Fee. 1% 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



47 



i D flic act of falling wounded to the ground. He was on the 

 point of congratulating Mr. Wardle on his invariable suc- 

 cess, when that gentleman advanced toward him and grasped 

 him warmly by the hand. 'Tupmau.' said the old gentle- 

 man, 'you singled out that particular bird.. 1 '"No,' said Mr. 

 Tupmafl, 'no.' 'You did,' said Wardle. T saw you do It— 

 I observed you Dick him out — I noticed you as you raised 

 your piece to take aim; and I will say this, that the best 

 'shot in existence could not have done it more beautifully. 

 You arc an older hand at this than 1 thought yon, Tupmaii; 

 3 r ou have been out before.' It was in vain for Mr. Tupmau 

 to protest, with a smile of self-denial, that he never had. 

 The. very smile was taken as an evidence to the contrary; 

 aud from that time forth his reputation was established. It 

 is not the ouly reputation that has been acquired as easily. 

 nor are such fortunate circumstances confined to partridge 

 shooting." Seymoub ."Van Santvoord, 



Troy, N. Y. 



A GAME PROTECTOR'S SUGGESTIONS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Below I offer a few suggestions as to the changes which 

 should be made in our game laws in order to make them 

 more intelligible, and to facilitate the work of theproteetors. 



In the first place the law for the protection of fish should 

 be separated from that of game. If there is anything ob- 

 jectionable in an act prepared for the protection of fish, and 

 it should not pass, as has often happened, then that with 

 reference to game is lost and oirc nisa. 



The menhaden fishing is of such vast importance that it is 

 a question worthy of consideration whether it can in any, 

 and if in any, in what, localities be restricted. As it is the 

 fishiug interests in food fish are very much injured by the 

 menLaden fishing. Theu, too, the pound is a very destruc- 

 tive engine, and is destroying the fish in many localities, yet 

 it is legal in almost every part of the State. Again, would 

 it lie well for the State to interfere with the steamers off the 

 south side of Long Island coast and keep them out«ide of the 

 State limits? It has been stated these steamers catch no more 

 good tish than what they use on their boats as food for their 

 crews, but this is certainly not always the case. Besides 

 these matters there are several others of importance which 

 should be attended to, but whatever is done the act should 

 be so explicit and definite that those whose duty it is to 

 enforce it can be sure of their ground. There is also the 

 question as to the. time during which fish should be caught. 

 A knowledge of the time of spawning of fish can only decide 

 this. 



On Long Island, thirty years ago, there were deer from 

 the east end of the island into Queens county. After the 

 railway was built, the deer opposite Patchogue and that dis- 

 trict seemed to shift their quarters, and they were seldom 

 seen on the south side of the railroad. Smith Town, Setau- 

 ket, Port Jefferson, Miller's Place, Wading River, and from 

 thence to Riverhead were well stocked with deer, and the 

 region to the. west of Smith Towu, and from Riverhead to 

 Good Ground was a favorite place for them. The hunting 

 of deer with hounds for long, periods iu each year has almost 

 been the means of their extinction, aud there would not to- 

 day be u single deer ou Long Island but for the fact that 

 about Islip a few were, left over through the South Side 

 Club preserves. Besides this, the South Side Club have 

 been liberal aud progressive enough to turn out some. What 

 saved the deer to the present time, however, was the law ob- 

 tained by that club forbidding the killing of deer for five 

 years. There are now a good number of deer, but confined 

 quite to a small territory, and they are increasing rapidly. 



A very few deer are found as far to the east as Lakeland 

 aud some a little to the west of Islip. From an oversight, 

 after restricting the law for five years nothing was done 

 about protecting them any longer, and so this year the kill- 

 ing of deer came under the general law, and they could 

 be killed from first of August to the first of December. Had 

 the hunters known this there would hardly be a deer left 

 now. The people of Long Island were under the impression 

 that deer could be hunted only from the first to the fifteenth 

 of November, and then with dogs. They of course were 

 disappointed when they found they could not use dogs-in 

 November, and when they also ascertained afterward, that 

 the season was open to the first of December instead of the 

 fifteenth of November, ft is well the deer escaped destruc- 

 tion by this misunderstanding, and it will be well to get such 

 a law passed this year as will not leave the same chance of 

 destruction open in the future. I would suggest as a general 

 outline a law of this kind : That no deer be killed in Queens 

 and Suffolk counties for three years from the passing of this 

 act; that after the expiration of the said three years, deer 

 may be killed for one week in October of each year; but no 

 dogs should be used. Such a law would give every man a 

 chance to obtain venison when the time comes, and' the pro- 

 hibiting the use of dogs of all kinds would protect the deer, 

 so that they would not greatly diminish in number. 



It is simply a question of time when there will be but few 

 deer to the northwest of New York State. The population 

 is increasing, and the rising generation are being taught that 

 it is more healthful for the youth to use the guu and exercise 

 than to lounge round the saloons in New York and else- 

 where. Consequently, where there is one gun now there 

 will soon be several; therefore, take the preservation of deer 

 in time. Prohibit using dogs, and if not altogether, for a 

 time; aud shorten the period of killing deer, aud the whole 

 community will be benefitted. The open season for dogs (if 

 any) should be when the weather is cool, and the deer can be 

 transported to New York city or elsewhere, instead of being 

 thrown away. 



With reference to ducks, geese, etc. Battery- shooting 

 should be at once put a stop to, and a law passed giving offi- 

 cers power to seize nets with ducks in them, and making 

 the law very severe for fire-lighting ducks and geese: 

 changing the law for commencing duck shooting to the first 

 of September, instead of the first of October; limiting the 

 shooting in the spring to the first of April. This would give 

 the gunuers an opportunity of killing teal and widgeon, 

 which leave early in September, and the black duck and 

 others a chance to breed in the spring, whereas now they are 

 driven away, as they mate before the first of May. 



The law as to woodcock, partridge, quail and ral'Ht, 

 should be amended by restricting the killing of woodcoa *o 

 the time when partridge shooting commences. Partridge 

 shooting should commence at t he same time as email shoot- 

 ing, this would carry out the law to protect the game; and 

 shooting should end not later than the 24th December so as 

 to save birds from wholesale destruction which results from 

 their being killed in the snow. As it now stands it gives 

 parties an opportunity to violate the law by pretending to 

 hunt for woodcock, and in reality hunting for woodcock, 

 partridge and quail, and it makes it very difficult to detect 



such parties, That a person is seen with a dog and gun in 

 the open air in the close season should he prima fc 

 denec to convict. 



No birds of any kind should be allowed to he killed during 

 the breeding season, The shooting of blackbirds gives the 

 shooters a chance to killing songbirds. It is a question if 

 blackbirds do not do more good than harm. Iu the spring 

 they can be seen by hundreds following the plough, eating 

 the'worms that have of late years been so destructive to the 

 crops. 



Taxidermists should not be allowed to kill or have killed, 

 during the breeding season, any birds for specimens. It was 

 known that numbers of woodcock were killed on Long 

 Island and Statcn Island at such times as they had young, 

 and some of them sent to a taxidermist, whether to eat or set 

 up cannot be known. It is an outrage to kill birds when 

 they have young, thus leaving them to starve. 



The Supervisors have the power, iu a great measure, to 

 change the game laws. A law was passed April 25, 1884, 

 enabling them to prohibit hunting or fishing in particular 

 localities for limited periods. 



The sportsmen's clubs should depule some one or more of 

 their prominent members to meet the Supervisors of their 

 county before implying to the Legislature for aid. If it is 

 shown to the Supervisors that they can legally and fairly 

 make such changes as will be beneficial, they arc likely to 

 do so. 



Game protectors should have power to appoint deputies in 

 special cases. This would enable them, whenever they 

 learned of an infringement of the law, to appoint some per- 

 son on the spot who could look alter the case and get the 

 evidence. It is apparent some such law is required; aud 

 they should also have power to inspect and open boxes on 

 suspicion, to declare certain marks on birds as sufficient 

 evidence of their having been snared, and to arrest hunters 

 found hunting with a'gun and dog out of season. This 

 arrest can only take place if partridge, woodcock, quail and 

 rabbit shooting commence and end at the same time. 



The Supervisors, by Section 35, have power to raise by tax 

 $1,000 in aid of the enforcement of the provisions of the 

 game law. Then there is the. dog tax, the surplus of which, 

 after paying for the sheep destroyed, should be paid over for 

 this purpose, and not carried to the commissioners' account 

 of highways, as was doue in the town of Southampton last 

 year. There are still other ways of forming a fund to pay 

 any deputies the game protector may appoint to perform 

 particular acts, without in any way increasing the tax of the 

 taxpayers of the county. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have only given some points that, may 

 he useful to_ parties framing the laws. Should some such 

 power be given the game protector as above indicated, the 

 game and fish laws can be enforced. It is now next to im- 

 possible to obtain evidence, as no one will come forward and 

 give it. G. W. W. 



DEER IN THE AD1RONDACKS. 



Hie petitions for non-hounding law. slwuld be sent to us im- 

 mcd.tdtf'lg. 



FROM the State Game Protectors' reports to Commissioner 

 Richard TJ. Sherman, we take the following passages in 

 reference to the deer of the Adirondacks. Peter A. Leonard, 

 of the Seventh District, including St. Lawrence and Jeffer- 

 son counties, says: 



"The deer in my district have diminished in numbers 

 since my term of office commenced. With the continuance 

 of all the modes of destruction at any time hitherto prac- 

 ticed, it cannot be expected, truthfully, that deer have not 

 diminished in numbers. To the limited extent to which 

 restraint upon destruction has been retarded, and this, too, 

 to a gratifying extent. But for the efforts made for protec- 

 tion, it is certain that St. Lawrence county would have been 

 the scene of destruction to double or treble the extent actu- 

 ally the fact. Relatively to other counties, results of pro- 

 tection efforts iu St. Lawreuce areuelieved to be the most 

 favorable. While it is certain that the early slaughter of 

 deer— in May, June and July— is carried ou beyoncf the pos- 

 sibility of detection to a large extent in the several forest 

 districts of the Adirondacks, the prohibition of dogging 

 deer in St. Lawrence has made protection in St. Lawrence 

 possible to an exteut impossible elsewhere. 



"Orgauized bands with scores of dogs dare not commit 

 depredations in St. Lawrence county. When we shall be 

 able effectually to suppress dogging by local offenders, watch- 

 ing time and opportunity to violate the law with impunity, 

 deer will multiply in St. Lawrence rapidly. 1 state this as 

 the result of an experience of twenty-five years iu our forests 

 with rod and gun, in every season of the year. 



"In the winter months, in St. Lawreuce, I am not in- 

 formed of crust-huuting having been practiced recently. 



"In Franklin county the information that I receive is that 

 crust-hunting is practiced to a considerable extent. In June 

 and July hunting by 'jack light' is practiced in both coun- 

 ties, but most extensively in Franklin, for reasons which 

 will suggest themselves. 



"Hunting by jack-light in the open season may be per- 

 mitted without danger of exterminating deer. Please ob- 

 serve that I repeat the words of your inquiry, 'open season/ 

 While as a method it is objectionable, its results are not so 

 much so. In the open season the facilities for destruction by 

 'jack' are comparatively limited and its success indifferent. 



"Dogging deer, as a method and in its results, is a sure 

 means of extermination. Its prohibition is essential to the 

 protection of game, and, in my judgment, uot a single reason 

 can be given for its toleration that does not relate to personal 

 indulgence in reckless, wanton and indiscriminate harm or 

 destruction to the game. Where it is tolerated, in my 

 judgment, game protection, in its true meaning, is im- 

 possible. 



"Iu my judgment, having reference to game protection as 

 a means of multiplication, 1 would prohibit every method of 

 hunting except still-hunting and jacking — confining still - 

 hunting to Aug. 15 to Dec. 1, and jacking to Aug. 15 to 

 Sept. 15." 



Game Protector N. C. Phelps, whose district includes 

 Herkimer and portions of Lewis and Oneida counties, says; 



"If there be no deer killed until Sept. 15, and then only 

 by still-hunting, they would be so plenty that a person could 

 easily get one in less than an hour by watching any runway. 

 Venison thus obtained would be far superior to the flesh of 

 the deer which has been pursued by dogs. In my opinion 

 all the dogs should be taken from the Adirondack region, 

 and the open season should be limited to the time from Sept. 

 15 to Dec. 15." 



South-side Signal : We are heart and hand with this en- 

 deavor, but are clearly of the opinion that Suffolk county 

 should be included in "the scope of the act. Deer hounding 

 is cruel, and ought to be suppressed. 



Long- Island. — Manorville. — I note with pleasure the 

 remark of Mr. French that quail flourish everywhere, aud 

 in some sections are so abundant as to be a nuisance. 1 

 would like to know where a few of those places are. Quail 

 have been quite plenty around here, with a goodly number 

 left over. Partridc not as plenty as in 1883, and thanks to 

 a little exertion, but a few snared. Why should the open 

 season on partridge begin on September 1? Far better be 

 the same as for quail. On woodcock we are counted out, 

 as we have no fall shooting.— C. 



New Game Association. — A party of gentlemen from 

 this city, among them Abram Garsideand Hugh McRoberts, 

 have purchased some. 17,000 acres of land near Port Jervis, 

 on which they propose to erect six large cottages, a club 

 house and stables, and otherwise improve the property, 

 transforming it into a game preserve and a summer resort 

 for the members: It is also proposed to improve the large 

 pond which is included iu the tract purchased and stock it 

 with fish. 



Men nnd Bivet 



TROUTING ON THE BIGOSH. 



IN TUB WOODS. 



4 BRISK little stream ran across the trail and Jack 

 .i x proposed to follow it down to where it found its end, 

 either iu the lake where we fished last year, or in the Bigosh 

 itself. The boy was full of all kinds of schemes to do 

 unusual things, merely because they were out of the general 

 routine, without regard to the labor or the discomfort 

 involved. _ In this he was a true boy and often reminded 

 me of a similar propensity in a boy of forty years ago, but I 

 did not enter into these projects with the enthusiasm that he 

 did, and preferred the beaten track to the tangled thickets 

 and fallen logs, so I agreed to follow the stream for a little 

 distance to see if a trout pool might lie in its course. The 

 traveling was rather better than we expected, because the 

 briers were few and so were the logs. In the wilderness the 

 briers are only found where the fires have run through and 

 killed the timber which shades the ground, and luckily we 

 did not get into either a "fire slash" nor a "wind slash," 

 therefore it is recorded above that the traveling was better 

 than we expected. 



It was near noon and over a mile down the stream had 

 been made within an hour, by crossing and recrossing the 

 water as one bank or the other promised better walking, 

 when we came to a place where a big cedar log lay with its 

 upper surface just above the water, which had scooped a pas- 

 sage beneath it in the soft earth, It was the place for a trout 

 to lie if there was one in the stream, and if there were no 

 impassable falls below it was certain that some fish would 

 run up and stop in such an inviting place. A trout dearly 

 loves the protection of a log, a bush, or a bridge, which 

 protects it from enemies above7 and from whence it can see 

 without being seen and can dart out and seize anything 

 coming dowu stream. I pointed out the hole to Jack and 

 told him to step lightly so that any fi3h lying there would 

 not be alarmed, and we would see what might be under the 

 log. As might be expected, Jack immediately proposed to 

 capture any trout that might occupy the fortress. All talk 

 about our not needing trout and the sinfulness of taking life 

 without the excuse of food supply was lost on Jack. He 

 did not care anything about ethics; there might be a trout 

 under that log, and if so he wanted him. 



Just suppose for a moment that you are an angler near the 

 meridian of life and in charge of a large-hearted impetuous 

 boy of fifteen, and are trying to instil correct principles 

 regarding the legitimate capture of game fish and of self- 

 restraint when the temptation of an opportunity to kill more 

 than you can use occurs. What can you say to the son of ■ 

 your friend when he says: "I don't care anything about 

 that, but if there is a big trout under that log I want him." 

 The chances are that you would be in stronger sympathy 

 with the boy than with your own notions of angling 

 propriety. Notwithstanding the fact that I had firm con- 

 victions on the subject of killing for the mere sake of killing, 

 I liked Jack all the better for his opposition to my precepts. 

 He saw that the overhanging bushes would not admit of fly- 

 casting and started to find a grub under the loose bark of a 

 pine log when I called him back and said: "Jack, if you 

 are bound to kill that trout, if there is one, do it so that if 

 the fish doesn't respect you for it, you will retain your own 

 good opinion of yourself. Don't murder him with a beastly 

 grab which tempts only his grosser appetite, kill him with a 



fly." 



"But the bushes will not allow me to cast a fly here, there 

 is no room for the line behind, aud if there was, theu the 

 flies would get fast, hung up to dry in the bushes." 



I insisted on his rigging up his leader with one fly, a 

 coachman, and showed him how to drop it on the water by 

 using only ten feet of line and how to keep the fly moving. 

 After a trial or two he caught the trick and as he stood 

 about four yards above the log, which was on his left, he 

 was screened by the bushes. He let the fly drift down near 

 the log and made it dance lightly on the water. A trout 

 rose and missed, another rise and' a strike Jack allowed 

 the fish to reel off some line and in a twinkling it ran under 

 the log, the gut leader parted and the trout went off. He 

 saw his error and vowed to do better next time. Another 

 fly was tied on and another fish struck and led up stream by 

 main force and the landing net did its duty. No place to 

 play a fish there, with lirnbs of trees above and below 

 and a narrow swift stream to help the trout in its downward 

 rush. He took three from under that log, as nearly alike as 

 trout can be, and each of about five ounces in weight. We 

 found two similar places below and by carefully playing the 

 fly on the water, without any attempt at casting, Jack took 

 five more fish. He was reminded that the day was in its 

 decline and that unless we hastened back to the trail and 

 stepped out lively we would not reach Uncle Ben's before 

 dark. He surprised me by a proposition to camp all night 

 and go on in the morning. I argued in favor of a good 

 supper and a bed at the house, and explained that we were 

 not well prepared to camp. 



"That's just the reason 1 want to camp," said he, "I often 

 hear father and you talk about being caught out and want 

 to know how you do it, so that I can take care of myself, if 

 necessary." 



Under fchesa circumstances I gave in to the boy and we 

 looked about for a good spot. We found a large log from 

 one side of which the ground sloped enough to carry off any 

 rain that might fall, we threw up a ridge of earth under it 

 with our knives to stop the water from the hill above, and 



