Dbobmbkk3, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



349 



thought, and I was, and stUI am, willing to try the experi- 

 ment. 



So I wrote to Forest and Stream and detnUed my plan, 

 whicbi.you kindly published and gave a little " puU," in re- 

 sponse to which I received quite a number of letters from 

 gentlemen who would be perfectly willing to contribute to- 

 ward my project, thought il perfectly ftiisible and were anx- 

 ious that I should at <mce seaicli for, select iwd stock the 

 groimds, make all arrangements aud have tlieui ready to shoot 

 over when they saw fit. Others assured me tliut, niy'idea was 

 old and had been tried numberless times; tliat the farmers 

 would trap and sell the birds; tliat they would take your 

 money (md make no efl'ort tn preserve :" and so, as no" one 

 seemed willing to .-lironl me any practical assi.staiiec, and as f 

 :nii not cnoudj of a philantliropist, to do all the ^vol■k m\-sclf, 

 I concluded to let the mailer drop for the time l)eing. bat 

 fully intending to " put it tlirongb " some time, even if I had 

 to "go it alone," for I do not fee! that I can afford to waste 

 one of my two weeks' vacation in transit to and from some 

 " happy hunting-grounds." 



Now, as you have re-npened the subject and invited corres- 

 pondence, and as I think my plan more feasible than the one 

 you suggest, T will reiterate' what I said before— that I would 

 be glad to be one of such a club and would do all in my pow- 

 er to make it a success, and should any others take sufficient 

 interest in the matter to wish to investigate it further, I would 

 be happy to hear from them, either tlirough the colunms of 

 t.hePouKST AND Sti!K.\m or by addressing nie personally at 

 this office ; and more part icularly, if among them there should 

 be any who have seen the experiment tried, thev will confer 

 a favor by giving the rewilt of their observation to Sabk. 



GROUSE, QUAIL AND DEER. 



Wet.t.ksvillk, N. Y. Nov. 23. 



IN my letter of November 8 I stated that for several years 

 back I had not seen a partridge ' ' tree" upon being 

 flushed. The ne.xt day I was hunting mth my pointer and 

 flushed a bird that flew up into a maple tree ; rested there a 

 moment and then left for parts unknown. I imagined the 

 bu-d said, just as he started off, "Tut, tut, tut ! Don't tell 'Bell 

 Muzzle' again that grouse don't tree in yom- country." On 

 the simie day I bagged a gray-tailed partridge— the only one 

 this year — whose weight was 23 ounces. 



The altitude of our village is upward of 1,500 feet above 

 the level of the sea, and the hills around ns are from 1,700 to 

 3,000 feet, so cold weather sets in early. Our winters are so 

 severe that quail do not thrive here." Not one of our resi- 

 . dents in a hundred eyei' saw one of these beavitiful bird.sshot. 

 No quail haye lii^en killed this year. 1 knew of a covey with- 

 in a couple ni: miius of our Vil lage a short time belWe the 

 open si-agoii. 8i)!ef the tirsl of November our S[)ortsmen 

 have called at tlicir i^ld quarters, and each time the answer 

 has been, "Xol at home." Qmry: Do the quail know when 

 the ojien season begins? If they do they nuist consult the 

 New York slaliitcs nflc'iicr than most of us. 



Oneofom- citizens has ordered sent from Neviida lialf a 

 dozen pairs of California (]uail, with the intention of lilierat- 

 ing them and ascertaining if they will thrive lierc. He tells 

 me that he has seen them on the mountains in California and 

 Nevada, where it must be colder than our country, and that 

 these quails breed like ruffed grouse. If so, I do not laiow 

 why they should not do well here. 



When I last •^vi'ote you I anticipated having tine sport 

 hunting deer in Potter" Oounty. Penn., but neui-algia has 

 Blxuck rne in the back with such force that I can hardly walk. 

 I hope some of your readers will tell us through your col- 

 unms what success they met with in Potter County. P. 



Thk Waste of Watbbfowi,— 6'%, ^""l■. 24.- In your last 

 number you spoke of the great waste of tofid lleli that run mi- 

 appreciated anil consequently not made usi- of. Anotherclass 

 of provender that the poor coilUl atTord to Ijijy and that might 

 be furnished i]i great alinndance in our markets is \vasted in 

 an almost wicked manner. I refer lo the sea ducks. All 

 along the Connecticut coast the duck-slntoters kill immense 

 quantities of ducks from the middle of Septemtier until the 

 first of ]May. Some of I hese ducks are eaten, otlieis are sim- 

 ply picked for their feat hers, aufl a lari^e pro|»jrtiuu are 

 thrown away withoul any further us.- being uiaete of them 

 than to furni.sh the sport of shooting. A friend oi niine visit- 

 ing Brauford hist week counted oyer two hundred dead ducks 

 strewn along the beach that had tiecii killed by the swell 

 shooters who did not care to use ilie birds beciusi- (bey wei'e 

 of an inferior sort; and I my.se] f have seen a man ,sit in a 

 boat "inline" and shoot for hour.s, never troulding himself 

 to pick up a single duck. These ducks — coots, as they are 

 called — are very nmch better eating than a large part of the 

 food that the p'uor of this city we "in the habit of using, al- 

 though of course they are somewhat infeiior, still no one 

 could question the fact that thej^ are worthy of being reck- 

 oned as a valuable food supply. Aay man who will go to 

 Milford, Merwin's I'oiut, Branford and a dozen other places 

 on tlie Connectieut ( oast can luiy barrels of these ducks at 

 therateof ten cents or less |irr jitiir of ducks, and it seems 

 aa though it \vo\Ud pay some einc to tiy theexjjeriment, retail- 

 ing the birds in this city at alowprico, but making enough to 

 pay for cxpressage and time -willi a moderate profit. At 

 Branford, the place I am most familiar with, the gimners 

 shoot every day that the weather will permit, and often kill 

 hundreds of ducks in a day, almost all of which might be 

 bought all the way from ten cents per pair down ti> nothing. 



Putix. 



Heavy BisDS—FranMin, N. T., JH'i/e. 33.— I notice in 

 last issue of PoKEST AND Stukam Chas. P. Kent reports the 

 killing of ruffed erouse weighing 30 oz. each : also one weitrb- 

 ing38ioz. Also, notice " Hulled Grouse," e.f AsliiieUI, 

 Miiss. , "having killed one weigtung 1 lb. 13 o/,. Now, as lam 

 the one that asked for the reports upon the weight of this 

 noble game bird, upon which I have had such an extended 

 exijerience, and the heaviest one I ever killed weighing 1 lb. 

 13 oz., or If lbs., the roif of which was sent to the office of 

 the Rod a>t) OrrN at the time, allow me, together with my 

 prettiest bow, to withdraw tlie long-worn plume of honor 

 from my own hat, and, with due appreciation, implant the 

 same, with the honora thereof, upon the worthy hats of my 

 brother sportsmen, " Ruffed Grouse," of Ashfield, Mass., and 

 Ghas P. Kent, of Monticello, N. Y., and may they have the 

 honor and pleasure of wearing them as long aud with the 

 same amount of pride as I have been enabled to. Now, liav- 

 ing lost my ruffed grouse plume, I shall hug still lighter my 

 lieaviest woodcock plume of 11^ oz. As none have reported, 

 I believe, to have excelled it, and as that old hoy in New Jci'- 

 »ey is dead, I hope to be able to wear jt still longer. 



M. P. MoKooN. 



PLYMOTTTn County, Mass.— Came scarce up to Friday 

 night, Nov. 19. At Silver Lake, a sheet of water three miles 

 long and about a mile wide, there are seven stands, each one 

 having from ten to twenty-live live gce.sc decoys. They have 

 made the following scores : Geese -il, 7,0, 5," 4, .", 0;' total, 

 34. No ducks. Al some of the small ponds, where black 

 ducks have always been plenty in former years, the .score is 

 yery small, viz.; 'ducks, 113; "Teal, -U. November 11 a.nd 

 13 there was a good flight, but they did not stop. Never be- 

 fore h;iye there been so few seen in this section. The small 

 ponds are now freezing over and ducking for flic sea.son is 

 aboiu cloHcd. Q,u;ul about Duxbiiry, Kingston and Plymouth 

 scarce. Partridges few and far between, and not more than 

 half grown. In Marshfield 1 hear from my sporting friends 

 that quail arc plenty. In Plymouth Woods, as far do^vn as 

 iSandwick and Falmouth, there have been quite a number of 

 deer. Killed one, a fine buck, weigUing 350 pounds^all the 

 others small. WooDoodK. 



Massacbi sETis — ChaHton, Rm_ 21.— T wksh to express 

 my sentiments on game in Miissachusetts. Ever since I was 

 old enough to carry a gun I have handled one, but since I 

 have hunted I uever saw game birds so scarce as now. 

 There are plenty of rabbits, but, those I do not lumt. I for 

 one msh that there could be a law passed and enforced to 

 prevent any shooting for the next three years, excepting 

 birds of prey, foxes, skunk.?, etc., and would have a heavy 

 flue on partridge, woodcock, quail, duck and all game birds", 

 also on rabbits and squirrels*. I think that then birds would 

 be plenty and every one would enjoy a day's .shooting. I 

 would like to hear' through the columns of yom vahiable 

 paper from others interested in sporting in M-issachusetts. 



HUNTEB. 



Pennstlvasia— .SnctemW^?, Fa., Nov. 32.— This country 

 is full of ruffed grouse and considerable quail or partridge, 

 while the conunon red rabbit is as plenty as bad weeds. 

 Quite a number of Philadelphia sportsmen frequent this sec- 

 tion. Shooting matches arc of frequent occurrence. Poxes 

 are as numerous here as in any part of the State, and within 

 a few miles of here are some of the best packs of hounds and 

 old fox hunters in Pennsylvania. Opossum and "coons" are 

 getting pretty well hunted out, though one party I know of 

 has caught ninety-flve skins this past winter, seventy-nine 

 and eighty wth one good night dog. 



CoKTF.AND, N. r., Nox. 31. — 1 was somewhat interested 

 in the statement of Mr. Kent pulflished in last issue fif Pohest 

 AND Stkbam in regard to weight of ruffed grou.sc. 1 once 

 shot what I supposed to bean extraordinarily large bird that 

 weighed, after carrying in the game bag all day, twenty -eiglit 

 oimces. I would like to know if the thirty ounce bird he 

 mentions was a hen or cock partridge. I understand from 

 observation tliat the ben attains the largest size. In connec- 

 tion with this I would like to speak of a tame partridge once 

 owned by a friend of mine, a captain of a schooner on Cayu- 

 ga Lake. The tiird was brought down and fomid to have a 

 In-oken iving. Mi-. (_'^, wishing to try the experiment \if 

 laming a partridge cai'ried him home alive. By care and at- 

 tention the bir<i grew so tame that after a time he would re- 

 mam upon Jlr. C.'s shoulder while he played the violin. 

 I'util the bird died he accompanied Mr. C. on his trips up 

 and down the lake. lI:o. 



Noras FKOM ViRGtNiA— JYoti. 33.— Gttuie Of all sorts is in 

 fair quantity. The partridge, or quail — our favorite for 

 sporl — is in fine condition, but I am sorry to say that the 

 game law was largely yiolaled, and the boo'm of the pot-lnmt- 

 er's muzzle-loadef ^vas lieard far and wide in the land Ijcfore 

 the close scLison e.xiiired. AA' iUl turkeys and deer arc quite 

 abmidant in some sections, mid the " old hares," though ap- 

 parently exterminated every winter, m-e as plentiful as ever. 

 November is om- best month for catchhig large pond bass 

 {Miinriipter^ixjiiMidm). here usually called "chub." The cool 

 nights <hi\e them from the brush and logs near shore out into 

 the oiieii, deep water, where they alVo'rd good s)iiat,. But 

 the early " ee.ld snap" now upon I'la has been too severe, and 

 preyent'ed them from biting at all. They donol exactly "hi- 

 berimte," liul in Cold weather they lie almost dormant in the 

 deepest wafer, and will not move tbreefeei for Mh' m,osl entic- 

 ing bait. They will then only take small nii-n!. v := 'i :,«- 

 scious of a slow digestion. But after the v;-: i . ,. lied 



the ice point they imike a dish almost :is deln:!., :i- th i join. 



West Virginia — Sei'lteUi/ Springs, Nod. 27. — A large flock 

 of wild geese were seen ou'the Potomac about three miles 



from here yesterday. -V lute youuL' liear weiijhintjll.'i llis. was 

 also liroin:iif into town a few' days atto, liavinn; been killed on 

 t^ucapon Mfmnlaiu. On Thanksgiving Day E. Gray Pendle- 

 ton, of iliis ].laee, brought in a. wild Tiu'key which weighed 

 28 lbs., I", ing the largest I ever saw. I have two fine fawns 

 that art; so tame lliey will eat out of our hands, aud it is all 

 wecaudo to ki-ep'tliem out of the house, but as we are 

 going to the city veiy sonn I will lie obliged to sell theui. I 

 will lake ^^} fo'r the' two, as I do not want them parted If 

 you lieur of any one that wtuils theivi 1 shall tie much 

 obliged if you wJI let me know. Victor. 



Pj.orida — 8t. AwjuMite. Nuc, 33. — Our sportsmen have 

 but little opportunity for hunting or fishing nowadays. We 

 have often remarked, wlien riding over the bridge over the 

 Beba.stia.n River, the nvjlley crowd assembled th"ere fishing. 

 Soldiers, white men, colored men ladies, negro women 

 and children ; the two latter clas-ses generjilly in an 

 assortment of ragged clothes, and they haul out 

 the lish too. Mr. de Laureal. .in old 'French gen- 

 tleman who is il resident here and a great sportsman, com- 

 plains iliat this year the quail are all trapped and he can shoot 

 ne'ue. He saiirHiHi, one day returning from a long hunt aa 

 he was crossing the Sebastian Bridge a lady friend asked him 

 "What .siKcessr" "Noneatall." "Then I have done hot- 

 ter than you. feir wliile I have been standing here fishing I 

 have bought fourteen live quail for fifty cent,?." Coi.uns. 



MoNTEBAi,, Oairnda. Nov. 30.— Mr. C. C. Beatty, of H. R. 

 M. Postal Service, and the writer have spent the past two 

 weeks duck shooting in the marshes near Jlissisquoi Bay on 

 Lake Champlain, where we have had good sport and made 

 fair bags of whistlers, butter-balls, black ducks, red-heads, 

 blue-bills, etc. The cold weather and the snow that has fallen 

 during the pa.st few days have driven the last named duck 

 awtty to warmer regions, but large flocks of Canada gee; 

 have taken their place, and will give good sport foi some 

 time yet. We are enjoying fine sleighing here in this north- 

 ern metropolis, Tlie snow is fully twelve or fifteen inches 

 deep. SxANeTKAXi. 



Thb Gth-l IsLAh-D Club.— Several of the members of th» 

 recently formed Gull Island Club are now at their club house, 

 and others are to follow shortly, Slessrs. R. C. Johnson, 

 Al. Heritage, Thos. Hall, A. E. Nash and Ben Payne went 

 down last Saturday with a liuge store of ammunition and 

 provisions. Next Saturday Messrs. Geo. B. Eaton, Frank 

 Harrison, J. B. Burdette and R, Heinich join the piu-ty ; and 

 with Sheriff J. J. Toffey and Messrs. E. Z. Wright and 

 Frank Thompson, the list will be complete. We know that 

 the score of birds brought to bag will be a large one ; but 

 without anticipating, we wait for the report promised by 

 " Jaeobstaft'." 



Deeu in Sullivan CovsrY—Eldred, N. Y., Nov. 23.— 

 Samuel llutts kUled six deer in the last ten days. Daniel 

 HnUock killed one last Monday, and Tuesday he killed an- 

 other, and a hunter by the name of Runels, hunting with D. 

 Hallock, killed a large buck Tuesday. Hallock's two deer 

 fetched him in market .•?;!5 cash. Deer are unusually plenty. 

 The -ivriter was Inmting but not in luck : had two shots at 

 different deer, but they were too far off for buckshot A rifle 

 is best on open ground, and the deer are about all in the 

 burnt districts where the brush is thin. Hunteu. 



Ei.DRED, Sidlivaii County, N. T.—l have taken great 

 pleasure in reading your Dittmar Powder exposure, as well 

 us everything else in the paper. I can kill three partridges 

 out of every five over my setter. David Halleck killed thir- 

 teen .straight over his- on the 10th and 11th of November. 

 Piutridges here weigh from nineteen to twenty-four ounces. 



Httnteh. 



ColobadoMaps — Denver, Got., Nmk\8. — I take pleasure 

 in mailing to-day copies of the new maps just prepared for 

 the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. They are typographi- 

 cally correct and show the principal points of interest to tour- 

 ists and sportsmen, and I hope will aid you in your l.ibors, 

 which prove so sincere a source of delight to us sportmen. 

 Game is exceedingly abundant throughout the entire State, 

 and particularly through the San Luis Park. C. M. H. 



An Amateur Gun-maker.- Many of our Pennsylvania 

 readers will sympathize with Prof. "W". B. Hall, of Lancaster, 

 Pa., the loss of whose valuable gun appeared in our colunms 

 last week. Professor Hall is perhaps the most .skillful ama- 

 teur gun-maker in this country, and his work is -w^onderfuny 

 good. His engraving, done by Mr. Stephen Summerville, 

 of Pliiladelphia, is very beautiful, and the completed gun 

 worthy of the very best workman. We hope that Professor 

 Hall may recover his gun. 



A PnoBiDA FARTY—Fftcfiburff, Massi., Nov. 33.— We have 

 organized the past summer, with the aid of your columns, 

 aud from among your readers in different parts of the country, 

 aFlorida party for the coming mnter. Our route is down the 

 Ivissinmee River to Okeechobee, then to the southwest coast 

 via C'aloosaliatchie River. If in the course of our trip we 

 should meet with anything of interest to youi' readers we vrill 

 comnumicflle it to you. G. O. A. 



20. — Quad are plenty. 

 nd two rabbits yester- 



they were here by the 



thirty (hicks. t)ucks 

 i sixty rods from P. J. 

 rsh. where black ducks 

 re always open, and in 

 in season, black duck, 



squaws, the latter loo 



Long Islaso — Part Jeffermn, Nm. 

 Chas. M. Ivines killed twelve quail a 

 day. Ducks plenty, ; on Weduestlay 

 ticre. Men go off aud get t went}' to 

 shot from blinds with dec'oys. Bay is 

 House. In oue corner of the bay is mai 

 and geese are found. The Narrows ar 

 severe weather ducks are plenty : and 

 .shelldrakes, whistlers, coots and old 

 very jilenty. 



Dkbr Si.AnGHTKH — Otinloiii; St. JMwren-cf Oountj/, N. }'., 

 Nov. 28.— I am told that Richard Allen and a party of gen- 

 tlemen (?) iTom Redwood, .Tefferson County, have during 

 the past month killed between twenty and tlitrty deer in the 

 south part of this county with dogs. Here is, or ought to 

 be, work for the State Association. Hounding deer must 

 be stopped, or good-bye deer in this part of the world. X 



The GxMKiu market is tlie .same aa last week with the addi- 

 tion of woodcoek from Mon-islown, N. J., and deer, quail 

 and ruffed giouse from Tennesee and Kansas. 



Iowa — WdHhinglon. — Weather cold and game scarce with 

 tlie exception of rabbits. W. J. G. 



SHOOTING MATCHES. 



NEW YORK GCN CLXIB TOXHiNAMENT. 

 T^HE tonmninerit held nnder the auspices of the Now Vovk Gun 

 -*- C'lnb, un Thui-hdiLy, Friday and Saturday, Xovembor 20, 26 

 and 27, in whiclj abr. mcmtx-i-s of the Ijong liranch. Maryland, 

 Narrapauselt, Oiauge. j'hiladelptiia, Eirerton, .Statun laland^and 

 New York gnu l-IuIis and the WestminBt^sr Kennel Club competed, 

 was opened on Thiu-sday with tbe viaitorH' mateh ; entrance fee, 

 $10 ; 10 birds, handicap riHe, use of both baxrela ; 21 entriee : 



nnane W 



Travis .as 



Martin ". 



..88 



su-oud ,.W 



colBimer S9 



AnioUl ...29 



iloiies -.38 



Warner S» 



Bailey.... US 



ReblUi 2S 



Col Armsiirong....'.K 



Wallacft..-., 3s 



Edmunds 29 



Martin M 



ECMurpny 30 



13aiaw1n «6 



oortti-ey 4...S9 



Nelson 26 



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..oil 1111 



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II I 1— s 

 •10 1—5 

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 11 1—9 



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Ties, miss and go out. 



Slixiud. ....,-,--. .,...2' .yards i i l l i t l t 1-9 



Bauer S8 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 +— s 



'\\r. Bailev'a ninth bird dropped dead .iust out of bounds. Mr. 

 . i M is a member of the Tfivertou Club of Philadelphia, 

 prize, a Jteilly double Kxpress rille in case, irith im- 

 .11 Icte, yalued at .-yaSO. 

 : ..._ i.K... uu nine for bectmd prize acored aa follo-ws : 



iiuiilBvy....»7yaixIs i I 0—2 Edmunds.... 29 .vards t • w 



ColBat.ler..29 Ow Baldwin ....as Ow 



Arnold 28 1 1 1—3 



