88 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 23, 1888. 



WILDFOWL SHOOTING OVER THE LINE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I desire through your paper to draw the attention of 

 American sportsmen and all who are interested in the 

 proper preservation of game to a few points which must 

 hare escaped them; more especially do I appeal to the 

 lovers of rod and gun in northern New York, for the 

 grievance exists in their districts. The Legislature of the 

 Province of Ontario in the winter of 1886 passed a law 

 abolishing spring shooting of ducks, geese, etc., the law 

 not to come into effect until the spring of 1887. Just 

 previous to its coming into force at the annual meeting 

 of the Legislature in 1887, a determined attempt was 

 made by opponents of the bill to prevent its being en- 

 acted. The member for Essex, whose county adjoins the 

 renowned ducking grounds of St. Clair Flats, stated that 

 he would be satisfied if his county were exempt from its 

 effects. The Government, however, saw things in a dif- 

 ferent light and sustained the bill; and their wisdom, 

 even in the one year of its enactment, has been justified. 

 The law was strictly enforced on this side of the St. 

 Lawrence River, and it is no fault of our government 

 that its best effects, as regards local shooting, have proved 

 to be partly a failure. The boundary between Canada 

 and the United States consists in an imaginary line drawn 

 through the center of the St. Lawrence River, aud the 

 market shooters of Grenadier Island and vicinity, know- 

 ing that they would be prohibited and fined if shooting 

 at their old haunts, would simply cross over the boundary 

 line to some American point or island, set their decoys 

 and blaze away. Of course American sportsmen assisted 

 them, there being no law to the contrary. What is the 

 use of Canadians endeavoring to enforce the laws in a 

 case of this kind? Even supposing that they could sup- 

 press their own friends, who is to prevent the American 

 market shooters if the American government does not do 

 sor If the sportsmen of JSJew York State are not alive 

 to their own interests and do not unite and put an end to 

 this work it will be the means of rendering our law a 

 dead letter, in this district at least, besides visiting the 

 inevitable punishment which a selfish act always incurs. 

 Let them petition the State government to abolish spring 

 shooting and use their influence to have it become law 

 and keep step with the movement in which all right- 

 thinking sportsmen concur, viz. : the abolition of spring 

 shooting. Canadian. 

 Bbockville, Ont., Feb. 13. 



MAINE LARGE GAME. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



My companion, J. W., and myself, have just returned 

 from a three mouths' hunt in the vicinity of Moosehead 

 Lake, Maine. Deer and caribou were very plenty, and 

 partridges were to be had for the killing. I 'killed a large 

 buck caribou with very fine antlers on Nov. 18, and a fine 

 doe Dec. 2. There was hardly a meal but that we had 

 partridge, caribou steak or venison to eat. Deer were 

 very shy and I only had a chance to shoot at one, which 

 I missed. The open time has been poor for hunting this 

 fall on account of the snow storms, winding up with rain, 

 making a crust. During the three months we were in 

 the woods I saw eight deer and twelve caribou. We had 

 a fine time. Luck was against my "pard" this time; he 

 did not kill any large game. Beaver, otter, sable, fisher 

 and foxes were around, but not plenty. Lynx and jack 

 rabbits were thick. 



I have just bought one of Judge Caton's books about 

 the "Deer of America," and he thinks caribou yard in the 

 winter; which is a great mistake, for I have hunted and 

 been with them a great deal and I never saw a yard nor 

 heard of it before; but for all that his book is a fine work 

 aud should be in every hunter's hand. Judge Caton says 

 his time for studying caribou has been limited. Now if 

 he and I are living next September, an 1 he will come to 

 my home in Dan bury, I will go with him to the home of 

 the woodland caribou, within thirty hours' ride of Dan- 

 bury, where we can study the habits of caribou, deer and 

 moose all he pleases, and if he does not have a fine time 

 then I will miss my guess. p. D. K. 



Danbuhy, Conn, 



Trouble in Wisconsin.— La Crosse, Jan. 25.— The men 

 in one-of Atlee's camps, in Wood county, are boiling over 

 with rage at a party of hunters from Pittsville, and will 

 not reot easy until they have been made to feel all the 

 severity of the game laws. Since the snow has been so 

 deep and crusted, the deer have gathered in the roads 

 and choppings, and one herd of six or eight became 

 finally so tame that they would hardly get out of the 

 road to let a team pass. It is a fact, the men say, that 

 after falling a tree the animals would browse in the tops 

 of it while the butt was being sawed into logs. The men 

 would have no more thought of shooting these deer than 

 their own cattle. A few days ago a party of "hunters" 

 from Pittsville visited the camp, killed every one of them 

 and took the carcasses to Pittsville. The camp foreman 

 at once wrote to R. Fahey, of this city, who got the letter 

 last evening. He telegraphed to Game Warden White, 

 of Alma, and will accompany him to Pittsville to see that 

 the offenders are prosecuted to the extent of the law. 

 The case is as clear as it can be, for every one of them 

 is known, and a dozen witnesses will swear to the trans- 

 action. 



Auxiliary Rifle Barrels,— " Hock-o-Mock" and I 

 differ greatly in our experience with auxiliary rifle bar- 

 rels. My gun is 12-gaugo 83in. barrels; cost at wholesale 

 $80. The rifle barrel was put in bv a gunsmith in Grand 

 Rapids, Mich., and cost $20. It is chambered for a .40- 

 30-260. bottle-necked Winchester shell. I also load with 

 round bullets, filling up the shells with wads the same as 

 W. D. Zimmerman speaks of doing with his .32 Maynard. 

 Now with this auxiliary rifle I am able to kill woodchucks 

 at 100yd--, with "neatness and dispatch," and I have done 

 good target work at 150yds. The crossfire of "Hock-o- 

 Mock's" gun is evidence of poor workmanship in its con- 

 struction. I use my rifle in either the right or left bar- 

 rel; if in the right, I knock the back sight a little to the 

 right, and if in the left, I knock it to the loft. Ordinarily 

 I use common open sights, but have a peep sight at- 

 tached to the stock just back of the action lever, which I 

 find excellent for target work. That Zimmerman should 

 prefer Capt. Clay's peep sight to the Lyman is to me a 

 little queer. — Denemite. 



Gulp Hammock, Levy County, Fla., Feb. 13.— When 

 the thermometer stands at 12° above zero, as reported by 

 the New York papers of Friday last, and your readers, 

 toasting their shins by the fire, talk of what was done 

 last summer, it may be of interest to them to know what 

 was done by Capt. C. B. Wingate, the genial proprietor 

 of Gulf Hammock House, and the writer, on that day. 

 With the temperature at 75°, we started for Ten-mile 

 Creek, where we took a boat and went up the stream three 

 miles, shooting a "gater" and catching three channel 

 ba,ss. Then the fun began. In trolling with a phantom 

 minnow, we made a catch of fifty black bass, in two 

 hours' fishing; we had several 41b. fish in the lot. A few 

 days previous I caught thirty-two bass in the upper 

 Wacasassa, which can be reached with a boat from the 

 house. Otter Creek furnishes just as fine fishing, and it 

 is not unusual to get a six-pounder here. Is not this a 

 piscatorial paradise? — J. Leverett Pierce. 



A New York State Shoot Prize.— Temple, Tex., 

 Feb. 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: I have in my pos- 

 session a 10-gauge, doublebarreled Parker gun, lO^lbs., 

 3Gin. It was brought here by a man from California 

 named Denny. I would like to know something of its 

 previous history. Perhaps you or some of your readers 

 may be able to furnish the desired information. On the 

 right hand side of the stock it has a gold plate or shield, 

 on which is inscribed: "Prize for best average, N. Y. S. 

 Sportsman's Convention, Syracuse, New York, June 21, 

 1877. Won by Horace Silsby."— C. T. S., M.D. 



Florida Quail.— Mr. Russell N. Pepper, of West 

 Springfield, Mass., who is spending the winter at San 

 Mateo, Fla., writes of the quail shooting here: "This is 

 the worst country to hunt in that I ever saw, for although 

 the quail are quite plenty, they are well educated and 

 keep near the swamps, so that they can at the first alarm 

 dash into the thicket where one can do nothing with 

 them. By a great deal of perseverance one partv here 

 bagged several hundred pigeons, qvail and snipe. But 

 the price of ammunition has advanced since we came." 



Box Boats on Bush River.— Red Bank, N. J., Feb 

 18,— Editor Forest and Stream: The last news from 

 Annapolis, Md. regarding fish and fowl is before me. 

 There is a bill pending to allow the use of box boats in 

 Bush River, Md. Wake up, you prominent members of 

 ducking clubs on that grand river, and see that you use 

 your influence to defeat the measure. The bill has been 

 presented by Hon. Walter Preston, of Abingdon, Harford 

 county, Md.— Geo. H. Wild. 



Game at Sault De STe. Marie.— Vast numbers of 

 dusks winter here in the open rapids and are shot in 

 considerable numbers. They are called "fish duck," and 

 are similar in size and shape to the wood duck. Ruffed 

 grouse and spruce grouse fairly swarmed in the woods in 

 this viciuity last fall; I never heard of them being so 

 plentiful anywhere.— E. H. B. (Sault de Ste. Marie. Mich., 

 Feb. 14). * 



Long Island Black Ducks.— Sheepshead Bay, L. I., 

 Feb. 16.— I went out after black ducks this morning and 

 bagged two. This is considered good shooting for this 

 part of the country, that is, good day shooting. Sun- 

 day and night shooting is rapidly driving the birds away. 

 Is there no way to stop these unlawful practices ?— A. 



WHERE FOXES SWARM. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I receive your excellent publication through a sporting 

 friend who has "done up" Maine and in the fall spends 

 a week with me in the northwestern part of Massachusetts 

 in Franklin county, twenty-five miles east of Hoosac Tunnel' 

 hunting partridge, gray squirrels, woodcock and rabbits, of 

 which there is an excellent supply for a crack shot. But if 

 that Fur Club, of Worcester, of which an old friend, Mr. Kin- 

 ney, is now president, have such a great hunt every fall for 

 foxes and get one or two only and think they have an im- 

 mense time, would come up into the Leyden and Colerain 

 Hills, where foxes just swarm, they would never omit a trip 

 again. 



If any one doubts the statement, here is a little recreation 

 the boys take up here before and after school. Prior to the 

 middle of last December, oneyouug man under twenty vears 

 of age had taken thirty-four fox skins. Any two or three 

 fair hunters with a goodpack of hounds can get a dozen hand- 

 some foxes in a two or three days' hunt, and this is only 

 fifty miles in a bee line northwest from Worcester. Last 

 winter hounds hunted them alone day after day. and despite 

 the statemeut that hounds seldom rim down a fox, they did 

 catch them sometimes, for I was out with a small party one 

 day and from a hilltop looked way down into the ravine below 

 and saw a fox playing with two hounds on the ice of the 

 river, and soon one made for him and evidently broke his 

 leg, and the remainder of the work was short, for when we 

 arrived on the spot the fox lay dead unharmed except the 

 lacerated leg, and the faithful dogs were standing guard 

 over him waiting for some one to come and claim ownership 



During the year several of these hounds have either died, 

 been sold and taken away, or else are kept at home, for there 

 is but little hunting this season either bv hounds or men. 

 The snow is three or four feet deep and the' foxes have it ali 

 their own way. A huntsman friend of mine, while driving 

 a logging team recently up one of the high hills back 

 three or four miles from here, was followed for several rods 

 in the sled track by a large handsome fox. but having no 

 shooter with him the man simply endured the aggravation 

 as best he could under the circumstances. There are doubt- 

 less from two hundred to three hundred foxes within a radius 

 of ten miles of this place. If you want to try them come on; 

 but you will need snowshoes now. Another year in the early 

 winter would be better. Bay State Feller. 



E. S.— Unlike "Swirl" I cannot ''swap lies." 



CAROLINA RESORT WANTED. 



WASHINGTON. D. C, Feb. V2.-Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Several of us have recently formed an amateur sportsman's 

 club. We are all very much in love with the rod and gun, and we 

 find the Foujdst and Stbeam indispensable. Next fall we waut 

 to go on a trip into the mountains and swamps of North. Carolina. 

 We have a copy of "Hallock's Sportsman's Gazetteer," which 

 highly recommends Buncombe and the adjoining counties, also 

 Craven county for such game as bear, deer, wildcats and many 

 other varieties of smaller game. We want to find out, whether the 

 large game is still abundant in these counties. We wish to go into 

 the heart of the forests, where we will (jnd plenty of hard work, 

 with game enough to supply our larder. We want to go where 

 there are wildcats, bears an,d deer, and if possible Ave will go into 

 either North or South Carolina. 1 assure you that any informa- 

 tion which any of your correspondents can give us on this subject 

 will be thankfully received by four amatem-e. G. F. P. 



THE ALBANY GAME LAW MILL. 



ICnrrespondence of Forest and Stream.] 



ALBANY, Feb. 14.— The Finance Committee of the Senate has 

 given a hearing upon Assemblyman Curtis and Senator 

 Sloan's bill from the Comptroller's office allowing the Land Board 

 to dispose of lands obtained on the sales of Loan Commissioners, 

 which now technically belong to the Forest Preserve. It cannot 

 yet be discovered just what the committee will do with the bill; 

 but it is thought that it will be reported favorably. 



It seems that a number of parties have been in the habit of fish-i 

 ing in the waters of Mill Creek, in Hamilton county, so as to get 

 the benefit of the fish supplied by the Adirondack fish hatchery. 

 A bill introduced by Senator Foley amends the hatchery law of 

 1887, so as to protect the waters of the creek from such fishermen.. 



A bill introduced by Assemblyman Tallmadge seeks to protect 

 the natural beds of oysters within Kings county by keeping away 

 from them steam dredges that may be brought by outsiders. 



It is said that there is a, very good chance of passing Assembly- 

 man Cromwell's bill to stop the stealing of oysters. This bill 

 amends section 010 of the penal code (relating to the planting of 

 oysters) so as to add the words "interferes with or disturbs." If 

 this amendment becomes a law it will be much easier to secure 

 convictions than it is at present. 



Assemblyman Haggerty has introduced a bill which allows 

 dumping anywhere within a radius of 20 miles from Citv Hail. 

 This includes not only the East River but many places along the 

 Sound; aud it absolutely nullifies the present law which declares 

 that all dumping must be into the Atlantic Ocean. It is claimed 

 anything may be dumped under this bill. Therefore Capt. 

 Hunting tried to have the bill taken from the committee on 

 trades and manufactures and referred to ti e committee on com- 

 merce and navigation; but did not succeed. The opponents of the 

 bill think that it stands altogether too good a change of passing. 

 Those who do not look with favor upon f his chance in the law 

 ought at once to communicate with their friends in the Legisla- 

 ture. Capt. Hunting deelan s that "it is a contractor's bill." 



Assomhlyinan Hadley has introduced a hill which extends the 

 deer season for 15 days. The bill permits deer killing from Aug. 

 It) to Nov. 15, and deer hounding from Sept. 1 to Oct. 5. It is likely 

 that all the bills relating to deer hunting will be combined with 

 this hill, and the result will be t he passage of a bill which has the 

 features of Mr. Hadley's bill noted above. 



It is said that some time next week there Will he a large gather- 

 ing of distinguished sportsmen and game protectors in Albany, to 

 be heard on the Roosevelt code that has been introduced in the 

 Senate by Mr. Langbein. As yet this code has made very little 

 impression upon the Senators and members. Indeed they scarcely 

 appear to know that it is here. If, therefore, any one has any 

 influence that ho wishes to exert among them, now is the time to 

 move, for he will find them decidedly callous. It is a very amus- 

 ing thing to or.-lookers, who know a thing or two about sports- 

 men's affairs, to hear the groat talk of the Senators and members 

 on the game laws, not one in ten of the speakers having the least 

 knowledge of what he is ta lking about; and being, in many cases, 

 entirely ignorant of suns and dogs. 



tn nni §tier fishing. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



Angling Talks. By Geo. Dawson. Price 50 cents. Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H.P.Wells. Price $2. 50. Fly- 

 Fishing ana, Fly-Making for Trout. By J. H. Keene. 

 Price SliSOi American Anglers' Book. By Th cid. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



FISHING IN THE POTOMAC. 



INHERE is excellent fishing °in the Potomac and there 

 . is no fishing in the Potomac, just according to 

 where you go and what you fish with. Up at the falls 

 and above there is tine black bass fishing. You can get 

 there those gamy beauties weighing 4, 5, or even — it is 

 said— -61 bs. You will not get enough of them to make' 

 the sport seem monotonous and tiresome, but the man 

 who would not be satisfied with two or three such prizes 

 in a day of patient endeavor with rod and reel has no' 

 business to go fishing and is no better than the constitu- 1 

 tional grumbler who growled when he went to Heaven,: 

 because he thought his halo didn't fit him. There may 

 be places in the land wheie there are more black baas 

 than here, but few that are prettier or that offer greater 

 temptations to the city man who can afford to pay five 

 dollars a pound for the fish he catches. 



To go fishing properly at Washington you make up a 

 jolly party and drive out to the falls. You can go by 

 rail, but there is no adequate black bass style about that, 

 But from the falls at least as far down as Acquia Creek 

 there is little, if any, more sport for the angler than there 

 is in the Dead Sea or Salt Lake or the alkaline pools of the 

 Winnemucca Valley. And it is strange that it should be 

 so— at first sight. George Washington, who we allknow 

 could not tell a lie, because he said he couldn't, wrote 

 concerning the Potomac in his day that it was "a river 

 well stocked with various kinds of ' fish at all seasons of 

 the year, and in the spring with shad, herring, bass, carp, 

 sturgeon, etc., in great abundance." 



It is true that they do still catch many very large and 

 deliciously flavored Potomac shad in the spring and early 

 summer. I have eaten the famous Delaware shad and 

 the North River shad and the Connecticut River shad, 

 each of which has its enthusiastic encomiasts, and I can- 

 not help thinking that the Potomac shad is better than, 

 either of those others. It is so good that I actually imag- 

 ine it has fewer bones than they. But wild horses shall 

 not drag from me even a modified commendation of the 

 greasy, bony abomination that they call the Potomac 

 herring. I know that a depraved taste for this execrable- 

 fish exists in Washington, where it is even put upon the- 

 hotel menus, but I affirm that the Potomac herring is 

 nothing but what is variously known along the coast as 

 the mossbunker, alewite, menhaden or bony fish. The 

 minute differences, if any do exist really, between Bre- 

 voortia tyraunus, Clupea aestivalis and Clupea vernalis 

 are too insignificant to be taken into account, when it 

 is a question of eating either of them. Vast numbers of 

 these so-called Potomac herrings are caught (11,000,000 in 

 the season of 1880) and very properly converted into oil 

 and guano I say "very properly," because that is what 

 should be done with them if they are caught at all; bub] 

 they ought to be let alone, to serve their legitimate use a& 

 food for edible fishes that might, if they were abundant, 

 and the way left reasonably open, come up after them.. 

 A good many sturgeon too are caught in the Potomaa 

 during the summer, but they are rank, oily, coarse- 1 

 grained fishes, only acceptable as an alternative from 

 starvation. Those three kinds of fish all have to be taken 

 with nets, the use of which in this river I shall have 

 something to say about further on. 



As for the bass, I wish that George Washington had; 

 been a little more explicit in specifying the sort of basal 

 he meant. If black bass were in his mind's eye, I amJ 

 quite satisfied that the disturbance occasioned by the 

 Revolutionary war caused them all to retreat up to the] 

 falls, and no membor of their family has ventured' 

 below since that time— voluntarily and when in his 

 right mind. Striped bass— for which the local name id 

 i( rock fish"— do come up occasionally from theiChes'apeaka 



