218 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



J Ms^ 



l^SZI 



fame j§ag nnd %un. 



GAME NOW IN SEASON. 



Moose, Alces malchis. Pinnated grouse or prairie chicken, 



Cariboo, Tarandus rangifer. Cupiuonia cupido. 



Elk or wapiti, Cervus ca/uidensis. Buffed grouse or pheasant, Bonasa 



Red or Virginia deer, G.ii/gi/uanus. umbellus. 



Squirrels, red, black and gray. Quail or partridge, Ortyx Virginia- 



Hares, brown and gray. nus. 



Wild turkey, Mekag/is gallopa- Woodcock, Philohela minor. 



■IX) 



"Bay-birds" generally, in eluding various species of plover, sand-pipers, 

 snipe, curlews,oyster-catchers,surf-bird8, phalaropes, avocets, etc., com- 

 ing under the group Limicolce, or Shore Buds. 



— Our Boston correspondent narrates a series of singular 

 incidents which occurred while he was on a shooting ex- 

 cursion with a party of friends at Prince Edwards Island, 

 in His Gulf of St Lawrence. He writes. — 



"Fish Island, in the town of Malpeque, on the north 

 coast of Prince Edwards Inland is the champion place for 

 bay-bird shooting, in August. In the summer of 187S a 

 party of us went to the inland, staying with the lighthouse 

 keeper, who, with a pet hog, are the sole occupants. Of 

 the hog, which was the hero of the camp, I will give you 

 a few incidents. Coming, as this does, from Fish Island, 

 it may be considered a fishy story, but four living witnesses 

 can vouch for its truth. This hog was always around, and 

 although his eais were pierced and his tail cut short one 

 cuil lrom the straight effect of a "Mr. Remington." he 

 was very happy when eating mallards which had been left 

 in the box during our temporary absence. We thought 

 their disappearance due to hawks, or some four-footed ani- 

 mal until he was detected in the act. But of all things he 

 liked best was the winter yeilowlcgs. One day two of 

 these alighted among the decoys of one of the party, who 

 shot one dead; the other lie w about one hundred yards, 

 and then he too fell dead. He started for the distant one 

 first, knowing the first one shot to be dead where he was. 

 "When near the bird, a fish hawk swooped down and car- 

 ried him off in spite of two barrels of No. 8 sent after him. 

 On returning to the stand, a strange sight met Ills eyes. 

 Mr. Hog, who had been concealed in the bushes, was very 

 quietly devouring the first bird, and ran off witli the legs 

 hanging from his mouth! You can imagine the laugh I hat 

 went around, as the whole affair was watched by the rest 

 of the party." 



We think our friend had very hard luck, and would ad- 

 vise any who may hereafter shoot over this ground, to 

 muzzle the hog before they go out. "S. K." wishes to 

 correct an error in his article on alligators in our issue of 

 October 17th, page 1G4, which reads, as printed, "the eggs 

 are four inches long and very tender," whereas it should 

 have said, "the young, when hatched." The statement, 

 however, was not far out of the way, as one egg now 

 before us, of the average size, measures 3£ inches in length. 



Qualities Required eoh Successful Deer-stalking. 

 — An eminent Scotch writer and hunter, whose kindred 

 excel in deer-stalking, designates the qualities requisite 

 for success in this method of hunting, as follows: 



"It may readily be supposed, that for the pursuit of 

 deer-stalking a hardy frame and plenty of pluck are re- 

 quired. These qualities are indispensably necessary ; but 

 in the other points he may vary as much as the average of 

 men are seen to do. The model deer-stalker, however, 

 should be of good proportions, moderately tall, narrow- 

 hipped to give speed, and with powerful loins and well- 

 developed' chest for giving endurance and wind. No 

 amount of fat should be allowed; indeed, the deer-stalker 

 ought to be in as good training as the race-horse and grey- 

 hound. The foot should be sure, and the eye keen and 

 long-seeing, as the telescope cannot always be applied to 

 that important organ, lie should be practiced in running 

 and stooping, in crawling on his belly, or on his back, by 

 means of his elbows or his heels; and should care neither 

 for business, cold, nor wet. The nerves should be good, 

 for the excitement pioduced by this sport is such as to 

 render unsteady the hand of all but those who are of the 

 phlegmatic temperament. 'Dutch courage 'is not desir- 

 able, but 'Dutch phlegm' will here serve in good stead. 

 The bodily powers are not the only ones which should be 

 well-developed, for the brain thould be active and ener- 

 getic as the body itself. Great control over the Jeelings is 

 absolutely essential; for the giving way to exultation and 

 hope, or depression produced by the fear of losing a shot, 

 will generally cause that which is most to be feared. 

 Aoove all, temperance must be practiced— no shaking 

 hand or flinching eye will serve the purpose of the still- 

 hunter; nor will the parched throat or the perspiring skin 

 avail him when rushing up the hillside or through the 

 winding valley. In fact, strict training, in all its details, is 

 required; and the more it is carried out, the more complete 

 will be 'the success of the practiser of its disagreeable 

 duties. The dress of the deer-stalker should be light and 

 elastic, yet tolerably warm. The head should be covered 

 with a close-fitting cap or soft hat, and, above all, the shoes 

 should be fitted with strong nails, to enable the foot to 

 take secure hold of the slippery places found in the moun- 

 tains and among the hills and woods. The color of all 

 should be sober and natural; gray or a mixture of black 

 and, white, or brown being as good as any, since it accords 

 well with the rocks and ground which are so common in 

 the haunts of the deer." 



Canada — The Belleville Intelligencer says that sportsmen 

 report that they never saw so many of the large jacksnipe 

 in that vicinity as at present. In the bogs along the bay 

 shore the snipes are so plentiful that a good marksman may 

 bag from twenty to fifty in half a day. Plover are now 

 scarce, and though ducks are quite numerous they are ex- 

 ceedingly wary, the weather being as yet too fine. Par- 

 tridges are reported as fairly numerous in the woods, and 

 we hear occasionally of red foxes being caught. 



Danville, P. Q., Oot s 31st— I have much pleasure in en- 

 closing you $4, account renewal of my subscription to 

 your paper, believing it to be the very best paper of its 

 kind. 1 was painfully interested in that chapter of gun- 

 ning accidents contained in a late number of the paper, 

 and think your words of caution with regard to handling 

 of guns and loading of shells are most timely. 1 have 

 always been exceedingly careful about handing a gun, but 

 confess to some carelessness about ramming powder in 



loading shells; but shall be very oareful in future. My 

 biggest bag this season has been 115 snipe in four half 

 days' shooting — two guns. Wishing you much prosperity, 

 I remain, 0. 



Massachusetts— Fall River, November 1st. — Yesterday a 

 party of five shot 20 grouse, 19 quail and one woodcock. 

 Owing to the dry season the grouse are found, along the 

 edge of the ponds, and afford good shooting. Quail are 

 giving fine sport, as they are very abundant. Have heard 

 of one bag of 162 quail, 9 grouse and 1 woodcock, by three 

 men in three days. Broadbills are shot in the Westport 

 ponds and give fine sport. Nix. 



Salem, Nov. Qih.—l am told that there are many sea 

 fowl in the bay by fishermen who see them; woodcock are 

 scarce and will be more so; other game show up fairly. 

 Shooting at the cape— that is, at North Chatham— as re- 

 poited by friends lately has been quiet; at Ipswich it has 

 been fair, with good prospect of picking up some scatter- 

 ing grass birds yet. Owls very common— in fact, rapa- 

 cious birds, judging from local observations, have been 

 uncommonly numerous this autumn. Teal- 



Boston, November Oth.— There is fun to be had on old 

 Cape Cod. Quail and wild fowl shooting and picking 

 cranberries is not all. A party of eight of us had another 

 deer hunt last Tuesday. Ban seven deer and got two of 

 them, but can't do that every time. M. 



Virginia— Alexandria, Oct. 3ilh. — We are making en- 

 deavors to borrow a gun, some powder and shot, a dog 

 ("sooner" or later), and a hunting coat and pants, when 

 we will wend our way to to the backwoods in pursuit of 

 the noble Or. virg. and the frisky Sciurus carolinensis. We 

 expect that the latter animal will give our dog all he wants 

 in getting at him as I am told he frequents the most out of- 

 the-way places. The plural pronoun is used in the above 

 lines because "Chiney" is to be my partner on I he occasion; 

 but how in the world he is to get a shot (being so near- 

 sighted) at S. carolinensis without a telescope is more than 

 I cau tell you. However, if you can be prevailed on to 

 print the result of our sport (at ihe rate of two schooners a 

 rage) I will endeavor to send Forest and Stream an ac- 

 count. Chaw. 



We would recommend to our correspondent a 10 gauge 

 shooting stick when he goes for sciurus. We wish his suc- 

 cess, a "fat take," and narrow measure. 



Indiana — Fort Wayne, Oct. 30th.— Quail are very plenty 

 here. A bag I made last Tuesday, sixteen brace and one 

 rabbit, and other bags reported larger than this along the 

 Wabash Valley Road between Fort Wayne and Lafayette. 



T. W. & W. 



California— San Francisco, Oct. 2St7i.—A party of four 

 went out lust week to Simmons Lake, on the Marysvilie 

 road, near Sacramento, who report excellent duck shooting 

 in that quarter. They killed 1,200, and say that the dueks 

 came in such numbers that the hunters could not load their 

 guns fast enough to shoot them, and finally had to desist 

 from their work of slaughter by reason of sheer physical 

 exhaustion. 



Nevada. — The regular quarterly meeting of the Virginia 

 Shooting Club was held on the 21st October. The weather 

 was fine and birds unusually good. Seventeen of the mem- 

 bers of the club contested at 12 birds each, 21 yards rise, 

 80 yards boundary. Col. Osbiston was the referee, and 

 Messrs. Schoneinann and Hully, judges. Mr. Diamond 

 won the medal by a clean score, and Mr. Taylor sustained 

 his reputation and continues to Hold the leather medal. 

 The members generally are improving in trap shooting, as 

 will be seen by the following score: — 



Name. Total.! Name. Total. 



Taylor 2 E. A . Schultz 1 1 



F. Bi.-hop 9G. Daly 



Buckingham fc 



Li'. Robinson 1( 



Shay i 



J antes Conroy 9 



Dormer 9 



Woods 6 



Kritzer 9, 



On the following the former winners shot off for the 

 permanent ownership of the gold annual medal, with the 

 following result at 16 single rises, 21 yards, 80 bounds:— 



10 



Diamond 12 



vlaestretti 4 



j. S. Kanieu 10 



W. D. O. Gibson 10 



G. Bry son 7 



D.H.Jackson 9 



Name. 



Diamond 



Dr. Robinson. 

 Geo. Daly 



Score. Total. 

 .111110 11111110 1 1-14 

 111101101101101 1-12 

 .110110011110111 1-13 



ARE THE ADIRONDACKS PLAYED OUT? 



October 25th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



A short article in a late issue of Forest and Stream met my eye. It 

 was entitled "The Be-Mnrray-ed Adirondacks." Its drift was to empha- 

 size the assertion that the Adirondacks as a hunting and fishing ground 

 are exhausted ; that they have been so overrun by eager and unscrupu- 

 lous sportsmen that it has no longer reward for the lovers of the rod and 

 gun. To a great extent this is the melancholy fact. If we were wholly 

 selfish in our passion for these sports, we should hail every such para- 

 graph; we should secretly connive at the dissemination of such intelli- 

 gence. We should say, "Let the little types carry that conviction every- 

 w here. Blazon it abroad, Forest and Stream, Turf, Field and Farm! 

 Let the north wind tell it to the pines, and the wild ducks to the sea! 

 Empty the Great Woods of 'Murray's fools' and all pot-hunters, adven- 

 turers, men barren of true sylvan instincts as the average speech in Con- 

 gress is of interest! Let the great wilderness have a rest to lecover its 

 waning streugth and lost prestige!" 



But we claim a kind of brotherhood with every true lover of Walton- 

 ian sports. Wo envy no one his "luck" or enjoyment. Therefore we 

 come to champion still the Adirondack. Ha\^ we not the right to speak, 

 haying returned this summer fiom our twentieth annual trip to that par- 

 adise of tired ministers and hackneyed habitues of the mart? The Sar- 

 anac, Raquette liver, Chateaugay, Lake Pleasant and Union Chain re- 

 gions are, if you please, "played out;" at least the trout are in that con- 

 dition. Magnificent still in scenery, they are at the minimum in sport. 

 But there are portions of the Great North Woods which the feet of 

 Murray have never trodden; which have never given echo to his endless- 

 ly repeating rifle; where no loon is so crazy as to be shot at sixty times 

 in a thunder storm. 



Do you ask where? Well, we will not tell all the world through the 

 Forest ano Stream. We will tell you, dear Editor, or any other scru- 

 pulous sportsman who wants a month or old-fashioned, honest, first- 

 class fishing and hunting. We wiU whisper of a region where the guides 

 are intelligent, capable, self -denying, industrious men, furnishing them- 

 selves, the tent3, the camp equipments (including everything but pro- 

 visions), and the finest clinker-built boats for $3 per day, satisfied with 

 that, and expecting 10 baits nor bonus. 



We will tell you of our party of five men with three guides, who 

 camped on the larch-fringed banks of a lake which had not rippled to a 

 paddle this year until ©ur's sent as gliding toward the doomed deer. We 



will tell of twenty-five red-coated fellows seen by day and by night of 

 which we might easily have killed twenty, but of which number we 'did 

 kill only six. precisely enough for the supply of our table, and no more 



We might tell Bro. Murray of lakes and streams where he would hay' 

 unjsinted that fly rod as quickly as a black fly gets behind your ear and 

 where.without any professional study of profes?ors,cinnamon, gray drak 

 ibis, or other fancy lures, but with plain brown and black hackle h' 

 could have made the deep pools boil like a pot withleaping trout that 

 would have bent that tip beyond the hand, and made him "advance tup 

 butt" to his wrist's content. 



But we can also tell him that it isn't Broadway or Washington street 

 (though that is crooked enough, heaven knows,) to reach those localities 

 It will take all the nap off from fancy velvet jackets, and give him food 

 for a new description of a real "carry," or by substituting a black bear 

 for his famous midnight buck he may be dragged through the thicket 

 by a tail that will hold. We did all but the tail, for on one occasion bat 

 for bruin, who had just passed, we should hardly have made head 

 through the entangled and strangling alders. In a word we write over 

 against this summer bivouac in the Adirondacks, in scarlet letters, "a 

 Centennial success." 



The writer has had every possible experience in that vast expanse of 

 mountain, forest, river and lake, sometimes highly satisfacto.y, some- 

 times disheartening; but he had never had a vacation in those solitudes 

 mere fruitful of game of eve.y species, more pleasing as to guide ser- 

 vice, or richer in the incidents which lend such luscious flavor to sy!van 

 life. If any true brother of the angle aud rifle having sufficient self- 

 mastery to limit his achievements with both to the actual needs of him- 

 self and party desires to learn more of ihe localities and guides herein 

 hinted, it will give the undersigned great pleasure to increase his insight, 



J. Clement French. 



POT HUNTING IN^T^ENN SYLVAN I A. 



Milford, Pike county, Pa., Nov. 2d. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



This is an extraordinary place, surrounded by natural attractions. 

 Every physical and natural phenomenon for twenty miles around is in- 

 dustriously telegraphed to the New York dallies.and every now and then 

 an effort is mdde to induce sportsmen (God save the mark !) to pay the 

 place a visit. I have a word to say to such visiters. 



Ruffed grouse shooting began- here on July 4th. The season had been 

 an exceptionally good one birds were plenty and poultry hardly able to 

 fly found a ready market at a fashionable hotel at 20 cents apiece. The 

 inducement to make money was too great for several market hunters to 

 withstand, and by Auuust 15th the young birds were as wary as crows, 

 and the protestations of several readers of Forest and Stream result- 

 ed in an armistice of twenty days. Since the 15th of September shoot- 

 ing at pheasants (ruffed grouse) has been steady, and now storng birds 

 may be picked up if the uunter has a gun that will off a bird when it 

 rises at 8 mimimum distance of 60 yards; now and then a cripple comes 

 to bag, but it requires men provided with "wire cattridges" to bring in 

 a loacLihat a five-year old could not carry. 



Seriously, Mr. Editor, it is a clear case of swindling to induce or ad- 

 vise anyone who ioves sport to come here. Every bird within a radius 

 of ten miles has been shot at for at least two months, snaring is ram- 

 pant, and Milford is only good for men who wish a pleasant, retired 

 headquarters from whence to emerge when going to a rendezvous twen- 

 ty or ihirty miles distant. Back at Shohola and Lackawaxen, down to 

 Bushkill, away iu New Jersey, up the Neversink valley, and on the 

 banks of the Susquehanna may the sportsman hope to find spois where 

 birds do not get up as wild as hawks, but not here. On the Shohola and 

 around the Blooming Grove Paikgrounds, and towards The Knob, dter 

 are plenty, but even here there are snares on every log, and a pheasant 

 cannot "drum" without bulling the wire market. Will net some sports- 

 man wipe out this scandal on the laws of Pennsylvania, by making the 

 statutes a little clearer in regard to shooting game out of season, and 

 the possession of snares and snared birds? Amateur. 



-•*•♦ 



PACKING DEER. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Oct, 21th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



'Triangle," in your issue of Oct. 12th, goes gently after our style of 

 packing meat into camp. FiOm what he says I think your deer must 

 dress much heavier than our blacktails. Bucks weighing over 200 los. 

 net are not often killed here outside of the newspapers, and a buck 

 weiguini;2001bs. is a rarity. The heaviest deer I ever killed in the 

 Sierra did not go over 225, although I have heard of far. bocks pulling 

 down 2C0. I never weighed a deer of my own killing in my life, and my 

 weights are all guess work, but I think fair estimates. Our camp out- 

 fits are generally as light as we can make them, and I never saw a pair 

 of scales in the mountains. Of course the weights 1 have given are 

 •net; if you think it worth while I will give my ••experience" in this 

 matter more in detail. I don't disagree with ."Triangle" in the main, 

 but knoVv that my own propositions are facts. 



Suppose you send me "Triangle's" address. I should like to invite 



him to a hunt on the North Fork if he ever comes.to California. 



El Cazadoe. 

 «».♦♦. . , 



NEWFOUNDLAND ITEMS. 



Harbor Grace, Oct. 21st. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



The weather here has been very stormy for some time, strong north- 

 west gales almost. The potato crop is turning out generally well, which 

 is a great thing for the poor. I am not a sportsman, but feel sure that 

 the late stormy weather must have militated largely against our eager 

 devotees of the gun. My friend old Mr. S.,who formerly lived here 

 but is now deceased, was a great shot, and was blamed for killing near 

 ly all the partridge in the district. Why, Bir, in other districts, mainly 

 that of Catalina, I have seen them walking before me like chickens; 

 that's because they knew I could not fire the gun, I suppose, and 1 reco- 

 lect we once killed a partridge with a stone long after the 15th of Sep- 

 tember, the legal time. Any man who shoots or butts against the law is 

 unworthy of the name of a sportsman, and runs the risk of all the sol- 

 emn consequences. Our partridge here are getting very scarce. Some 

 have thought that it is because the wild rabbits have sucked or destroyed 

 the eggs. I am sure I don't know. My own opinion is that the rabbits 

 are more useful to the poor than the partridge. The Newfoundlanders, 

 with the help of friends, are going ahead in energizing mineral and ag- 

 ricultural resources, besides the fisheries, and the times most solemnly 

 warn us that we must do so . I am strongly inclined to believe from my 

 geological observation that nickel will be found yet in great abundance, 

 but hope gold never will. I suppose that there are not less than 2,000 

 persons supported out of Telt Cone and Betts Cone copper mines, and 

 undoubtedly there are great deposits of mineral. 



— -♦•♦- — 



TIME LIMIT IN TRAP SHOOTING. 



c. 



New Brighton, Pa., Oct. 28. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Being somewhat interested in trap shooting, and seeing that a numoe 

 of clubs propose to abolish the 80 and 100 yards boundary rule, I would 

 put my plea against such a course, for two reasons. The first is, we can 

 seldom obtain grounds properly inclosed without buildings or trees, an 

 very often having woods adjacent. How may shooters are there that go 

 to the trap, call "pull, fire, and miss, but still wait to see the bird fall. 

 The bird alights on some object, say within 200 yards of the score. 

 "Time!" I'll 'try and gather the bird. The judges are com P eli ^ 

 to accompany the shooter to let him gather his bird inside of the thre 

 miLutes. Now, with a squad of poor shoes who average five out of te, 

 vou would shoot at the remarkable number of 30 birds per bour,er<J* 



