Oct. 30, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



289 



nent business men from Boston and Lowell will leave this 

 week for the wilds of North Carolina; Dr. J. C. French, 

 who spent the greater part of last winter in the hunting 

 regions of that "State, is the pioneer of the party. It is 

 made up of Geo. C. Moore, of North Chelmsford, Mass.; 

 E. W. Lovejoy, Henry .Jones, E. A. Smith, Walter Bag- 

 shaw and Wm. Edwards, of Lowell; Dr. J. C. French, 

 mentioned above, and Harry B. Moore, considerably 

 known to the readers of the Forest and Stream as 

 author of some of those deer and moose stories. Mr. Geo. 



C. Moore ia a manufacturer of woollen yarns, E. W. Love- 

 joy is a manufacturer of cutter knives, of the firm of 



D. W. Lovejoy & Sons. He i3 also known as the 

 manager of 'the Androscoggin Lakes Transportation 

 Co.— the trout lakes of Maine. Henry Jones is a 

 nlumber and dealer in plumbers' supplies. Walter Bag- 

 shaw and Wm. Edwards are manufacturers in the busy 

 city of spindles. Mr. Smith is a contractor aud real 

 estate dealer, and the genial Harrv Moore is well known 

 in the grain trade of Boston. The party will leave New 

 York on Wednesday evening by the Old Dominion line 

 of steamers for Norfolk. From Norfolk they will take 

 another line of steamers down Currituck Sound, and 

 from thence to Pamlico Sound. Thence they will go up 

 to Durham's Creek in North Carolina. Here they will 

 be qu -rfrred for some weeks with J. S. Kittle, who has 

 some 5,000 acres of wilderness under his control. He 

 has kept the pioneers of the party posted all the fall, and 

 in a recent letter he says now is the time to come. He 

 desires the party to come before the hunting has been 

 troubled at all by local hunters, and that is the reason 

 why he urges them to come thus early, though he says 

 the hunting will be fine even considerably later in the 

 season. Dr. French spent a good part of last winter 

 there, and is so much pleased with the region that he 

 has worked his friends up to join him this season. 



Deer are reported plenty in that part of the State of 

 North Carolina. Dr. French was fortunate enough to 

 secure more than one last winter, and one he attempted 

 to forward to Harry Moore by express. But it proved a 

 costly job, and the worst of it all was that it was spoiled 

 when it reachedBoston. Wild turkey hunting the Boston 

 and Lowell boys will try for the first time. The numbers 

 of this rare game are said to be more plenty there than 

 usual this season. Tired of the day hunting there will be 

 the possum and the coon for night work, with the darky 

 and his dogs to add zest to the sport. Quail are in abun- 

 dance. In fact, it is rarely the case that a party of New 

 England sportsmen has gone South with better prospects, 

 and the intention is that the Forest and Stream shall 

 hear from them again. Special. 



ILLINOIS GAME FIELDS. 



FLORA, 111., Oct. 22.— Quail are more plentiful here 

 than they have been during the recollection of the 

 oldest local sportsmen. The game laws have been strictly 

 observed, and law breakers, thanks to the game con- 

 stable, are a thing of the past. There are several hundred 

 bevies within an hour's walk of the town hall; they are 

 large and the birds in excellent condition ; some bevies 

 contain at a careful estimate from twenty-five to thirty 

 birds. 



Good dogs are at a premium here on account of the con- 

 temptible individuals who have taken a brutal enjoyment 

 in tendering them strychnine. At present we can boast of 

 but one hunting dog, a setter, and the family Bible shows 

 that he is enjoying: his eleventh year. Mr. "Link" Leebus 

 and myself bagged thirty-six quail this afternoon without 

 any exertion. We had enough and turned homeward 

 long before sunset. Cnickens are scarce and very wild. 

 Jack snipe are .also few and far between. Mallard ducks 

 are fairly plenty , but the season is too dry to make this 

 sport at all interesting. J. T. Waring, Jr. 



I have derived much pleasure from Antoine Bissette's 

 dialect articles. They are unique and of a character not 

 threadbare, as are the negro dialect stories. I trust the 

 series will be continued. Fall shooting is fair at Tolles- 

 ton, where the water has been raised about 3ft. by a 

 recently constructed dam, keeping the water at a uniform 

 stage over the marsh. The system of baiting the ducks 

 with a liberal supply of corn put regularly on the feed- 

 ing grounds is practiced by this club with very satisfac- 

 tory results. This is also done at the Swan Lake Club, 

 near Henry, on the Illinois River, where shooting has 

 been particularly good during the past week. I got 51 

 there on Monday and Tuesday of last w T eek. Mr. E. W. 

 Bangs killed 71 on Monday, 17 on Tuesday and 97 on 

 Wednesday, over half mallards and balance pintails and 

 teal. Low* water on the Kankakee marshes seems to 

 concentrate the birds to the few marshes that have water 

 and feed, Edmund Norton. 



THE TRANSGRESSORS' CORNER. 



Gl AME PROTECTOR WILLET KIDD, of Newbnrgh, ft". Y., is 

 )t making it hot for the transgressors in his district. On Sun- 

 day, Oct. 13, he received a ti-legram calling him to Sloatsburg, 

 Rockland county, lie hastened there and learned that Thomas 

 Downing, of Newburgh, had shot eight quail on that day in vio- 

 lation of the game law. Downing returned to Newburgh on the 

 same train with the doctor and was pointed out to him by some 

 of the resident? of Sloatsburg. .fudge Barnard caused an order 

 of arrest to be issued against Downing, placing his bail bonds at 

 K300 to await trial in the Supreme Court: for the recovery of the 

 penalty of §85 per bird. Downing was arrested by Sheriff Good- 

 ale and if the bonds are not furnished will be compelled to re- 

 main in jail until the case is tried. 



George Sparks is employed at the outlet of Orange Lake. For 

 several years he has kept an eel ruck at the outlet. It was sus- 

 pected lie caught something besides eels. Dr. Kidd not long ago 

 discovered that two black bass had. been caught and he instituted 

 a suit in the Supreme Court against Sparks for the recovery of 

 two penalties, §50 in aU, for these two fish. A judgment was at 

 last, obtained for tde full penalties, $50 and costs, amounting to 

 S82.7U in all. An execution was issued against his property. He 

 ignored it. An execution against his body was issued. Under 

 Sherid' Goodale brought him to Newburgh. After some delay 

 Sparks paid the judgment Bass "come high, but we must have 

 them." Unless a man is of independent means, though, he will do 

 well to curb his appe'ite for eel-racked fish. 



Thomas Price, of Rnndout, was arrested near Springtown, 

 Wednesday, on an execution against: "his body upon a judgment 

 of $100 obtained against him by Prosecutor HirschbTg, of New- 

 burgn. Game Protector Kidd complained of Price a year ago 

 for violating the game laws by snaring and trapping partridges in 

 Ulster county, near the Orange county line. Price failed to ap- 

 pear for trial and judgment was taken against him by default. 

 His arrest was in consequence to satisfy the judgment. Price 

 was taken to Kingston and lodged in jail. 



LaconiA, JS. H., Oct. 30.— Curtis Pickering and William Moor- 

 ley, both of Meredith, were brought here this morning and sen- 

 tenced to 30 days imprisonment in jail for spearing trout In Lake 

 Winnesquam. 



GAME IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. 



AUBURN, Gal., Oct. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Your correspondent, "Jo." in your issue of Oct. 9 

 gives a very cheerful report of the game prospects of the 

 Pacific coast for this year. His account may be quite ac- 

 curate as far as the northwest portion of the coast is con- 

 cerned, and perhaps for the Coast Range in this State 

 also, but, unfortunately for us, the very reverse is the 

 case in the Sierra Nevada. You may remember that I 

 reported a great mortality among the game last spring 

 in the mountains, and our fall shooting proves the truth 

 of my statements. The unprecedentedly deep snows of 

 last winter decimated the ranks of our game to such an 

 extent that a true sportsman is loth to shoot any of the 

 remaining supply, feeling that they should be left to re- 

 plenish our stock. I have seen dozens of hunters who 

 have been up in our far-famed Rubicon country, on the 

 Middle Fork of the American River, and they all tell the 

 same tale. No deer! One party of five expert hunters 

 went to that famous region, and have just passed through 

 our little city after a two weeks' stay, and they had just 

 two deer to their rifles. Another party of three staid ten 

 days, and got starved out; not a deer falling to any one of 

 them. 



The writer was in the mountains himself for nearly 

 four weeks on the South Fork of the American, and saw 

 only one old doe during the trip; and although there 

 were scores of hunters passing up and down the grade, 

 only heard of one deer being killed. The same story 

 comes from the headwaters of the Yuba River and North 

 Fork of the American, also from the Oosnmnes, all splen- 

 did hunting grounds for the black-tail deer. There are 

 quite a number of does and fawns in the foothills, and 

 tbe reason is that does heavy with fawn come down 

 lower than the bucks and barren does, and the snows 

 were so deep and lay so late upon the ground that they 

 could not get back into the mountains in time to drop 

 their fawns, and consequently dropped and raised them 

 here. This gives a chance for a future supply. 



The mountain quail were almost exterminated. There 

 is not one this year where there were a hundred last. 

 The valley quail are plentiful as ever, and the foothills 

 are full of them. The man that shoots valley quail in the 

 foothills, however, needs a staunch dog and a phenomen- 

 ally quick aim for more than three-quarters of his game. 



Stream fishing was extra good during the past season, 

 but was very late, owing to prolonged high water, caused 

 by the melting snows. 



In conclusion, the writer gives it as his opinion that it 

 will take at least five or six years for our game to recover 

 from the severe losses of the winter of 1 889-90. 



Arefar. 



NOVA SCOTIA MOOSE. 



MY corupanion, H. O. Wilbur, and I have just returned 

 from a three weeks' moose hunting trip in Nova 

 Scotia. We met our man (hunter, caller and cook) on 

 the morning of Sept. 12. The same day the cook started 

 out with the provisions and camp duffle on an ox team. 

 The next day the rest of us met him at the appointed 

 place, where we made our first camp, the team and driver 

 returning the same evening. Two days after this we 

 arrived at our camping ground, situated on a broadening 

 of the river and overlooking a large savannah. Here we 

 found excellent trout fishing. We were unfortunate in 

 having seven or eight days of rainy weather. The river 

 rose so high we had to shift our tents. This prevented 

 our calling. 



We killed two fine bull moose, besides, unfortunately, 

 wounding three others badly, which we followed for 

 several miles by the blood, but we had to give them up. 

 One bull moose was shot at 400yds. and knocked down 

 as he was crossing the savannah, near our camp; the 

 other two, a large bull and a cow, were shot at a distance 

 of 150yds. Both we followed for a long distance, but we 

 failed to get them, although they were bleeding badly. 

 The two bulls we got were shot, one the day before leav- 

 ing camp and the other at sunrise on the morning we 

 left for the settlements. The one I shot the last morning- 

 made a tremendous racket in coming through the wood?. 

 I heard him answering and breaking branches, which 

 made a noise like pistol shots, more than a mile away. 

 He came out in the open and stood about 150yds. off 

 when a .45-90 bullet, followed by two more of the same 

 kind, did the work. It was very exciting and I must 

 confess to being a little shaky before l got down to busi 

 ness. Both the bulls were about the same size and age- 

 8001bs. dressed, three years old, with fine sets of antlers, 

 which in time will be added to our other trophies of the, 

 chase. All the other moose that came to the "call" 

 came quietly and were within shooting distance before 

 we heard a sound. 



Partridges we found very scarce, only shooting four. 

 Bear signs were quite numerous and fresh, and two 

 came close to our camp at night, but on account of the 

 darkness we could not get a shot. I had a shot at a 

 large red fox on the way to the settlements but failed to 

 connect on the shooting. Moose we found fairly plenti- 

 ful and I know of at least twelve that were shot in 

 the vicinity we were hunting in. H. W. Hamlvn. 



New Jersey. 



ABOUT SIGHTS. 



FIRST the heresy. A beautiful Lyman rear sight hav- 

 ing been presented me by a friend, it was promptly 

 attached to the stock of the old Sharps, and for a time 

 the old uncle rejoiced in the consciousness that not only 

 was he in possession of the most ingenious device ever 

 planned for sighting a rifle, but also, that he was for the 

 time being in line with the other dudes of America in fol- 

 lowing the prevailing fashion. For a time all went 

 smoothly, and various animals, deer, etc.. bit the dust as 

 quickly as in the old days when the old rifle was crowned 

 with the queer rear sighting device of Van Dyke. As 

 the fall weather of the present year approached, and the 

 fog and mist shrouded with a deeper gloom the dark 

 canons of the mighty hills, upon a certain evening I fol- 

 lowed the fresh trails of a band of deer which had hidden 

 in the cover of the thickets, and just as night was 

 deepening the shadows a dear sprang up in my front, 

 80yds. distant, and jumping from side to side and running 

 low was enabled by the help of the low bushes and the 

 deepening gloom to completely give me the slip. I could 

 not be sure that I had got a true look through the peep- 

 hole of the sight without, for the instant, losing sight of 

 the flitting bunch of gray and white, so rapidly receding 



into deeper shade. To be sure, I had removed altogether 

 the inner disk of the sight, leaving only the large outside 

 peep-hole, yet, somehow or other, it did not seem to give 

 the quick unobstructed glance possible under the old 

 regime. To say that I felt badly does not express it. 

 Was it possible that I was "losing my grip?" Was ad- 

 vancing age really dimming the sight of the hunter who 

 seldom failed to get first sight of the cunning deer and 

 who asked no living man to point out game for his rifle? 

 1 resolved to keep the knowledge to myself. What thanks 

 did the faithful Gil Bias secure from the failing arch- 

 bishop? Excusing my failure with as few words as possi- 

 ble when reaching home the old rifle was again hung up 

 on the hooks and I tried in vain to dismiss the subject 

 which haunted me. 



A night or two after the very same identical experi- 

 ence happened to my oldest son, with this same rifle, at 

 the same place and hour of the day. He is a better run- 

 ning shot with the rifle than I am myself, and when he 

 returned disgusted, explaining in detail the very things 

 which so annoyed me in my efforts to get a running shot, 

 and clamoring for the old Van Dyke rea,r sight, I joy- 

 fully proceeded to make the change, leaving the Lyman 

 still' attached for long shots in good light, but with the 

 "old reliable" Van Dyke for the gloom and shadows of 

 the canons. 



Possibly this is the very rankest of heresy, yet it is the 

 cold, uncompromising fact; which I stand ready to demon- 

 strate to the satisfaction of any one who will take the 

 trouble to test both sights now atttached to the old rifle. 



Orin Belknap. 



Washington. 



Blazing Away at a Rustle.— A Michigan correspond- 

 ent sends us this feeling note on the fellows who shoot 

 their guns off at a noise in the woods, or a movement of 

 the brush: "While the season for the hunting of large 

 game generally is not yet open in the lower peninsula of 

 this State, the papers have chronicled a number of fatal 

 accidents in the woods. What the harvest will be when 

 the open season for deer has passed and the returns are 

 all in it is difficult to say, but these casualties will prob- 

 ably beat any previous year's record, if the beginning is 

 any criterion. These so-called, accidents have become by 

 far too frequent, and they are enough to prevent a care- 

 ful sportsman going into the woods in search of large 

 game. My father, who is an old-time deer hunter, while 

 on a hunting trip many years ago in the northern part of 

 Tuscola county on the Cass River, came very near being 

 shot at by a reckless scoundrel, who walked up to a tree 

 a few feet to steady his rifle, and who was some 15 rods 

 off. My father seeing his intention shouted at him, and 

 the fellow took down his gun and ran off without stop- 

 ping to explain his action. My father sought an expla- 

 nation of the man's actions from the settlers about there, 

 and they coolly informed him they were all in the habit 

 of shooting where they saw the brush stir without seeing 

 the object, for fear they would lose a shot at a deer; and 

 then my father gave up hunting for large game, and has 

 never been on a trip of that kind since. We never read 

 of an Indian or a savage shooting a white man or one of 

 his own people for a deer, bear or turkey, because they 

 readily distinguish any part of a wild animal from man's 

 anatomy, and know what they are shooting at. I would 

 rather hunt in near proximity to the Indians than to a 

 camp of these reckless white scoundrels who set so little 

 value on human life, and who go into the woods to drink 

 and gamble and shoot at everything that stirs the brush, 

 and whether it turns out to be a man or a beast they are 

 willing to take the chances. I have read your comments 

 time and again on this large class of accidents, but your 

 warnings and good advice to the public seem to be lost 

 and ignored in some sections. — J. W. 



He Will Make a Sportsman.— Williamsport, Pa. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: I send you a letter which 1 

 received from my nephew, Master Hardt, son of Chief 

 Engineer Hardt, of Wellsboro, the home of our old and 

 lamented "Nessmuk." He will bean enthusiastic sports- 

 man some of these days. If you wish to publish his let- 

 ter as a boy'rf letter you are welcome to it. — Aug. Koch. 

 The letter reads: Wellsboro, Pa., Oct. 15. — Dear Uncle: 

 Although I do not owe you any letter I must write to 

 you to tell you of something. Yesterday I started from 

 home at 4 o'clock, and when I got home at 5 my hunting 

 bag bulged out some. What do you think you would 

 have seen if you had been out here? A Bonasa umbellus, 

 pheasant; ruffed grouse. It was a fine bird, a male, I 

 think, and think it was larger than the ones you shot. I 

 went in the woods above the reservoir, and I had gone 

 quite far back from the reservoir and in the edge of the 

 woods all the way. I was walking on a side hill, and all 

 at once I heard something run, then bur-r-r-r— bang! He 

 had "darted down hill like a flash," and I could just get 

 a glimpse as I shot. Well, I walked along and was going 

 to follow him up, when there, 20yds. away, he lay— dead! 

 I had shot him in the back and broken a wing. He never 

 knew what killed him, for he never winked after I came 

 up. It began to rain then, so I went home and had been 

 gone only an hour. So you see I beat you. You went 

 about four miles and staid half a day and got two pheas- 

 ants, and I went a mile, stayed an hour and got one. 

 When you come up in Novomber we'll make 'em wish 

 they never had been born. I forgot to tell you I stuffed 

 his head last night, as Ed. did with his first pheasant. It 

 doesn't look very good, but it's all there. * * * Your 

 nephew, Will. 



Quail Invade Washington. — Washington, D. O, Oct. 

 tyf.—Tjfix, W. S. Thompson, Jr. has a drug store in the 

 heart of the fashionable section of the city and the birds 

 here referred to were all observed within about a square 

 of his place of business. Sept. 4 a covey containing about 

 30 quail was seen in the parking of the Chinese Legation 

 at Dupont Circle. A week later in the vacant triangular 

 lot adjacent to this circle eleven quail were noticed and 

 they remained in this place the greater part of the day; 

 several of them were flushed by boys and took refuge in 

 trees. Oct. 27, in the vacant lot adjoining Secretary 

 Blaine's house, eight quail « ere flushed, one of them 

 alighting on a doorway of a residence opposite; three 

 more, after having been flushed a second time, went on 

 to Senator Edmunds's stable. The birds were thoroughly 

 bewildered and some of them flew into trees. Mr. Thomp- 

 son attempted to drive them toward the cover along Rock 

 Creek, hoping to shield them from the attacks of boys 

 and the parlor-rifle fiend. All of these birds were fine, 

 full grown and in splendid condition.— T, H. B. 



