DBO. 2, 1886.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



S6B 



ing. I understand tliat they had been shot a ^reat deal 

 there for the previous fortnight, which had driren them 

 away and made them wild. Good bags, however, had 

 then been made. There is a very nice camping place at 

 the mouth of the creek on the west side, and the trolling 

 on the bav is said to be good. 



This brought us to Thursday, and we decided to retui-n 

 up the lake and trv the shooting at the mouth of Scugog 

 River, where it enters Stm-geon Lake. We had a stiff 

 paddle up the lake, stopping at the hotel at Stm-geon Point, 

 where we had dinner, and afterward went on to Pleasant 

 Point, about three miles westward and on the south shore, 

 and about a mde from the mouth of Scagog River. This 

 is a nice, high, dry bank, overlooking nearly the whole 

 lake both up and down, and also facing the reach which 

 leads 1o Fenelon Falls. It is surrounded by pine ti-ees 

 and has a short, close ttuf, whicli makes it one of the 

 most pleasant and favorite camping places on the lake; 

 but this evening we had it all to ourselves. It being now 

 the middle of September, the mere pleasure camping- 

 parties had all left and there happened to be no other 

 shooters there. 



Friday morning broke with a strong N,"W. wind blow- 

 ing, which brought such a heavy sea into the shore that 

 getting off in a caiioe was impossible, so we had to pass 

 the time on shore as best we could. To help to do so we 

 took a stroll with the pup tlu-ough the neighboring woods 

 to look for partridges. The puppy took to hunting 

 famously and was very biddable, hunting roimd and 

 round you but never going far from the gun. We found 

 some bii-ds, hxit the foliage was so dense that it was im- 

 possible to see tliem in time to shoot. Tlie next day, 

 Satiu-day, my friend had to leave Lindsay (almost ten 

 miles from camp) for Toronto, so, as the wind had fallen, 

 we struck camp and paddled up the river to that town. 

 We reached it at one, and I went right on up the river 

 )30und for Lake Scugog, ten miles further, while my friend 

 took the train to Toronto; and I was again all alone. It 

 was half past one when I left the town, and at half past 

 four I calculated that I coiild not be very far from Scugog 

 Lake, but as it was forty-one yeai's since I had been there 

 before, on which occasion I had been paddled by an 

 Indian right through from Bobcagean to Port Perry, I 

 could Jiot determine my whereabouts exactly. As the 

 evening, however, was coming on apace, and'^ as I was 

 now agjiin single-handed, I felt that it was time to be 

 getting into camp s<imewhere. 



Where I was the river was bordered on each side by 

 wide and dense beds of wild rice, through which I could 

 not force the loaded canoe, so I anxiously looked out- for 

 a landing place as I paddled slowly along. At last, on 

 the east side of the river, I came to a smaU opening 

 tlu'ough the rice bed, which led to a gi'assy bank, and I 

 qmckly shoved the canoe ashore, and set to work to get 

 up my tent and make prepai-ations for the night. It 

 turned out afterward that I was only about one and a half 

 miles from the lake, and if I had only gone about one- 

 eighth of a mile further to a poiiit of woods on the other 

 side of the i-iver, I would have found the nicest carnxning 

 groxmd between Lindsay and the lake. I intended to have 

 gone on to the lake next morning, Sunday, Sept. 19, but 

 when I awoke the pattering of the rain on the tent gave 

 me notice of a probable wet day, and the probability 

 turned out a very wet reahty, for a worse or wetter day 

 I think J never i^assed mider a tent. I kept the stove 

 hard at work, and was quite comfortable till about three 

 in the afternoon, when a hea^y black cloud came over 

 from the west (accompanied by a liigh vidnd), from which 

 the rain descended in solid water. Shortly afterward, 

 while sitting on my cartridge box (which served me as a 

 chair) beside the stove, I happened to look round to the 

 rear of the tent, and to my horror saw two streams of 

 water coming under the ground cloth from each side and 

 uniting in the center where, there bemg a low spot, a 

 little lake was soon formed. I always carry a small 

 spade with me, so putting on an oilskin coat, I seized the 

 spade and made a drain to the outside, which soon cleared 

 the tent of the water. This deluge was the exphing effort 

 of the storm. The rain ceased shortly after, and by keep- 

 ing the stove going hard by bed time tilings were only a 

 little damp. Luckily my bedding had been pUed on my 

 -waterjoroof blanket, which happened to be on a high spot 

 in the tent, so it was not wet. And after all I slept that 

 night quite dry and warm. This storm must have teen 

 cyclonic in its character; early in the morning when I 

 awoke the wind was N. E..' and it gradually veered 

 through the day to the south and west, the rain continu- 

 ing all the tim"e and the wind blowing a gale, tiH about 

 half past tlu-ee in the afternoon, it iinished up with the 

 fm-ious wind and rain squall which deluged my tent from 

 N.N.W., and later in the evening- the -wind got around to 

 due N., haWng during the day gone nearly all arcnmdthe 

 compass. 



The next day everything was so wet that I remained 

 where I was to allow things to dry; and on Tuesday 

 morning I struck camp and went on to Lake Scugog. 

 Where the Scugog River runs out of the lake there are 

 very large rice lueds and a great deal of marsh and bog, 

 which looked hke good ground for ducks and snii>e, but 

 I did not know where to camp. I was j)addling- along 

 the west shore of the lake, keeping on it, as it was the 

 weather side and the water was smootli, about a mile 

 from the mouth of the river, but I could see no good 

 camping ground. On the other side of the lake, however, 

 which was here about half a mile wide, I noticed a nice 

 green bank in a nook in the woods, with what looked 

 like a sandy beach at its foot for a landing place: so on 

 the chance I put the canoe's head for it and ran across. 



I was correct in my conjecture; it turned out the nicest 

 camping place I had struck, quite sheltered from all but 

 a S. W. wind, fronting right up the lake and only about a 

 mile from the rice beds at the mouth of the river. I re- 

 mained here till the next Sunday, having fair sliooting, 

 particularly at snipe, twenty brace of which I killed on 

 Thursday and Friday. The first evening I went into these 

 rice beds, I saw a good many snipe flying about, most of 

 wliich seemed to pitch right into the middle of a large 

 rice bed. This puzzled me, but next morning I worked 

 my way to the spot, where I foimd that in the middle of 

 the bed there was a patch of black muck about 30yds. 

 square and it was on tlus that the bu'ds were lighting, I 

 returned to the place in the afternoon, and taking up a 

 position in the rice bed, about 25yds. off, I sat in the canoe 

 and killed ten brace of buds as they pitched into the place 

 before leaving; and ten brace more next day. It was the 

 funniest snipe shooting I had ever met with. Wlien pitch- 

 ing into the place the snipe descended with great velocity 



and I had to take them just as they topped the rice, which 

 was here almost 5ft. tall. I missed some birds at first- 

 shooting over them — but I soon got into the hang of the 

 tiling, and afterward by shooting a little under them as 

 tliey ch'opped missed but few. I here made undoubtedly 

 the most singular shot at snipe I had ever done. Four 

 birds pitched at the same time into this place, thi-ee a 

 little ahead of the fourth. I fired at one of the three just 

 as they dropped behind the rice, killing the bird, and with 

 the second barrel killed the last bird, but when I went to 

 pick them up I foimd that my first baiTel had killed the 

 three fii-st birds; they must have bunched together and got 

 into the line of the first baiTcl just as I pulled the trigger, 

 so that I killed the whole fom- snipe with the two shots. 



Sunday, Sept, 36, opened rainy and disagreeable, but 

 clearing iip about 10 o^clock I strack camp and paddled 

 down to Lmdsay to send my game home, returning to 

 the same place on Monday morniug. Tlie week's shooting 

 here liad made the ducks quite scarce and wild; and as I 

 was anxious to reach Port Perry, at the head of the lake, 

 on Tuesday morning I stai-ted f or Washbirrne's Island and 

 camped on it in the afternoon. This island affords very 

 nice camping grormd; it is on the -R-est shore of the lake, 

 and behind it is a large shallo-«- bay, a great place for the 

 fall ducks when they come in. There is also all aromid 

 it some of the best trolling ground for mascalonge in the 

 lake. Here the puppy exorcised some very back-handed 

 retrieving. In the evening I brought in tliree ducks and 

 a snipe and threw them down at the side of the tent in the 

 inside. Next morning while lying in my blankets, before 

 getting up I amused myself by making her bring me 

 from where they were lying, all the birds, one by one. 

 I then jumped up and set about getting breakfast, paying 

 for some time no attention either to the birds or pupi^y, 

 but afterward m going to fold up my blankets I found one 

 of the ducks and the snipe missm^. She had carried 

 them away and hidden them and all my efforts to find 

 them or to get her to go to them were fruitless. 



The next morning I purposely left a mallard I had sliot 

 lying in front of the tent, and watched, and bye and bye 

 Madam quietly picked it up, went off to a bunch of rushes 

 50 or GOyds. away, and deUberately hid it. It is a queer 

 propensity and I wonder if it is peculiar to the breed. 

 We have all seen a dog hide a bone or a piece of meat 

 tliat tlioy did not want to eat just then, but picking up 

 game and hiding it is quite a different thing. 



Wednesday I spent quietly in camp, and stai'ted for 

 Port Perry on Thm-sday morning, but on getting to the 

 open lake I found tlie water far too rough for me. It was 

 blowing hard from the S. W., so I had to come back and 

 put my tent up again. The foUowing morning, the wind 

 having fallen, I made another start, and after a paddle. of 

 sixteen miles reached Port Perry at 4 in the afternoon, 

 taking- the train for Toronto next morning. I killed a 

 nice mascalonge on my way up. There are plenty of 

 nice camping places 'oetween Wasliburiie's Island ami 

 Port PeiTy on both sides of the lake where good shooting 

 could be had, and trolling all the way, but my time hav- 

 ing expired I did not stop at any of them. Between these 

 pouitfi too one cannot go wrong- for fall duck shooting, 

 the lake all the way being hned with rice beds on l3oth 

 sides, which furnish them with ample feeding gi"Ounds. 



So ended a very pleasant triji. I had not a great deal 

 of fishing or shooting, but enough of each to keep the 

 camp going; and I sent some game home, I might, i 

 suppose, had I gone severely in for them, have had "more 

 of both; certainly of fishing, as almost every mile of the 

 route was good trolling ground for mascalonge, and bass 

 could be caught still-fishing. I had plenty of exprcise 

 and plenty of fresh air, with any quantity of the finest 

 }:)ure milk and cream, with sweet and wholesome home- 

 made bread and butter, bought from the farmers" -wives 

 on the route. I used to get a 2-quart pail filled with 

 sweet milk just as it came from the cow, and a quart of 

 cream for 10 cents, and generally they thought it too 

 much, saying I was welcome to a little cream a"nd milk, 

 they never missed it. PoiTidge and cream nearly every 

 morning, followed by breakfast bacon, home made bread 

 and the sweetest of butter, with sundry cups of fragrant 

 coffee, make a good breakfast, and if the camper's gun, 

 trolling line and rod cannot furnish him every day with 

 materials for a good dinner on this route, the '^blame will 

 He with himself. When next fall comes round I hope to 

 make a similar ti'ip, not perhaps exactly over the same 

 ground, but on a route similar in character. Any one 

 desiring to make a trip over the route I have described, 

 I would recommend to go straight to Coloconk at the 

 head of Balsam Lake, where the railway from Toronto 

 terminates. By following the eastern shore of the lake 

 to Rosedale, at "its foot, they will pass through the very 

 best fishing grounds in it for bass and mascalonge, 

 and -will avoid the necessity of teaming canoe and traps, 

 which is always a nuisance. For a pleasant trip I do not 

 know that the rest of the route can be much improved on. 



When paddling through Lake Scugog with the old 

 Indian, on the occasion I have alluded to, forty-one years 

 ago, we were traveling in the night. The month being 

 July we thus avoided the heat of the day. While cross- 

 ing" a wide bay in the middle ot Ihe night, and about half 

 way over, a liea-r^ thunder squall, with high -wind and 

 drenching rain^ burst on us. The old Indian thought that 

 the canoe, a small bark one, would swamp, and he turned 

 tail and made for the shore, which we reached wet to the 

 skin, T^dth the canoe half full of water. Our matches had 

 all got wet, we had no guns and no means of kindling a 

 fire, so we tm-ned the canoe up and crouched, shivermg, 

 under it, till daylight, which at that season foitunately 

 came early. As is often the case with these summer 

 thunder squalls, when it cleared up the wind went round 

 to the north ajid it tm-ned quite cold, and a more -wretched 

 and forlorn pair, with nothing to eat, it would have been 

 hard to find, when we got into the canoe again to con- 

 tinue on our way to Port Perry, then a hamlet with a few 

 houses and a plank road leading to Whitby on Lake 

 Ontario. When paddling up the lake from "VV'ashbume's 

 Island, just now, I tried to recognize the scene of this oc- 

 cm-rence, but quite failed to do so. It is so many years 

 ago, and the appearance of the lake is now go changed 

 from what it was then, with hardly a clearing on it, that 

 it is not surprising I was not able to do so. Now it is 

 lined -with beautiful farms, sloping down to its banks, and 

 comfortable homesteads, and Port Peny is a thriving, 

 bustling, busy to-wn of 3,000 people, in the midst of"a 

 splendid agricultural country, with three trains a day to 

 Toronto, by two different routes — an instance of the rapid 

 change wliich comes over a country when opened up by 

 railway communication. W, 



P. S.— Apopos of the Clumber puppy, I may say that 

 since -writing the above I have spent' some days snipe 

 shooting on the Holland Marsh, near Lake Simcoe. After 

 the first day she took to hunting the mai-sh like an old 

 setter. She never passed a bird, or failed to find a 

 wounded one, and she brought me every bh-d that I shot. 

 I killed nearly thirty brace. She never ruffled a feather, 

 and if a bird was not killed dead she invariably carried it 

 by one of its wings. The dead bu-d she took in her 

 raouth. She always hunted to the gun, was perfectly 

 biddable, and a low whistle and wave of the hand wordd 

 send her in any direction I wished. She seemed to take 

 to it naturally and, as I have said, after the fu'st day, she 

 seemed to understand exactly what was wanted and what 

 she had to do, and she was seven months and one week 

 old. w. 



Minnesota Notes.— PiUsbuiy, Nov. 24.— The season 

 for small game in this immediate locality has been more 

 than an average good one. Prah-ie chickens were more 

 numerous than ever before, and some excellent bags were 

 made; in several fields large coveys were undistm-bed, and 

 by another year the shooting bids fan- to be of the best. 

 During October duck shooting was good enough to satisfy 

 anybody. I could easily bag from twelve to fifteen in 

 two hoiu's absence from my house, and that was good 

 enough for me. Yesterday 'in a driving snow storm I 

 shot a fine fat mallard, w'hich -will make an acceptable 

 side dish for my Thanksgiving dinner. Hundi-eds upon 

 hrmdreds of ruffed grouse have been shot in this locality 

 during the past six weeks, and still the wliolesale slaugh- 

 ter continues. Deer hunting has been in full blast for 

 the jDast two weeks or more, thoagh the open season does 

 not co mm ence until Dec. 1. I presume fully 100 saddles 

 of venison are hanging within two hours walk of this 

 -village. I have not a word of condemnation for the 

 honest settler, who at any season kiUs a buck or barren 

 doe for his own use, but this market hunting out of 

 season merits punishment. It never will be, however, 

 rmtil the last deer is killed or game wardens are ap- 

 pointed and paid by the State. Rabbits are altogether 

 "too numerous to mention;" the woods hterally swarm 

 with them. SquiiTels are also plenty.— J. F. LoCKjE. 



Arkansas and Illinois. — Charleston, 111., Nov. 26. — 

 Yesterday a party of sportsmen returned from Pera 

 Gould, Arkansas, after three weeks recreation. Capt. 

 Wm. A. Jeffries, Hem-y Gramsley, A. IN . Bain, Dr. Mort. 

 Chambers, -James Skidmore, .Jonathan and George Lee, 

 R. S. Cm-d, Vol. Mount, and the cooks, Ed. Mason and Pleas 

 Jones. A. N. Bain killed a two-pronged buck and Jona- 

 than Lee killed a two year old doe. They killed what 

 small game they could consume, as follows: Quail, squir- 

 rel, ducks, rabbits and turkey; and they caught a great 

 many fish, bass, goggle-eyes, newlights, catfish, biiffalo 

 and gars. They reported game from fifty to seventy-five 

 per cent, scarcer th.nn ifc was two years ago. Game is 

 very scarce about this vicinity. Quail, ruffed gTouse, 

 turkey, squurel, rabbit, piimated grouse and deer none. 

 On last Saturday I was squirrel hunting three miles 

 west of here and I killed seven fox squirrels. The hair 

 was black on the lower half of one of them. It looked 

 quite odd, one half fox and the other half black squirrel. 

 I win stuff it.— J. B. D. 



Fox Shooting.— North Ferrisbtu-gh, Yermont— Editor 

 Forest cmd Sti^eam: I see communications from some of 

 the readers of Forest and Stream quite frequently in 

 regard to the size of shot they use. Most of those who 

 write state that they use Nos. 6 and 8 and consider these 

 suitable for anything. I liave shot fine guns and they 

 were considered fine shooters, too, but I am still looking 

 for a gun that will throw No. 7 or 8 shot -with sufficient 

 force to stop a fox at 8 or 10 rods. Oiu- hxmting here is 

 mostly for foxes, and for loads we use from 4 to ocu-s. 

 good powder and from lioz. to 2oz. BB drop shot in a 10- 

 gauge gim. One of the leading hunters of this place has 

 stopi)ed a fox at 15i rods with such a load; the distance 

 was measured, not guessed. Ruffed grouse are faiidy 

 plentfful tills fall, but foxes and ducks are scarce. A few 

 years since ducks were plenty in fall and spring, but city 

 campers and pot-hunters are fast decreasing their nuni- 

 bers and soon wiU be a tiling of the past unless the law is 

 used to a better advantage than now. — Ten-Bore. 



Maine. — ^Kentz's Hill, Me., Nov. 24.— Grouse have 

 been fairly plenty this fall but unusually wild. At Bel- 

 gTade depot, Maine Central Raih-oad, last Monday, Game 

 Warden I. A. Carr seized a box containing twenty-six 

 grouse duected to a firm in Boston. The shipper, Hosea 

 McGuire, of Rome, was arrested and brought before Judge 

 Weston and fined $135 and costs. He v, iYi pay his fine. 

 The birds had been shot by Rome hunters. Our game 

 law forbids the transportation of game to other States, 

 We are in hopes that the Legislatm-e -will this winter 

 enlarge appropriations for the better protection of our 

 game and fish. — W. F. M. 



Wildfowl.— Salem, Mass., Nov. 29.— There are a few 

 sheldrake (31. sen'ator) and whistlers (B. americana), with 

 some old squaws {H. gJacialis) in om- harbor. The 

 wliistlers maintain their usual reputation for shyness. 

 As soon as we get a light snow the chances for rabbits in. 

 the towns just outside of here ought to be good. I saw a 

 nice bunch of quail recently. They were- hanging ui a 

 provision store. Thev were well gro-wn and plump bu-ds. 

 They came from Topsfield.— X. Y. Z. 



Capt. Anthony Elmendokf, of Brooklyn, died of con- 

 sumption at Big Springs, Texas, Nov. 19.' He was born 

 in Waterloo, in this State, in 1840, and went to Brooklyn 

 at the age of 16. He served throughout the war and be- 

 came Captain of Company G, of the Forty-eighth Regi- 

 ment. Upon his return he was for 10 years captain of 

 Company E, of the Twenty-third Regiment, and was 

 proposed for Colonel, but fom- years ago his failing health 

 compelled him to go west, and, with Col. A. C. iteeney, 

 he bought Valley Ranch, near Big Springs. Cajit. Elmen- 

 dorf was a well-kno-wn sportsman and trap shot. 



A European Pheasant was brought home in the game 

 bag of a Brooklyn spoitsman wlio was shooting on Thanks- 

 gi-ving Day in Rocldand county, N. Y. , in the vicinity of 

 Tuxedo Pa'rk. The bird was one of the overflow from the 

 Lordlard preserves. It was two-thirds gro-wn, in poor 

 condition and plagued -with hosts of white lice. 



