JAN, 16, 1890.J 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



818 



retc The first "MonitoT" on Koshkonong was built by 

 one Van Git son. In it the oval was irregular, the swell 

 of the lines being broader at the stern, and the boat run- 

 ning smt»ll-end first. In the present model, which is also 

 lighter and trimmer, the ends are both alike. The boat 

 is flat on the bottom, and is cased with tin or copper as 

 a protection against ice. In a few specimens the deck- 

 ing, or top of the "wing," is made of heavy canvas in- 

 stead of wood, but this is not favored. In the old Van 

 Gieson boat the rowlocks were not good; they were 

 clumsy and caught in the grass. In the modern boat the 

 rowlocks are simplicity itself, and yet -very effective. 

 They simply consist of a length of gas pipe, something 

 over a fo^i of which is dropped into a bored block to hold 

 it firmly. The stem of the oarlock is dropped right into 

 the end of the liollow pipe, and is kept from creaking by 

 a washer of rubber. This is the simplest form of row- 

 lock, and in passing through rushes or grass it can, with- 

 out any trouble, be lifted out of the socket, leaving the 

 baie skin of the boat to elide jalong with little friction. 

 This is a very clever device, indeed, the whole get-up 

 of the Monitor is clever, and it is a mighty good boat for 

 shooting in light cover. It is usually run into one of the 

 portable blinds hastily described above. The cover close 

 to the edge of the legal limit on Koshkonong is very 

 light. The beauty of this boat is that it is suited to its 

 environments. Indeed, it was evolved from them. One 

 Pahaska, of Fort Atkinson, builds most of the Monitors 

 used by the club. 



There are forty-three boats now owned by the club, 

 among which are several different styles, although the 

 above are the interesting ones. There was a light cockle 

 shell of a varnished canoe, capable of being carried under 

 the arm, belonging, I believe, to a son of Mr. Geo.* W. 

 Peck, the Milwaukee Sun man, who is a member of the 

 club. Mr. Peck will be remembered as the author of the 

 "Bad Boy" papers. There was also a long, double-ended 

 boat, flat-bottomed, heavy and sharp, practically the 

 same as the lodging batteau of the North, and a model 

 copied in lighter and shorter form in the Tolleston marsh 

 boat. Then there were just plain boats, snub-nosed or 

 otherwise. I have spoken in a previous number of fflie 

 Nee-pee-nauk boat, smooth skin, made of strips nailed 

 one on top of the ether. Here on the Rock River I saw 

 Duane Starin using a wide and open fishing boat, made 

 of built up strips just in that way. That was the boat we 

 used when we went out after the wild celery seed. 



Blackhawk Club is fifteen years of age. Its member- 

 ship was at first limited to 25. It is now limited to 50. 

 The membership fee is $100 and the annual dues are $10. 

 Mr. Went worth has been superintendent of the club for 

 ' eleven years, and has seen it grow to its present propor- 

 tion *, When he went into his place there were but seven 

 boats owned in the club. As above stated, there are now 

 43. The club house of to-day is also a material improve- 

 ment over the old form it had. 



This club is a steady and conservative one. It has 

 always been counted a hard one to get into. Sinee the 

 pa-sage of the rigid wildfowl laws in Wisconsin, the 

 shooting has of course been curtailed. Let not the hearts 

 of the shooters be troubled, however. The wild celery 

 of Koshkonong will not lose its power to charm, and 

 the future will show the grand game of that lake again 

 so plentiful that any self-respecting hunter can by haTd 

 work kill all he ouuht to have. It is time the ducks were 

 given a chance. This is their innings. 



Mention of this club and of the Koshkonong region 

 could, of course, be closed here. There is, however, 

 too much of interest in that locality to pass without 

 mention, and I shall beg to add some notes upon the 

 game, etc., of tbat lake and vicinity in next week's paper, 

 and also to present what seems to me some very interest- 

 ing facts upon the game warden question as learned 

 direct from Warden Wentworth. Following is the mem- 

 bership of the Blackhawk Club: 



Presidenr, B. M. Johnson, of Whitewater: Vice-Presi- 

 dent, A. J. Ga-ton, of Beloit; Secretary and Treasurer, B. 

 Bulkley, of Whitewater Members: John W. Parme- 

 lee, R. A. Peters, Geo. W. E -.terry. F. G. Bigelow, C. S. 

 J^ckman, Col. L. A. Harri=, Judge Thos. A. Logan 

 (' Gioan*'). Benj. Rohinson, Lawrence Pike, J. A. Part- 

 ridge, O. P. Posey, B. Bulkley, F. W. Tratt, Thomas J. 

 Stephens. Phil. Trautman, Edmund B. Sears, Dan'l Bul- 

 lock. A. W. Ke^ney, A. J. Gaston, F. H. Starkweather, 

 John L. Stockton, W. J. Doolittle, Edward A. Austin, B. 

 M. Fre.-s. A. D. Forbes, M. V. Dovle, D. W. Miller, C. A. 

 Still, H. B. Allen, N. L. James. Frank R. Cheney, J. B. 

 Doe, Jr., Wm. A. Talcott, S. S. Kimball, L. W. Flershem, 

 Chas. F. Allen, E. M. Johnson, Geo. W. Peck, Louis 

 Auer, Geo. B. Hawlev. How. S. Salisbury, W. B. Keep 

 (Gen'l Ati 5 v C. & N. W. Rv.), M. Hughitt, Jr. (Div. Fgt. 

 A<jt. C. &*N, W. Ry.), E. W. Herrick, Chas. McAvoy, 

 Geo. R. Grant, Geo. B. Hawthorne. E. Hough. 



Chicago, Jan. 0.— In the death of Judge J. C. Knick- 

 erbocker, which occurred yesterday Jrom a sudden 

 stroke of paralysis, the world lost not only an able attor- 

 ney and accomplished jurist, but also a thorough and 

 generous hearted sportsman, Judge Knickerbocker was 

 a member of the Tolleston and Nee-pee nauk clubs, and 

 was one of the most enthusiastic and successful sports- 

 man of this city. His start in life here was a modest one, 

 but never in his later days of success did he forget the 

 lessons in charity his youth had taught him, and he was 

 always kind and. thoughtful, as well as rigorously just. 

 This city and the whole guild of sportsmen could ill afford 

 the io.-s of such a man. 



Jan. 7.— Our winter still holds off. The season is re- 

 markable. On last Sunday I was walking along the lake 

 front and saw a boy rolling up some lines. On inquiry, 

 he told me the perch had been biting freely along the 

 wharf all the morning. That was Jan. 5. The lake was 

 altogether open. On the day before, at the Grand Calu- 

 met Heights club house, Dr. Harlan, Mr, Wilde and Mr. 

 Bird put out a few decoys in the lake in front of the 

 house and got nine ducks. They say they ought to have 

 killed twenty. The funny part of this is, that none of the 

 party can tell what kind of ducks it was they killed. 

 T iey say the birds were about as big as mallards, looked 

 like black mallards (dusky duck), and were as good eat- 

 ing as any mallard. That is ail they know about it, and 

 tney are unable to produce even the head of one of the 

 birds in question, 



Mak-saw-ba marsh had more mallards on it last Thurs- 

 day than at any time for two years. That was Jan. 8, 

 and usually at that time the whole country is frozen 

 tight and the thermometer is at 20 s below. A pusher at 



the club killed 10 mallards the other day and ran out of 

 shells. Another party saw about 500 mallards last Sun- 

 day up Eagle Island way. Good shooting could now be 

 had by any enterprising man on Mak-saw-ba marsh if he 

 would work up as far as Hailstorm and Winchell's Like. 

 Mi-. C. D. Gammon was lately down at Cumberland 

 marsh, and reports mallards plenty there also. This is a 

 state of affairs that strikes everybody as being singular 

 in the extreme. To-day, Jan. 7, the temperature is hardly 

 below freezing. 



Writing to his friend Mr. Loyd, of thin city, Mr. C. W. 

 Parent, of Marshall, Md., in a recent letter, says: " I have 

 had a great deal of good shooting here this fall, as every 

 Saturday was spent fronting, quail. My last three trips I 

 killed 48, 53, 61, and that, too, on one farm, which will 

 give you some idea of the number of quail in this sec- 

 tion, f have a splendid dog I got from the Deal Beach 

 Club grounds, Long Branch. N". J., and I have had good 

 success in breaking him. I have not got him so that he 

 will take a target out and tack it up for me as yet, like 

 Grouse." 



Grand Calumet Heights Glub had a business meeting 

 Thursday evening and discussed the question whether to 

 buy or to lease a plot of ground. The owner will not sell, 

 except with a reservation to the deed which robs the club 

 of all profit by way of increasing value of the property. 

 The matter was laid over till next Wednesdays. 



E. Hough. 



WEIGHT OF GROUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream • 



Notes in your issues of Dec. 12 and 19, also "Notliks" in 

 issue Jan. 2, has called my attention to weight of ruffed 

 grouse. Have handled grouse for the market for the 

 past ten years and spend a few days each season for re- 

 creation in hunting them. Have noticed as "Notliks" says 

 that the weight "varies from year to year according to 

 circumstances, food, weather, etc." The past two sea- 

 sons having very open weather, little or no snow during 

 the months of October, November and December, the 

 grouse are found in 'the neighborhood of grain fields, 

 especially those of buckwheat, where they find a quantity 

 of easily procured rich feed. The weights this season 

 with us have averaged unusually heavy, partly o«ing to 

 the lateness in gathering the buckwheat crop. We pur- 

 chased of A. P. LaPlant, a market-hunter of this place, 

 among other birds, a cock grouse that weighed 30 plump 

 ounces; it was a very large bird and from appearances a 

 very old one. Its crop contained no unusual amount of 

 food and was not distended as were many at limes that 

 we bought. Have had grouse brought in, their crops be- 

 ing so filled with buckwheat that you would imagine 

 they were fed in a poultry yard with* tame fowl. Others 

 not in the neighborhood of grain fields had fed on the 

 young and tender shoots of clover leaves, and one bird 

 had at least a pint of wintergreen berries in its crop, 

 showing i hey accustomed themselves to their surround- 

 ings and fed on whatever was in that neighborhood that 

 pleased them best. On my shooting trip this season 

 where I found a buckwheat stubble adjoining timber or 

 brush lots so sure was I to find grouse if they were in 

 that locality, and it took mighty quick work to bring one 

 to bag, being e-trong and quick on the wing from well 

 filled crops twice each day. For a tahle bird the grouse 

 that feeds on buckwheat cannot be beaten. 

 Towanda, Pa. Sus. Q. Hannah. 



MISSISSIPPI NOTES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Find inclosed a roi-e pulled to-day from bush in open 

 air, where they have been blooming all winter. Up to 

 date we have had no cold weather. The mercury stands 

 from 65° to "5° almost every day. Had no frost through- 

 out the entire month of December. Have not seen a 

 duck this winter. Quail are abundant, but the weather 

 has been so warm that very little shooting has been done. 

 During last summer therewere more squirrels here than 

 ever before, and everybody turned out to shoot them. 

 The fusilade in the woods sounded like a lively skirmish. 

 The deer and turkeys have almost disappeared from this 

 vicinity. A nephew of mine killed a very large gobbler 

 a few days ago while out bird shooting, the only one I 

 have seen here within a year. This old fellow was run 

 into and flushed by the dogs, and tumbled by the bov 

 with a close overhead shot, and brought home with 

 mighty exultation. A son who has just returned from a 

 trip through Texas, Mexico and to the Pacific, had some 

 splendid sport after game of all kinds, from a quail to a 

 cougar. 



In consequence of the extremely warm weather I have 

 shot very little this season. We have had very little rain 

 and the winter has been Arcadian. I would like to live 

 in a climate where it was never any colder than it is here 

 to-day, with the mercury at 70°, and the birds singing as 

 if 'twere May. I am sitting at'an open window as I pen 

 these lines, but we may catch it yet ltaer on. 



Since I saw you last in !New York, four years ago to- 

 day, 1 have gained in avoirdupois, and when afield I 

 generally throw down two or three panels of worm fence 

 every time I have to climb over one, and get awful hot 

 if it is a warm day. Guvon. 



Cohinth, Miss., Jan, 10. 



Sportsmen and Landowners. — We find in a late num- 

 ber of the Monticello (Fla.) Tribune this note, which is 

 worth attention, for it points to one solution of the sports- 

 man vs. landowner problem: "Messrs. Harned, Heston 

 and Hoey, while out hunting a few days ago, pulled a 

 fine calf out of a branch near D. H. Bryan's plantation 

 on the Thomasville road. It was badly mired, and but 

 for this fortunate discovery woukl soon have perished. 

 Mr. Hoey, who still claims to be somewhat of an invalid 

 (though we think our fair country has entirely cured 

 him), did not do any pulling, but just bossed the job. lie 

 claims tbat Britt, the driver, tugged for him, and did the 

 biggest part of it, too. Twice this same party have put 

 out fence fires by the roadside. Surely if all shooting 

 parties will act in this humane and considerate way, our 

 farmers will invite their visits rather than post their 

 lands." Mr. Hoey is a guest of the St. Elmo, noticed last 

 week in our Florida number. 



Megantic Club's Dinner.— The annual dinner of the 

 ! Megantic Fish and Game Club, will be held at Young's 

 j Hotel, in Boston, on Jan. 28. 



MAINE BIG GAME. 



THE season on big game in Maine has closed, Jan. 1 

 being the end of the open term, and it is hoped 

 that all hunting has been stopped. It is well understood 

 that crusting and poaching is indulged in fo some extent, 

 but that there is a decided growth of better feeling and 

 respect for the game and fish laws, is also equally well 

 understood. The number of moose killed has been small. 

 Among the late reports are accounts of a big black moose 

 killed in the neighborhood of Austin Stream in Somer- 

 set county. This stream flows into the Kennebec above 

 Bingham.'' The moose is said to have stood (>|ft. high 

 and to have weighed l,0001bs. The story also goes that 

 he had treed several lumbermen and hunters and driven 

 the hunters out of the woods. Later Lawrence Hayden, 

 and Milton Merrill of Madison and Joseph Baker of Skow- 

 hegan, were in the woods on Austin Stream, hunting for 

 caribou, when Hayden came upon the big moo=e. He 

 says the huge beast immediately charged upon him. 

 Hayden says that he looked like a great land slide from 

 the side of Old Bunnside mountain, but that he stood his 

 ground. He let the moose come up to within a couple of 

 rods, when springing aside he had a chance for a shot at 

 his shoulder, and put a ball through the shoulder blade 

 and through his lungs. Still the moose kept on his feet, 

 and showed fight, though evidently his shoulder was dis- 

 abled by the shoot so that he could neither run nor ad- 

 vance. But this gave Hayden time for another shot, 

 after which the moose fell, but with awful struggles and 

 bellowings that startled Hay den's companions, who were 

 nearly two miles away. His hide was split sufficiently 

 to roll out his entrails. Then by considerable brushing, 

 a road was made so that it was possible to drive a pair of 

 horses to the spot, and he was toted to Skowhegan, 

 where his skin is in the hands of a taxidermist. His 

 age was estimated to have been 10 years. 



Another moose hunting story comes from Charleston, 

 Maine. Mr Elbridge Lord has been in the woods after 

 caribou and deer, and has lately returned. He started 

 one morning from camp, on a moose trail in the snow, 

 which laid some six inches deep on the ground. Toward 

 noon it began to rain, and the snow to disappear. He 

 succeeded in capturing the moose toward nightfall, 

 after following him some 10 or 12 miles. But the rain 

 had obliterated all his tracks, and the hunter was com- 

 pletely lost with night coming on. He succeeded in 

 starting a fire with about bis last match, and by this 

 means he managed to keep liimself alive, and with the 

 aid of broiled moose steak. The weather turned so cold 

 that the hunter dared not lie down, but stood upright all 

 night, leaning against a. tree. At daylight he started to 

 find his way out of the woods. After traveling nearly 

 all day, he "was enabled by the aid of engine whistles to 

 start in the right direction and came out to the settle- 

 ment. He has since found that his wauderings were all 

 within a compass of a few miles. 



A Straton, Mp., dispatch to the Boston Herald, the 

 other day say s that Dr. Heher Bishop of Boston . Secretary 

 of the Megantic Fish and Game Club, has shot an ennr 

 mous meose. Mr. W. B. Hastings, of the same city, 

 was hunting with Mr. Bishop. They were in the Kibby 

 Valley, on the Maine side ot the club's territory. W. E. 

 Latty, of the Three Lakes, was guiding Dr. Bishop, and 

 Winn Emery, of Eustis, was with Mr. Hastings. They 

 all came upon a moose yard about three miles from the 

 Moose River camp, and soon after they came upon two 

 moose, a bull and a cow. The cow was immediately 

 shot dead by Mr. Hastings, the more is the pity. She 

 was evidently a three-year-old and would have produced 

 calves in the spring. Right here let me say, in the 

 interest of the game in the future, that both Mi - . Hastings 

 and Dr. Bishop ought to be ashameei of their hunting. 

 The moose are going fast enough at ihe very best. It 

 is a pity that the Maine Commissioners' proposed law is 

 not in force, making a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment 

 for killing a cow moose at any time. I have spoken 

 plainly because I am interested in the future of moose 

 in Maine, that State is about the last ditch that these 

 noble game animals are being driven into, and to kill a 

 cow moose at any time should be made a crime by stat- 

 ute, and the sooner the better. 



The bull moose got away for the time, though followed 

 by the Doctor and his guide. The story goes that he was 

 fatally wounded by the Doctor before he started, though 

 still able to make through the woods with a terrible crash- 

 ing. He was easily followed by his tracks and the blood 

 on the snow. They came in sieht of him three times, 

 long enough each time for the Doctor to get a shot, and 

 each shot took effect, but the mighty giant of the forest 

 did not fall till the fourth bullet had been put into his 

 body\ Even at the last shot he was plucky and turned 

 and faced the Doctor, though his wounds had told upon 

 his strength to the extent that he could go no further. 

 The bull moose was eight years old and weighed l,1001b3. 

 The cow weighed 8001bs. 



Deer shooting in Maine has been excellent, especially 

 since the snow has become a fixture. Eight have been 

 killed in one town this season, the town of Carthage, in 

 the vicinity of Weld, in Franklin county. Other towns, 

 more remote, have doubtless done better, but tbis record 

 is a good one, especially when it is consideretl that in the 

 days before game protection to have seen a deer in Car- 

 thage woidd have been the wonder of the whole town. 

 The Maine sportsmen who have killed deer in that State 

 this fall could be numbered in hundreds, but sportsmen 

 from other States have not fared* so well. 



Bear are also plenty in Maine this year. Capt. Jason 

 Crowley has recently killed one at Indian River, the skin 

 of which was 8ft. long. The meat, when ready for ship- 

 ment weighed 4001bs. The bear was trailed in the light 

 snow by the Captain till shot. Special. 



St. Lodis, Mo , Jan. 11, — The webfeet have made their 

 appearance in fair numbers, and several moderate bags 

 are reported. A telegram was received yesterday from 

 the superintendent of the Dardenne Club, in St. Charles 

 county, reporting a good flight of ducks. A party of the 

 members left last night for the club house. A report 

 was current in shooting circles to-day, that large num- 

 bers of ducks and geese could be seen about 75 miles 

 north of this city in the Mississippi River, The geese in 

 particular are said to be very plentiful, in fact they have 

 been there all winter. A Miv Russell from this city a few 

 days ago brought home four which he bagged with a .32 

 Colt's repeater. He shot one while about 100 were sit- 

 ting unconcerned on a sandbar in the river, dropping the 

 other three before they got out of range. — Unser Fritz, 



