66 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[At/gust 24, 1882. 



Oi'KN Si-jasons. -S'r hibU <,f niini samuix for t/mm and H*h 



GAME IN SEASON IN AUGUST. 



TBBtoltowiog schedule exhibits tUofeam< Is aemto 

 in p:ir»-:i! -, ■ ,. ... -.- ,s.,n- which ..pen during tin innnrh. 



Alabama- Dovea i Kew llrmravn'k W I> 



California Deer, dares, tow I snipe. 



Dakota— (Aug. 15. grouse, quail, !TeW Hampshire— Wood 



t'eluuarc U'i...,Uouik. X(iw Jer-ey i \\\i. -J.'i. r. 



PistricI ol ' I'oluiuliia Woodcock, New York W.„,.lci.ol. 



ruffed grouse: (Aug. 15, deer). Dutches-.. Ilci-kiinei- a 



ijoorgia-Wii i turkey, quail, deer, cos.), squirrels, deer, i 



Idaho— Sharp-tail tiud pinnated , season opens Lug iv 



grouse, deer, mountain sheep In St. Lawi-Huce co. i 



and fiout, elk, antelope. bulT.ilo S'oi Ih Cnrolinu- i \llir I 



Illin<.is-\V<XHl.wk:iAug. l.\wild- XovaSctia W.>.,',|, -oct; 



fowl. pinnatcl groustii! -nil.,.. 



i, (Also. 

 x.-l;. wild 



Indian. 

 Iowa 

 fowl. 



;ock. 



un-Wo 



ri- W I 



dow lark, do 



Beer 



Woodcock;; <Auk. 

 l'h— Wo 



Ml! 



dcock. 



>ck. plo' 



We 



,. 15. pin- 

 nated grouse), sli 



Montana— Koolhon, grouse, ptar- Wis, 



inignn: (Aug. 10. huiTalo. elk. gr,,n 



antelope, lununtolu sln.-.-j, and Wyoming i--un; 



goal, iiiniiw, wililf.url . mountain -he 



Nebraska— (Aug. 15, grouse). ptnrinigin: pi 



Nevada— Elk. antelope, mountain sliai-p Uiilgrou 



sheep and goat, sage grouse: grouse, mid :'..■. 



(Aug. 14, deer). stupe. 



t3?* For exceptions, loual laws, etc. see F .-, .-. 



tile "B," iflsuu of July ». page 480. 



illilfnv 



111, wildfowl). 



dngton Territory -tAug. 15* 

 -r. elk, antelope, mountain 

 ■op. grouse i. 



n — Woodcock: (Aug, 15. 



, quail). 



ttSiaaujISohed- 



WHAT DESTROYS THE RUFFED GROUSE? 



DURING the four past years the editors ami correspoud- 

 ( tils oi' FoiiEST and Stream have answered correctly 

 many very puzzling questions in connection with forest and 

 stream, woodcraft and natural history, Such a- what 

 becomes of the antlers of deer and other '( fem'shed > ai oh yeai ? 



At whul season these arc shed? What emasculates the squir- 

 rels? What the English sparrow is good for! Where hoop 

 snakes are the most plentiful? How speckled trout catch 

 flies with their tails? How shooting chaos protect the game 

 and fish? etc, 



"Byrne" has calmly sat and looked on, while these sonic- 

 times hot controversies wore going on, ready at any time tp 

 give the icoxrect answers, in ease no one else stumbled on 

 them. Bui sooner or later some one would slop in and give 

 the-true solution of the, question "hefo' de raeetin'," and it 

 was nol necessary to call upon me. 



All sucli Questions haye been answered to "Byrne's" saiis- 

 iiiciiun. and i think correctly, exoepl theonuof "what causes 

 the disappearance almost entirely of the ruffed gronse.in 

 districts where it tod before been quite plenty?" This has 

 not been answered Itv any one to -'Byrne's" satisfaction, and 

 as there seems to be no bopas of its being so answered. 1 

 will have to attampi the answer myself. 



The theory of the partridge Jl'y or tick destroying the 

 young will, 1 think, nol answer, from many natural reasons, 

 on.- to which is, that this fly has not, so Ear as 1 can learn, 

 been found West, and it is certain that this grouse fluctuates 

 in quantity different seasons, wonderfully iu sections where 

 they are not destroyed to any great extent by man ox visible 

 birds antl beasts of prey in the' West. They do not increase 

 m numbers West in places where there is every visible 

 reason why they should increase -really. In places West 

 where they were very numerous tweniv im- and thirty years 

 ago, they are not near. so plentiful now, yet there i- no visible 

 reason why they should nol be more plentiful. And from 

 what Eastern correspondents write, the same, facts pertain 

 everywhere East. 



•liyri.e" will now give his theory of the cause of this dis- 

 appearance of the ruffed grouse and other birds of its family, 

 and iis want of increase in sections finely adapted to its 

 natural increase, and some facts supporting this theory into 

 an hypothesis, it nol into facts, in natural history. 



Some thirty-live or forty years aim. there was importer) in- 

 to North America from China aud'India certain greal "haw- 

 key, long-legged, coarse, cowardly, iu-lookw worthless a 

 perfectly outrageous parody on chicken life and farm, cer- 

 tain domestic fowls, known as Shanghais Cochin Chinas 

 Brahmas, etc., Ohil kens." &loog with these was imported a 

 "virulent anthrax " sporadic, or zymotic contagious disease 

 commonly known as '•chicken cholera." which devested, and 

 is devastating, our "chit ken coops" and lurkey roosts yearly. 



Now ii is a well known fact that some of these malignant 



deadly diseases such as this, involves in general destruction 



not only certain specie.-, but also whole Families and orders 

 in its deadly embrace, and the scientific study of these dis- 

 eases will have lo be carried much 1'iiriher than il ha- la-en 

 before we can know what species any one form of these dis 

 cascsdo involve. For we do not as vet know bm thai t hi- 

 deadly so-called "hog cholera." and this same "chicken 

 Cholera" and other deadly forms of disease of man and other 

 animals are caused by one common parasite 



scientifically investigated. While ihc so-called bog cholera 



bas been thoroughly (see reports of fruited Btatos pepart 

 ment of Agriculture), the disease, or two disease.-, are very 

 similar in their action in* the pig and in the Chicken aha 

 there seems to bc.no cure for either when once attacked the 

 only safciy bcin- in prevention, I'm it is possible that 

 either may he cured by proper treatment in the first stages 

 after being taken, into the system, while it is in the incuba- 

 tion state, or latent, and before it becomes virulent and has 

 attacked the vitals. Now let us see if there is any proof 

 licit ibis •chicken cholera" does destroy Other species Of the 

 order to which the domestic chicken belongs I have posi- 

 tive proof that it does destroy both the domestic and wild 

 lurkey. I have lost hundreds of domestic turkey-, having 

 the same, symptoms and dying at the same time ihat the 

 • hnk, us were dying around them by the dozen. Several 

 yeai8 ago 1 procured a ••clutch" of nine eggs of Ihc wild 

 turkey, place.; n,,-,,, under a domestic hen. Seven batched 

 out antl I reared them to the size of a prairie chicken, when 

 seven of liicm died in one day with this disease in exactly 

 the same way and with the same symptoms of the chickens 

 and the lame turkeys running with lie in. 



Query: do quail die with this disease ? I have never seen 

 one actually die with it, but facts show conclusively 1 think 

 that they do, For instance, 1 have, seen young quad ex- 



ceedingly plenty on my place in Illinois and in that neigh- 

 borhood' in July and August. It is there unlawful to shoot 

 quail until October the first, and but very few, scarcely any, 

 are shot iu ihal neighborhood before that lime. In July 

 each covey of quail numbered from Iwelve to twenty; when 

 the season Opened on Odober first, some seasons, and these 

 were the. sn seasons that chicken cholera had devastated 



our poultry yards, bul very tew ipiail could lie found, and 



when a covey was found it would consist of a few individ- 

 uals — four, six, eight or ten wpuld be about as they* would 

 run, and quite often onlv the two parents with no young 



with them would be found, with rarely a covey with ils nor- 

 mal number. 



The s.iiue fuels exactly apply to the ruffed g'ronsc under 

 my Observation. This bird was not, in Ihc early settlement 

 of the country, found near my home in Illinois, but began 

 to appear there aboiil I wenly live year- ago. I had as fine 

 a country I'or il lo propagate and breed in a? the most e\ 



acting and .-esthetic Btmeuta wnbellui seemingly could ask I 



look very greal pains to protect the noble incomer, not kill 

 ingthem myself oi allowing, others to do so. so far as pos- 

 sible. Pot? a lew years liiey incica-ed finely, then for a 



time became very scarce, then gained a little, and so they 

 have kepi on fluctuating in numbers year by year until the 

 present time, and 1 do not think that in thai neighborhood 

 there are any more individuals of this line bird than there 

 was three veais after we discovered the first eovev in there, 

 1 know that they have nol been killed by dog and gun; but 

 I do not know postively that they curled up and died with 

 therhickeii cholera. Bui 1 do know that all facts show 

 thai ihc\ did. do and will. As I said before, all the facts I 

 have given a- lothequall are equally true oi thisgrouse, 



The -ame large coveys of young no' il about I wn-l birds grown, 

 and then suddenly reduced lo a very fi.w individuals or en- 



lireiy disappearing. 



"Whether the piairie hen or the pinnated grouse (Cirpiil'/iiin 

 eupido) is destroyed hy this disease hi not. my observations 

 lire not so complete, but so far as they have' gone lhe\ in- 

 cline me to believe nearly conclusively 'that they are. About 

 Iwenly-llve years ago the prairie chickens began to decrease 

 more rapidly in numbers than t In- amount' killed in my 

 neighborhood with the gun would warranl. After that time 

 the same depleted coveys would lie found at the openingof the 

 season, and the number of birds varied loo greally different 

 years. N'ow for a few observed fact- a- I lie season or time 

 ol year thai this disease, "chicken cholera, "dc-slrovsihe birds, 

 and my argument is complete. Old bird.- generailv die with 

 it April. May and June, young birds in the lasi half of July 

 and August, when they are aboul two-third- grown. The 



old birds d ii often "die in the spring, but seasons when 



they do they an- getieially the finest and falo-i of the Dock, 

 these bne birds dying very suddenly . Thin birds die more 

 slowlv, and sometimes nearly recover. Tin n if these are 

 fads,' and I certainly think they are, we may have all tin- 

 birds named very plentiful the first half of July, and very 

 -earec September first. As to the virulence of tqis disease 

 and it- capacity for killing chickens. I will say Unit 1 have 

 often -ecu farms slocked with hundreds of chickens and 

 turkeys, and all be dead in a few day.- but » few old setting 

 hens, 13yj<NK. 



Crockett's Bi.cki'. Ark , Aug. 10. 



GRASS PLOVER SHOOTING. 



YEARS ago, before the Stetson House, at Long Branch, 

 was erected, and the numerous cottages extending in 

 aline southward were built, the whole extent of field land 

 from the bluff to nearly a quarter of a mile inland was a 

 continued succession of plover grounds. At that time the 

 fields at ijouLr Branch were either cultivated or used as pas- 

 tures directly up to the bluff, which rose before the surf fif- 

 teen or twenty feel high. On these plover ground-, which 

 wi -re either potato fields or pastures, from Jlowland'- llotei 

 to Deal. 1 have ShOl hundreds of gia--plover. but have never 

 seen one close by on the beach. 1 wa- quite a boy when I be- 

 gan shooting at Long Branch, and became very skillful under 

 the tuition of an old friend, and at thai time by DO means a 

 young tutor— Mr. Thompson, who. with his -on-in law, Mr. 

 Shade Green, and the killer's brothers, (.'apt. Charley. Jim 

 and Walter, Wt -re consid. red the best sportsmen al the Branch. 

 I remember how 1 astonished my old friend Thompson bv 

 crawling on all fours down the potatoe rows— the vine- hav- 

 ing attained full growth and blossom— until I got within 

 Shooting distance of the plover I had seen alight in the field. 

 when I would jump to my feet, put the birds up, and kill 

 i li<-iii In-fore they got well on the wing. And such birds! 

 .lu-l here, in Speaking of the potato fields in which I so 

 often shot them. 1 discovered a peculiar species of small 

 beetle always in the crops or maws of the birds I killed in 

 these lots, it was doubtless this insect that attracted them. 

 It was considered then four miles from llowiand's lo Deal, 

 and we generailv had good Shooting from l he lime we reached 

 Cant. Charley Green's house at what was then known a- 

 "the fresh water pond " a half mile from llowiand's. "We 

 froquenllj iii.-i M.-Ms. J. W. Wallaek and F.dwin Adams 

 wiih their guns on the plover grounds. We never extended 

 oiu- tramps bevocd the Hathaway House at Deal, always 

 winding up there for a rest and refreshments. The Hatha 

 way boy.-, being shunters wc never failed displaying our bag, 

 were it "small or large, and an hour's cooling "off put us in 

 good shape for the return over the same route, we were 

 generally quite successful on these -rounds, and seldom 

 arrived "ai ihc hold lit was "the Bath" then, kept by Col. 

 Green) without a do/en or more birds each. Tears after I 

 met my friend Thorn |i-on at Capt, llond's. Long Beach, t 

 had become grown up then. Mr. Thompson showed his age 

 considerably, but shot the same gun, and just as well as when 

 we first met. lorwc went out together, and had several good 

 days among Ihc bay birds during our slay at Long Beach. 

 1 remember also Of having had goodgr&ss plover shooting near 

 Swedesborp, Gloucester county, N. J., when 1 wasaboy. 

 and being taken out bv Sheriff Knisell in his low doctor's gig 

 and killing them froni the wagon. The night before the pro- 

 posed shoot lng i lip be would order hi-, farmer to have different 

 o| linings mud'c in the fence- by taking the bars down, and 

 the birds nol appearing to fear the approaching vehicle as it 

 drew near them in narrowing circles, would allow us to gel 

 Within easy shooting distance and have plenty of time lo 

 jump from the wagon before they arose. 



There reached me once in the moulh of April a- a present 

 from the West a box of what my young friend who sent 

 them said were English snipe and "'prairie kivts." On open- 

 ing the box [discovered the "prairie k.-et-" were grass {..lover, 

 and as fat a- adipo-e mailer could make ihem. It was out 

 of season to be sure. I wrote my young friend, chided him, 

 and posted him, but as to the "prairie keet." they were very 

 nice. Homo. 



DEER HUNTING IN MICHIGAN. 



OX tin- head waters of Michigan's Tidibawasee lies a forest 

 of pine, hemlock, white cedar, "tamarack" and birch, 

 interspersed here and there with "hard wood." consisting 



principally of beech, mapli 

 wilderness, ii cannot be called 

 hi .■ thi ■ nterprising lumbevn 

 the many openings or "ehoppii 

 brush, and overgrown with thi, 

 or raspberry, tell of his work, 

 tatit 



if. pe 



But, though a 

 foresl, for even 

 led his way, and 

 iNii with logs and 

 lerry, blackberry 

 tot of his devas- 



story, w 



p lire 

 it or 



est, c 



basbeei 



SO III 





and fun 



of su 



eh an 



his imaginati 



n. 



Foul- 



jf the 



parly 



Frank, 



■sam i 



nd S'i 



of the o 





Af'K 



our bag 



jage to a tw 



definite 



Idea f 



s to t 



look till 



road 



intot 



point before i 



igln. 



The country is quite hilly, and, strange enough, there are 

 numerous swamps, dense and almost impenetrable with their 

 growth of hemlock, while cedar and tamarack. Here and 

 there, too, are scattered those lakes so still, so clear, so deep, 

 so impressively wild— those beautiful lakes for which our 

 northern country is noted. Wide expanses of marsh also 

 exist, many of them thickly overgrown with cranberry vines, 

 and their surfaces doited with hundreds of bushels" of the 

 bright led berry . 



I, ale in the season, when deer seek shelter from storm and 

 cold in the timber sad swamps, snob a country wouldhardly 

 in- regarded by thus.- experienced as a still-hunter's paradise; 

 yet (lure was a party of seven such hunters pitched their tent 

 and made Iheir camp lab- l,-i tall 



He who has experienced the pleasure and experiment of a 

 hunter's day in the woods, who has eagerly listened to the 

 day's experience of his comrades as related around the even 

 s laughed I here at the ceaseless flow of 

 realize something of it all; but be who 

 eas never to have joined in the pleasure 

 casion. is solicited lo call in the aid of 



iho must be iiiti-odiici (! as Lucie Sam, 

 -her, left home some week- in advance 

 i tedious trip by sail wc transferred 

 hor-e wagon, and with a somewhat iu- 

 locality we should select for oni'camp, 

 the woods, hoping to reach a desirable 

 Bul the mad being bad, night overtook 

 us and we were compelled to set up a tent and camp among 

 the pines, intending to resume our journey in the morning. 

 Soon, however, it commenced lo rain, and the possibility, 

 nol to say the probability, of a wind storm in the timber 

 so frightened our teamsle'r that he insisted on hitching up 

 and going on. It was tin.-tllv decided as an alternative, that 

 he and Frank should follow the road on Toot, and, if pos- 

 sible, lind a better place. While they were gone, some of 

 us, not much alarmed aboul the storm, availed ourselves of 

 the opportunity to gel a little sleep, having slept little, if 

 any, the two preceding nights. 



Too soon it seemed, to one sleeper at least, our scouts re- 

 turnedand reported havingfound a "settler" and a vacant lum- 

 ber camp. It was now about one o'clock, still, at intervals, 

 raining lightly, and dark as Erebus. But out into it all we 

 went, stumbling over one of the stumpiest, roughest, dark- 

 est roads ever traveled. At the end of about two and a half 

 or three miles we came to the camp, which, bv the aid of the 

 •settler," who kindly got out of his bed. and with a lan- 

 tern, came to our assistance, we took possession of. The 

 "settler" soon made us a good fire, and then left us to get 

 what rest we could. As it was but an hour or two until 

 daylii hi . we lay down upon the long benches, which seem to 

 be an invariable appurtenance of lumber camps, and slept 

 the sleep of the weary. 



The settler's name," as we soon learned, was John; and to 

 this genial, kindly John and his household, we were, during 

 our stay, indebted for many favors. Giles, his brother-in- 

 law, and Henry, his nephew', must not be omitted in this con- 

 nection. John was an intelligent Frenchman, and a dear 

 lover of the gun. He sometimes accompanied us into the 

 woods, and materially assisted us in our pursuit. His even- 

 ings, in company with Giles, were almost invariably spent in 

 our i amp. participating in, and contributing to, the social 

 merriment, bong may you live, John— you tuul yours— and 

 many a big buck may you kill. 



"We took our choice of the many bunks al our disposal and 

 made our beds of the regulation hemlock, which, though a 

 lime-honored and much-lauded material for that purpose, it 

 is probably often a mistake to use. Would it not be as 

 reasonable to suppose thai doses of conium or aconite, 

 generally administered, and long continued, would invari- 

 ably, or even often, produce good results? That hemlock has 

 strong medicinal or poisonous properties, is, of course, well 

 known, and the question then is whether iu a given case the 

 effect will be good or bad. The writer's individual experi- 

 ence is decidedly adverse to its use. Fven the smell of it is 

 more disagreeable to him than thai of turpentine: 



We found deer stalking rather a difficult matter iu such a 

 brushy country, the brush being of the snappiest kind, too. 

 Nevertheless we managed to kill some deer.but, So tar as the 

 daily record was concerned, the numbers were nol especially 

 worthy of note, until one day Frank killed four. This was 

 the result of ii-ing a repealing rifle, and probably could Hot 

 have beet) done with any other kind. Three of the party- 

 were walking along a road, when they heard the jump of 

 deer in the brush near at hand. A convenient stump was 

 immediately mounted by Frank, which brought to his view 

 a doe -t.-iniling aboul forty yards distant. She being in- 

 stantly killed, uvo fawn- n'lade their appearance, and then 

 followed a most exciting repetition of shots from two re- 

 peater-: Inn Frank was the fort unnrc one and killed them 

 all. The next move was to carry these three deer, tit one 

 trip, a distance of two mile- to camp, which was no small 

 undertaking for three men. Finding it necessary to rest oc- 

 casionally they yvould then lake good positions" and watch. 



brought thei 

 There is ;i 

 ii what you 

 life, and is especially ol 

 The merits oi skill and 



and yet there is that 

 the tyro mosi remarkabl 

 k 



:t another shot, which Frank — whose luck 

 on for that day— succeeded in doing, adding, 

 itr fawn to his previous score. They now had 

 nrv, bur were equal to the emergency, and 

 all in. 



element of luck, prescription, allotment — call 



ill — which cnler- largely into the affairs of 



Table in this matter of hunting. 



» may be fully recognized, 



-'er 

 SI1CC 



lething which brings to 

 while tlie application of 



expel 



who! 

 shot, 



:lge meet- with most aggravating failure". Why an 

 need and usually successful deer hunter may, for a 

 week, employ all his art without so much as getting a 

 ej-haps without so much as seeing a rleer,'. while a 

 novice, burning probably, but a portion of the same ground, 

 meets with the most favorable opportunities and the best of 

 success, is supposed to be something that no fellow can find 

 but. But, while the reasons for this may be incomprehensi- 

 ole, there are evidently certain laws governing the whole 



