Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



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NEW YORK, DECEMBER 31, 1885. 



J VOL. XXV.-No. 23. 



i Nos. 39 & 40 Park Row, Nbw York. 



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EDirORIAI.. 



Senator Vest's Park Bill. 

 The Adirondack Deer Law. 

 Sensible Game Clubs. 

 Which Is It? 



The Esten.sion of the A, C, A. 



To the Walled-Iti Lakes.— iv. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Among the Sea Islands. 



Camp Flotsam — xvii. 



Sportsman and Poet. 

 Natural History. 



Arizona Quail Notes. 



Experience With Savage Deer. 



Hare and Otter. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



The "Forest and Stream" Tra- 

 jectory Test. 



Guiding versus Hunting. 



A Leaf From the Past. 



The Vest Bill. 



Sleeping Bags. 



The Lyman Sight. 



Vagaries of the Ruffed Grouse. 



Rifles and Shooting. 



Tallahassee Game Notes. 



Deer in the Adirondacks. 



CONTENTS. 



Sea and River Fishing. 

 Trout Fishing in New Bruns- 

 wick. 



The New York Fish Commission 

 A New Year Fishing Trip. 

 A Social Angling Club. 

 Fishculturb. 



The Connecticut Commission. 

 The Kennel. 

 The English Mastiff. 

 Evolution of the Mastiff's Head. 

 Graphic's Alleged Flush. 

 Pacific Coast Field Trials. 

 Kennel Notes. 

 Kennel Management. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 

 Range and Gallery. 

 The Trap. 

 Canoeing. 

 Wide or Narrow Canoes? 

 International Challenge Cup. 

 Yachting. 

 Cruise of the Coot.— vi. 

 Stoves and Charts. 

 Yachting in Canada. 

 The AltBrations in the Sea Gull. 

 The Cruise of the Pilgrim. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



SENATOR VEST'S PARK BILL. 

 ''pHE bill introduced recently by Senator Vest, for the 

 better protection of tlie Yellowstone National Park, 

 will be found in another column. 



Those of our readers who have followed the history of the 

 reservation since it first came into prominence in connection 

 with the Hatch-Hobart grabbing project, will see much in 

 this bill to approve and also some points to criticise. It 

 appears to have been drawn without a knowledge of the 

 facts brought out by Mr. Phillips's report on the Park, 

 which was printed in our issue of Dec. 8, and yet it pro- 

 vides for several points much in the way which the Special 

 Agent recommends. 



"We are siucerely sorry to see that the increase in the size 

 of the Park is hmited by the bill to the parallel of 44°. It 

 appears to us very desirable that it should be extended about 

 twenty miles further to the south. 



By Miaking the southern boundary the parallel of 43° 40', 

 the reservation would include a portion of Jackson's Hole, 

 Jackson's Lake and a considerable area of wet and springy 

 territory from which the forests should under no circum- 

 stances be removed. This region pours into the head of 

 Snake Eiver a great volume of water, and ought by all 

 means to be protected. The country, as we have before 

 stated, is entirely without value for settlement. It is a 

 region too cold for farming; the long winters and deep 

 snows make it unavailable for stock growing, and no mineral 

 deposits of any importance are known to exist there. It is, 

 however, a country of wonderfully majestic scenery, and as 

 such belongs properly withiu the Park. 



Mr Phillips recommended and we urge that the shooting 

 at, wounding, capturing or killing of any bird or animal 

 within the Park be prohibited, and we should be glad to see 

 Section 4 of the present bill changed in this respect. The 

 noxious animals found in the Park, such as bear, wolves 

 and panthers, are not dangerous to travelers, and the per- 

 mission to kill them furnishes an excuse for the presence of 

 hunting parties within the Park. Such parties may be 

 tempted to kill game illegally. The provision of the same 

 section which refers to transportation of game is very much 

 weakened by the words, "knowing, or having reasonable 



cause to believe, that such animals, birds or fish were" * * 

 The transportation of game or fish killed in violation of this 

 act should be forbidden, and it should be for the carrier to 

 prove that the game or fish was lawfully killed. 



We should be glad to see the number of the Park police 

 increased from fifteen, as here provided for, to twenty-five. 



The provision which authorizes the appointment of a 

 Commissioner to try offenses against the regulations and to 

 hold in the case of felony, is excellent; but it is perhaps 

 doubtful if one Commissioner could do all the work required. 



On the whole, the bill is much better and more nearly 

 adequate than any that has yet been introduced. 



WEIGH IS IT? 

 TTAS every man the natural right to kill game," say deer 

 in the Adirondacks, when and in what manner he 

 individually may please, without regard to the community 

 at large? 



Or is the liberty to kill that deer a privilege accorded by 

 the community to the individual, and justly accompanied 

 with certain restrictions as to time and manner? 



Is the individual to regard the game law as a harsh and 

 unwarranted interference with his exercise of a natural 

 right? 



Or is he bound cheerfully to respect the law as a proper 

 rule for himself because it is in the interest of the com 

 munity ? 



Is it becoming every year more evident that private 

 and public opinion do not sanction the fundamental princi- 

 ples upon which game laws are based? 



Or is the tendency in this country that the obligations 

 of the individual to govern his conduct in the woods with 

 some reference to other people are better understood and 

 recognized? 



These are pertinent questions just now. We have asked 

 them, not to give answers to them so much as to suggest 

 that they may furnish subjects for profitable consideration. 



THE EXTENSION OF THE A. O. A. GLASSES 

 nPHE discussion over wider canoes that has lately appeared 

 in our columns has brought out suggestions from sev- 

 eral that a class be formed to admit these boats to the races 

 of the Association. Some of our correspondents take the 

 ground that because the first clause ef the rule says that a 

 canoe must be sharp at both ends and without counter-stern 

 or transom, and capable of being paddled by one man, that 

 any boat fulfilling these conditions is entitled to an entry; but 

 to class them all would make a set of rules so complicated 

 and entail so much work that it is impracticable. Any 

 change must be in the direction of additional classes only of 

 such size as shall be proved to be most desirable, and the 

 fewer classes the better. 



For two years, until it was forced upon it, the new Asso- 

 ciation avoided the question of classification, and stumbled 

 along as best it could, until the many sizes of boats entered 

 and the consequent confusion compelled some action. A 

 comprehensive scheme of classification, embracing not only 

 existing canoes, but providing for larger boats, was adopted 

 and used for a season, when the new regatta committee pro- 

 posed the scheme which, altered and amended by trial, is 

 now in practical working. At the time this latter scheme 

 was proposed, 1883, there were no canoes larger than 16 feet 

 long and 33 inches wide, the latter beam with only 14 

 feet length, that claimed a representation in the races, and 

 the larger boats were comparatively unknown. Almost all 

 existing canoes then came near the limits of Class A or Class 

 B, and the committee dealt only with these boats, without 

 any reference to the future other than a proposal to add a 

 class for larger canoes as soon as the latter were sufficiently 

 numerous. The latter have now increased to a consid- 

 erable number, but of a diversity of sizes and models. 

 To classify them so that every one that comes may have a 

 race is impossible, the only course is to proceed as with the 

 smaller boats, to form a Class C that will embrace a majority 

 of the boats now outside the limit, with such Umitsto the new 

 class as may seem advisable, and then owners must build to 

 these limits. What the new class will be we cannot now con- 

 sider, but it is a subject for discussion among those who wish 

 its establishment. It was at one time proposed to admit not 

 only canoes, but all cruising boats within a broad hmit, to a 

 place in the Association, giving a race to each class as soon 

 as enough of them appeared to justify it, but still keeping 

 the canoe racing intact. This scheme met with approval 

 from many, but was killed by the opposition of one can- 

 oeist. 



The object of the Americaa Canoe Association is and 



always has been to encourage cruising in small boats, and 

 while we cannot of course speak officially, we believe that 

 the introduction of a class of legitimate cruisers of larger 

 size would meet the approval of most of the members. The 

 work of promoting canoeing and developing canoes must of 

 course be the main feature of its policy, but there is nothing 

 in that antagonistic to the existence of the larger boats. 



SENSIBLE GAME CLUBS. 

 /'■\NE of the most inexpensive and satisfactory methods of 

 securing good quail shooting is the plan adopted by 

 clubs and associations who lease the shooting privileges of 

 a number of adjacent farms. 



Instead of buying the land, they simply stipulate that 

 they shall be given the exclusive privilege of shooting upon 

 it. The individual expense is slight, for it is divided among 

 a number, and a comparatively trifling sum is sufiicient to 

 secui'e the co-operation of the farmer. Each land-owner 

 becomes at once interested in the welfare of the birds on his 

 farm. His agreement with the club calls for no expense 

 nor exertion on his part beyond the simple posting of his land 

 and the exclusion of trespassers. If he happens to be in a 

 locality where lawless gunners have broken down his fences 

 and harried his stock, he is glad to shut them out and to 

 have in their stead sportsmen whose interests are recognized 

 as identical with his own. 



A club adopting this plan can insure the thorough protec- 

 tion of its leased territory, and provide sport which is easily 

 accessible, calls for no great outlay for railroad fares, and is 

 not attended with the provoking uncertainty which enters 

 so largely into all excursions to distant game grounds. 



This co-operation of sportsman and land owner has been 

 practically put to the test. It may be accepted as one solu- 

 tion of the game problem. The day has gone by when a 

 majority of the sportsmen of this country can expect fair 

 shooting without having made some such provision for a 

 protected shooting ground. The sooner we all recognize 

 this and act on it the better. 



THE ADIRONDACK DEER LAW. 

 VXTE print to-day a number of letters from correspond- 

 ' ' ents representing different shades of opinion about 

 the non-hounding deer law, which has been in force in the 

 Adirondacks this year. From these communications it "ap- 

 pears that in certain parts of the North Woods the law has 

 been received with favor, and has been respected and has 

 apparently worked in a manner to give satisfaction to the 

 people. In these localities, because appi-oved, it has been 

 enforced. In other parts of the woods it has been violated 

 because the local sentiment was against it. Wherever the 

 law has been given a fair trial it has amply established the 

 wisdom and utility of the abohtion of dogging. The con- 

 clusion of the whole matter is that the law has worked for 

 the public good wherever given a fair trial; it has been 

 barren of the best results whei'c only respected in a half- 

 hearted way or openly and persistently set at naught. 



Interested and ill-informed newspapers like the Boonville 

 Herald have strenuously endeavored to make it appear that 

 there has been an unusual slaughter of deer by market still- 

 hunters. The purpose is to deceive the public into the mis- 

 taken notion that the still-hunters alone succeed in killing 

 more deer in a season than were ever killed by still-hunters 

 and bounders put together. S uch a notion is verj'' silly, but 

 it is just by the use of such senseless arguments that the ad- 

 vocates of club-killing deer bolster up their side of the ques- 

 tion 



The truth is, however, that the killing of Adirondack 

 deer in 1885 did not begin to compare with the killing in 

 former years when the woods were full of bounders who 

 came in from outlying towns, and systematically laying out 

 their campaign, putting their boats on dilferent lakes and 

 their dogs on the trails leading to these waters, cornered the 

 game, shot it in the water or clubbed it to death and carted 

 out wagon load after wagon load of venison for winter meat. 



The law is a good one. It should remain on the statute 

 books. 



The Forest and Stream's Rifle Trajectory Test. — 

 The figures of the last tests are given in our shooting columns 

 to-day, and next week will be presented a review of the 

 trials and a tabulated summary of the entire test. The re- 

 port in full will be published in book form; and the numer- 

 ous letters we have received suggesting such a permanent 

 form for the report lead us to believe that the trajectory 

 volume will be welcomed as m addition to the rifle literature 

 of the day. 



