Jan. 26, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



7 



conduct in the interest, of justice. It is more than prob- 

 able that the reformed sentiment which has followed the 

 locking of the stable from which the horse was stolen, 

 will sustain the law. But it cannot be expected of the 

 Commissioners that they will do any more stocking in 

 Otsego Lake till protection is assured beyond perad- 

 venture. 



The protective service has also suffered by reason of the 

 uncertain tenure of the incumbents of the office. The 

 official terms of all expired, some less than a year, but 

 most of thorn more than a year ago. There are among 

 the number some who should be retired on account of 

 their advanced age, which renders them unequal to the 

 service domanded. There are others who have business 

 a vocations which interfere with the devotion of the time 

 required to the public service; and there are still others, 

 good enough in their way, who never ought to have been 

 appointed, because they have none of the special qualities 

 required for such service. The bulk of the force is good 

 and efficient, and those who have proved themselves 

 competent and worthy should be reappointed, so that 

 they may know what they are to calculate on for the 

 next three years. The views of the Commissioners on 

 this subject have been communicated to the Governor, 

 and their recommendation of the proper persons for 

 appointment are before him. In the paper presented to 

 the Governor the following standard is laid down, as the 

 judgment of the Commissioners of the qualifications 

 which should be possessed by a protector ! 



QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED IN A GAME AND FISH PRO- 

 TECTOR. 



This office is one of trust and responsibility, calling for 

 the exercise of diligence, vigilance, tact and much know- 

 ledge of men. The incumbent should possess the follow- 

 ing stated qualifications: 



1. He should l>e in the. prime of hie and in the full vigor of 

 health. 



2. He Should be t.f siillirient education to be able to draft con- 

 cise reports of his operations to the Board or head of department 

 under whose supervision he acts, and to despatch promptly his 

 official correspondence. 



3. He should possess such I act and sagacity as will qualify him 

 to cope successfully with the class of offenders it is his duty to 

 look after. 



4 bx shcald be of sun?: mi t intelligence to work up read;, ttl 

 trial the cases whore he shall commence prosecutions, aud to aid 

 the district attorney in their conduct. 



5. He should have uo other business or occupation which will 

 Interfere Vrtt'a giving his h \st attention ahvavu "to the dntias of his 

 office. 



6. He should recognize that he is accountable only to the law 

 and to his official superiors for his acts, and while he should not 

 decline advice from any source when given in good faith,, he 

 should not permit himself to be influenced by outside organizations 

 and persons wlio may seek to control his movements for their own 

 sellish purposes. 



~. Vie should have no bad personal habits, such as tippling 

 idling and debauchery. 



In addition to these qualifications, that portion of the 

 protector's force assigned to service in the wilderness 

 districts should be experienced woodsmen, possessing a 

 practical knowledge of the geography and topography of 

 the region where then services are principally to be per- 

 formed , able to follow foot trails and wood paths and. to 

 travel by compass", and upon occasion to pack and cook 

 their own subsistence and make then own camps. It is 

 desirable, too. that this portion of the force should have 

 their own hom« in the woods, at least during the season 

 when they need to be on daily watch, and that they have 

 no family or business ties to prevent then doing so. 

 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 



It is presumed that the pressure of business before the 

 Governor has been such as to prevent his giving this 

 subject the consideration he would wish, and which he 

 ought to give it, as to all cases where the responsibility 

 of the appointment belongs to him. 



But the Governor should, be relieved of the responsibility 

 of the appointment of these officers, and the protectors 

 should receive their appointment from the board or head 

 of department under which they are directly to serve. 



What, from their observation, the Commissioners would 

 specifically recommend in the case, is that there should 

 be not less than twelve protectors appointed for the whole 

 State. That the appointing power should be either the 

 Board of Commissioners of Fisheries or the Board of For- 

 est Commissioners. That the choice should not be con- 

 fined to prescribed localities, but that fitness should be 

 the rule in the selection; that one of the protectors, and 

 that one possessing the best qualifications, should be 

 designated as chief protector, and the remainder should 

 act under his orders. The pay and allowance to be as at 

 present, except that the chief protector should have $1,000 

 salary and $500 traveling allowance; and that an appro- 

 priation of $5,000 should be made annually to be disbursed 

 by the Commissioners in payments at their discretion for 

 such cooperative assistance and expenses as should be 

 needed to give complete efficiency to the service. The 

 tenure of office should be during good behavior. The 

 appointing power should have authority to summarily 

 remove any protector whom they should deem incompe- 

 tent or unfaithful. From such improved system the Com- 

 missioners are certain, benefits commensurate with the 

 cost would ensue. 



MICHIGAN GAME AND WARDENS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A hunter of my acquaintance has recently returned 

 from the headwaters of Thunder Bay Eiver. He reports 

 having reached there early in November, expecting to 

 still-hunt deer; but before snow enough for tracking had 

 fallen, the deer were driven away by persons who hunted 

 with hounds, so that he had no success. He is a good, 

 hunter, and says that when the hounds were first brought 

 in, the deer were quite numerous. 



I think that more deer were killed this season in 

 Antrim county than last year— not very many indeed, 

 but the game wardens have done some good. 



The board of supervisors, at their October session, 

 audited and paid the bills of the wardens at $2 per day, 

 but rendered the law practically inoperative by a resolu- 

 tion that they shottld henceforth receive pay at the same 

 rate for services rendered on complaint of any citizen. 

 There will probably be no complaints, and without them 

 the wardens can get nothing. Of course, they will not 

 watch the forests under these conditions. Kelpie. 



Central Lake, Mich,, Jau. 14. 



The Michigan Sportsmen's Association held its an- 

 nual meeting at Detroit Tuesday and Wednesday of this 

 week. 



LONG ISLAND DUCK SHOOTING. 



NEW YOEK, Jan. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 reading your last issue I find that my name has been 

 taken in vain in connection with shooting wildfowl on 

 Long Island Sound. The only shooting I ever did from a 

 steamer on the Sound was in November, 1886, and as it 

 may be of interest to your readers to know what was 

 done, I will give you all the particulars. I owned the 

 steam launch Dolphin, 43ft. long; speed, an honest ten 

 miles per hour. This boat Was built by the Herreshoffs, 

 of Bristol, E. I., and having a coil boiler she was very 

 buoyant, and none of the boiler showed above the gun- 

 wale. I removed the permanent roof , put a very short 

 smokestack on her, and painted her a sort of invisible slate 

 color, and she looked like a diminutive blockade runner; 

 in fact, when directly "end on" she would hardly attract 

 the attention of the most wily of old coots at a couple of 

 hundred yards. I had my four boys with me, and they 

 each had a 12-bore Purdy, Avhile I used an 3-bore Dou- 

 gall. Our first day Avas on Nov. 2, and we killed thirty- 

 six ducks, mostly gray and black coots, and three loons. 

 These are what we picked up; what we knocked down 

 would have filled the boat if we could have gathered 

 them. The weather this first day was simply perfect, a 

 sort of Indian summer. 



On the 4th we had killed four coots when the rudder 

 and rudderpost were carried away by backing, full speed, 

 against a pretty heavy sea. It took until the 13th to 

 make repairs, and on that day the weather was so bitterly 

 cold that we were glad to go ashore after bagging six 

 coots. On the 15th we got 21, on the 17th 14 ducks, one 

 loon and one very fine Canada goose. We spied what we 

 supposed were brant or black duck sitting about a mile 

 away right off the Scotch Caps by the mouth of Mamaro- 

 neck Harbor. They happened to be to leeward so we ran 

 right at them full speed, and when we got within 200yds. 

 they began to get up in their awkward manner and of 

 necessity coming toward us, up wind. As I was steering 

 I was the last to fire, and choosing the last bird, I knocked 

 him over with a charge of BB out of the 8-bore, but I 

 am bound to say that we could hear the No. 1 shot from 

 the eight barrels of the 12-bores rattle against them, 

 sounding as though it Avere hitting the side of a bam. 



On the 20th Ave got fourteen coots, and then I sent the 

 boat home to Irvington-on-Hudson. Each of these days 

 we were only out from 9 to 3, as Ave had to drive over to 

 Mamaroneck, our objective point, from Irvington and 

 back again in the afternoon , seventeen miles each way. 



Our best shooting was done between Mamaroneck and 

 Captains Island. We ate the young gray coots and very 

 good they were. We had some very pretty sport with 

 the large flocks of old-wives by running slap at them 

 without attempting to shoot, and then when the boat was 

 over the spot just vacated by the birds that were on top 

 of the water we Would bach full speed and wait for the 

 divers to come to the surface. Up they would pop, one 

 and two at a time, and finding us so near them they 

 Avould get up and fiy for dear life, giving a very fair chance 

 at them, not unlike pigeon-shooting from a trap. On 

 cutting open the crop of an old-Avif e Ave found two mus- 

 sels, shells each an inch and a half long, and over two 

 hundred diminutive clams, shells and all, each about 

 the size of a green pea. No wonder that these ducks have 

 a strong fishy flavor. 



HaAnng sold the Dolphin I tried sailing for coots in my 

 34ft. catboat May, last fall, but they would not have it at 

 any price, and notwithstanding that I had added a 4-bore 

 161b. gun to the armory we only coralled eight in three 

 days' cruising about with a fine breeze, between Mamaro- 

 neck and Bridgeport. The sail frightens them as the 

 boom is away out while running down wind to the 

 birds. 



With the steamer we certainly had great spoi l and 1 

 eanuot see how this Avay of shooting the artful coot can 

 do any m«e harm than by stringing a long line of boats 

 off points, for in this style of shooting the slaughter is 

 something awful. A careful calculation shows that it 

 took about 3,000 cartridges to secure the 101 head of birds 

 on the Dolphin! And this is accounted for by the fact that 

 nine times out of ten one shoots at birds that are a long way 

 out of shot for any weapon but a rifle, and also by the 

 quick motion of the boat on the waves: still shooting is 

 what we Avent for and hitting Avas of minor importance. 

 You must also remember that about four ducks are 

 knocked down for one that is gathered. 



Howard S. Jaffray. 



MAINE WARDENS AND FINES. 



MEETING casually a prominent friend of game pro- 

 tection in Maine yesterday, he came down squarely 

 Avith this proposition: "'Why is it that in every Legislature 

 there is always a pack of — — fools?" Forest and Stream 

 need not use this profanity, but it expressed the feelings 

 exactly of* the gentleman in question. We were talking 

 over the position of large game in Maine, when the ex- 

 pression came out. It Avill be remem bered by those who 

 followed the doings of the Legislature of that State closely 

 at its last session in 1886-7, that a resolve Avas passed 

 turning the amount of fines collected for violations of the 

 game laws into the county where the prosecution came 

 up, instead of one-half going to the game Avarden 

 who unearthed the poaching, and the other half to the 

 State. What the law was framed for, no man could un- 

 derstand, and at once the Commissioners saAv that a great 

 deal of harm had been done. Soon after, in a private 

 letter, Commissioner Stilwell remarked that he was 

 afraid that there Avould be no money with which, to en- 

 force the law, and that the game and fish would suffer. 

 But at that time he desired that the matter be kept as quiet 

 as possible, in the hope that the average poacher would 

 be a long time in getting hold of the fact that the game 

 wardens could ill afford to take all the risk of bringing 

 breakers of the game laws to justice without pay, Avhile 

 the appropriations by the State Avere not sufficient to begin 

 to pay them for Avhat they ought to do. But the latest 

 reports from that State go to sIioav that poachers and laAv 

 breakers have got hold of the idea in real earnest, and 

 that the large game is suffering seriously; in fact that 

 before the Avinter is over all the good Avork done by the 

 Commission and the wardens during the several years 

 that the laws have been partially enforced is in danger of 

 being undone. The latest dispatches to the daily papers 

 indicate that the worst kind of poaching is going on in 

 various parts of the State. In the upper Maehias region 

 deer are being killed regardless of the close season, 

 and, worst of all, they are being hunted with dogs. It is 



known to a few that a, mongrel — cur and hound — was 

 shipped from Boston the other day to Maehias, and it 

 leaked out that it was for the purpose of running deer. 

 The owner stated that "nobody would think that such a 

 short-legged cur would run a deer, but that he would 



stick to a deer's track like h 1." Other packs of dogs 



are there. 



Not all of the reports can be belieA^ed, but there is not a 

 doubt but what the game is suffering badly because the 

 Commission has no means with Avhichto enforce the law. 

 It is reported that the "noosing of caribou" is going on in 

 the northern Maehias region, and that in the vicinity of 

 Nicatouse Lake the deer are being taken by every possible 

 means. Game wardens cannot afford to follow up such 

 wicked poaching without pay; besides the actual personal 

 danger is very great. 



It is certain, however, that but little of this ill-taken 

 game is finding its way into the Boston market this year. 

 The fact that the express companies refuse to take it, 

 when aware of it, cuts off the shipment almost altogether. 

 But occasionally a Maine deer is seen. I saw a couple 

 on a local express wagon the other day. The buck had a 

 tag on his antlers directing the shipment to a well-known 

 commission house, but there was no statement whatever 

 as to whence the venison came. Or rather the tag was 

 Originally a regular shipping tag, but the name of the 

 shipper was cut off. I asked the expressman where the 

 deer came from, but, as usual, he did not know. I asked 

 him where he took them from, and he claimed that he 

 took them from another well-known commission house. 

 Western deer are being received here, but not in so great 

 quantities as usual. 



But to return to the trouble in Maine. About the only 

 hope for the moose and deer is that the winter will wear 

 away without much crusted snow. Thus far the winter 

 has been mild, with only light snows — till Avitliin a week 

 or two— very favorable' to hunting. If deep snows fall 

 as they have now begun to fall, and they are not covered 

 with crusts in the spring, as they sometimes are not, then 

 a good part of the deer and moose will whiter in safety. 

 But the skin hunters will be on the watch for the hard 

 crusts of March, and eA^en down into April, and the game 

 is likely to be destroyed. If there Avas any reward for 

 game wardens, a stop Avould be put to this illicit hunting, 

 but the State is a large one and the Avardens are few at 

 best. It can hardly be expected that wardens and game 

 officers Avill cover hundreds of miles of distance, over 

 almost impassable roads, and take the personal risks 

 alluded to above, all for nothing. The practice of allowing 

 a game warden half of the lines collected from poachers 

 could hardly be expected to be in favor in some of the 

 sections of Maine, but after all the State must either ap- 

 propriate the means for doing the work and take the fines 

 herself , or the wardens must be paid for their services out 

 of the fines. Otherwise the large game of Maine is 

 doomed to go where the bison of the plains have gone. 

 I have just learned, through hearsay, that the matter of 

 the destruction of game in Maine this winter Avill be called 

 to the attention of the acting Governor, in the hope that 

 he may authorize, the protection of some of the best game 

 sections where the worst poaching is going on, and see 

 that the bills are paid out of the treasury, but I am not 

 sure that such a step could legally be taken, though it 

 could be done in the case of crime more harrowing to 

 society. There is one feature that will certainly operate 

 against such a movement on the part of the government: 

 unfortunately one or two of the members of the council 

 are not very friendly to game protection. Special. 



NOTES FROM MISSOURI. 



SENECA, Mo. — Looking over your paper I see so many- 

 items about hunting which interest me so much that 

 I think I must tell you about the sport along the line of 

 the beautiful Indian Territory. Our town is a small 

 trading point of about fifteen hundred inhabitants, lo- 

 cated just half a mile from the Territory line, in JSewton 

 county, Mo. Our game in the timber and fields is chiefly 

 quail. On the prairies we have prairie chickens, which 

 afford us good shooting. On the creeks and rivers are a 

 few mallard ducks, and in the river bottoms you will find 

 a feAv deer and turkey. Our best sport is quail shooting, 

 which I think is A ery good. I know one man who has 

 killed over seven hundred quail this season. I have had 

 some good sport, making some very good bags. Once I 

 went in company with tAvo others, and in five hours driv- 

 ing and shooting we had bagged five dozen quail, one 

 duck, five rabbits and two snipe. We did some very poor 

 shooting, or we could have bagged more than one hundred 

 birds. I only had one day's shooting at chickens, and 

 that was not good. There were two of us shooting, 

 and Ave only bagged twenty-one. They were very wild 

 and our dogs were both young and new at the work, so it 

 took some of our good time to keep them at their places; 

 but by close Avatching we got some fine work out of them, 

 though all sportsmen knoAv how it breaks a man up to 

 keep his eye on his dog and game at the same time. 



By going thirty miles west into the Territory we have 

 line sport shooting chickens. The sportsman must stand 

 in with, the officers or he is liable to be taken in, and may 

 have to lose his dog and gun. 



We have only a very few dogs here, but some of the 

 lovers of good 'sport are trying to improve the stock, 

 and Ave won't patronize any breeder unless he has pedi- 

 gree stock. There are some good pointers here and we 

 had some fine setters, but their owners had bad luck 

 with them, and now there is only one left and she is 

 fine. She is from a kennel in St. Louis. 



We often go out from here from fifteen to tAventy-five 

 miles, and camp for ten days at a time, fishing and hunt- 

 ing; on these trips Ave usually get some deer and turkeys 

 and plenty of fish. F. 



New York Game Clubs.— Auburn, N. Y., Jan. 19.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Will you kindly say that 

 the addresses of all the gun clubs in NeAv York State, 

 whether members of the State Association or not, are 

 wanted as soon as possible by Chas. E. Kerr, Secretary 

 Auburn Gun Club.— Chas. E. Kerr. 



A Michigan Wild Turkey.— East Saginaw, Mich.— 

 Mr. W. H. Mershon recently shot the finest specimen of 

 wild turkey seen in these parts for many years. It was 

 a gobbler that weighed 261bs. Eichter mounted the bird 

 and it was placed on exhibition in the parlors of the 

 First National Bank, 



