310 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 16, 1883, 



CEssFuti Decotlng —A corrospoodeiit of the Detroit 



'i ting from western Mmnosote, say&: WiM 



geesa dp not, as a rule, batch their young hen', most of them 



going further north. Tiny come in largo mimburs ftibonit 



the 1st of October and remain until tin- approiu ii <;, - nun 



They are very wary, usjuuij keeping "ii the wing during 

 the day and only descending into the ponds to feed .it night, 

 molly they will alight on the stubble of a wheat field 

 in large numbers, but the hunter can rent assured (but hi* 

 approach will be eignalerl bj an old g»uder long befoi iht! 

 is within gunshot of them, 1 saw one Farmey-sportsman 



who has a sure ttfeg OB geOSH. A.yOWJJgO last spring he 

 found a wild goose nest on top (rf a miukrat house, and 

 secured six eggs. TheBC hi- pi I r a hen for incuba- 

 tion. Biddy did her work ao well thai six goslings were 

 netted from the enterprise, bnl one of them subsequently 

 came to an uutiuielyend bj being stepped on by the farmer, 



for they are considerably turner than a In. use eat. and have 



to be Ki.-ked before they will get out of the way. The re- 

 maining live, besides being regularly plucked of a portion 



of their I'ealhers far feather bed use, and doing other farm- 

 yard duly, are used for decoys. Their OWllpr has a birch- 

 hark canoe that be pTOCUrad frOU) S:i,ill ,Sli. Marie, and. 



proceeding at flight I all to a large pond near his house, he 



- - . with a si riii'4-aiid an old plOW-point, pnlls 

 his canoe into the rushes, and is ready for lni.-ine.--s. 111.-, 

 decoys, unused to such treatment, 'honk' lustilj EtnC ail 

 down Hie passing flocks. Soon tliej are thick upon the 

 Wfttea', and a single discharge of his breech loader secures us- 

 many as In- desires, for to his crttdil as a sportsman he it. 

 said he never kills mOYCtllttO he can uaciipotl his table. 



Cranes, too, are very plentiful ami Hi- -inn. 



highly prized for table use. Tine:! ones are very lough, 

 and the natives tell of n woman who boiled one for throe 

 days, and then threw it iulo the kennel ton. hound. The 

 hound died of .starvation. Snipe are quite Common, Out no 

 -I -hni-. them. In u country when.' every wheat field is 

 the feeding ground of scores of grouse, aiid where every 

 slotigh and pond is the retreat of ducks and geese, snipe are 

 small game.— W." 



PfcOBlBA Qtm.IL and Diiiiit.— Law-ley, Bradford, County, 

 F!a., Ix.jv. (i.— Yesterday three of lis started for Highland 

 Station some four miles north. Object— I nisi n qj M 



hunting thrown in. For some lesson qnail and jack , nip: 

 were scarcer than usual, as wa have before this, in going 

 over the same ground, bagged between rifty ami sixtj quail 

 and jack suipe, in February, besides a few woodcock. But 

 we didn't seem to find the birds, although the dogs, Jaeko 

 and Bis, grandsons of old Bismark. worked we)] The 

 whole hag counted up lor two gun-, was only loin teen quail, 

 halt a dozen jack snipe, some half a dozen larks, about as 

 many doves, a hawk and a rabbit, also something else. As 

 we were coming home about sundown Bis ran off from the 

 Wagon nine twenty rods along a strip of palmetto? and 



bushes : suddenly lie drop] ■' Of course gun 



and men tumbled out and legs carried lliem up 1.1 

 was waiting to put up the quail, like any otfn i -'- 



h,, quail we gpt, The balance of the birds sycrc marked 



down farther on down the same run. Bis went through the 

 shrub only a few rods wide; coming through from the Other 

 side he sroelled something that did no: wait to lie put up. 

 There was a rattle and crash of palmetto leaves and sticks 

 and out jumped a deer, in too much of n hurry to stop Bind 

 get. acquainted, as it was getting late. But the Colonel sent 

 a charge of shot after him. The deer ran some fcweuty rod-. 

 When, With a leap high in air, it. stopped and the dog Jaeko 

 had it by the, throat How is that For No. !) shot at thirty 

 yards distance'/ — Knick. 



^Iakylamj. — llagerstown, Xov. 7. — The quail, usually so 

 plentiful here during the season, have for some umiceounl- 

 abte reason become remarkably scarce this fall, and the few 

 birds shot in our immediate vicinit] tun been noted for 

 their small size, some of them, even so late as Oct. 19, being 

 but scarcely balf grown, thus evidently showing a second 

 or, perhaps,' a third brood Indeed, one gentleman informed 

 me oa the 10th that on that date he discovered am 

 iug thirteen eggs and flushed the old bird tsff the nest Rab- 

 bits are very plentiful and a great many are shot Some- of 

 the. roughs or the town go out on Sundays, a mile or two, 

 with worthless curs, and armed with clubs and stones, secure 

 a great many, virtually, as the Irishman says, "shooting 

 them with cltlbs " In the mountains north aiid west of us 

 wild turkeys aud pheasants are abundant Wild pigeons are 

 also plentiful in the mountains, one party alone, bringing 

 thirty-six to town i» one day. Opossums and 'coons are also 

 being caught all around us." Last week a pai ty of three mi 

 OUl sportsmen went on a duckins expedition to Big Pool, a 

 point on the Potomac about fifteen miles from he-re, and 

 report ducks as being very pli ntiful. Had a line half day's 

 sport and succeeded in getting twenty-six ducks, including 

 black mallard, wood duck and redheads. Othej 

 good bags in the way of ducking. Occasionally We hear of 

 a fox or two being shot, aud only this morning bad one 

 brought to me that, was shot about lour mile ron tOv - 

 Nat ax. _j 



f'oMMtcN-T UnneoessaTv™.— Colurnbus. 0„ Nov. II.— 

 •■; -oi-mc Marshall, Ftauk Tarbox. Elton A.V I 

 \\ T . W, Oiliif, of (Ji'd-tiv-ille, passed through this ciiy yester- 

 day, returning from a four weeks' bum. at < tg.imavv, Michi- 

 gan. Thoy succeeded in getting Jifte, u deer, tws buafiiaud 

 some small game. They told bow U nrnm UrovAlB, a young 

 man from Pennsylvania, who visited their camp and in- 

 tended to remain a Tew days to hunt, was shut through the 

 heart one night and instantly kill : n. ■-. ..n-e nil oui 

 hunting bears, when they came upon a large dark object 



near a swamp, which tin. in i la be a bear. They 



Bred at tin.- supposed brum, out they were startled and 

 shocked to iiml they bad lulled their i- - i i i- hi. 



body was carried lo camp, ami afterWatd -ml tO tlis sorrow- 

 m Eriends, T-ais sad event threw a damper upon their 

 sport, and they returned homo as narrated above. 



Lixcolm, Neb., Nov. 4, 133.:, — Ducks and geese have 

 been slow about coming down this fall, tndoc.il ... 

 have, so far, come this way that m h.i i light it prob- 

 able they have given this section the "go by" ia their flight 

 southward. Very few big bags b ive bei a made. Hathaway 



and Ba.inu wore out one, day and got iifl'.v-two, all I a] Til.' 



■- i ! , Webster and 1 ..-■: - out, -.'-,_ -II light in the 



country, and after hard tramping got eleven mallards aud 

 forty-live teal. Both geese and ducks are fat and ml as 



Qat this fall. I have heard of no one who has eaten one 

 with a fishy taste. Last year hardly any of them which 

 came this way were palatable, — B. If, P, 



TBimjjssEE (}ame Notes.— Notwithstanding tbe con- 

 tinued warm . 1 1- y weather the sportsmen around Nashville 

 are out almost, every day and night, trying to find iranic. 

 Birds are abundant, but the weeds are so rank, anil the 

 fields being, as yet, cumbered with cornstalks, very few 

 have been bagged, Squirrels are plentiful, though to 'tramp 

 after them all day with the mercury at seventy dm,. -; 

 more like work than sport. Tbe consequence is that fox 

 and 'possums are the most hunted. The hounds can be 

 heard running every night, and those who have done up the 

 'possum business report the fun as immense. Clarke 

 fritohett and .-. few friends were out this week, and Caught 

 one 'coon and two possum:;. The lalb-r were as fat as but- 

 ter, though by many not considered healthy food, as we, 

 ha', e had no killing frost . Bill Hobbs. who is the boss hunter 

 ■■ ■■■ 'I'phi/x rii-ijititri.iiii in this section, captured five on 



last Saturday night. To-morrow night a grand, hunt Will 



tal - 1 - in which at f-a-t twenty couples of dogs will par- 

 ||| mi ' 'possum bunting 18 a funny sport, there will he 



pi ii' "I incidents to laugh at. 1 am invited to be a slow 

 mover in I he chase, and have partially accepted, which 

 moatts Unit 1 will let the Fojlmst and Stiskam know what 

 transpired during the eventful bunt.— J. I>. II. 



"Uiovmus" Cotuja Not Pino Them:. -Nov. 10.— Shoot- 

 ing on Long Island is like hangiugin Mew York— it is nearly 

 "played oul." A few days, ago I .vent to the lower end of 

 llie Island where quail, a few years ago. were quite "nunier- 

 aftfc* ransacking the legion round about for half 



a day we flushed the meagre remains of a covey only, and I 

 left in disgust and went lo a place near Sudthtown, 'where I 

 was told that quail were aa thick as when they swooped 

 down on the iSraelltes in Egypt, but alter hunting the 

 eon u try over for nearly tWO daj - '- ■ llu had Only abOUt balf 

 a do,-, n scattered birds, and gave it up. Our ground was 

 formerly one of the best fur partridges that. I ever hunted 

 over, but. 1 only got three shots, after a very long ramble, 

 two of which 1 dropped as dead as a salt-herring; hut the 

 third was an unadulterated miss. They are so thinned out 

 that even if not another one w-as killed 'there would scarcely 

 be enough to raise another family. If sportsmen could only 

 lie induced to keep their guns in' llie eases this season, there 

 might be some show of birds next fall, but of course they 

 will not. and the only way to recruit their ranks will be to 

 I ias- another restrictiiiglavv for two or three years. — Didymus. 



CoxNi-'.ci'fCUT.— New Haven, Nov. H.— Game prospects 

 in this State, at least in the western part, are very flattering. 

 There arc, back from the shore, a good many quail and 

 ruffed grouse which, when the weather becomes colder, 

 will afford line sport. At present, however, the leaves are 

 still bangiug lo the trees, and the w' eat her is so warm that 

 tramping over the hills is very hard work. Along the line 

 of the New York & New Haven Railroad the shooting is 

 poor, for the grouse and quail have beam all killed oil", 

 Whether by the myriads of shooters or from some other 

 cause 1 cannot say, but ia the eastern part of the Stale there 

 are said to be more birds. We had a flight of woodcock 

 last week, but they were not abundant, anil small bags were 

 the on let' of the day. Probably Ihe next severe frost will 

 move the birds on, and then we may have a day or two of 

 good shooting. A very curious fact in regard t« quail and 

 ruffed grouse in the Pastern part of this State is the wav in 

 Which they naye decreased along the shore and increased in 

 the interior. 1 have heard no satisfactory explanation of 

 this fact, but it is ackowledgtd by most old gunners. — B, 



Nohtii Carolina.— Belvidero, Perquimans Co., Nov. 6. 

 — Quail are seemingly plentiful and full grown ; have not seen 

 any "late coveys" this fall. Have been out once only (last 

 Friday afternoon); had a young dog in training, but' man- 

 aged to get ten out of eleven single shots — "Seen in my 

 eye," the eleventh. Expect rare sport this winter, after 

 the birds resort more to stubble; they are now in cover, after 

 scattering peas. Squirrels scarce; some deer and bear. — A. 

 F, R. 



Bog-Seik Leather Jackets are imported by G. W, Simmons &. 

 Son, Oak Hall, Boston, who have created a large trade in this class 

 of goods. Head the advertisement in another column and note, 

 what thev say about prices. Oak Hall can uerer lie anproacfled by 

 competition. When von are ready for your shooting trip send to Oak 

 II. ill, Button.— Adv. 



|*a and $her Jfts/w^ 



§mn$ <gw S Iicttet l in S^ 



"That reminds me.'' 



WE had sat, around the fire for some time and the boys 

 were speaking of fish — of very large fish— when 

 George finally said; "Well now-, boys, I don't want you to 

 think I'm lying, and I never did believe in telling big yarns, 

 but your speaking of the big pike reminds me of a catfish 

 they caught up near Des Moines last year. You see the 

 river had got very low and this big yellow head climbed out 

 ata low place in tbe bank aud was chasing a two-year-old 

 around the field when they saw him, and as the farmers 

 were afraid of losing their stock they clubbed together and 

 killed him." After an awe-struck silence of some time L. 

 ventured to remark in a low tone: "How big was he. 

 George';'" "Well, by the great Whale. I'd like to know if you 



:i|,iio I any small fish could tackle a two-vear-old steer?" 

 The ■ abject was changed to snakes, aud along about eleven 

 o'clock the -lories grewpretty large. Sam had been sitting 

 in silence, bis feel propped dp, his hat pubed down over his 

 eyes, meditatively pulling away at his pipe. At length he 

 s-'iii I, without, raising his eyas or taking his pipe from his 

 mouth: ''Gentlemen, Isoem to be the only man here who 

 Ins had no experience with large snakes. I never killed a 

 large snake ia my life. But," said he, mournfully, "I did 

 see somel lung al r mge one day out in Iowa. W» were rid- 



ila. ■ through the rimber'ou the Boone bottoms, in a big 



lumber wagon; We had broken our wagon-totiguc and put 



en stick in replacing it: Just as we got pretty near 



through the woods a yellow rattler came gliding through 



n . i and struck at one of the horses, but. missed him 

 and struck the wagon-tongue. We killed the snake and 

 drove on, thinking nothing more of it; but if you will be- 

 lieve trie, gentlemen, in "less thau twenty minutes that 

 wagon-tungue began to swell and in a short time was covered 

 w ith dark spots. But that was not the worst of it. The 

 swelling spread from the tongue to the running gear, and in 

 a little while the axles were so badly swollen that we had to 

 lake off the wheels and apply elm-bark poultices to reduce 

 the swelling.'' 



Not a word was said. Each man took his hat and in 

 silence left the fireside. When we returned Sam was sitting 

 in the same position calmly smoking away. B, Hough. 



Open Seasons.- 

 vn invieof July'l^, 



■Ebb Utile <if open- sdzatmsfm- game anitjish 



FtSH IN 



SEASON IN NOVEMBER. 



Grayling, Thiim„llv s 

 T' mnhtnnus. 



ricolor and Striped bass (Ttockfish), BoOus 



Blark buss. Micniphr 

 eies. 



'.-■'. two spe- White bass, Rareus ehrifftops. 



1 Rock bass, _.t'sM*>t,W, 2 Species. 

 •-',"-m I War-iiioiitL, (7i.-r„,,h,-;/,/,-s gnlO- 



m :."':.-..""'-:--'';-:;.'": 



'I'-.v. Cranpie (Strew berrj bass ek-.i. 



yellow p't'reh. /'»•/,.( / 



i:. 1, ,',' ",' ; - ;'':".; ' : '":--',«'ti-r«. 



Striped bass, F.',«-,-«« / 

 White perch. 1/n-nn, 

 THUtogorhlai-lifUKJ',, 

 Blurfisli or taylor, 



solttsin ---. 



K5v This Utile is g 

 see. table of ft .Seas 



SAiT WATER. 



Matun, 1 Smelt, o*mm«s moj'*w. 



<" "';■. ' "Sea trout,' - Cynoscyou cneoliniv.i- 



1 Red hiss. etc., Sel<Biiop3oa«adtUe. 



ii-rh. ForsD '-'-ii !■"'■- In I he several States 



WINTER TALKS ON SUMMER PASTIMES. 



Dear solitary groves, where peace iio-.-s dwell! 

 How willingly could 1 forever stay 

 Beneath the shade ot your embracing greens, 

 Listening to this harmony of warbling birds, 

 Tuned with the gentle tauruiui' of Ihe streams. 



— Jiochaeter. 



I HAVE often had to assure my critical and incredulous 

 friends that it is by no means all of lisliina to fish. The 

 appreciative angler, who has inherited or acquired the true 

 spirit of the art is not alone happy while plying hi ■ ■ 

 tion.but happy also in Ihe recoiled ion of what has been, 

 and in the anticipation, of what is to be. To him memorv 

 and hope arc equally satisfying— the one luminous with 

 the mellow sunshine of the recent. pj.-t, and t.heoiim all 

 aglow with the a.ssured geod cheer of the near future. 



Hor is the pleasure derived from a review of the incidents 

 of the last outing wholly or chiefly associated with its ma- 

 terial results. "t'asting''and "striking" and "killing" belong 

 to the mere mechanism of the art. Its real fascination lies 

 in what one sees and feels: in mountain and valley; in i Irel- 

 and lake; in sunshine and shadow; in the exhilarating at- 

 mosphere and delectable odors of the virgin forest; in the 

 music of singing birds and in the soothing monotone of run- 

 ning waters-, in the hush of the night watches, and in the 

 quiet and repose best found in the "solitary places" where 

 anglers "most do congregate." 



If strikes me like the sound of a trumpet lo renminbi -r my 

 lights with three-pound trout, five-p ii'md bass or thirty- 

 pound salmon, but I find intense! - ecsfacy when I recall the 

 circumstances and surroundings of these material experi- 

 ences, the transparent brook, whose ripples were rendered 

 dazzling as molten silver by the sunshine glints which fell 

 upon them through the ever-waving branches of the pine, 

 or birch, or hemlock wluch over-a relit -.1 it like a beiicdic- 

 tiou; the pellucid waters of river or lake,' whose unruffled 

 surface trembled as fly and leader touched its placid bosom; 

 the deep pool, cast into deeper shadow by the giant boulders 

 near which the lordly salmon rests on his upward journey, 

 and the thousand other "things of beauty" which till the eye 

 and ravish the senses while Watching and waiting, and cast- 

 ing for a "rise." 



These are the pictures most distinctly photographed upon 

 tbe memory of the appreciative angler, and which come up 

 most vividly before him when he looks back upon what, has 

 been. 



Many pleasures leave a sting behind them, Not so thi3 

 fascinating pastime. It is as harmless as it is invigorating, 

 aud as healthful as it is harmless. There are many things 

 for which I am grateful, but for few things more than for 

 my passion for angling and the reasonable leisure, always 

 vouchsafed me to gratify it. 



I say "reasonable leisure," because the most of what time 

 I have given to angling has been abstracted from the grind- 

 ing pressure of a busy life. And the. fact has. I am Stlre, 

 intensified my love for the pastime. As the dawn is most 

 gladly welcomed by the weary watcher who is waiting for 

 tbe morning, so a holiday brings most pleasure to those who 

 have earned it by hard work or patient service. The "cum- 

 bererof the ground," whoseonly employment is to "kill time" 

 and battle with ennui, has no holiday. * He can no more ap- 

 preciate the luxury of "a rest" than can the surfeited gour- 

 mand the luxury of an appetite. But with the busy man, 

 held to the tread-mill of active life through eleven of the 

 twelve months of the calendar year, it is not so. His holi- 

 day is lo him what the open door is lo the caged bird, the 

 opportunity coveted by the Psalmist, to "fly away and be 

 at rest," to "wander far off, and remaiu in the wilderness," 

 (Psalm 55, 6-7). Because most of my holidays have been 

 thus wrenched from the ever whirling wheel of time, (Jtey 

 have brought to me more joy than "when oil and wine in- 

 oreaseth." And as my love of angling has grown with my 

 years, so every recurring holiday has been more impatiently 

 longed for and enjoyed. If all my days had been days of 

 idleness, bringing with them neither conseiuiis responsibility 

 nor the pressure of duty, I might have lived as uuprofitably 

 and passed through life as wearily as the emmied pet of 

 fortune, whose indolence and incapacity are the only pro- 

 ducts of his inherited wealth, and, worst of all, f might 

 never have known the delights of that man who finds pleas' 

 tire in the silent woods and loves to go a-fishing. 



In my immediate vicinage there, are not a few beside my- 

 self who are fond of (he angle— quiet men of gentle habit, — 

 simple, wise men, as unostentatious as they are merry-hearied, 

 and who cany about with them a clear conscience, a eon- 

 tented mind and the elements of perpetual youth, [t their 

 custom to often '-forgather" while waiting" for the return of 

 "the time of the singiug of the birds." when it will be right- 

 to go a-fishing. Among them are men of divers profession 

 — philosophers and educators, merchants ami politicians, but 

 not one among them all who would engage in any service, 

 however remunerative or honorable, that would debar him 

 from his annual outing, with rod and reel, for trout or sal- 

 mon. Tnese meetings are only less delightful thau the fas- 

 cinating pastime which constitutes the. exnaustless theme of 

 conversation. Every phase of the art is discussed, but the 

 experiences of each individual during the just closed season 

 is always first in order. Some of these experiences will enter 

 into those famib'ar "Winter Talks on Summer Pastimes." 



G. D. 



