Capt. Rowland 

 and some others camped on Dry Elm, eight miles west of 

 this place one night last week, and next day brought back 

 two deer and three turkeys. P. B. Storar and four others 

 recently returned from a two week's hunt and brought 

 back twelve deer. 



— The Franklin Fish and Game Club has its headquar- 

 ters at Greenfield, Massachusetts, among the Green Moun- 

 tains, and is destined to do some good there. Its officers 

 are Samuel L. Lyons, President; Henry R. Simons, Vice 

 President; R. A. Packard, Treasurer, and Charles Allen, 

 Secretary. 



James Ward's Skill. — A short time ago James Ward, 

 the champion pigeon shot of Canada, offered to bet $100 

 that he would shoot 50 pigeons out of 60 under the follow- 

 ing conditions: — 30 single birds from ground traps 21 yards 

 rise, and 15 pair of "doubles," 21 yards rise, the two traps 

 to be placed ten yards apart. The bet was accepted, and 

 was decided last week at Toronto. Of the 30 single birds 

 not one escaped, and of the 30 in pairs, Ward succeeded in 

 killing 24, making a total of 54 out of 60, thus winning his 

 bet. 



— In a pigeon match on the grounds of the Narragansett 

 Gun Club at Newport, Aug. 28th, between Messrs. P. 

 Grund and J. Van Buren, for $500, 50 birds each, distance 

 30 yards, Grund took 32 birds and Van Buren 37 . 



— The Lexington (Ky.) Hunters Club have recently held 

 a three day's pigeon shooting tournament, which brought 

 together a large number of sportsmen. Our space will not 

 permit of a detailed account of the result, but we summar- 

 ize it as follows: — 



First Day— Winners.— First match, T. J. South; second 

 match, S. G. Sharp; third match, C. Woodford; fourth 

 match, E. P. Gaines; fifth match, J. A. Headley; sixth 

 match, O. Bradley. 



Second Day — Winners. — First match, A. Harris; second 

 match, J. II . Kerr; Third match, J. B. Beck; fourth 

 match, J. A. Headley and Jun. Smith; Eighth match, C. 

 H- Yorhies. 



Third Day — Winners. — First match, M. D. Richard- 

 son: second match, H C. Elder; third match, Jas. Gilroy; 

 fourth match, L. L. Herndon; fifth match, S. W. Bagge; 

 sixth match, T. Woolley. 



THE SHOOTING SEASON 

 SOT A. 



IN MINNE- 



Brainerd, Minn., August 26th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest akd Stream:— 



The season for "chicken shooting" opened on the 15th of August, and 

 promptly on time the sportsmen left town, and in a day or so after the 

 birds began coming in, some in huge bunches, consigned to the hotels, 

 others in small packages, half a dozen in a bunch, sent in by some 

 thoughtful sportsman to his friends in town. The grouse are welt grown 

 for the season, and in remarkably fine order. Letters from friends along 

 the Northern Pacific west of this point, as well as personal observation, 

 tend to confirm my former opinion that game of all kinds will be plenty 

 in this section this Fall. The Summer having been very dry, chickens 

 are mostly found around "slews" or swampy places, and in brush near 

 the edge of prairies. In a couple of weeks they will be more in the 

 open, and when the wheat is cut one wants to look for them where he 

 would look for quail if "down East." 



At the stations neai the Leaf and Otter Tail Rivers ducks are very 

 plenty — more so than usual. They also can be shot on the wheat stub- 

 ble; they are of all kinds common to the North, and with "stacks" of 

 chickens and clouds of ducks, what more does a sportsman want unless 

 it is a "never-tiring dog and a never-failing gun?" A September day on 

 a Minnesota prairie with the above mentioned style of dog and gun is 

 something that once enjoyed will not soon be forgotten. 



Raffed grouse are not as plentiful as they were last season, still if one 



is a good shot, and has his dogs under good control in brush, he can 

 all he wants to pack. The season for these birds commences Sent^ 

 ber 1st. 



Deer will be very plenty this Fall; very few Indians have been abo 

 here this Summer, consequently the does and fawns have not been m 

 lested, for when the Indians let them alone so does the white man h 

 it is provoking to see in August or September, (deer shooting does v\ 

 commence lawfully till October 15th,) a big, lazy brute of a Chipoev 

 come into town with his squaw bent double under the weight of a sadd^ 

 of venison and know that you dare not kill a deer. "A white man is 

 good as an Indian," and more than one deer has "come to grief" prem * 

 turely that would have been let alone till later if the Indians were mad" 

 to observe the laws as the white man does. 



Quite a number of gentlemen from the East, who have evident! 

 "gotten their bearings" from reading the Forest And Stream, (and 

 where can thev get more varied or more correct information?) are ex 

 pected here about the 1st of September. Mr, Marble and Mends of 

 Worcester, Mass., will be here shortly, and several others, who have 

 found out through your paper that along the Northern Pacific is a "hanrur 

 hunting ground," will be here about the 1st of September prepared to 

 take the grouse and ducks. There is room for as many as choose to 

 come, and grouse enough for all T. P o 

 -♦♦♦- — 



SHOOTING AT BARNEGAT. 



Elizabeth, N. J., August 16th, 1875, 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



On Thursday, the 12th inst. , I started with my wife, child and gun on 

 board the 7:45 train on the Penn. Cen. R. R., for Barnegat Bay, to get a 

 sniff of ocean air and to kill a snipe or two. Arriving at Squan, we took 

 stage for Charlie Maxon's, where, after eating a g®od, hearty dinner, we 

 were driven over to the landing to find the yacht Rover, Capt. Chadwick 

 in readiness to sail us down the bay to Billy Chadwick's gunning house' 

 where we proposed stopping. After being cordially welcomed by "Uncle 

 Billy,'' v.'ho is the best of hosts, we ascertained there were five gentle- 

 men guests there, one of whom was accompanied by his family. This 

 was good news for Mrs. W. , who had feared she would be, possibly, the 

 only lady guest there. 



At 4 A. M., Fiiday, we were called, and those gentlemen wishing to 

 have a chance at the birds before breakfast, we were quickly dressed 

 and picking up guns and ammunition were on the move for the shooting 

 grounds, distant about 50J yards from the house. The early morning 

 was not favorable, as but few birds were flying; but at 3 P. M. up till 

 dark the shooting was excellent. I shot one and a quarter days, fired 

 sixty times, and killed by count seventy-five birds, I returned home on 

 Saturday, bringing the birds packed on ice, by express, with me. They 

 furnished dinners for five families. There. were ten varieties of snipe. 



The wind has been blowing for seventeen daj s incessantly from the 

 south'ard, causing the ocean to roll up a tide which never leaves the bar 

 until a change to the north'ard takes place. The best shooting will take 

 place then, as the birds will have feeding grounds where now they can't 

 alight. It was my good fortune to meet there the finest body of true 

 sportsmen that? ever I met in a strange place; gentlemen in the literal 

 signification of the term, and who, individually and collectively, heaped 

 such courtesies and kindness upon the writer that he will never forget 

 them nor Barnegat. One of them has annually visited the house for the 

 past forty years, another for twenty-five, and they together own some of 

 the finest points for duck shooting on the bay. Any praise offered 

 Uncle Billy is superflous; it has been sung too long and by better men 

 than of this generation. He don't "run" his house; his guests do it for 

 him— they order and he obeys. Any one who goes between the 25th of 

 Augnst and 20th of September, will find the shooting all that can be de- 

 sired, and if he is not satisfied with his trip, I would say to him on his 

 return, ll Go West, young man! go West!" for that country alone can 

 satisfy him, if any can. Fare by Penn. Cen. R. R., excursion ticket, 

 good for one month, from New York, $3.00; stage, dinner and boat up 

 to Chadwick's, $2.50; board, $2.00 per day. Respectfully yours, 



E. S. Wanmaker, 

 . -«*V 



CHICKEN SHOOTING AROUND CHICAGO. 



Chicago, 111., August 15th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



For the past week there has been but very little talked about among 

 the boys besides chicken and the best places for hunting them , and there 

 were innumerable bets made on which party would bring the most chick- 

 ens home with them. The favorites were two oid hunters and trappers, 

 who have lived around Chicago for years, and know the country by 

 heart for miles around. We younger boys took all the odds they offered, 

 and so the excitement grew apace as the momentous day approached. 

 My partner for the hunt was an old Irish sportsman, who had been an 

 under gamekeeper on some estate in the old country, and who is the 

 possessor of one of the best dogs in the city. Our party and the two 

 old trappers both left about the same time— about 3 P~ M. Friday— we 

 going west along the Whisky Point road, and they going south byway 

 of John Wentworth's (commonly called Long John) farm. We did not 

 stop until we reached a small station on the C. & P. R. R., abouttwenty 

 miles from Chicago and eighteen from Elgin, called Itaska. Here we 

 put up for the night, and about 3:30 next morning we were in the buggy 

 again. As we were driving along the road, just as day was breaking, I 

 saw a single chicken in a stubble field. He held until I was almost on 

 top of him, when away he started, but you bet he did not get far. First 

 blood for me. Letting the dog loose he was not long in putting up three 

 more, and we got two of them, the third getting up out of range; and 

 so the sport went on for about thirty minutes, when up comes one of 

 those fierce thunder storms, and the way it did rain for all of two hours 

 was a caution; and we poor devils had to take it just as it came. The 

 only shelter vve had was a stack of oats. When the rain was over, two 

 more miserable looking sportsmen you never saw. We were covered 

 with mud and oat chaff and wet to the skin, and throughout the rest of 

 the day there was as many as a dozen little squalls of rain, and the 

 roads were little better than a slough. We had very good luck along to- 

 wards evening; we got everything we saw worth shooting— in fact 

 neither of us missed a shot until about 5 P. M., when we got in a covey 

 of chickens in a potato patch. It was raining when we loaded, and per- 

 haps the powder got damp, and my gun failed to go off, and of course 

 away 1 went the chickens, and when Pat saw the chickens flying away he 

 got mad, or excited, and blazed away right and left at the same chieken 

 I was trying to shoot; but the chicken was a long way out of range be- 

 fore he shot. No sooner had he emptied his gun when, from almost un- 

 der my feet, flew out tha rest of the flock— the old hen and about ten 

 half grown young ones. O, was'nt I mad, and I do believe I said some 

 prayers for their benefit about that time. As quick as possible we 

 loaded up again and followed them over into an oat field, and I had the 

 luck to raise two and drop them in fine style, right and left. We did 

 not get any more chickens after that, for they ran into the cornfield and 

 it is impossible to get them out of there. We now had fourteen chick- 

 ens and seven large plover. I call them whistling plover; is that the 

 right name? And so we started for home, where we arrived muddy, 

 wet and tired, about 6 P. M. I guess we had been home about thirty 

 minutes, when who should I see coming along in a worse fix than our- 

 selves, if, possible, but Jake and his pard— our rivals— with only one 

 chicken apiece. They got nearly drowned out where they went. 



They report that Mr. Wentworth has put poisoned meat around on his 

 farm for wolves, and so it is dangerous to let the do^s work. The 

 chickens are very scarce and hard to find, for they lay close in the corn. 

 We are going out again in a couple of days after that covey we missed 

 yesterday j and I hope to have as good luck as before. Yours, 



J« H. Reading 



