248 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[APRIL It, 1890. 



JUMPING CHICKENS IN THE CORN. 



I HAD a relative from the East visiting me in the fall, 

 and as he came from a country where there is no 

 chicken shooting, nothing would do but he must have a 

 chicken shoot before going back. As it was well along m 

 October, it was too late for successful stubble or prairie 

 shooting over a dog. The summer here was very dry, 

 destroying the cover to such an extent that the chickens 

 would not lie to the dog if found on the prairie or stubble, 

 but would flush clear out of range and fly to the nearest 

 cornfield. I told M. that our only show for chickens was 

 to take a good retriever with us and go through the 

 fields and "jump them." He replied that he had never 

 shot any chickens on the wing, and did not expect he 

 would kill a bird in a week in this kind of shooting. 



We started out one afternoon about 2 P. M., with a 

 good team and driver, and drove out eight miles from 

 town before stopping. We pulled up on the east side of 

 a promising looking cornfield of about thirty or forty 

 acres, bordered on the south by a large slough. I took 

 the south edge of the field; M. went in about twenty rods: 

 we started to the west side of the field. I had only 

 walked a short distance when a fine covey got up in front 

 of me at long range, and I scored the first miss. They 

 dropped down in the ragweed on the west side of the 

 field. We followed them up, and when they flushed each 

 got. a bird. This time they flew a mile west to another 

 cornfield. Our driver had them well marked and we got 

 in and drove over. 



Arriving at the field we got out and directed our man 

 to drive to the nearest knoll in order that he might mark 

 down for us. M. and I then started diagonally across 

 the field, getting up our old covey and two new ones in 

 crossing the field. The birds got up wild, and every shot 

 was a long range snap shot. We followed these coveys 

 to three or four other fields, swellingour bag to fourteen 

 birds. It was now nearly sundown, and we were twelve 

 miles from home, tired, hungry and cold. Our driver 

 had foolishly come off without his overcoat, and as a 

 consequence he was shaking as if he had a fit of buck 

 fever. 



We are blest in this country with good roads, and on 

 this occasion we made good use of them, driving home 

 in about one hour and a half. When I seated myself at 

 the table. I attacked the substantiate in a way that made 

 Mrs. S. stare at me as if she thought I had lost my man- 

 ners or gone crazy. 



And now, gentle reader, if you have a friend come to 

 visit you and he protests he has never done any wing 

 shooting, don't flatter yourself that you are going to 

 wipe his eye about every other shot, for if you should 

 you might get left as I did. Friend M. claimed he had 

 never done any chicken shooting, but when we counted 

 our empty shells and birds at night his score stood as 

 clean as mine. W. H. S. 



Forest City, Iowa. 



TO CODIFY THE GAME LAWS. 



THE following is the text of the bill just signed by the 

 Govenor of New York and now a law: 

 An Act to provide for the revision and codification of the laws 

 for the protection and preservation of fisli and shell-fish and of 

 birds and quadrupeds. 



The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and 

 Assembly, do enact as follows: 



Section 1. A commission to re-vise and codify the laws of this 

 state for the protection and preservation of fish and shell-fish, and 

 of birds and quadrupeds, is hereby established, as follows: The 

 attorney-general shall select from among his deputy attorney- 

 generals one member; the commissioners of fisheries shall select 

 from among their number, one; and the New York society for the 

 protection of game shall select from their membership one; and 

 the three persons so selected shall constitute, the said commission. 

 Certificates of these appointments shall he filed in the office of the 

 secretary of state and of the comptroller. The members of the 

 said commission shall meet at the capital in the city of Albany at 

 such time as shall be appointed by the attorney-general, and sball 

 organize by the appointment of one of their number as chairman 

 and another as secretary, and shall proceed to revise and codify 

 the laws of this state for the protection and preservation offish 

 and shell-fish and of birds and quadrupeds, and report such codi- 

 fication to the legislature on or before the fifteenth day of January, 

 eighteen hundred and ninety-one. 



Section 2. The said commission may grant hearings and take 

 testimony at such times and places as they shall appoint, with 

 reference" to the subject committed to them, and shall have 

 authority to administer oaths to witnesses and to employ such 

 clerical and stenographic assistance as they actually need in the 

 prosecution and completion of their work. 



Section 3. Each member of the said commission shall be en- 

 titled to compensation at the. rate of three dollars for each day's 

 actual and necessary services, and all the members of the com- 

 mission shall be allowed their actual expenses of travel and 

 subsistence while engaged in such service. The commission shall 

 be allowed its actual and necessary incidental espeuses; and all 

 accounts rendered by the commission or its individual members 

 sball be subject, to the audit of the comptroller. 



Section i. The sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof 

 as shall be neccessary, is hereby appropraited out of any money 

 in the treasury not otherwise appropiated, for the purposes of 

 this act. 



Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 



IN THE DAYS OF MUZZLELOADERS. 



A T noon on a cold windy day in December, away back 

 J\. in the fifties, when game was so plentiful along the 

 Mississippi River and its tributaries .that any poor shot 

 with a little effort could make a decent bag, four stal- 

 wart hunters stood at the steamboat landing of a little 

 town in Illinois on the east bank of the Mississippi, dis- 

 cussing the proposition made by one of their number to 

 go across the river to a lake in St. Charles county, Mis- 

 souri, to hunt geese during the evening shooting. One 

 of the bystanders remarked, "Boys, it's too rough, you 

 can't make it." 



"I never saw the river so rough that I could not cross 

 it. What do you say boys? No time to lose.'" 



"We can cross if you can." 



"All right; get ready." 



In a few minutes a skiff was made fast to the landing 

 and guns and ammunition were hastily put on board, fol- 

 lowed by the stalwarts aforesaid, whose weight brought 

 the gunwales of the skiff to within a few inches of the 

 water. Two pairs of oars were shipped in the rowlocks 

 and the journey began. 



A stiff wind was blowing down stream, and when they 

 reached the middle of the river it had increased to a gale, 

 and the white caps were rolling beautifully. Yes, beau- 

 tifully to look at from a safe distance on shore, but to a 

 timid greenhorn with neither skill nor courage and with 

 nothing but an inch pine plank between him and the bot- 

 tom of the river, the situation was anything but attrac- 

 tive. But that crew was made of stern stuff. They were 

 going for geese, even with the immediate prospect of a 

 ducking. 



The wild waves were saying, "This is our frolic— we'll 



pipe and you dance," and dance they did, or rather the 

 boat did in anything but rythmic measure. 



The spray was flying over their heads, and more fre- 

 quently than was agreeable, the crest of a wave would 

 break over the sides of the overladen skiff with a wicked 

 sound, wetting the occupants and obliging them to bail 

 her out under difficulties, but a skillful turn of the steer- 

 ing oar would bring her head to the wind and relieve the 

 temporary stress until the no^t roller came. 



After buffeting the waves until nearly exhausted they 

 got to the leeward of an island, behind which was a long 

 stretch of still water, completely sheltered from the 

 wind. Here fresh oarsmen took the blades, and bending 

 to their work with a will, made the little craft fairly 

 spin for a mile or more, when they ran her nose into the 

 mud bank on the Missouri shore, and four hunters crawled 

 out wet, stiff and benumbed with cold, and the ice cling- 

 ing to their whiskers and clothing. 



A two mile walk through a heavily timbered bottom 

 brought them to the objective point of the trip — a lake 

 in the edge of the prairie, covering about forty acres, 

 which was frozen over with the exception of a water 

 hole in the center of nearly two acres in extent, which 

 had been kept open by the geese at night during the 

 previous cold weather. On the north side of the lake 

 was a belt of young timber that protected it from the 

 north wind, and to the south and west were miles and 

 miles of open prairie, dotted over with corn and wheat 

 fields, in which the geese fed during the day. They 

 would alight in the center of a large field open on all 

 sides, and resolve themselves into a committee of safety, 

 and every member of the flock was as vigilant a sentinel 

 as if the lives of the whole feathered creation depended 

 on its efforts alone. 



The first thing after reaching the lake was to note the 

 direction of the wind, and statiou themselves accordingly, 

 for it is well known to hunters that wild geese always 

 rise and fly against the wind, unless alarmed or driven 

 out of their course by storms. Three of the hunters were 

 stationed in the dry prairie grass on the south side of the 

 lake, at places most likely for the geese to cross, the 

 fourth was posted on the ice near the water hole. 



The sun was now about an hour high, and no sooner 

 had the men got in position than it began to snow furi- 

 ously, coming from the north. In a few moments the 

 flakes were falling so fast the boys were unable to see 

 one another distinctly at their stands. The storm had 

 fairly begun, when they could hear the welcome honk, 

 lunik of the geese coming in from the fields toward the 

 lake for the night. 



Here they come, low down, to keep out of the wind, 

 keeping up an incessant goose-gabble that was very inter- 

 esting to the listeners. Mischief for that happy family 

 which they were not dreaming of was hid in the tall 

 grass. A 'series of flashes, bang! bang! in the center; 

 bang! bang! on the left, then they bunched up and swung 

 around over the man on the right, who dropped one fine 

 fellow almost at his feet. The rest of the flock, flew across 

 the river anathematizing in vigorous goose language the 

 hunters that were out in such a storm as that. Five 

 geese was the result of that charge on the feathered 

 brigade. Soon another flock, bewildered by the storm, 

 came slowly toward them from a point a little further 

 west, and as luck would have it, ran the gauntlet of 

 three guns, and six more were added to the bag, and one 

 was heard to fall out in the prairie beyond reach. 



It was now getting dark and still the geese were com- 

 ing in, one flock after another, to be decimated by their 

 unseen enemies. As yet no report had come from the 

 hunter at the water hole in the ice. Now two flashes in 

 his direction, followed by a couple of satisfactory thuds, 

 indicated that part of the line was being cared for. Re- 

 loading his gun, he squatted on the ice looking like some 

 inanimate object covered with snow. A few moments 

 later a chorus of qua-qua-quacks were heard down the 

 lake coming toward him under the shelter of the timber, 

 and cocking both barrels of his gun, he waited. Soon 

 the birds appeared, bowing their wings to drop into the 

 open waters in front of him. Without changing his posi- 

 tion there was a quick raising of the gun, a double report, 

 and nine mallards were picked up and put in a pile on the 

 ice. So the fun went on, fast and furious, until it was 

 too dark to shoot; and gathering on the edge of the lake 

 they counted nine mallards, twenty-four geese and one 

 swan, which was bagged by the silent man on the ice. 

 Thirty -four head of game in about an hour's shooting, not 

 counting those lost in the darkness and storm. This was 

 before the advent of breechloaders. With the modern 

 chokebored weapon the slaughter would have been 

 fearful. 



Ah, those well-remembered days, we ne'er shall look 

 upon their like again! Cameron. 

 Elsah, 111. 



The Quail in Massachusetts.— Boston, Mass.— The 

 quail recently liberated by the restocking committee of 

 the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association 

 continue to be heard from, and occasionally in a way that 

 speaks volumes of the habits of this pretty game bird. 

 A gentleman from Wareham recently applied to this 

 committee for some bird to put out in his locality, but the 

 supply had run short and they had only a single pair to 

 give liim. He was not aware that there were any wild 

 quail in his vicinity. None had been seen for three or 

 four years, though these birds were formerly quite plenty 

 there. He set his pah' of imported quail at liberty, put- 

 ting out a plenty of grain for them to feed upon . The 

 birds were not alarmed, and quietly fed upon the grain 

 for some minutes after liberation. Then the male bird 

 flew into a tree and gave a peculiar whistle, then cocked 

 up his head as though listening. Soon he whistled again, 

 and was answered by a faint whistle in the distance. He 

 kept whistling and the answer kept coming nearer and 

 nearer, till soon there appeared four or five handsome 

 wild quail, evidently reared in Massachusetts instead of 

 Tennessee. The wild birds found the grain and helped 

 themselves. They were soon on the best of terms with 

 the birds from out of the State, and the feeding ground 

 has been kept up by both the wild and the tame birds. 

 The committee has liberated in all nearly 1,100 quail this 

 season, and the good work is to be kept up.— Special. 



Fohest ano Stream. Bos 2,832, N. Y. city, has deseriptive illus- 

 trated circulars of W. B. Lefflngwell's book, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

 ing," which will be mailed free on request. The book is pro- 

 nounced by "Nanlt." "Gloan," "Dick Swlveller," "Sybillene" and 

 other competent authorities to be the beet treatise on the subject 

 extant. 



WISCONSIN GAME LAWS. 



CHICAGO, 111., April 8.— The protective system of this 

 country is practically the game warden system, 

 which very many, including the Forest and Stream, 

 think to be the best system. Personally, I never did 

 think much of the game warden system, although I do 

 not discover that my personal belief ever made very 

 much difference to the world at large. My own notion 

 is that we will have to cut off the market for game before 

 our New England grouse killers or our Rocky Mountain 

 meat hunters will stop their steady efforts. * Probably I 

 don't known anything about it. When I was a boy I 

 used to steal my mother's raspberry jam; then my 

 mother used to punish me. It appears to me now that 

 had the good lady legislated for the benefit of the whole 

 family, she would have devised some scheme which 

 began to take effect before rather than after the robbery 

 of the jam pot. But probably I don't know. 



Not the less brightly, however, shines a good deed in a 

 naughty world; and I take great pleasure in writing 

 about the work of Game Warden W. Y. Went worth, of 

 the southern district of Wisconsin, knowing that the 

 record of his work will comfort a great many people. In 

 person Mr. Went worth is tall and vigorous, and in age 

 past fifty. Much respected as a citizens, he is proof 

 enough that an officer may be efficient in his duty and 

 yet respected as a man. I will give his words as nearly 

 as I can in the mention of part of his experiences: 



"I am State game warden for twenty counties," said 

 he, "including Rock, Walworth, Racine, Kenosha, Wau- 

 kesha, Milwaukee, Jefferson, Dane, Columbia, Dodge. 

 Washington, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Green 

 Lake, Marquette, Waushara, Winnebago, Calumet and 

 Manitowoc. Of these counties, Waukesha county alone 

 has eighty -six lakes within it3 boundaries, on almost any 

 one of which there is temptation for a law breaker. My 

 territory alBo covers Lake Winnebago, a body of water 

 14x36 miles in extent, and well known to be infested 

 with illegal nets. My salary is $600 a year, and I am 

 allowed $250 a year for traveling expenses. I have a 

 deputy in each county, whose sole pay reBts in half of 

 the fines imposed under actual convictions. Many of 

 these deputies are timid and afraid to act without my 

 help. I ought to be traveling all the time. How can I 

 be, on $350 a year? I am a good deal out of pocket on 

 traveling expenses for the past year, and yet I have felt 

 that I was slighting the work. What can you do. under 

 the present careless and indifferent law? 



"You remember the Hansen case, that got into the 

 papers about a year ago? Well, we did get about $1,000 

 worth of Hansen's nets out of Winnebago. We stored 

 these nets, and not long ago a bill for $25 came in to me 

 for the storage. I had it charged up on the docket, and 

 Hansen came up and paid it. Then we took all the nets 

 out and .burned them. That was after the final decision 

 in the case. We had good luck in that case. 



"Once I got eleven nets out of Lake Winnebago — 

 pound nets and illegal — but the fellow replevined the 

 nets. The State prosecutor told me he didn't have to act 

 in a civil suit. So I hired an attorney and paid him $20 

 out of my own pocket. Not very much money or glory 

 either, in that. 



'"'Not long ago we spotted a lot of pound nets in Lake 

 Winnebago. I hired five men on the lake to watch the 

 nets, while I went down and got a boat big enough to 

 carry them. I paid $20 for a steam yacht. When I got 

 to my watchmen I found the nets gone, and none of the 

 men had seen them go. The men had sold out on me. 

 They all stand in together. 



"In 1888 I arrested 24 fishermen in one lot, had each of 

 them fined $10 and costs, at Menasha. They appealed, 

 and I lost one case in the County Court. So I dismissed 

 all the rest, and all the work went for nothing. 



"Some folks say that there are as many fish to-day as 

 we ever had, but old fishermen tell me a different story. 

 Fred Melchow is one of the old-timers on Winnebago. 

 He says: 'Ten years ago a $50 net caught all the fish we 

 could handle; to day it takes $500 worth of twine to catch 

 a less amount.' Mr. Oliver, the Wisconsin State Warden, 

 who has the great lake country in his district, says: 'Our 

 lake fishermen are getting no whitefish at all now worth 

 mentioning.' Pete Larsen, another old fisher of Lake 

 Winnebago, says: 'We catch white bass now instead of 

 pike [pike-perch]. The ground pike and wall-eyes are 

 about gone. We only get sturgeon as plenty as we used 

 to.' When I hear talk about fish being as plenty as ever 

 I know the fellows who talk are either ignorant or care- 

 less of the truth. The modern catch is the product of a 

 plant and a system ten or twenty times as elaborate as 

 that of twenty years ago. Do you think it is fair to com- 

 pare it with the catch of those days? Yet it is not so 

 large as that was. We surely have need of good laws, 

 well enforced. 



"The law is lax and faulty enough, and such as it is, it 

 is not respected. The case has to be taken before a jury 

 on demand, and a game case before a jury is an uncertain 

 thing. I had a jury trial not long ago, and they got an 

 Irishman by the name of Mike Cronin on the jury. We 

 proved illegal killing of the duck, but when the jury 

 retired to deliberate, this Cronin appealed to his fellow 

 jurors. 'Gintlemin,' he said, 'I wud loike to know phwat 

 differens it makes to the dook pf whether ye snake up on 

 him an' prod him, or prod him an' don't snake up on 

 him!' This argument convinced the jury, and we lost 

 our case, which was one for using a float in killing ducks. 



"We knew for a long time that old Cap Sherman was 

 'floating' ducks lower dowm on Koshkonong. My deputy, 

 Bingham, and I crawled up on the bluff above him, one 

 day, and lay behind a brush pile watching him. We 

 saw him scull out to the decoys, shoot and kill a duck 

 and pick it up. We arrested him and had a big trial. I 

 have just learned that ne is fined — about $5 or so — and 

 that he goes to jail to square that. We lost another good 

 case through the trickery of a lawyer to whom we had 

 extended the courtesy of a continuance. He rushed in 

 ahead of us and got the case dismissed because we were 

 not there at the time set. The sympathy 6f the juries 

 and the justices seems all for the offender. Mr. Rogers, 

 my deputy at Mukwanago, turned in to me one fine of 25 

 cents! A learned J. P. there had inflicted that penalty 

 upon a man who had killed a mallard hen. He shot her 

 as she was sitting on her nest in the summer time! That 

 will show you how severe our legal machinery is. 



"Once in a while, however, we get so good a case that 

 even our justices can't help convicting. Mr. Levison, 

 my deputy in Dane county, caught four men for $1Q each 



