FOREST AND STREAM 



297 



Ontario Provincial Association for Protecting 

 Fish and Game. — Last Summer the managing editor of 

 this paper exerted his influence through personal inter- 

 views with Dr. Jas. Ross, Stephen He ward, J. Maughan, 

 Clifton Shears, of Toronto, 0. A. Post, John Bertram, 

 Maj. Bolton, John Ludgate of Peterboro, the editors of the 

 Mail and Globe, and other gentlemen of the Province of 

 Ontario, as well as by letter to many, to induce the organiza- 

 tion of a Provincial Game Association similar in character 

 to our State Association. Whatever weight these efforts 

 may have had, modesty forbids us to enquire; certain it is, 

 however, that such an association has just been formed, 

 with every promise of the support of the public. Some 

 ninety gentlemen met last week at the Rossin House in 

 Toronto, when a committee composed of Messrs. Marsh, 

 Coyne, Shears, Heward, and Bos well was appointed to 

 draft resolutions and report to a general meeting at the 

 earliest possible day. 



This movement is but the precursor of similar action in 

 the other Provinces, and the succeeding natural step will 

 be the organization of a Dominion Sportsmen's Associa- 

 tion similar in its composition and objects to our 

 National Sportsmen's Association. We have labor- 

 ed earnestly to bring about this consummation, for we 

 appreciate the grave importance of systematic correspond- 

 ence and cooperation between the United States and Cana- 

 da in this matter of game protection; resting as much upon 

 the enforcement of salutary laws in years to come, as in 

 their present or immediate enactment. In no way can this 

 co-operation be secured so completely as by the formation 

 of a Dominion Protective Association, exercising jurisdic- 

 tion over the local clubs. These two separate bodies, ex- 

 isting in separate countries, but acting in accord and con- 

 junction with each other, will be most potent; for it is 

 possible that by the time the lately constituted committees 

 of the "International Association" have completed their 

 draft of the desired game laws, the Dominion and subordi- 

 nate associations will be fully organized and prepared to 

 act in accordance with their provisions, if enacted by the 

 several Legislatures of the two countries, as it is hoped 

 they may be. 



Of the laxity of protective laws in Michigan an esteemed 

 correspondent writes: — 



Id this State (Michigan) the laws are violated in the most open and fla- 

 grant manner, and I am yet to hear of a single prosecntion. Those who 

 are bound together by associations are not infrequently among the most 

 open violators* Members of the Detroit clubs haunt the flats and Mon- 

 roe marshes during the close season, slaughtering game, and no attention 

 is paid to the fact farther than the daily papers extol the prowess of the 

 sportsman (?) The laws regarding the spearing of fish are violated daily 

 in the Traverse region, and that, too, by prosecuting attorneys, State offi- 

 cers, and others whose duty it is to prevent such abnses. In New York 

 things seem to be as bad. Oneida Lake is poached by all kinds of traps 

 and nets, in direct violation of the existing laws, but no attention is paid 

 to it as far as I can learn. Ruffed grouse that were snared are shipped 

 every season on the lines of railway. I have seen circulars from houses 

 in New York city, marked private and confidential, instructing how to 

 snare, pack and ship, and to mark as butter, poultry, etc., and in almost 

 every instance the station agents know what the packages are and how 

 procured. The game constable is almost always inefficient, and will be 

 until' the office is held by other means than by political favor. I am sorry 

 to see that "sportsmen's associations" are proving themselves associa- 

 tions for the promotion of trap shooting rather than the protection of 

 game. Look at the State association that met at Oswego a little more 

 than a year ago. "What was done toward improving the existing laws? 

 But there was a big trap shoot; just that and nothing more. The whole- 

 sale trapping, with no close season, is rapidly depleting the great lakes 

 of the finer fish, and if thorough measures are hot established whiteflsh 

 and trout will be as scarce as the salmon in Lake Ontario. Localities 

 where these fish were abundant five years since are now almost barren, 

 and the numbers of such increase yearly. 



Why will not the people awaken to these facts, and why will not sports- 

 men set the example? It is time for deeds, not words. A gentlemen 

 whom I met in Oswego said to me, "I would prosecute my own brother 

 or father, even if I had to pay their fine, if they violated the tip end of 

 the northeast corner of the game law." And I believe he would, and 

 wish that such were the rule instead of the exception. Canada enforces 

 her laws, but the States seem to enact such only for the purpose of 

 breaking them. * 



Deer Park, Maryland, December 6th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I have noticed in the Northern papers several times lately brief para- 

 graphs on the scarcity of small birds. I think that the subject is worthy 

 of investigation, for it seems to be the cry throughout the Northern and 

 Middle States,. I know that in my own neighborhood there is not a 

 snow bird, sparrow, robin, or any other of the cheerful little visitors that 

 congregate around our doors in the Winter. An occasional bine jay or 

 a small woodpecker are the only birds seen save those that are strictly 

 game. 



The subject of new game laws has at last been taken up, and our 

 country papers are doing all they can for it, but, as is the case every- 

 where, the strongest opponents it has are the cidevant sportsmen, who 

 think that all they need to merit the name— i. e., that of sportsman— is 

 a breech loader, a dog, a vivid imagination, and self-conceit proportion- 

 ate to their own ignorance. We have several of this kind of bagpipers, 

 and to give you an idea of their "airs" I will give you the gist of a con- 

 versation held with the greatest of them some time since. We had been 

 talking about the International Society for the Protection of Game and 

 Fish. "It is all a humbug," said he; "the fellows who get up anything 

 of that kind are of no account whatever; all they want is for you to keep 

 the birds from being killed by any one .else, and when the law is up 

 they'll come to help yon slaughter it all in a few days. I know all about 

 'em; yon can't tell me anyihing in regard to sech kinds of associations. 

 Besides that, you can't stop people from killing game whenever they 

 wish, and it is all nonsense to think you can," &c, &c. Such are the 

 arguments that are nsed against us and our efforts by men who, from 

 their position, ought to know better. 



FOX HUNTING. 



Obituary. —Mr. Charles Bell of the United States Fish 

 Commission, died or" typhoid fever at Waukeegan, 111., on 

 the 4th inst. He was a young fish culturist of rare promise ; 

 had heen at the fish farm at Honeoye Falls since its estab- 

 lishment; was a graduate of the A.cademv at Broekport; 

 and had for some years been studying medicine. He was 

 engaged this season by the Commission in the work with 

 the shad, and was on his way to Michigan to distribute sal- 

 mon when he was taken sick. His age waa twenty-two. 



THE hunting of foxes with dogs, in this section of the 

 country at least, appears, for the time being, to have 

 subsided ; none the less necessary, however, is it that the 

 foxes should be kept down if we would have any game 

 left, more particularly the ruffed grouse, which appears to 

 be a dainty much affected by master fox, probably because 

 of his being a "convenient" bird, not like the Irishman's 

 turkey, "a little too much for one and not quite enough for 

 two." However frightful it may sound to our English cous- 

 ins, it is necessary, in the absence of more legitimate 

 means of hunting them, that we should shoot our foxes, 

 and the mode of doing so in Massachusetts is described in 

 the following letters: — 



Brockmne, Mass., November 26th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I attended an old fashioned fox hunt a short time ago on Cape Cod, 

 near Hyannis— ho horses, but with an excellent pack of dogs (six of 

 them) and six men. We take stands behind rocks, trees, bushes, or any- 

 thing that will conceal, a man, and the dogs are started into the brush. 

 The place is called Great Island, is owned by one of our prominent Bos- 

 ton merchants, and is connected with the main land by a narrow neck of 

 sand; and by stationing one person, or even by hanging up an overcoat 

 or blanket at the point where the neck joins the island, the foxes are 

 kept from going off, and as the island is only about a mile long and half 

 as wide, the fox is sure to give someone a shot sooner or later. This 

 time we bagged three in about two hours— one very fine old dog fox and 

 two of this year's cubs. The two cubs came out of the woods almost 

 immediately, and were killed, but the old one gave the dogs a splendid 

 run of about an hour before he came within range, and then I had the 

 honor of rolling him over with a charge of No. 1 shot, at about forty 

 yards. This, of course, is not quite as high toned sport as your New 

 Jersey fox hunters expected to have last week, but the results are much 

 more satisfactory. On the cape foxes are considered as vermin, for 

 they do a great deal of damage to the hen roosts. Lawrence. 



"One moment the noise indicated that he was coming nearer, the next 

 the sound became fainter and fainter, and almost died out; finally, he 

 took a direction towards a road whicti passed on the north side of the 

 swamp. One of our party, Fred. S., who is an enthusiastic sportsman 

 and an excellent shot, after stationing us in a favorable place, with the 

 injunction to keep our eyes peeled, started for the road. Upon reach- 

 ing this he perceived by the fresh prints in the mnddy road that it was 

 not a rabbit, but a fox that the dog was chasing. Knowing that the fox 

 would probably come back this road again, he hastened forward and find- 

 ing a suitable place he crept into the bushes. Hardly had he concealed 

 himself when the noise of the dog showed that the fox wa§ approaching. 

 Pretty soon he saw him coming down the road like a streak of lightning: 

 as he went past him he gave him one barrel, intending to put in the 

 other if he did not kill him. Not seeing him go by an open space he 

 concluded that his shot had met with success, and on running out he 

 found him kicking his last in the road. The peculiar circumstances con- 

 nected with this hunt are not often met with in this vicinity. The time 

 of day- -as the early morn is considered the best time; the short time 

 that passed between the starting of the fox and his being shot, it being 

 about an hour; the size of shot used, being No 7, as we did not expect 

 to see anything larger than a rabbit, and had no other size. The fox 

 was a red one, of medium size, would weigh about twelve pounds, and 

 was killed within fifteen miles of Boston. "D." 



Bromeield House, Boston, December 5th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



On reference to our market price list during the season now past, we 

 readily prove that the ruffed grouse in the Eastern States has been unu- 

 sually scarce. In our own experience we have not found one fourth the 

 birds we bagged last year. This difference offers a good ground for 

 speculation as to the real causes, which, if discovered, might be of much 

 importance to assist us in framing our protective laws. Although ac- 

 counted for in various ways, it is a fact worthy of notice that in oar ram- 

 blings of last Winter we found the tracks of the prowling fox unusually 

 prevalent. Imagine an area of a square mrle, inhabited by a dozen 

 grouse scattered about, and perhaps only one fox occupying the same 

 ground. When the excessive cold nights of our Winter forces them 

 from their usual perches in the trees to seek a warm bed in the snow, 

 what shall protect those helpless birds from falling a prey to their natu- 

 ral enemy. 



Now the fox, having no natural enemy more formidable than the do- 

 mestic hen, can be dealt with only with the dog and gun, and the sport 

 involves so much real work and a natural tact and cunning, educated hy 

 a certain amount of experience, that few sportsmen are willing to devote 

 their leisure days to it. Even if successful, and the "brush" is bcrne 

 home in triumph, he has no choice offering for the table of himself or 

 friend. The sportsman hunts the game bird for pleasure, the market 

 shooter hunts him for profit. The fox hunts him to suck his warm blood 

 and feast on his white and delicate flesh. So we all go hunting the game 

 bird, and every "hoodlum" (Forest and Stream) gets in a »hot and oc- 

 casionally kills his game, while the fox is left to prowl by night, stealing 

 the unsuspecting chicken from the shadow of our dwelling, or surpris- 

 ing the beautiful ruffed grouse in his hiding place beneath the curtain of 

 snow. After skillfully dodging the guns of a neighborhood all through 

 the Autumn he escapes us, but we find his feathers and bones where he 

 died so ingloriously. 



I am gratified to see that a move is being made in New York tending 

 to increase the interest in, and popularity of, fox hunting, and hope it 

 will extend over New England. Although the good old English style is 

 impossible here, we can bring out a brace of good hounds and listen to 

 them as they scud across the valley, and when they circle the adjacent 

 hill and their deep voices ring out mellow and rich in the morning air, 

 then is the time to bound forward and take the stand. And I would 

 suggest, in conjunction with our protective laws, which have already 

 done so much good, that our Legislature be urged to offer an appropriate 

 bounty for every fox killed in season, thus increasing the attraction for 

 the business gunner. M. 



Apropos of fox hunting comes the following letter from 

 our Philadelphia correspondent regarding paper hunts. 

 This is a sport which can be followed everywhere and by 

 everyone, either on foot or on horseback, and we look for- 

 ward to the day when it shall be part of the regular pas- 

 times of our large schools and colleges, as it is now in 



England : — 



Philadelphia, November 39th, 1875. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I am glad to see that the fox hunt, of which you gave such an interest- 

 ing account in the last number of the Forest and Stream, has proved 

 that Mr. Fairchild was mistaken when, in his letter of the 15th instant, 

 he predicted that it would be a hunt without riders. He certainly would 

 have no difficulty in mustering a "score of respectable cross country 

 riders" in this city. To be sure, the • number has greatly increased in 

 the recent past. Fox hunting, steeple chasing, hurdle racing, and "hare 

 and hounds," are sports that are looking up in this quarter, and are 

 worth looking up in all the other quarters. Mr. Ellicott Fisher's "hare 

 and hounds at Wakefield," a few weeks a go, was a decided success, and 

 brought onr^oths fine riders and some fine riding. The "paper hunt' ♦ 

 Wfta instituted not because the riders feared the rough riding, or because 



there are no foxes, but just for the fun of the thing. There will be an- 

 other meet on Saturday next, an account of which I will send you. 



On Thanksgiving day a number of guests assembled at Spring Bank, 

 and indulged themselves in tilting at a ring and hurdle racing over hur- 

 dles two feet six inches, three feet six inches, and a brush hurdle three 

 feet eight inches . The riders numbered about forty, among whom the 

 ladies not only claimed a good share in the numbers, but in the exhibi- 

 tion of skill in horsemanship. 



Our hunters are not reduced to the necessity of chasing "bagmen," for 



foxes are not at all scarce, even in the immediate vicinity of the city. 



There will be a number of hunts in the coming few weeks, and of some 



of them you will hear. Sculls. 

 -^.» — 



CHOKE BORES. 



The writer of the first of the following letters, if he re- 

 reads the article from the Illustrated Sporting and Dranmtic 

 News, will find that the writer only claimed that Mr. Dou- 

 gall had so improved on the choke bore system as to pre- 

 vent the balling or clubbing of the shot on the target. 

 With regard to the second letter, we suggest that if our 

 correspondent, in his challenge, had offered to test his gun 

 against the other for something besides quality of material 

 and beauty of finish, it would have been a little more busi- 

 ness like. The fact is, gentlemen, your favorite makers 

 are both good, and as for the ehoke bore, it will be for- 

 gotten before your guns are finally laid upon the shelf. 

 By-the-by, we wonder if it was with a choke bore that 

 Lord Henry Lennox shot Captain Montague at a partriclge- 

 drive the other day. Col. Bodine, the eminent rifle shot 

 and member of the American Rifle Team, has just in- 

 formed us that he has one of Mr. Dougall's modified choke 

 bores that for pattern and penetration is something re- 

 markable : — 



Jackson, Miss., November 30th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



If the figures in your article on "choke bores," copied from London 

 Illustrated Sportinq and Dramatic News are not erroneous, then that 

 paper knows nothing about choke bores. I presume No. 6 shot was 

 used, about 280 pellets to the ounce; the pattern, shot after shot, aver- 

 aged from 190 to 200 pellets on a twenty inch (say twenty inch) circle at 

 forty yards. If that is not choke bore, what is it? Was the shot balled 

 or clubbed, and where, then, does Mr. Dougall's discovery come in, that 

 "choke bores, pure and simple, are a failure?" I make three points: — 

 1. Mr. Dougall never made average targets as above. 2. Mr, Dougall 

 never will. 3. The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News did not see 

 it, either. Geo. C. Eyrich. 



New York, December 5th, 1875 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



In your issue of December 2d appears an article from "Gloan" on 

 choke bores. I have read it carefully. I seems to me to be written for 

 two purposes— first, to give his favorite maker another puff, and second, 

 to assail the reputation of an eminent gunmaker, whose guns need no 

 puffiing, because they speak for themselves. This he does by insinua- 

 tions, and by a misstatement of facts. He says "Mr. Pape was not en- 

 titled to the cup as the inventor of choke boring; that the only reason 

 he secured it was because he was the only claimant in England." Can 

 it be possible that "Gloan" does not know that what he states is not a 

 fact? If Mr. Pape was the only claimant, why should the Field wait two 

 months before deciding who was entitled to it? Again, he says, "What 

 gunmaker ever heard, until lately, that Pape was boring extraordinary 

 shooting guns." Let me ask "Gloan" if he ever heard of the gun trials 

 of 1858, 1859, and 1866? Does he not know that Mr. Pape won all these 

 trials; and that in the 1875 trial, out of a class of sixty-eight guns, three 

 out of the best six were made by Pape? What position did Mr. Dougall 

 get in these trials? In the 1866 trial his gun was fifteenth in a class of 

 thirty-two suns, and in the last trial he took the very worst position, 

 being out shot by small makers that were never heard of in America 

 before. If Mr. Dougall makes such extraordinary shooting guns, why 

 did he not accept Mr. Pape's offer to shoot six guns against his for any 

 sum he might name. "Gloan" says, "Every one knows that he is op- 

 posed to excessive choke boring," and at the fame time he tells us that 

 his last gun has exceeded ail that was done by the winner in the last 

 trial. Surely he don't wish us to believe that a gun that will do this is 

 a "modified choke?" 



Now, sir, I have owned one, and seen a number of Dougall's guns, 

 and in my humble 'opinion they are not the eQual of Mr. Pape's. In 

 fact, T have so much confidence in the Pape gun I now own that I make 

 "Gloan" the following proposition: I will place my gun in the hands of 

 Col. Skinner, of the Turf, Field and. Farm, or the editor of your paper, 

 and let "Gloan" send on the finest Dougall he has. Let these gentle- 

 men, or some one they may select, decide between the gnns on the fol- 

 lowing points— first, quality of material; second, beauty of workman- 

 ship. Furthermore, I will shoot my gun against any 12 gauge sporting 

 bored Dougall gun he has in his possession for any amount he may 

 name, or for reputation. E.L. 



Norfolk, Va., December 10th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream .— 



As promised in my last, and requested by yon, I propose giving my 

 experience with my Scott choke bore gun on quail. For open ground it 

 is perfection, and in the field I rarely miss getting two birds from a co- 

 vey, finding no trouble in killing them clean at forty and fifty yards; but 

 as most of our shooting at quail is in thick brush, to 'which they invari- 

 ably resort when flushed, the choke bore then proves a failure, as the 

 shooting has to be done so quickly that the biri is either torn to piece? 

 or missed altogether, more frequently the latter. So far as my expe- 

 rience goes, I much prefer a modified choke for general shooting, and 

 while a poor shot will at first miss frequently with such a gun, I am sat- 

 isfied it will in less than one season improve his shooting far more than 

 it would be by a "scattererun," and am rather surprised that you, who 

 insist so strongly on every fish being killed scientifically, should wish 

 the birds killed by accident. In my estimation they occupy a much 

 higher position on the game list, and, although I am only an ordinary 

 shot, I am perfectly willing for all to escape on which I fail to hold a 

 correct aim. 



Do not understand me as advocating choke bores for "double close 

 shooting," as I think such guns must invariably prove to be useless toys 

 in the hands of their owners, except for trap shooting, or an occasional 

 long shot at a stationary object. Mine shoots far enough for me, as I 

 recently killed a black duck with No. 2 shot at least one hundred yards 

 off, and with No. 4 or 5 shot I consider fifty to sixty yards an easy range. 

 As a further evidence of its hard shooting power, in October I killed a 

 fawn weighing one hundred pounds, with No. 8 shot, running straight 

 from me at about twenty to twenty-five yards. I hope you will net be 

 so severe on choke bores in the future. Alfred. 



St. Louis, December 11th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



When "Fair Play" wrote his article on Greener's guns he believed sil 

 he wrote. Since then he ha^ gotten one of the guns, and he still believes 

 it the best gun he has seen. As Mr. Pape desires to shoot in this coun- 

 try, his own against Mr. Greener's gun,"Fair Plav" accents his proposal, 

 and will leave here to-night with his gun, and will meet Mr. Pape in your 

 office some day next week and arrange a little private gun trial, to take 

 place the day of meeting or the next day, the result in full to be pub- 

 lished in your paper. This arrangement will not cost Mr. Pape a dollar, 

 and "Fair Play is sincere in saying he hopes if Mr, Pap@'s gun is the 



