186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 29, 1888. 



SHOOTING FADS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I think there is nothing so disgusting to any one who 

 has the smallest amount of knowledge possible about 

 guns, rifles or yachts, as to read some of the "wants" 

 and ''suggestions" of men who evidently do not know 

 the butt of a gun from the muzzle, nor the bow of a boat 

 from the stern. 



About two years ago a correspondent contributed an 

 article on keelless boats, giving diagrams of midship 

 sections, and stated that although he was a tyro in such 

 sports and lived inland (both of which were self-evident 

 facts) it seemed to him that he had solved the problem. 

 ■'Here you had a boat," which, in the words of the writer, 

 "had no keel, could be built to draw only as much water 

 as the builder should decide upon, and would lie on the 

 mud at low water without legs," in fact the man had some- 

 thing which was too good to keep to himself. That such a 

 craft as he described would do all that he claimed for it 

 is perfectly true. There is nothing that I ever heard of 

 to prevent such a craft from being built of as shoal a 

 draft as required, and as for "lying on the mud," that is the 

 proper place for it, but although I have scanned the yacht- 

 ing columns closely ever since, there has been no descrip- 

 tion of the launch of this wonder, and I am afraid this 

 man will go down to his grave an unrecognized nautical 

 designer. 



In your issue of Dec. 22, "Hal Hellion" wants a three- 

 barreled "combination gun," with a noiseless .22 barrel 

 on top for sitting flocks and rookeries, a central 12 cylin- 

 der bore for wing shots, buckshot and explosive slugs for 

 large, dangerous game at close quarters,' and a lower .44 

 rifled barrel for alligator, deer, etc., with a magazine in 

 the stock, holding about four shots for the central barrel, 

 etc., etc. Shade of Nimrod! the man wants an arsenal. 

 Did any one ever come across a rookery when shooting 

 deer? Did any one ever hear of explosive slugs? Fancy 

 shooting hollow buckshot filled with picrate of potash 

 into an elephant. Why, Mr. "Hellion," you might just as 

 advantageously shy a bunch of lighted firecrackers at 

 him, yoxu- untimely end would be just the same. Can't 

 you take "your first deer standing, with a charge or two 

 of buckshot." and then reloading, proceed to mow down 

 the rest of the herd? Wouldn't a §13 double-barrel, "top 

 snap, best London twist, all the latest improvements" 

 gun, suit your purpose? Must you have your arsenal? 

 Oh, pause in your fell purpose and do not kill the remain- 

 ing elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses and rooks, which now 

 roam in peaceful contentment throughout America; do 

 not slay them, satisfy yourself with clay-pigeons, or 

 better still with a .22cal. revolver, and a quire of fools- 

 cap; first practicing at a larger mark, such as a barn. 

 And would you consider it impudence on my part were I 

 to suggest your taking your first trial shots inside of the 

 barn? Would you be kind enough to state what the 

 "other advantages" of this fearful weapon are? In taking 

 "your first fowl" be very careful that the farmer does 

 not hear you. Fanners generally keep a long "Zulu" 

 loaded just behind the door, and when they hear a noise 

 in the henhouse are apt to be a little reckless in the direc- 

 tion of their shooting. A good club will take a fowl 

 almost as quickly as a ,22cal. "noiseless barrel." 



Should you get such a gun built "to special order," you 

 must get a shooting jacket with pockets long enough to 

 carry your "large dangerous game," alligators, etc. 

 Hoping that you will enumerate, the "other advantages" 

 at an early date I will close. Wilt. 



STOCKING GAME GROUNDS. 



YOUR correspondent "Ortyx" asks for information 

 on this point, and if you will allow me I will con- 

 tribute my mite. 



Some years ago I brought from North Carolina to New 

 Jersey some fifteen or twenty pairs of quail to put out on 

 my own place. I kept them in my barn from February 

 to the middle of April, feeding them on split peas, their 

 favorite food in North Carolina, and giving them free 

 access to water. I found they became very tame, and 

 when they were turned out in April they continued to 

 remain for some time in the vicinity of the barn. The 

 place was very favorably situated for stocking, a stream 

 running along the edge of a wood, with cultivated land 

 on one side, at intervals patches of good woodcock 

 grounds, and two or three dry bottoms of old mill dams 

 overgrown with alders and raspberries. I had food scat- 

 tered in various places for them until they paired. The 

 most of them raised broods, but they continued to be 

 much tamer than the native quail, and as a consequence 

 were nearly ail shot the first season, some of them before 

 the law was up, by outside parties, no attention being 

 paid to the fact that the land was posted. 



From my observation I would say peas constitute good 

 food for quail. Patches of peas and buckwheat should 

 be sown in sheltered places on the grounds where birds 

 are turned out. When these are fairly started, it is a 

 good plan to scatter light branches and brambles over 

 them, so as to furnish shelter from hawks while the birds 

 are feeding. Thick patches of bramble furnish the best 

 shelter. 



There should be turned out as early as possible an equal 

 number of cocks and hens. It is said that unmated cocks 

 break up the nests and destroy the eggs of the mates they 

 could not win. 



The birds should not be on hand long enough to become 

 familiar with man, and so become tame and dependent. 

 If they become so — and they can be made as tame as 

 chickens — some method should be used to make them 

 wild before they are allowed to be shot at. 



Without any knowledge on the subject, I would con- 

 clude that birds would thrive better on the same latitude 

 on which they were raised — or on the same isothermal 

 lines. Hence Western birds would be no better than 

 Southern for the vicinity of New York. Amateur. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have seen the question asked in some paper, "Who 

 ever heard of a market-shooter stocking land with quail?" 

 I have to answer that Mr. Lucius Whitaker, of Hampton, 

 Conn., one of the mo3t genial fellows to be found in a 

 day's march and an expert with dog and gun, whose 

 company is sought by many a Providence and Hartford 

 sportsman, has procured of E. B. Woodward, of New 

 York, eight dozen strong, healthy Western quail, which 

 he will let loose in pairs on unprotected land as soon as 

 the weather will permit. This is being much more lib- 



eral and showing a truer sportsman spirit than those who 

 do the same tiling on their private grounds: and now I 

 will ask, Who has ever done likewise? "Ortyx" asks, in 

 your last number, if eastern Massachusetts can be success- 

 fully stocked with quail. I answer, it can if the winter 

 is not so severe as to kill them. The locality he mentions 

 is pretty well north, but it is perhaps near enough to the 

 coast to get its benefits. The middle of April or first of 

 May is early enough to let them out up there. It is well 

 to feed them on soaked rye and buckwheat. It is hest to 

 let out a pair in a place and far enough apart so that they 

 will not hear each other whistle and by that means get 

 together. Before you let them out keep about a dozen in 

 a box, 18in. wide by 4ft. long and 8in. high, covered by 

 wire cloth, lin. mesh; feed on soaked rye and buckwheat, 

 with plenty of perfectly dried sand to eat and dust in, and 

 fresh water in troughs on the side, about lin. wide, at 

 suitable height to drink out of and at the same time high 

 enough to keep them from wading in it. There is but 

 little clanger of losing them if properly cared for. 



D. G. F. 



YELLOWSTONE PARK PETITION. 



WE print below a few signatures of gentlemen who 

 have put their names to the petition asking Con- 

 gress to act on the Yellowstone Park bill now before the 

 Senate. The time has been so short since the sending 

 out of these papers that there has been time to receive 

 only a few lists, but we are happy to say that great in- 

 terest is being taken in the matter throughout the whole 

 country: 



LIST OF SIGNATURES TO THE PETITION FOR THE PROTEC- 

 TION OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

 New York. 



Win. F. Johnson. Geo. L. Lvon. 



P. E. Ackert. O. Rosenwald. 



Peter B. Hoyt. Isaac Rosenwald. 



Judge R. L. Larremore. M. S. Radeles, M.D. 

 H. W. Bookstaver. Francis C. Reed. 



Chas. Whittorn. Wm. H. Reed. 



Robert Betty. Henry Hawkes. 



Daniel Lewis, M.D. William Lalon. 



John Davidson. Lawrence Wells. 



W. Johnston. 



Connecticut. 

 J. W. Aisop. John C. Broatch. 



John R. Pitt. C. W. Davis. 



E. N. Hubbard. C. Vincent Coffin. 

 Geo. H. Parkmsou. F. W. Whittelsey. 

 John A. Robinson. S. A. Robinson. 



J. W. Hubbard. C. G. R. Vinal. 



John W. Trantum. Josiah M. Hubbard. 



Thomas P. Bill. Geo. M. Southmayd. 



Chas. L. Brockway. Frederick Vinal. 



H. C. Ward. Robt. N. Jackson. 



Geo. W. Buell. A. G. McKee. 



Edward T. Jackson. Wm, Jamieson. 



W. K. Bacon. Romain A. Chapman. 



Russell H. Whitaker. Geo. A. Chaffee. 



J. H. Griffin. Chas. C. Chamberlain. 



W. B. Brewer. Joseph J. Noxon. 



Robt. Broatch. W. S. Whitney. 



John A. Ryan. James H. Osborn. 



Fred Brewer. J. H. Bailey. 



H. B. Tolles. H. W. Ward. 



Samuel Stearns, Jr. Fred. Kelsey. 



W. H. Madison. Frank D. Brewster. 



H. F. Boardmau. Henry Gibbons. 



C. E. Jackson. T. R. Beat. 



F. D. Haines. C. A. C. Beman. 

 John H. Hutchinson. R. H. Kelsey. 



D. Newland Davis. Wm. E. Hale. 

 John N. Camp. Orrin E. Stoddard. 

 H. L. Camp. George T. Meech. 

 George A. Craig. T. Howard Thompson, 



E. C. Butler. Eldon. B. Birdsey. 

 Seth H. Butler. 



Kansas. 



J. E. Merritt. 

 Elmer Baer. 

 Chas. E. Baer. 

 W. S. Nihart. 

 W. A. Mounts. 

 V. C. Honchett. 

 W. E. Hodges. 



F. H. Greenwalt. 

 J. D. Hanchett. 

 Wm. Jones. 



D. B. Jenkins. 



E. C. Jenkins. 

 B. F. Nihart. 

 W. Galbraith. 



G. Stewart. 

 N. M. Wade. 

 James Schilling. 



H. E. Storr. 

 E. J. Rhodes. 

 J. A. Fisher. 

 W. F. Hammond. 

 L. L. Uhls. 

 M. S. Kenedy. 

 E. S. Walker. 



D. E. Strahl. 

 R. M. Farmer. 

 R. E. Fiuley. 

 John Laggart. 

 Wm. Schilling. 



E. P. Davis. 

 J. M. Wernoll. 

 E. K. Brush. 

 E. A. Brush. 

 Geo. W. Mowers. 



A MOUNTAIN LION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is not because there is not news enough to make up 

 an interesting letter that I have not written, but because 

 of the fact that I see your paper is crowded with letters 

 from all parts of the country and I think it best to give 

 you a rest at this end of the line. But having received 

 letters from two friends who have wintered just a little 

 east of the National Park, and knowing every word to be 

 true and worth publication I will write you just what they 

 say as to game and climate. 



Mahlon Frost is the father and Jesse the son. The 

 latter is but seventeen years old, and a braver boy is hard 

 to find as this narrative will reveal. They say the winter 

 has been a beautiful one, and when Jesse wrote in Feb- 

 ruary he said, "Yesterday I saw a band of elk, possibly 

 seventy-five to a hundred in the band, as we often do. 

 We do not kill any as we have all the meat we want , 

 having killed all we needed in the fall. We have killed 

 many deer, antelope, mountain sheep, elk, bear and seven 

 mountain lion which I want to tell you about. A few 

 mornings ago I was awakened by the cry of one these 

 night prowlers. When daylight came I found his tracks 

 within 100yds. of our camp. The tracks were so very 

 large that I arranged at once to follow him. I did so, 

 and such a path to follow I have never trod, over rocks 

 and chasms, through piles of rocks I went on hands 

 and knees for thirteen miles, if not more, and we can 

 judge distances pretty well. At first when I would 

 come to a place where he had entered the rocks, my 

 hair would stand on end, and a year ago I could not 

 have followed, but one becomes^ less fearful as you 

 learn how deadly a well aimed Winchester .45-90 is. 

 After going through brush and rocks — the brush so 

 thick and the rocks piled one on top of the other so that I 

 had in either case to go on hands and knees — I came to 

 an immense pile of rocks, and in looking around I found 

 that there was only the one opening under the rocks that 

 I could see. So I went all around and came back to the 

 place he entered. When within 6ft. of the spot, he sprang 

 out with the aw fullest roar I have ever heard. Had I 

 weakened for a single moment I would have been lost, 

 for he was in the very act of leaping for me, when I 



pulled the trigger of the .45-90. The force and power of 

 this gun is so great that it seemed to lift him off his feet 

 and he fell at mine, and with a few spasmodic kicks 

 was ready to measure. He was 12ft. Tin. from tip to tip, 

 and weighed as near as we could tell SCOlbs. Father 

 stalked three the other day, and secured two of them 

 before they got away. The trout fishing has been all and 

 more than any one could wish for." 



I send you this, Mr. Editor, because I know these men 

 to be perfectly reliable, and if I live till fall I will try my 

 luck with them. But allow me to assure you that in case 

 I should write you about crawling after mountain lion I 

 will be relating a dream and not an actual experience, 

 for I am not good at that kind of work. I get chills in 

 my back and head too easily. But I will stand up before 

 a bear, or I might shoot at a running lion, or shoot for 

 the tent should he take it in his head to shoot after me. 

 But I will be candid in any event and tell you all about 

 it. W. H. Williamson. 



Bismarck, Dakota, March 19. 



[We print the measurement of the animal above men- 

 tioned as it is written, but we presume that an error oc- 

 curred either in Jesse's letter or in copying it, for the length 

 given is one-half larger than that of any mountain lion 

 or cougar of which we have ever heard. It is conceiv- 

 able perhaps that the skin of a very large mountain lion 

 might be stretched to measure 12ft., but even this may 

 perhaps be doutbed.] 



TURKEYS AND DEER IN MISSOURI. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The hunting season is over, and we have oiled our guns 

 and laid them away. As I do so my thoughts go back to 

 twenty -four years ago, when we had plenty of large game 

 here, such as deer and turkey. Small game was very 

 scarce, and Ave did not think of shooting quail in those 

 days. If they were protected as well now as they were 

 then, we would have more shooting in season. In those 

 days we never used a shotgun. It was thought to be a 

 useless piece ef property for our shooting. I remember 

 very well when I bought a doublebarrel gun. How some 

 of my friends laughed at me and wanted to know what I 

 was going to do with a popgun like that. But I had a 

 good gun, and I soon surprised some of them, for the first 

 time I took the popgun out, I brought in two nice deer in 

 less than a half-day's hunt. I could just leave them all 

 when it came to a turkey hunt, for I could get them either 

 running or flying, it made but little difference to me 

 which. I have killed five turkeys in half a day's shoot- 

 ing with the popgun, as it was called. There was no 

 better sport than for me to get after a nice flock of tur- 

 keys, with a good tracking snow, and give them a little 

 run and get them scattered and hiding, and then when 

 they come out of their hiding place they will run a few 

 jumps before they start to fly, and that just gives you 

 good time to get in shape. If a sjiortsman can hit the 

 front of a barn he can kill a turkey flying. 



When large game was plentiful, I was too small to do 

 any hunting, but as soon as I was large enough to caiTy 

 a gun, I bought myself an old musket, and at it I went. 

 As I grew larger I improved my firearms, and soon traded 

 the musket for a good rifle, and then my first aim was to 

 kill a deer. Winter came and Christmas too, and with it 

 came a good snow. I was up in the wee small hours of 

 the night, and was off long before day to one of the 

 neighbors to go for the deer himt that we had talked of 

 for more than a month before, and at the peep of day we 

 started for the deer range. 



We had not gone far when we struck a trail, and we 

 were soon separated. I was going up a bushy gulch 

 when all at once I came out into an opening, and I saw 

 five deer crossing it ahead of me. They were too far for 

 a successful shot, but I turned loose anyway, scoring a 

 clear miss. It seems that the deer had got separated, and 

 as soon as the shot was fired and my gun was empty, a 

 small one came running down the hill directly at me. I 

 sat flat down in the snow, but it saw me and stopped 

 about forty yards away, but my gun was empty. Oh, 

 how I wished for a breechloader, but not having one I 

 must do the best I could. I poured in a good charge of 

 powder, and just rolled in a ball loose and put on a cap, 

 took good aim and fired. The ball struck where I had 

 aimed, and the deer only went a few jumps when he 

 tumbled. I was on him in short order with knife in hand, 

 but he was dead. 



My partner came to me by this time, and wanted me 

 to follow the ones that had passed by, but no. I had all 

 the venison I wanted that day. I managed to get it to 

 one of the neighbors, and there I left it until next day. 

 My partner did not go very far until he came up with the 

 others, and he dispatched one in short order, and he had 

 good luck to meet a friend to help him bring his home. 

 It was a long time before I had a chance to Mil another. 



It was in the winter of 1879-80 that we were camped 

 in the timber making railroad ties. We were right in a 

 game country, and we always kept our guns close at 

 hand. We had been wishing all winter long for a snow 

 and at last it came. The first fall was a good deep one, 

 so bright and early in the morning we started out to give 

 the turkeys a round-up. We found them without much 

 hunting, and started after them to run and tire them out, 

 but we soon found they were too much for us, so we 

 began to scheme to take them by surprise. It fell to my 

 lot to do the sneaking, and I went down one steep slope 

 and up another until at last I came in sight, and made a 

 sneak up a long hollow and up a steep slope and up I 

 popped within 100yds. of fifteen fine turkeys. They dis- 

 covered me at once and began to fly, so I only got one 

 shot and one turkey, but the shot did the work, for it 

 scattered them in all directions. Then we began our 

 work. After several wild shots, we got in a few good 

 ones, and about three o'clock we started for camp with 

 five fine turkeys. 



Another time we went out deer hunting, and after sev- 

 eral hours' hunt without any success we turned toward 

 home, tired and discouraged. On our way home our 

 hopes were brightened up by coming on to the trail where 

 two had gone along about an hour before. Vv^e followed 

 them only a short distance, when w T e saw another lying 

 On a hillside in plain view, and so placed that we could 

 not get within gunshot of him. He ran off and came in 

 on the same trail that we were following. After follow- 

 ing them for an hour, we became tired and turned for 

 home once more; but luck was for us that day. We had 

 not gone far, when on turning a steep point we came out 

 directly ahead of our deer and within fan- gunshot. We 



