BOS 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 21, 1886. 



FOREST AND STREAM'S GRIZZLIES. 



Editor Forest and BU'eam: 



You invite the counsel of your friends as to the disposition 

 to be made of that valuable gift, the two grizzlies. I fancy 

 PoKEST AND Stream is in much the same situation as the 

 unfortunate and too enterprising Paddy, ^ivho in an evil 

 moment having caught a coon, bellowed lustily for his mates 

 to come and help him "turn the dom baste loose." Still 

 there are several uses to which grizzly bears might be put. 

 For instance, if the editor of Forest anb Stream had an 

 idea of going into stock speculations, he might take the 

 grizzlies into partnership, and by introducing them upon the 

 floor of the Stock Exchange he would obtain complete control 

 of the market, in ?pite of the horny-headed bulls; in fact he 

 would find himself master of the situation. It is said that 

 Vanderbilt did not himself speculate, but controlled the 

 market in which others speculated. Forest and Stream 

 might take a hint from him and bear the market. Or the 

 grizzlies might be commissioned as game wardens and 

 turned loose on Long Island to preserve the few remaining 

 deer that still languish there. Or they might be used 

 as patterns of deportment for the guidance of dudes 

 who travel on street cars. Or they might be chained to the 

 portals of ch-urches in rainy weather to prevent too large 

 crowds from assembling. There are times when they might 

 be highly useful about the White House in Washington, or 

 in the editor's sanctum when spring poets are wont to assert 

 themselves. But none of these suggestions seem to rise to 

 the dignity of tlie occasion, and as the last shot in his locker, 

 "Coahoma" suggests that brass tags be appended to their 

 ears, with names and dates inscribed thereon, and perhaps 

 the American flag painted across their ba3ks, and that they 

 then be turned loose in tbe National Park. Coahoma. 

 Memphis, Tenn. 



NEW ENGLAND GAME, 



IF all reports are true, the Maine and New Hampshire open 

 season on moose, caiibou and deer, which closed Jan. 

 1, must have been a losing one to the hunters, and a good 

 one for the increase of those animals. Hunters and trappers 

 in Franklin county. Me. , who usually spend the months of 

 October, November and far into December in the woods, 

 come out this year with but little fur and report the season 

 miserable for tracking large game. The same report comes 

 from New Hampshire and Western Maine. It is certain that 

 deer from those sections have not reached the Boston market 

 in anything like former qualities, as has already been stated 

 in Forest and Stream, though Western deer are being 

 received — fifty more saddles being received from Minnesota 

 the other day". 



A gentleman from this city, of a good deal of experience 

 in the Maine Woods, left for the Upper Moosehead Lake 

 region the last of November and was absent some four weeks. 

 He killed one caribou, but no moose or deer, though he 

 heard of moose being killed still further north. He reports 

 the deer wonderfully plenty, as indicated by theii tracks, 

 but lie found them ver}^ hard to approach. The ground was 

 either half covered, or with I he snow carried away by fre- 

 quent rains. Such weather made very poor tracking, and 

 he found the deer very shy. He has' visited the same sec- 

 tions before, and thinks the increase of deer has been very 

 great. Caribou have also multiplied in his opinion, though 

 he suggests the impossibility of certainty in this direction, 

 from the fact of the roving habits of the animal. Dog hunt- 

 ing he is glad to find to be dead in Maine. But, alas, for 

 tlie lumbermen. Lumber camps are numerous in the north 

 woods and nearly every camp has its hunters. They are 

 encouraged by the proprietors of the camps in many instances 

 to kiU more than one moose, two caribou and three deer, as 

 the law allows every man to do. It affords cheap, fresh 

 meat. These proprietors will pay the hunters rather less for 

 venison than what fresh beef would cost. These logging 

 crew bosses have, as a rule, no interest in the protection of 

 fish and game. Many is the big irout which gets "hooked 

 by the oxen when drinking" from the wateiing place on the 

 lake. But, alas for the truthfulness of human nature where 

 the appetite is concerned! The "hook" is usually baited with 

 live bait the night before and the watering place is cut where 

 trout most do congregate. In one instance, two years ago, 

 a teamster swore that the "oxen hooked the fish." But he 

 tied the line to the yoke, and as the cattle moved away, the 

 trout, a four-pounder, was drawn out. The lumbermen and 

 loggers, too, must be converted. Special. 



ANTELOPE HUNTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have had considerable experience with the rifle out here 

 in the Far West, having killed almost every kind of game 

 that is to be found out here. I notice an article in the last 

 issue of the Forest and Stream which treats upon the 

 excitement there is in antelope hunting; it is signed "Ex- 

 Cowboy." I cannot agree with the writer when he makes 

 the statement that there is more excitement in antelope 

 hunting than any other, and if he could be with me a few 

 days I think I could convince him that in shooting and hunt- 

 ing the blacktail deer— especially the old bucks that have 

 horns almost as large as an elk. — there is more excitement 

 than in any other shooting outside of grizzly bear hunting. 

 To show what a very little amount of cunningness is re- 

 quired to kill an antelope I will relate one of many instances 

 where I liave killed them without any trouble. One after- 

 noon early last fall I was out a few miles from our little 

 city, and not finding any game I thought 1 would try a 

 scheme to get a shot at a coyote. I knew where there was 

 a coyote's den under some lava rock. Shooting a jack rab- 

 bit, I placed it near the mouth of the den, and hid myself 

 and waited for the coyotes to come out. I had been waiting 

 only a short while when I caught sight of a moving object 

 in among some rocks fifty yards from the coyote den, to the 

 right. I kept a close watch, and in a short while out stepped 

 a huge lynx. I drew aim on him and downed Mm in his 

 tracks. As I rose from my crouching position I saw a band 

 of eight antelope that had been startled by the report of my 

 gun and were ruruing directly toward me. The moment I 

 saw them I fell back into my crouching position, and as I 

 did so they discovered me and immediately came to a halt 

 about aOO yards from me. I had only a tmall .44-40 Win- 

 chester with me, and was afraid to try them so far. One 

 who has hunted antelope knows that they possess a gi-eattr 

 amount of curiosity than a woman, and if they once see you 

 they will not run away until they have made out what you 

 are. X was well aware of this fact, and soon noticed a dis- 

 position ou their part to pry a little further into the hidden 

 mystery behind the rocks, They sooq began to circle ana 

 gratjijalljf c]re\y eeai'fy %wX nearer tQ jji^ gotjl tfoey lia^i 



worked up to within fifty yards of me, when I rose and suc- 

 ceeded in killing three of them before they could get out of 

 range. I could relate several instances of a similar nature, 

 which show that any one experienced in antelope hunting 

 can kill them with very little trouble. But it is not so with 

 the black-tailed deer, I assure you. A friend of mine who 

 has a ranch on Snake Eiver, about fifty miles from here, told 

 me that he was out hunting several weeks ago and got into 

 a band of about a hundred antelope, and after they had fed 

 up to within shooting distance of him he killed eleven before 

 they could get out of range. I have this statement direct 

 and can vouch for its truthfulness. I am killing a great 

 many deer just now and hope to be able to give an account 

 of some of my many hunts through the columns of your ap- 

 preciated paper. Cal. 

 Shoshone, Idaho. 



TO PROTECT LONG ISLAND. 



THE following bill was introduced into the Assembly at 

 Albany last Tuesday by Mr. Huntting, of Suffolk 

 county. Our comments on it will be found elsewhere: 

 An Act for the Preservation of Wild Deer, [And of Exo- 

 tic Species of] Partridges, Pheasants and Hares. 

 The people of the State of New York represented in Senate 

 and Assembly do enact as follows: 



Sec. 1. No person shall hunt or pursue any wild deer 

 iCariacns virginiantis] in the counties of Queens or Suffolk, 

 with dogs or otherwise, or cause to be kiUed any wild deer in 

 the counties of Suffolk or Queens at any time within five 

 years from the passage of this Act, If any dog or bitch shall 

 be found so hunting or pursuing in the counties of Queens or 

 Suffolk, it shall he prima fade evidence of the violation of the 

 foregoing provision of this section by the owners of or person 

 or persons having or harboring such dog or bitch. Any per- 

 son offending against any of the provisions of this section shall 

 be guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition thereto shall be 

 liable to a penalty of fifty dollars for each and every such 

 violation, to be sued for and recovered as provided by Chap. 

 5o4, of the Laws of 1879, as amended for the recovery of the 

 penalties thereby imposed. 



Sec. 3. No pei-son or persons shall kill or cause to be killed 

 any [gray] partridge iPerdix cmerea],[English] pheasant [Phasi- 

 anus colchicus], or [European] hare [Lepus timidus} within 

 five years from the passage of this Act, except such persons, 

 a.ssociations, or their agents as shall turn out and stock such 

 gray partridges, English pheasants, or [European] hares, and 

 then only upon the preserved lands. Any person offending 

 against auy of the provisions of this section shah be guilty of 

 a misdemeanor, and in addition tliereto shall be liable to a 

 penalty of fifty dollars tor each and eveiy such violation, to 

 be sued for and recovered as provided by Chap. 584, of the 

 Laws of 1879, as amended for the recovery of the penalties 

 thereby imposed. 



To the Honorable, the Senate and Assembly of the State of 

 New York: 



We, your petitioners, respectfully represent that the Legis- 

 lature passed a Jaw permitting deer to be killed on Long 

 Island with dogs also dm-ing the months of Aaigust, September, 

 October and November. Your petitioners fmther show that 

 the deer on Long Island are nearly extinct, and can only be 

 found within a radius of a few miles, and in one or two towns 

 in Queens and Suffolk counties. Yom- petitioners further 

 show that a subscription has been started and can be raised 

 to restock the whole island with deer, provided they can be 

 protected for five years. That the .subscription will extend to 

 the stocking the island or a part of it with English partridges, 

 English pheasants and Em"opean hares, if such game can be 

 protected by an act of the Legislature of this State. Your 

 petitioners thereupon request that your honorable bodies will 

 be pleased to enact the necessary laws for the purpose afore 

 said. 



[The matter of this bill is excellent, but it is somewhat 

 loosely drawn, so that its meaning is likely to be wholly mis- 

 understood. We have therefore introduced in brackets a 

 few words showing that, except in the case of the deer, the 

 bill is intended to protect exotic species, which do not now 

 exist on Long Island, but which wiU no doubt be introduced 

 m case their protection can be assured.] 



The Illinois Game Wardens. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Our new game law seems to be a success. C. M. 

 Hardy, the warden for this part of the State, has made a 

 very thorough, search of the premises of all the Chicago 

 dealers without finding a feather. Last year game was 

 shipped east as late as the last of February, but the new 

 law gives dealers only until Jan. 6 in which to dispose of 

 their stock. Any game found in their posses sion after 

 that date is confiscated. To punish both consignee and con- 

 signor by fining the one and confiscating the property of the 

 other — who is pretty sure to be a market-hunter— is what the 

 law aims to do. I purchased a coop of live quail in Chicago 

 last month, but before they could be got into their present 

 comfortable quarters a number of them died. There are 

 nine left, however, and they seem to be as lively as crickets. 

 If they survive the winter I shall turn them out in the spring. 

 Quail were fairly abundant here a few years ago, but cold 

 winters and market hunters have cleaned them all out. If 

 this experiment succeeds I propose wintering over next year 

 as many as I can buy. — Harry Hunter (Highland Park, 

 111). 



WiiiDEOWL IN Curritcck Sound. — The month of 

 December and the first few days of January gave no sport 

 at all in Currituck Sound, and it was reported that the house 

 of the Palmer's Island Club was to close for the season 

 about Jan. 8. With the bitter cold weather which spread 

 all over the country about that date, those who were familiar 

 with Currituck Sound peidicted grand sport for those who 

 should be there. That the event justified these predictions 

 we have just learned. Two members of the Narrows Island 

 Club, shooting from the same bhnd, killed in four days 600 

 fowl, principally canvas and redheads. We give the score 

 of one of these gentlemen for nine days: 25, 26, 10 (a warm, 

 still day, did not go out till afternoon"), 29, 19, 62 (44 of them 

 canvas), 135 (92 canvas), 72 (47 canvas). 36 (14 canvas). This 

 gives an average of a little over 45 birds per diem for nine 

 days' shooting, a record that stands very high. We hear 

 occasionally of early autumn shooting at fresh water ducks 

 which is better than this, bat it is rarely equalled at sea 

 ducks in winter. 



Tallahassbe, Fla.. Jan. 11. — Deer ara, unusually abund- 

 ant in this vicinity this season, and sportsmen are having 



food success. Mr. Samuel Charis killed nine in a two days* 

 unt, the Hopkins brothers four, and A. J. Cricblow one. 

 Large numbers have been killed by other parties not known 

 to the writer. The weather has been too di7 to make quail 

 shooting as good as it usually is here, but nevertheless some 

 large bags are made daily, A few miles from the city wild 

 turkeys are abundant. Owing to drought waterfowl shoot- 

 ing has been below par inland, but on tlie co^st, twenty 

 Hales 4wt#iit, it is e^cellejit,— H. A. Kwnb, 



A Match Hunt.— New Orleans, Jan. 11.— The annual 

 match hunt of the members of the Southern Sportsmen's 

 Association has begun and ended during the blizzard that 

 struck the Crescent City a few days ago, and which as yet 

 shows no signs of abating. The teams consisted of fourteen 

 men, headed respectively by Capt. Bickham and Capt. 

 Lewis, though both |captain's failed to talie the field. The 

 points were as follows: Quail 10, snipe 10, hawks 23, owls 

 25, woodcock 25, chickens 25, robins 3, doves 5; other game 

 than that named not being counted. The reports were 

 handed in at Febiger's gun store to-day, those not in by noon 

 not being counted. The points scored were as follows: 

 Capt. Bickham's team— H. Fontaine 800, John T. Brodnax 

 105, L. H. Jury 365, G. H. Green 120, Wallace Wood 130, 

 K. C. Nicholson 620, E. T. Leche 660. E. Dupre 581 ; total 

 3,381. Capt. Lewis's team— W. D. Wallace 250, John K. 

 Renaud 420, E. T. Manning 220, F. B. Hoflrman 130, R. 

 Frolscher 375, H. Barton 702, total 1,465. From the above 

 it will be seen that Capt. Bickham's team was victorious by 

 a majority of 1916 over Capt. Lewis's team. Mr. H. Fontaine 

 heads the list of points scored with 800, having made them 

 on snipe alone, and, therefore, takes the gold medal offered 

 by the Southern Sportsmen's Association. These snipe 

 were killed at Lafayette, on Mr. R. C. Nicholson's grounds. 

 Mr, Nicholson himself made his score of 620, the third high- 

 est, on the same ground, on Saturday, but he had fatigued 

 himself by hunling all day in other places without any luck, 

 and was too tired to bag more than the figure named. Com- 

 ing up to town the same night he met Mr. Fontaine and re- 

 ferred him to the spot in question, whither that gentleman 

 betook himself Sunday morning, and by hunting all day 

 bagged 80 snipe and secured the gold medal. Mr. Leche, 

 who hunt-ed at Payne Station, scored second highest, with 

 660. Most of the hunting was done along the Morgan Rail- 

 road, the principal points being Lafayette, New Iberia and 

 Payne Station. The cold weather drove the quail to cover 

 and more points were made on snipe than anything else, 

 quail ranking next. About ten woodcocks were killed and 

 a few robins, hawks, etc. Considering the severe weather 

 the scores are deemed excellent, of coul-se ranking much be- 

 low those of last year, which were made under far more 

 favorable circumstances. It was hard work hunting over 

 the swampy snipe ground.s, a thin crust of frozen earth often 

 enticing the sportsman into a knee-deep bog. One or two 

 members of the opposing teams wandered as far away aa 

 Orange. Tex., in the hope of killing chickens, but very few 

 chickens died. Mayor Guillotte made a score that would 

 have ranked second— 690, but unfortunately could not con- 

 forrn to the conditions and report before 12 o'clock, his 

 achievement being therefore uncounted. Capt. Lewis' team 

 having lost, give the annual hunt dinner. Jan. 14.— The 

 rival teams enjoyed their banquet to-night, and the affair 

 passed off most agreeably. The return" hunt which grew 

 out of a challenge by the defeated team, will be shot Jan. 

 23 and 24, under the same rules as the previous hunt. 



Fashion vs. Sportsmen,— Forest and Stream: 

 It is a common habit of women and non-sporting men to cry 

 out against the killing of birds and animals by sportsmen. 

 On several occasions in my own somewhat limited experience 

 I have heard ladies remark that they did not see how sports- 

 men could be cruel enough to deprive the poor little inoffen- 

 sive things of their lives, but when I would point to their 

 gorgeously bedecked bonnets or their elegant fur-trimmed 

 cloaks and ask, "How about these trimmings'? They were 

 alive once, and were sacrificed upon the altar of fashion." 

 The answer would be, "Oh, well I that is altogether a different 

 thing; we must have birds for our bonnets." If the fair sex 

 only knew how exceedingly small the number of birds which 

 fall before the sportsmen's guns is, when compared with the 

 victims of the man who makes it a business to kill our most 

 beautiful native birds for the fashionable world, there would 

 be less blame laid at the sportsman's door. Sportsmen of the 

 genuine type kill the birds for food, or more generally for the 

 sake of the invigorating pleasure which a day in the field 

 with gun and dog affords them. Sportsmen never kill birds 

 which are not of the game species and whose fiesh is not edi- 

 ble, and they only shoot these in certain seasons. Their 

 guns are never brought to bear upon the songsters, whose 

 presence goes so far toward making the world beautiful. 

 Many people wonder where our native birds have gone. It 

 seems but a short time since they could hear the whistles or 

 songs of a great variety of birds right in their door yards, 

 but now they hear only the incessant chatter of the sparrows. 

 Let these people glance into a milliner's window, and they 

 will quickly see the cause of this disappearance. Imagine 

 for a moment the immense number of birds which are daily 

 used in the making up of artificial breasts and those abortions 

 called fancy birds found in the milliners' shops. Just step 

 inside of one of these shops for a few minutes and you will 

 see the feathers of nearly every bird common to this country, 

 and you wUl also see great numbers which are so changed 

 and disguised as to be unrecognizable, and still others that 

 you have perhaps never seen. 1 have noticed upon the bon- 

 nets of ladies at a public gathering, the wing or breast of 

 some of our most common birds, such as the bluejay, crow 

 and redwing blackbird, meadow lark, brown thrush, swal- 

 low, yellowhammer and others, too numerous to mention. 

 Even the domestic pigeon is slain for the sake of its pure 

 white feathers. Some of the tricks resorted to for obtaining 

 these birds are cruel in the extreme.— Watt (Cleveland, O.). , 



Los Angeles, Cal. — Last year ducks were here by the 

 millions; this year there are scarcely auy. Hunters in the 

 mountains report quail as being very scarce also. The dry 

 season is probably the cause. This part of California cannot 

 compare with the north in the game line, although we have 

 a few quite fair hunting grounds. Nigger Slougti, six miles 

 from here, is the favorite resort for hunters. One does not 

 need rubber boots nor a boat there, but can get a fair bag on 

 dry land by shooting as the ducks fly over. The flight of 

 ducks lasts only about two hours morning and night. A 

 great many of the small ponds near here are very offensive, 

 in smell, owing to dead waterfowl shot by dude sportsmen 

 who are too lazy to gather the game after shooting it. — C. 

 B. W. 



Rifle liOAxyma.— Editor Forest and Stream: I think ' 'En 

 Ami's" method of loading his .40-60 repeater can be improved. 

 Let me give my way. I use a Ballard .38-55. Load the 

 shells full of powder, and put a cardboard wad on top. In- 

 sert the loaded shell into the rifle chamber. Then place a 

 round ball (90 to the pound), patched with a linen [>atch, on 

 the mu/zle of the rifle, and push it down to the shell; the 

 ball is left in the rifling just as in a muzTildo^der. As a 

 result I get a flat trajectory and no recoil— an exceller;}) thing 



squirrel bugUpg.— T^A#4<:5 (<?ar|iU, Ot)t.)s 



