9 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[3 Mi. 2?, 1887, 



VIRGINIA FIELD-SPORTS ASSOCIATION. 



THE proceedings of the first meeting of the Virginia. 

 lieid-Sports Association at Richmond, Oct. 21, 1886, 

 have been published in pamphlet form. In their intro- 

 ductory note the officers of the Association explain the 

 character and purposes of the organization as follows: 



The character of our members is a sufficient guarantee 

 that the movement is In the hands of responsible and 

 earnest people. We are most fortunate in having our 

 membership very well distributed throughout the State, 

 in all sections. 'Every man in Virginia is interested in 

 the question of game preservation, whether he be a sports- 

 man, a farmer, a countryman, or a city man. Unless 

 intelligent measures are promptly organized the day is 

 not far distant when our game supply will bo exhausted, 

 and cannot be replaced. 



Tuoro is nothing to which the proverb, that a stitch in 

 time Bav©3 nine, applies with more force than to the 

 preservation of game. 



Local organizations are wall onough, but thoy do not 

 reach the Cuas, What is needed is a State organization, 

 wich an altnission tea so small as to admit everybody 

 to membership; with its ramification; extendin r into and 

 infl reusing all portions of the State; creating and. fostering 

 an intelhgo.it and healthy public sentiment. If such an 

 organization is established, it can, by correspondence and 

 inquuy, ascertain what is necessary to preserve game; it 

 will teach the people ttiat such laws are not enacted for cp- 

 Xiression, but for theii* own protection; and it will givo us 

 earnest men e very w here to see that the laws are net 

 oaacted at hap-hazard as they have been, and that they 

 are not, because tliey are bad laws, brought into contempt 

 and disuse by tiio people. 



Such an organization as we propose will go before the 

 Legislature of Virginia with lasvs which have been pre- 

 pared oy men who Uuvo stu.ued the question, and contain- 

 ing provisions for each section cf the State, framed after 

 fall conference and adv.ee with tho most inteihgent and 

 interested of their population. 



The Legislature will listen to and pass laws of this 

 character, and -when thoy have been viassod, tho Field - 

 Sports Association will take proper steps to have the laws 

 published and onforced in t.iu communities to which they 

 arc intended tc apply. 



No v, if such a law can be secured, how beneficial will 

 it b3, compared with the silly, neglected, and incompre- 

 hensible laws now on the statute books. 



To bring about that result is our leading object, and it 

 can best ue ootaincd by the generous response of our fel- 

 lo v-citizens who have tho same interests as ourselves in 

 this question. 



We appeal to you, individually, to join the organization, 

 and give us the banedt of your name, sanction and influence 

 in your communit}', to excite an interest in the question 

 of game protection. The other features of the Association, 

 while incidental to our main objects, render it a very 

 pleasant organization. JohN S. W.D.S, President. 



Baeton H. Giiuxd'/, Secretary. 



GAME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



" iVF 0RE deer k aY0 teeu secn in tllc os:iltl ' al portion of 

 JltJ. the State the past summer and fall than before for 

 twenty-Svc years," Mr. E. B. Hodge, the energetic and 

 fearless game and fish commissioner cf New Hampshire, 

 « and superintendent of the State hatching house at 

 I Plymouth, told a Manchester Mirror reporter, last week. 

 s "Deer have been seen the past summer as fax in toward 

 | , he center of the State as Alexandria. Two were shot 

 s ahera the past fall. They were also seen in the towns of 



. unoton, Ashland, Holderness, Plymouth, Rutnney, Dor- 



r jstor, and in most of the towns as you go further north, 

 r Kumney throe or four were seen together at one 

 ~ . f In Dorchester ono came to an oatfield, and was so 

 on^Eom'^at it aporoached Avitiiin two or three rods of the 

 — -ho owned it. They were common in Conway and 

 ^quently secn from the car windows on the Port- 

 Da Ugden3burgh Railroad. The increase in deer 



ho past three or four years in New Hampshire 



15. eally wonderful. As much progress has been 

 Prince Has direction as in any other branch of tho game 

 laws, ^-„ere is no reason why it coold not bo mado one 

 of the be^fc deer hunting States, if men could be induced 

 to let the deer alone in the time of deep snows. The 

 slaughtering of them at this period of the year is what 

 thins them out. When the snow is doep thoy go into 

 yards, and then they are easily killed by lawless hunters. 

 LaBt winter nearly twenty deer were killed in one day, in 

 ono yard, in the town of Bartlett, but in this case we 

 mado it hot for the parties. We secured eight convic- 

 tions, while throe of tho guilty parties skipped to Maine. 

 The great teiublc the commissioners have to contend with 

 is the .disinclination of people to give information against 

 those whom they know are guilty of a violation of the 

 game laws. Let a commissioner go into a strange town, 

 and if it is ascertained what ho is there for, it is almost 

 impossible for him to got evidence that will load to con- 

 viction. However, I feel encouraged at tho progress that 

 has been mado during the past few years. Between 

 June, 1885, and June, 1886. the commissioners secured 

 the imposing of between 500 and GOO fines in the State, 

 for the violation of the game laws; from last June until 

 now, not a einglo case has come before the courts. I do 

 not say, mind you, that there have boon no violations, 

 but they have been so few comparatively that thoy have 

 not come out. Fully 200 deer were killed illegally in this 

 State last winter, and yet moro deer were killed legally 

 hist fall than ever before, which shows the possibilities of 

 tho sport, if tho animals were hunted only in the open 

 season, from Sept. 1 to Nov. %. There is an immense 

 quantity of cover for deer in tho central portion of tho 

 State, and if wo oau succeed in stoppiug this hunting 

 and wholesale slaughtering in the winter, New Hamp- 

 shire will, in a few year?, become a great deer-hunting 

 State. Spoaking of tameness of deer, I knew an instance 

 last fall where a deer came every day within a few rods 

 of a man's house, and he had chance after chance to 

 shoot him. The law was off, too, but the man didn't 

 know it, and so tho deer escaped. When the man found 

 out afterward that it would have been porfoctly lawful 

 for him to have killed the deer, he felt very sore indeed. 



"The men who kill doer out of season usually cut off 

 their hindquarters and eat them and destroy the hides. 

 There are a let of case?, however, where deer are mur- 

 dered in tho woods, where the snow is too deep for them 

 to run and escape, and left. In such instances they are 

 tolled out of pure cussednesa, A oaso happened last 



whiter where a doe, heavy with fawn, was killed and cut 

 open, letting out two live fawns, and the brutes who did 

 the work ate the meat. What do you think of that? Did 

 I catch the offenders? Well, I did, and they had the law 

 put to them to its fullest extent. I have one deer case 

 on hand now from which some one will have trouble. 



"There was less partridge snaring done in the State 

 last fall than ever before, I think, and the express com- 

 panies deserve a great deal of credit for the manly course 

 they took in refusing to ship buds out of the State, if 

 they know they wore snared. They issued orders to their 

 agents not to take birds that were markod to go out of 

 the State, and thus the amount of snaring was greatly 

 reduced. The large number of snared buds in your 

 market was due to the non-oxport law, and although the 

 snaring was unlawful, the law preventing the shipping 

 of birds out of the State enabled the people at home to 

 eat and enjoy them. Partridges were very scarce in 

 Boston markets last fall, f->r which tho markotmen there 

 largely blame the game commissioners of New Hamp- 

 shire.'' 



"It i3 but justice to say," romarkB the Mirror^ "that 

 nothing like a systematic enforcement of the fish and 

 game laws in New Hampdfiro was ever undertaken and 

 corriod out, until Mr. Hodge took hold of the matter, 

 between three anl four years ago. He is thoroughly in 

 earnest when he starts out in pursuit of a lawbreaker, 

 a perfect Indian on tho trail of one, and unrelenting 

 when he gets one in his grasp. H3 is resolute and 

 strategic, and means business from start to finish. New 

 Hampshire sportsmen owe much to him, and they appre- 

 ciate his services."' 



HALCYON DAYS-1V. 



LATE the following morning I decided to hunt up 

 Chip, and started to go down to tho store, where I 

 expected to Qnd him, but before I had taken a dozen 

 steps there came a lively pattering of feet, and Snap 

 bounded around the coiner, gave a sniff at my legs, 

 bounded away again, then came back, looking up into 

 my face with a doggy laugh and a little bark, as if to 

 say, "I'm ready for fun." I knew Chip was not far away, 

 and going to the corner saw him coming, his fat, good- 

 natured face beanrng wich pleasure. On his shoulder he 

 carried a short, heavy smooth-bore rifle, an old family 

 relic that had been given to him by his elder brother that 

 morning, and he was going to take it with Mm on our 

 visit to Old Shack. Chip wa3 a proud boy that morning, 

 and I was equally pleasod, for ho promised that I should 

 sharo its use and we would "go shucks ' in buying ammu- 

 nition. There were no fixtures included in the gift, but 

 we hunted up a couple of empty bottles and an old 

 newspaper, i had part of a box of G. D. caps left over 

 from the last Fourth of July, and an inventory of our 

 cash disclosed enough to buy quarter of a pound of shot, 

 and we went down to tho store to make our purchases. 

 We found Waxy figuring up the cost of a bill of goods 

 that he had just sold to a customer, and with knitted eye- 

 brows he was slowly reckoning "nine hr tew 's 'loven 'n' 

 eight 's nine-teen 'n' three 's twenty-two. Tew tu carry 

 tu three 's five 'n' five 's ten. Dollar 'n' tew cents. I'll 

 put it tu ye at eight shillin' V 'laow ye 'loven cents on 

 the eggs 'n' fourteen on the butter." We awaited his 

 convenience, and when he finally got through with his 

 customer he turned to us with, "Momin', boys; goin' 

 huntin'?" And receiving an affirmative reply, as Chip 

 presented his gun for inspection and explained tho man- 

 ner in which it came into his possession, Waxy took it, 

 tided the lock, brought it to his face, and drawing a bead 

 on a distant nail head, " 'laoweel he could f otch a squirrel 

 in the head every timo;" then handing it back, he filled 

 our order, admonishing us as we left, "Naow bo careful, 

 boys, 'n' don't shewt yerselves." 



We took the short cut up tho old "dugway," which led 

 through a large hickory woods and would finally bring 

 us to the upper side of tho whoatfield bardc of Old Shade's 

 camp. We argued that we might find some squirrels in 

 the woods and possibly a woodchuck in the wheatfield. 

 Arriving at the edge of the woods we stopped to load, 

 Chip claiming the right to the first shot, and as he pro- 

 ceeded with the operation of loading his look of earnest- 

 ness and superior knowledgo would have made a good 

 study for an artist. Pouring out the powder in his hand 

 and from his hand into the muzzle of the gun, the thick- 

 ness of the barrel causing him to spill a portion of it, he 

 tore off a largo wad of newspaper, and pushing it down, 

 began to pound it until the ramrod fairly bounded from 

 the barrel. With everv stroke the corners of his mouth 

 would twitch and jerk in unison with tho movement 

 of his arm, and his countenance boro an expression 

 of gravity that could not have been exceeded if he were 

 performing the greatest feat of his life. Over the shot 

 he put a lightor wad, merely pressing it down firmly, for 

 he had been taught that to pound the shot would inako it 

 scatter. Then placing the cap on the nipple and pressing 

 it down with the hammer, he gave the breech a tap to 

 settle the powder, and looked up for tho first time with an 

 expression of satisfaction that ho had done his work as well 

 as any one could do it. There was a superstition among old 

 hunters that to spill one's ammunition while loading was 

 a sure sign that that load would fail to kill; and ono old 

 chap was known to actually withdraw his charge and 

 reload with the greatest care to avoid any such catas- 

 trophe. While we were imbued with this superstition by 

 the teachings of older heads, we did not deem it necos- 

 sary to go to such extremes b-cause Chip had spilled a 

 paid of the load; but whether from Chip's defeotive aim, 

 or tho hoodoo that his carelessness had put upon tho 

 charge, the sign proved good in this case at least. 



Having completed the loading of the gun, wo pro- 

 ceeded cautiously, stopping now and then to listen for 

 sign3. Occasionally a partridge would startle us with 

 the wliir of hia wings as he rose from almost beneath our 

 feet, but as neither of us thought of shooting at them on 

 the wing they escaped unharmed. Once Snap caught 

 sight of something and gave lively chase, but we saw 

 nothing until he had boen gone Bonie time, when a fox 

 camo sneaking along tho back track, laughing, no doubt, 

 at the manner in which ho had outwitted his pursuer, 

 but spying us, looked a moment aud scampered away 

 again faster than he did when Snap chased him. Sud- 

 denly a crash in the branches overhead and the flash cf a 

 bushy tail as it glided rapidly along the limb toward the 

 trunk caused us to p top" and wait. I grabbed Snap to 

 koep him quiet, and Chip brought his gun to his shoulder 

 prepared to fire. In a few moments a little head peeped 



around the tree, a hoarse ohir-r-r was followed by the 

 appearance of the whole body of a gray sqiurrel, and 

 Chip fired. With the report the squirrel came tearing 

 down the tree, and fairly new over tho ground, with 

 Snap after Mm, much to Chip's wonderment, for he could 

 not believe that he had missed, and w^uld not leave until 

 he had searched the ground thoroughly and satisfied 

 himself that such was the fact. Chip keenly felt his 

 disappointment as he sadly handed the gun to me, for it 

 was now my turn to shoot, and reloading with probably 

 less assurance than he did, we proceeded. Wc saw no 

 more sqiiirrels, and soon reaching the fence inclosing the 

 wheatfield, we Md ourselves behind it, poking the gun 

 through the rails, and waited for woodchucks; but none 

 appeared, and Chip said, "Yer won't see none till t' -night. 

 They 's all in their hole3 now." dossing the field, wo 

 entered the woods back of the shanty. As I had not yet 

 fired the gun, I was impatient to shoot, and anxiously 

 watched every tree and bush, in the hope that something 

 worthy of my aim would show itself. But I was disap- 

 pointed, and as we approached the shanty I turned the 

 gun over to CMp, who strutted proudly forward with an 

 ah- of supreme contempt for any one who did not own a 

 gun. 



We did not find Old Shack at home, and as his skiff 

 was absent we concluded that he was out prospectm?, 

 and as it was nearly noon would soon return. We built 

 a fire to have it rea ly when he came. The fishpolcs stood 

 leaning against tho" shanty, worms were procured, and 

 we commenced fishing. In tho meantime Snap had dis- 

 appeared, but his whereabouts were indicated by Ms 

 short yelp3 as he followed some trail. After we had been 

 fisMng a while we were startled by a series of short, 

 sharp barks and grow's, then a yell of agony and more 

 growling and snarling. It was 'evident that Snap had 

 found an enemy. Cliip dropped his pole and ran for 

 the scene; I followed, but turned back to get the gun. 

 When we reached Snap we found he had attacked a 

 hedgehog, and with every grab he made at it Ms mouth 

 and lips would become filled with quills. The pain made 

 him desperate, and he continued to bite and snap at the 

 bristling little ball until Chip, realizing that he was get- 

 ting the worst of it, rushed in and pulled him away. 

 Then resting the gun over a stump, I took deliberate aim 

 and killed the animal. Snap, seeing his adversary 

 stretched out, broke away and savagely attacked the 

 dead animal again, only to receive more wounds, and 

 finally gave it up. rolling over and over, biting the ground 

 and pawing at his jaws. Poor Snap was in a sorry plight. 

 It was his first experience with that kind of game, and it 

 was many a day before he got rid of all his troublesome 

 tormentors. 



Returning to the shanty, we found Old Shack had 

 arrived, and as Ave related the story of the fight, while 

 Chip's eyes were half filled with tears in sympathy for 

 his friend, the old man assured Mm that there was no 

 danger and that the quills could bo nearly all extracted, 

 and after dinner he would help him do it. 



Throwing a fresh supply of wood on the fire and pick- 

 ing up the fish that wc had caught, Old Shack took from 

 his pocket a large jack-knife and cleaned them; then get- 

 ting some pork and his frying-pan and coffee pot, he set 

 the coffee over some live coals that lie raked out and 

 fried the fish and pork together. This, with some pieces 

 of hard bread without any butter, constituted our meal. 

 Simple as it was, it was relished far moro than a greater 

 and better variety would have been at homo. After fin- 

 isMng it, Old Shack and CMp, with the aid ^ of a pair of 

 pincers that was found among the old man's effects, set 

 to work extracting the quills from Snap's mouth. At 

 first tho dog objected and vigorously resisted Chip's 

 efforts to hold Mm, but after a few quills had been pulled 

 out and he found that the painful operation was for his 

 own good, he lay quiet, only wincmg occasionally as one 

 pulled harder than usual. 



"Puts me in mind of a pup I bed once when I was a 

 young feller," said Old Shack. "I used tu hunt a good 

 bit them days, 'n' hed that pup purty well trained, 

 'n' there wa'n't a better coon dog m them parts. I was 

 purty pert 'n' rim 'round 'mong th' gals consider'ble. 

 One mght I'd mado it up 'ith some fellers t' go coonin', 'n' 

 was gettin' ready hi' th' pup was watcliin' 'n' waitin", fer 

 'e know'd what was up 's well 's cnybody. 'Bout 'n 

 hour 'r so 'fore 't was timo t' start, some fellers drovo up 

 'n' sed they was goin' t' hev a big dance 't Si Dewberry's, 

 over 'n Jones's Holler, 'n' thet broke up th' coonin' party, 

 fer wo c'ncluded we c'ld hev more lun ; t Si's 'n we c'ld 

 coonin'. Wal, when th' pup seen me drccicdirp in my 

 party close he knew'd his fun was spiled, 'n' 'e stuck 'is 

 tail 'tween 'is lego 'n' walked off, V I didn't see notMn' 

 moro 'f 'im 'til \>ng 'bout midnight, after we'd quit 

 dancin' tu hev supper. Wc was all gettin' ready t' sot 

 down when tho carnal dog come snea-kin' in with 'is tail 

 'tween 'is logs 'n' 'is back humped up 'n' 'is head hangin' 

 down, 'n' laid down right under the i able, dinkin' fo 't 

 everybody run fer th' door 'n' wmders t' git out. He'd 

 bin huntin' on 'is own hook 'n' tackled a skunk, 'n' when 

 'e got 

 s'pose, 

 di«aph--~. 



V I heerd they didn't get tho stink out o' the room fer 

 more 'n a month." And tho old man chuckled long and 

 deeply as the remembrance of the occasion returned to 

 him. "The pup lot skunks alone after thet, 'n' I guess 

 Snap won't tackle cny moro porkypincs agin, fer a 

 while." 



It was a long and tedious task, but after much patient 

 work by Old "Shack and Chip and endurance by Snap, 

 the largest of the barbs were removed, and Old Shack 

 said the others would not bother him much, "fer he'll git 

 used tu 'om after a while 'n' they'll work out them- 

 selves." 



Duimg tho sureical operation that had boen going on 

 CMp pliod the old man with many questions regarding 

 Ms modo of life and intimated that he would like to stay 

 and camp with Mm, but received little encouragement. 

 He seemed determined, however, to stay if permitted, 

 and persisted so earnestly that Old Shack was compelled 

 to either refuse or consent; and after many objections, in 

 which the hardships of a winter's camp life were fullv 

 depicted, and the intimation that Ms "folks 'Id object," 

 all of which was met by the argument, "I don't care; I 

 c'n stand it if yer kin, an' the folks don't care enyway," 

 it was decided that CMp could Btay on condition that he 

 would first obtain consent from "the folks" and be willing 

 to share the discomforts of Old Shack's limited quarters. 

 After arriving at this decision CMp was impatient to ge 



