368 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
a —— 
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[Deo. 4, 1884, 
ee 
Se eS, 
the streets. Mr. A. A. McLane told me the other day of 
chasing one up the street that had flown against a telegraph 
wire and had fallen. He said that as he thought to pick it 
up he could see woodcock on toast for his supper, but the 
woodcock thought differently, and would not be picked up. 
Should you have inquiries concerning this locality, you 
might say that in the neighborhood of Raleigh, Hillsboro 
and Wadesboro (I am informed) quail are very abundant. 
Hayen’t had opportunity of trying it yet, but hope to as soon 
as my dogs come. J, 0. L. 
Wiimrnaton, N. C., Oct. 31. 
REMARKABLE SHOTS. 
Tiditor Forest and Stream: 
Last fall a friend of mine, who had been very ill and con- 
fined to his home for nearly a year, happily finding himself 
convalescent, concluded that be would ‘“‘go a-hunting.” 
So, with his dog and gun and young son George, he took the 
railroad cars for a lonely station a few miles ont of the city. 
On alighting from the ear he loaded his gun and sent George 
on ahead a little way to await hiscoming. The faithful dog 
soon began nosing about in a significant manner and flushed 
a pheasant (as we call the ruffed grouse in this part of the 
country). In an instant my friend fired at the bird as it 
darted away. ‘‘You killed it, papa,” shouted the boy, as he 
ran to pick up a bird which he saw fall near him, and at 
the same time old dog Jack handsomely retrieved another 
one, the bird shot at, which dropped dead in quite another 
direction. My friend heard and saw only one bird, shot it, 
yet killed a brace of pheasants. Subsequently and within 
two hours’ hunting he shot and bagged four more pheasants 
in as many single shots, Surely such a red-letter day’s luck 
for one who is an ordinary shot ought to be recorded. 
Editor Forest and Stream: : 
One evening last week I shot a white crane with a 
Stevens pocket rifle, 18 inches. .32 short at 400 yards. (1 
guessed distance, as it was across the Missouri River from 
me.) It (the crane) measured 7 feet 2 inches from tip to tip 
of wings, and 5 feet 8 inches from tip of the bill to tips of 
toes, and weighed 13 pounds, 
I once saw two prairie chickens, flying in opposite direc- 
tions, meet with such force as to knock the life out of them. 
They struck the ground 30 feet apart and never moved after 
striking it. A hawk was chasing one of them, but I got the 
chickens before he got to them. J. 7. L. 
ARraGo, Neb. 
MAINE DEER LAW. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Against any legislation that would leagthen the open sea- 
son for deer shooting in the Maine woods, too urgent a pro- 
test cannot be entered. That there are many who are in 
favor of adding September to the open season is true, but 
they are actuated, whether they know it or not, by the same 
motives that have destroyed the forest lands, depleted the 
waters, and nearly exterminated many of the noblest species 
of animals. When Maine was first settled deer were very 
plenty, After atime they became scarce, simply because 
they were hunted at any and eyery season without restraint. 
Téis no argument to say that wolves had driven the deer 
away. Wolves had existed as long as the deer had. Thirty 
years ago there were not atenth part as many deer in the 
neighborhood of the settlements as there are to-day. About 
twenty-five years ago, I remember thata guide in the Range- 
ley region took a party of us nearly a mile out of our way, to 
show us the tracks of a deer inthe mud. These tracks were 
perhaps a week old, and yet appeared to be something unus- 
ual, even to a guide who was inthe woods almost constantly. 
I have TayeelE som citing over twenty years ago, tended 
traps for months in the heart of the Maine woods and never 
scenasign of a deer. In fact, the deer had become so 
scarce that no one thought of them, much less of hunting 
them. This respite gave the few that were left a chance to 
multiply. Legislation has done the rest, and at present, it 
needs but a few minutes’ walk in any of the wooded regions 
of this section to convince a person that deer are plenty. In- 
deed, there have been repeated instances the present season 
of their being seen as far out in the settlements as the north- 
ern part of Cumberland county, or within thirty-five miles 
of the city of Portland. 
But with the increase of this noble game here, public at- 
tention is naturally called to it, and the insatiable minds of 
the greedy and thoughtless are full of every expedient for a 
wholesale destruction. One party asks to have January 
added to the open months. Another July and August, in 
order to give free scope for jack-shooting. Another asks 
that huuting with dogs be allowed. Failing in all these and 
other requests, they ask for free hunting in September, as 
the next best thing to aid them in the easy destruction of 
game that would be comparatively safe in legitimate seasons. 
Every one knows that generally the fawns are too young in 
September to take care of themselves. A few years since, 
an instance came to my notice, when even as late as the 
middje of November, adoe having been shot, her fawn came 
up and lay down beside its dead mother, hardly seeming to 
notice the approach of the hunter. In this case the fawn 
was killed out of humanity, and it would be much better if 
this were dune in every case where the mothers are sacrificed, 
Instances of the fawus following their mothers in October 
is the rule. It is only in rare cases that they are found alone 
by themselves at this season. Again the month of Septem- 
ber is often one of fhe warmest of the year in this climate, 
and the deer come to the water not only for the sake of feed- 
ing, but to escape from the insect pests and heat. When 
jack-shooting can be carried on successfully in October, it is 
easy to furesee what the result would be could September be 
made an open month. 
The great object of legislation in the case of all things of 
value must be apparent to all—to protect and not to grant 
the liberty to destroy. Should our game laws be made the 
only exception? Deer are almost unknown in the older 
settled portions of the country, and nothing but prompt 
action can keep them long in the localities where they yet 
remain. Stringent laws and energetic enforcement of 
them may do this, but alax legislatation can have but one 
result and that to put the deer In the same catalogue with 
the buffalo. . 
A change in the Jaw is needed, but it should be to shorten 
the open season, so that it would not begin before Oct. 
15, to allow the young deer to get larger and better able 
to look out for themselves. The open season should close 
by Dec. 15, to avoid the danger of deep snow driving the 
deer into their winter yards, before the protection of the 
law would prevent their being butchered like so many 
sheep. If people would stop to think there isnot one person 
in ten that would not ratherit should be made an offense 
punishable by imprisonment, even to kill a deer at all,than to 
allow of their being utterly destroyed as they certainly will be, 
if those praying for a repeal of the game laws as already ex- 
isting can have their way. It is a high tribute to the civiliza- 
tion of any State to say that by judicious protection its for- 
ests are stocked with these noble animals, For their exter- 
mination, vandalism is too mild a term. x 
Brip@ron, Maine. 
Etitor Forest and Stream: 
I think your correspondent who says that fawns are able 
to take care of themselves by Sept. 1 is in error, as I haye 
seen this fall fawns in spotted coat as late as the last of Sep- 
tember, I belong to the class who can only get a little while 
off, and only at such a time as they can best be spared, still 
I am not in favor of placing the open season a month earlier. 
As to the proposition to place the open season a month earlier 
and by that means combine deer shooting and trout fishing 
at the same time, as it is sometimes urged, I think they both 
had better be dropped, the deer as a month too early, and the 
trout as a month too late. I have seen trout at Sept. 15 full 
of spawn, and no sportsman should indulge in the sport after 
Sept. 1. I think that sportsmen around here and in North- 
western Maine are of the same mind,—,38-CALIBER, 
Nasnua, N. H, 
Liditor Horest and Stream: 
As the question whether September should be open or 
close time for large game is being agitated in this State, per- 
haps the following facts may be of service; On the 7th day 
of November, as Grant Fuller and Moses Scribner were 
hunting on Beaver Pond, near Tim Pond, they saw a flock 
of four caribou approaching on the ice. The men hid and 
let the game come up within a few rods. The flock consisted 
of a buck, a doe, a yearling and a fawn, The men first 
shot the doe, then the buck, then the young ones. On skin- 
ning the doe they found her udder full of fresh milk, and 
there was every appearance that she was suckling her fawn. 
The same day they shot a doe deer, whose fawn was in com- 
pany with her, and she was in the same condition—suckling 
her fawn, You have this for what itis worth. As it is not 
clearly understood whether or not our law permits sports- 
men from out of the State, who are fortunate enough to 
kill large game legitimately, to take or send it home, I think 
it should be made clear allowing them to do so. my le 
Eustis, Me., Noy. 24. 
PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 
' FAHE professional duck shooters on Barnezat Beach, N. J., 
have been very busy for the past three days with the 
wreck of the steamer that was on the outer bar, almost 
abreast of the inlet, and, therefore, little gunning has been 
done except by the mainland duckers. The geese and brant 
are showing themselves in greater numbers lately in both 
Tuckerton and Barnegat bays; very few of the first named 
deign to stop, however, and seem intent upon keeping up 
their southern flight. The brant likewise do not act as they 
formerly did, and very many flocks nowadays appear to use 
these old and once famous grounds as resting places only, 
and atter a brief tarry wing their way toward the Virginia 
and North Carolina waters. 
Canvasback ducks are plentiful at the flats below Havre 
de Grace, but very wild. here is an abundance of celery 
this season, and the ducks killed are in prime condition, and 
readily bring $3 to $3.50 per pair, 
Notwithstanding the reports from Delaware and Maryland 
indicated a good season for quail, the shooting has by no 
means ceme up to the expectations of very many who 
selected their grounds in those States. The dryness of the 
weather prevented the birds from being readily found, and I 
am of the opinion that those who have postponed their trips 
until December will have better bags to report. Only last’ 
week a flight of woodcock setttled on a wet cover a few miles 
below Philadelphia, on the New Jersey side of the river, and 
a number were killed. The season, judging from this and 
other indications, will not be an early cold one. 
The ‘‘same old” flocks of snow geese have made their 
appearance in the Delaware River below Bombay Hook, and 
the fowl are using the identical meadows for feeding they 
resorted to last year. My informants, the crews of the oyster 
boats, tell me they intend to give these geese a rap when they 
go down the bay again, and have inyited your correspondent 
to go along, which, unfortunately, I cannot as I can get no 
satisfaction how long the boats will be gone, 
I hear from farmers in both New Jersey and Maryland that 
rabbits are very plentiful, so great is the number that not a 
little damage has been wrought by these rodents, and yet two 
of the farmers from whom I secured the information, posi- 
tively refuse to allow shooting on their premises, aud have 
posted their grounds. 
Several of our prominent Philadelphia sportsmen have 
gone South on quail shooting trips, a part will stop in North 
Carolina and afterward continue their route to Florida. 
Homo. 
NovemBrr 30. 
PENNSYLVANIA.—Athens, Pa., Dec. 1.—Nearly all the 
hunters here turned out on Thanksgiving Day fora hunt, 
and the woods for miles around in this yicinity echoed with 
the baying of hounds and the report of guns, and the poor 
cotton-tail found it anything but a Thanksgiving Day, for 
most of the hunters returned with all they could carry. 
Myself and two friends scored fourteen. Quite a few part- 
ridges were brought in. Quail shooting has been good here 
at times, but owing to the large territory for them to feed 
upon, and the shooting done at them, it is quite difficult to 
find a covey twice inthe same field One day found five 
coveys, and the next not a single bird on the same ground. A 
party returned from Sullivan county, Pa., last week with 
four deer, and another party started for Potter county, Pa., 
at the same time.—PARK. 
Vermont.—Hast Berkshire——We are having our usual 
number of grouse this fall, and plenty of gray squirrels 
thrown in, Our flight of ducks has been very small this 
fall, nothing to what it usually is. Our legislature has passed 
some new game laws this fall session, and I will send them 
to you as soon as I can get them in full.—Snip Syap. 
Tus AprRONDACKS.—Meachain Lake, Noy. 17.—Robins 
and kingfishers were last seen Nov. 10, chipping sparrows, 
Nov. 18; goldfinches, Noy. 19. The white-winged snowbird 
has not been seen yet. I have been expecting to hear him, 
and then a big gale of snow.—A. R, FULLER, 
J 
CHEAP Guns AGAty.—The cheap gun dealer is perennial, 
He springs up every year, usually in the fall and winter; 
tnakes a big splurge in such newspapers as will advertise his 
wares, and then disappears, more or less suddenly and 
mysteriously. The latest wonderful arm, given away to the 
shotgun philanthropist for a few paltry dollars, was styled 
the “Parker repeating shotgun.” The arm was a clumsy 
contrivance—an old style rifle altered over into a no-style 
shotgun, by a concern which attempted to palm it off by 
stealing the established name and reputation of the well- 
known Parker shotgun, made by Parker Brothers. The 
latter firm, not submitting to the dishonest imposition and 
jealous of the fair fame of their gun, very properly brought suit 
against the piratical concern and have succeeded in windiug it 
up, at least temporarily. One of the New York daily papers 
of Dee. 2, reports: ‘Two shotguns lay across Justice Duffy’s 
desk in the examination room of the Tombs yesterday after- 
noon, Charles E, Parker swore that Henry A. Hayden, 
nuder a pretended partnership with Obarles R. Parker, was 
selling cheap guns made from old Spencer rifles and calling 
them Parker guns. At a previous examination, Charles R. 
Parker swore that he had entered into coparinership with 
Hayden. Justice Duffy asked to see the articles of copart- 
uership, and Parker was to produce them yesterday. Parker 
testified yesterday that he had given them te his counsel, 
Morris A. Tyng, and they had heen mislaid when Tyne’s 
office was swept. However, in view of this prosecution. 
witness said he had dissolved the partnership with Hayden 
and had published notice of that fact, Lawyer Neville pro- 
duced a decision of Justice Van Hoesen, granting an injunc- 
tion to restrain Parker & Hayden from advertising their 
Parker gun. Justice Van Hoesen said ne was satisfied that 
the sole object of the pretended partnership was to give 
Hayden a pretext for doing business for himself under the 
name of Parker & Co., in ordet to rid himself of a lot of 
cheap rifles altered into shotguns. Justice Duffy said he 
would decide the case on Friday.” 
THe Fare or “Tom” Nicaous.—Dec. 2.—EKditor Forest 
and Stream: I inclose clipping froma local Maine paper, 
which was called to my attention to-day, and which consti- 
tutes all the information I have of the fate of old Tom 
Nicholas, or ‘‘Nichols,” his letters to me are signed, If you 
have further particulars, would it not interest many readers 
of FoREST AND STRHAM to have you publish them? From 
the date of the paper, I should judge the “Tuesday” night 
to be two weeks ago to-day (Nov. 18).—A., P, JR, The ¢clip- 
ping reads as follows: ‘The details of what will perhaps 
prove to be the most awful tragedy in the history of Piscat- 
aquis county,are told by one of the participants, Charles 
Nicholas, who was arrested at Dover Saturday, while on his 
way home at Oldtown, and that is all that is known of the 
affair at this time, Thomas Nicholas and his son Charles, 
are two Penobscot Indians, who live at Kineo during the 
summer season as guides. Last Monday they started on a 
hunting and trapping expedition to the head of the lake, and 
Tuesday met John Bridge, also a guide and teamster at the 
Winnegamock House, Northeast Carry. They all drank 
some and then went to the West Branch House, about two 
miles distant, where they procured more liquor. During the 
evening while playing cards, Bridge struck young Nicholas 
and knocked him down, and said; ‘‘Don’t rise or I will kill 
you,” and then struck him again with a pair of boots, ren- 
dering him senseless. When he recoyered consciousness he 
saw the dead body of Bridge in the kitchen, where it had 
been dragged from the office, was being laid out by Bridge’s 
brother, an employe at the hotel. Nicholas inquired for his 
father, and the brother of the dead man told him ‘‘not to 
worry for his father, as he was cared for,’”’ All of his 
father’s bafgage was as it had heen left in the office, except 
the rifle, which was gone. Nicholas started on foot Thurs- 
day morning, and walked to Kineo, a distance of thirty 
miles, arriving there Friday, where he related the above 
story. He tool his wife, who was there, and left for Old- 
town, but was detained on arrival at this place, and will re- 
main until some hearing can beheld. His head is bandaged, 
and he shows the marks of having been badly punished. He 
saw nothing of his father afterward, and the supposition at 
present is that Nicholas, Sr., shot Bridge, and was then him- 
self shot and disposed of by Bridge’s friends. There were 
two men, Jos, Labree and John Donelly, in the office at the 
time, and the proprietor, Mr. Luce, was in and out during 
the evening.” 
New Yorxe.—Binghampton, Noy, 29.—Rabbits in this 
section are yery plenty. Partridges are quite numerous in 
the hills about three miles south of the city, but very wild, 
Few mallards have been shot on the Susquehanna as yet, 
Hunters report foxes as plenty. Quail are scarce; however, 
I found a covey of sixteen one day last week. If the sports- 
men of the ‘‘Parlor City” would take measures to stop the 
unlawful use of ferrets in hunting rabbits, it would be somie- 
thing to their advantage. None but pot-hunters stoop to 
such unsportsmanlike ways of bagging game.—W, B. L, 
New Hampsuire.—Colebrook, Dec.1,—The flight of Arctic 
birds are with us much in advance of other seasons, There 
has not been snow enough to give the still-hunter a chance 
at his way of getting venison. Legs than one inch of snow 
now. Hawk owls came three weeks ago in greater numbers 
than ever known before. Farmers’ sons have been killing 
them all over the country. Grouse are abundant and deer 
very numerous. The summer and autumn hunting of large 
game in this State amounts to no more than five moose, no 
caribon and twenty deer—NurpD Norton. a 
Toe Game Gors ro MArxnr.—Ballston, N, Y.—Most 
of the game in this vicinity is shot in the Saratoga season, so 
when the law is off we can get but few birds. Ducks are 
wild and hard to get, I have killed a few shelldrakes, 
coots and widgeons. Rabbits are reported plenty, A good 
rabbit snow is now falling. Wild geese are in the lakes in 
small numbers, but not enough to go shooting for, however. 
A few ge have been killed, and they are quite numerous, 
—A. C.J, 
A Bre Por SHor.—Jacksonville, Fla,, Nov. 28.—F, B. 
Fisher, of this place, killed twenty-one teal duck with two 
barrels on St. John’s River, near Sanford, on Thanksgiving 
Day, and he says if he had fine shot he could have doubled 
the number. Mr, Fisher heads the list among our champion 
duck shots,—Woopcock. 
Lonewoop, Fla., Nov. 27,—Quail are abundant. A few 
deer haunt the old hunting ground. Turkeys still gobble iz 
the hammock at the proper season.—I, F. 
