430 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



j-Deoembbr 30, 1880. 



hunt at Glen Echo, the residence of Mr. McCalhnti, eight 

 miles from this city, with Messrs. McCiillum and Miller as 

 "hares." At three o'cloelc the " hares" started on the nm, 

 followed by the honnda, Mr. Welsh on Wing, Mr. Fisher on 

 Drummer B«y, Jlr. Crolhers on Liirii}-, Mr. Walleer, Dr. 

 Darrali, Tir. Eisenbrsiy an<i otliers'. Thestart wa.^ made on a 

 hill and the sii'TtuloTS s.iw most of the chase, which csvered 

 over ciL'tit ir.ilrH. Alter a sliff run and much sport Jlr. Cro- 

 thers proved victorious and captured the hare. Homo. 



TRAPPING COOIT AOT) JIINK. 



TFTESE being the predominating elements in numbera of 

 the fur bearers in the Wiiile River swamp, as well as 

 this State at large, very natm-ally engage our atteulion both 

 with pen and trap. Aiiliiaitrli they do not produce the most 

 valuable fur, yet tlieir ensy capture and gi-eat abundance 

 make them equally as desiralile in vast quantities. Many of 

 those who have seen the jiieiiire of the " Arkansaw Travel- 

 er" at the pioneer's cabin door, when that national renowned 

 tune was playcrl. can rearliiy call to mind the prominent fea- 

 ture of a coon skin tacked upon the shanty wall, and the cap 

 of the same article adorning the forester's head, which is 

 very tj7jical of that animal's activity. 



The prolonged fast occasioned by a heavy fall of snow, 

 which confinep tlie cx.n fainiiy ind"'('.rs until' all is about otT. 

 invests tbt-tn witli a r;ivr;n.-,i:s ■a|,[-.c:iiin Uial leads llieni over 

 considerable turn'O'-y 1-1 i.nL><- i,f pvoveniler. ]t; is the busi- 

 ness of the trn; ' ii ;i =poll, lo have all in readincp? 

 to welcome t;:' ■ thovmake e^vteusive ftir;i,S!ii:; 

 excursions nf:' ■ ifird Hlj.Mincnce. Abide fruiii 

 the usual baiili ■ " -^n iu taking the "ring- 

 tail monster" irton or bit of paper— 

 Buylhing torn .i the pan of the trap, 

 wliieh is set ru' I i <. IRs incpiiring nature 

 will not permit him to i,;i: \-, i:U<'vK nianipulatir]!.; the curious 

 object. It requires ab'iut ;is uiucli skill in liaiailing a pfit to 

 command a fair price as ii d>.es t>i capture soinn niiiiiials, e.i 

 with this view our mode of sLrttcliiug coon will probahlv not 

 be inappro'jrlate. Providing ourself T\ith tour 3-foot 

 boards of softwood and two dozen small nails, we then, 

 after well fle.4iiDg and splitting up the nuddlc of the belly, 

 tack the side edges each to a hoard, tlie bottom iu like man- 

 ner, and place a single nail throiezh the nose into the top 

 board. Durmg thiS llioe Ike skin is skuk; now draw, 

 using the leverage of the bonrJs, slov.'Iy and firndy iu the 

 four directions, unlil cv;'iy[)art is tight; ilicn drive a nail 

 into each crosRins: ot thr slat?, and ihe skin now has a square 

 shape, which is > -it!-.. --,.-. o r.,i,],. v.iih the lurrier. 



Our mink ^r " and wear a moderately dark 



cloak of fm. iSo ueai- the creek and branch 



bottODls, as w-i; , swamp, have some idea of the 



misduef peipoti-alf"] by lliia vr-riain. The nocturnal visits 

 to the farmer'.n poultry-yard has a very diminishing effect 

 upon his flocks, and many are th" siriiime n'lnies applied to 

 the little pilferer for sncii' boi 1 ;- : - - t"' ' ' = >i,,,-al pro, 

 mise of the house-wife ;oln. 'iueken 



pie for each mink eaplnred, 1 make 



us feel our rare iniporiHiice. :'. i -, - ;: ,;-oinid en- 



trauce of the hen-ronst invariably reveals the thief uud puts 

 a stop to his dcpre-Jntions. 



Though nocturnal m haliits, we have frequently seen them 

 iu daytime iu the brakes, frolicking among (he nmneroufi 

 cypress Imees, too shy and cunning to allow us a shot, which 

 we would take if possible, regardless of the duuiaging cflcct 

 it would have to the skin. Tlie only great pest the trapper 

 must contend with here is the opossum, winch not uufre- 

 quently forces ilself intrusively upon the "Nimrod's prepara- 

 tions. "Tlie almost valueless skin is amply amended with 

 the excellent roast, which served in the "sop and later" 

 style, is quite palatable to the mo.st daitiiy epicure, in wluch 

 class the VNTiter stands in the vicinity of head. 



Walter D. CiirLnitESS, 



West Pvint, Arkansas, Detmiber 20. 



SPORT IN THE LONE STAR STATE. 



WAx.inACHiE, Tex., Dec. 13. 



AS the cold weather of the Northdias closed most of the 

 Kvcniu-s from which the sportsman derives his enjoy- 

 ment, T would fiUiiaesl to anv of your readra-s who may feel 

 that they have nof liron^dit to buna siillicient number of 

 hpads and tails to make a nspeetabie showing for the season's 

 work for plav). that fliev make a trial tri)) to the Lone Star 

 Rtate.'and see what they tliink of llie facilities offered hrre 

 for spending a few weeks or months pleasantly and profitably 

 (in a sportsman's sense of the word), with rod and gmi. 

 The nortlieastern tier of counties bordering on Red i{'""- 



t pr 



■nt liter 

 icli hav( 



hkd and for tin 



being for the most part hea 

 ally alive with immense nuur " 

 come South (o spend the coll 

 doing a good business netting U-i:-i <'.-': 

 numerous' gun clubs throughout the btat 

 courses wi;ere there is a good mast ducks, g 

 waterfowl are unusmdly plentiful this winter. While I have 

 not yet had an opportunity of seeing how things are for my- 

 self,' I am in constant receipt of letters from different por- 

 tions of the State giving accounts of game and fish prospects, 

 and they are generally 'good, altiiotigh I regret to^ say that, 

 owing to the entire absence of any kind of protection, game 

 in the thickly-settled portions of the State is rapidly becom- 

 ing a thing" of the past. In most of tho- prairie countries 



"chickens" are stil 



this time of year, good bags r 



Apropos of chicken shoot ii 



prominent young man ot our 



to go "bird-hunting," this yo 



md aUIiouLdi rather wild at 

 fn'onenlly made. 

 , I must tell a good one on a 

 uwn. A party was made up 

 ig gentleman being one of the 



iljer. He had liever siiot over a dog nor seen one handled 



in the field, and when he saw a pointer make a halt turn to 

 one side and suddenly become as rigid as iron, he naively iu- 

 rpnred, ' What's the matter with that confounded dog?" 

 Beintr' informed that, the dog was pointing a chicken, and 

 instructed to approach the animal cautio\isl}s he did so, 

 keepiu" a careful ere in the meantunc OJi the grass ahead of 

 the dog. After pr'ying and peering about, witli gun at full 

 cock, for netu-ly live minutes, the bird suddeidy flushed 

 almost under his feet, and. "There, by Jove ! it's gone," 

 was the only result of the bird's tligiit on the hunter, the 

 idea of shooting afle/' it had taken wing appearing preposter- 

 ous to hiin. 



From the accounts which appear from lime to time in your 

 valuable paper I am of the opinion that this w the best State 

 iu the Union for quail shooting. In what is called the post 

 oak country {i.e.. timbered uplands), they abound every- 

 where; gi-ovos, creeks, tliickels, hedges, any place that af- 



fords shelter being almost certain to contain from one to three 

 flocks. In the prairie jtortions they are less plenty, their nu- 

 merotis enemies, such as hawks, owls, i.i ' '.'ii-sand 



fires having a better chunce at them t!i i v.I dis- 



tricts. Rabbits, squirrels and the sn. faiehas 



snipe, plover, etc., arc found everywti: n wood- 



cock in the State. To any persons, Ft I :: I L'i ,i i-untry, 



who may contemplate visiting this :o ,, r.'i[: pur- 



poses, I will gladly furnish, through yotir ..hohls, such in- 

 formation as ia at my command as to the probable best local- 

 ities for the different kinds of game. C. S. "W. 



THE RUFFED GROUSE SEASON. 



BEOOKFIELn, N. Y. 

 Kdifor Fore.at and Strcnm : 



In looking over the proposed " Code of Cbiine La-vp " pul,- 

 lished in the FoKEST akd SrYtEAMof Oct. 21, I find thai it 

 is proposed to continue the law as it is in rcg rd to nUled 

 grouse. I take it tliat the modern idea is to legislate in fa- 

 vor of the legitimate sporistnan rather than iu favor of the 

 man who shoots for what he can make out of it, but as the 

 law now stands, and as the State Association [jroijose to have 

 it stand it is all in favor of ttie pol-hnnttr. 1 a:ii in favm- of 

 making the open season on rulTtd grouse fi'Oin Sfplember 1 

 to November 1, for these reasona: 1. It will give I he liirds 

 more time for rest, and they will not be so wild. 2. There 

 will be one-third more birds left over .":K'.h yv.w ( t r'fopt'.'^'ate. 

 3. That ot all the ruiTed L^rouM-, tiiat are k'ilhd diuins tne of 

 ir^onth December in the Centrd and Northern eouiities of this 

 State, nine on.t of (•ver\- Icii tire killed by msu-ket hraiters, 

 poi-liunlers and the like', and worst of all, eiglit out of every 

 nine are killed silting on trees, where ihey Iri ;j 'i- - -,:: il 

 by the traditional "yaller dog," whose ioi . ■. 



about as exalted as the man who owns and ' ' i 

 That unless imnioiliate siens are taken lo arrest ; .i- : .:i,i_:l;l r 

 iliat is .joins: no ■'■■' t ■ f 'athered tribe, our chiltlrevi will 

 have no up.' o >■ ' - , mns and implemenls which we 



leave behind n:'. ;-. ■ ■ n ii,' t, o ihein, and eursti rhe stupidity 

 of the men who did not protect that whicii o^od provided for 

 the recreation of mankind. 



I speak more particularly of the t'er.iral and Northern 

 counties of the State beeanse il is uith tJiem T atn more fa- 

 miliar, but I have no doulit that what I have said v.ill apply 

 equally well to the Sonlhern half. In rei-pird i,o the other 

 provisions of the pro]josed " Cia."' i Irj;- no [jjiU to I'snil 

 save with the one auilioriziiij i — . . , , - :i i- 



that the satnc in such parks : , , I,; 



same tis oiuside, and sh.:oiId t; - , , ■ 



that territory ly' -'I . t .- ■ , _ ,- 



in the surrouno; i ■ :. 



kill at any io i- 



vantage. and uom...;;,. |Iso. oi.' :-_-!■ i- l-'i \\:.-,/.^': 

 the riirht to sell, and we mi;;ht be ueaLed to iw. 

 spectacle of partridge and wood&icic in marlftt in the mid, lie 

 ot summer. Foxes destroy more game than anv otliei- aninial, 

 and I believe a bounty .sliouldbe itlac-d on then, the same as 

 on wolviis. A bo\mty of -^1 or ;;sa would ])« largely instru- 

 mental in exterminating them, nod the fanners of l ho Stale 

 would favor such a law because il ^vonid lie as much in their 

 favor as it woidd that of jhe' Bporisnum, bectinse tiiey con!d 

 then raise poultry which in soino phioes is now iniposFilile. 



I hope that lirdther sportsmen in various pai'ts of the Srale 

 win express their opinions upon these matter.s. II. L, G, 



QUAIL ON LONG ISLAND. 



A CANDID STORY. 



I HAD always read about the hunting grounds of the West 

 with interest, and here I was as far West as Omaha, and 

 with a couple of gims and amunilioii suitable for the destruc- 

 tion of anything from a Bob White to a buffalo. I went to a 

 hotel «'ilh my luggage, and asked to be sho^vn to a room. 

 Vvdien I went up I was a dee.-i.'lv attirprl "commercial 

 traveler," but when I came djr^-:' ^ t my gims I was 



a "knight of the plain.s," a " di ' ■ ■r-r-red handed 



ranger "of the plains." 1 waschirii i o , m ;i|; iilliredin a pair 

 of grass colored pantaloons, witli a row of fringe and eaghj 

 feathers down the outside; a pair of moeeadns made by an 

 "Indian" and his son, of your city: a coat with sporting 

 topics stamped upon the buttons of the same color, and a 

 cap to matclr; then I had some rev^ilv, rs, a halchet, a knife 

 and some cartridges in a belt laml.ho around my waist, 1 

 ,aI.so had a waterproof ho.v ill my |>oelLet, o-aitaiuing money, 

 matches and salt. I was uoiing out on the Union Pacific 

 Railway for e:eese. jM v appearai-.ce at the depot caused the 

 most profomid cotnmot'ion, for, alllmiigh it m.fly bo no new 

 Ihing'fnr the Omahawsers '.•■ see men ^oinii out from aiuon?i 

 them armed to their teoib. end with a rt-ot,,i'e r,aiir i.esp,:;ik- 

 ina that Ihev arc prepared to ,irotee; ihernselve. -Mo tie' last 

 extremitv." I still fanev that, without mcmiiog to be par- 

 tial lo myself, tliev seldom saw araomr them a hunter wiili 

 everythiutt- iiboutfiim soentireh modern and fresh, it wa-s 

 nerh'aps with some such tluaie-lp, as litis that I asked a police- 

 man how lone: it would lie tiii train Lime, and if iherc was a 

 photograiiher handy. He saiil there wasn'l, and then he 

 looked at Boraethini on my coat, and told a man if he'd tell 

 him what that was he couid have' il. T looked there to brusli 

 it off, whatever it was but 1 couldn't see anything. 'I here 

 was a man on the train who was a hunter also. His name was 

 Tucker; the other man's name was Penny- They were 20- 

 iiit,' after geese too. Thev asked me if I could slioot l; 1 - . - - 

 if 'l had ever shot geese before. 1 said no, but I could -■ 

 get into the hang of it ; I was a regular stmmer on glas-: . ■ u i - 

 and hitting oyster cans. He said he wasn't very goou em 

 geese himself, and I said what he wanted was nerve. He 

 ousihtn't to get excited. He was too much afraid he'd miss. 

 Tlien he commenced telling the olher nu-n about, if a fellow 

 had a pug nose he was ahvavs sure 1,0 be r. "smart Alex," 

 and then I went and sat in another seat. There is no use iu 

 a man getting mad at a fellow, even if his nose is inclined in 

 the right direction, just because he can shoot geese better 

 than ire can himself. 



The first evening I was out after geese I didn't shoot any, 

 owing to the altitude of the geese. Thriexr diy as I ^va' 

 to leave the next morning, I w:is a 11 1 1 1 ' ' ' ' t ' ' 



do as Avell as I mostly do when I'm - ■ - 



brought home eight. Thev are thiily-n ■- .om ; 1 .1 m 



West. That's ail. Dajuki. Bou:<e, Jr. 



MiBBOTTEi.— Cliarleston, Dec. 21.— Tlie tveather is very 

 severe here, and the birds Ijave ail ^ne to the dense 

 corer. ^^__ 



David Todd, of .Antrim, %. ll-t list Tuesday added an- 

 other to the list of those -who pulled their gtxna toward them 

 by the mua'/le, 



A 8 some of ' 

 J\. cxtermii, 

 well as for voui 

 folio wine: facts: 

 larlv ever\' vear for the las 



1 seem to think that quail are 

 Island, for their iienetil as 

 km allow me to -ive vou the 

 ed quail on kong^Jsland rogu- 

 iTteen years, tiut I must ^iiy 



thai I have'nev(a' found quail so plentiful as this ve:i,r, eh her 

 in Sntfolk or in Queens conuty. To ^t!lisi:ndi:oe wh:tt. I say 

 I will give you mv e.\[Haaence. I ha- ' hunt,- 



ingonLong lalai'id this season, four l:-^ ami 



twice in Queens, within sixteen milet, . - ui Oity 



Hall, and I never started iu oite day's hem ie.-is mun six and 

 sometimes twelve bevies. 



Some of my friends ask me how it is that they hunt the 

 whole day and never find anything. The only way that I 

 can account for it is that they huut with too fine bred drigs— 

 too much bench show and field trial about them at the same 

 time. I have my own impression about those same gentle- 

 men, which is that tliey expect the quail to find them, in- 

 stead of themselves finding the quail, imd that they hug the 

 fences too mucin 



On the Mthof last October a friend of mine and I went 

 to Bucks f'ouutv, Pa. In two davs we killed ninelv-two 

 quad, but with all that I believe tiiere are more birds on 

 Lrae.r Islanfl tha.n in any other place within three hundred 

 nulesof ivew York cilv^ harriu'-T out Delaware and Jlaiy- 

 iand. I have been to Lon; Island no later than- last Tbius- 

 dav, and started tiieii ninel)evies of bi'-ds. 



Were it not for the trapping aii'l -.•■•■•■■■■'- t,,.^, island 

 would he a veritable paradise for spei not 



find out a wav to stop said trappii ,e Hy all 



means lei us trv it,. I ,1111 williun- ti-m. . , .0 ,. -ea,ro tO- 

 :•.-■-■■[ --1I :-• -..11 i -,-t. i • "■•ti gauie la-vs enijugh, 



mem. If the laws we 

 n; , II- I I'vcnr snaring and trap- 



pnm- ■ - -• •■•■ 1..- r.nned, 



Now ' 



|o ; 



of 



that bit:,-..- :.-e.-i-: :. . . I i-.. -J,..--.,, ■ ----- l^-- eoward 

 of "A Tine Li-e.er oi iiw. t,p(a-t" ttTote us al>out some time 

 ago. 



JudLom;- by the io;ie of rVieir an.swer to that sneak of "A 

 True "Lover' of the Sport," the bleol of ilio Long Island 

 Gatne A-Ssoeiation niust certiiinly be br.ilirig, and woe to 

 (hoae i-.i!i-,'r fellinvs. If tlm T,oi:g ' I-lund l-Puue Association 



will prosecute n 1 ■■••'' I v"ou tivf: dollars toward said 



oroserntion. : hi' the faee of Mr. Oodeftt'oy'S 



'.tier, refuse 1 > use their own language, tell 



tlsem to hold tb 1 - 1 ei:r and take in their shingle of 



"Game Protection." QriD rno Qno. 



J>rem York, JJeeember 20, 1880. 



WEIGHTS OF GROUSE. 



T W 



-VTXV Tnd Dec. 20 



^\ooli- 



'l'b and 



leh from 



s lo think the 



iinces noihin;; 



ly Woodland'" 



i.ii ,i-.,,als, or he would 



renee. 1 have kille.l a, 



IN the FoitKBT Aj,i! - 

 land" gives Frael 

 Phca-sant Shooting" as : e 

 twenty-two to twenty-nine o,! 

 killing of a phca-sant' weighing 

 remarkable. I don't think oii- 

 ever took the trouble to weigh 1 

 not claim or think it an ordinary 

 good rnanv pheasants, tmi have never been toriimale eiioiiijh 

 to kill one" that would weigh as mueh as twenty-six ounces. 



A few years ago 1 liagged while on a sleirt hunt seventeen 

 pheasants T.-hich weighed twemv-one luamds, an average of 

 a little less tlian twenFv ouiiees. ' 'J'befe 1-irds, xs nearly as I 



can reiiii-sebi tim.o; -l t ■, o,-^-o - - . - '--I: of Dec. 



18TI>. I .which 



I have I- : - I I'lieas- 



ant shooting an i-l:, _ e; In- .■, L-e-.- -': OS part 



of the comitry; 2li, 10^, 13, 22, 31.;^, . ' e, 30^, 



20A PH, lOi, 19. 10:^. 17*, 17^ ounce- t little 



more than nineteen ouncei. These 1 1: od con- 



dition, and the sreatest p:irt of I'l - :ii:.l the latter 



part of November. This let -tei mns. hui, what 



is the use of guessing at, Ihine--' ■ vben we can 



give facts? Fnuik Scldey ma, :•■ .- 01 giving the 



weights of pheasants killed in Maryland at tWt'Qty-tWO to 

 twenty-nine ounces. If they weigh as ra uch as that, they 

 are certaielv ma^nifleent bi'rds, but I can't help bulievitig 

 that herniLd'it i r >:v-' il..m- 



Frank Seljtev 1 lins a great deal of interest to 



sportsmen wlei .- :- i ; shooting quail nud grouse. At 

 tile same lioie 1 tlnnk ui-s advice as to loading and .Shooting- 

 not as L'eiiii-I i'or Western shooting as that given' by Bogardtii 

 F.ir ev:ir]i]ile, he recommends for a 12 gauge 8 limohms 

 of [iriwdef, and 1.1 uz. No. shot for quail shooting 

 in Deceml-ier. lie a'^lso says it is not necessary to hold ahead 

 ,)f birds ereis.-ins fr(-iin thirty up to eighty yards. The most 

 successful of my sporting friends try to pull in a little ahead 

 at the short distances of fn'enty-fire or Uiirty yards. 1 don't 

 think quail or grouse at .si.xty to eighty yards away should be 

 shot at. The chances are, if hit, thai they will tly away out 

 of sight, and be lost to tiie shooter before they full. 



Fields. 



1 NOTICE that in your last issue "Harry Woodbind " thinks 



■I ;i ruffed grouse weiihim; 1 lb. 13 o?-. is of no unusual 

 - o,,. Last,"f:dl, iu this Stao-, t killed l-lt groii.sc, tlC 

 in ;, lest weighing 21) oz.,atid the ;v.era-e not exceeding 

 -0 oz. The three heaviest birds killed by me in twenty 

 years' shoo'ing weighed 30 oz. eticli. Give the pltime lo that 

 cocker. I would give g<5 for the bird to set up. K, 



THE GAME PROTECTORS. 



ACORRES-POXTiENT who has recently been in the 

 waiods informs us that the ai^poiiUiueiit of a •' Protec- 

 tor" in Hamiltou Couatv. -N- Y., has had a good etfect. Mr. 

 T t - - " oilieer named, has notified all the inhahitauta of 

 lit and of hi« delerminalion to enforce the lawa 

 I ion offish and gatiie, printed copies of which 

 ! 1 luied in ftublic piaces so that no niau need plead 



ii'norauce thereof. As ft cousequcnse the fislicnncn hung up 

 &ir tackle and tlio huators tied up their dogs at ilie close of 

 the season, and Mr. Palmer has had no one to pcowculc. Ho 

 found one net in use ni an unlawful manner and seized it, 

 but could not find who the owner was, ^lud there are n" trout 

 in the neighboring markets iior on the liotd tables. This is 

 quite a step in advance, fur (out eorrespondeut Ims known 

 th is region for rears and never saw the time before where 

 trout c"ould aot"be hooglital, auy sousou of the year, and decs- 



