Feb. 10, 1887. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



45 



WISCONSIN DEER HUNTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In the fall of each year the western part of Wisconsin 

 swarms with hunting parties from all parts of the country, 

 who, knowing the ground from previous experience, or 

 attracted there by reports from sportsmen who hare pre- 

 ceded them, came equipped for from three to eight weeks 

 of roughing it in the pineries. Of all points in the north- 

 eastern part of the State, Florence is probably made the 

 starting point for the greatest number of deer slayers, 

 that is to say the most important place of all these, where 

 the conveniences of railroad travel are abandoned and 

 teams taken for transportation to remote and isolated 

 camping places in the wild woods. It is, doubtless, not 

 an over estimate to say that from this place alone last 

 fall between one and two hundred hunters started to try 

 their luck in the haunts of "Wisconsin's most noble game, 

 and that each one was rewarded with at least a fan share 

 of success. In no other place can a more hospitable) set 

 of people be found. Notable among these who are always 

 ready to welcome genuine sportsmen is C. S. Osborn, of 

 the Mining Neios, who is an excellent hunter, and who 

 knows the country so thoroughly that he can and does 

 give advice willingly as to where' the best grounds are to 

 be found. 



Last fall your correspondent, with four Fond du Lac 

 gentlemen, hunted ten miles southwest of Florence, be- 

 tween Sea Lion Lake and the Pine River, and succeeded 

 in seeming fourteen deer in four weeks. An Ohio party 

 three miles north of us shot sixteen. Three "Wisconsin 

 men about the same distance north shot six in ten days, 

 and two novices, who were poor shots, killed three. 'A 

 noticeable feature of the hunting was the predominance 

 of old bucks, as of the deer killed by our party all but 

 four were bucks, one weighing dressed 2081bs. ; another 

 192 and a third lSolbs. The Ohio party shot but one doe, 

 and the other hunters in our vicinity killed nothing but 

 bucks. Reports from other hunting parties around" Flor- 

 ence were to the same effect. This peculiarity is ac- 

 counted for by the fact that wholesale slaughter of does 

 and fawns is carried on during the summer by headlight 

 hunters who haunt the lakes. In fact, a resident in- 

 formed the writer that the previous summer he and part- 

 ner during July, August and a part of September, had 

 killed nearly 200 deer for their hides, and that they ac- 

 complished this by using headlights and consuming a 

 barrel of salt in making; salt licks. His statement was 

 corroborated by a settler, and during our hunting we 

 found quite a number of skeletons about the woods where 

 the fellow claimed to have hunted. The result is that 

 where deer were so plenty -three years ago that dming a 

 two hours stroll through the woods five or six deer could 

 be seen, a day's tramp will often be rewarded by the 

 sight of not a tail. Market-hunters also fill the woods 

 during the fall, and it is estimated that in one year re- 

 cently the Northwestern road alone in Wisconsin and 

 Michigan handled in the neighborhood of 10,000 venison 

 carcasses. 



The deer are so rapidly being exterminated that this 

 winter a strong attempt will be made to have the shoot- 

 ing season shortened and competent game wardens ap- 

 pointed for different sections of the State. At present 

 northern Wisconsin, with its majestic forests of pine and 

 hard wood, and its lakes and streams abounding with 

 trout and bass, is almost a hunter's paradise. If action is 

 not taken, however, to correct the evils mentioned above 

 and to abolish the trading posts, where pot-hunters and 

 Indians find a ready market, deer in Wisconsin will soon 

 be almost exterminated. C. R. Boardman. 



Oshkosh, "Wis., Jan. 17. 



MAINE GAME SUGGESTIONS. 



A VETERAN sportsman of the Maine woods and 

 waters called upon me to-day with the view, as he 

 put it, of seeing if he could not do some good. He has 

 visited some parts of the Maine wilderness every year for 

 some twenty-six years, and is a true lover of what Dame 

 Nature has done for the best good -of the sportsman who 

 knows how to see and use her gifts. He believes most 

 thoroughly in the protection of both fish and game, but 

 not in the artificial propagation of fish. In this latter re- 

 spect he does not believe that it is possible to improve 

 upon nature. He believes in the most thorough protec- 

 tion of the trout on their spa wning beds. For this reason 

 he would have the close season on trout and landlocked 

 salmon begin Sept. 15 instead of Oct. 1, as now. He would 

 make this change because of the great numbers found on 

 the beds before the end of September; where on no con- 

 ditions should they be distured. His idea is that it is not 

 possible to take the trout about ready to spawn and, as 

 he terms it, ''commit an abortion upon her' 1 with perfect 

 success. He believes that offended nature will show her 

 revenge somehow. Either the young thus brought into 

 the world will be dwarfed, or they will, after being put 

 into the water, prove incapable of taking care of them- 

 selves, since they will lack the strength of the little trout 

 hatched in the stream naturally. He would have the 

 money that is now being spent in artificial breeding put 

 to the better protection of the trout in their natural breed- 

 ing places. 



On the game question he is a strong protectionist. He 

 would, however, put the beginning of the Maine open 

 season on deer and caribou back to Sept. 15, instead of 

 Oct. 1, as now, in order that the sportsman might "drop 

 the rod and take up the gun," though he is of the opinion 

 that the deer and caribou need all the protection that is 

 now granted to them. But he would extend the open 

 season only to Dec. 1 instead of to Jan. 1 as now. On the 

 moose question he says that "the close time should be ex- 

 tended from Jan. 1, 1887, to Jan. 1, 1897. They should 

 have the freedom of the forest unmolested for i0 years; 

 anybody killing one should be punished both by fine and 

 imprisonment. The noble moose is rapidly disappearing, 

 and unless this protection is granted, it will not take 

 more than 10 years to exterminate the race." He believes 

 that this extra protection is necessary on both fish and 

 game for the reason that the railroads are gradually en- 

 trenching upon*the game territory, and that year by year 

 it grows easier and more easy to reach the fish and' game 

 regions; that the sporting fever is spreading; that there 

 are already more sportsmen than fish or game. Above 

 all he would inculcate into the ideas of guides the value 

 of deer on the hoof and trout in the water, then value to 

 the guide himself, to be used as lines to draw the sports- 

 men. The open season on partridges he would not have 

 begin till Oct. 1, since the young birds are not full grown 



till that period, and because they follow the mother bird 

 nearly ail that month, are in 'flocks, and it is but the 

 work of the merest novice or pot-hunter to bag the whole 

 brood. 



As to local game wardens in that State, our veteran 

 sportsman does not believe in them at all. They are 

 hampered to utter inefficiency by their neighbors. It 

 would have to be a greater crime than the taking of a 

 trout out of season or the killing of a deer when the la w 

 says no— a deer which is perhaps divided among the 

 neighbors, even Mr. Local Warden himself getting a slice 

 —to make a man complain of his ueighbors. This gentle- 

 man of much experience in the Maine woods, as well as 

 Maine neighborhoods, would have a system of paid game 

 constables, whose duty it is to see that the law is en- 

 forced. They should be located nowhere, but be suffi- 

 ciently plenty to drop in upon the lumberman or the 

 market hunter at any time. The time of then coming 

 should not be known, but they should be liable to pay 

 the trout-hog or the market-fisherman a visit several 

 times a year. These game constables should be the most 

 thorough woodsmen to be found in the State. They 

 should be selected from the ranks of the guides even by 

 the Fish and Game Commissioners. The best of these 

 men should be selected, and the Stal e should make it an 

 object for them to turn game protectors. Their pay 

 should be such that they would enter into business with 

 the will that they sometimes display in evading the game 

 laws, but their appointment should extend only during 

 good behavior, and then fitness for the position should be 

 determined by the number of the offenders they were 

 able to bring to justice. Special. 



The chaiices are said to be really excellent that the 

 Libby bill, so-called, introduced by Senator Libby, is likely 

 to contain the main features of all the changes which are 

 to be made in the Maine game laws this winter. In the 

 main, the bill is patterned after the recommendations of 

 the Commissioners in their biennial report. In the first 

 place, the new law will, if passed, make it a fine of $500 

 to kill, or have in possession at any time, the hide or any 

 part of a cow moose. To hunt moose, deer or caribou 

 with dogs is to be punished with fine and imprisonment. 

 Any person owning or having in possession any dog for 

 the purpose of hunting deer forfeits not less than $2 nor 

 more than $100. Any person may lawfully kill any dog 

 found hunting moose, deer or caribou. The bill adds the 

 month of September to the open season in which bull 

 moose, deer and caribou may be lawfully killed, but does 

 not open transportation for such game out of the State. 

 It makes the attempt to transport it in the close season 

 punishable by a fine of $100 for each and every bull 

 moose, and $40 for each deer or caribou. A law like the 

 above I have heard highly commended by some of the best 

 sportsmen who visited the Maine woods. There is some 

 growling about it, to be sure, but this feeling comes from 

 those w T ho desire to take their dogs into the woods with 

 them. The proposition to open September to the hunting 

 of bull moose, deer and caribou, is being received with a 

 good deal of favor. Li short, it is making friends for the 

 game laws of that State. As it now looks there is not the 

 ghost of a chance that the law to permit the hounding of 

 deer in Maine will ever get beyond the committee. Indeed , 

 there is a deal of mischievous legislation proposed by the 

 enemies of fish and game protection in that State, but it 

 is of no use. The die is cast! There has been too wide a 

 step in the right direction in that State for a few dis- 

 gruntled poachers to succeed in making such radical 

 changes. But still, as the friends of wholesome game 

 laws are well aware, they need a good deal of sharp 

 watching. As Commissioner Still well once remarked, "I 

 have no love for such poachers; they would kill a par- 

 tridge on her nest if the opportunity offered." Special. 



A Monson, Me., correspondent writes under date of 

 Feb. 2: For three years we have been aware that a nest 

 of poachers were located in Elliottsville plantation every 

 winter who slaughtered deer, but each time that we have 

 heretofore attempted to ferret them out they have escaped 

 us. This year our society determined to punish them if 

 possible. We have employed Warden Tripp, who has 

 done his duty very faithfully. The result is that on 

 Tuesday two men were sent to Bangor jail for killing 

 deer. Yesterday Tripp seized the hides of five deer. He 

 found old pieces of deers' feet and other evidence of the 

 killing of several more. This was at the notorious 

 "Doctor" Brown's cabin. One Bodfish is also in for one 

 fine. I think Bodfish will pay rather than go to jail. 

 Brown may go to jail. Both 'may appeal; but in any 

 event we have broken up this nest of Elliottsville poachers. 



WOGDEN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In a recent number of your paper a correspondent asks 

 for information about "Wogden. 



It is the first time that I ever saw the name in print, 

 but as no one else so far as I know, volunteered any in- 

 formation in reply, I will say that Wogden was one who, 

 more than a century ago,. had achieved celebrity as a 

 maker of firearms. 



During the war of the American Revolution a party of 

 Federal troops under the command of General Dearborn, 

 who, [by the way, was a friend of Washington, inter- 

 cepted and killed Sir Francis Somebody or other, a bearer 

 of dispatches to the British commander. The baronet's 

 pistols were retained by the General as a trophv, and 

 many years ago, when a guest in the family of his son, 

 General H. A. S. Dearborn, of Roxbury, Mass., I used to 

 see them hanging among other curious arms in the 

 library. The yoimger general was the same who gave 

 his name to the fort where Chicago now stands. 



These pistols bore engraven upon their silver butts the 

 initials of their then owner, H. A. S. D. They were 

 horseman's weapons, of moderate size for the time in 

 which they were made, silver-moimted, iron ramrods, 

 finely finished, and with flint locks, of course. On the 

 barrels was the name "Wogden." 



I last saw these arms a few years ago in the possession 

 of Mr. H. G. R. Dearborn, of Roxburv, to whom they 

 had descended. He told me that they were very accur- 

 ate, and added that Wogden was the Joe Manton of his 

 time, as he inferred from having read in an old novel a 

 description of a duel, which stated that the principals 

 were "prepared with Wogdens." 



Your correspondent has an interesting relic of the 

 olden days. Kelpie. 



Central Lake, Mich., Jan, 31, 1H67. 



ABOLISH SPRING SHOOTING. 



OYRACUSE, N. Y., Feb. 2.— At the meeting of the 

 O Onondaga County Sportsmen's Club last evening, 

 this resolution was adopted: Whereas, After careful in- 

 vestigation we find that the shooting of wildfowl and 

 other migratory game during the spring is rapidly dimin- 

 ishing our game supply and driving the birds from the 

 breeding places, Resolved, That we unanimously depre- 

 cate the practice aud that we use our personal influence 

 for the protection of game dining the spring migrations. 

 Resolved, That we send a copy of this memorial to the 

 members of the Legislature and earnestly petition that a 

 law be passed abolishing the shooting of all game during 

 the spring. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I obseiwe your note entitled "What Folly!" While I am 

 in favor of all protection for game and fish, I do, like 

 many others, object to being cut off from the most of our 

 shooting, while the wholesale slaughter goes on in the 

 South and the 50,000,000 of eggs are shipped from the 

 North. Let the evil be righted where it will do most 

 good. The Monmouth Club mentioned (with whom I am 

 personally acquainted) are perfect gentlemen who are 

 as earnest in all laws for the benefit of 'game and fish 

 and the people who enjoy such as "C. C. P." can be. 

 They feel, no doubt, just as they stated in a circular 

 which accompanied their petition,' which I and others hero 

 received and worked for. Trusting that "C. C. P." and 

 others will look at this matter in a correct light, I am 

 with you for protection. Geo. R. Merrell, 



Sec. New Boston (111.) Gun Club. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Every true sportsman must plainly see that if spring 

 shooting is allowed to continue for the next ten or fifteen 

 years, many of our game birds, which can now be seen at 

 certain seasons in enormous flocks, will then be as scarce 

 game as the bison is at present. The birds which I 

 refer to principally are the many varieties of dncks, geese 

 and brant which frequent our coast and inland lakes and 

 rivers, some of them all the year round and others the 

 greater part of it. As the law now stands these birds 

 have only about four months out of the year free from 

 persecution. From the time they start on their south- 

 ward migration until they arrive on their northern breed- 

 ing grounds. 



There are many men who plead that business compels 

 them to go shooting, if at all, in the spring. It may be 

 possible that some are unable to leave business, but I 

 think that if the law prohibited spring shooting many 

 who now shoot in the spring would find time and means 

 to take then vacation in the fall instead of spring. The 

 very same men who shoot both spring and fall are often 

 the loudest to cry down the market-shooter, who shoots 

 for his living during all of the open season, but who can 

 blame him for carrying on a business sanctioned by the 

 law, and when he does it as a means of existence, while 

 others are doing the same thing for pleasure only. If 

 these birds were protected during their northward migra- 

 tion in the early spring, both sportsmen and market-shoot- 

 ers would be equally benefitted by the increase. Of all 

 our game birds there are none that, if properly protected, 

 will increase as rapidly and give as much sport as the 

 ducks, geese and brant which now fairly swarm along 

 our eastern coast. If a law was passed and enforced in 

 most of our Eastern States prohibiting spring shooting, 

 they can be preserved in fairly large numbers for many 

 years to come if this law is adopted. C. N. B. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I read in a recent Chicago daily that notice had been 

 served on the United States and American Express Com- 

 panies that they must not carry game out of season. 

 While many censure the companies for carrying fish and 

 game during closed season, allow me to say— and I know 

 whereof 1 speak— that the instructions to their agents 

 are against any act which is contrary to the laws of any 

 State in which they operate. While we must admit that 

 some rules are broken, it is done without then knowledge 

 or consent. It often happens that the agent is innocent, 

 and in such cases, like the company he represents, he is 

 free from guilt. Our State Legislature is in session, and 

 no doubt the subject of prohibiting spring shooting will 

 be taken up. A daily of last Saturday contained the fol- 

 lowing: "An East St. Louis man wrote Mr. Messick, 

 Representative: 'For God's sake try and kill the bill for- 

 bidding spring shooting and crown yourself with glory.' " 

 No doubt the gentleman from East St. Louis is a person 

 who cannot hunt at any time but in the spring, but the 

 chances are stronger that he is some pot-hunter from St. 

 Louis. Whoever he may be, he can get all the shooting- 

 he need take any spring from the Mississippi River. He 

 has an advantage over us who live in the center of the 

 State, and his appeal should not have a feather's weight 

 of influence. I will guarantee that Mr. Messick will be 

 crowned with more glory in helping to stop the slaughter 

 at a time when the game is not fit to eat and when there 

 is no demand in the market, than by opposing a popular 

 sentiment among the largest-hearted people of our land. 

 We must not forget that the spring time is the. breeding 

 season of all our game, and who could count the thousands 

 more there would be in the fall if the game were left un- 

 molested in the spring. The argument is advanced that 

 the ducks do not nest with us. We must admit that fact, 

 for it is practically tine at the present time, but it is no 

 fault of the ducks*. With an open shooting season the 

 poor birds get no chance. In this latitude mallard, teal, 

 and woodducks would nest on our prairies and creeks if 

 they were not killed off while trying to build then nests. 



Allow me to thank you for the manly stand your good 

 paper always takes on these subjects. I feel that the say- 

 ing is still true, constant dripping wears the stone away. 

 Shooting with us has been lessened by the severe weather 

 this winter. Last fall this part of the country afforded 

 no shooting, excepting jacks, which were never known 

 to be in such numbers. A party went from here to one 

 of our resorts duck shooting, and. did not shoot enough to 

 supply the table. There is no accounting for this unless 

 it was caused by the dry season. Our gun club is in a 

 prosperous condition, and has its share of good shots, 

 who enjoy their Saturday shoots. Nimrod, 

 Batavia, 111. 



The Travelers, of Hartford, has a surplus of S2,08S,810.39 for 

 the protection of policy holders.— Adv. 



