106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 4, 1886. 



there is no telling the amount that could be daily added to 

 the company larder. Without doubt a most useful and 

 desirable article was given the companies when the Spring- 

 field shotgun was issued. 



Wm. B. Lewis, Sergeant Major. 

 Fort Selden, N. M., Feb. 12. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In response to your inquiry respecting the game of this 

 vicinity and the use of the Springfield shotguns at this post, 

 1 have the honor to make the following reply: The game 

 birds are comprised in the sharp-tailed grouse, the western 

 ruffed grouse, and the shallow-water ducks, such as mallard 

 and teal. The sharp-tailed grouse is found everywhere, i. e., 

 in the Black Hills proper as well as on the prairies outside, 

 while they are in reality in considerable numbers and can 

 be found in packs of as high as fifty birds in the wintertime; 

 yet during the proper season for hunting them, they are 

 scattered over such an immense territory that it is seldom 

 that more than one brood can be found in a day's hunt. It 

 has been the experience that these birds in Minnesota and 

 Eastern Dakota disappear gradually before civilization, be- 

 ing replaced by the pinnated grouse of Illinois and Wiscon- 

 sin. It will be interesting to watch these birds here, as the 

 country is fast settling up, and indeed, the valleys are about 

 all taken up and farmed now, and the Black Hills are separ- 

 ated from the civilized and farming country of the east by 

 the wide belt of country in the Sioux reservation ; there is 

 no evidence at present that they are disappearing. The west- 

 ern ruffed grouse, the fool hen of the old mountain men, is 

 found only along the little streams bordered with hemlock 

 and aspen at the bottom of the deep gulches in the hills 

 proper. The meat is white like that of the ruffed grouse of 

 the East, of which this is said to be a variety, and in my es- 

 timation is the most delicious meat found in the West, not 

 excepting that of the mountain sheep or much vaunted beaver 

 tail. When raised they seldom fly more than twenty yards 

 at a time, and perch on a limb of a tree in plain view until 

 passed by or shot; indeed, I have seen the neck of one cut 

 off by a rifle ball when the bird was so close to the gun as to 

 be burnt by the flash of the discharge, and I have also seen 

 them killed with sticks. They are hunted but little, yet they 

 don't seem to be very plenty, as I have not seen more than 

 fifty of them in a residence here of over three years. A few 

 scattering shallow-water ducks, such as mallard and teal, are 

 found here early in the spring and late in the fall for a few 

 days, and a very few breed here; but it is out of the line of 

 their migration, and there is very little water suitable for 

 them. 1 have never heard of a deep-water duck havingbeen 

 killed near here or even seen. English snipe are almost as 

 scarce. Jack rabbits and cotton-tails are tracked to their 

 forms in the snow and shot, but are seldom seen when snow 

 is off the ground, although they are quite plentiful, though 

 not so numerous as in the sage brush and cactus country 

 further north. There are a number of mule deer and white- 

 tails scattered through the hill3, but the country in which 

 they range is very densely timbered and extremely rough, 

 and few care to hunt such'a difficult country without dogs, 

 and there are no deer or foxhounds in the Black Hills. Sev- 

 eral bear have been seen by wood choppers six or eight miles 

 from the post in the heavy timber, and 1 followed an old 

 one and her cub for two days last December, but the snow 

 disappeared and I lost their trail without getting sight of 

 them, although I could hear them cracking the brush at one 

 time within seventy-five or one hundred yards. There are 

 no open parks in their country, and if they range abroad in 

 the day time they are seen only when crossing the road by 

 persons who don't care to have anything to do with them. 

 Several hunting parties have left the post this winter and 

 last fall, and hunted on the Sierre reservation and eighty or 

 one hundred miles northwest of here, and have killed each 

 all the way from two to thirty-four deer and antelope; and 

 it is necessary to be. away for at least twenty days at a time 

 to enable one to get enough to pay one for the long journey 

 to and from the hunting grounds. From a careful investi- 

 gation, I find that there has been brought into the post since 

 last summer about 79 deer and antelope, 1,500 ducks and 

 chickens, and 150 rabbits, the troops and companies varying 

 very much as to their proportion of this amount, some hav- 

 ing very skillful hunters, and some having no hunters of 

 note. Two troops claim over 300 birds (ducks and chickens) 

 each to their credit, and some as low as fifty or even ten or 

 a dozen. At some seasons the shotguns of one company will 

 be out every day while those of another are out but once a 

 week possibly. The hunting is done by but few men in each 

 company, generally two or three, the rest not caring much 

 for it. The Springfield shotguns themselves they say are 

 good within a short range for other guns, but outside of 

 thirty-five yards do not amount to very much ; the shot fur- 

 nished with them they usually exchange for a larger size or 

 purchase themselves at the trader's store or at Sturgis City. 

 I am of the opinion that a good deal of small game could be 

 procured with these guns while on the march in the wilder 

 portions of the country, and they are very useful as it now 

 is in providing a congenial employment for the leisure hours 

 of a great many men in the service who would possibly 

 otherwise spend this time to a great deal worse advantage. 



H. L. Scott, First Lieutenant 9th Cavalry. 

 Fort Meade, D. T., Jan. 23. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your letter of Jan. 9 mislaid. Please accept my regrets 

 for not answering before. 



The supply of small game is scarce in this locality, prairie 

 chickens and ducks being the only birds hunted with shot- 

 guns. 



Antelope and deer are reasonably abundant, and during 

 the season we are well supplied with them. 



The soldiers hunt with the Springfield shotgun consider- 

 ably, and while they bring in a few birds each, often none. 

 I should say that the use of it is not attended with great 

 success. In 'fact, it is not an effective weapon, but seems to 

 serve their purposes well enough. 



Chas. O. Worden, 1st Lieut. 7th Infantry, 



Fort Laramie, W. T., Feb. 5. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I reply to your three inquiries. First— As to supply of 

 game about this post. There is very little game in the im- 

 mediate vicinity. A few sharptail grouse breed here, and 

 others in winter seek shelter in the brash on the small streams 

 near the post. There is not enough water to attract many 

 waterfowl, though a little very good duck shooting was had 

 last fall on a couple of small ponds two or three miles from 

 here. One must go a long distance to find large game. 



Second—Extent to which game is laid under tribute to 



uphold the standard of the post larder. To a very limited 

 extent here. 



Third — To what extent and with what success are the 

 Springfield shotguns used? There is very little opportunity 

 to use them here. 



1 shall give the result of my observations at a post where 

 game was more abundant. While stationed for nearly four 

 years in the Indian Territory 1 observed that the Springfield 

 shotguns (two to each company ) were in almost daily use 

 during the game season, with the result that many chickens, 

 ducks, quail and rabbits were brought to the table. The 

 gun is strong and serviceable, and, when properly loaded, 

 makes a good pattern and has good penetration. Some of 

 the men made good wing-shooting with it. But I also ob- 

 served that the men particularly fond of wing-shooting gen- 

 erally went to the expense of securing double-barreled^ guns 

 of larger caliber. J. C. Bates, Major 20th Infantry. 



Fort Assinniboine, M. T., Jan. 30. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It affords me pleasure to reply to your note of Jan. 9, 

 which was delayed nearly a month on the road by snow 

 blockades. 



Th« Springfield double-barrel shotgun answers its purpose 

 very well; it shoots strong and close. The soldiers use it 

 hunting the jack rabbit and the cotton-tail, both varieties 

 being numerous here. Grouse come down from the moun- 

 tains late in the fall and disappear with deep snows; quite a 

 number of them are shot here from day to day during the 

 season, but they are not plentiful by any means. 



Deer are more abundant, and soldiers generally prefer 

 hunting with the Springfield rifle, with which arm they have 

 become quite expert owing to the interest taken in target 

 practice of late years. It has not been unusual the past sea- 

 son for small parties to bring in seven or eight deer at a time, 

 keeping the messes well supplied with venison until the snow 

 got so deep that all kinds of game disappeared. In several 

 directions within fifty miles of the post different species of 

 bears are found in sufficient numbers to satisfy the mo3t ven- 

 turesome of sportsmen, and wild turkevs breed within one 

 or two days' march of us; but it is unlawful to kill turkeys 

 in Colorada at present. 



Beautiful clear running streams of cold water from the 

 mountains carry trout, some silvery with black speckles, and 

 others red speckled and gold or salmon-tinged, affording best 

 of sport to the angler, and the rod and line are as much in 

 requisition as the gun. 



Fort Lewis is on one of these streams which well deserves its 

 name, La Plata, so extremely clear and brilliant as it courses 

 along with a fall of one hundred feet to the mile, that one is 

 struck with its silvery appearance. The aggregate of trout 

 taken from this stream is large, though individual counts are 

 nothing to brag of, owing to the fact that there are so many 

 soldiers and settlers who daily whip the stream during the 

 fishing season. 



Better sport can be obtained by driving to camps on other 

 rivers, such as the Uolores, Mancos, Los Pinos, Piedra, etc. 

 The writer, with four others, drove forty miles last August 

 to the junction of the Via Cita with Los Pinos ; arriving in 

 camp at 6 P. M., we fished until supper was ready and all 

 next day. Owing to heavy rains in the mountains some of 

 the channels were muddy the first night and following morn- 

 ing, nevertheless the party caught 125 trout. The honor of 

 catching the largest trout ever brought into DuraDgo fell 

 upon Mr. Kephait, of that place, on this occasion. With the 

 smallest of flies he hooked him, bringing his head to a gravel 

 beach, when another of the party came to his assistance, wad- 

 ing behind the fish and lifting him out with both hands. 

 This trout weighed five pounds, was just twenty-four inches 

 long and well tucked away inside of him was found an entire 

 frog the size of the hand of an ordinary full grown boy. 

 This trout was exhibited for an hour or so on the marble 

 slab of the counter in Mr. Ambold's market at Durango, 

 drawing crowds to view it. I have read of single trout from 

 lakes weighing three or four times as much, but this moun- 

 tain trout I presume may be classed among those of maxi- 

 mum size. S. 

 Fort Lewis, Col., Feb. 8. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reply to your letter of inquiry dated on the 9th ultimo, 

 I would say that there is very little game of any kind in the 

 immediate vicinity of the post — say twenty miles— save quail, 

 of which there is a greater abundance than I have ever wit- 

 nessed before in any part of the United States. They breed 

 hfre two or three times in the year, and as the settlements 

 increase and the wolves disappear they appear to be multi- 

 plying more than before. 



North of us, in the mountains and timbered country be- 

 tween this post and Fort Apache, thirty or forty miles, there 

 are deer and turkeys, and plenty of trout in the mountain 

 streams. 



We have also the salmon trout here in the Gila, sometimes 

 weighing thirty pounds. 



If the grouse or prairie chicken were introduced here I 

 think it would, like the quail, flourish better than anywhere 

 else in the United States. 



As to the Springfield shotguns, my opinion is that they 

 proved a failure generally, the caliber being too small and too 

 difficult to keep up a supply of ammunition, most of the 

 shooting here being done with 10 and 12-bore guns. 



Perhaps 1 am prejudiced against the Springfield, however, 

 as it has long been my opinion that it would have passed out 

 of use even by the conservative army, as it did long ago with 

 everybody else, but for the all-powerful influence of the 

 Ordnance Corps. M. 

 Fort Thomas, Ariz., Feb. 15. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Springfield shotgun has been much used by the men 

 of the company in hunting during the last year, and is con- 

 sidered by them a very good gun. The only game about this 

 post are blue and mountain quail, jack and cotton-tail rab- 

 bits. A large number of quail have been killed by the men 

 during the past three or four months, and also a large num- 

 ber of the jack rabbits, all of which assisted the company 

 mess. ' Philip* Wheeler, 



1st Sergt. Co. H., 10th Infantry. 



Fort Bliss, Tex., Jan. 35. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Springfield shotguns in Company D, 10th Infantry, 

 are used constantly by the men of the company with consid- 

 erable success. Blue and mountain quail and rabbits are 

 secured in fair quantities, enough to feed those using the 

 guns and a few others. L. H. Leach, 1st Sergt. Co. D. 



GRIZZLY HINTS FROM SHASTA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I may be a little slow about it, but I'm a long way from 

 headquarters and I desire to tender my advice "in regard to 

 the disposition of the grizzlies. 



I owned a bear for six months. He was a small little bear 

 when I got him, but he grew and grew. Before six months 

 he was quite a big large bear. He did not look so large as 

 he really was. There was as much of him as I wanted. 



He was rugged and healthy from infancy, his teeth and 

 toe nails were always in an advanced stage of development, 

 and he evinced great dexterity in the manipulation thereof. 

 He looked like a small young bear, but when you came to 

 feel of him you would be astonished. He felt like a swarm 

 of young bees on a keg of hot nails, or something equally 

 vivid. One trouble with him was his peculiarities. He 

 wouldn't do anything except make trouble around, and 

 when I chained him up he squalled. When he squalled he 

 disturbed the entire population and created excitement. 

 Crowds congregated, horses ran away and small boys 

 yelled "fire!" He squalled as an animal much older and 

 larger than he was ought to squall. But I merely refer to 

 him casually to assure you that I know something of con- 

 sequence concerning bears. Although my experience was 

 confined to one bear it is sufficiently vast and comprehensive. 

 One bear is as good as a dozen. One bear in the bushes is 

 as good as two ou hand, that is, of course, unless you have 

 them in a cage. 



If you have two bears, and have them caged, why of course 

 you have got them. If, however, you have two bears and 

 they are not caged, 1 don't know whether you have got them 

 or not. If you have, 1 don't want them. Of course bears 

 aie bears, especially grizzly bears. The Forest and 

 Stream's grizzlies are real, genuine bears beyond question. 

 They are tangible taxable property, and if any one came 

 along and desired to buy them you could sell them if you 

 wanted to. You need not sell them, however, unless some 

 one wanted them, and, of course, no one is expeeted to buy 

 them unless you desire to sell them. That is, if you wish to 

 sell the bears, and will do so, and some party desires to, and 

 does buy them, the transfer of the property may be made if 

 it or they are caged. But as you have the bears now I 

 would suggest that you keep them until you can dispose of 

 them. If you do not desire to keep them so long you could 

 let them out. Perhaps if you keep them you may get others 

 and then you would have several. After a year or two, if 

 the bears thrive, they will be larger and probably older. 

 The older and larger they become the more will they re- 

 semble larger and older bears. Then you could dispose of 

 them either as suggested or as you might then desire, if you 

 had the opportunity. 



But really if the bears were mine, and I had them, and 

 they were caged, 1 would sell them if 1 could, if I wanted to. 



Esau. 



Shasta, Cal., Feb. 14. 



The Trajectory Test. — Editor Forest and Stream: The 

 London Field of the 13th inst. has a very excellent and ex- 

 haustive report of your late rifle trials. It embraces also 

 many new things about the London Field trial in 1883. The 

 report is made by "T." and when all things are taken to- 

 gether, as in the article, it becomes a very interesting and 

 instructive one, and indeed nearly as much so as your own 

 very flue report of this trial, which has every wheie among 

 riflemen been read with so much interest. May I therefore 

 ask you to re-publish in full the London Field report. I am 

 sure the article will be read with eagerness if re-published. 

 I have omitted to say that all riflemen and riflemakers should 

 not fail to purchase one of your pamphlet reports of this 

 trial, as it is much more correct and complete than as pub- 

 lished in Forest and Stream. It affords me much pleasure 

 to indorse it as a work well executed, and very much wanted 

 at this time to settle matters. Great credit is due to Forest 

 and S iream for this very valuable contribution. — Maj. H. 

 W. Merrill. [The report will be given in an early issue]. 



A Rosy Game Report. — Pomona, Feb. 20. — The draw- 

 ing on foreground of this sheet shows the nature of our 

 forest, the large tree shown in background being the only 

 one in 90,000 acres. Game in this section is unusually abun- 

 dant, two cotton tails having been seen siuce Jan. 1, and a 

 track, which experts have, after much discussion, decided to 

 be that of a gray fox instead of a cat, having been seen on the 

 "Dights tract," which embraces but 30,000 acres of land. In 

 November 1884, a deer track was seen that had certainly been 

 made during the previous summer; and the man is still living 

 who knows of a swamp in which a bear once was. The 

 most enthusiastic and successful sportsman of this vicinity has 

 hunted regularly for only three years, and yet in this short 

 time saw, he is sure, an animal with fur upon it, and if it was 

 not a fox must at least have been Valater's cat. Wood 

 mice are also plentiful and tomtits remain in abundance not- 

 withstanding the severity of the winter. There will be no 

 scarcity of fish if the carp cultivators are'sufficiently success- 

 ful to raise a bountiful supply.— C. Scull. 



Quail in YiRGrNiA.— Frederick's Hall, Va., March 1,— 

 I am gratified to be able to report that the partridges in this 

 region were not hurt by the recent very heavy snow. 1 have 

 made diligent inquiry as to the counties of Louisa, Gooch- 

 land and Spottsylvania, and have not heard of a single dead 

 bird, but on the contrary many coveys have been seen alive 

 and strong since the snow. They were more numerous last 

 season than for many years, and the stock left over for next 

 year's breeding is larger than I have ever known. They sub- 

 sisted during the snow (which was from twenty to twenty- 

 four inches deep) principally on cedar and dogwood berries. 

 This present abundance is in a very great measure due to the 

 fact that the freedman can't kill a partridge on the wing. 

 The game law as to them is very generally respected by the 

 sportsmen. — P. 



Forest? Congress Report.— We have received advance 

 sheets announcing the Report of the American Forestry Con- 

 gress of its Boston meeting, to be issued shortly. The statis- 

 tical parts of the volume and the general demands made for 

 forest preservation, together with papers on utilization of 

 timberman's waste in manufacturing charcoal, and the more 

 novel proposition to use it as a fertilizer, and the discussion 

 of means to diminish losses by fire, demonstrate that economy 

 with present forest resources is first of all to be attained. 

 The encouragement of the aims of the Society io this respect 

 may well be considered a patriotic task. Requests for 

 advance sheets or subscriptions of one dollar for the volume 

 should be sent to B. E. Fernow, Secretary 13 Burling Slip, 

 N. Y 



