Sept. 8, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



127 



HUNTING IN THE SHOSHONE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have just read an article in the September issue of 

 $cribnw , s Magazine by the Rev. W. S. Rainsford, called 

 "Camping and Hunting in the Shoshone,"' and it strikes 

 one conversant with the geography of that part of the 

 Rocky Mountains that a good portion of the Rev. Mr. 

 Rainsford's camping and hunting took place in the 

 National Park, at the expens o of the "noble American 

 game", therein. He should practice what he preaches, 

 for (quoting from his article) he says " this Park will be 

 doubled in size and then a safe retreat, and what is of 

 more importance a safe summer breeding place, will be 

 preserved as an inviolate sanctuary for our noble Ameri- 

 can game." In the next few lines he tells of his camp at 

 Heart Lake, "and the dinner was elk steak." This is 

 providing a " safe retreat " with a vengeance for " our 

 noble American game." As Heart Lake is nearly in the 

 center of the National Park, the obvious inference is 

 that the noble game was sacrificed to provide the 

 dinner, 



But what riles one most in the article is the cool way 

 the writer describes trapping bears, and it passes my 

 understanding how a sportsman and gentleman of the 

 Rev. Mr. Rainsford's standing can inflict such horrible 

 cruelty and untold suffering even on a wild beast. Every 

 true lover of bear shooting should protest against this 

 detestable practice of killing bears. They are unfortu- 

 nately scarce enough as it is, without then- being killed 

 off by means of those cruel steel- jawed. traps. Apart from 

 the cruelty, of what earthly value is a trophy when 

 attained in this manner? It can recall no stirring 

 memory, no sudden thumping of the heart, no thrill of 

 keenest pleasure, as will the recollection of a fair, face 

 to face encounter and capture of bruin's skin by a well 

 planted bullet. On the one hand a noble antagonist, whose 

 death by legitimate means is enough for any one to be 

 proud of accomphshing; on the other a worried, maimed 

 and suffering brute, often half starved, if not wholly so, 

 and often tied up enough to be perfectly harmless by the 

 aid of sixty pounds of trap and ox chain, with the additional 

 stick of timber fast to all. And yet this latter means of 

 killing bear is called sport. There is another feature of 

 evil in this cowardly method, and that is the sacrifice of 

 our noble game to bait the traps with. No bait, no bear; 

 hence an elk, deer or sheep must be killed to get that 

 paw into the trap. This is hard on other sportsmen who 

 are to follow, but it beats the Dutch, my dear sir, what a 

 free translation some people give to the word sport. 



The "Col. Pigot" in the article evidently refers to my 

 neighbor Col. Pickett, whose lovely little shooting box 

 way up Grey Bull has been the theater of many an excit- 

 ing contest, and whose owner is so well known to the 

 readers of Forest and Stream. Here is an example for 

 young sportsman to follow, for Col. Pickett is an old gen- 

 tleman over sixty, and yet he asks notliing better than to 

 find himself at close quarters with Brer B'ar, no traps 

 either mar the result of his nerve. 



Archibald Rogers. 



Beverly, Mass. 



THE RIFLE ON FLYING GAME. 



I SAW the Raub magazine trap advertisement in your 

 paper, and ordered one two months ago. I have 

 some practice every day with it. It is the most complete 

 trap to make a man a good wing shot with the rifle that 

 exists. When I advanced so far that I could hit either 

 cardboard or clay targets nearly every time, I tried my 

 hand on pipe bowls thrown by hand, then I got so I could 

 hit pennies. I waited patiently for Aug. 25 to try my 

 new 25-shot rifle on mudhens over the dog. I have the 

 good fortune to own an Irish Elcho bitch that is as near 

 perfection on mudhens as is possible to get one. She has 

 a local reputation of being able to put up all the mud- 

 hens on a creek within reach of the shooter on low water. 

 The eventful day arrived at last, and although I did not 

 brag about being able to kill every mudhen that got up, 

 yet I had a notion that the mudhen that got up before my 

 rifle was a dead bird. 



At 7 A. M. on the 25th, my friend A. and myself, armed 

 with about 200 .'<2-cal. shorts, took a car to the inlet and 

 engaged the only rowboat that we could get at that hour. 

 The water is rough when there is any wind crossing the 

 channel, and our boat was a flat-bottom, with square 

 stern, so that we shipped considerable water, in fact so 

 much that my friend Avanted me to put back. However, 

 we crossed with nothing worse than a part wetting, and 

 finally reached ground that looked gamy. We hied on 

 the bitch and started to slaughter anything that got up 

 before us. After going about a mile and shooting at 

 swallows and sea gulls and making clean misses each 

 time with the exception of a sea gull, the bitch showed 

 game by a point on the bend of a creek. I worked up to 

 her, when up jumped a nice large mudhen and poised in 

 the ah- waiting for me to shoot. I shot and missed. Then 

 I started to pump lead after him. I shot at him four 

 times, when he finally lit 500yds. away without a feather 

 ruffled. I was mad. My friend thought it would have 

 been better to have brought shotguns along, and after our 

 missing three easy flyers he predicted a clean score. Even 

 the dog was disgusted. I did not understand why I 

 missed. I only seemed not to be able to hold on a bird 

 moving with just the right amount of sight. I finally 

 made up my mind not to shoot at the next one unless I 

 got a sight that I was sure was right, so after hunting a 

 short distance the dog made game and flushed a nice 

 driver. I held on till I was sure, then pulled and down 

 came our first mudhen. The dog seemed as much elated 

 as either of us as she retrieved it. My friend then took 

 courage and felt that if they would only wait a little 

 longer after leaving the ground he would surely hit one. 

 We next saw two swimming out in the bay. We took 

 the boat and started after them. I shot both without a 

 miss; and. if any one thinks it is pot shooting to shoot a 

 mudhen swimming in rough water out of a rocking boat, 

 he will find it more difficult than a flying shot, as the 

 head and neck are all that show on the water. 



We worked one meadow after another with varied suc- 

 cess; the best score I made was three straight hits. Mr. 

 A.'s rifle became disabled by the mainspring breaking, 

 and we finally concluded to make for home. We counted 

 our game. I had shot seven flying, five swimming; Mr. 

 A. killed two, making a score of fourteen birds, all we 

 wanted for one day. I did not count the misses, but out 

 of 200 cartridges we brought home about 75; that tells 

 the tale. I am satisfied that easy birds can be shot with 



the rifles; and if any one takes a course on the Raub trap 

 and learns to shoot well at all kinds of targets, he will 

 want to try conclusions with live game, and I would 

 rather bring down one bird with the rifle than a dozen 

 with the shotgun. Of course this only applies to easy- 

 flying birds, for I find that in cover shooting sometimes a 

 shotgun has hardly enough pellets in it for me. J. A. 

 Atlantic City, N. J. 



GAME IN EASTERN ONTARIO. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The following tccjunt of game and sport in eastern 

 Ontario may be of interest to some of your readers. 

 Devotees of rod and line may have good sport in any part 

 of eastern Ontario; bass and pike being plentiful in 

 streams flowing south, while trout and bass swarm in the 

 lakes at the headwaters of the Ottawa tributaries, but the 

 inevitable "hog" with net and spear is fast reducing their 

 numbers. Pike (called here pickerel) and bass, both being 

 hard-fighting and gamy fish, are usually taken with spoon 

 or silver minnow, and give excellent sport with a light 

 bamboo rod. 



Wild geese seldom visit us and very few are killed, but 

 spring and fall ducks come in considerable numbers to 

 our lakes and bays. They afford great sport to cockney 

 sportsmen who love to make a noise, although they 

 seldom make a bag. To be successful one must have as 

 much patience as Job and be an excellent shot, as the 

 birds are very wary and most of the shooting must be 

 done at single birds; a bag of fifteen or thirty is con- 

 sidered an evidence of a day of good luck. There is very 

 little snipe shooting, and partridge have become exceed- 

 ingly scarce, most of those killed being shot from their 

 perch in the trees. 



Black squirrels are plentiful in the settled part of the 

 country, and when hunted with the rifle give perhaps 

 the best practice for quick shooting of any game in the 

 country. Immediately, when alarmed, they make tracks 

 for some secure retreat in a hollow tree, and methinks it 

 would puzzle the crack glass ball shooters to bring them 

 down at from 30 to 100yds., as their strategic movements 

 to the rear through the treetops are very quick and ir- 

 regular. 



Fox hunting is followed by many sport-loving farmers, 

 many of whom keep efficient packs of well-trained fox- 

 hounds; and the pursuit of the "varmint race" is a choice 

 way of spending the winter's leisure. As a matter of 

 course, foxes find Ontario rather a cold climate, and like 

 Yankee bank officials, they "skip out." 



Rabbits are very plentiful in the backwoods, and are 

 little hunted, as where they are abundant large game is 

 more inviting to the sportsman; but throughout the settle- 

 ments they have been nearly exterminated by the local 

 Nimrods. 



Deer and bear are yet plentiful along the watershed 

 separating Bay of Quinte from Ottawa waters, but as this 

 region is dotted with fine lakes, the water butcher and his 

 ally, the domesticated wolf, will doubtless exterminate 

 them in a few years. An anti-houndmg law is much 

 needed in Ontario. A few years ago a party of Ameri- 

 cans, (they call themselves sportsmen) with a pack of 

 thirty or forty dogs, killed upward o£ two hundred deer, 

 and of these many were left in the woods to rot. 



Camp hunting is much resorted to during the open sea- 

 son for deer, and it is a notorious fact that a party of 

 tyros, still- bun ting, will get from none to five deer in a 

 two weeks' hunt, while the same party with hounds 

 would be "dead sure" to get ten or twelve deer in the 

 same time. Moose are killed between the Madawaska 

 and Lake Nipissing and occasionally one is killed south of 

 this limit. Rameod. 

 Trenton, Ontario. 



GAME PROTECTION SENTIMENT. 



FROM the reports of the Game and Fish Protectors to 

 the Fish Commission we take the following extracts 

 as illu-trative of phases of sentiment in regard to game 

 laws and then enforcement: 



J. H. Goodwin, Jr.— Second District. — I have seized 

 two seine nets of the value of $45 and have had three 

 suits settled by fines and costs amounting to $228 and 

 have endeavored during this time to have ten suits 

 brought to trial or settled in some way in the county of 

 New York, but have been unable to accomplish it through 

 the office of the district attorney of that county, and it 

 does seem as though it might do more harm than good to 

 attempt to prosecute in that county, for the reason that 

 in consequence of no fines being imposed, the infringers 

 of the game laws become bold and do not fear the con- 

 sequences. ' So I have found that I am obliged to resort 

 to threats only: but I must say that the marketmen and 

 dealers generally, if they are able to keep track of the 

 game and fish laws, are disposed to do what the law re- 

 quires. 



Matthew Kennedy — Third District,— I would again 

 recommend a change in the laws of 1879 (chap. 534) where 

 it reads as follows: "Any person who shall, at any time, 

 kill any of said birds, between sunset and daylight, or 

 pursue or fire at any of said birds with the aid of any 

 light or lantern, shalfbe deemed guilty of misdemeanor, 

 and hi addition thereto shall be liable to a penalty of fifty 

 dollars for each offense against this provision." It is very 

 difficult for me to hold violators under that part of the 

 section, as the hunters who do night shooting do it with- 

 out the aid of a lantern, most of the shooting being done 

 by twilight or moonlight, I have had violators of this 

 section and was unable to convict because no artificial 

 light was used while hunting. Considerable night duck 

 shooting was done in vicinity of Stockport, Columbia 

 county, the past fall, while birds were on then feeding 

 grounds. I have been ably assisted by the various game 

 and fish associations of this district, to whom I am grate- 

 ful. In my district there seems to be a decided improve- 

 ment in the sentiment of the people in reference to the 

 enforcement of the game and fish laws. The legislation 

 of the board of supervisors of Dutchess and Columbia 

 counties has been such for the past year as to make fish 

 and game protection more effectual. 



S. C. Armstrong — Fifth District. — I journeyed quietly 

 down to Burden Lake near Troy last May, ostensicly can- 

 vassing for Quain's Medical Dictionary. It is an excellent 

 work; price eight dollars. I did not have very good suc- 

 cess as a book agent, for I did not sell a book, but I in- 

 duced four men to come up to the office of District 

 Attorney La Mot* W. Rhodes (may the shadow of that 



faithful and efficient officer never grow less) and subscribe 

 and pay about $100 for having bass in their possession out 

 of season and for taking fish on a set line. Charles D. 

 Rousseau, of Troy, had venison in his possession out of 

 season. He gave it to his men in a lumber shanty and 

 they did eat it. It is said that occasionally he would put 

 a few deer skins in a Saratoga trunk, and there among 

 bottles of perfumery, toilet soap and woolen socks thev 

 would journey down to Troy, and the eye of no official 

 would discern them. However, Mr. Rousseau was in- 

 dicted, and on payment of fifty dollars to District Attor- 

 ney Brownell, of Hamilton county, he was discharged. 

 Fifty dollars would buy a fat ox. Peter Wilson was in- 

 dicted for spearing fish at Brant Lake, Warren county. 

 When the time for trial came he was too low to attend 

 court. His lawyer said he was very low with consumption. 

 He pleaded guily, and the kind-hearted judge let him off 

 w ith a, fine of five dollars. I am glad to hear at this 

 writing that Peter is much better. John Smith was 

 indicted for taking trout four inches long. His lawyer 

 said John's thumb had been in contact with a buzz saw, 

 and that he was poor and unable to work. He also had a 

 blind sister. He pleaded guilty and the judge fined him 

 five dollars. I commenced five suits in Supreme Court 

 when H. A. Howard was district attorney of Warren 

 county. When his successor, C. R. Patterson was elected, 

 Mr. Howard neglected or refused to turn over the papers 

 to Mr. Patterson. I was informed that Mr. Howard had 

 offered to settle these cases on payment of his costs, and 

 that he stated I had authorized him to do so. I never 

 advised or consented to anything of the kind. I have 

 heard that Howard did setde one case in this man- 

 ner where the defendant was liable for a penalty of $350. 

 Pasco, the man indicted for hounding deer on the first 

 day of July, was tried and acquitted. I do not think 

 there is one case in a thousand where the evidence would 

 be as plain and convincing. Two men saw the deer enter 

 the pond ; Pasco came up later and inquh-ed where the 

 deer crossed ; he had a gun and hound with him and told 

 one of the men it was his (Pasco's) dog ; he crossed the 

 pond, and soon after the deer was driven in and killed ; 

 the men saw the deer pulled into the boat. And yet 

 when Pasco, in a hang-dog manner, told the jury that he 

 was there on the first of July with his dog and gun hunt- 

 ing for ginseng, the jury by then- verdict assumed to be- 

 lieve him. I hope that the* fact that some of the mem- 

 bers of the jury were bushw T hacking about with Pasco's 

 attorney nearly all night before the verdict was rendered, 

 had nothing to do with the decision. Ihe same evidence 

 would have convicted a man of murder. Pasco was 

 fined once before for killing a deer and afterward in- 

 dicted for burning a building that was owned by the man 

 who made the complaint. He escaped punishment 

 through some flaw in the indictment. 



A MORNING SHOOT. 



I HAD promised my favorite shooting companion W., 

 an ardent lover of dog and gun, to join him in a little 

 sport the early part of August, and I went up to keep the 

 appointment.* W. owns Lew, a descendant of old Leicester, 

 as fine a setter as ever delighted the heart of a sportsman 

 posing as a living statue, while I had Belle, sister to Lew. 

 Both of us used 3Jflrs. powder and loz. No. 10 shot in 10- 

 bore guns. In the first willows we entered we found a 

 drove of cattle, although we usually find birds here. 

 Although Lew made game the birds had gone. We next 

 entered a cornfield, I taking the center and W. going out- 

 side next to the fence. A bird flushed ahead of Belle, 

 but flying in direct line to W. I was prevented from 

 shooting. I cried mark! and W. turned in time to get in 

 a snap shot, but failed to stop the bird which he marked 

 down. Lew being sent on did some very careful roading 

 on this bird which had run, finally locating and pointing 

 in grand style, the bird flushing wild and getting away 

 without a shot, owing to thick brush. Working on in 

 same direction, W. taking the brush and I the outside, 

 both dogs soon made game. Lew being first to find and 

 making another of his grand points. W. walked up the 

 bird, which favored me, and I stopped him. Both dogs 

 were anxious to retrieve, but we always make it a rule to 

 allow the dog that points that honor. Lew was told to 

 fetch, which he diet in his truly perfect manner. I had 

 almost forgotten the very important fact that both dogs 

 were trained under Hammond's rules, in "Training vs. 

 Breaking," as indeed are all our dogs. 



We now worked quite a little ground before Lew found 

 and pointed, and W. again had to take to the willows and 

 flush, as Lew objects to breaking his points, and W. 

 stopped Ins bird with a quick shot in thick brush. A 

 short distance on Lew again commenced roading, doing 

 some very fine work, and finally dropping to point with 

 head thrown round on right shoulder. While we were 

 admiring him the bird flushed and flew straight to W., 

 but he scored a miss. Working back, Lew soon found 

 and pointed, backed by Belle , and I scored my second 

 bird. We now worked across the creek and Lew again 

 gave us a treat, roading completely around a close-lying 

 bird in tall weeds. This bird was put up and dropped by 

 my companion. We again moved on, and missing Belle, 

 went back and found her on a point where Lew's bird had 

 just left, took her off, and moved a short distance, when 

 Lew stopped on a bird under an old treetop, which also 

 fell to W. 



Swinging a little to the right, the dogs again made 

 game in the opening. Lew again scoring the point. The 

 bird was seen by W., who walked up to flush, when it 

 swung behind some brush, and W. scored a miss and I 

 followed suit with both barrels. This was rather a set 

 back for me, as it was a left quarterer and my favorite 

 shot. Throwing in fresh cartridges we went on. Belle 

 swung to the left and immediately pointed under an old 

 log, and a fine old cock flushed from the opposite side, 

 which I grassed. Then going in the direction the other 

 bird had taken, both dogs again made game, the bird 

 flushing before the could locate him, and W. wiped my 

 eye with a splendid shot. 



* We were now close to home, which we reached at 11 

 o'clock, having had as much enjoyment as could possibly 

 be crowded into as short a space of time. 



We are anticipating good sport with the ruffed grouse, 

 as the outlook is very promising, the birds appearing nore 

 plentiful than last season, and that was the best for a 

 number of years. Deer and bear signs are very thick, 

 and, as we have a good crop of beech nuts, we hope for 

 some right royal time. Fred. 

 Potter County, Fa. 



