348 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[D]soemb]ee2,1880. 



irgly violating the laws in Rlupping or receiving game out of 

 season will lie" dismissed from Hicir employ. 



Let it also be Uno-n-n that upon any person giving any in- 

 forrufttion of any vi"latinn of the law by letter to the secre- 

 tary of Hie soeii'ty that the rase will be prosoGUted wilhoat 

 dragging in Ihc iiifoniiant in any way. It will soon be found 

 that a vast aoioiuit of information will be olitaim-d wliich oth- 

 erwise never would be heard of. lu this v.uv vmir delif/li'.-e 

 can go quietly lo the ."^pot where the viflarioh "lias been 0010- 

 niitted and work up the case, and the foeielv as a body be- 

 comes the prosecutor and the Palai-ieii othcer the informer. I 

 Bay salaried, beeau.-^e if he is so it eim make but little diflfer- 

 eiice to him whether the reward in p.aid or not, and it puts 

 him before the community in a better position than a mere 

 informer trying to convict a person for a. reward. 



T5y thus adhering strictly to the law, and usiug giod jiids- 

 ment when a ca.se .should or should not tie prosecuFcd, it will 

 not be long before the violations of the law will be few and 

 far between, and the countrymen generally respect you for 

 your good efforts. 



I contend that no society has done more for ths protection 

 and propagation of game, and certainly no society ever had 

 in the beginning greater enemies Iban'the West Jersey Game 

 Protective Society. But by persistently adhering to its rights 

 (ind epforcing the law without fear or favor, I think 1 can 

 truly say that it now stands for integrity and ability beyond 

 reproach. 



There are still some grumblers who find they cannot shoot 

 out of season, who stick to the old stale argument that 

 the law is unconstitutional. As I v.'rote a long article in Ko- 

 vember of ] 875, which your paper kindly printed, I do not 

 intend going over tlie gi-ound again, but .should any ot your 

 readers wish to inform thernBelves they can either wVile to you 

 for tlie information or read the case of McClerg vs. The Stale 

 of Virginia, 4 Otto Reportfi. where the aulijcct i.s disc\is8ed l:iy 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, f would also reconi- 

 mend your correspondent, Mr. .T. H. Griffith, to read the 

 above cise and the deci.sions printed in your paper in 187,'5 

 and 1876, and given by the New York coiu-ts, upon the right 

 of State passing game laws, and the property of the game at 

 large belonging to the State. The prosecutions by the society 

 have been too numerous to mention, hut they have always 

 been successful, except in a few c^.ses. 



I 'telieve we now have, snice the law is understood by the 

 farmers, their support. The aiTests for trapping and snaring 

 have been numerous, but in every case successful. The 

 trapping is now in a great measure' stopped, and I hope in 

 next week to make some foiu arrests which will completely 

 break it up in that particular section of coimtry. 



If the officei- employed will make a stay of a week in that 

 particular section of the country where the trapping is and 

 make all his arrests at one he would completely break up the 

 practice there. To attempt to aiTcst the game sellers for hand- 

 ling trapped game is impo.ssible, as it can never be proved that 

 the birds were trapped except by picking them, which of 

 course no game seller will allow. Let all sportsmen acUiere 

 strictly to the law. Let them inform .secrclaries of the 

 different clubs of the persons who are violating the laws and 

 their residences, and if they will not appear on the witness 

 stand themselves lot the secretary send his otHeer to the 

 place and work up the case. 



A farmer who violates the law to-day will do it to-morrow, 

 and you will almost always find him out. Let all sports- 

 men be civil when ordered off a famter's land and do not 

 let them claim the right of shooting on any one's place with- 

 out permission, and it will not be long before they can shoot 

 wherever they please, unless he be a very ugly chstracter. 



I have written this article with the hope that it may be of 

 some benefit to gentlemen who propose enforcing the game 

 laws, and I can only add my hope that they wifl he as suc- 

 cessful as we have been. A Mismiibr. 



Wb want the wmis of cr>ery gpcrtftman in New York City, 

 and in other cities, who thinks that he can afford to pay the 

 farmer't boy eom^dnn for preserting the quail for him to 

 tihoot. 



BOTJaHING IT AMONG THE DUCKS. 



BT A VETERAN. 



BEFOKE the terrible storm was well cleared awsy, my 

 brother and I started Thursday evening. That night 

 it cleared away cold, with a gale from the northwest that blew 

 great guns all that night and the ne.xt day. When we liot 

 up in the morning we" fotmd the ice had formed rapidly in 

 the pond and seemed to make faster after sunrise, spite of 

 the high wind. One of our company thought no boat could 

 live uTthe pond, and said no one but an Esquimaux would 

 attempt to launch in it. But my brother and I saw about 

 200 fowl in the middle and made up oiu minds to try it. 

 The thermometer was ncarlv zero, and after getting our lit- 

 tle skitlE clear of the ice, a task of about half an hour, we 

 found every wave put a coat of ice over Vioat and rower ; 

 still we started for those ducks, andmeanL tohave a "whack" 

 at them anv way- Heading our skiffs off before the wind 

 we went down upon tiem like arrows, about a good gun 

 shot apart. 



Coming near enough we gave them two barrels each in the 

 water and as they rose, loadin.L' quickly, gave them right and 

 left as they passed. Picked up dead lilrds frnm the fust 

 volley, seventeen. This was better than we expected, for 

 the vpind tossed \is so our aims we expected to be very im- 

 steady. Then too, the wind would not let us stop where 

 the birds rose from, but away we went to the leeward side 

 of the pond, where we were "soon in difficidlies among the 

 cakes of ice rapidly solidfying. Besides the birds we piicked 

 up others came down amo'ng" the little cakes to the edge of 

 the pack ice, and the pack matle around them so fast we 

 »ould not reach them, as our skiffs could not penetrate it. 

 Nor was it strong enough to bear us. Tlien came a fight of 

 one-half or tiree-tiuarters of an hour getting clear of this 

 pack and back to the windward side of the pond. Our boats 

 and our bodies were siieets of ice, and, as I fmwd gloves in 

 the way and went liare-hjindrd, my hands were nrnriy 

 froMn. After a little rest we paddled to a -.■;■-■ i- 

 ward of the d\icks fur a second rally. Altln !■ : 

 out of the pond into the ocean and djii 

 others did come, for it ivas so rough ouisid.. _ .^.1 i: 

 came dowm upon the birds. Tliis lime they did not wait for 

 UB, and wo had to shoot them fiving. Result of second rally, 

 nineteen ducks. Again we worked up to the windward shore. 

 This time I foimd so much ice in my boat and on her that 

 she had to be pulled out and dearediOf it. Also, toward 



llie latter end of the rally, there was so mucli ice on my 

 coat— fully half an inch I should think— I cxmld harrlly ge"t 

 my gun to mv shoulder, and when I did the butt slipped \ip 

 or down on the ice of my coat, so as to be very imsteady. 

 The ice on ray mustaelie, too, w;ib veiy uncomfortable, and 

 iin mv eyelashes almost cJosi]ig mv eves" But I had lo have 

 one nioro crack at them. So 'my "friends broke the ice over 

 the buttons of my coat until wc Kot that clear. Then I was 

 going to try them in my shivt-slceves, bul my friends iu.sisted 

 upon my donning an oilskin eoar, so witli that Ave started a 

 tliird time. 



My brother got two. I snapped six times at capital shots, 

 but the ice was so thick over the firing pins of my gun that 

 the cartridges would not explode. (Opening the gmi to fix 

 tliem. I could not get it shut. Then, coming into the drift 

 ice. I came ao near not getting clear this time that I thought 

 when a man's gun was frozen up he bad better not try to 

 shoot, any more. After a, desperate effort we get ashore 

 again and then we quit. Result of the three rallies, eighteen 

 Ijroadbdls, a bluebill iuid a widgeon for my brother, ei.ghteen 

 broadbills for me. You see we slioot very nearly alike, and 

 there is much generous rivalry between us. 'My brother 

 then took the guns in the house and cleaned thcni. I dis- 

 mounted the boats, got them, the oars, the game, etc., safely 

 housed and packed, and then wc changed our clothes, had u 

 capital dinner, and home we came. I never had belter fun 

 ormore excitement in my life. 



Our heavily-laden wagon lirokc a spring coming home, so 

 wc came but slowly, otherwise no ealamit")' befel us. 1 find 

 myself suffering ever since with my hands, because of my 

 indiscretion in leaving off cloves. ' The ends of my fiurrers 

 are numb yet, five da"3's after the event ; tlie skin has broken 

 in three places on my left thumb, and the whole top of \u\ 

 light little finger has risen in a water blister. Hut I woul'd 

 go through the same experience again for the sake of another 

 such day. The exhilaration w;is such, as I fought the waves, 

 I found 'myself shouting with exultation at^evr.ry stroke, 

 and no one "could hear me for the roar fjif the wind. " I was a 

 Ijoy again, and know I shall be a better business man for the 

 year to come, until I can get another such day of recreation. 



Next day a boy -went out on the ice which had formed, 

 got eight frozen in, dead as we left them, and I think the 

 same number of cripples he shot out of an air-bole. Con- 

 sidering the weather onr score was good. 



It was our last chance; the fowl are all'gone. If it had not 

 been for a misunderstanding we should have been there 

 Wednesday— my friend was there we found afterwaid, the 

 day a])poiuted. There were more than 1,000 birds there that 

 day. It was a fiat, calm and lowering and I believe wc could 

 have bagged 150 fowl. It was a pity, for the larger part went 

 out before the storm of Thursda}'-, but we had great sport as 

 it was, and better than all, I. shot as I used to, a thing I have 

 failed to do heretofore this fall. I used to discount my 

 brother. ITp to this last excursion he has beaten me shame- 

 fully this fall. This day the quality of the shootmg was a 

 little in mj- favor a;i;ain considering the miss-fires of my gun. 

 Once or twice I look a bird from one fiock passing to right 

 with one baiTel ; one from a fiock passing to left willi the 

 otlier. As these birds fly faster than any swallow or quail it 

 is not an easy feat. 



Our boats are especially consti-ucted for this purpose. ?dv 

 brother built them. His is ten feet long, three feet Avide nni.l 

 one foot deep. Mine nine feet nmeiuclies louii;, t'vo feet 

 nine niches wide andtcn inches deep, otherwise tbey are just 

 alike. By tbisarraugement of sizes hissitsintbcwatronbody, 

 mine fits inside Iris. We [nit a seat across mine, loail in oiir 

 equipment, hitch up the horse, and away wc fro to anv pnnd 

 where wc hearthere are birds. The lioats \v.:"> > •- -■ •,. 

 pounds each, and another gentleman who , - 



with us has one .iust large enough to hoM 

 when he coes along his boat sits in the wai^'T m :iir 



placed inliis. I will describe my boat, which description will 

 answer for all, though the infernal arrangement of each is 

 made to suit the owner and user : 



The sides being sprung— they are made of ^in. white 

 pine— and secured to the stem and stem board, and the braces 

 inplace, the bottom was put on. The first covering was of |-iii. 

 cedar, carefully put on and copper tacked to tlie braces. 

 This was well coated with lead paint, and while wet, heavy, 

 close woven drilling was stretched over it. The drilling w'as 

 then weU painted on the outside Before this was quite 

 dry, another was put on, filling all the spaces in the threads 

 of "the cloth with paint. Over'this painted drilling was then 

 put another bottom of one-quarter inch cedar, and the bottqm 

 protected by strips one inch wide, running lengthwise of the 

 boat, six inches apmrt. This made a light skilf with a round 

 liottom, that, .after four year's service, never leaks a drop. 

 Tlie sportsman sits in the bottom, find so is very low in the 

 water. The boat is fitted witb patent bow facing oar.s, so 

 one can watch his game as he rows up to it; and with his 

 cocked gim lying between his legs, the muzzle elevated by 

 lying over a bulkhead, B, so arranged that he can 

 paddle almost up to his game, approaching them from the 

 windward. They always rise against the wind, so start to- 

 ward the boat ; then as they pass, drop the oars, swinging 

 the boat with one as you release it, toward the game, up 

 with the gim aiad let them have it right and left. At the 

 sportsman's right is an open topped box, containing his 

 loaded cartridges, which can be shoved under the thwart 

 if il is very rough, or there is rain. The bidl<head serves 

 a double purpose of keeping the muzzle of the gim elevated, 

 and mailing a space in the bow of the boat to throw the 

 gaiiie to kec;i them out of the way and keep the boat 

 clean. It is movable, so as to slip out in packing the boats. 

 My brother has none in bis, his gim lies in the bottom, and 

 last year an accidental discharge sent 1| oz. No. 2 shot 

 through the bow of his boat., and he came near having a 

 SOTm ashore. As it is always cold when we go for broad- 

 bills it is very uncomfortable taking them out of the icy 

 water with the hands after they are shot. So beside the 

 right leg of the gunner lies a short-handled landing-net 

 to" lift them. At the time of our last frnlie the water frfize 

 on our nets each time we flipped thorn, so that they became 

 .solid ice, were so heavy we could nor. use ibeui, and ufier 

 the first raUy, bare hands had to take their place. Thai day 

 I used a Keruington 13-ljorc 0Mb. gun, loaded four drams 

 powder, and announce of No. six shot. It is a cheap gun 

 (850 new), but is the best shooung best balanced gun I 

 ever shot, with the beastliest, most aggravating breech-open- 

 ing mechanism. There are so many pieces it is constantly 

 oift of order, and so much of it on the outside, the old thing 

 froze up solid. That pair of barrels on a good stock would 

 beat the world. I think there is nothing fwther to say, ex- 

 cept that I have since been told that the dead birds and 

 cripples picked up the day after our battle were twenty-two 

 instead of fifteen, maKing the total score sixty. 

 I Beaeoiut of Oaim., Sov., 1878. T. R, L. 



GAilE AND FISH CHAT. 



A FEW items of Quebec news I can give you of the past 

 fall. Most of our game has for some micxplained 

 reason been luuisually Bcnrce ; there have been but few snipe 

 or cock, and bags have been .small in consequence, and in the 

 markets liit-b priced ruffed grouse are scarce ; but Ibis slate 

 of things is easily accounted for, they are snared almost to 

 extinction under the vile law that allows of iiarc snuriutr, 

 and this state of things there is no remedy for imless it is the 

 repeal of the law. But few large ducks have come in, .<tnd 

 most of the kinds in market are green and blue winged teal, 

 bufJle heads and blue bills. Ger-se have not been so scarce 



for many years, and Iv '" ^" ■■ ■ bfrn shot. Hares, lam 



happy to s'ee, are gel 1 : . f Ihere were none al 



all our rinIedgrou.sc '. . v th..' loss. We have 



had a mild and pie:'.- : i.i sno\\' of ariy account 



until '.vithin the last week. :-.ome vessels in the harbor load- 

 ing yet. Caribou himting will very soon be in order; it only 

 reqiiires about eighteen "mches of good snow with a good 

 hard frost, and everything is i-eady. Everythiiifi promises 

 well for the sport, ^^o uuicb for sporting notes. 



I see m a ropy of the Fouest a>,-d Stue.vm of Nov. 11 that 

 Dr. Sterling in an article on the cauish says: "The extreme 

 northern range of tlie catfish is, you mav he certain, Lake 

 Erie." In tills I beg most politely to difter with bim. Dur- 

 ing the summer of Oiis yeitr .;1880) while on a trip to the 

 Northwest 1 caught over 'twenty of these fish, vuryinp from 

 ten to twenly-tive pounds, in the moutli of a Buiall river 

 running into the Red River of the Monb, mvtr the villaire of 

 Hallock. i.i :^!bn-^ota; while in Lake Wimiipeti Ibev are 

 onerifii- . :i" in iish in those waters. Thev seem to 



be of ■ -■ . . . .ne a black, unpleasant looldn:;" fish with 



abody sii.::.l I.I ; ri.^.ortion to the size of the head; the other 

 longer, better shaped, with smaller head and mouth, and yel- 

 low in color. I am not suQieiently versed in nsb lore to 

 know if they really are different varieties, or wbether they 

 are only male and female of the same Idiid. One thbig I do 

 know, that as a table fish they are second to none of the 

 fresli water fish except trout. I caught them with small 

 green frogs, and in one instance took one with a spoon 

 while trolling a rod from the bank for pike. By the way, in 

 tlie Northwest they revei'se things as regards the pike family. 

 The fisfi called in all parts of Canada pike are there called 

 pickerel, wliile the pickerel of Upper Canada, and the "dord" 

 of the Lower Canaclian French is the same fish as the wall- 

 eyed pike of Jlinnesota or Dakota. 



They get names inixod up there in the came line .as well as 

 tbe fish. In northern Jlinnesota and Dar'f,>!,ab, as well as in 

 Jlanitoba, There are no (irairic chickens.:' 'I'finw cui'hIi)). There 

 are plenty of what are called ehirl-iens, sbarp-lailed grouse, 

 {Tetrao phuunflin^) but the i.-hicken is only found where civi- 

 lization has come in and cultivated tbe ground to a certain 

 extent. Tbey are plentiful, I tieheve, in the southern por- 

 tion of Minnesota, but in a tliree months' trip in the nortbcm 

 end of tbe State I never sav\' or heard nf one. Ridfcd grous" 

 (Tctrijo vmbeUui) are fairly ph-ntilul wbcrcvirr wood.s are 

 found, wdiile in tlic eastern portion of the State piai'inigan 

 will most probably be found, as well as the spruce grouse 

 ( Tetrm mnadmaiii). 



Your correspondent, who says that beaver are the first ani- 

 mals to fly before civilization, has most probably been loot:- 

 lug for them near Cbiciigo, New Y'ork, nr some r,f rhe other 

 largo cities. Let liiin come to Canada and I will show him 

 colonies of them and their dams -svithiu five miles of a tovni 

 of 10,000 inhabitants, and they have been there since the first 

 settler began his clearing. They do not decrease, but incj-ease 

 to such an extent that three years ago meu were employed to 

 trap them oil, as they .spoiled the roads by mtderminiii>{them 

 untU they fell hi. Tliey arc also fairly plentiful in Muskoka, 

 in any of the back parts of I^owcr Canada, where tbey are 

 unceasingly persecuted, and in many places in 'Ontario, in 

 spite of all the civilization that comes in. WIhti-' cr they are 

 found tbey are hunted and trapped "in a..>as.-,r,'' siiiif slid tbey 

 hang on a'nd increa.se and show no signs of cli-nriRg out, and 

 lam sure if they were let alone for. say five yeaos, they 

 would be as plentiful at the end of that time as they were in 

 early days. They are a very productive animal, and then- 

 pers'evcranee iu building and maintaining their dams in good 

 order is almost mibounded. Il will lie a long time yet before 

 the spirit of tlie last Canadian beaver will be gathered to his 

 fathers if they do not disappear any faster than they are 

 doing. Af Saubi^e. 



A PROPOSED CLUB. 



Nkw York, Nov. 27. 

 Editor F'orrst fmd Strmm : 



I HAVE just read yoiu- "Proposition to Gentlemen Hports- 

 men" with much interest, and I mu!st confess to con- 

 siderable satisfaction, although of a nather inverse ordej, be- 

 cause several years ago I foresaw what is now patent to e 



and tried to ina 

 met the success it t 

 would, I think, havf. 

 the East, and ^v(-i^M 

 tlenien sponsmen " ■' 

 Some years since 1 

 cim bad a full pm-se 

 .ibundaut time at 1; 



arrant>""-d 



xperiment, which, had it 



11.1 been generally adopted, 



' -"rd saving the game of 



: I the f .armera and ' 'gcu- 



• ,1 man fond of rod and 

 nd, as is inure unfrtquently the case, 

 dispo.sal, bis chances for having any- 

 hing like a reasonable return for his outlay of time and 

 money ill pursuit of lus favorite pastime were of the " slim- 



iM-rtpnec of a 

 ."rves after the nature 

 11 wen; imiinicticable, 

 if ' ■ gentlemen sprirts- 

 d that they could not 

 !. and who would be 



est " order, and having found fro 



rather expensive kind that colossal jire 



of the Blooiiiing Grove Park As.sociati 



I conceived the idea of fnrinlng a club 



men," who, lilic myself, w^ere so siiuiit 



leave their business for a month at. a li 



willing to subscribe toward luring from tlic farmers the 



shooting privilege over their farms. ' 



It seemed to me entirely possible to form a cUib of twenty 

 gentlemen, to subscril^'- '^''''^ ""'b ^"bir'h would be *.^00 per 

 annum, for which thev '■'.■:• toobtuin the, shooting 



over enough land to -. ■ f dozen birds in a day's 



shoot if properly stork. . ' ' d, and this ^virhin ea=y 



access of home. They would in tlio first place have to stock 

 and ]iost the land, the farmers to see that no trapping or 

 shooting was done over it. The farmers would certainly 

 make uiore out of the rent paid them than they could get for 

 a few illegally trapped birds, and if, as is Itkely woulii be the 

 ca-se, the club would board with them when down, tbey ought 

 to do decidedly better, besides being free from the annoyance 

 of having their land oven-im by Tom, Dick and Hai-ry. "Long 

 Island, for instance, combining as it does what were once 

 good trout streams, facilities for ocean and bay fishing, good 

 woodcock, quail and grouse cover and points for duck** and 

 bay birds, could be coLde available to New Tortc sportsmen, J 



