jAmjAST 13, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



471 



the chase and love the music of the mellow-tongucd hounds. 

 Eiibbit, hunting is gaining in favor, and some liiie dogs are 

 owned liore. Mr. Frank Latoii has the staunoliost : he toolt 

 Mm on Christmas day to hunt rabbits in tlie big sw.anip. He 

 started an old "long-leg" and drove liim till the 2-nh without 

 tie up, when the rabbit was shot, and made the dog a weU- 

 eanied Christmas dinner. Webb. 



THE PROPOSED NEW JERSEY LAW. 



ToM'8 Rivun, N. ,T., .Tan. 9. 

 JIdttor JB'vrest and SPream : 



Having rend in your issue of Dec. 80 a communication 

 from J. H. B., relative to the growing scarcity of game in 

 the Stale of New Jersey, and advocating a two or three 

 years' prohibitory law on woodcock, quail, rabbits and 

 pheasant.?, let me say in reply lliat 1 am a resident of New 

 Jersey and think that T may be. considered a sportsiniin, as I 

 have been abooliiig over twenty-tlirce years, both in tlie East 

 and the Far AVcst, and am pretty wel'l acquainted with the 

 nature and habits of irtiuic birds generally. All sportsmen 

 know that it is not the gun ufied in open .season that exter- 

 minates game, but it is "suaring birds, killing them in clo^e 

 season, and oin- severe wintc7.s, when the ground is covered 

 with snow, perliap.s for .several weeks, and the birds are 

 Starved and frozen out. There are plenty of men who call 

 themselves sportsmen who will sit around their comfortable 

 fires and talk of closing a game .sea-Son for two or three years 

 who would not walk one hundred yards in a snowstorm with 

 a little feed for the birds if by so doing they could save a 

 whole bevy. Let such as these, and all others -who really 

 deau-e to preserve shooting, feed the liirds, now I hat there is 

 a foot or two of snow all over the .Stale, imd do as I am do- 

 ing—sot the farmers' boys to work traiiping, buy llic birds 

 from them, keep them over winter and put Ibeni out in If 



31G Broadway, New York city. 

 Chas. W. Rodman (Garden City Gim Club), 413 Eighth 



street. New York city. 

 Leslie W. Wilde (Wa-sliuigton Gun Club), 27 Fourth street, 



Brooklyn, E. D., N. Y. P;V.;v r'nuimi/lr,. 



We concur in the above: Abel Crook, rresiileni New 

 York State Association ; Geo. A. Chappcll, President Long 

 Island Sportsmen's Association ; N. B Conke. Cur. Sec'y 

 Now York State Association ; .Tno. B. Sage, Rec. Sec'y New 

 York State Associatiou. 



Tbi 



spring, 



effect i'.' 



Tlir. 



that wIm 

 of birds 

 breed mi 

 they will rem 

 ~ Likely t 



if folio 



rill be r 



■h butK 



DELAWARE BAT DUCK SHOOTING. 



ONE mild, sunny afternoon this fall during a duck shoot- 

 ing trip, I lay off in a blind overlooking a bunch of 

 Not a ripph; disturbed the ominous quiet of the 

 ,^ or m.iveil ilie dead grass and reedsaround me; an 

 husl] |ieri'a.li=rl ilie desol.ite marshes, broken only 

 easional fccreeeh nf a passing sea gidl. 

 Iiinking of '' stilly nights'' and home, when 1 awoke 



decoys, 

 broad I 



:1 by sportsme 

 -]\r:: game tlian a ten years' close season. 



ladiiied with the habits of quail know 

 r"iiir, the hevies Imikeu up and a number 

 oi each, the remaining birds will m.ateand 

 for il; for wh re a bevy is loft undisturbed 

 ogcth-r. Few, if any of them, will piair 

 ■ I hree hen quails will lay in the same nest, 

 a constant warfare will lie kept up, the uesls destroyed, and 

 noyouug birds when the season opens. 



"J. H. B." also says that he finds that those who are best 

 infori\ied agree that the time has come when it is necessary 

 that achise'.seasein should be establiabed for .at least two oV 

 three ye.ars. Now, sportsmen with whom 1 have talked rela- 

 tive to this matter agree fully with my views— that were it 

 possible to get together enough non-sportsmen in onr Legis- 

 lature as would pass such a bdl as "J. H. B." proposes, ibo 

 result would be iudiscriminale shooting at all times of year, 

 and birds would get no )irotection. f am positive that sports- 

 men generally would neither recognize nor assist in the en- 

 forcement of such a law. The laws of this State are sutfl- 

 cieutly stringent as they are. ()iir quail .season opens No- 

 vember 1 and closes January 1, which makes a short one ; 

 bBBides, there are many days when the weather will not per- 

 mit of shooting and the laws as thev arc cannot, or at least 

 are not enfeirced. Then why talk of passine a law that would 

 lie miiversally disregarded? If the game laws of Ibis State 

 •were rigidly enfureed we should always have good shooting. 



As regard.s the growing scarcity of" birds, let me here re- 

 mark that we have had more quail this season in this vicinity 

 than for amnniier of years past, and 1 think such has been 

 the case througiiout tiie Slate. 



I do not think it would be a bad plan to close the season 

 December 30, for up to that lime we rarely have any snow. 

 This would prevent pot-hunters who are in the habit of tr ek- 

 ing quail in the snow till they come up to the bevy huddled 

 together beneath a bush, where with one shot they will kill 

 all. With the protection of game and the privileges of 

 sportsmen at heart, I am, etc., H. 0. G. 



to remember T had biiiU, mv eosv littli 



neat almost over the 



"Waterman's Crave" rfnnu wliencf 



the point derives its 



namej when I w-as rudely called to a 



eliillv consciousness of 



a piercing northwester and a wdute- 



eai..|)ed sea. The day 



liad been a storm breeder indeed, ani 



when I arrived along- 



side the yacht, long after sun .set, i 



vet and half frozcTi, all 



dreamy notions of poetic inspiration at 



id fi-eative imagery, fell 



limp and frost bitten before the stern 



realifv of the situation. 



Ne.\t morning 1 took up my field gla 



ti.ses ; ice and snow and 



NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION. 



THE Twenty-third Annual Convention of the New York 

 State Association for the Protectiim of Fish and Game, 

 and its tournament, will be held in the summer of 1881, un- 

 der the auspices' of the Long Island Sportsmen's Assoeiation. 

 The place selected is the Brighton Beiu-h race-course utt'onev 

 Island. Clubs frtnn all portions of the State, embracing the 

 most influential residents of the various cities, a.s well as of 

 the rural districis, will be in attendance, Tbissection of the 

 State, for the lirst time since the association became large; is 

 chosi:; ■ .■..-.: ': ihe incomparable advantages offered. It 

 hasli. , ,: ,iy 10 offer prizes for competition at rifle, 



pistol . .. I. 'jfing and for fly casting. These prizes, 



consio;iiig oi liijuey, guns, fishing tackle, ammunition and 

 articles useful and necessary or ornamental, of every descrip- 

 tion, have always been donated by dealers and busiiiess men, 

 who in retiu-n are advertised properly, and without expeuse 

 to them, in circulars, programmes, pamphlets and the news- 

 papers. 



It is proposed to make this the most important and suc- 

 cessful event of the kind. To this end the undersigned have 

 been appointed a committee to receive donations of suitable 

 prizes and to arrange for the publication and distribution of 

 the advert isements and acknowledgments. The circulars 

 and programmes will be issued between March 1 and March 

 1.1 next, and sent to every club of the assoeiation tbrougbont 

 this State, and to other State oruanizations and the press. 

 They will also be widely distributed at the time of the cun- 

 ventioiiand tournament, which will continue for at lea.sf one 

 week, during Ihe season ai Cojiey Island, and sysiemaiiepnb 

 lieatioii in ifie new.spapers will be assured- All prizes must 

 bede ivered liy :ilarch 1, l.S,Sl, and donors are requested to 

 send a memorandum of the proposed gift at the earliest con- 

 venient date, as if is desirable they should before JIareh. 



All prizes will be exhibited, w'ith the donor's name dis- 

 played thereon, for public inspection in a con.spicuoiis place, 

 for a reasonable time, and every practical effort made to 

 thnroughly advertise the same. 



Several valuable prizes have already been tendered and ac- 

 cepted. 



All communications on the subject should be addressed to 

 some oue of the committee, who will cheerfully furtush llio 

 desired information. Respectfully. 



Charies W. Wiiigert (Fountain Gun Club), HA South Port- 

 land avenue, Brooklyn, IS. Y., or care Nicol, Oowlershaw 



& Co., 743 Broadway, New York city. 

 A. Eddy (Long Island Shooting Club), 106 Sixth avenue, 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 

 P. C. Chamberlain (Nonpareil Sporting Club), 1.50 Sterling 



place, Brooklyn, N. Y,, or care Lawrence, Taylor & Co., 



a leaden sky met my eye, and 1 dive into the cabin to muse 

 again. 



Ben Davis Point, if we except Egg Island, is the most 

 l^rominent in the Delaware Bay, the adjacent shallow cove, 

 extending down to " Tuxet " Point, furnishing a large area of 

 feeding grounds for waterfowl; and no beilersijot can be 

 found in these waters for geese, brant and ducks, as they fly 

 to and fro across the Point. Aday or tw^o of w^'sterly winds 

 bring them into the cove from .all" parts of the bay in cotmt- 

 less numbers, and a good paddler %vitb a fir.st-elass shooter 

 ahead of bim can lib bis boat in a few days. During heavy 

 aouiheast gales Ihe birds .are driven inland by the rough 

 water, and'take .shelter in the Back Creek, the" Tweed and 

 their numcrou.s tributaries and fresh water poiid.s. I have 

 killed as high as thirty-nine black ducks singly with but 

 forty-five mi'uutes of daylight to do it in. True, it was during 

 a blinding snow storni, and I bad the flrst whack at them. 

 The latter part of J^'ebruary and J\Iareb is the licst time for 

 geese and brant. Blue bills are so numerous then that over 



hundred have been caught in a shael gill net in one short drift, 

 other net.s rauLdn'J- from twenty up, .shad and ducks alternat- 

 ing in the treaeherous mesbe.s. An old fi.sherman lells me this 

 with a long face. Every fall for twenty six vcars I have 

 paid a visit'lo Ben Davis'Point and the Waterman's Grave. 

 An oil painting, done by young Peel ju.st before be died from 

 a sketch taken on the spot, and presented me, now hangs in 

 my bed room, and it is truly a very lifelike picture of a very 

 desolate &pot. . R. G. W. 



Po7-)H yourself into » committee of one and feed the starvin-g 

 fiird«, or pay some one of yaw frrnids in the country to do it 

 for yov. 



A I^.\Ks,\s IxoiDENT. — AUkne. Dee. 28. — I notice quite a 

 number of deer In-ousht to tow^l — seven or eight — one turned 

 the scales at 100 Ibs.-a fine buck. 



Quail are very plenty here this fall and we are having fine 

 .sport with them. It is no unusual thing to find eight lo ten 

 large coveys in an afternoem bunt, and .sometimes something 

 else, as one of our boys can testify to. He was out with a 

 friend lately for a quail hunt on one of our small streams 

 and they had been quite .successful, one hunting on one side 

 of the stream and one on the other, only one dog, and he like 

 a policeman, never around when wanted. C. noticed a likely 

 looking bend in the creek, tranqied down into it the long 

 grass and bushes, when snddeidy, with a snort and grunt 

 that made bim eiuakc, he found iiimself attacked by a beast 

 that savagely sna|iped at his legs. No trees handy, afraid to 

 turn and run for fear slie wrmlrl take a piece out of his back. 

 With hair .standing on end, he stood his ground like some 

 Roman gladiator,""and poked and punctured at licr with 

 what? with bis , gun, and was about to give up in despair, 

 as a gnu, and pulled both trigl 

 8. backed by a good charge of 

 ■\ theai B., a fanner, and the dog 

 the monster ; the silence was 

 remai-ked thnsly : "Yes; she 

 d pure Berkshire, sold 6'50" wortli eif pigs 

 would not have parted with her for any 



he remembered i 

 gers. The charge e.f No. 

 poweler, did the work. ,Tu 

 came, and tliev .gazi;:d upe 

 broken by the far 

 was a 

 from her last ye 



dtb 



much 



interest two 



mdt 



rtbebr 



id of 



"Gun, 



thout doulit 



, niur 



h prac- 



vho 



IS an an 



lateui 



sports- 



St 1 



is fow 



1U--V 



icce, as 



cx\ 



piv>b;,b 



V w, 



.uld be 



1! 



t lie 



It jusi 



'■;''■- 



is the 



■■:o..ly 



uld t 



money, besides the pigs will be sure to die — but, boys, its 

 yours, give me f Ifi and we'll call it square." Dibigo. 



Netjbaska Notes — .North Plntte, Neh., Dee. 31. — Tne boys 

 arc having lots of sport now. Tl. Watts came in from tlie 

 Dismal. Killed twenty deer, and they were tirst-elass. As I 

 had a saddle niya'df I know. Game is very plenty tbig year ; 

 and it is a good" thing f"r .some of the farmers over on the 

 Republican River wdio did not raise any crops this year. Any 

 day you can see loads of game in our citj' going south. 

 Mountain lions ar.- plenty lids year. A large one was killed 

 Monday ftf Fort MePherson. One of my aequaintHiices saw 

 four on the iledieine Uiveraud bIioI at Iheni. but did not kill 

 any. Dillon and R. AVatts sta-t to-ninht ou a grant hunt up 

 the North Platie, near Olfallin's Bluffs. There is a band of 

 antelope there, driven down bv the storni. and , as they are 

 first-class shots they will make if a sueeessful trip. The an- 

 telope is bard same to iret. I have bunted them from Old 

 MePherson lo" the Big d-lorn Mouniains. and I find that if 

 you gel, them you have to shoot from 100 to liOO yards of 

 Ihein, and theav are more killed inside of l.",0 than over. But 

 a .45 cal., with 100 grainsof powder, will most ulwaysdofhe 

 weirk if any ritle will. But I think that a good repcatimi 

 arm that woidd use 100 grains of powder would be the best", 

 and I don't see why some gunniaker don't get one up, as it 

 would pay. Men won't use a .50 cal. riUe out here. The 

 bullet don't go as fast as they wisli. If they would make a 

 121b. rifle, .45 cal., 100 grains, lliey would have the best rifle 

 for deer and antelope. P. H. M. 



Game akd Gims at Omaha. — Southwestern Minnesota 

 and Northwestern Iowa is a eonnlrybcii sparsely inhabited as 

 yet, and embraces without doulii the Ix-sl chicken shooting 

 to be foimd. C!hickens are found by tlie thousands and the 

 numerous lakes afford, in sea.sou, splendid duck and goose 

 shooting. The lakes abound in multitudes of fine flsh, and 

 all in ail, for sport in the fall mouths, this region cannot be 



There is no use in naming particular localities, as 

 the sportsman cannot go amiss. The sportsman should be 

 prepared to camp out, and not depend on finding much, if 

 any, accommodation at the best places. The present cold 

 weather has flriven the deer down from more north eni re 

 gions, and fine sport is now had within a few miles of Oma- 

 ha. Seventeen deer shot in one T,veek on the Minnesota bot- 

 tom within six to ten miles of this place. In shot-guns every 

 make ever known or hoard of is reiuesentcd. Aliiiost every- 

 body uses heavy ten-gauge guns, wdlb pistol grips— and al- 

 most everybody overloads their guns, the rule liein;; to put in 

 all the i^owder and shot the shoulder will bear, of dogs, we 

 have curs of high and low degree in innumerable numbers 

 and a fair sprinkling of really good dogs. Nactiocb. 



A Hint to GnsMAKEns — Fm'nandiTia, Fla., Deo. 38. — In 

 your i.ssue of the 0th inst we read y ' " 

 articles by "Bedford" and "Dell," i 

 Powder and Shot. They contain, wi 

 tical information, and if every man i 

 man bad the time to thoroughly le 

 prescribed by these gentlemen, lie v 

 much more successful in the field. 

 trouble. Such experiments must no 

 or hurriedly, but wilh such great pr 

 istry of results as would consume nu 

 of us could command. Again, such 



convenient ramje for farsel practiee, that to many would be 

 Ijle, except at remote disiances. In view of these 

 hindrances to the many who might otherwise make theiie 

 tests for themselves, we would su.ggest, wtb due deference 

 to the manufacturers of guns, or at all events of Ibc Iietter 

 grades of guns, that they would specially test each gun for 

 Ihe speeific purpose of furnishing with each gun directions 

 how to load said gun so as tei attain the best results, viz.: 

 uuinher of drachms of powder to each number of shot ; how 

 to wad on both powder and shot ; what make of |?owder was 

 used in the testa as to mills and number, and the range of 

 the piece according to the loading. We are sure that there 

 are but few purchasers who waaild not be willing to give an 

 extra price for a gun accompanied wilh this accurate infor- 

 mation. There is no doubt that many an excellent gun is 

 condemned .and probably many a man branded as a " muff," 

 who might otherwise be a very fair shot, on account of the 

 want of this accuracy of knowledge of just hoAv to load. We 

 do not luiow that our suggestion is a new one, Init we have 

 never beard it advanced lieforc, neither have we ever seen 

 any dii'ections of any kind accompany the sale of a gun ; we 

 therefore presume it is unusual, and consequenlly our idea 

 is original. AVe write this communication to you, knowing 

 that il is ever your pleasure to give every assistance and en- 

 couragement t"o the lovers of the sjiorts of the field, and that 

 you invito the views of all that may tend in any way to assist 

 to give to the greatest number of sportsmen the best results 

 and greatest success in the prosecution of their sport. 



A.MATKrR. 



The Pkoposed Rbvisios — jV«c York, Jim. 7. — Editoi' 

 Fore.ft and Strmm : My attention has been called to the so- 

 called measures for the protection of game as proposed by 

 the Long Island Game As-ociation. A number of sportsmen 

 have called on me and asked me to use what iutluencc I have 

 toward exposing and preventing the pussage of any such act 

 as they contemplate bringing up at Albany. The meeting 

 held seems to have been entirely under the control of the 

 dealers in game and fish, and the propo-ed change is simply 

 to allow them to .sell game out of season, thus opening a mar- 

 ket for poachers and encouraging theni to hreak tlie laws. 

 The bad features of such an act have lieeu so thoroughly ex- 

 posed that it U not necessary to discuss them now. It would 

 prevent all turtber prosecutions in ih • large cities and de- 

 stroy the usefulness of game protective s-cieties. The only 

 reason they ofl'er for this change is that the present law in- 

 tc'f' res with their profits, which they could make were they 

 allowed to pander to the apretites of the weahhy. f am sure, 

 however, that with the growing feeling for the necessity of 

 game protection such an outrageous law will not be 

 passed. When will clubs and individuals stop tiukeriuo- 

 with the game laws and learn that it is far belter to see that 

 their country friends keep their ipiail from starving this bard 

 weather and enforce Ihe prcM-ni law.s than to .spend their 

 time in urging the iiassage of new ■ aies. People in the coun- 

 try get confu.scd by the constant chaUL'-es ; they do not have 

 time to get fully acquainted with the Laws be^fore they are 

 altcied. A few birds kept over and turned out in tlie spring 

 and a few quarts of small grain scattered in the swamps wiTl 

 do more toward providing good shooting than all the g.ime 

 laws m existence. W. Hooerton. 



Florida— J/arf&cw, Dee. 30.— I came to Florida about a 

 month ago in search of good shooting grounds. Thus far I 

 have confined my attention to ducks and quail, which can be 

 found in great numbers at almost any point bet-ween Live 

 Oak and Tallahassee. I came here a sfran<rer, hut found 

 hospitable gentlemen lioth ready and willing to direct me to 

 the haunts of Ihe duck and quail, and in many instances ac- 

 companied me into the field with their gun.s. "From fifty to 

 seventy quail is the ordinary bag of two sportsmen iroing out 

 for one day and shooting from ,v. M. to 4 p. M. 'The cover 

 is goofl open broom sedge and tlie birds lie well to the does. 

 Trust that you will direct inquiring gunners to Ibis the finest 

 game country I have ever seen. At Tallahas.se'e .lodge West- 

 cotl is the nio.st eritbusiastie sportsman in that section of • 

 country. y. L. p. h. 



Among tub lyiviA.vs~Lower £rule Agency, D. T., Dec. 

 IC.-^This is quite a sporting country. We have the antelope 



and deer (piile plenty here, and also chickens, though from 

 s line rea.sou this year we have urmc to speak of. The gen- 

 end opinion of the employees and oftieers at Fort Ilalc 

 iwhicb is situated about thirteen miles from here) is that the 

 young broods were killed by a freshet of the Missouri Tiiver, 

 JU.SI as the ycamg broods were bafcheel out. As a general 

 thing they are without number. One of our balf-breetls has 

 a fine stag hound, and every morning he makes a capture of 

 a wolf liy nanning him dow^l. I leaj-n that the buffalo are 

 within a hundred miles of us, and a party Start out soon lot 

 a hunt. I do not expect to get muchhuntine till the stirinir 



1 *l,« r 1« fl— 1 Iv 1.....— T*- ■« ^ «' 



when the fowls fly here quite plenty. 



L"bwBE Bkt-i.b. 



IjTOtANA, / 



five from (o 

 along the M 

 Madrid, M. 



I fo 



We 



belwec- 



eight dee , ^ . _^_, 



eighteen geese and a few ducks. As some of'yotu- correspond- 

 ents seem to be interested in the weight of game birds, I 



Ih-i-. -IS.— A party of 

 ' sh.ioting last month. 

 IJ.iiro. 111., and New 

 sixty-three turkeys, 



