ISO 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sbipt. 4, 1890. 



SPORT IN NEW MEXICO. 



ON the 28th of June last we left our mountain camp, 

 having secured seven bears, a porcupine, four bay 

 lynxes (wildcats), a considerable number of coyotes and 

 a handsome crossfox, from about the middle of May to 

 the 15th of June, after which date we got nothing, owing 

 to two of men being unwell, which prevented us from 

 moving to a fresh camp. One large cinnamon, shot by 

 C, turned and came toward him, but was so badly 

 wounded that he could get no pace on, and was easily 

 despatched with a second ball in the head. We hauled 

 him out on burros (donkeys), and a nice time we had for 

 a solid hour cutting him up, and fighting the dense army 

 of mosquitoes. By the way, these insects are, of all ani- 

 mals that infest the range, most to be feared, knowing 

 no fear themselves. One old silver-tip fell to our bag — a 

 magnificent specimen, measuring 7ft. from the tip of the 

 nose to the tail, and covered with dense glossy fur. Of 

 course, they grow much larger sometimes, but the very 

 big ones are few and far between. This bear was shot 

 through the heart, the top of which was completely cut 

 off, but that did not hinder him from making one hun- 

 dred yards or more before he died. 



After leaving our camp our troubles began. The heat 

 was intense and wo had to make frequent stoppages, 

 chiefly on account of a pony I had lately bought, which 

 showed an irresistible desire to throw himself backward 

 every now and again. Once, while going down a hill- 

 side that appeared to be an angle of 45 deg., or near it, 

 one of the packs got loose, and the donkey, sneaking out 

 from under it, made off as hard as he could run. How- 

 ever, "all is well that ends well." So we did at last 

 reach the placer mines where we stayed for the night. 



The next day we got within twelve miles of our in- 

 tended camp, but the dogs began to suffer from the hot 

 sand, having been used to the cool grass of the mountains; 

 so bad, indeed, were they that three of them could only 

 just make it in the next day, and their feet were com- 

 pletely raw. Luckily there was plenty of rest in store 

 for them, for we are' after trout and not bear just now. 

 On our arrival we found trout in usual abundance, but 

 some distance up the river. Notwithstanding the un- 

 favorable weather three 41b. fish have been caught by us, 

 and quite a number ranging from 31b. to lib. Any one 

 with some small knowledge of fly-fishing can go up this 

 river and catch many more fish than he could carry 

 home, unless, indeed, he was a Sampson or Sandon. 

 The Brazos is becoming known and deservedly famed for 

 its large red-vented trout, and several other parties have 

 been to try their luck this year. 



If we meet with anything worth repeating during our 

 fall hunt I will inform you. A. Co ape. 



LABOR DAY IN THE WOODS. 



BOSTON, Sept. 2.— The shooting season is begun. 

 The open season on game birds in Maine begins 

 Sept. i, while the same is true of New Hampshire. By 

 the act of the last Legislature in Masssachusetts the open 

 ■eason on all game birds was made uniform, on Sept, 15. 

 Monday, Sept. 1, was Labor Dav, a legal holiday in 

 Massachusetts, and a number of Boston sportsmen took 

 occasion to slip down to Maine for a day's shoot. The 

 Saturday evening trains on the Boston & Maine carried 

 several sportsmen, with dogs and guns. The promises 

 of shooting in Maine are unusually good. Pari ridge are 

 reported plenty, with more ducks than usual in the lakes 

 and rivers. But the amount of spring shooting done on 

 the shore birds is believed to be ruining that part of the 

 game in Maine. Woodcock shooting does not promise 

 very flatteringly, bub still some of trie knowing ones — 

 gunners at Portland and Lewiston — know how to secure 

 good bags, with good dogs, 



Mr. Nat Manson, Jr., with his friend Ned Binner, both 

 well known in the iron trade of Boston, started for Camp 

 Stewart, Richardson Lake, Maine, on the 29th of August. 

 They will be absent about three weeks, and they have 

 planned for a rare time in the woods. They take for 

 cook and guide Oscar W. Cutting, of Andover, who has 

 cooked, guided and built camps and boat houses at Camp 

 Stewart. He is a rare fellow in the woods —has staid at 

 the "old camp" so long that he is a little homesick any- 

 where else. Ned Binner tells a rare story of ''dusting 

 partridges'' with Oscar as a guide. In the city of Boston 

 a favorite slang expression for run away or left is "got 

 up and dusted." Well, Oscar had seen where some par- 

 tridges had burrowed in the dust of the old logging road. 

 They had been taking a dust both in the sand. He came 

 back to camp with the account that the partridges were 

 "dusting." Binner was taken back, but got his gun out 

 to try for a shot. They went along a few rods when 

 Oscar stopped. "Here is where they 'dusted.'" 



Binner did not look at the ground, but for partridges 

 in the air. 



"Well. I don't care for where they got up and dusted, 

 but where are they now?" 



"I did not say they 'got up and dusted.' They dusted 

 before they got up. Don't you see their little holes? 

 There's where they kicked in the dust." 



"Oh!" said the now enlightened Binner, as he examined 

 the little round burrows. "There's a difference between 

 'getting up and dusting' and kicking in the dust before 

 they get up." All the time he had thought Oscar »eant 

 that the partridges had suddenly flown away. 



Geo. F. Freeman, of Harrington & Freeman, the Court 

 street jewelers, proposes to take his vacation at Camp 

 Stewart, from the middle to the last of September. 



M. R. Fottler, statistical clerk at the Boston Chamber 

 of Commerce, put in Labor Bay among the birds at 

 Franklin, New Hampshire. E. M. Gillam, commercial 

 editor of the Boston Advertiser, was to have been with 

 him, hut was prevented by sickness. 



F. N. Perkins, with Denny, Rice & Co., of the Boston 

 wool trade, has been fishing and camping at Jackson, 

 New Hampshire. He reports a good many trout and 

 rare sport. He and his brother were rendered "a little 

 neiwous" by the fact that a bear weighing some 3001bs. 

 had just been killed in that section. They saw the skin 

 and savage claws at the last stopping place where they 

 went into the woods. The first night they lay down in 

 front of the camp-fire, and as most Boston boys would 

 have done, they began to conjure up imaginary bear in 

 every shape formed by the dim light in the forest. Sleep 

 was a long time coming to their eyes. At last Frank fell 

 into a drowBe. His brother moved. He woke with a 

 ■tart, There were the two eyes and the black front of an 

 •n«riiaou» bear just beyond the dying embers. Frank 



seized his revolver, a .32-caliber of the bulldog pattern. 

 The bear was glowering upon them. The frightened 

 young man of the wool trade was no sheep to be killed 

 by a bear, and he commenced to "pepper away." His 

 brother awoke with a scream. The bear never moved. 

 Frank had put three bullets into an old black stump with 

 a couple of glints of moonshine for eyes. 



F. R. Shattuck, of L. A. Shattuck & Co., of the Boston 

 metal trade, has gone "down to the Cape" for a few days 

 of needed rest. He will doubtless fish some with his old 

 friend Capt. Jenkins. Fred is a fast friend of the Forest 

 and Stream. He is the poet of the "Immutable" and 

 the "Mutable." Special. 



A WEST VIRGINIA GAME COUNTRY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Reading to-day the interesting communication of 

 "Easby" in your issue of Aug. 21 , descriptive of the south 

 branch of the Potomac as a celebrated fishing resort, 

 calls up pleasant recollections. The region referred to is 

 not only a famous fishing resort, bnt is doubtless the best 

 hunting ground and the most accessible to the great bu3i- 

 nes centers of any to be found in the country. It was my 

 good fortune to spend the month of October, 1887, atRom- 

 ney, and during most of the time I boarded in the family 

 of Capt. C. S. White, State Fish Commissioner. I call to 

 mind the fact that we consumed at his table, while I was 

 there, three large wild turkeys and quantities of smaller 

 wild game and fish, all taken within two or three miles of 

 Romney. One of the turkeys was shot within a mile of 

 Romney Court House, and within a mile and a half of the 

 railroad station. There are plenty of deer, some bears, 

 large numbers of wild turkeys and great quantities of 

 smaller game, especially quail, in the immediate vicinity. 

 As I said at the start, taking the great cities of New York, 

 Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Baltimore and Wash- 

 ington, as the great central business regien of the coun- 

 try, and this certainly must be the nearest and most ac- 

 cessible first class fishing and hunting resort. 



But, I wish to refer to a fact that ought to interest 

 numerous readers of Forest and Stream, in the cities 

 named especially, as well as in contiguous regions of the 

 country. There is within five miles of Romney one of 

 the most remarkable sites for a natural fish and game 

 preserve of which I have any knowledge. Briefly stated, 

 it consists of two mountain ranges running parallel, due 

 north and south, with a valley between, barely wide 

 enough for a driveway, and through which runs an ex- 

 cellent trout stream, where splendid catches are the rule 

 during all trout seasons, like the present. The mountains 

 and all contiguous land is heavily timbered and abounds 

 in the splendid large game already referred to. When I 

 was at Romney several square miles of this region could 

 have been secured for a trifling sum, and I urged Capt. 

 White and friends to secure it, and am under the impres- 

 sion that they did so. 



I hope that if this communication reaches the eye of 

 the Captain he will give the readers of Forest and 

 Stream a better description of the region than I am able 

 to, for he is a life-long resident there, and an ardent 

 sportsman as well, and can give interesting facts in this 

 connection. Milton P. Peirce. 



Columbus, Ohio. 



HARD SHOOTING OR POOR SHOOTERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Let me tell you of an Ontario woodcock hunt at the 

 opening of the season on Aug. 15 on the river. Twenty 

 years ago you could find these birds in almost any bend of 

 the river, but since the dairying and exporting of cattle 

 to Europe it has destroyed and broken up their haunts to 

 some extent. The shooting then opened on Dominion Day, 

 it being six weeks later now, the birds are moulting. Our 

 legislators intended to protect the bh'ds, and destroy the 

 summer shooting, as it is a very hard matter to find them 

 at present. After an hour's drive, my comrade and I and 

 the dog entered one of the many ravines and creeks which 

 lead to the river on the north side. Near the top the 

 ravine is broken by knolls and bogs which are covered by 

 a plant about three feet high with a yellow flower— if you 

 touch the bud at a certain time in its growth it flies apart 

 with a snap. Here is the home of the summer woodcock 

 or "bog suckers," It seems to suit them for feeding and 

 boring on the beach knolls; and they are also protected 

 from all tyros in the art of wing-shooting, as we soon 

 found out. At the first bog we came to the dog (a cross 

 between a Gordon and English setter) swung around 

 among the flowering plants two or three times, as if there 

 had been a bird there some time or other, but failed to 

 find. As I went to step into the bog at the edge, I nearly 

 stepped upon him; shot and missed. The dog proved to 

 be a flat-catcher of the first water, as he chased the bird 

 through the dense trees until we thought he was not com- 

 ing back. When he returned, beautifully winded, and 

 unfit for use for some time, we proceeded. There are 

 small ravines which run back a few rods from the main 

 one. We went up one of these; and here the dog and we 

 ourselves got rattled and flushed and missed three birds 

 in as many minutes. We hunted too fast and were over 

 anxious. The heat was intense, the sweat pouring off 

 from us in great style. We held a consultation at the 

 head of the spring, which, to make matters worse was 

 dry. We concluded that cock shooting was not in our 

 line of business, yet it was our day off. We went back to 

 the main creek, and went further down and flushed a 

 woodcock. We were then about a mile from our lunch 

 basket. We decided to return. In walking back we 

 flushed bird after bird, which seemed to have a knack of 

 eluding the dog very nicely. They would bunch in twos 

 and threes on a dry knoll, where the sun would penetrate 

 through the dense foliage and destroy any scent they 

 emitted; and if we flushed them ourselves they would 

 fly straight up over the tops of the lower trees or under- 

 growth; and one needs be an expert indeed to touch them, 

 as eight feet of flight is all the time we had to shoulder 

 and cover. My comrade, an Englishman and a thorough 

 sportsman, was not a little chagrined, as he thought he 

 was infallible in the art of shooting on the wing. We had 

 lunch by a spring of sparkling water, and a short nap. 

 We then resumed the hunt for two hours without success 

 as to woodcock. We bagged a brace of whistle wings or 

 high-holders, as they term them here. We saw different 

 braces of doves flying through the woods, but could not 

 get a shot at them; they were too shy. Minor. 



Delaware, Ont. 



SHOOTING TALK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I happened into Kenclrick & Prettie'a sporting goods 

 establishment in Syracuse the other day, where one may 

 usually count on finding the chairs held down by some of 

 the city sportsmen, and while there I made inquiries of 

 those present regarding the prospect for game the coming 

 season. All were unanimous in declaring that reports 

 were very encouraging for a good supply of woodcock 

 and partridge (ruffed grouse). While I was present a re- 

 port came in that an unusually large number of ducks are 

 now on the Montezuma marshes. There have been some 

 good catches of black bass on the Seneca and Oneida 

 rivers this season. A gentleman who was in Kendrick & 

 Prettie's when I went in reported having caught twenty- 

 three nice bass the day before on the Oneida River, using 

 crabs for bait. 



From fish stories the party got to telling other kinds, 

 and one or two seem worth repeating. A trap-shooter, 

 well known in this section, is responsible for the follow- 

 ing: He was in the country where quail are occasionally 

 found, and one being heard near the house, one of the 

 boys of the household got his muzzleloader and started 

 for the quail. A. followed him, and they soon came to 

 where they could see the bird sitting on the fence. The 

 boy took aim and pulled the trigger, but the cap failed to 

 explode. The boy lowered the gun to the hollow of his 

 left arm, and turning to the right so he could see A., mo- 

 tioned to him to keep quiet as the quail had not moved. 

 Then he removed the cap, dusted a few grains of powder 

 into his hand and proceeded to prick the powder into the 

 nipple with a pin, when suddenly the gun was discharged 

 killing the quail. 



An elderly gentleman said this reminded him of the time 

 he was out for ruffed grouse in a very thick cover, where 

 he could not shoot on account of the brush, while his 

 friend who was with him killed three or four shooting 

 from the hip, that is without raising the butt of the gun 

 above the hip when shooting. Osceola. 



Central New Yobk. 



A Fox Country.— Walden, Vt., Aug. 27.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: A young man who is spending his 

 vacation here had sent to him a copy of your paper of 

 Aug. 21, and in it I noticed an article written by "Daphne" 

 about still-hunting foxes. The article brought to mind 

 the successful exploits of a young man who, until a few 

 years ago, lived a few miles from me. He was a perfect 

 fiend for foxes, and I don't believe the man ever lived 

 that would take them in a trap as he did. If I remember 

 right, he trapped and shot nearly one hundred in one 

 season. Of course he set a good many traps, and foxes 

 were plenty, but I think it a large number for one man to 

 kill, and it made him famous as a fox trapper. He was 

 very careful and said very little about his traps or catches, 

 and no one that I know of ever learned his secrets. Foxes 

 are getting plenty here again, but when Kittredge was 

 here the farmers had little trouble to raise hens and 

 turkeys. But this season they have done much damage, and 

 this all notwithstanding a bounty of $1 is paid on them. 

 I don't know where Mr. Kittredge is now, but the farmers 

 would welcome him back, and if he should see this he 

 might give your readers some useful information on 

 getting rid of the pests.— A. L. Perkins. [The stray copy 

 of the Forest and Stream that fell into the hands of 

 Mr. Perkins has led to an odd train of circumstances, for 

 the Kittredge sought for is, to the best of our belief, no 

 other than "Daphne," who wrote the note on still-hunting 

 foxes, and last week asked for a good trapping country.] 



Dayton, O., Sept. 1.— The pheasant season opens to- 

 day, and the birds are plenty in Mercer and Auglaize 

 counties of Ohio, Jay county, Indiana, and on north 

 through three tiers of counties to the Michigan State 

 line. Wild duck shooting begins to-morrow, but there 

 will be none on the streams here until cold, stormy 

 winter weather comes. Dove shooting is at its height, 

 and bags of from twenty to sixty birds are brought in 

 every day. Woodcock are moulting. 



Ohio. — Cadiz. — Rabbits and quail are very abundant 

 in this vicinity, as the season was very favorable, many 

 coveys of quail being at this date as large and strong as 

 the old birds. My pack of beagles are doing finely. They 

 have had any amount of good runs this fall, and will be 

 in great shape when season opens. — S. C. G. 



Minnesota.— St. Paul, Aug. 25,— Chicken shooting is 

 good in Minnesota; bassfishina; excellent; and prospect* 

 for duck and geese fair. — H. W. C. 



"That reminds me." 

 TOBOGA BILL. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A recent visit to Panama, now become familiar to every 

 man, woman and child throughout the land through the 

 stupendous frauds of the management of its would-be 

 inter-oceanic canal, ha.s brought to mind the story of To- 

 boga Bill, an enormous shark which for many years in- 

 habited the waters of Panama Bay, but which has been 

 missing for the last decade. 



This shark was generally seen swimming close to the 

 sides and gangways of the ships in the harbor, and was 

 considered so docile in manners that instead of being- 

 feared and killed he was cherished by the sailors and 

 boatmen as an old and tried friend. Of course, many 

 curious yarns have been told about him, but the one ac- 

 credited to an old sailor, Peter Delf , rather eclipses the 

 others, and I shall give it as I heard it told by a captain 

 of one of the Pacific Mail steamers. 



Peter was head lighterman for a number of years in 

 Panama Bay for the Panama Railway Company, and it 

 was his duty to get the cargo lighters to and fro between 

 the railway wharf and the steamers out in the bay. One 

 day he was woi'king a lighter out to a steamer, which 

 was to sail in an hour, when the wind fed light. A pass- 

 ing tug offered him a tow, but being an old-time salt he 

 declined the tow without thanks, and worked away at 

 his lug sail, shifting it from one side to the other in th« 



