Nov. 3, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



285 



is derived from a friend at present residing there, with 

 whom I shot last whiter. 



While the Czar is having the measles, the German 

 Emperor, Kaiser William, has heen enjoying a hunting 

 trip at Count von Stolberg's Wernigerode Castle, familiar 

 on canvas to frequenters of the old "BlackCrook.'' From 

 all accounts the aged sportsman, now in his ninety-second 

 year, had a high old time. In Wernigerode every man 

 and boy plays the drum. After each had prepared the 

 Kaiser for the hunt by playing him a tune, the 

 sport began. Each hunter stood behind a screen 

 of evergreens. The game, which consisted of deer and 

 wild boars, was driven by dogs and beaters through 

 two big gates. It was' prevented from heading 

 back by nets and fences. The Emperor faced one of 

 these gates and Prince William the other. They blazed 

 away at t e game as fast as their Leibjagers could hand 

 them loaded guns. The Emperor shot in form from away 

 back, and dropped one pig in its tracks. The Kaiser, who is 

 a great shot, fired very often. Finally, when all the car- 

 tridges gave out, the hunt ended with twenty-six pigs 

 and deer lying around. That evening the fastnesses of 

 the Hartz Mountains were illuminated with flaming 

 torches, and the Kaiser said he "wanted to go home." 

 Gentlemen in full dress and ladies with bare shoulders 

 came out of the castle and are said to have viewed the 

 dead trophies of the chase. Altogether the hunt was a 

 ■quaint reminiscence of mediaeval times. In this country 

 when people want to see pigs "done up,'' they step into a 

 Chicago or Jersey City abattoir, which are acknowledged 

 to take the cake in hog killing time. 



Several deer are said to have been killed in South Jersey. 

 Some hunters from Cumberland county have killed two 

 in Cape May county, and a party from Philadelphia have 

 shot one. 



The farmers of Somerset and Middlesex counties, N. J. , 

 have organized a protective society to prevent shooting 

 on their lands this season. 



For some weeks past robin shooting has been the rage 

 on Staten Island. Thousands have been shot and brought 

 to this city. The Wise Acre. 



New York, Oct. 31. 



ARE THEY WORTH THEIR SALT? 



PERMIT me to inquire through your columns where, 

 within a few hours' jomney of California's metro- 

 polis, good wildfowl shooting may be obtained, if not 

 free, then where for a fair remuneration. By "good" I 

 refer more particularly to fowl that, after bagging, are 

 fit to bring to table. 



I endeavor, sir, to think and speak fairly of every 

 country or portion of a country in which it may be my 

 privilege to reside: and I was always most emphatically 

 assured that California Avas the place, par excellence, for 

 wildfowl, and for a sportsman-naturalist it may be 

 abounding, as I believe it does, in fowl both novel and 

 innumerable. But where, after time and trouble in 

 acquiring specimens of these aforesaid fowl that in other 

 States are found delicious, one finds them (from a culin- 

 ary point of view) not worth their salt, it causes a man's 

 feelings to yearn toward a land where things are at least 

 what they seem. 



To be specific, my complaint is this: That in spite of 

 intelligence in cooking all the specimens of fowl acquired 

 in the vicinity of San Francisco (say from Alameda to 

 Alvarado) have a rank, sedgy, fishy flavor, that totally 

 unfits then ever being rendered a desirable acquisition to 

 the table of those with a knowledge and vivid recollection 

 •of the quality and flavor of fowl procurable in adjoining 

 States and Territories. 



I am not so narrow-minded as to complain of the absence 

 >of many noble game birds in California that are extremely 

 plentiful a few hundred miles north (too far to go often), 

 it is rather of the guttering counterfeits of honest fowl 

 that I complain. 



Will some one of. your generous (and more fortunate 

 readers) kindly enlighten J. G. B, 



San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 15. 



GAME IN THE PASTURE LOT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I noticed in last issue of your paper that a gentleman 

 in this State shot 103 woodchucks between April 15 and 

 Oct. 15, and wants to know who can beat it. I cannot 

 beat it in total but in average I can. 



Last August I spent a couple of weeks in the Berkshire 

 Hills, Mass., and as I always do, took my rifle, a Ballard 

 .40-63-285. I had only three days while there to try the 

 woodchucks. I started out about 3- o'clock P. M. each 

 day and bagged fourteen, an average of 4f. Had I had 

 from April to October to go after "chucks," judging from 

 the number and my usual success, I would not be afraid 

 to challenge our friend for a woodchuck match. 



My yearly vacation is usually spent among the Berk- 

 shire Hills (my old home), and one of my pleasures is 

 helping the farmers exterminate the woodchucks, 



I have, a fine Maynard and Ballard, the latter seems to 

 .be more effective owing to its large caliber. A wood- 

 chuck is not easy to kill and even when mortally wounded 

 .is not always secured. It is a good plan to reach into 

 their holes if you do not find them after a shot. I began 

 that practice this year and the result was encouraging, 

 as four out of the lot had jumped into their burrows and 

 had I not tried to reach them I would have counted my 

 shots misses. 



I find my .40-63-285 about as effective as anything for 

 woodchucks. Care has to be used as bullets of this size 

 with heavy charge of powder are dangerous to send fly- 

 ing around at random, but when such a bullet hits a 

 "chuck" he is usually demoralized and cannot travel far. 

 I find there are other advantages in using a large caliber. 

 Woodchucks are very shy and they don't allow one-to get 

 too near. If you have a rifle that can be depended upon 

 at 150yds. , plenty of shots can be had and I find more 

 satisfaction in trying them at a fair distance. 



I had quite an experience with a woodchuck this sum- 

 mer. I was walking over the hills on the lookout: a big 

 black fellow ran behind a rock and to satisfy his curiosity 

 peeped around the corner. I could see his head as far 

 back as the eyes, and thought by a carefully shot I might 

 get him. After the shot I ran to find him. He was stand- 

 ing about three feet from his original position and ap- 

 peared stunned. Upon seeing me he suddenly jumped 

 for his hole between the rocks: but I was too quick for 

 him and got my foot on his hindquarters, holding him 

 fast until I could insert a cartridge in my rifle. I then 



caught him by the tailaud gave lrhn asudden. jerk throw- 

 ing him about 20ft., and before he could recover himself 

 I had got in the second shot. The first shot had cut away 

 almost the entire upper jaw. That afternoon I shot three 

 that weighed 151bs. each. W. P. U. 



FLIGHT BIRDS IN PIKE. 



THE season for flight woodcock in Pike county has 

 been and will be a phenomenal one. The 90°-in-the- 

 shade gunners had the slim bags they merited. Late 

 snow and ice storms played havoc with the nesting birds 

 and the local broods were very slim in numbers. The 

 results of the 4th of July hunting were about thirty-three 

 per cent, of more favorable years, and after the 15th of 

 July the young ruffed grouse had a rest Until the fall 

 flight came— the first bunch of birds appeared on Sept. 10 

 — for the most callous of the hunters could not face the 

 gibing that was rife when the announcement was made 

 that so and so was going after summer "woodcock." 

 One result was a fair sprmkling of ruffed grouse when 

 they were legitimate targets. As to fall woodcock ,the 

 third, and probably the final, flight came on Friday, Oct. 

 28. It was a large one, and the indications are that the 

 birds will remain until Nov. 12 or 13. The second flight, 

 which appeared to be thickest at about Oct. 10, was a 

 glorious one. Here is what a local paper, the Milford 

 Dispatch, says about the exploits of two gunners, whose 

 total share of the flight was sixty- two woodcock: 



"Who can beat this ? In the palmy days of Pike county 

 hunting — more than a decade since— our local sportsmen, 

 more than once in a season, came home with a backload 

 of game. Ed. Quick, Bub and Halstead WeUs and others 

 made big records of big bags, notably one of 19 woodcock, 

 killed in two acres of willows near Aunt Mary Van Gor- 

 don's in 1876. Such luck is now rare, but on Friday and 

 Saturday George M. Quick, of Shockapee, and G. B." Tay- 

 lor, of New York, killed to their dogs Shamrock and Joe 

 24 woodcock and 8 ruffed grouse, 16 of the woodcock 

 falling to their guns on Saturday." 



Other sportsmen did equally well. Quick and the 

 Writer, without making hard work of their recreation, 

 found it easy to average a dozen head of game— ruffed 

 grouse and woodcock— a day, with plenty of time thrown 

 in for a comfortable lunch, a start with the sun and a 

 ride or walk home by daylight to Quick's hunters' home 

 on the Sawkill, a mile and a half from Milford Village. 



Those who like to shoot squirrels will be disappointed 

 this year. There is so much food for them in the woods 

 that they are scattered and there has been no migration 

 from less favored places. There are yet many deer on the 

 range over the Delaware from Carr's Rock to Port Jervis, 

 but there is at least one bear for every deer. Never were 

 signs of bruin so plentiful. There has been a good deal 

 of hounding done already, but only half a dozen deer 

 have been killed, of which at least four were shot in the 

 water, a flagrant violation of the law. Quick does not 

 hound. He will hunt woodcock and grouse for the next 

 fortnight and when the first tracking snow comes he will 

 be prepared to stalk and knows where to look for big 

 game. Rabbits, both gray and white, are legion, and 

 there will be fair quail shooting along the Delaware both 

 on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania side. The Bloom- 

 ing Grove Park Association 'has increased its territory 

 and is crowding the Greenings and other gentry of ' 'The 

 Farms." What a glorious place Pike county would be 

 were summer woodcock shooting abolished and deer 

 hounding stopped. Amateur. 



ROADS IN THE NATIONAL PARK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



My attention has just been called to the leading editorial 

 article in your issue for Sept. 15, in which you reflect 

 rather severely and very unjustly on my administration 

 of the roads and bridges in the Yellowstone National 

 Park. 



I am not a stranger to newspaper criticism of my offi- 

 cial acts, and generally pay "no attention to it. "Your 

 paper, however, has displayed such an interest in the af- 

 fairs of the National Park, and has generally stated facts 

 so accurately, and based thereon judgments so sound, 

 that I feel I cannot afford to let your reniaiks pass un- 

 controverted. 



You say "a hasty and superficial examination of the 

 roads leads to the conclusion that they are by no means 

 so well constructed as were those made under Capt. King- 

 man's direction." I am surprised that a journal of the 

 high standing of the Forest and Stream would be so 

 very unfair as to condemn the work of a public officer on 

 "a hasty and superficial examination." 



Now, I desire to make the following assertions fairly 

 and Squarely. 



First— The work of the improvement of the Upper Mis- 

 souri does not occupy almost all my time. During the 

 past summer the Park affairs have occupied most of my 

 time, and I have taken more interest in them than in ail 

 the rest of my works combined. 



Second— The care and extension of the roads has not 

 been left wholly to my superintendent. I have person- 

 ally explored by riding or walking over it, in advance, 

 every foot of the ground where roads have been con- 

 structed, and have indicated where they were to go, and 

 how they were to be bruit; and afterward have carefully 

 inspected their construction, and in many instances 

 ordered changes. 



Third— My superintendent has not spent most of his 

 time at the Hot Springs Hotel. He has spent most of his 

 time on the road or at the camps of the road parties. The 

 office and headquarters of roads and bridges are at the 

 Mammoth Hot Springs, and this would naturally be the 

 place where the superintendent might be found. ' He had 

 a team, fast and tough, that could land him anywhere 

 accessible to wheels in six hours. The limit of the range 

 of the working parties was thirty miles from the Hot 

 Springs. Lamartine, the overseer," would doubtless often 

 be seen at the latter some time during the day, and yet 

 on the same day he may have been forty miles away "in- 

 specting work. He attended closely to his duties. If your 

 executive officer attends as eloselyto the interests of your 

 paper as Lamartine does to his work, I congratulate you. 

 Moreover, Lamartine was Captain Kingman's right-hand 

 man, and it was on the latter's recommendation that I 

 made him overseer. 



Fourth— The roads built during the past summer are in 

 every respect fully as good as any ever before constructed 

 in the Park over similar ground and out of like soil. 



Fifth— More miles of complete road have been built the 



past summer than have been built heretofore in any one 

 working season. 



Sixth— The full force took the field July 1, the day the 

 appropriation became available. This is the first time 

 this has been done. 



These assertions are not intended in the slightest degree 

 to reflect on Capt. Kingman. He did very good work — 

 considering his limited means, remarkably good work. I 

 know of no one who could have done better, but he would 

 be the last one to claim that there are no other Engineer 

 officers who can do as well. 



Unless my assertions can be disproved I think an apol- 

 ogy is due, and I ask you to at least give this letter the 

 same prominence in your journal as was given the edit- 

 orial in question. Very respectfully. 



. Clinton D. Sears, Captain of Engineers, U.S.A. 



United States Engineer Office, St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 27, 1887 



NOTES FROM THE PARK. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Oct. 10.— Ed- 

 itor Forest and Stream: Another season has ended. 

 The association hotels have been tinned over to those who 

 will care for them dtiringthe long winter months to come. 

 The stages have been withdrawn from the Park and 

 every point of interest looks quiet and deserted. The 

 wild animal can soon travel the roads and trails undis- 

 turbed by tourists, excepting a few who do not follow the 

 beaten paths, but seek the Park to enjoy its wonders in 

 solitude. The weather is pleasant, and except for the 

 cold nights this is the best time to visit the Park. No 

 flies, mosquitoes nor gnats. 



Only the topographers belonging to the Geological Sur- 

 vey are at the Mammoth Hot Springs; a few days will 

 finish up their work here. Mr. Hague and the geologist of 

 the survey have been at work most of the season to the east 

 and south of the Yellowstone Lake. Mr. Hague has been 

 to the head of the Yellowstone River, where it has its 

 source in an immense snowbank. This is on a very high 

 peak in an amphitheatre near the summit of the moun- 

 tain; it is over 12,200ft. high, and has at least three large 

 rivers rising in its springs and snowdrifts — the Yellow- 

 stone, Buffalo Fork of Snake, and one supposed to be the 

 Gray Bull. This is an unexplored region, only a very 

 few prospectors and trappers have ever been to the head 

 of these streams— they have left no record. Mr. Hague 

 is the first one connected with a survey to have pene- 

 trated these wilds; he found good traveling up the 

 Yellowstone in a trail made by elk and other game. He 

 was also at the head of Thoroughfare Creek. Tins heads 

 in mountains drained on the east by Stinking Water 

 River. In the mountains at the head of the Yellowstone 

 head the south fork of Stinking Water, Gray Bull, Wind 

 River and forks of Snake River, five large rivers, whose 

 exact sources are yet unknown. The country abounds in 

 game of all kinds and the finest mountain scenery in 

 Wyoming. Looking at this country from high moun- 

 tains to the north, it is but a broken sea of peaks, 

 hundreds of them 9,000 to 12,000ft. high. Its rivers rush 

 through canon, from 1,000 to 3,000ft. deep. Mr. Hague 

 has returned to Washington more interested in the Park 

 than ever. 



The nmning season for elk has commenced; their 

 whistle can be heard throughout the Park. It is the most 

 exciting sound a hunter can hear. Recently Ed Wilson 

 the scout brought in a man found killing elk in the 

 southern part of the Park. His camp and stock was out- 

 side the Park, only his saddle horse and rifle was 

 captured with him. H. 



THE GAME CAMPAIGN. 



LEXINGTON, Va., Oct. 25. — Saturday, the 15th, 

 dawned clear, dry and warm, perhaps hot were the 

 better word. Nevertheless, many sportsmen were out; 

 but — in consequence of the heat— no good bags were made. 

 Twenty birds, two hares and a mallard constitued the 

 largest of which I have heard. The mallard, a male of 

 this year's brood, was large, fat and juicy. On Thursday, 

 the 20th, Ave had a fine rain, with lower temperature, 

 which added infinitely to the pleasure and profit of shoot- 

 ing. Buds are unsually well grown, only two coveys of 

 small birds having been flushed so far. On Saturday", the 

 22d, two of us were out with poor sport until the after- 

 noon, only seven being bagged up to 2 o'clock. After 

 luncheon we entered a field of fine cover and in less than 

 two hours bagged twenty-one; the bag for the day num. 

 bering thirty. On the following Monday the same two 

 men out from 1 P. M. to 3:30. at which hour we were 

 driven in by the rain; the bag for the two hours' shooting- 

 being seventeen. We two have bagged from Saturday 

 15th to 24th inclusive, eighty -one. Ducks are flying 

 southward in considerable numbers, heralding colder 

 weather.— T. M. S. 



Narcoossee, Fla., Oct. 24.— With the advance of the 

 season quail on being flushed are beginning to fly fast and 

 far; but in spite of it the coveys are getting perceptibly 

 thinned, though there is a fair amount of birds left to give 

 us some good days yet. Cocks are unusually predominant 

 this season; so far we have averaged, as a rule, two males 

 to every hen. Yesterday with four guns we bagged 

 thirty-six and one-half brace, and five couple of doves. 

 The latter being very numerous, gathering in flights of a 

 hundred or more, but uncommonly shy, it is hard to get 

 within range. Driving is the easiest way, and gives one 

 good sport as they come bv, being no sluggards in their 

 flight.— General. 



I have a letter from A. B. Smith, High Point, N. C, in 

 which he writes: "Farmers all say there are more quail 

 this season than usual, and of better growth ; sportsmen 

 who visit this section can have all the shooting they 

 want." I go to North Carolina on Nov. 6 for two weeks' 

 shooting before the field trials commence. I have written 

 a friend near High Point, on whose lands there are many 

 wild turkeys, asking him not to allow any one to disturb 

 the turkeys until a representative of the Forest and 

 Stream gets there.— Geo, T. Leach (New York). 



Concord, N. H. — Partridges (grouse) are scarce here 

 this fall and very few have been shot. One of the best 

 shots around here only killed two woodcock this season. 

 Ducks are as plenty as usual. There are a few teal and 

 pretty fair black-duck shooting all through the marshes 

 along Turkey River, a small tributary of the Merrimac. 

 I have seen but one quail and two or three flocks of snipe 

 and one flock of upland plover, — G. W. 



