Mauoh 4, 1880 ] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



10B 



tion. The tributaries of Cheat, Elk and Greenbrier, which 

 hut a few years ag i swarmed with trout, are now almost 

 destitute of that game flab, ixecpt a few meagre fingerlings. 

 Potting, liming, snaring aud shooting on the spawning beds 

 have completed tbe cruel work. It is time to call a halt, or 

 the healthful toil of tbe sportsman will cease to be a pleasure; 

 a pursuit unrewarded, neglected and forgotten. But a few 

 years and our children will point to it with about as much 

 interest as we now take in "knhjht erranty." Backwoods. 



THE DEER HOUNDING BILL. 



T TIE hill tOTepral the anti-bounding law was passed by 

 tbe New York Assembly last Tburpday by a vote of 93 

 to 23. This result was secured by a series of tradings aud 

 combinations readily understood by all persons familiar witb 

 the workings of legislative bodies. The game question is, 

 unfortunately, one on which the average member of tbe 

 Assembly has little personal information and in which he is 

 wholly without interest. He con-idirs tbe subject of no 

 earthly importance; but he has a little bill of his own, and he 

 is quite ready to trade his vote on any game bill that may 

 happen to come up in return for a vote in support of bis own 

 bill. That is the way the result in this case came to be a 

 vote of four to one in support of the proposed law to sanction 

 ext rmination of Adirondack deer by water butchery. 



Mr. Floyd J. Hadley, the chairman of the Game Commit- 

 tee, made" tbe principal speech in suj port of the bill. We 

 give it below in tbe fullest detail we have b^tn able to secure. 

 It would p-rhaps be too much of an imputation upon the 

 intelligence and common sense of the Assembly to presume 

 that they vohd altogether on the strength of what Mr. 

 Had lev told th(m in" this ridiculous speech. We will do 

 them the credit of b< lieving ihat many of the members 

 had bargained off their votes beforehand instead of assuming 

 that they were befooled by Mr. Hadley's string of misstate 

 ments. Whether the speech had any effect or not, it is worth 

 while printing here and commeniimr on it as being the ostensi- 

 ble reasons actually advanced by the chairman of the Game 

 Committee of the Assembly of the State of New York for 

 the passage of a bill before the House. The letters in paren- 

 theses have been inserted for convenience of reference. Mr. 

 Hadley said; 



•'The law enacted by the last Legislature was no doubt in- 

 tended by its friends and advocates to be the most salutary 

 and protective measure lor the preservation of deeriu the 

 Adirondack forest. Wheo, after grave deliberation, the 

 Governor friendly signed the bill, experienced sportsmen, 

 thoroughly acquainted with the woods of that section of our 

 State, men fully alive to lhe vital importance of protecting 

 the game in that vast region known as the 'North Woods.' 

 these men, I repeat, confidently predicted that Lhe I iw would 

 prove a failure, and that it would not accomplish the mar- 

 velous result claimed by its friends. 



"Tbeexpeiieoceof a single hunting season has proved their 

 predictions to have been well founded. (a) Never in the 

 annals of Adirondack sporting, has there been such a 

 slaughter of deer as during the past season. In Franklin 

 county alone the number killed aggregate more than 300 

 During the six or tight years preceding the average numb r 

 killed has been about 125 per "annum, (b) From the single 

 station of Cauton, on tne Rome & Watertown railroad, in St. 

 Lawrence county, there have been shipped, from the opeuiug 

 of tue season up to Nov. 15, 250 carcasses of venison, and 33 

 lay upon the platform in a single day awaiting transporta- 

 tion. Reports received fiom Essex, Clinton, Fulton, Hamil- 

 ton and Lewis counties indicate about the same increased 

 ratio of destruction, (c) Leading market men in New York 

 city tell me that the number of deer received from the Adir- 

 ondack^ during the past season far exceeds tue receipts or 

 former years. Iu the markets of Albany, Troy and the cities 

 of tbe interior venison has been most plentiful and cheap, 

 while in our local markets north it has been a drug at eigut 

 to ten cents p?r pouud, and ou the borders of the forest 

 could be bought iu any quantity at four cents per pound. 

 (d) A letter recently received Irom the Saranac region in- 

 forms me that in tbe B ty Pond region, hick of the Saranac 

 lakes, there are hanging in tbe woods to-day the caicasses of 

 nearly a hundred deer, serving as food for the birds and 

 wolves, simply because venison was s Uing so low iu the 

 markets that it did not pay to transport it thither, (e) A 

 letter received hst week irom a gentleman at Moii a, FranKim 

 cnuutv. tells me that a hunter recently came to Btushton 

 witb the skins of forty-eight deer, which he had killed dur- 

 ing the past season. by still-buuting. How lony, I ask you, 

 gentlemen, can such slaughter as tnis continue? aud it is my 

 firm conviction aud behvt that (/) if the present law con- 

 tinues in force for five years it will result in the practical 

 extermination of the Adirondack deer. 



"(g) Deer, as you know, are gregarious in their nature, 

 and in certain portions of tbe Adiroudacks it is no uncom- 

 mon thing to see six, tight or even ten in a single heid. 

 During the month ol November the does are rutting and the 

 male deer are theu roaming the forest visiting the different 

 herds, (h) The expert still-hunter, thoroughly versed in all 

 the wiles of woodcraft, tukes the track ot the male deer, 

 knowing that it will lead him directly to a herd of does, aud 

 he follows the track of that deer as unerringly and as per- 

 sistently as the African bloodhound follows tue trail of the 

 fugitive negro couvtcl. The result is he slriaes aud destroys 

 tbe heid, killing does and fawns alike, takes the tiackof the 

 buck again, follows it to another h< id, repeats the process, 

 and so continues until the deer are practically extermiuated 

 in that immediate localry. I am iuformed that an old 

 hunter in Franklin county this last season, iollowiug these 

 tactics, succetded in killing five dues out of a nerd in less 

 than three minutes. (£) Deer ordinarily are not alarmed at 

 the discharge of a guu if they do not Bee the hunter, and 

 will quietly stand while their mates are being shot down 

 about them. Where hunting with hounds is practiced, such 

 a slaughter as this is impo-sible. The deer are theu watch- 

 ful and alert to every indication of danger, and the crackling 

 twig or tbe rustling leaf beneath the tool of the still-hunter 

 is euough to send them flying in every direction, seeking 

 some safe covert from the impending danger. 



"(J) The Adirondack forest proper, covering several thous- 

 and square miles of wooded laud, and embracing within its 

 limits more than a thousand beautilul lakes and pords, witn 

 innumerable rivers aud streams crossiug aud inter-crossiog 

 it in every direction, is to-day and should be maintained fur 

 generations to come, a great health aud pleasure resort for the 

 people of the Empire State aud nation. As legislators of the 

 State of New York we should endeavor, by wise and judicious 

 laws; to preserve this immense region iu all its primeval beauty 

 and witn all its varied attractions. Dcblroy the game in its 

 lorests and we rob it of one of its greatebt charms. The 

 present law is showing this, cot by a slow aud gradual pro- 



cess, but with mighty and consuming strides, (k) The in- 

 habitants of the mountainous portions of the Adirondack 

 counties are many of them guides, whose only means of liveli- 

 hood is the income which they receive from the thousands 

 of tourists who annually visit that delightful region for recre- 

 ation and sport. 



(/) "Tbe present law, discriminating as it does, against 

 true sportsmen, has driven many of them to other sections of 

 the country, to Colorado aud the Western Territories, or to 

 Canada, where they are permitted to hunt in a sportsmanlike 

 way, uutrammeled by senseless and vicious laws, (/«) As 

 a direct result of this, bund reds of Adirondack guides, being 

 deprived of tbeir only and long accustomed meaus of support, 

 have been compi lied by the exigencies of the case to hunt 

 and kill deer for the city markets, to keep their wives and 

 children from starvation. This is the secret of the terrible 

 slaughter of deer in the Adiroudacks dur ing the past season, 

 and it will contiuue as Jong as there is a deer left in the 

 northern lorests, if the present law is permitted to go un- 

 repealed. Any law which antagonizes tbe interests of a 

 laige portion of the irdiabitauts of tbe Adirondacks, as this 

 law does, must necessarily and inevitably result disastrously 

 to the game 1 therefore denounce the present law as de- 

 structive to the deer which it is intended to protect, and I 

 urge upon you the imperative necessity of its immediate re- 

 peal." 



Mr. Hadley may quite possibly have believed the above 

 statements. If so, he has been imposed upon, and will thank 

 us lor pointing out to him how absurdly erroneous and how 

 silly his speech was. 



(■i) There was no unusually large slaughter of deer in the 

 Auirondacks last season. On the contiary, the total number 

 of deer killed was much less than the total number killed the 

 year before. We have already published abundant proof of 

 ihiaj it is biiefiy alluded to here again. The Adirondacks 

 are embraced in the following counties: Warren, Essex, 

 Clinton, Fraukliu, St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Herkimer; and 

 on the outskirts are Washington, Saratoga, Fulton and 

 Lewis. From every one of these eleven counties we have 

 printed the statements of reliable individuals (giving the 

 names, as Mr. Hadley does not for his authorities), proving 

 beyond cavil that wherever tbe anti-houuding law was 

 enforced the totai number of deer killed was less than the 

 total of former seasons, viz. : 



St Lawrence and Franklin counties.— Peter B. Leonard, State Game 

 Protector tor St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, says: ''In its 

 working there can ue no quesdon but lhe law prohibiting dogging 

 has bavt d large numbers ox deer." Trie reports irom Mr. K. 51. Snutts 

 (U, per Cuaieautray Lake), of ine Cbateaugay and Meaehani lakes, 

 l J iuuiador and Duck ponds and Ueer River section in Frauk iu county, 

 snow a like beneucrai remit; the toial fcr Meaehani Lake. Pluinauor 

 and Due*, pouds and Ueer itiver iu 1885 was 69. agaiu:-t ]tj9f'ortke 

 year before; 10 tbo Wolf Pond aud Siate Dam sectijn in 1835 by still- 

 hunting 17 against 40 by noting in 1881. 



Essae and Clinton, counties. — John Liberty, State Game Protector 

 for Essex aud Ciiuton counties, says there nave been many undetected 

 vioiacious in ids ais net aud adds: '-Noiwitbstaudiug, I tbink fcne law 

 has savej a great many deer in my disf' icr, and wh-rever I go the 

 iudieatlons are that ueer are very plenty." 



Wairen. Washington, Saratoga and part of Hamilton.— Seymour 

 O, iU'uiJiroi g, sta.e uame Protector for Warren, Wasningcun am 

 Saratoga counties and to vvn ot Indian Lake m Hamikou counr.y, re- 

 pot- s a less number of deer killed in 1885 tuan in le84; ee u">j belotv. 



Lewis, Herkimer and part of Hamilton. — Stale Game Protector 

 Briukernoff aud ibe isoouvihe guinea report more r.eer killed iu their 

 section thau formerly, but in tJnukernoU's district, where tue law 

 was enforced, it worked well, the Beaver River district (Lewis aud 

 Heikitner cotmues) snowing total of 00 killed in 1885 against 2IW in 

 1834 Tnis is on authority of Mr. Otitis. Pemon. 



fi ullon County. - State Game Proteetor T. C. Bradley in his annual 

 report urges th.it the anci-aouudiug law ought to be more stringent 

 than it is. 



Not only were the deer killed last season fewer than in 

 the years before, but many of those killed were killed by 

 houndiug. For instance, much stress has been put upon, 

 the story that a still-hunter from Pennsylvania, one Wil- 

 liams, killed thirty odd deer at Jock's Lake. We huve 

 learned from one of Williams's party that tney had three 

 dogs in the woods with them. Moreover, most deer marketed 

 by Williams were shot through the head or neck, whicli 

 proves conclusivtly that they were killed by hounding and 

 not t>y still-hunting. 



(b) if the 250 carcasses really had been shipped from Can- 

 tou, in St. Lawreuce county, it would only prove (if any- 

 thing) that under an ami-hounding law deer increase, for an 

 auti-nouuding law has been iu force in St. Lawrence for 

 more tnau six years. But accordiug to the records of the 

 express office at Cautoa, and they ought to show the truth, 

 only 123 carcasses of venisou w r ere shipped from that station 

 in 1885: 



Canton, N. Y., March 1, 18SG —Editor Forest and Stream: Your 

 letter iu iegard to uuuioer of deer shipped from Canton m l88o just 

 received. I have inttrviewHi the express agent (ihey only obiu by 

 express-) and no says, • •'ihe whole numoer was 1*1, about rhe same ao 

 former year;." He proon-el to loon, up '84 iu a nay or two, as soon 

 as he could. As suou as ue does t will wr ite you. — J . H, Kctshton. 



Express office records at other stations in the Adiroudacks 

 will prove the same thing. For instance, the impoitant 

 office at North Cteek, wbicu shows a record of 176 iu 1884 

 to 154 iu 1885: 



Weavertown, J*. Y., Feb. 23, 18t6.— Editor Forest and Stream; 

 It is c.a'med that tnere has been a greater slaughter of de r tue past 

 season thau ever before. This is false. There were not as many deer 

 killed iu 18Sj as tneie were in 18s i, notwithsiaudiug that there' were 

 ouiy a very f e .v days of good t-t.ii-nuutijg in lsdi aud a month or 

 mjre in loio Tnis is shown oy the numbers of deer expressed from 

 Worth Creek dming the months of aeptcinoer, Ocobrraud November 

 lo84 and 1885. Tno former year tnere were I7u against 151 tnis jear. 

 — deymjuk c. Armstrong, suite Game Protector. 6th i>ist. 



(c) Leading market men in New York city tell us that 

 their receipts of Adirondack venuou iu ltf85 tiki not exceed 

 those of loruier years. Here are stateine-uts from the three 

 largest firms of game dealers in New York: 



We did not receive Adirondack venison in large quantifies last 

 season. V^ry litdj came from there at ah; none to afLet me ruling 

 price.— A. & dl. Hobbins (Kultou Market, M. Y.. March t, 1886.). 



iieceipts of venison tue past season were moderate, aud prices 

 va< yiug trom 14 to -46 cents tor saddles aadlO to 12 cents for carcasses 

 considered good.— t RENOH & Co. (180 Keade street, N. Y., Marcu 1, 

 1886). 



luere was no New York State venison on the market this season to 

 speak of.— Knapp & Van Nostras (308 W a*4ii..g ton street. N. 1., 

 March 1, 1880;. 



The same is true of other markets of the State, as for in- 

 stance the Ulica market: 



UTici, N. Y., March l, 1836 - Editor Forest and Stream: There was 

 ver , nt.le venisou sold in the market here —J oh* L). Collins, 



(d) Market still hunters do not kill and haug up venison 

 for me fun of it. It would pay to market vtmison from the 

 Bay Pond region even at four cents per pouud. Nearly ld'J 

 carcasses would be nearly 10.000 pounds, which, at even four 

 cents per pouud, would briug tue snug sum of nearly $400. 



(e) If Mr. Hadley knew anything whatever about still- 

 huuting he would not accept tne story of the killiug of f..rty- 

 eight deer by one hunter still-hunting last 6eafcOu. If tne 

 mau killed forty -eight deer he must have killed most of them 

 by hounding or crusting." 



(/) An anti-deer hounding law has been in operation in St. 

 Lawrence county for more than six years, and it has not ex- 

 terminated the game there ; witness the shipment of the 123 

 carcasses from Canton last season, 



(g) The does are not rutting in November. They never 

 rut. Nor are they then eathered iu herds which tbe buck 

 visits, On the contrary, the bucks (traveling at a rate beyond 

 the power of any man to keep up with them) di pursue the 

 fleeing individual does. These facts are perfectly familiar 

 to all deer huuters and to naturalists. John Dean OatOD, 

 LL.D., recognized as the highest authority on the subject, 

 says: 



The pursuit of the doe by the buck commences before her season 

 has arrived, and hence for two ortbree weekssaeremaiusas secluded 

 as possible. He folio .vs he r inck with his nose to the ground, and 

 wbfn started from her bed the race is very spirited. No attempt is 

 made by a buck ro her 1 the noes, as is the cusmtn of the elK, and but 

 jew of these deer are found associating together during the rutting 

 Stetson.— Antelope and Ueer i f America, page 307. 



(h) The expert still-hunter is not led to the herds, for there 

 are at this lime no herds for him to be led lo. He does not 

 strike and destroy the herd; there is no herd for him to strike 

 and destroy. 



(i) Deer ordinarily and always are alarmed at the discharge 

 of a gun. Before tiny were exterminated, the elk of the 

 Adirondacks would stand in bewilderment (us Mr. Hadley 

 says the deer do) at the sound of the gun; but the deer- 

 hounds or no hounds— never do so. 



(j) It is just because of all these lakes and ponds and "in- 

 numerable streams crossiug and inter-crossing it in every 

 direction" that the Adirondack region is one where bound- 

 ing ii more sure and more destructive than auy other method 

 of deer killing. In these innumerable waters the game- 

 obeying its instinct— takes refuge from the hounds and is 

 killed by the man in tbe boat—to be made "'shy" and "pro- 

 tected fiom the still-hunter." 



(k) Hotel men and "guides" (I e.. boatmen) are not de- 

 pendent wholly on hounding. Adirondack tourists are not 

 all deer hounders. The thousauds go, some for angliug, 

 some for health, some for simple out-door camp life, some 

 because it is fashionable— in short for the same various rea 

 sous that these same thousands go to the White Mountains, 

 the Catskills and Saratoga. Some of us can remember when 

 deer used to be driven by hounds into Saratoga Lake and 

 killed there, but though deer hounding has long since ceased 

 in that region, we are not aware that Saratoga hotel inter- 

 ests have suffered. The fashionable throngs who every sum- 

 mer fill Mr. Paul Smith's parlors and verandahs will not 

 desert that famous Adirondack house, even though water- 

 butchery of deer cease forever, and no one knows this better 

 than Mr. Smith himself. 



(/) Tne "true sportsmen," driven to Colorado, did not 

 houud deer there, for they don't do it in Colorado, nor in the 

 "Western Territories," 



(•n) The guides did not achieve a "terrible slaughter of 

 deer" by still-bumting, for (1) they have not the skill to do 

 so, and (2) there was no terrible slaughter, if they were 

 killing deer lor their starving families they would not have 

 left the carcasses of ' 'nearly a hundred dem" to the birds aud 

 wolves. The starving wives aud children belong to Aoirou- 

 dack mythology. Unless Mr. Hadle>'s statements respect- 

 ing them are more reliable thau his other statements in the 

 speech, it is not worth while seriously to consider them in 

 legislatiag about game. 



HUNTING AT ARMY POSTS. 



tOontmued from Page 85.] 



ANOTHER batch of letters received from the officers, 

 btutioued at the outlyiug army posts makes iutercotiug 

 reauing. We give several below. Tneie would setm to be 

 abundaut game of various sorts iu the Uifft rent sections, and 

 some of tne criticisms no to show that it would be an excel- 

 lent move if the Ordnaucc; Department could be iuduced to 

 issue something better than the petty ,30 caliber Spriua-iield 

 now sent out. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



lu reply to your communication addressed to "The Com- 

 mandant, Fort Seldeu, New Mexico," dated Jan. 9 ultimo, 

 requesting information regarding supply of game about the 

 poot and as to tne action ot the bpriughc;ld shotgun issued for 

 company use, 1 have the honor to state that such game as 

 ducK, quail aud rabbit are abundant. 



The rCio Grande Kiver and adj icentponds are covered with 

 maliuru una teal duck from eaay iu ine lall until late iu the 

 wiuter, and afford tine sport to tue ambitious or hungry hun- 

 ter. . The Spnugtield snoiguu is iu constant demand and 

 attains line l'c&Ults, as I have Known of six or eight teal to be 

 Killed at oue discharge, and five tine, large mallards to be 

 bagged at a single suot. For ducK shoouug we use No. 4 

 shot, and the army shotgun kills reaaily at from 25 to 30 

 y ards. 



Our quail are of two varieties— the California or topknot 

 quail, wuieh are fouud on tne prairie and along the bottom 

 lauds, aud the gray or mouutaiu quail (by some called 

 mountuiu grouse), wnich are louud iu great abundance in 

 the hills aud mouutaius. Tne mountain quail is much 

 larger than the Caliloruia vaiiety and appear to travel in 

 muuii greater numbers to the iiuck. They live almost en- 

 tirely among the rocks, and, wnile tbey fly but suurt uis- 

 tauces, they are uwift runners aud rapiu climbers, and inaKe 

 lircbouie uork for the huuler. 



'Ine Spriiigtieltl shotgun bhows to good advantage in quail 

 shooting, and has achieved great results in tile nanus of 

 some ot our sportsmen. In two days' hunting (using the 

 army shotgun) two members of K Company, lcith lutuiitry, 

 Kilkd lb\i mountain email, tiring only iduety shots. At a 

 fciuiUt; snot irom the army suotguu leu quail have been killed, 

 and it is a common thing lo kill from five to eight at one 

 discuarge. Qaii ate easily killed at from bO lo 35 j ards, No. 

 8 bhot being u.->ud. 



The rabbits are the cotton-tail or bush rabbit, and the long- 

 legged, long-eaied, swift-iuuning jtck rabbit. Tne aimy 

 shuiguu reauily brings them down; aud so much interest is 

 evinced iu hunting by the men of ihis commana that the 

 table is constantly supplied with lu&cious and tootfiftome 

 game. 



The army shotgun is 20 gauge, and metallic reloading 

 shells are used. In loading the shells we use from 85 to 90 

 grams of powder and tilt up the vacancy with shot. The 

 powder is rammed hard and closely pacaed, as this gives 

 both more power aud a greater space lor shot. 



The great objeciion, aud about the only one. is the small- 

 ncss oi the bore and shortness of the barrel of tbe gun, for if 

 the Spriugfitld shotgun was made 10 or li gauge and a lew 

 inches longer I imagine that gieat results oouid be accom- 

 plished, and iu a couutry tike this, where game is abundant, 



