*Tas» 27, M8? e ] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



7 



homo, and said he would oome back that night. "Wal, 

 I'll tlu the best I Idn fer ye," Old SliEck said, and we 

 started at once, but not until I had received a cordial in- 

 vitation to "cum agin, 'n' mebbe we'll heva better dinner 

 fer ye nest time." 



As we passed the place where Snap had made his un- 

 fortunate mistake his back rose and he shied away with 

 a low growl and gave the dead animal a wido berth. "Wo 

 did not stop to shoot woodchucks nor lose any time on 

 the way, for Chip was so anxious to return to tho shanty 

 that he had no more taste for hunting that day. 



In the evening, when I took my place on the bench in 

 the store, Chip was absont, an occurrence so unusual that 

 Waxy, after repeated glances in the direction of his 

 accustomed place, came over and casually inquired, 

 "What luck? and when I cxplaiued the cause of Chip's 

 absence he exclaimed in tones so loud that everybody 

 heard him, " Wal, I declare!" Other boys wero there, 

 and one big, overgrown chap came and look Chip's place 

 beside me, but his presence seemed like an intrusion. 

 The place was void of any attraction for me, and when I 

 found an opportunity to slip out unobsorved, I went home 

 discontented, but resolving that my leisure time Bhould 

 be passed at the shanty as much aB possible. J. II. B. 



Mansfield Vallev, Pa. 



UNEXPECTED GAME. 



TVJOT "my kingdom for a horse," but a guinea fer my 

 IS Winchester. So thought I one bright November 

 day in tho season that has just closed, as a beautiful buck 

 stood 200yds. from me in an open field while I held in 

 my hand'my little 12-bore Parker, loaded with bird shot. 

 It was in this wise. I came cautiously through a piece 

 of woods where a few days before I had seen a number of 

 grouse, and stood just outside in the tall weeds that 

 covered a field that rau up into a corner of the timber; 

 my dogs were working in the low pine at my left; I saw 

 in front of mo. just over the brow of the hill what I 

 thought was the motion of some dead mullen stalks. I 

 thought it strange, but it waG soon explained when I saw 

 that the antlers of a deer were what I had taken for the 

 weeds moved by the wind. He took a few stops toward 

 me, and I knew from my repeated experience with the 

 game, that my only chance of knocking him down with 

 my light charge was not to make a motion and let him 

 run on to me. Unfortunately tho wind was blowing from 

 me to him, and as ho leisurely moved toward me he 

 caught a scent of the taintod air, tinned and in an easv 

 lope was soon out of sight over the brow of the hill. I 

 then dared to stir an 1 quickly throw out the cartridges 

 and replaced them with buckshot, and crawled careftilly 

 forward only to sec the deer slowly running across the 

 field 500yds. away. I followed his track across' the plowed 

 fields and through the meadows until it was too dark to 

 Bee. then left it whore it led toward a pieco of woods in 

 which I thought I might find him in the morning. I sent 

 word back for niy team and was soon telliug them at 

 home of my experience. My rif o was taken from its case 

 and everything made ready for an early start. During 

 the night a hard storm came up, and Thanksgiving uay 

 was ushered in with sleet and a driving rain, too hard to 

 face. The next day a message came to my office "They 

 killed your deer." An old deer hunter had noticed his 

 traGk in the snow and soon had him "hung up." I was 

 sorry to lose him, but it was a treat to see this beautiful 

 animal; it brought to mind the camps away out iu the 

 wilderness on Pine Creek, where winter after winter I 

 used to carry my rifie, and we often had a goodly m m ?cr 

 to "bring out." But those days are passed and gone, and 

 those camping places arc ali deserted, wliile the burnt 

 stumps left by the lumbermen are the giavc stones that 

 sadly tell of what once was— but now is gone forever. 



I have found but few quail here this season and was 

 disappointed too in my trip South; having reached my 

 shooting groun 1 one night, only to find in the morning 

 that a foot of frozen snow had covered tho ground while 

 I lay dreaming of the partridges. 



What pleasant anticipations often go hand in hand with 

 these disappointments. I oil up my guns and put them 

 away, while I bring out my fly-book and write down tho 

 names of the flies that I must have tied, for the water in 

 the frozen streams will ripple by and by in the warm 

 Mayday, and the "winter of our discontent" will be 

 ended. Then I look over a score of photographs of the 

 Mastigouche Lakes and its rushing river; hi the noise of 

 the winter wind I hear tho roar of tho falls, aud as it lulls 

 I can hoar tho breeze as it comes through the birches high 

 up on the mountain side. So I wait. Smcewood. 



Centbalia, Pa., January. 



Coots.— Nantucket, Mass. — I notice in your iesue of 

 Jan. 13 an article on shco ing coots this season. I sup- 

 posed we had a Massachusetts law which prohibits shoot- 

 ing from boats, and as far as I know, that law has been 

 respected around here. T have not seen or heard of a gun 

 being fired from a boat. Wo consider the coot here a 

 very poor bird to eat. Perhaps "Cooter" will publish his 

 way of cooking, then we will not always have to give 

 them to the hogs, or leave them where we shoot them. 

 Thanks to the boat law, sheldrakes and whistlers are 

 quite plentiful in our harbor. They tend around our 

 shores and wharves; local sportsmen get very good bags, 

 one shooting fifteen from the wharf in a very short time. 

 Since returning from tho West I have not had the courage 

 to go out after game. It seems almost like looking for a 

 needle in a haystack, still sportsmen around here think 

 shooting very good, probably I should if I had not been 

 out in Dakota. Should there be a good freeze-up the air 

 hole shooting will be fine. In Dakota last November, one 

 day about noon I was behind a rat house which served 

 for a blind, v hen I heard the "honk" of geese. I turned 

 and there were seven of them; I shot one with each bar- 

 rel. I had in at the time No. shot. The first one I 

 winged, the other I killed; his weight was 121bs. looz., so 

 I call it a 131b. goose.— W. N. F. [The law referred to 

 does not apply to the waters about Manomet Point, to 

 which "Cooter's" article referred.] 



Kent County Cltjb.— At the annual meeting of the 

 Kent County Sportsmen's Club, of Grand Rapids, Mich., 

 held Jan. 14, the following officers were elected for the 

 ensuing year: President, E. S. Holmes; Vice-President, 

 li. D. Follett; Secretary, A, B. Richmond; Treasurer, N. 

 Fred Avery; Directors— One year, A. C. Horton; two 

 years, T. Stewart White; three years, C. D. Spaulding; 

 Jour years, W. C, Deimison; five years, H. Widdicomb. 



A FIELD NOTEBOOK. 



TANTJARY 1, 1887.— Another shooting season passed; 

 f J another column of successful shots and inglorious 

 misses to foot up, another page of sweet memories and 

 laughable incidents to refer to in memory's ledger. 

 Twenty-one pages are written in this book, representing 

 tho shooting seasons which it has been my lot to enjoy 

 with dog and gun. 



As I look back over tho first of these I see the old muz- 

 zleloader and the little barking cm*, remembering all 

 there was of a day afield might be summed up in the 

 potting of a grouse or two, and mayhap a squirrel. 

 Further on came a disposition for reading tho literature 

 of field sport3, new ideas, broader views, a growing 

 love for nature and her works, happy days when no game 

 was found, or, when discovered, too wary for the tyro 

 and perforce left for the use of more skillful folio were. 

 Then I note the time when my purse gave answer to tho 

 call made long before for a breechloader. How the 

 ghosts of those old days arise ! Should it be top snap cr 

 side, bar or back action locks, twist, laminated, or damas- 

 cus barrels, foreign or domestic manuf acture ? Gun 

 circulars innumerable littered my desk and tabic, tilled 

 my pockets and my mind. Friends were appealed to who 

 kindly gave advico and experience, until finally the 

 choice was made, the order given. Shall I ever forget 

 when it came? Ten-gauge, lOlbs., fine damascus, well 

 engraved, curled walnut stock, pistol grip; a thing of 

 beauty; to me the harbinger of many happy and joyous 

 days to come. What a tin-ill of pleasure as I brought it 

 to my shoulder and caressed its polished surface with my 

 cheek 1 Now the time of anxious waiting for a day when 

 I could try its powers. This soon came, and for a time 

 contentment was a sojourner in the household. Then 

 from too constant perusal of the canine department of 

 our favorite paper 1 became convinced that in order to 

 rcund out the measure of my happiness 1 mu&t possess a 

 clog. Let me hint to the younger members of the fra- 

 ternity to got their wives' consent bofore ever invosting 

 in this article; it will be to their comfort and quiet, and 

 still more so to the comfort of the dog. My wife was not 

 at first in favor of a canine addition to the family. Many 

 a quiet argument was indulged in, until at last there 

 came to our home a mild-eyed, quiet, loving little pointer 

 gyp, which my lady immediately adopted tor a pet, 

 naming her Brownie from her silken seal brown coat. 

 She proved a beautiful companion and faithful friend, at 

 home or in field, without a fault. Her training was a 

 pleasure, her intelligence a constant source of surprise. 

 Although at the time I did not know of Mr. Hammond's 

 book or his methods, his words of advice were more than 

 true applied to her. 



I now turn a pago filled with sorrow and rogret, possi- 

 bly wet with teats. Whilo ranging; over the brow of a 

 hill one day, Brownie flushed a bird which came directly 

 toward mo and I killed it. When she came in sight at 

 my command, she brought the bird and laid it at my 

 feet, but the order to "hie on" was for the first time in 

 her life unheeded; instead, she came nearer, raising her 

 head pitifully to me. I saw one eye closed, and separat- 

 ing the lids with my fingers, discovered that a stray shot 

 had put out one of her beautiful eyes forever. My hunt 

 for tue day was ended. I tcok her in my arms to the 

 carriage which was waiting for me. Brownie sleeps in 

 her grave. Further on, the pages show her son Buff on 

 the t-cene of action; a noble dog, companion of many a 

 glorious day in field and wood, one of the few which are 

 called good partridge dogs. He knows all the tricks and 

 ways of an old cock grouse, and is all that could be asked 

 for woodcock. He acknowledges but one master and yet 

 is not jealous of other dogs in the field. 



I have been told, and I chink it is so held by many, that 

 the pointer is not so courageous as the setter in bad cover. 

 However, I have yet to see the setter that will venture 

 where Buff refuses to go. Another saying is that letting 

 a dog retrieve makes him unsteady. Where this is true, 

 tho fault is cither that the dog is not of good parentage, 

 or else was badly broken, possibly both. A dog which is 

 made a companion, doing his work in love and not in 

 fear, rarely lapses from his early training, for when he 

 does a good deed ho expects, and should have, his reward, 

 which may be only a word of praise, but is yet as dear to 

 him as to us who hke to have our good deeds appreciated. 

 Although these ideas are not new, and practically tho 

 same thing has been told over and over m the Forest 

 and Stream, it seems as though tho demon of unmanli- 

 ness were turned loose in some men as soon as they get 

 behind a dog for a day's sport. They are cool and pleas- 

 ant at home, in business relations and in oilier pleasures, 

 but at the least mishap on then own part, or that of their 

 luckless brute friend, and lo! a wonderful change. I have 

 been witness to such exhibitions as made my blood boil 

 with indignation, and I have blushed for manhood so 

 debased. 



In this vicinity our main dependence for sport is par- 

 tridge shooting, and during the twenty-one years of my 

 residence here there has been a gradual falling off in the 

 number of broods raised each year. Of course, some 

 years were better than others, but surely and notably the 

 buds are growing less. The past season showed more 

 broods than for three or four years previous, which I at- 

 tribute in part to tho favorable weather during nesting 

 season. From careful observation I conclude that the 

 fox is their greatest enemy. Where tho little gray rabbits 

 are plenty thero reynard and his family are most numer- 

 ous. Rabbits were' getting very numerous about the years 

 188S-4 and the foxes were very troublesome. I saw many 

 places during that season where they had caught and de- 

 voured birds. At last, about every boy in this section 

 procured a ferret or an interest in one, when, the law not- 

 withstanding, poor bunny, like the Chinaman, had to go; 

 the war of extermination continued, and the season of 

 1885-0 saw nearly the last of them. As the rabbits disap- 

 peared the foxes became less numerous, and although few 

 were killed, scarcely a track was to be seen in locations 

 where a year or two previous they co: \ have been 

 counted by the dozen. 



This may account in part for tho good she ing of tho 

 past season. 



Last and worst of all is the clearing and dri ning of 

 swamps, brush patches and timber where tho biru form- 

 erly found abundant cover. The insatiable desire iv rtho 

 present "mighty dollar" leads meD to cut, burn and clear. 

 Could they only see into futurity they would cherish and 

 save, leaving to posterity something of value instead of 

 barren hillsides, dried up springs and brooks, with only 



the remedy of planting new forests. The articles on 

 forestry, published in these columns, should be sown 

 broadcast throughout the land, and made to be read in 

 public like the Declaration of Independence, Bar Lock, 

 Cortland Countt, New York. 



Col. Crockett is Loaded for Bear.— Little Rock, 

 Ark., Jan. 20. — Editor Forest and Stream: The shooting 

 for the season has not been good. Quail were badly hurt 

 by a storm in June and owing to the absence of mast the 

 ducks went by. Deer have been reasonably plenty and 

 many have been killed. The Legislature is in session and 

 no prophet nor son of a prophet can tell what is to become 

 of our game law. At least twenty bills have been intro- 

 duced, ranging all the way from a repeal to a moro 

 stringent law. In the Senate a bill has been reported 

 favorably prohibiting the export of game and fish. This 

 will probably pass, as we are cursed with pot-hunters fer 

 the St. Louis market. In the House the chances are that 

 the act of 1880 will be repealed. We hope, to stop it in the 

 Senate, where Col, R. H. Crockett, a grandson of the cel- 

 ebrated David Crockett, is loaded for bear on the subject. 

 If it can be stopped he will do it. All our sportsmen and 

 our clubs are working against the repeal, but we have an 

 up-hdl task.— Casual. 



What Folly!— Forreston, HI., Jan. 22.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: I this day received a circular adelrcsscd to 

 any prominent duck shooter, from the Monmouth Shoot- 

 ing and Fishing Club, opr. o? ing the pacta^e of a I ill to 

 prevent the spring shooting of water fowl, ako a petition 

 to the Legislature to the same effect, which they wished 

 circulated. But as I am in favor of the bill I decline to 

 aid them, and I am getting numerous signers to a peti- 

 tion in favor of the passage of the bill. I think it would 

 be avoII for tho friends or the bill to unite i.i getting up 

 petitions in its favor, as I suppose the Monmouth Club 

 has sent one of its petitions to every postoffice in tho 

 State.— C. C. P. 



No Wheat in Alaska.— Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 the complimentary notice of "Our Now Alaska" which 

 vou arc pleased to copy from tho "Magazine of American 

 History, there is one serious misstatement (not joint) 

 which may some day be chargcel against me, to wit, that 

 the "wheat icgicn of Alaska alone might feed the world." 

 I cannot lind a py liable in the text that can Lc conetiucd 

 into such an assertion, ncr do I find ihe word "wheat" 

 used in connection with Alaskan products. — Chat.leo 

 Hallock, Author, etc. 



Jamaica Plains Gun Clud.— At the annual meeting of 

 the Jamaica Plains Gun Club, held Jan. 10, the following 

 officers were olectod for the ensuing year: S. D. Charles, 

 President; A. W. Tice, Treasurer; A. B. Bradstreet, Cap- 

 tain; C. II. Cilicy, Secretary; Executivo Committee — 

 Sam'l Bradstreet, A. AV. Tice and A. T. Amsdcn. 



New York, Jan. 22.— Ruffed grouse and quail arc dis- 

 played for sale in most of the up-town markets of New 

 York. A game protector walking the length of Third 

 avenue could average about one seizure for every two 

 blocks.— Mark West. [Quail may be told until Feb. 1.] 



The Consolation There is in it.— What a comfort 

 the dear old Forest and Stream has been to me through 

 all these elays of sickness. It has been the one paper that 

 I was able or cared to read, and the one which i did read. 

 —Correspondence (CedarmUe, 0.). 



Pennsylvania.— Little Marsh, Jan. 18.— Grouse aro 

 wintering well in this section, and as we have had no ico 

 storms yet, and there is a gooel supply of birds, we may 

 hope for jwiH shooting next season.— Tioga. 



Brown's combined de-enper, re- capper, wad scater 

 anel crimper is highly recommended to spoilsmen as a 

 most useful tool to take on a huntin. trip. — Adv. 



Quail in Maine.— Portland, Jan. 20.— We are wintering 

 Virginia quail {Ortyx virginianus) in bams, and outside 

 also. A repeated experiment. — E. S. 



Quail in Confinement.— Mr. G. A. Tilford, of Ridge- 

 wood, N. J., has in captivity a number of quail which lie 

 proposes to lrco in the neighborhood. 



AN ANALYSIS OF THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



It has been my desire not to have anything in particular to say 

 in reference to your most valuable test of huntiug lifles made in 

 Seotember and October, 188-"i, at Creedmoor. But you rnav re- 

 collect that through your columns I early indorsed your report of 

 this trial, as did many others, so that iv now stands embodied in 

 your pamph'et as an authoritative tecord of tH* trial, to the full 

 extent of the test. Tliis report, among a great mauy oilier tilings, 

 gives the heights of ail tne trajectories made by the respi cuve 

 rifles. To obtain these was the mam object of the trial, and its 

 end was to spread these before the puuhc so that all might see 

 them, and at a glance almost learn the true lcseons they teach. 

 The most prominent of all these is : 



Tnat rifles which make flat trajectories, shoot, with greater ac- 

 curacv along a range than rifles which make high trajectories, 

 both rifles being hers regarded as normally shoo.iag steady. 



As one whoce muzzleloader was in this test, aud \\ ho had for some 

 years previous to this trial written much about the hunting rifle, 

 especially in favor of tho muzzleloader for its superior accuracy 

 aud power, but whose teachings wero unheeded by some and 

 ridiculed by others, I, who had aud yet have a reputation to sus- 

 tain in tneae matters, I, who stand fully sustained in all I have 

 ever -w ritten by your report, will not now suffer that report to be 

 perverted in it-s meaning nor my rille to be misrepresent ed as in 

 the letter here quoted iu fall, loot I be accused of garbling it. 



Of itself it is hardly worth not icing, but remaining unanswered 

 and being backed up by several others, and not denied by tho 

 several makers of the breechloaders, whose rifles it is unquali- 

 fiedly asserted beat my muzzleloader, and as this letter has been 

 on record in your coluums for now ne::r six mouths and will soon 

 crystallize into a fact, lhere produco it. Napoleon Merrill had 

 stated facts, and Mr. Burns, as a critic, steps in and domes them. 

 He writes, "I wkh to call the .-ittcntion of Napoleou Merrill to the 

 fact, that in your test of hunting rifles there was not a muzzle- 

 loading hunting rifle in the contest, the nearest to it beirg the one 

 [the Merrill rifle} fired at th.3 100yds. rauge, and that one was 

 beaten iu regularity of bullet flight, f. c., in accuracy, by 27 of the 

 83 breechloaders [only 81 were in competition] in competition. At 

 tfoOyde. the muzzleloader IG. J. Rouiei's] target nfle, villi all the 

 appliauces of a target rille, beat all of the breech loading hunting 

 rifles in the regularity of snooting [». c, in accuracy], the nearest 

 cue to it being the Maynard .jCial., which i\ as jest four-thou. 

 sandths of an inch uehind lie Romer muzzlefoader [what! a 

 "tight fit"], the djuerence in elevation at 100yds, of the fivo shots; 



