y»4 



FOREST AND STEEAM. 



front of a blind, and the following kinds of ducks are easily decoyed 

 •within shooting distance, black and gray ducKs in the spring and fall 

 (I have not been successful with these at other seasons), red heads, bine 



bills and sheldrakes at all times. When I did not have a suitable dog 

 I have used a bright colored handkerchief, or piece of red flannelled to 

 a sties and shaken along close to the edge of the shore as far- as 1 could 

 reach out from the blind. Only a few days since I decoyed Ave red 

 heads from a flock two hundred yards from the shore in less than 

 twenty minutes and shot three of them. When decoyed in this way or 

 with a dog they do not appear at all timid. 



I recollect when a boy one evening, while waiting for ducks at the 

 mouth of a creek, I saw a mink on the other side about forty feet dis- 

 tant, circling around very rapidly and at every turn he would go close 

 to the water's edge. Soon two black ducks from Just below swam up 

 near the shore with heads erect and followed the mink in his rapid 

 movements about fl/e or six feet distant from the edge of the shore, 

 and as the mink worked closer the ducks would move off a little, al- 

 ways keeping about the same distance from him, but showed no dis- 

 position to fly, nor seemed at all frightened. 



I watched them for some time, grea'ly amused and fully satisfied the 

 mink was doing this to decoy the ducks within reach; whether he 

 would have succeeded finally I do not know, for, boy like, I shot the 

 ducks and frightened the mink away. A. S, 



ANSWERS TO OUR PUZZLE. 



Mathematics being one of the highest functions of the 

 human intellect, and a love of tke sports of land and water 

 being one of the nobler elements in mans nature, ergo the 

 presence of innumerable mathematical sportsmen among our 

 readers does not surprise us. The question about the black- 

 birds, squirrels and woodcocks has been answered correctly 

 from all parts of the country, and we expect replies to keep 

 coming in for some indefinite period yet to come. The next 

 problem of this character we shall propose we intend to make 

 a staggerer, and only capable of solution by some one who 

 would consider the mastery 6f Laplace's Mecanigue Celeste as 

 child's play. 



Among a great many amusing answers we reproduce one 

 from a lad of sixteen. There is. a certain naivete and charm- 

 ing simplicity about this letter which is worth reproducing. 

 In fact, the best style of letter writing is to write naturally : 

 " Editor Forest and Stream : 



"Whenever father can spare ten cents he buys the Fobbst and 

 Stream. He says it is the next best thing to hunting by ourselves. 

 You must know, Mr. Editor, that father and I are both sportsmen. 

 Father is a real sportsman, too. He never would kill a bird or fish out 

 of season, nor allow others to do it if he could stop it. We come 

 from Pennsylvania from a hunting country, but we cannot go hunting 

 here, as father is only a poor working man, so we are glad to get the 

 F. and S. When father got this week's paper I saw the sportsman's 

 pnzzle, and he told me to make it out and send it to you So I tried 

 and I make ont that he kills forty-eight blackbirds, forty-seven squir- 

 rels and five woodcocks. Am I correct ? Now, Mr. Editor I am six 

 toen years old, but I could tell you some curious things about pheas- 

 ants and mountain hares and foxes and coons and deer, and about 

 Nell, our pointer, and Colonel, the setter. Father had to leave them 

 all behind; he could not afford to frriug them. I wish I were lack- 

 again. And our little black and tan that father broke to stand on a 

 pheasant as staunch as a pointer. But enough for the present Long 

 lire to the Forest and Stheam is the wish of a 



Young Sportsman." 



.— ^^ 



A few evenings ago one gentleman and this same man, Granville, 

 went out with the Are pan after supper, over to the same fluid, and 

 within hearing of the voice In ordinary conversation. They had not 

 been gone over twenty minutes before there was a shot, and Mrs Jones 

 saying, "I wonder if they have killed one," and "Meat in tho pot." 

 " Fifteenth Amendment Dick" rushed to the fire-place, and blacking his 

 finger with smut from the chimney brick, and rubbed it on lier forehead 

 for luck (a superstition the blacks have), saying, " You 'must leave it 

 there until the hunter returns, and he will have game." We had not 

 done laughing at the spot of Dick's on Mrs. Jones' forehead, before 

 another shot was heard ; and, in a few minutes, a call was heard, and 

 on asking what was wanted, a voice hailed, "Bring us a knife!" We 

 tooki he knife, and found the hunters had left their knife on the dock 

 as they left for the hunt, and wanted the knife to bleed the game One 

 deer was killed, and a second badly wounded, which they failed to get 

 Fish are not rising to the fly very readily yet, though they are begin- 

 ning to strike. The last of this month is about the first of the season 

 for the fly. All kinds of flsh take cut bait splendidly. Mr. Frank Iley- 

 wood took 160 pounds of sheepshead, day before yesterday, in less than 

 four hours Ashing. There were thirty-fonr flsh which averaged nearly 

 Ave pounds each. Messrs. Heywood and Giles take bass running from 

 nine to seventeen pounds. They took three- in a few minutes which 

 weighed forty-seven pounds ! Mr. Heywood's sheepshead were taken 

 with rod and reel. He said he could have done better with a hand line 

 as a good deal of time was spent in playing ; but it was fun he wanted' 

 and not pounds. 



It never was more healthy on our coast than at present. We Have 

 had frost here, and the weather quite cool. 



We are looking for our mutual friend, '< Al Fresco," to drop in on us 

 on his return from his trip to the southern portion of our coast We 

 want to give him a little sheepshead Ashing, and a good square meal 



of the same. His friend and partner in his cruise (•" Frank," of "Camp 

 Litem Florida") is here, and desirous to meet his old friend 



The boat which I shipped had not arrived at the Keys two weeks ago 

 but hope she may be there to-morrow when X go over. She is thirty- 

 three feet long, twelve feet four inches beam, and draws twentv-two 

 inches of water. 



Frank Heywood, of whom I speak in this letter, is the yonng man 

 who went with Dr. K. in the "Spray » on his cruise, and .is a very nice 

 fellow. Yours, most truly, Alfred P. Jones. 



down just beyond your reach, and ffnile their little crested head droor 

 n death, cast an eye at you which, almost as plainly as wo, ,°v 

 'No you don't, old Smart* .» sun, by picking our shots, w , ,/ m ,' 

 all we want, and get home In time for a good dinner » ,, 

 Miner's commodious porch, while our Eaftern S£ "^ 



This is the only way these birds can be hunted here : break an 

 ter the flock and get them well scared by shooting at them. Thev « 

 then lie quite well, though few of them close enough for a do* A « li 



ZZ^ T" L= Perfe0t,y USeU!S3 here ««*' M ^retrieve Imllft; 

 value the dog, even then you had better leave him homo This is T 

 principal drawback to the sport- but the pleasure of ,'eeing tl 

 work is well compensated for by the immense quantities oflh* 

 he ease of Anding them, the absence of mud, swamps, o 

 th ckets to flounder through, the ease with which even a buggj may be 

 driven most anywhere, the length of the season (which lastffro 



f,t rl,n , n ,° W and ICC ' 8nd the aching amount of rteS K 



and m,ld weather during a „ that, time-.he rainy season at thi ",dr 

 thePaaAc ram-belt being drier than the driest of Eastern summer 

 For sportsmen who, like myself, are so unfortunate as to hay Th n," 

 climate for a living, the world affords no better place than Sa, dipI 



Fun at Homosassa.— Hornosassa,,- Florida, of which so 

 much has been written, is not a own, properly speaking. It 

 is strictly collection of houses, comprising a mansion and out- 

 buildings ^hich belonged, before the war, to TJ. S. Senator 

 Yulee. Iti located on a lofty shell mound, directly on the 

 banks of the Homosassa River, three miles from the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and is surrounded by fruit trees of large growth and 

 many varieties. With the exception of the vegetable garden 

 and the old and now abandoned sugar and cotton fields, all is 

 a wilderness around about, which abounds in game of many 

 kinds, as there is no one except the guests of the house to dis- 

 turb them. There are deer,- bears and cats in the woods 

 quail around the old fields, and ducks, snipe and alligators in 

 the creeks adjacent. In the neighboring waters no less than 

 eleven kinds of fish rise to the fly in February, and angling 

 becomes monotonous from the abundance of the sport. ' Mr. 

 Jones, the proprietor, has sent us the following letter refer' 

 ring to affairs around his domain . The statements regarding 

 the fidelity and affection of the buck for the wounded doe are 

 very interesting : 



„ , , Homosassa, FLA.,Dec.l, 1S77. 



Our boarders have been doing a fair business in the way of shooting 

 and Ashing. Eight deer have been killed on the island called " Hea 

 gen just opposite the house, since Nov. 1, and ten or eleven wounded 

 that got away ; and about every time one goes over there, one or more 

 deer are seen, "yesterday, one gentleman, said, "Mrs. Jones shall I 

 bring an old or a young deer 7" She says, " A young one," as we had 

 Jour venison and a bear then hanging in the air, and the venison were 

 quite large. So he went over, half an hour before dinner, and in fifteen 

 minutes we heard his gun. Mrs. J. said, " Meat in the pot " (a saying 

 for luck), and in a short time, luck had come with a flne young doe 



Granville, a man working for us, went over one evening i„st before 

 sundown, to see if ho could get a shot. He had not gone far before he 

 saw a doe feeding, and, creeping up, shot her down. He only took two 

 cartridges with him, and putting the second one in his gun, went up to 

 he fallen doe ; but before he hud reached her, a buck sprang out from 

 t he bush, and blowing, and stamping the ground, stood still, look J 

 at the man. He raised his gun and flred (it was a shot-gun). The deer 

 did not stir for au instant, and then made a rush for Granville who took 

 " leg bail" tortus boat, about 250 yards away, the buck close to him- 

 in fact, he was compelled to dodge around the trees on the way to the 

 boat to escape the fury of the wounded deer. On reaching the boat 

 he jumped in, and giving it a shove off the shell beach with the oar,was 

 atloa t-tbe buck standing in the water looking at him. Granville pulled 

 for the house, some four or Ave hundred yards, after more cartridges 

 but so out of breath that he could not do much for some niinute/bm 

 float with the tide, with an occasional stroke of the oar. On getting 

 more cartridges, he returned for his killed deer, and to have one more 

 brush with hts pursuer. He found him pawing around the killed doe, 

 and advancing toward him near enough to get a shot, brought him 

 down as he was about to make another charge. The buck had dug a 

 ileep circle around the fallen doe, and seemed to be wild with fury 



For Forest and Stream and Mod and Gun. 

 CALIFORNIA QUAIL SHOOTING. 



'pHE quail shooting of the Pacific slope is very different from that of 

 the East. While I often regret that my friend, ". Bob White » is 

 not to be found here, I And much consolation in the fact that his little 

 gayly-plumed cousin is about the best substitute he could have. He is 

 a pert, saucy little chap, game to the back-bone, and entirely unlike 

 any Eastern bird in his manners. 



Instead of shivering over the well-gleaned preserves of the East 

 with numb Angers, for the last poor, straggling quail of the season, or 

 tearing and swearing your way through the "saw grass " and jungles 

 of the South, imagine yourself with me in a part of the South almost 

 as unknown to the great body of readers as Guinea or Mada^ascar^San 

 Diego County. 



Starting from theranche house of J. O. Miner (which, by the way 

 as a commodious, comfortable and convenient headquarters for sports- 

 men and pleasure seekers, cannot be beaten on either coast), In a few 

 minutes we reach our ground, a range of low hills covered with thin 

 brush about waist high and intersected in all directions yvith little ra- 

 vines. 



But hark! Do you hear already that call, some 300 yards away ? 

 There are three notes, in tone between that of the turtle-dove and Bob 

 'White, and accented strongly on the second syllable, sounding much Ilk 

 to-fttw-co." It is followed by another with the accent thrown on thee 

 third syllable, like "to-bac-co.» Each Is repeated three or four times 

 Tying our horses, we soon walk in eight of them, but before we-get 

 yvithin seventy-Ave yards, they are already running and dodging about 

 through the brush ilka Uttle dark-blue streaks. Quickening our pace 

 they Ay before we get within thirty yards of them, and surprise you by 

 their great number, there being fully 300 of them. 



They are out of shot, but we shoot at them, nevertheless. They Ay 

 only 150 yards and alight tolerably close together. We follow them up, 

 and again they rise wild, but closer thau before. But now you will 

 notice that they break and scatter more as we Are into them, and alight 

 all over a circle of 150 yards diameter. 



Now, as we go among them, they begin to rise singly, by twos, threes, 

 and sometimes by the half dozen, but at distances varying from twenty 

 to even three yards, the majority rising at about six to eight yards 

 And now begins the liveliest kind of work. We don't have to wait an 

 instant for a shot. At almost every step birds are rising. Up hill, down 

 hill, straight away, crossing, quartering and twistlng-they are hi all 

 directions. Keep cool, let go all that rise over flfteeh yards, don't shoot 

 at auy over thirty yards, mark your dead birds as closely as possible 

 and pick them up as quickly as you can. 



After about twenty minutes our rapid cannonade begins to slacken. 

 They are getting more widely scattered, and scarcer. We won't bother 

 with them, for it Is cheaper to find another Aook, as they are very plenty. 

 This was a 1 open shooting, and, as you like variety, we will try a dif- 

 ferent kind of ground now. 



A short ride takes us to a broad canyon Ailed with sycamore, prickly 

 pear and various kinds of brush, six or eight feet high, with plenty of 

 open space in all directions. We ride but a few rods in it when, sud- 

 denly, we hear a sharp, metallic " whit— whit— whit " some fifty yards 

 ahead of us in the brush— another flock taking their siesta. 



We dismount, and before we have taken twenty steps toward them, 

 the ah- seems alive with them. By following and shooting at" them as 

 before, two or thres times, we get them well scattered. All we have 

 now to do is to walk to and fro through the open spaces and load and 

 shoot, taking care not to drop birds in the clumps of prickly pear, where 

 neither man nor beast could get them. As before, we scarcely have to 

 wait a moment for a shot. Every bush seems to have from one to 

 half a dozen in It. Ayyay go some twisting around small tree tops or 

 scrubby bushes, yvith a spiteful, defiaut Ymzz. Away go some whizzing 

 up from under your feet yvith a saucy " chirp, chirp", chirp." that seems 

 to cay " look ont, or you'll strain your gun. " Away go some scram- 

 bling out of thickest prickly pear almost in your face, with an audacity 

 that amazes you, and vanish over your head before you can turn around. 

 Away scud others like hares, for a few yards along the ground, then 

 suddenly burst on the wing. Ayvay go others out of trees, whizzing 

 With a downward curving rush like that of the ruffed grouse, and most 

 always, leaving your shot just a little behind or above them. 



Down they come though, in spite of their smartness ; but they die 

 game to the last. Some kick, bounce, struggle and Autter flfteen or 

 twenty paces along the ground as if determined not to yield. Some 

 spin away in straight lines leaving you gazing in wonder at the cloud 

 of feathers Aoatiug behind, and alight 200 yards or more away, with a 

 plunge and a bounce, stone dead, or whirl headlong out of the air with- 

 out trying to alight. Others tower swiftly Upward, with their beautifu 

 plumes in sharp relief against the clear sky, and seem to take especial 

 care to select a nice clump of prickly pom- to drop into when life leaves 

 them in mid-air. Some with their last breath will run into it, sit coolly 



amount of fine weather one could wish, with great variety and ab 7 

 dance of game and the easiest ground to hunt on that I ever saw 



It is said that further north these quail lie better to a dog -'but t 

 don't believe they lie well anywhere. Their nature incline! 'towJd 

 running, and they understand it too. But a dog is not necessary 22 



Much has been said about their being harder to shoot than the East 

 em quail. The fact is simply this : they are no harder to hit, hu, 

 very tenacious of life, rising wilder, and general.y une S pected.?2 

 w lleyou are m motion, It is more difficult to bag the same number 

 out of the same number of shots, unless you pick your shot, ti!, 

 constant buzz and whizz on aU sides is terribly demoralizing to a n, ', 

 or even ordinary shot, and I have seen them so bothered that they dfd 

 not know what to shoot at. But a good, experienced Eastern sno w , 

 do as well as any Callfornian after he learns to stop shooting at wild 

 rising birds as he does at home, and confines himself, as we do to the 

 close rising ones, of which there are always plenty in the fall ' 



These quail breed in bevies of ten to flfteen, but pack like pinnated 

 grouse into immense Aocks, when they are as easily found without a 

 dog as with one ; though this may be different further north where the 

 ground is well covered. They are inferior in flavor and size to Bob 

 White, but are still good enough for any one. 



Whether they could stand Eastern winters or not is a hard Question 

 to answer ; but f should think they could endure them better than Bob 

 White. W here there is no prickly pear they roost in trees, so that they 

 will not ge snowed under. From the way they can clean out a vine- 

 yard I should say that they would eat buds in winter like grouse Tl.ev 

 also know how to give the pot-hunter the slip much better than poor 

 Bob White, who always huddles up just right for the villain Judstoe 

 by the yyay they stand shot I should say they can staud most' anything 

 I have found them plenty in the mountains where the suow lies' some 

 times two feet deep in whiter. But even if they were not to be found 

 there in winter it would prove nothing, as the deer all start for lower 

 ground when the snow comes. 



There is a beautiful mountain quail here, much larger than these 

 described, that endores the winters of the high Sierras, and would cer- 

 tainly live East. All that I have hunted were, however, still moro in- 

 clined to run than the others. But their habits might change in this 

 respect, like the Eastern quail which lies better the further East he Is 

 found. Both of these birds seem to live well In a cage, and are not 

 afraid of civilization. California can furnish plenty of them, and I 

 should think it would be well to make a thorough experiment of their 

 introduction East. Nothing here seems to hurt them but a severe 

 drought, which stops their breeding for the next season • but no Fast 

 ern drought could affect them. I understand that the smaller variety 

 have been tried in G erinauy with success. T. S. Van Dvke 



PIGEON MATCHES. 



jSLew York— Dexter' s Park, Jamaica Road, L. I , Dec 14 — 

 Pigeon shooting; the Long Island Gun Club's members con. 

 testing m sweepstake shooting. For the first sweepstakes 

 lucre entered six at §3 each, making a total of .$12 • divided 

 ifi to first and So to second ; shot for at three birds each 35 

 yards rise, 80 yards boundary, lj oz. shot, H and T traps 

 The two best marksmen to take the money. The club rules 

 to govern. 



Gilderslee vet l 



Broadway! l 



Smith! i 



l 1—3 Hughes i ,_» 



1 1-3 Woods | j o_f< 



1 1—3 Judge t n (,_, 



t Divided the money. 



Same Day—Sweepstakes ; $2 entry ; had eight competitors, 

 making #16 divided— $9 to first, $5 to second and $2 to the 

 third ; three birds each, the three best shooters to take the 

 money. The other conditions as above. 



Hughes*..... 1 1 1-3 Sinitnt ] ,_ a 



Gllderaleevei i i i_3 Judge i 1 „ i 



Broadwayt 1 1 "—a Murphy o i n i 



Wardt 1 i o-2 Woods _...... 7/.7.'//.'J; 1 [JrJ 



; Divided first and second money, t Divided third money. 



Same Day— Sweepstakes, $22 ; there were eleven entries 

 a birds each ; §10 to first, $7 to second and $ 5 to the third 

 shooter, the three best men to take the money. 



Flemmgt 1 1 1-3 Gildersleeve i n ,_., 



Snmh-f , i l l-s Ward '"i ,, _.; 



Broadwayt 1 1 1—3 Woods.... n 1 fjZi 



Williams * 1 f—2 Murphy '.' n 1 -_, 



Jmlge 1 1—2 nughes * „ w 



Burroughs 1 1—2 " 



t Divided the money. 



Referee, C. Dexter. Time of shootintr, two hours and forty- 

 five minutes. 



Mi.higan— Detroit, Dec. 15.— Hurliugham Park, Dec. 13- 

 State medal shoot ; English rules, 30 yards rise, 11 birds each: 



JELong.. 1 111011111 i-lu 



OookOouslos 1 111110111 i_io 



J VEEldrilge 1 1 1 1 1 1 w 



Goff atenton 1 0111" 111 3 



w Schweikart u (V 



ElIGllliiiun 1 1 1 1 1 1 w 



Tie on fen— Ave birds, 



JELong l 1 1 1 i_5 cook Cousins 1 1 1 v 1—5 



Second tie— five birds. 

 JE Long 1 1 1—3 Cook Cousins 1 1 1 1 i_d 



Couhina won. 



Sweeps; English rules, 30 yards rise, miss and gi 



EHQillman t i 1 1 1 is Guff stenton w 



J YD Eldiidge 1 1111 0— 5 Mmphv w 



Coo!: Cousins 1 low 



Second sweep, same as above: 



.IK Long 11110—4 GottStenton tfrw 



EHGUlman u w JYD Eldridge Q w 



Cook Cousins 1 1 1 1 1— 5 



Cousins won. red I i 



