THE AMERICAN 



SPORTSMAN^S 



JOURNAL. 



[Entered Aeoording to Act of Conorreas, in the year 18T9, by the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, in the OtBce of tho Librarian of Congreae, at Washington 



10Ct<i. n Copy, j 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPT. 16,1880. 



V Tork, 



CONTENTS. 



EDrroRIAl,:— 

 AGrayiiojy Dinner; Bay Snipo Shooting-; The Creedmoor 

 M-Ptlns; Alimir tLobhore; Anifiinir Ouifests; Game Pro- 

 tection in Wyoming; The Game Fish ot Texas ; Thu Caua- 

 diaa KeunelClub 123 



THB 'POtlTSMAN ToURtST :— 



Kouarh Notes from toejVVoods..... 123 



NATtruAt. Htstory:— 

 Bald-Headci Men Rpwnre; Tlie Lampnt of tho Fruit 

 Gmwer; Ciiptive Can; Thn Besivpr in Iowa; A I'artridire 

 Fly; IntHiltjf.-iico I'l' the; Hoc.i-v li'rd: .MitfraUDg Night- 

 bawls; Aboat the European (;uoli.oo 12T 



Fl»iii r;xn,TTn»E :— 

 Dr. Garlick's Uoolc: How the First Shad wpre Hatched; Mr. 

 Thorn nsou'8 Trout Pounds on Long Island; Carp Grow 

 Uiipidly : 123 



8e\ and RtVER FiSBINO:— 



H.ilirtsoran Oresroii Siiciier; The Game Pish of Texas; Ti'e 

 Has=i.s or Tennps«'e; The Itevisi^m of ihe Salinonidai; 

 Fi>hinB- nl M.utim's Viriyaid; Striped lia'^s; Hnhiis of 

 Siihnon; The Usi- of tliu Hoo.i, etc.; A Fishing Trip on 

 LakoBupurior; liig liass 129 



Game IIao a>ti Gun :— 



Useful Gun Trials ; The Bursting ol^ Dr. Nash's Gun ; Notes, lao 

 TheKennet.:- 



Torouto Don Show ; Dog Fleas ; Small Pointer Stoolc 133 



Grtctkbt :— 

 OrlgiQ of Eound-Arm Bowling; Matches and News Nates. . 133 



rACfTTINa AUn CAN0BIN0 5— 



Some Npw Fittings; Ro.val Canadian Tacht Club: Royal 

 Nova Scotia Yacht t^quadron; Yachting News; A Pad- 

 dling, Cruising Canoo; American Canoe AasOLaation 134 



Answers to Cokrespondbnts 131 



PUBOISBBRS' DEPARTSfENT ]3l 



J^ar advertising r<iies, instructions to correspondents, 

 etc., see prospectus at end of reading matter. 



F 



OREST 



s 



TREAM, 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 18S0. 



A Grayling Dinner.— It is not often that any cue in 

 this ci y has an opportunity to taste the grayling, one of 

 the most delicate and delicious fish which American 

 waters produce. T/iz/ma^/us ia found only in the waters 

 of tlie Western British Possessions, in Michigan, and in 

 the streams of Montana, and their appearance in the 

 markets of llie East is of very rare occurrence. In fact, 

 it may be said chat tiiey are never on sale here, and are 

 only iiuown in New York when some enthusiastic angler 

 brings or sends on a portion of his catch, safely packed 

 itt ice. 



la delicacy of flaTOV, the grayling yields to no fresh 

 water fish with which we are familiar, while for gamy 

 qualities he is quite the equal of the much praised brook 

 trout. "We have caught in Montana, about tlie head 

 waters of the Missouri River, many of these fi.sh, and we 

 have no hesitation in placing them in the very front rank 

 of American game fish. 



We had the pleasure last Friday of renewing our ac- 

 quaintance, intermitted now for five years, with this 

 beautiful fish. Messrs. Abbey and Imbrie, who had re- 

 ceived from Michigan a numberof grayling lately caught 

 there by Mr. McMartin, invited a half a dozen veteran 

 anglers to assist in deiuolishiog the flsh, and it was our 

 good fortune to be present at the dinner. Tlie grayling, 

 which had been sent on packed in ice, were in superb 

 oottdition, as fresh apparently as if they had been just 

 drawn from their native waters. As to the company, no 

 true angler but would have said to hijnself, "it ia good 

 to be here." We have caught in our day many fish in 

 many waters, but the exciting stories that passed around 

 the board of the capture of gigantic salmon, striped 

 and black bass, and other finny monsters, made us 

 feel that we were indeed but tyros with the rod and 

 reel. 



BAY SNIPE SHOOTING. 



m.— BLISDS AND DECOYS. 



IT depends very much upon the character of the place 

 where you go, and the variety of birds which you in- 

 tend to shoot, what kind of a blind or bough-house to 

 build for your concealment. If on the edge of some large 

 bay or broad water, for general shooting a stand may be 

 erected that will screen you while seated on a comforta- 

 ble bench. But if j'ou select some bar or beach vihere 

 the birds come to feed at low waters or along which the 

 willet fly, a box sunk in the sand is the most killing de- 

 vice. The box should be long enough to allow the gun- 

 ner to lie in it comfortably, and its width should be sev- 

 eral inches in excess of the breadth of his shoulders. 

 Prom ten to fifteen inches will be of sufficient depth. It 

 should be made of three-fourth inch stuff, calked and 

 pitched on the outside and in, thus making it thoroughly 

 water-tight. At one end, near the top, an ii-on staple 

 should be clinched, to which a half-inch rope of about 

 seven feet in length should be fastened. This will be 

 found useful in towing the box behind a skiff, or for 

 dragging it over the sand, A useful article will be found 

 in an old spade. Should you find that large birds, such 

 as curle%v, m;n'lin and willet, have a roosting place on one 

 of the bald marshes, the box described above should be 

 used, or if thoroughfares dissect the marsh, you can pad- 

 dle your skiff, which should be painted green, up one of 

 the drains toward the spot where the birds lower their 

 flight, or circle over before alighting, and conceal it in 

 the highest tuft of grass. Curlew, and especially the 

 "jack," do not stool well where a blind has been erected. 

 They are wary at best and wild when their favorite haunts 

 have an unnatural look. Not so, however, with many of 

 the other varieties. Willet almost invariably stool well, 

 and both the marhns are unsuspecting. The large and 

 small yellow-legs, dowitchers, robin snipe and lesser birds 

 are readily called within reach, providing, of course, 

 that the proper place has been selected. The bars and 

 shoals are the favorite haunts of the black-breast plover, 

 the willet and dowitchers, while the meadow pond-holes 

 are the sure jjlaces to attract the yellow-legs, e.specially 

 when the birds are traveling with the wind, or as bay- 

 men call it, a " free wind." 



Blinds are easily constructed out of cedar boughs, cut 

 about four feet in length, stuck m the sand or mud. They 

 can also be made, when the wind is not blowing too hard, 

 out of long reeds cut on the marsh. We have seen 

 painted canvas screens, hinged so as to fold up, used, and 

 one of Long Island's famous gunners once used an um- 

 brella painted green, v.iiich served not only to hide his 

 huge proportions, but lii^pt off the fiery heat of the sun. 

 The fact is, as we have said above, it depends very much 

 upon the place, and, moreover, on the conditions of wind 

 and weather wliero to stool. While a vast number of 

 birds in their autumnal flight follow the irregularities of 

 the coast, there are countless numbers who make their 

 migration far to sea, or take short cuts over the main- 

 hmd. Those passing to sea only touch at the projecting 

 points, and are consequently tame, while those which 

 have run the gauntlet of an even shore or beach are wild. 

 and less likely to stool. All these things must be taken 

 into account, and the wilder the birds the better you must 

 be hid. Sometimes it is impossible or inconvenient to 

 construct a box such as described, or find .suitable stuff 

 to build a blind ; then a rubber blanket can be spread on 

 the marsh, and a few sedge bushes or heaps of sea-weed 

 Ijlaced around you. 



The most favorable wind for bay snipe shooting in the 

 summer and autumn is one that blows steadily from 

 the southwest. The birds who are coming from the 

 North, and flying against it, lower their flight and skirt 

 the bars and meadows, and see the stools more plamly 

 arid decoy much better than when traveling with (he 

 wind in the clouds. A wet SLimmer is also found to pro- 

 ,duce the best shootmg, as the meadows afford plenty of 

 feed, and should the birds arrive early in the season, 

 they stop and make the large marshes their home, flying 

 north in the morning and returning south toward even- 



ing. The birds are then said by bay men to have estab- 

 lished " a trade," 



One great advantage in shooting in bays and broad- 

 waters, where the tide rises and falls but a few feet or 

 inches, is that the blind can be occupied by the gunntr 

 throughout the day, without the annoyance of beirg 

 driven out at high water. Meadow ponds on this ac- 

 count are often selected, for allhough they do not afford 

 the best shooting during the morning and evening flijiht?, 

 yet admit of a stationary blind being built fi-om which 

 more or less birds can be shot during the day, particu- 

 larly when driven from .the shoals at high water. 



The decoys, or " stools," as they are called, are always 

 to be set to the windward of the blind, and though twenty 

 'or thirty are generally used, we prefer to set out about 

 fifty, as the greater the number the better the show to 

 attract the flocks. The stools should be set in a crescent- 

 shaped circle, with the heads of the decoys pointing to 

 the wind. There are two reasons for arranging them in 

 this way : First, all wnld fowl light to the wind, as they 

 need the resistance of the air ; second, a flock of birds 

 that intend to stool, drop down to leeward, where they 

 circle and then draw in over the decoys. It is. iherefore, 

 not advisable, as a rule, to shoot at a flock passing over 

 your head, as it will turn, and should it light it will do 

 so at the head of the line of stools. It will thus be aeen 

 that as the birds check their flight to alight, they crowd 

 and jostle together, affording the most killing results of 

 a well directed volley into their ranks. There are vari- 

 ous kinds of stools manufactured, such as both solid and 

 sectional wooden ones, hoUowed out ; flat tin stools, cut 

 out of sheet tin, and several years ago a patented tin stool 

 was introduced on the market, that met with favor in the 

 eyes of those sportsmen who cared little for expense. The 

 latter are of very ingenious make, each half of the decoy 

 being concave on the inside ar.d convex on the out, tin; 8 

 representing one-half of a bird ; the two parts are hinged 

 together on the back, so that when shut they resemble a 

 well formed snipe, and when open can be packed one in 

 another after the manner of a nest of boxes, and occupy 

 but little space. All these decoys are painted to resemble 

 the different varieties of snipe, andare stuck up by means 

 of sticks. Each set of stools should have sticks, or •• legs,' ' 

 of two lengths — short ones when used on dry bars or very- 

 shoal water, and long ones when the water is deep. It 

 should be borne in mind that stools set in the water are 

 more readily seen, as their reflection and a watery back- 

 ground make them loom up and show to advantage. For 

 wet stooling, the wooden ones are preferable, as the tin 

 ones soon rust and become worthless. The objection, 

 however, to the wooden stools is their weight and bulk. 

 For plover shooting on the upland or dry ground, the tin 

 ones are by far the best. It may here be said that shells, 

 lumps of mud, etc., placed on sticks, often can be used 

 when it is impossible to obtain the regular decoys. 



It sometimes occurs, when snipe are making their flight 

 late in the afternoon, that they are not inclined to stool 

 well. They travel high, and often the decoys are so situ- 

 ated that the flocks run on to them without distinguish- 

 ing them. In cases like these, a few scattering stook set 

 away to the windward in the line of flight, even if they 

 are stuck up in deep water, will draw the birds down in 

 passing, and then, by judicious calhng, the flocks can be 

 worked up within shot. 



TiiE C'REEDiiooR Meeting.— With a promise of good 

 weather the eighth annual fall meeting at Creedinoor 

 is progressing at a rapid rate, and in our next issue 

 a full report of all the matches will be given. The team 

 entries were far beyond any previous year, and in the 

 majority of the matches the contests promise to bo very 

 close without any breakdowns. In the All-Comers indi- 

 vidual matches there are enough entries to make some 

 close shooting necessary' for the prize winners. When 

 the regular entrj^ list closed on Saturday evening last, 

 leaving only post entries permissible, there were 313 

 entries in the J udd Match, with 153 in the All Comerp, 

 The Champion's Match had 2"), while there were 79 in 

 that for the military championship of the United States. 

 For the Wimbledon Cup there were 21 entries, including 



