Oct. 5, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



296 



tilling shots are not so frequent, it taking an excellent 

 blade to bring down 50 per cent. 



In the immediate neighborhood of Mitch ell's Lake I 

 readily believe that a man could easily fire 1,000 sbells a 

 dav at the birds. Just after sunrise they arise from the 

 bottom, where they have been roosting, and cleave the 

 air on their way to the many sunflower fields, where 

 they feed until evening. They then take the route home 

 about 5 o'clock and from that time until dark the air is 

 filled with them. 



Blue-wing Teal. 



We had the first taste of blue-wing shooting as early as 

 Sept. 8. The morning flight for about twenty minutes 

 was all that could be desired.* The flight in the evening 

 was good, but the mosquito crop did not contribute to 

 the comfort of the gunner. The coast people send word 

 rthat wherever there is fresh water there may be found 

 'good blue- wing shooting. 



Deer. 



It is perfectly sickening to see the putrifying carcasses 

 of deer coming in. They are generally accompanied 

 with the hunter of pot-hunting proclivities. He proudly 

 stalks into the beer joints clutching a fine pair of antlers 

 in the velvet and, with a feather in his hat and a mouth 

 full of boast, tells how he murdered the noble animal at 

 350yds., and fired through an impenetrable mass of chap- 

 arral and trees. The truth of the matter is that in all 

 probabilities he ambushed his game at some water hole 

 at night with a fire lamp. I don't like the too-early-in- 

 [the-season hunter anyhow. Even if we are too poor to 

 have a good law, common decency should teach all 

 hunters that when the deer horns are in the velvet deer 

 ought not to be shot. 



A Chapter to Lieut.-Governor Jester. 



Both branches of the Legislature of Texas passed a 

 pretty good game bill last winter. The bill was intro- 

 duced through the efforts of the Texas State Sportsmen's 

 (Association and was ably championed by Hons. Perry J. 

 Lewis and R. A, Blair, senator and representative for 

 this district. At the close of the session the Senate, in 

 order to make the engrossment of a number of bills possi- 

 ble, turned back the hands of the official clock in order 

 ►to have such bills engrossed before the time set for ad- 

 journment. Senator Lewis begged the chair to crowd 

 fthe game bill, but Lieut. -Gov. Jester refused, saying that 

 khe did not consider the bill of sufficient importance to the 

 people of Texas as to warrant such proceedings. Thus 

 the game bill was defeated. 



Best Tarpon Record. 



Messrs. A. W. Houston and Senator Perry Lewis dis- 

 tinguished themselves as fishermen on Sept. 13, 14 and 16. 

 On Friday, Sept. 13, Mr. Lewis landed two tarpon; Satur- 

 day, 14th, Lewis landed six and Houston six; Monday, 

 16th, Lewis captured two and Houston three. Total for 

 two men nineteen tarpon. 



This is the largest number of tarpon hooked and landed 

 in the length of time anywhere and marks another epoch 

 in the history of angling in Texas. Texas Field. 



Ban Antonio, Sept. 25. 



PLATTE RIVER GEESE. 



A cold piercing wind was sweeping across the level 

 expanse of prairie straight from that suburb of Siberia, 

 Dakota, and it found us without a bit of trouble when we 

 alighted on the platform of a little railroad station in 

 western Nebraska, within easy reach of that parody on 

 rivers, the Platte. 



We had heard of geese — acres of them—that were only 

 waiting to gracefully do a parachute drop before any 

 shotgun that came into the country, and that was the 

 only excuse we had to offer for being in evidence in that 

 part of the country at that time of the year. 



The train soon left, and we got directions from the 

 station agent as to the locality of the town about this 

 way: "See that trail? Well, you follow that over 

 there a ways 'n' you'll soon see a light; then head for 

 that 'b' you'll get there." Shouldering our guns, grips, 

 and extras, we "followed the trail," and in the course of 

 time found the "town," which consisted of a store, post- 

 office, hotel, real estate office and saloon, all in one build- 

 ing, part sod and part frame. This much of the city we 

 discovered by steering straight for the light of a solitary 

 candle, which .was evidently set in the window for that 

 very purpose. 



When the sun rose in the morning we discovered a 

 livery stable and a hitching rack for cayuses (made of 

 slim cottonwood poles) and a barbed wire fence. We 

 were told that there was also a dug-out, but we didn't see 

 it. 



After we got behind the candle we found that there 

 were several people there, in fact, about the whole popu- 

 lation of the city was there, and by proceeding according 

 to rules that we had found by previous trips to be parlia- 

 mentary in like situations, we contrived to get a decidedly 

 substantial supper. 



After supper a judicious distribution of cigars started 

 the conversation on geese, and after those honest broncho 

 busters got started I can say candidly that Munchausen 

 and all the rest of his crowd were simply smothered clear 

 out of sight. I never saw men, not even fishermen ex- 

 cepted, who could lie so candidly and with so much ap- 

 parent truthfulness as did these goose hunters who enter- 

 tained us that night (I found out they prevaricated 

 afterward). They were the most truthful liars I ever 

 heard because I think they actually believed what they 

 Baid themselves. The geese were there, or rather right 

 over on the river, by the thousands and ten3of thousands; 

 no doubt about that in the least, for Jim So-and-so had 

 been over last week and killed 160 acres or so of them 

 and that hadn't made even a hole in the flock. Similar 

 stories were common property in the town, but the next 

 man that tells me he has killed a goose on the Platte 

 River has got to produce the goose before I'll listen to his 

 story. 



By bedtime a common blizzard, of healthy proportions 

 for an infant, was playing hide and seek with the hitch- 

 ing rack and the stovepipe, and the town agreed that we 

 would have a puddin' on the river, as the storm would 

 drive the geese to the stream, sure. 



The town was wrong again. 



We turned in and "spooned it" to keep warm and took 

 turns at getting up during the night and gently whisking 



the snow off of the bed when it got too heavy for comfort, 

 and managed to live through it too- 



In the morning the sun was shining in that radiant, 

 mabe-believe August way that it always does after a real 

 good snowstorm out there, and the thermometer was 

 down so low that we thought it was running a bluff on us. 

 That's where our judgment was weak. 



After breakfast we hunted up the hostler of the livery 

 stable and got a team to take us to the river, a few miles 

 away. On the way over we saw several million geese 

 flying blithely southward and heard several million more 

 that were so high we couldn't locate them, but they were 

 there all right. 



After due deliberation we reached the river and saw 

 several thousand acres more geese, all in the middle of 

 the river and all seemingly content with the situation. 



We hired a farmer to feed and keep us for a week and 

 sent the team back with instructions to call for us at the 

 end of that time. Oh, how we regretted it afterward. 



We hunted those geese up stream and down, across 

 country and back, ran hurdle races with them across irri- 

 gation ditches, and shot at them at long range for four 

 days of that week and then played cards and smoked our- 

 selves out of tobacco. 



Those geese have all the advantages in the world and 

 they simply settle in the middle of the river out of cannon 

 range. When they get hungry, they fly up or down the 

 river, always in the middle, and rise at an easy grade 

 until they put about a couple of miles of nice cool atmos- 

 phere under them, then they gracefully carom South 

 and eat their breakfast down in Kansas. In the morning 

 there are some fresh geese from Dakota to shoot at if you 

 want to, but you won't want to very long. 



They smile at your decoys and laugh right out loud if 

 you try to sneak up on them. We bluffed them until the 

 sixth day and then we chartered our landlord's buckboard 

 and drove to Plum Creek and offered all kinds of money 

 for a few dozen real dead geese. We couldn't get them ; 

 then we wanted just one goose that was dead enough to 

 be caressed, but we couldn't buy one. Then we heard of 

 a man who owned a tame one with a broken wing and 

 thought if we could buy that and properly lariat it, maybe 

 we would stand a j3how to kill a Platte River goose yet. 

 It wasn't for sale. 



When our team came, we got the driver to stay until 

 we had just time to get over and catch the train, which, 

 happily for us, left after dark, and made our escape to 

 Lincoln without having to answer any unnecessary ques- 

 tions about geese, a subject we were not familiar enough 

 with to talk intelligently about anyhow. At Lincoln we 

 bought a few geese and sent them to some of our friends 

 at home and after a few days' quail shooting we wended 

 our way hither. 



Some people who knew us asked us, "Where are the 

 rest of your geese?" These we referred to those who had 

 received our trophies (from Lincoln) and we answered, 

 kind of off hand like, that "We left them up among the 

 farmers along the river," and that was strictly true. 



El Comancho. 



MAINE GAME. 



Boston, Sept. 27.— The Massachusetts season on par- 

 tridge, or ruffed grouse, opened on Sept. 15. Since that 

 time there has been a good deal of hot weather, with the 

 woods most remarkably dry. The gunners say that such 

 weather is unfavorable, especially to woodcock shooting, 

 on which birds the open season now begins at the same 

 time as on partridge. Several good hands at woodcock 

 have been out the past week with good dogs, but have 

 not obtained a bird. They report the swamps and low- 

 lands, where woodcock are usually found, very dry in- 

 deed. But a few partridges were taken on Saturday and 

 Monday. E, M. Gillam, commercial editor of the Boston 

 Advertiser, was out early on tnose days in the woods at 

 Reading. He has good dogs always, and succeeded this 

 time in "nailing," as he terms it, a couple of grouse. He 

 is a good shot, and so is any man who can shoot partridges 

 in Massachusetts. 



In Maine the partridge shooting seems to continue good , 

 though the season has been open but about a week. J. 

 Frank Moody, son of Prof. Moody, of the Edward Little 

 High School, Auburn, Me., is teaching school himself this 

 fall, though but 17 years of age. It is sometimes said that 

 a student and a gunner and fisherman are never to be found 

 all in the same person, but Frank likes the gun and fishrod 

 about as well as any boy living. He came home last Fri- 

 day — his schoul not being in session on Saturday — with a 

 view of trying the partridges. His success was good, and 

 he is back in school again, all the better pedagogue for 

 his outing. 



The weather is so dry in Maine that the question of 

 water for domestic snimals is a serious one, and a private 

 letter from the line of the new Portland & Rumford 

 Falls Railroad says that the deer in the mountainous sec- 

 tions are being driven out of the woods for water. They 

 are frequently seen in the fields with the cattle, and they 

 also come out to the ponds and rivers to drink. A couple 

 of deer were shot the other day within a short distance 

 of the village of Buckfield. The legal open season does 

 not begin till Oct. 1, and a gentleman who was cognizant 

 of the deed immediately notified the Fish and Game Com- 

 missioners. They sent an officer at once, who collected 

 all the evidence he wanted and swore out warrants for 

 the arrest of the shooters. They pleaded ignorance of 

 the law. The letter suggests that this plea will avail 

 them but little, ho wever. 



Later information says that the deer were shot while 

 actually feeding with the cattle in a pasture— a doe and a 

 fawn. There was also a buck with the others, but the 

 gunners allowed him to escape. A cow among the cat- 

 tle is reported to have set up a tremendous lowing at the 

 fall of the deer, and to have run and licked them in great 

 excitement. It is suggested that deer and domestic cat- 

 tle are actually friendly in many pastures in Maine. 



Mr. Harry Whitmore, real estate editor of the Boston 

 Herald, is back from his vacation and hunting and fishing 

 trip to Cape Breton, He is very much pleased with that 

 country for bird shooting and fishing. Still, the country 

 is extremely dry this fall, and the guides and natives told 

 him that the partridges were generally in the vicinity of 

 water and hard to find. But almost every afternoon he 

 was out with shotgun he had the good fortune t> "knock 

 over a bird or two." The trout fishing he is much pleased 

 with, though he got only brook trout; the season being 

 too far advanced for the celebrated sea trout of that part 

 of the country. 



Sept. #<?.— Forest fires are the terror and the distress of 

 the Maine hunting and fishing resorts to-day. The Maine 

 papers are full of accounts of these fires. There are fires 

 very near Phillips, Rangeley. The woods and mountains 

 are lighted up at night in the vicinity of Bamis, the fire 

 being on the line of the new Portland & Rumford Falls 

 Railroad. The way was cut through the forest early in 

 the season, and the fire is said to have caught in the rick 

 of trees thus felled. Fires are reported at the head of 

 Richardson Lake and in the vicinity of Kennebago. At 

 night fires are seen on the mountains in the neighborhood 

 of Parma^henee. There are several fires in the EuBtis 

 and Dead River regions. There are numerous fires along 

 the line of the Aroostook Railroad and along the line of 

 the Canadian Pacific. The papers state that these fires 

 are "set by hunters in some cases," and doubtless hunters 

 will have to take a big share of the blame, though the 

 fires may be due almost entirely to the carelessness of 

 settlers and to sparks from locomotives. But set from 

 whatever cause, it is a report that sends terror to the 

 heart of the true lover of the forests; once burned over, 

 his land of day dreams is done forever. Once burned 

 over, the wooded mountain side becomes a barren waste 

 of rock and scrub trees, and the trout streams in the val- 

 leys below are dried up. Let us hope that abundant rains 

 may come very soon and stay the flames in the regions 

 we love so well. 



N. G. Manaon has gone to Camp Leather Stocking, at 

 the head of Richardson Lake, for his fall outing. He has 

 his brother with him, with Oscar W. Cutting for cook 

 and guide, and about October 10 Mr. Lutner Little, also of 

 the Boston iron trade, will join Mr. . Manson. The hunt- 

 ing is reported fair in that section, but if the forests are on 

 fire no one can tell what the end may be. Mr. James H. 

 Jones loves the gun and fishing rod about as well as any 

 other boy reared in Maine, and that is saying a good deal. 

 He has just returned from his vacation, spent in the town 

 of Bucktield, his native town I believe. He says that 

 partridges are very plenty this year, though he had to 

 come away so soon after the open season began that he 

 scarcely got his share of the sport. Deer are very plenty 

 in that part of the country. Mr. E. H. Noyes, of Clinton 

 Market, is at home again from a hunting and fishing trip 

 in New Brunswick. He does not "give away" the name 

 of the section he visited, but says that the partridge 

 shooting was good, with the trout fishing very fair. His 

 party also got a deer. 



Mr. Luther Little, mentioned above, is very fond of 

 shooting over his dogs. He has fair luck even here in 

 Massuchusetts. On the 17ch, the second day of the open 

 season, he was out and succeeded in bagging three par- 

 tridges. In this shooting he finds much better sport than 

 in shooting partridges in Maine, where they are so tame 

 as to sit on the trees in plain sight, or to run on the 

 ground as fearless as chickens almost. This brings to 

 mind the remarkable feat of a Lewiston, Me., gunner, 

 who, if the newspaper accounts are true, has lately suc- 

 ceeded in shooting a young Plymouth Rock rooster that 

 happened to be too near the bushes. 



Sept. SO. — There are better reports. The forest fires in 

 the Maine hunting and fishing resorts are generally out 

 or under control. Copious showers in many sections have 

 quenched the flames. These showers were widespread, 

 but did not touch everywhere, though pretty generally 

 there was considerable rain where the fires were the 

 worst. But still the State is very dry with the streams 

 low, and unless heavy rains come very soon there will be 

 still greater danger from the forest fires when the leaves 

 are off the trees. At this time the leaves are falling 

 rapidly and will soon be as dry as powder if the 

 weather continues as dry as September has been. Every 

 hunter and fisherman who goes into the woods should 

 take with him an extra pound of caution, especially if the 

 autumn continues as dry as it has begun. Warnings are 

 being posted at every railway station and camp in the 

 State of Maine. Special. 



THE NIGHT-HAWK CLUB. 



Everybody has heard of night-hawks, but not all have 

 heard of the Night-Hawk Club. The name may be sug- 

 gestive of late hours and perhaps evil doings, but in this 

 case its meaning is innocence itself. Nothing more 

 formidable than a shooting and fishing club bears the title 

 now, and Sugar Island in Moosehead Lake is the stamp- 

 ing ground of this aggregation of sportsmen. It was com- 

 ing down in the train from Greenville Junction a short 

 time ago that I met A. H. Shaw, of Bath, Me,, the Presi- 

 dent of the club, and he it was who told me all about it. 

 The other officers of the Night-Hawk Club are F. H. Wil- 

 son, Brunswick, Me., Vice-President, and Dr. Hiram 

 Hunt, Greenville, Me,, Secretary and Treasurer. The 

 directors are A. H. Shaw, F. H. Wilson, Dr. Hunt, Wm. 

 M. Shaw, Greenville, Me. , and T. A. Linn, Hartland, Me. 

 The club was incorporated Sept. 2, lbOS/and is already a 

 prosperous organization. Sugar Island is about opposite 

 the well-known Deer Island in Moosehead. They have a 

 splendid set of camps on the island, and the club have de- 

 cided to buy ten acres of land, which will of course insure 

 them permanent occupation. At the time I talked with 

 Mr. Shaw some of the members with their wives were re- 

 turning from the camp. They had enjoyed good fishing 

 and seen many deer. Tne whole country around the 

 island is a good region for large game, and in a short 

 time a party of the members will go up for the fall shoot- 

 ing. 1 here was much difficulty and hesitation over the 

 selection of a name for the club, that of Night-Hawk 

 being finally selected by the ladies, being suggested by the 

 fact that when they first began going there some of the 

 gentlemen were so anxious to see a deer that they would 

 go out nearly every night looking them up in the effort 

 to satisfy their ambition. The name is therefore a light 

 punishment inflicted by the ladies for some lonely even- 

 ings spent in camp. Four new camps will be built next 

 year and it is the intention to make the entire equipment 

 first class. 



While journeying into the Dead River region but a 

 short time ago, it was my good fortune to meet on the 

 train Messrs. F. W. Barditt and F. W. Dana, of Boston. 

 These two very pleasant gentlemen were bound for the 

 Megantic preserve, and it was my privilege to enjoy their 

 company .»n the long stage ride to Eustis, and a part of the 

 backboard journey the next day as far as the Chain of 

 Ponds road. My own destination was the King and Bart- 

 lett preserve, and although the journey of that day was 

 Bomewhat tiresome, as buckboards are, I felt amply 

 repaid when at 4:30 P. M. a turn of the road brought us in 



