JiLKT7ABT27, 1881.] 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



511 



rei 1 up my line, disjoint my rod and ply the paddle home- 

 ward ; and when the strin? of "lusty trout" are weighed tlie 

 very scales groan under the weight of nineteen pounds. 



DDOK SHOOTING. 



still another variety of sport can be enjoyed on the island, 

 IJiat uf black and wood-duck shooting. These fowl, though 

 not strictly abundant, can be found in nuinbers Fumeicnt to 

 warrant u fair day's bag. True, the parsnii, of thuvi is pr..- 

 dtictivc of botli toil and fatigue, but to the imkifatigable 

 sportsman who seeks the flold with the intent of auimating 

 the souses, invigorating the body imd communing with na- 

 ture, it is 11 matter of secondary importance, and to him 

 alone is du(_', vu: jutlicr; the name and honor of h sportsman. 



AtuI now my liili; is liuished. and sliould thesu linos over 

 meet tlie eyus'nf niy good friend — wlio, alas! is now separ- 

 ated from VM by many a mile— I have only to add that bis 

 jovial ways and sweet companionship shall always liave at 

 'least one spot ever fresb and verdant in the momory of his 

 fellow-sportsman. . H. W. A. 



I ing taken of the cold weather. They are to be served up for 

 those who will partak 



It must tri 

 teclion of emw 

 sportsmen on t 

 tlie mnneriMia 



Stkeam. ll 



'tUlu 



DUCK SHOOTING AT SHINNECOCK. 



Editor Ffirn'l mi'l ,n/cc«ot .• 



In yiinr > u;nii(n- of Jan. 20, 1881, you publish a communl- 

 catioufroni '■ SLnnnecoek," in which lie takes exception to 

 the suggestion made liy Mr. Pike in his speech before the 

 Long Island Sp'iiisiiiM-n's Association, lie .says "that Shin- 

 necock Bay is nul adaptfd for point shooting." 



To Hiiy one acMuaiutcd with the tiiiy, and many of your 

 readers doubUtss are, that statement seems nnwarranteil, 

 for it has, between quujiuo and Southampton, many flue 

 points, notable amoug wbicli are Pine Keck, liast and West 

 llampttsiure, Uole-iu-t.he-Wall, and the east and west points 

 of the bi^ bar, I speak of these particularly, because I have 

 shot from or near them all, and liave had fine sport in the 

 days gone by. I recall the first time I ever shot on Sljinne- 

 cockSay;il was in the spring of 1870. Batteries were 

 not 60 numerous then as now, and the shooting 

 was much better. I shot every day for a week, 

 and eacb day bad good sport, securing a fair bag. The birds 

 fed near the shore and came to stool gently, but since that 

 time the shooting has become gradually poorer, until last 

 fall it atnounted to nil. I spent a v;e.Ai l here, and be- 

 tween the three days' law, the adveise wcitilier and the 

 scarcity of birds I came very near being ■■ wiiiteuashed." 



The open seiison for fowl shooting on Stiinuecock Bay 

 commcnc d last Orilober 20, and for aliout ten days the 

 birds were plenty and gentle. That gave tive sihooting days, 

 which was ample time to disgust them with batteries and the 

 use to which tbey were put. I will cite my own case. My 

 gunners were an. vious that I should have L^rjod sport, but no 

 more so than wei-e other gunners for llu;ir sportsmen, con- 

 sequently there wjs a great rivalry as to who should wecnre 

 the best places where the ducks live The result, of I he 

 rivalry was that the gunners with the batterie.s would start ut 

 at uiididght 10 secure the gmnnd tor the nc.vt day. The 

 whole I if the ilals from Soulhampton to tiuoguc at intervals, 

 were occupied that way, driving up tlje fowl during the 

 night at the time when they do most of their 

 feeding. I ask, wliat chance had ducks to feed 

 under such circuuistauces, and if they cannot procure f o id, 

 what object is it for them to stay? They certainly have to 

 feed and will go where tlui^' are not disturbed at night, which 

 ja their natural feeding-time. If .von will allow /ne the space 

 I would like to quite ironi " \Vilson " in support of my 

 views. 11':' r;!!". 'Ti ;•::■_"■ "I'i, Vol.3, "American Orm"- 

 tUol^:,^ "' ; , I : I, I: I :.irl-;: " In the cvenlug I hcy 



fes'pi'. ' i : ' I' ■' ■-■■ and occupy themselves 



1,lrroa-,ti',;ii i ii,.. ^.-r;' ■ r-ii;in li ; 1m_. night in seeking for food." 

 Again, on page o42, saQie volume, in speaking of the can- 

 vas-back, he says : " But of all I ho modes pm-sued, none in- 

 timiihite tirem so much as shooting them by night and they 

 soon abandon tlie place where they have been thus repeatedly 

 shot at." Again, ou page 355, same volume, in speaking of 

 the scaup, or bruadbill (which is the most n\imerous duok on 

 Shianecock Ba,y.), he says : " ^Vheii disturbed by the fisher- 

 meu along the Jersey shore, in the spring, they resort to oth- 

 er feeding-places." 



Giraud, iu liis " Birds of Long Island," on page Xo. 823, 

 says of the scaup, or broadbill : " It passes the uiglit on the 

 flats in large docks." The nature of wild-fowl to-day is the 

 same as it was in the days of Wilson and tJiraud and as they 

 would not I'emain then oir waters where they wera disturlicd 

 night and day. neilher will they now. Feii- my own pai't, 

 ami Oil heliLilf i.f inauy bmther -portsmen with whom I have 

 canvassed the subject, 1 .'should like to have batteries abol- 

 ished froui Shinneoock Bay, but as I am willing to give an 

 equal chance to all, 1 would suggest, as a compromise, the 

 following : 



1. Abolish the three-days law. 



2. Pass a law that no battery shall be placed more tlian 

 twenty rods from the nearest shore : and, 



8. That no battery shall be rigged or anchored on the 

 shooting-grounds uiilil one hour after sunrise and must be 

 taken up at leaiit tliiriy minutes before sunset. 



If such statutes as the above were ptissed we would once 

 more see the shooting as it was. Wm. Dutoher. 



OUR PHILADELPHIA LETTER. 



FOR the first time in very many years I noticed a quan- 

 tity of sharp-tailed grouse for sale in the street last 



week. The party w 

 that they were prair: 

 very severe weather 

 weeks has eiiri'-tfi! ■: 

 prairie cliiel. 

 see also uunil 

 thorouffbfa 



lieni did not know but 

 1 called them such. The 

 n having the past three 

 I he West to ship many 

 ght in a frozen state. I 

 icing offered on our main 

 street-hawkeis." These 



birds have llie appearance of having been snared. You 

 know our Pennsylvania law prohibits tbe offering of many 

 varieties of trame ^anloug which is the pinnated and rutfed 

 grouse and quaU) after January 15. Tliis uiiiy in a measure 

 account for the great qnautity noticed every wliere, dealers 

 being anxious to get it off their hands before the date of the 

 law's taking effect. Some of ilie.ce peddlers of game on be- 

 ing questioned state that Ihey will ulTer prairie chiekens imd 

 birds not native of tbis Stale" aii er .January 15. si m ing that 

 the law will not "hold wafer" if tested, e.vcept as relating 

 to our own gauic. And yet the law distinctly nauies the 

 several varieties of grouse, and imposes a penalty on their 

 sale sifter the above mentioned date. 



Otu- enterprising restaurateur, Laubor, had two enormous 

 wild bears hanging before his door tins morning. These 

 animals were shipped to him from Germany, advantage be- 



i.sc interested in the preservation and pro- 



;h pleiiaure to note the ansiefy shown by 

 the sulijeel, which is now plainl}' evinced by 

 13 arlicles in yoin- lust edition of Fokebt and 



is a LV ^^ ■'■!- i';--'-s. F.ditors, a trulv good 



tlieiV, -men (if the oiuntrvVour 



d ehaii,, Tr. illustrate that the 



d. and which has proved 

 most disastrous to liirds of the gallinaceous order, as I sni-- 

 mised early in tbe winter, has damaged the game of the 

 South, read the followimr from Ihe Columbus (Oa.) Bnquir- 

 fr-Sini.: " A ne.gro, wliil'c himtinji in Perry County, Ala., a 

 few iltiys ago, canic upon a civey of twenty-four partridges, 

 whicli lie pi-oenedeil t(i pick up one liy one and put in las 

 bag. They were well nigh frozen ami unable to fly." This 

 is but a siii'jle ease. How many just such iucidents have oc- 

 curred in the Eiislern and Midd'lc Slates? 



Certainly there sb(iuld be no lioiible in having a ready re- 

 sponse to a call by Forest A\-n Stream iur a convention of 

 sportsmen of the East to take sr.nie sp^iuj rr^r;,,diii,L'' a ce;=;;i- 

 Ijon of the hunting of ruffed crouse and ipiail for al le-ii.'ii nn 

 year, if not two. ' I know there will lie an outcry against 

 such a movement on the iiai't of some dog hi'eeders, wlio de- 

 pend entirely upon the sale of llieir animals for a livelihood. 

 This will be seen at once, indeed it is ah-eady sliown liy one 

 or two articles I have rend. It was only to-day I heard an 

 inquiry from a gentleman living in Chester Cuunly for live 

 quail which he desired to keep in his barn through tiie winter 

 and liberate in the spring. "Fur." said he, "in our section 

 of tlie country we have not one covey left; the birds have all 

 perished." The subject canmit fie agitated too much, and 

 an effort on the part of Foias.sT and Stkkam looking to a 

 call of gentlemen interested- in the cause would doubtless 

 meet with success. We'have doubts tliat it will be found 

 dilUcult to obtain live birds in any great numbers from Nortli 

 Carolina, as reports from that Stale show the quail has suf- 

 fered there likewise. Let me repeat, such an undertaking 

 on yom- jiarl will be as laudable as your twp'm of the nitro- 

 cellulose Dittmar powder. 



Tiic (^Vmnty of McKean, of Pennsylvania, is now our best 

 region for deca, especially iu (he Siimaiuahoning .section. 

 Our mutual friend, Capt. A. Clay, who resides in the locali- 

 ty mentioned a portion of the year, could relate interesting 

 hunts participated in by himself and friends. Homo. 



BUFFALO ESTERJIINATION. 



Lei nic say n fev, \> ids on a subject to which attention 

 lias lieen cailed seveiat limes in your paper, namely, tlie 

 wanlnu dcsiructiiiu of fjuflalo. That they are rapidly ap- 

 liroaelrnir extermination is abundantly evident. The action 

 of the Came Protective Assocituion of Wyoming testifies to 

 that fact. The letter of W. A. Allen, of'Montana, iu your 

 issue of December 2H, says: " \S"e foimd parties killing them 

 for the tongues alon(!, not even laking tlie hides." 



Let mo give the results of my own observation. In the 

 :pring of 18711 1 went from Dodge City. Kansas, across In 



ory and i 



the 



slaked pla 

 nail 



of Tcxfus. Thi 

 numbering more 



■y ■' !rirge. An officer of 

 !' |je same country a 



: .liL;.- that it was neces 

 iito the herds, iu order to 

 that the column of cav- 



187G thefe' 

 •cipi 



nmg ones 

 and wlien 



died 



npe 



id. 



dian Ti 



lierds which we saw were 



than four hundred ; few wei 



the expedition, who bad pa: 



little more llian two years ':•• 



teild me that so large were i i 



sary to hall the cavalry am 



break lliem up and scatter t 



airy might |iass tliroujiU. 1 



were s i wild that they Hed p 



it was necessary to kill lliem tor tin: > ,■ 



either to use the utmost caution ];i ,, ;, ,.;ri;_ 



else ride them down imd fire upon iliem ihkh 



The same officer told me he thought Ihaf in his ri 



lion there were ten where one was found in the ,se 



Upon all sides we found hundreds of carcasses blenching 

 iu the Sim. In one locality, where lliey were most aliundant, 

 the crack of tbe rifle was heard everywhere. Our nostrils 

 Avere constantly ofl'endcd by the stench of decaying bodies 

 thai almost literally covered the plains. Of course these 

 were killed lor their hides, but the inevitable result, extermi- 

 nation, v. ill surely follow unless some Umit is put to the 

 numbers killed. To give some just idea of the enormous 

 numbers killed, it is only necessary to say that iu one year 

 three liuu:h-ed thousand hides were shipped from Dodge 

 City, Kansas. 



When llie two railroads that creiss Kansas were opened it 

 was not unusual to have to stop i he trains till the buffaloes 

 bad crossed the track. Now a buffalo is nevt r seen on either 

 one of them. And this is not .simply the resnU of advancing 

 civilization; it is the direct consequence of tiie mcrciles.s war 

 which has been waged against them, and unless something 

 is done to [ircvent if, the day will soon come when this char- 

 acteristic American anireal will be one of the things eif tlie 

 past. Cannot sumelbing be done to put a slop l.i This wan- 

 ton deslTuclion ? Is there not some action which could lie 

 taken on the part of the General Government that would do 

 something toward the preservation of the bison f It will not 

 do to plead that the hunters make •» living by their hunting. 

 The same amount of time, labor and energy (and a much 

 less amount of e.xposure and hardship), expended in nearly 

 auy 01 her direetinu could hardly fail to be .as fully remunera- 

 tive, if nut more so, for the hides delivered al the railway 

 station bring but liltle more Ilian one dollar each. 



Even if lettislation sliould compel sume men to seek an 

 other mode of making a living, it would tie better than to 

 exterminate the bulfalo. But I do not propose to discuss 

 the matter ; 1 want to lay the facts before your readers, and 

 let all draw their own conclusions. It seems to me that the 

 conclusion must inevilabl}' be drawn that it is desirable to 

 pkce limits to the slaughter of this animal, and to do some- 

 thing toward its preservation. 0. B. 



The Central New York Sportsmen's Club have elected the 

 following officers for 1S81 : Charles W. Hutehinsun, Presi- 

 dent: Andrew McMillan, E. T. Mauninff, S-i- "' Ti,.,.i„o-, 

 Vice-Presidents; ,lnhn D. Kernaii, Prose- v; 



Major D. T. Evers, Treasm-er ; Prank I. IM : y, 



Dr. John W. Greene, .if New York, wasunui . i i ■ led 

 an honorary member of the club. The society calSs attention 

 to the necesMly of incorporating into the gaioc law sections 

 preventing sportsmen and others from leaving tires burning 

 in the woods, so destructive to our forests, and also to pro- 

 hibit those parties from leaving carcaases and offal near the 

 camps and springs in the Adirondacks. 



ici sironi; n 

 iway fn' 



DUCK SHOOTING AT COBB'S ISLAND. 



rilHE brant are more plentiful here this season than for 

 I for many years. I averaged twenly-five a tide during 

 my siay at tlie Island, but I hajipeneil ti'i sirike the sput as 

 tlic right time. Snmetiiiics one will liave to wait bir a week 

 or ten days liefore lie can have a good day'.s duck shoo! ing. 



There are three absolute requisites to stool brant : the tide, 

 tlie wind and the sun. If the tide is right and tlie wind is 

 wrong it will not be a sportsman's day. Should r.he wind 

 nd it is cloudy, then you might as well remain 

 Iheldiiids; but when the flood tide is running, a 

 X blowing and a bright sun is shining, then it is 

 that Uie birds tly and come up readily to the decoys. In a 

 wiuler's season Ihcre is ccrlainly not au average ef over two 

 such days in the week, and the hunter will have many liours 

 of weary -vaiting, which on this island, unless he lui.s com- 

 panionable comrades, is almost unendurable. 



Never was there such an illustration of killing the goose 

 that laid tlie golden egg as this place presents. -The Oobbs, 

 i' I I ii \fiirliou and high prices charged sportsmen, have 

 - Idlled tlielr island ; for five years ago there, were 

 > Northern sportsmen who rendezvoused here for 

 dia;i^ snooting, now there are none, I being the sole, soliiary 

 visitor, and as the ice prevents any boals from leaving the 

 Island, or from lumtiug, I feel as desolate as Alexander Sel- 

 kirk on Juan Fernandez. Even Nathan Cobb is getting sick 

 of his enforced idleness, and wanders disconsolately around 

 his decoys, which he can't use This is the first ice lilockade 

 that has isolated the island from li.e mainland since the 

 famous winter of 18,')7. 



I smd this squib at a venture, and by stjange hands, as we 

 used to do in Richmond during the war, and termed the un- 

 certain mode by a notice on the outside of tlie envelope, 

 "A"ia r^rapevine Telegraph." Anyway it will reach you 

 some day, I Iru.i^t. 



The Cobbs have made heavy bags this season, Nathan 

 sending ma£>y dozen to Northern markets. I only average 

 some twenty brant on each tide. 



To sportsmen coming here I add this advice, don't come 

 alone, but the more the merrier. CiiAsSEttE. 



OoWi hUnd, Jan. 1. 



CALIFORNIA GAME. 



CosuMNEs, Cal., Dec. 28. 



OUR rainy season, whichanswers to winter, has set in and 

 for the past four weeks we have had plenty of weather, 

 whether we liked it or not. It has brought us an abundance 

 of ducks, however, and a larger proportion °of canvas backs 

 than wo liave ever known before, iu fact Ih.ey were the only 

 duck to be found in the market. Quail are very abundant, 

 and afford fine shooting, when the weather permits. I 

 proinksed to say a ivord about our game lairds and their habits, 

 so I will say a word about C|uail. Theia; are several varieties 

 on this coast, the best known tieing generally distinguished 

 as mountain quad and valley (piaii. The former frequent 

 the mountain only, except as very severe storms drive them 

 lower down, and are much larger tnau llie valley quad. Both 

 varieties are tufted and are much handsouier in plumage than 

 the eastern ciuail. I send you two .skins from the heads of 

 valley quail. The r|uaU here do not frequent open fields as 

 much as tfiose in the East, except corn fields along the river 

 bottoms and near to wUlow clumps. They* are ditflcult until 

 after the frosts have stripped the trees of foliage ; first be- 

 cause their first flight is generally into trees or buslies, wliere 

 tbey hide very closely; aud second, because Ihej' are much 

 more rmcertmn in their times and places of feeding, [wuniog 

 themselves, etc., tlian llic Eastern quail. I uolice with them 

 llie same mysterious power of withholding their scent that 

 Eastern quail have when flrst flushed. 

 Slate they collect in coveys of two i 

 will rim along the road ahead of a tei 

 distance. But alas for the hopes of iIr 

 thinks he ha.s a soft thing; after tlie 

 of short wings and the birds have dn 

 arral composed of thorny bushes ar 

 except for the grizzly bear, aud Ik 

 looking for them and hunt up a fi 



such drawbacks, however, there are plenty enough to'make 

 fine bags, and I have known three brothers to kill in two 

 months' shooting 1,300 dozen. Deer are very plenty along 

 the foot hills this winter. I am sorry to hear, however, that 

 great numbers have been slaughtered "for llieir hides, a practice 

 which unfortunately is cxterininatine' Ihe deer in some parts 

 of the State. I am afraid this letter will trespass on voru- 

 time and space, if it does use the blue pencil. W. L. W. 



d. In h 



onip parts of the 



) or Ihi 



■e hundred, aud 



am som 



etinies for some 



e HJaster 



n sportsman who 



fil'Sl sli. 



t there Is a roar 



ipped 1, 



to a dense chap- 



ll aln^f 



si impenetrable, 



mav E 



pure his time iu 



■e.=h CO 



■ey. Ill .spite of 



AN ADIRONDACK TRIP. 



Utioa, Jan. 8. 

 Editiir Forest mid' Stream : 



Would "Nessmuck," through your columns, inform a 

 friend and myself of a trip through the North Woods that 

 would occupy about three weeks or a nionlli, where ones 

 would not meet every few miles with a hosl of people and 

 all the attendants of civilization? Hard work not the slight- 

 est consideration. 1 forgot to mention that we reside in 

 Utica, ,H!id a radius of fifty miles would suit us. We went 

 in last year from Bucrafts above 3Ioore!iousevilleund a carry 

 of two and one-half milesio Wilmurst Lake, where we intend- 

 ed to stay for our trip, the fishing in the lake beiiiir grand. 

 The first morning we were out with two rods we caught seven- 

 teen fine fellows, full of life, the least of tiieni wei'ghint; one 

 and three-quarters pounds and the largest about two and one- 

 half pounds. But things at tlic house are not » jny forever 

 (there are sharks in tbe wilderness), so we struck "camp, antl 

 taking boat to the end of the lake with our camping out out- 

 fit which we had bromilit with us in case of an emergency, 

 we went to Snag Lake, which is a small lake about two 

 mdes from Wilmursl Lake and the roughest and longest I 

 ever wish to carry sixty pounds over. At^Snag Lake wo had 

 splendid sport, the fish being tery plentiful. .From there we 

 went to the Melcalf River, but it being rather late hi the 

 season— the second week in August — we did not get much 

 sport and retnrned to camp on Snag and from thence home, 

 occupying about two weeks. A better time or lielter luck I 

 never struck The last day we walked down f rom Moor- 

 houseville to Prospect, a distance of twenty-nine miles with- 

 out turning hair, afeat that without our two weeks training we 

 should have considered several times aliout. I mean to send 

 you a full account of our next trip and all particulars. H. 



EttiAH Camp, an Indian guide, thinks that he has dia- 

 oovered two Adirondack lakes never visited by a white man. 



