108 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|March 5, 1885 



MISSISSIPPI DUCK SHOOTING. 



DUCK shooting in the harbor here at Vicksburg has been 

 very poor this season. Last winter it was exception- 

 ally fine. It was then an easy matter for a couple of geutle- 

 men in a half clay's shoot, or less to bag forty ducks. One 

 morning, just in front of the wharf boat and within gunshot 

 of the landing, my young nephew and I bagged seventy- 

 five by 10 o'clock, and quit the sport because we ran out of 

 ammunition. The afternoon of the next day Mr. E. H. 

 Raworth and I got sixty-five after three o'clock, the inter- 

 vals between our shots being barely sufficient to allow our 

 guns to cool. Others had about as good success. It appeared 

 that the active little greenwings rather enjoyed the sport 

 themselves, as no amount of pounding, even in their roost 

 as they came in to rest for the night, would drive them 

 away. 



When I came down here from Nebraska early in Decem- 

 ber, I expected much pleasure during the winter among the 

 ducks. I have been greatly disappointed. There were com- 

 paratively no ducks in the harbor. In the first place, the 

 river was quite low, leaving large bare places between the 

 water and the willows, and offering no shelter for the fowls. 

 In the next place, the high water of last summer continued 

 so far into the season that, when it finally declined, it was 

 too late for the grass to grow and mature its seeds on the 

 lower fiats, so that this fall there was nothing upon which 

 the ducks could feed until the river reached a point some 

 twenty-five feet above low-water mark. When this did oc- 

 cur the rise was so rapid and so great that all these lands 

 were submerged in a twinkling, as it were; the swamps filled 

 up where the acorns lie in great abundance, and where the 

 ducks hied to quack and quack and stuff themselves to their 

 heart's content without much danger from the sportsman. 

 During the period I have mentioned, W. L. P. and I went 

 out four times with all the paraphernalia necessary to a suc- 

 cessful pursuit of the ducks, and during those four trips 

 bagged only five, so distributed that we were not able to se- 

 cure a mess at any time. 



On December 3t this brother and I, having concluded to 

 try some of the lakes tributary to Steele's Bayou, loaded our 

 skiff, tent, bedding, two dozen of the decoys, and other 

 necessary traps upon the steamboat Tributary, and that 

 night atll o'clock, were landed alongside a big raft at the 

 mouth of the bayou, our skiff being lowered into the river, 

 and our half wagon load of plunder placed therein, when we 

 laid to the oars and by moonlight, against a crisp north 

 wind, pulled four miles up to the right fork, then one mile 

 to the mouth of Goose Lake, and thence into that about a 

 mile, where we turned into shore, unloaded, pitched our 

 tent, built a rousing fire, made down the bed and at half 

 past two laid down to rest for an hour. At the end of an 

 hour we got up, and after a hearty breakfast of fresh bread, 

 jam, canned tongue and hot tea, we pulled across the lake to 

 a point where we had aroused great numbers of ducks on 

 coming in, and putting out our decoys in water six or eight 

 inches deep, built a temporary blind by moonlight in time 

 for the morning flight. 



The location proved a bad one, no ducks to speak of com- 

 ing our way, so we towed our decoys by the line to which 

 they were tied to a new place, and built another blind, 

 where during the day we killed twenty-six ducks. The next, 

 mornina: we scored a failure, and after rowing to the upper 

 end of Goose Lake and back, we pulled out into the right 

 fork of Steele's and up that four miles to Burge's Lake, 

 where we found ducks iu great numbers lingering in their 

 old feeding grounds, the grass on the flats just being cov- 

 ered by the back water from the Mississippi. Here we 

 located, but again getting in the wrong place, and having to 

 make a change. We got the second blind built and decoys 

 out by half -past 2 o'clock, and from that till _ sundown had 

 fine snooting, bagging fifty-one ducks. Leaving our decoys 

 out we pulled the five miles back to camp through the nar- 

 row and crooked channel, overhung with forest trees, that 

 made the way as dark as a stack of black cats. 



Went next day back to Burge's and got left, the ducks 

 having sought other quarters, the water having risen nearly 

 three feet since our arrival there the day before. On return- 

 ing to camp early in the forenoon, and finding Goose Lake 

 deserted, except by flocks of hooded mergansers, and being 

 fearful that our game would spoil on account of increasing 

 warm weather, we concluded to turn our faces toward home. 

 After a hearty dinner we broke camp, loaded up, and set out 

 on our journey, one mile out to the right fork, one mile 

 down the right fork, four miles down Steele's to the Yazoo 

 River, two miles down the Yazoo to Old River, thence two 

 miles to the head of McSee's Pocket, where we unloaded, 

 pulled the skiff over the bar into the Pocket rather than take 

 the two-mile row around the foot of the tow-head, and 

 carried the plunder to the only small patch of high and safe 

 ground in that vicinity for camp that night. Before making 

 camp wo located in the big willows with our skiff, and the 

 decoys in open water in front of us, for the night shoot. 

 Just before dark ducks trooped in there by the thousand but 

 passed out of range and settled down in open water two 

 hundred yards in front of us. A few straggled in near the 

 decoys and we managed to knock down seven of them. After 

 this shoot we set up our tent, had supper and early to bed, it 

 being our hardest day's work, including twenty-one miles of 

 solid travel. 



We had left out the decoys and the next morning took 

 position over them as the evening before, and before the flight 

 was over bagged five. We then packed up and again turned 

 our faces homeward, there being fifteen miles yet before us. 

 At noon we reached the mouth of Old River and saw what 

 we thought an elegant place for a successful shoot and un- 

 loading most of our plunder on the mainland, again set out 

 the decoys and ran the skiff into thick willows near them, 

 where we staid till near dark, sc®riog only six ducks. On 

 our return to the luggage we found some thief had relieved 

 each of us of a coat and besides had the queer fancy to steal 

 our can of coal oil. We both felt he had dealt gently with 

 us in not walking off with more. 



The pull down to the city of Vicksburg was an easy one, 

 but wind and current being in our favor. On passing the 

 elevator at the lower landing we ran alongside the Govern- 

 ment gauge, struck a match, and looking at the mark, found 

 that the rise during our absence had been eleven and a half 

 feet. Up to the present time the entire rise from the lowest 

 stage in December has been over thirty-four feet, the gauge 

 now reading over thirty-nine feet above low-water mark. It 

 may readily be understood how, in a low and level country, 

 a rapid rise of that extent destroys all successful duck hunt- 

 ing. 



The bag we made during the trip just narrated consisted 

 of ninety- five ducks, all large ones, except one stray green- 

 wins: teal, in fact, mostly mallards, the greenhead males 



largely predominating. Under the circumstances we regarded 

 it as rather a successful hunt, and as the weather was dry 

 andcold, we certainly enjoyed it. It is in all probability 

 our last this season, as duck hunting hereabouts is practi- 

 cally over. If we were required to go out and kill a mess, 

 we do not know -where we could go to do it. 



Burr II. Polk. 



VlCKSBtTRG, Miss. 



TO HOLD WADS IN PLACE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I send you a device of my own to prevent the loosening ®f 

 wads in a shell, particularly in metal shells over the shot, 

 where the trouble most frequently occurs. 



It is simply to use a good, firm, stiff pasteboard wad, un- 

 der which place a circular disc of cotton cloth, large enough 

 to come up over the edge of the wad and project above the 

 same, say from a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch. 



The manner of using this and the principle upon which it 

 operates is precisely similar to that produced in the loading 

 of an old-fashioned muzzleloading rifle with a patched bullet. 

 You first lay the disc of cotton centrally over the mouth of 

 the shell or loading tube, a good stiff pasteboard wad exactly 

 on top in the center and drive it home. My word for it, you 

 have it secure against any reasonable amount of jostling. For 

 like a tightly-patched bullet in the muzzleloader, you can 

 drive it down, but the instant you attempt to move it in the 

 opposite direction it meets the resistance of the thicker part 

 of the material or patching, so to term it, above which, oper- 

 ating as an inverted wedge, only forces itself the tighter. 



This may seem a little troublesome, but it is ten times 

 more troublesome and vexatious to have your wads slipping 

 off of shot, either causing an entire loss of the charge or hav- 

 ing the same rattling around loose in your pockets, contribut- 

 ing to the loosening of still others, which I have had happen 

 many a time, until 1 by accident fell upon the device here 

 described, since which I have had no trouble. 



A still better way to manage this arrangement is to fasten 

 your cardboard wad centrally to the larger cotton or thin 

 cloth disc, with a touch of good flour paste. Having thus 

 prepared a lot of them, should you prefer a lubricant, take 

 an even roll of them, dip the projecting cloth edges in a little 

 melted tallow, you then have a lubricant exactly where you 

 want it, in advance of the charge of shot, 



1 have used this home-made contrivance for some time, and 

 put it to the severest tests, and have yet to see one of them 

 slip. 



Any of our wad manufacturers could manufacture them 

 at a very small percentage above the cost of ordinary card- 

 board wads. Backwoods. 



DEER IN CONNECTICUT. 



Editor Fared and Stream: 



A short time since I heard that a deer had been killed near 

 Stony Creek in this State. Determined to hunt the matter 

 up, 1 wrote to Capt. W. P. Davis of Stony Creek, and re- 

 ceived the following in reply : 



■'The animal you speak of had been seen and chased sev- 

 eral times during the past winter, but had managed to elude 

 its pursuers until the last occasion. A hound started him and 

 three boys followed. He took to the water at a point be- 

 tween Stony Creek and Pine Orchard, swimming first to 

 Roger's Islaud. Here the boys, joined by several others, 

 fired at him and drove him into the water again; he swam 

 near Plying Point, as if intending to land, but changed his 

 course on seeing some children at play, and describing a 

 right angle made for Gove Island, but the tide being strong 

 he drifted by, and the boys overtook him near Crib Rock. 

 They put a rope around his neck and attempted to haul liim 

 in. but one of the boys got nervous and shot him. On the 

 following evening they took him to Branford, where he was 

 kept on exhibition several days. He was .finally served up 

 at the Island View House in Stony Creek at a supper shared 

 by the hunters and their friends. 



"This deer was a three year old buck. He has been about 

 here in a large timber tract and swamp between here and 

 Guilford since last summer. It is reported that a doe and 

 two fawns have been seen in that viciuity, and there are 

 other wild animals there, as otters, raccoons, minks and 

 foxes. Three theories exist as to the appearance of deer in 

 this locality. First, that they have been driven from the 

 north by dogs, but this is improbable. Second, that they 

 are descended from some four liberated sometime ago by the 

 Rev. W. H. H. Murray. This is possible. Third, that they 

 have come from a pair let loose by the Hon. S. B. Chitten- 

 den, of Guilford, some time last summer, This is very prob- 

 able. 



"This one was in good condition, and I believe they would 

 thrive here if protected. Several thousand acres of timber 

 and uncultivated land lie north of here, abounding in grassy 

 swamps, springs and streams." 



This letter of Capt. Davis is so complete that I have noth- 

 ing to add, save that even if his last conjecture is the right 

 one, it is remarkable a deer should remain six months at 

 large in Southern Connecticut. Percyval. 



New Haven, Conn., Feb. 21, 1885. 



Snow in a Gun Muzzle.— Milburjr, Mass. Feb. 26,— Mr. 

 John W. White of this town had a narrow escape to-day 

 and his experience should be a lesson to sportsmen. He 

 was on the trail of a fox when he stepped into a hole and 

 pitched forward, his gun slipped from his hand and stuck 

 up in the snow. White had hardly recovered himself and 

 his gun before he saw Mr. Fox within easy range and he 

 fired, discharging both barrels in quick succession. He 

 knew that his gun recoiled more than usual, but that he did 

 not notice as much as the fact that the fox was unhurt. Mr. 

 White, a crack shot, had hardly recovered from his first sur- 

 prise before he discovered that about six inches of his gun 

 barrels had disappeared. The snow was damp and had 

 packed the end of the gun so solid that the explosion, such 

 as occurred, was the inevitable result. The gun was a double 

 barrel twist guD, made by Parker Bros, of Meriden, Conn. 

 Mr. White was so well pleased with the results of his ad- 

 venture that he has ordered two new guns of the same make. 



Game Exported prom Connecticut.— Center Brook. 

 Conn., Feb. 28.— Game of all kinds has been fairly abund- 

 ant and some very good bags have been made. Ruffed 

 grouse, quail, woodcock, and numerous wildfowl are shipped 

 from this vicinity to the New York markets by way of the 

 Hartford boats. Center Brook is situated within one mile 

 of Essex, the greatest locality for rail in the State. Hun- 

 dreds are sometimes shot in a day throughout the open sea- 

 son. — Yellow Leg. 



Another. Jersey Hunter Gone.— Princeton, Feb. 16.— 

 At Rocky Hill, a little village in Somerset county, noted as 

 one of Washington's stopping places during the Involution, 

 Vandyke Cruser died yesterday. He was ninety-one years 

 of age. He was noted for his skill in shooting and fishing, 

 and was often in demand to guide parties in the woods and 

 mountains. 



New York Game Laws.— We have the New York game 

 laws compiled under the supervision of the Commissioners 

 of Fisheries. They will be sent, post-paid, on receipt of 

 twenty-five cents. 



fox nnd fflww 



DECREASING FLOW OF TROUT STREAMS 



IN the year 1857 we spent a few days with a friend on our 

 first trouting trip to one of the larger streams in the Cats- 

 kills. The season was one of prolonged drought, and it was 

 iu the middle of August, and yet there was an abundant 

 flood of water, and novices as we were, we had good sport 

 and filled our creels. 



With very few exceptions, we have visited the same stream 

 every year since, and have observed that under similar con- 

 ditions, as to rainfall and drought, the flow of water in this 

 stream has uniformly become less and less every year. 



This gradual decrease in the waterflow of this stream is 

 not an isolated case, but every trout stream in the same 

 region has been similarly affected. 



In other wooded sections the greatest fears as to the near 

 future have been expressed for some years, not only by 

 anglers, but by those who have large pecuniary interests at 

 stake, unless some means can be devised by which the con- 

 stant diminution of the water in the streams can be checked. 



The note of alarm has been sounded in our Legislature, 

 where it has been proposed to acquire for the State, as Ear 

 as possible, the Adirondack forests, and the public-spirited 

 citizens who are now earnestly engaged in endeavoring to 

 ascertain the cause of, and devise a remedy for, the evil. 



In all discussions of the subject which we have seen, 

 especially those in the Legislature, it seems to have been con- 

 ceded that the running' down of the streams heading in the 

 North Woods, and in fact everywhere, has been caused solely 

 by local influences. 



Attention has constantly been called to the gradual de- 

 struction of the forests by absolute owners of the land; by 

 those who have acquired a temporary possession as pur- 

 chasers at tax sales; by squatters, who have robbed the woods 

 of much of the best timber, and by fire. The drainage of 

 swamps and natural reservoirs of water, which, if left un- 

 touched, would more slowly discharge their waters into the 

 streams, has been alluded to as one of the principal causes 

 of the evil. 



These causes, which are purely local, it is alleged, produce 

 the following results: 



First — By the drainage of the swamps the waters sup- 

 plied by every rainfall are immediately precipitated into the 

 streams. 



Second — Through the destruction of the, timber the 

 springs and rivulets, which feed the larger streams, are per- 

 manently dried up. 



Now if these, which no doubt have their effect, are the 

 sole, or even the main cause of the evil, then it would fol- 

 low, first, that the total amount of surface water flowing into 

 and through the streams would in every case be in precise 

 proportion to the amount of rainfall; the discharge into the 

 streams being more or less rapid in proportion to the artificial 

 drainage of the land. 



But is this true in fact? Do not the drained swamps and 

 lowlands become dry from causes other than drainage, and 

 so absorb a large portion of the water precipitated in every 

 rainfall? Is it a fact that the aggregate amount of water, 

 annually discharged through the streams during the last few 

 years, is equal to that discharge through them twenty-five or 

 thirty years ago, the rainfall of course being the same? 



Second — It would also follow that if the destruction of the 

 timber causes the springs to dry up, then the failure of water 

 supply from this source would be in precise proportion to the 

 amount of land cleared or timber cut. That is, if the forest 

 remains untouched, the sources of water would remain un- 

 affected. If the land is cleared in part the sources will be 

 ratably affected. But is this true in fact? 



Is it not a fact that the water supply from springs, rivu- 

 lets and streams, in the woods aud mountains which remain 

 in their original condition, is diminishing steadily and uni- 

 formly every year? These questions are perhaps best an- 

 swered by giving a few facts. 



In the State of New York there are two great water sheds. 

 The Adirondacks or North Woods constitute the upper water 

 shed. In the mountains in this region are many of the main 

 fountains of the streams which flow into the Hudson River, 



The Catskill, or Blue Mountain Range, constitutes the 

 lower watershed. The heart of this watershed lies in the 

 county of Ulster; Slide Mountain, its highest peak, being 

 4, 205 "feet in height. Clustering around this mountain are 

 many of nearly equal height, all covered with only hard 

 wood and absolutely untouched by the axe. 



Way up in the very heart of this range, many of them be- 

 yond every trace of civilization, are the source of the fol- 

 lowing noted trout streams, whose names are familiar to 

 every angler: The Rondout, which lies about thirty miles 

 west of the Hudson, into which it empties. The Neversink, 

 which lies about ten miles to the west. The Willewemoc. 

 ten miles further west, and still further west, the Beaver- 

 kill, and further north Mill Brook and Dry Brook, all of 

 which unite with the Delaware and Esopus Creek, or Big 

 Indian, which empties into the Hudson. The sources of 

 several of these streams are singularly close to each other, 

 and are in the most inaccessible parts of this nest of moun- 

 tains, where the original forest is for miles and miles abso- 

 lutely unbroken. 



No timber has been cut for many miles from the sources 

 of the Rondout, Neversink, Beaverkill, or Esopus. On the 

 other hand , the lands along the Willewemoc, Mill Brook, 

 and Dry Book, have been more or less cleared far up toward 

 their sources; and the land along the lower portion of the 

 Esopus has been thoroughly cleared and cultivated, 



The waterflow in all these streams has been steadily 

 diminishing during the whole of the twenty-five years that 

 we have known them. To what causes is this diminution to 

 be attributed? If they are purely local, or in other words, 

 if the diminution is the result of "the cutting of the timber, 

 and the clearing of the land, then the streams would first be 

 affected at the point where the causes originated, and they 



