268 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Not. 3, 1883. 



and disgust, Tt' the society Las spent thousand* of dollars 

 in supplying game birds, we have not heard of them in our 

 section.' If .they have mnde any -effort toward enforcing 

 the law against 'trapping birds or' shooting out of season it 

 has not been in our section. On the contrary, it hinders 

 the enforcement of the law by pretending to do what it 

 docs not iio. and what others -would do were it not for the 

 pretensions of the society. 



"To-dav the woods of CI, .e, i. i county arc full of bird 

 traps and 'snoods.' and around Glasshoro a regular fusilade 

 of guns and the continued yelping of hounds tells how the 

 rabbits an suffering, The farmers say that the lawis directly 

 against them, and in favoi of those who make a business of 

 shooting. To the Philadelphia!! who shoots every month of 

 the year the fee of five dollars is nothing. To the market 

 huni.er who makes this his calling and sells his game the 

 i,i re bagatelle. But the farmer, who feeds and pro- 

 roe, fdls ii in imposition that he cannot invite 

 his relative or friend from across the river for n day's shoot- 

 ing on his own land, without Hie payment of this unjust tax, 

 or running the i risk of having his friends arrested. In an- 

 other way', indirectly, the society works against instead of 

 for game protection. Many kind holders would forbid and 

 prevent promiscuous shooting by enforcing the trespass act 

 and claiming their rights. But with a society license' in 

 his pocket the pothunter waxes hold and impudent. lie 

 defiantly waves his paper under the nose of the fanner, and 

 insists upon bis righl to Shoo) anywhere in the five counties. 

 Of course it is mere brag, or rise' lie has been imposed upon 

 1 1 ■■■•■■ who sold him file privilege, but he sains lus point 

 if, .as in many oases, the fanner gets tired of being cursed 

 and threatened and gives up las game bo destruction. 



i - im, we consider the charter of this society, if not un- 

 constitutional, at least opposed to the best' and most 

 thoroughly established principles of legislation. It is local 

 option in it-, most dangerous torm, The law makes certain 

 act- upon the pair of cei lair persons criminal and punish- 

 able, provided the said persons have not complied with the 

 by-laws of the society. Now, the society is composed of 

 just whoever pays the membership fee, most of them, of 

 course, noii-nsidcius of the State, and so far as the state is 

 concerned, perfectly irresponsible, This body of irrespon- 

 sible persons then has the power of enacting a criminal 

 code, subjecting petSSOna to imprisonment and tine. No. sir. 

 down in West Jersey Ive do 001 consider the W. J. G. P. A. 

 a West Jersey, or even a New Jersey, institution; we do not 

 think it a benefit of I he State, the citizens, the game, nor any- 

 thing else hut the Jjniits'aud market hunters across the 



river. " 



Now. my friend may be right or wrong in his own 

 opinions, hut I know lie arcaks for the section he comes 



fri I ll may Im of hiteiest to your IV aders to know that 



the odious "nonSresidenl" clause is not in favor with a large 

 class of ,lerso_\ iiHii, Game protection we need, but we do 

 not gel it bv any law or charter uow on our statute books, A 



MllinLESEX.CorNTV N .! "■ i '. 



A',/.'/,,,- /■■;.,, ■■■,' ii))(l Si,. ■ii, n : 



As there have appeared in your paper lont) luce 



articles in reference to tile manner in which the Wrsl Jersey 



(Jame Protective s.h h-ty has been conducted and the man- 

 ner in which the funds of the society have been spent, we. 

 the majority of the committee appointed to investigate the 

 hooks of the secretary, assistant .em lary, and treasurer, 

 do make the following' repot I 



That we have vouched said accounts and find them to he 

 correct in every particular. 



The following is an itemized account of the financial 

 transactions of the society: 



Balance on hand - i ,, ,,- - i ::!, (ssi S 251 26 



Total amount receive, 1 from September •-'!. ISsi, to Septem- 

 ber 31, ftSS 1,818 00 



Total Si.stiiTao 



Amount expended salaryo iretai khd tan.1 8280 00 

 glass of detective officer ,' I jo 



priming 113 09 



stationery 9 -Vi 



distributing birds 106 05 



Committee 'on Laws 47 36 



extra policing US 00 



Si ,383 88 



Balance on hand September 91, ISiS $585 88 



We regret that Mr. Charles Dougherty, our fellow-com- 

 mittei man, through absence from the ehy, was not able to 

 respond to the notifications of meetings held. 

 Very respeci fully, 



Geo. Emlen, 

 (has. A. Bragg 

 October. 25, 1832. 



OUR PHILADELPHIA LETTER. 



BUT few Philadelphia sportsmen have gone out for quail 

 in our Stale as vet, preferring to wait* until November 

 1, when the opening' season begins in the neighboring States 

 of New Jersey and Delaware. The State law of Delaware, 

 requiring non-residents to pay a license for shooting, seems 

 to work well, There is no complaint on the part of out- 

 siders, who willingly pay tho yearly fee, recognizing it, as a 

 State law, while tin' farmers of Delaware, whose lands had 

 been -o ions overrun by tin- chicken shooting and fence- 

 breaking hordes from the city of Philadelphia, now feel a 

 diminution of visiting "gunners," and arc more apt to til- 

 low the privilege of shooting over their grounds to those 

 that Come, especially tt lino a.-.l. |m rinissioii. Woodcock 

 are being killed in goodly numbers throughout Pennsyl- 

 vania, Hie flight having come on since the cool change of 

 weather took place, liming a late Crip to Connecticut 

 vour com j: mo n: : anted that quail were comparatively 

 abundant this season all through the State. Everywhere 

 from our own Pennsylvania Hie same story reach, ajod 



we all hope, for an open winter, that the birds may gain. 



While .at Middlolowii. foul),, Dr. Morgan, of that place, 

 showed me his new pointer Zip, a dog weighing perhaps 

 sixty-five pounds, mid a perfect Spanish one lo look al. It, 

 ie seldom pointer -which holds bo firmly in ap- 



pearance to the Spanish blood from which it sprung' on one 

 side or lb- other, n-- Mr. morgan's. Here we can notice the 

 cleft nostril , short muzzle and round head of the Castillian 

 animal, while the liody is a perfect representation of the old 

 cuts of tlii I i, .:, [ii Mr inei with nowadays. 



While at Nee, Loudon, 0«nn„ 1 had a few hours' amuse- 

 ment fishing for small mackerel in the Thames Paver, near its 

 mouth. Ti . nail, weighings quarter of a pound, 



hut the river is full ot them, and tin autumn run is now on. 

 With a hglil rod ami tackle and any white bait that will at- 

 trael hi attention of the risk (a piece of rag kept in motion 



11 iindl i -taken Siu-h schools make their 



appearance every year about this time in the Thames River, 

 and disappear about Nov. 1 or a little later. 



The present fresh weather has moved more wild fowl to 

 our New Jersey bays. A few brant have arrived. There is 

 quite a flock now using the flats in Tuckerton Bay. opposite 

 Packcrtown and West Creek, but thev are out 'of harm's 

 way, unless a battery or sink box could be put there, and 

 this is not, in order in these waters 



Snipe are so little sought for in our immediate neighbor- 

 hood at this time of the year, owing to the fact that the 

 season for upland game is open, 1 have heard of none being 

 killed, but could almost warrant a good dar if some of the 

 grounds bordering the New Jersey creeks were, visited, 

 especially now that many of the hanks have been down and 

 excellent feeding places have been created bv the overflow 

 of wider. 



Battery or sink box shooting begins next week at the Sus- 

 quehanna, Bush and Gunpowder rivers. Redheads and 

 blackheads are already feeding on the flats in numbers, but 

 few canvas-backs have come on. Scores will he large at 

 first, hut it does not take long to educate the fowl, and 

 they soon know the difference between a flock of stools and 

 a hunch of their own kin, and then it takes more powder. 



• Homo. 



OUR NEW JERSEY LETTER. 



YOUR printer's mistake in making my last say ' 'breeding" 

 instead of "feeding" ground may' have impressed the 

 whole subject of woodcockshootingonrny mind and sent me 

 out to investigate. If so 1 thank the printer for a haif holi- 

 day, a long tramp, some good sport and tin excellent dinner. 



In this section (about ten mUes south of New Brunswick, 

 in Middlesex county) we get, our fall woodcock shooting in 

 the "timber swamp," the low-lying parts of what was once 

 heavy timber. Twenty or thirty years ago the valuable 

 trees were sent to market, but here and there the "snags" or 

 gum trees stand, ' 'like sentinels" of course, while underneath 

 the sprouts and saplings, the alders and rosebushes, the cat- 

 briars and swamp grasses, struggle for an existence and 

 against the progress of the invader. We ride out through the 

 wood-carter's roads to the most, distant point and hunt to- 

 ward home. Our dog is Milo. He is .so old that, he cannot 

 hear the loudest command nor the shrillest whistle. He 

 would pay no attention if he could. He has followed this 

 business in the swamps longer than you have, sir, and he 

 wants none of your instruction. Remember that to-day 

 you are not taking the dog with you, but you are going with 

 the dog. 



Now we are in the swamp; yonder is a group of two or 

 three old "snags," beneath thein yon see the green leaves of 

 a pin-oak or two, and the tops Of some alders. Below all 

 this there winds a little run, a little path of water filled with 

 green moss, and that, says our guide, is alikely spot. Milo 

 knows it, and the tinkle of his hell bids yon adieu as he disap- 

 pears under the briars. You may see hini again in live minutes 

 or you may not. You take the old roads and rabl.il paths and 

 try to keep within sound of that bell. When it slops you 

 will stop. You can force your way toward the point where 

 yon last heard it and there', as staunch as Steel, you will find 

 the old dog, and there you will fiud a bird. But if you Can- 

 not get through the thicket, or if you consider your posi 

 lion favorable for a shot, stand still a minute or two, and a 

 tinkle of the hell aud a whir of wings brings your gun to 

 the shoulder and the pin-oak leaves and feathers on the air tell 

 the result, Stand still, Milo will bring your bird. Now 

 in he goes again and on you go— <r/uV— there comes another 

 down the open. You could have hit him with youi hat, but 

 you wheel, shoot and miss him with your gun. That is not 

 strange, for the leaves still hang on' the trees, and at this 

 time of year their color is trying to the eyes. Do you say 

 that Milo "flushes" his bird's? That is exactly it, rind that 

 is his husiness about half the time, ne is as true as truth in 

 the open field or when without his bell, but when that is oil 

 his neck he knows his duty is to put up the bird if you do 

 not come when he stops. Yesterday he went into a cat 

 swamp, impenetrable to us, found a bird, and flushed it four 

 successive times, bringing it at last within our range. Now 

 please do not say that this is contrary to all rules of shooting 

 and training. Remember if it is wrong we cannot tell the 

 dog so, for he is deaf ; and if it is wrong it is, successful, for 

 Milo has brought more woodcock to his master's hand than 

 any dog now living in New Jersey, to the best of our knowl- 

 edge aud belief. That is enough about woodcock for this 

 time; I want to say something else. 



Speaking about rabbits. One day this summer the sexton 

 of a church down in Monmouth county, asked me to take 

 a walk in the old graveyard. He showed me right in the 

 slope of one of the sodded mounds which cover the graves, 

 a round hole, about the size of a quart bowl. In thiscavity 

 were five young rabbits, the smallest I ever saw. The 

 kittens were blind, not larger than the common mouse, and 

 do you know that when I saw them cuddled so eozily in their 

 strangely selected bed, I wished that another Burns might 

 see these "wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous" beasts, and draw 

 the proper lesson from this new union of the "cradle and 

 the grave." Postponing the poetical aud taking up the 

 practical, I am glad to say the little beasts were not hurt by 

 the uncovering of their nursery nor frightened away by the 

 handling of curious visitors; but before this letter is* printed 

 will no doubt know what "open season" means. 



And in that, same connection one of my neighbors has 

 been training a young hound this fall. He caught a half 

 grown rabbit and kept it in a. barrel. Every leisure day he 

 would tie the rabbit's hind legs together and let, it go. then 

 put the pup on the track. Of course he had no trouble m 

 securing his drag when school was out. That was all right, 

 but I have another neighbor whose old hound does not need 

 training. Skip got wind of this rahhit in the barrel busi- 

 and upset the concern. Since then the pup has harl ,, vaca 

 tion. 



While we arc on this black bass subject, Inoticc tnat some 

 of the folks in New England are down on this game fish, 

 because they say, when put in a pond it cleans out all other 

 fish and then clears out down stream. A few years ago 

 Commissioner Anderson sent some young bass, which were 

 used for stocking the pond at Milford, in Mercer county. I 

 have never heard of any of these fish being taken at Milford, 

 but this summer several two-pounders have been caught in 

 the pond at, Hightstown, which is on the same stream anil 

 miles below. A. 



Countv, K. .T., October 37, 1882. 



23. 

 can 



shoot all day and his gun will not lead, nor powder crust. 



sir i Ie wipe after shooting will show a bright barrel. 



—8 D. 



TV ads Boiled m Tallow.— Mercersburg, Ph., Oct. 

 —If "P. B.," New York, will boil his wads 'in tallow he 



HOUNDING vs. STILL HUNTING. 



Jackson. Mich., Oct. 22. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The northern part of our State, as you well know, is 

 stocked with an abundant supply of deer, enough lo satisfy 

 an unlimited number of "true sportsmen" with a month's 

 good hunting for years to come. But we find that the 

 market hunter is rapidly accomplishing his work, and we, 

 the members of the game protective societies and the busi 

 ncss men of the State, who enjoy a little sport with the gun 

 occasionally, have racked our brains for the best means for 

 remedying the evil. Wc studied the matter carefully and 

 finally, after some trouble, had a law passed prohibiting the 

 shipping of them out of tie -s 



This last act was not passed from any selfish motive. We 

 are glad to welcome spoilsmen from' 'other States to our 

 hunting .ground. It was simply an act of self-pr?servation. 

 and the doing of it was arrived at only after 'incontrovei ■(.- 

 ible facts and figures proved it ? necessity, In the first 

 place, where a great hue and cry was raised against the 

 hounds, by the market hunters, w'e looked into the matter, 

 Figures came pouring in that made tilings look as though 

 an edict must be passed against the poor brutes. Some one. 

 generally a market hunter, would sav, "Such a party of 

 hunters left the woods last week with thirty-five o'-, 

 another, and you could make up your mind thai In • ■ 

 hunting for the filthy lucre there was in it, would speak of 

 "another party of those infernal hound hunters that .went 

 down on the train last night, with twenty deer," etc. ' Now 

 the truth about the matter would be this: the party that, 

 went down with thirty-five deer was probably composed of 

 seven or eight or more persons, and they had been in the 

 woods about three weeks, which meant' about two deer a 

 week for each man in an outfit of very successful hound 

 hunters, and, furthermore, these same hound hunters were 

 business men and farmers from the southern part of I lie 

 State, industrious citizens who pay heavy taxes for the sup- 

 port of the State. AYho wants to deprive them of a little 

 spoil every fall when they haven't the lime or opportunity 

 to learn to still hunt the deer successfully, and who has a 

 better rigid to liitiil. as he pleases, so long as he does it, in 

 season and in a manner that will not exterminate the game'.' 



On the other hand, how 'Iocs the market hunler work it? 

 Docs he hunt, with hounds'? Oh, no, he wouldn't do such a 

 thing, he wouldn't do anything so unsportsmanlike, he- 

 would rather sneak aiound where the de, r eongregati it) I b.' 

 morning, and see if he couldn't get two in range of each 

 other so as to save ammunition. But really, w itli'onl joking, 

 a market hunter considers it very poor work indeed, if he 

 does not average one deer a day, iif.it for a week or two. but 

 right through the whole season, and 1 can give names, if 

 necessary, where one man, in several different cases. In -; 

 killed over 1Gb deer in the open season of ninety da vs. 



Now let no one think I am opposed to still hunting, 1 pre- 

 fer it myself, lor I am still young and strong and can follow 

 a pair of antlers as far as anybody, but for pit \ '« sake don't 

 try to bar out those who sire not so fortunate, from this 

 most exciting sport. There are several old gentlemen in 

 this city, my father among the rest, who Wouldn't sleep 

 well all Winter if ihc\ couldn't kill a deer or two every fall, 

 and even "Antler" may see the time when his limbs are stiff 

 and his eyes dim, when he will welcome the faithful hound 

 and will find the buckshot and ten-bore good enough for 

 him. A. WW 



The Nutmeggeus' Dkur Suooti.no. —Mont real. Quel." c. 

 Oct. 22.— Editor Fure.it unit Stmim: lam surprised that you, 

 who take such high ground in favor of the preservation of 

 game and the strict observance of all laws having thai end 

 m view, should publish an account of the doings of a party 

 of law-breakers, even though the adventures of these heroes 

 may be, and doubtless are, purely imaginary; the fact of 

 your c.oing so, even though no offense against the game 

 laws has actually been committed (except' in the author's 

 mind), cannot but have a demoralizing effect. The case I 

 now refer to is that of "B. G. A." in his papers in yours of 

 12th and 19th hist., styled "Nutmeggers on the Ottawa." 

 This writer professes to have been engaged, with his party, 

 hunting deer in Ontario during the close season in that prov- 

 ince (Dec. lo to Oct. 1.) I contend that, it is a grave offense 

 to describe the unsportsmanlike act of hunting game during 

 the close season. The practice of writing accounts of feats 

 performed in direct and open violation of the law is becom- 

 ing quite too common, and should be frowned down by all 

 good citizens and sportsmen. Quite recently a prominent 

 member of the Sherbrooke Game Protective Club published 

 in a local paper a graphic descripiion of his exploits killing 

 moose in the Lake Megantic District during the close season, 

 greatly to the disgust of all true sportsmen who saw the 

 article". Last year a book was published here, entitled 

 "Three Months Among the Moose, by a Military Chaplain," 

 describing the author's exploits slaughtering" moose, the 

 most noble game in our forests, during the close season. 

 All these writers, if they are guilty of the breaches of the 

 law they profess to have committed, should at least have the 

 decency to abstain from publicly proclaiming their crimes. 

 1 trust you will call attention to" this matter in the columns 

 of your widely circulated and uighly influential journal. — H. 



"Swtveixeh" Visits Old Scenes.— 

 I have just had a cnll from a valued 

 Forest and Stream, whose articles I ha 

 pleasure, but on whose face I had not bef, 

 Swiveller" (W. L. C), formerly of : ; - 

 phia, but lately of South Carolina. For 

 since his connection with the L. S. Ordi 

 in 1861-5— Mr. C. has applied, himself to 

 with an enthusiasm not often seen, and it 

 surprise to learn, as I have just done, 

 form a connection with one of the mo 

 establishments in the North. This will b 

 friends and will increase many-fold his 

 circle of acquaintances, as he has that kce 

 niflcent grip on business affairs that will i 

 mand success in any establishment. May 

 and return to our next bicentennial. — W . 



Phila.. Oct. 27.— 

 correspondent of 



d often read with 

 •-. look 4— "Pick. 



>,;!, aud Hliiladel- 

 iuan, years — ever 

 ciuce Department 

 the study of guns 

 now creates Tittle 



that he is about to 

 st influential gun 

 e good new ^ to his 

 already very large 

 n sense and mag- 

 aiableliHii i 

 he prosper greatly 

 M. H. 



yiusKOKA.— Toronto, Ont,, Oct. 20.— Messrs. McKee and 

 Beatty of Pittsburgh, the latter the art correspondent of the 

 N Y r'-Jphie T)i Elliott .:f New 1 ork "J:'l Mr J Ma- 

 thews, of Toronto, are camped on Trading Lake, Mnskoka. 

 During the past week they have "bagged" ten deer, one 

 bear, and numbers of thick and pari ridge. They report the 

 sport and weather all that could he desired. Two of the 

 party have made annual trips to this section for some time. 



