Jan. 31, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



607 



stantly at his wits' end to know bow to provide for Ms great 

 number of guests. Yet, almost the fli'st blast savoring of 

 winter that comes from the north overcrowds the homeward 

 bound steamboats, and within a week all is solitude. Dur- 

 ing the summer a dozen canoes might be seen on Brassua 

 Lake any day, and its banks were dotted with tents, while 

 now,Ijust at the zenith of the real sport of this section, Camp 

 Annie contains the only remnants of the summer boarder. 

 Why is this? Do sportsmen really not care for the larger 

 game? It is certainly more conducive to health, more 

 pleasurable to spend a few weeks of a winter in the woods, 

 especially where game is so abundant and deer can be had 

 for the going for them, than to sit in a canoe with the tlier- 

 mometer in tlie nineties, engaged in constant battle with 

 black flies, midgets and mosquitoes, with the phantom hope 

 of an occasional trout. And this is the same thing day after 

 day, while in tke winter woods, with trapping and shooting, 

 there is always an occurring novelty. 



We have, thus far, killed one moose, one caribou and two 

 deer— just enough to satisfy our fancy in the way of hides 

 and horns and supply us with fresb meat. We do not exag- 

 gerate when we say that with persistent hunting we believe 

 we could have killed fifty of these animals since the open 

 season came in. Our moose weighed 1,100 pounds and had 

 a fine pair of horns, as did our caribou, which weighed 550 

 pounds. The deer were small. 



Although we have all the romance and solitude pertaining 

 to a howling wilderness, yet we are not, as the unini- 

 tiated suppose, shut off from civilization, by any means. 

 Mt. Kineo, our post office, affects a telegraph office and 

 a very good store where all articles necessary to carap life 

 are purchasable. It is a ten-mile trip, on snowshoes, from 

 camp, and is taken fortnightly. We append a bill of fare 

 for our Christmas dinner. Of course we brought many of 

 the delicacies from New York, but most of the articles 

 were obtained here. It will prove to many of your readers 

 that winter camp life is not all bacon and beans, as Nessmuk 

 would lead them to suppose; bat that with a little care ex- 

 ercised in the selection of a location and the forethought to 

 lay in a varied supply, much solid comfort may be experi- 

 enced within the logs of a winter cabin. Our thermometer 

 has registered 15° below zero, and for a month has clung 

 constantly near tbe dividing line; yet we have never experi- 

 enced a day when the closing of our cabin door has been 

 essential to our comfort, so perfect is our sheltej-. We are 

 comfortable and happy in our seclusion. 



CAMP ANNIE-CHRISTMAS, 1885. 



Canned. 

 Vegetable. 

 Baked Trout. 



MENU. 



OYSTERS. 

 SOUP. 



Cider. 



Claret, 



FISH. 



Boiled Togue. Herring, Smoked, 



GAME, 



Caribou, Cranberry Sauce. Rabbits, Champagne. 



RO^T, 



Deer. Turkey, 



Giblets a la Allison, Camp Annie Fritters. 

 Stewed Kidneys, Huntingtonian Maccaroni. 



VEGETABLES. 



Onions. Com. Peas. Tomatoes. Cabbage, 

 Rice. Hominy. 



PASTRY. 



Apple Pie. Raspberry Tarts. Plum Pudding. 

 Ice Cream. 



FRUITS. 



Frozen Grapes. Oranges. Peaches. Apples. 

 ' " ■ ■ Cheese and Crackers. 



CofEee. 



Nuts e.nd Bftisins. 



Whisky and Cigarettes. 



Chow Chow. 

 Tobosco Sauce. 

 Piccalily. 



RELISHES. 



Worcestershire Sauce. 



French Mustard. 

 Olives. 



Camp Annie, Brassua Lake, Ble., Dec. 26. 



H, AND A. 



THE LYMAN SIGHT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I see that my article of Dec. 17 has been answered by Mr. 

 Lyman, and also by "I." of Akron, Ohio; both take issue 

 with me. I do not think, however, that Mr. Lyman and I 

 are far apart in our views. Recognizing the force of all he 

 says, I still think a middle sight an advantage in some cases, 

 and not in the least in the way, except perhaps in shooting 

 with both eyes open. I do not shoot that way, and will 

 leave it for others to decide that point. 



Mr. Lyman speaks of shooting when it is too dark to see 

 the rim of this sight. Now, I have shot and killed at least 

 one deer when I am sure it was too dark to see the hole in 

 his sight. I have also fired at stumps and logs, and am sure 

 I can hit a large object when it is too dark to see through the 

 Lyman sight at all. My experience, however, in night shoot- 

 ing is that I am liable to shoot under rather than over the 

 object, I believe a fair trial with the sight which I recom- 

 mend, when it is very dark, will show its' value if used with 

 a coarse ivory front sight. 



]\Ir, "I." says that my statement, that the range of a rifle 

 can be increased by looking high through the Lyman sight 

 "calls for explanation." What explanation? I should like to 

 ask, I said that the range could be increased as much as 

 one lift on a common middle sight, and I say so still. As to 

 how much, that depends on how well the gun will carry up, 

 and from the standpoint of the hunter, who can only guess 

 at his distance, this can best be ascertained by the practice 

 which Mr, "I" speaks of— shooting at objects in the woods 

 and learning how to aim at them. He sajs the large aper- 

 ture in a Lyman sight is oi an inch. Now with a .40 60 

 Winchester, 28 inch barrel, the distance between sights is 

 about 36 inches. Suppose your rifle is sighted at 100 yards. 

 The trajectory tests show that at 35, 50 and 75 yards the 

 bullet will rise only two inches (leaving out fractions) above 

 the line of sight, which is near enough an exact level for all 

 ordinary game shooting. At 150 yards, if I understand the 

 trajectory tables, the bullet would fall about inches below 

 the line of sight. If you look ,^6 of an inch higher through 

 the Lyman sight the difference in elevation at 150 yai'ds will 

 be or 9f inches. 



Assuming the above reckoning to be correct, I will do now 

 what I did not attempt to do before, that is to give a rule for 

 varying the range of any good rifle wliich is sighted for 100 

 yards. At aU distances under twenty rods make no allow- 

 ances, and what appears fairly over twenty rods up to thirty 

 rods, look through the upper part of tbe Lyman sight. At 

 a partridge's or squirrel's head at short distance, look through 

 the lower part of the Lyman sight. 



I did not, of course, claim anything original in the middle 

 sight recommended in ray previous article, but wished 

 mainly to call the attention of deer hunters to the advantage 



of that form over the buck-horn sight in common use, which 

 takes away almost all the advantage to be gained by the 

 use of the Lyman sight. 



In conclusion let me say that I think the trajectory tests 

 will be of great value to sportsmen, and that every hunter 

 should study them carefully. Backwoodsman, 

 Eatj Claire, Wis,, Jan. 5, 1886, 



COLD-WEATHER CAMP BED. 



'I^HE brief description of a sleeping bag, which appeared 

 JL in a recent issue, has brought us several suggestions 

 with regard to cold-weather beds. The main advantage of 

 the sleeping bag is that it is to all intents and purposes air 

 tight except at the mouth. When once within his bag, it is 

 irnpossible for the sleeper to kick the clothing off, nor- can 

 the wind find its way in at the foot of bis bed and chill first 

 the soles of his feet, then his ankles, and then his knees. It 

 will be readily seen that these sleeping bags maybe endlessly 

 modified, until finally they cease to be bags at all. Many, 

 many years ago when we first went into the Western 

 country, we were taught to sleep with our feet to the wind, 

 folding the buffalo robe which constituted the outer covering 

 of the bed so that the sleeper reclined on the side flaps, the 

 foot end being snugly tucked far under the feet. 



The accompanying diagrams show a camp bed which has 

 been used by Mr. J. U. Gregory, of Quebec, Canada, in liis 

 caribou shooting expeditions, and which, he informs us, 

 answers every purpose. The larger of the two diagrams 

 shows the bed open, and in the smaller one it is ready for 

 occupancy. Taking first the larger diagram, the solid lines 



denote the margins of the bed, while the dotted ones 

 indicate the folds. When the bed is made up the wings 

 on either side turn over, lapping over each other above 

 the sleeper, and either buckle or button together until 

 about half way up the breast, where thei-e are eyelet holes 

 for a lacing, which can be drawn snug and tight after the 

 occupant has got into bed. The wings having been folded 

 over so that they lap, the bottom of the bed is turned under, 

 following the dotted cross line nearest the foot of the dia- 

 gram. Then the headpiece is folded from above down to 

 meet the wings and the edges on either side of the head- 

 place turned under. Within the pocket thus formed can be 

 stowed extra socks, trousers and moccasins, which make a 

 pillow, the occupant's head resting at A in the small dia- 



A 



gram. In this latter the three dotted lines represent the 

 turned under edges of the folds at foot and sides of head. 

 The bed here described is made of canvas, lined with sheep- 

 skin. When it is to be packed in the morning, all superflu- 

 ous articles are tucked into the pocket, which at night serves 

 for a pillow. This is folded over and over, and the whole 

 bed becomes a small, flat package, which makes only a part 

 of a man's pack. 



It has been suggested that such a bed, made of water- 

 proofed material and lined, might be very useful to campers 

 anywhere. The flaps might be separate, except at the dotted 

 lines (in large diagram), so that they need not be used as 

 covering except in cold or wet weather. Or such flaps might 

 be put on either edge of an ordinary sleeping bag, and used 

 indifferently as a covering or to sleep on. 



CENTRAL NEW YORK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Bird shooting in this locality during the past season has 

 been tedious, and could scarcely be termed a pastime. It is 

 the opinion of local sportsmen, however, that the poor shoot- 

 ing is attributable to a general decrease in the number of 

 birds rather than to anything unfavorable in the weather or 

 nature of the season. In 1884 the season was dry, and 

 though the flight of woodcock was much smaller than the 

 year previous, hunters acquainted with the habits of the 

 birds concluded they had sought more prolific feeding 

 grounds for the time being, and would return to their former 

 haunts the following season. Unfortunately the hunters in 

 their calculations shot wide of the mark, for in spite of the 

 fact that the season, which in Oneida and Delaware counties 

 opened Sept. 1, was remarkably wet and consequently favora- 

 ble for woodcock, these birds were never scarcer in this part 

 of the State, and the isolated specimens flushed by the 

 sportsman or his dog were unusually wild. The unwelcome 

 inference to be drawn from this state of things is that wood- 

 cock are rapidly decreasing in Central New York, and that 

 their utter extermination is threatened if measures are 

 not taken to check the destruction of the birds in some 

 manner. Even in the counties bordering on the great 

 northern wilderness the scarcity of woodcock has been 

 noticeable. 



Partridges have also been very scarce in this part of the 

 State, and it is feared by sportsmen that these birds may 

 become extinct. Their greatest enemy is the snare, and near 

 Oneida Lake, Camden and Taberg many of these birds are 

 annually taken in this way. A man who resides near Cleve- 

 land, Oswego county, is said to have captured between 500 

 and 600 partridges with snares during the past season. 

 Other parties, who are known to the Utica Fish and Game 

 Protective Association officials, have also been concerned in 

 the business and will doubtless be called to account. Utica 

 sportsmen say they never knew partridges so scarce in this 

 county before. The only way to protect the few remaining 

 in this vicinity seems to be to shorten the shooting season. 

 In the Adirondack region grouse have been compara- 

 tively plenty and many goods bags have been made by Utica 

 sportsmen visiting the woods; but even there the shooting 

 is not what it was five years ago. 



There are few if any quail in Central New York, although 

 some have been killed between Syracuse and Manlius within 

 two or three years past. In 1878 about fifty pairs of quail 

 were released in the woods of Deerfield, in this county, but 

 they were never heard of afterward, and it is generally con- 

 ceded that our winters are too severe for these birds. 



PORTSA, 



DEER IN ARKANSAS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I notice in your columns a sorrowful wail from the deer 

 bounders of your State, drawn forth by the sad fact that the 

 new anti-houndin^ law has been partially successful in its 

 object, and the still-hunter in the Adirondacks has been al- 

 lowed to slaughter a few hard-earned deer in thejold legitimate 

 way. No doubt the friends of the shotgun and hound are 

 terribly aggrieved at this fearful state of affairs— I can im- 

 magine the feeling of our own local deer drivers under simi- 

 lar circumstances, but if they can be persuaded to submit to 

 the inevitable, it will be best for them to remould their buck- 

 shot into rifle balls, and dispose of their dogs to the highest 

 bidder. Send them to Arkansas or to some other unenlight- 

 ened region, where public sentiment has not as yet learned 

 to discriminate between the true sportsman and the 

 avaricious and unscrupulous p ot-hunter, who, for a trifle of 

 gain or a little added reputation, would gladly connive at 

 the extermination of all the deer in the country; or, if you 

 can spare them best, please retain the dogs and send us a few 

 of the Albany legislators who aided in forming the law 

 which is the cause of all your soitows. They would 

 be gladly welcomed by at least a few of our resident 

 hunters. 



We need anti-hounding legislation, and need it badly. 

 Deer are quite plentiful here as yet— in fact, they are numer- 

 ous anywhere in Arkansas east of the Iron Mountain Rail- 

 way — but nearly every farmer has one or more deer dogs; 

 town sports are suppiied fully as well, and the poor deer, 

 like the "Heathen Chinee," must eventually go unless some- 

 thing is done to put a stop to this murderous style of hunt- 

 ing. If there was nothing else about the noble art of deer- 

 driving to render it obnoxious to those whose feelings of 

 common humanity have not been blunted by constant par- 

 ticipation therein, the common practice of allowing a deer 

 to escape after being filled with shot would be more than 

 sulflcient. Perhaps nine-tenths of the deer in this neigh- 

 borhood have "retreated under fire" since the season opened 

 in September, and a fair proportion of those old veterans 

 carry mementoes of the fall campaign in the shape of various 

 sizes of shot, ranging from No. 6 standard up to the largest 

 buckshot. A friend from Peoria, III., who hunted with me 

 this fall, killed a yearling buck whose sides were filled with 

 squirrel shot, and last week I shot a large deer and found a 

 handful of No. 5 distributed up and down his hindlegs, 

 from the backbone to within an inch of his hoofs. No 

 doubt the number of deer that die a lingering death from the 

 effects of so-called ' 'misses" amounts to nearly as many as 

 those secured by the hunters. 



Last year our game for the first time was thought worthy 

 of protection by our Legislature, Killing deer was pro- 

 hibited until Dec, 1, As a natural result on the first day of 

 the open season the woods were filled with hounds and their 

 masters, and the deer have been kept on the qui inve ever 

 since. Old hunters have declared the "kill" this season to 

 be the largest for many years. Hence the law is pronounced 

 a failure by most of the population, and there is danger that 

 it will be repealed by the next Legislature. In that case we 

 still-hunters will be compelled to resort to the mode of pre- 

 cedure that has wrought good results in former years — in 

 your State among others— simply allowing the deer to pass, 

 and bestowing our full attention and something else upon its 

 canine pursuers. It is a harsh remedy for hounding but is 

 generally found effective. 



By a combined effort, however, 1 believe that the sports- 

 men of this State might influence the Little Rock lawmakers 

 into trying the anii-houndin^ law as an experiment for a 

 couple of years, and I think it is the duty of my brother 

 still-hunters to exert themselves to the utmost with this end 

 in view. I could easily procure in this county a half hun- 

 dred signers to a petition to that effect, and will gladly join 

 in any combined effort to procure such legislation as may be 

 best suited to secure protection to our game. 



S. D. BAKisrES. 



Beebk, Ark, 



