Nov, 20, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



861 



SOUTHERN SHOOTING GROUNDS, 



JANESYILLE, Wis., Nov. 13.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I note your wish for information as io 

 shooting in the South. I have shot a great deal in differ- 

 ent parts of the South, being myself a native of Louisiana. 

 Last winter, wishing to go to untried fields, that is, un- 

 tried by myself, I spent five weeks at Mrs. Richardson's 

 place, Lincolnton, N. C, accompanied by my family. I 

 found there good accommodations, cultured people and 

 cheap livery service. The shooting was fair, but only on 

 quail. The birds were fount! plentiful by going a few 

 miles away, but the cover is thick and one needs to hold 

 straight and shoot quick to get them. A cylinder bore 

 gun is the proper thing-, in fact that is the sort of gun any- 

 where for cover shooting, a.nd 12-gauge is the size most 

 used. Other size shells are not to be had. If one wishes 

 to be accompanied by his family, as I always do, he will 

 be pleased with " Woodside;" but by all means take along 

 your own dogs. 



This winter, if a law suit permits, I go to north Louis- 

 iana, and to my notion that is above all localities the best 

 for the reason that it is little visited. I have a planta- 

 tion near Bryan City, on the New Orleans and North- 

 western railway, where I can shoot anything from quail 

 to deer, and plenty of them. There is a small place 

 called Delhi, forty miles west from Vicksburg, where I 

 think a party could find as much sport as could be 

 wished. When I was last there a lady, Mrs. Mason, kept 

 a small tavern, one of the sort few and far hetween 

 where the food is good and abundant and the beds good. 

 Game is all about, and a gentleman will be overwhelmed 

 with invitations to spend a few days at neighboring 

 planters' houses. If I had no place of my own there is 

 where I should go. Everything is cheap, too, and there 

 are lots of good fellows to show you about. In fact if 

 one keeps off the main routes of travel he can hardly go 

 amiss south of the Ohio Eiver. The trouble most people 

 have is that they go to places advertised by railroads, 

 only to find that pastures are greenest afar off. I will be 

 glad to give any gentleman personal information. 



Arthur M. Valentine. 

 P. S. — I have often thought it would be a good thing to 

 organize a "Winter Club" which could buy a large tract 

 of land, and I know where to buy it very cheap, erecting 

 thereon a club house to which the members could go 

 with a certainty of good shooting and good accommoda- 

 tions at a moderate expense, but business has heretofore 

 kept me from carrying out my plan, besides I have my 

 own place. ' A. M. V. 



DEER HOUNDING IN WISCONSIN. 



APPLETO N , Wis. , Nov. 1 0. — Editor Forest and Stream. : 

 Here is a suggestive item from our local paper: 

 "Dr. Ells worth returned home from his Pike River hunt- 

 ing expedition Monday evening, after an absence of three 

 weeks. The remainder of the party, consisting of Ed. 

 Eno, D. Fox, H. Yerwey and P. Stenis, are still encamped 

 in the vicinity of the river, where they will probably re- 

 main until the first of December. According to what 

 the Doctor says, deer are more plentiful than they have 

 been for years past, notwithstanding the number that 

 are killed annually. His party has been quite successful, 

 capturing; seven, two of which he had the pleasure of 

 shooting himself. A party encamped not far from where 

 the Appletoruans pitcbedtheir tents has succeeded, with 

 the aid of five hounds, in capturing twenty-six. Any 

 number of parties from this and neighboring States are 

 slaughtering the timid animals by the wholesale." 



Now, as you may learn from the Book of the Game 

 Laivs, it is forbidden to hound deer in this State. This 

 report of Dr. Ellsworth's party gives a faint notion of 

 what is being done among the deer in northern Wiscon- 

 sin. Despite the law hounding is practiced openly. The 

 Doctor might have added to his report that his party have 

 one or more hounds with them: but of course they would 

 not be guilty of hounding deer. You will notice there is 

 no word of condemnation in the local paper in regard to 

 the transgression of the game laws, and yet such people 

 ■call themselves gentlemen sportsmen. 



Some two weeks ago I took a few days' outing for par- 

 tridges (ruffed grouse),.and went to a section where two 

 years ago there were thousands. With the aid of a pair 

 of very lively cockers I could not find an average of three 

 a day in the very finest of cover. The reason: Two years 

 since a man running a little store up in the brush com- 

 menced buying and shipping; paid ten cents each first 

 season, and told me he often got five to eight dozen a • 

 day. This year he pays twenty-five cents each, and his 

 largest day's receipt was of fifteen birds. He said, "For 

 some reason the birds were scarce." I should not be sur- 

 prised if deer should be "scarce" in the near future. 



C. V. Y. 



OHIO QUAIL HUNTERS. 



DAYTON, O., Nov. 17.— All through these first seven 

 days of the open season for quail the woods have 

 been filled with rattle from the battle with the birds; and 

 reports from all sections of the country for a hundred 

 miles around Dayton agree that there never was finer 

 sport or such grand quail shooting as the hunters are en-, 

 joying now. Grass and ground are just wet enough to 

 make superb conditions for the dogs. In the three 

 States, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, 10,000 hunters have 

 been in the field, and it would make a lightning calcu- 

 lator tired to estimate the number of quail that have 

 been killed. Game stores have been overstocked at 75 

 cents a dozen, and Ohio may be- said to be feasting on 

 quail on toast. 



Without attempting to record the great sport enjoyed 

 by the hundreds of hunters who went out from this city, 

 I report bags made by a half dozen parties of gentlemen 

 who are well known in the community. In addition to 

 quail, all of them brought in snipe, rabbits, and a few 

 doves. 



S. S. Troup of this city, and Mr. Bass Rankin of Wash- 

 ington C. H. opened tke week with 52 quail in one day's 

 shooting in Fayette county. Charles Whealen and G. W. 

 Sander killed 41 quail in Mad River bottoms a few miles 

 from this city. Michael Stockert, Charles Schaefer and 

 Andy Fisher hunted on a section owned by David Nelson 

 near South Charleston, and birds were so plenty that the 

 party did not need to go out of a 20-acre field. Jarvis 

 Dickerson, baggagemaster on the C. H. & D., brought 

 dome 50 quail as the result of one day's shooting in Mich- 

 igan. Reed Kief er and Chas. G. Loury, amateurs, were 

 hunting in Champaign county, separated in a thicket 

 where they had a scattered covey, and Kiefer firing at a 



bird shot Loury in the face, injuring both eyes. Surgeons 

 took out the right eye, but hope to save the other. 



Rolla O. Heikes and Ed Rike, of this city, with William 

 Wolstencroft and Wade Wilson, of Philadelphia, as their 

 guests, are in north western Ohio pheasant and quail 

 shooting, and a letter received to-night savs that they 

 struck a paradise for a week's hunting. They find the 

 birds abundant without going far from the farm house at 

 which they are stopping. Wolstencroft has his pointer 

 d0g Gunner with him, and Wilson is shooting over Gun- 

 ner's son Sport. Wolstencroft is trying to buy Ed Sachs's 

 young pointer Billy Bang, of this city. Wolstencroft and 

 Wilson will prdbaply hunt in Ohio all this month. 



The Montgomery" County Fish and Game Protective 

 Club has issued invitations for their annual banquet that 

 is to be given Friday evening of this week, with quail, 

 pheasant, wild turkey, ducks, geese and venison on the 

 vie u u. Brown. 



THE NEW YORK GAME PROTECTOR. 



IN relation to the removal of Chief Game Protector 

 Drew and the appointment in his place of Major J. 

 V/arren Pond, Gen. R U. Sherman gave the following 

 statement to a representative of the Utica Herald, in 

 which journal it was published last Saturday: 



Mr. Drew was appointed on my recommendation chief 

 game protector in August, 1888. He had previously 

 served three years as a member of the force, while it was 

 under my direction as Fish Commissioner. The law under 

 which he was appointed put the whole conduct of the 

 work in his hands, and relieved the Commissioners of all 

 details. When Mr. Drew assumed his position, the work 

 was in a fair state of organization, but lacked the per- 

 sonal supervision which could be given only by an active 

 officer, whose whole time could be spent in the service, 

 and who could be properly compensated. From the start 

 Mr. Drew proved himself the man for the place. He 

 possessed rare sagacity, tireless energy, and was so thor- 

 oughly up in the game laws as to be able often to teach 

 district attorneys and sometimes judges. I never knew 

 him to fail in any case he took in charge. His detective 

 qualities were unsurpassed. He possessed, too, a geo- 

 graphical knowledge of the State, that was of great value. 

 In short he was a beau ideal officer, and I have often re- 

 marked that there was not a man in the State so well 

 qualified for this duty as he was. 



While conducting a series of successful raids in Oneida 

 Lake, that promise to exterminate the fish pirates, he 

 was, to my great surprise, removed from office at a meet- 

 ing of the Commission when it was known I could not 

 be present. No notice of any kind was given to me that 

 there was any charge or complaint against him. 



Of course, the public have been curious to know the 

 inwardness of such a strange proceeding. Till lately I 

 have been as much in the dark as they. Commissioner 

 Bowman when questioned about it professed ignorance 

 and referred to Commissioner Blackford. Forest and 

 Stream, speaking in behalf of the latter, said it was be- 

 cause Mr. Drew spent time, lobbying at Albany, when he 

 should have been on duty elsewhere. But Mr. Blackford 

 himself, in a letter to me bearing date of Nov. 8. says: 



"For over a year there has been a settled dislike and 

 dissatisfaction (with the exception of yourself) with Mr. 

 Drew's manner and methods as chief game and fish pro- 

 tector. He has made the mistake often of disregarding 

 the requests of other Commissioners; seeming to think 

 that it was only necessary that suggestions or orders 

 coming from you were worthy his attention. Mr. Bur- 

 den and myself have often made requests which he has 

 failed to notice or comply with." 



The sum of thi=s is that the majority had taken a per- 

 sonal dislike to Mr. Drew, and did not think he treated 

 them with proper deference. 



There does not seem to be any complaint here of his 

 lobbying or of having failed to perform his duties 

 honestly and efficiently. 



As to what may be the fact about his disregarding the 

 requests of Mr. Burden and Mr. Blackford I have no 

 knowledge. The persons concerned must settle this for 

 themselves. If it was true, as stated, that the chief gave 

 preference to my council over that of the other Commis- 

 sioners, it was not strange, as all that had been done in 

 the department of protection, since it came in any way 

 under the jurisdiction of the Commissioners, had been 

 done by myself with then- glad concurrence. It was not 

 a labor that they seemed to covet. It will be found also 

 to be true that I have made but few requests of Mr. Drew 

 and have given him no orders whatever. I had the ut- 

 most confidence in his ability, integrity and efficiency, 

 and left him, as the law intended, to use his own judg- 

 ment in all cases. I have never given him even advice 

 except it was asked, and it was never asked except it con- 

 cerned his line of duty. My colleagues' jealousy of my 

 influence with the chief was w T eak and silly. 



I have no reason to believe that politics had anything 

 to do with Mr. Drew's removal. He is a Democrat "dyed 

 in the wool." So is his successor. Politics has never 

 been made a test in the Commission. It chanced that 

 most of the appointees for protectors were members of 

 the old force, originally appointed by the Governor, 

 and therefore Democrats; but there are nevertheless 

 some Republicans in the force. It has not been the custom 

 of Gov. Hill to dictate to the Commissioners. Since my 

 retirement, however, a different practice has started. At 

 the same time Mr. Drew was removed a man who 

 chanced to be a Democrat— Mr. Bradley, of Fulton 

 county — was removed, and also, by chance, a Republi- 

 can was appointed, the Commissioners probably having 

 no thought of the politics of either: but on appeal to the 

 Governor by Mr. Bradley's political friends a peremptory 

 order was issued for his restoration, and it was obeyed. 

 Had such an instance of unauthorized dictation occurred 

 while I was Commissioner there would have been at 

 least one resignation. 



The new protector, Major Pond, was originally ap- 

 pointed protector on my recommendation and has made 

 a good record. He is honest and courageous, and if not 

 hampered by orders, which his superiors have no right 

 to give, will in time make a good chief. He lacks, 

 however, the geographical knowledge of the interior of 

 the State that is needed, and it will take a long time for 

 him to make the acquaintance of persons and officials he 

 must rely on to aid him in his work, and he lacks the 

 qualities necessary to make him an adept detective. 



I have noticed many suggestions in the newspapers 

 that I should be reinstated as Commissioner. While I am 

 gratified with these expressions of confidence, I must say 



that no earthly consideration could induce me to enter 

 this service again. The acceptance or rejection of my 

 resignation was not in the competence of the Governor. 

 It was absolute, irrevocable and final. Those who know 

 me ought to take in mind the fact that 1 am over 70 years 

 of age, and that my health is much broken. I have a 

 right at that age, as judges and military officers have, to 

 be retired from public service. My distinguished prede- 

 cessor. Governor Seymour, who also served twelve years 

 as Commissioner, asked and was granted retirement at 65. 

 I intended, in any case, to resign on the first of the com- 

 ing January, and the recent events have only hastened 

 my purpose two months. 



I am happy to say, in conclusion, that my relations 

 with my colleagues have been cordial and pleasant. Ex- 

 cept in the last case they have treated me with probably 

 more deference than I was entitled to: and I shall always 

 remember them and the work in which we have been all 

 so successfully engaged with pleasure. 



Commissioner Blackford, being confined to his bed by 

 illness, has given to the Forest and Stream in response 

 to inquiries a brief answer. He states that Mr. Drew 

 was at the time of his appointment a compromise candi- 

 date, personallv known only to Gen. Sherman; that from 

 his first meeting with the other Commissioners he was 

 personally objectionable to them; that he showed disre- 

 spect for the Commissioners in several instances, in the 

 Staring appointment case, in the handling of the funds 

 collected for attorney's fees in the netting case taken to 

 the TJ. S. Supreme Court; that he spent ad of last winter 

 in Albany, neglecting his district, Mr. Burden finding 

 him in constant attendance in the Senate and Assembly; 

 that he demoralized the force by bringing district pro- 

 tectors long distances to act in his own district, compel- 

 ling them to pay their expenses out of their own meagre 

 allowances, but refusing to share with them the moieties 

 received: that by the unanimous testimony of the district 

 protectors results were accomplished in spite of rather 

 than through his aid; that he failed to do the most impor- 

 tant work of his office, i. e., faithfully to report the con- 

 dition of the force; that his reports of his own work were 

 unsatisfactory, and he failed to make monthly reports. 



ADIRONDACK DEER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Deer in the Adirondacks are concentrated in certain 

 localities. This is a fact beyond question. There is no doubt, 

 taking the whole Adirondacks, that the deer are steadily 

 diminishing. Deer have concentrated in places where 

 they have been less disturbed. They have been driven in 

 from the borders of the wilderness by persistent hounding. 



The three deer killed and the one deer transportation 

 provision of the law has been a good thing, as it prevents 

 still-hunters from killing for the market. It is hard and 

 uncertain business to still-hunt, and not one in a hun- 

 dred that kill deer now by hounding could kill a deer in 

 the whole season. But this provision of the law amounts 

 to nothing with the bounders; there are always so many 

 in the party that if each one had a deer the amount would 

 be immense. One hundred and fifty could be taken out 

 by the party that are here to-day without infringement on 

 the law. — 



You will find that the cry of deer being plenty comes 

 from those that are in a mortal fear that hounding will 

 be prohibited. At least this is the case here; deer of the 

 Adirondacks have fallen into the last places of refuge; and 

 when once routed from here they will practicably be ex- 

 terminated. Only now and then one can be scoured up 

 by the hound. Guides that go through the woods this 

 summer tell me they did not see a deer's track after they 

 reached Tupper Lake until they got back on to Beaver- 

 River waters. The same will be the case here if hound- 

 ing continues. 



A prominent man who carries on a large lumber busi- 

 ness at the mouth of Beaver River, and who has been in 

 favor of hounding deer, came here yesterday from the 

 woods where he has been looking up timber. He told 

 me that this was his first opportunity of seeing deer 

 hounding. He was the most disgusted man I ever saw, 

 and says no more hounding deer for him, He says that 

 every lake, pond and stream is watched, and every deer 

 started by hounds is killed. "Why," he said, "if this 

 goes on deer will not last three years." 



I suppose that whatever the commission appointed last 

 winter recommend will be likely to become a law. So it 

 behooves us to use all due influence with them. 



I can now figure up nearly two hundred deer killed 

 this fall by hounding on the Beaver River alone, and this 

 will doubtless increase to three hundred before the close 

 of the season. Is this going to increase deer as the 

 hounders would have us believe it does? Not much. All 

 I would ask to make a convert of a hounding deer would 

 be to have them here now and get one view of the gang 

 of butchers that surround the place here now. I am sure 

 it would be enough to any one that has any claim to 

 humanity. " North Woods. 



The Coon Hunters of Cape Ann. — Last evening was an 

 ideal one for the coon hunters, and both parties were out. 

 The party from the Lower Parish, as usual, started for 

 the 'Grout Heap,' but on arriving found that the Upper 

 Parish party were there before them. The Upper Parish- 

 ers soon started in the direction of the Four Corners, and 

 the other party afterward soon heard the dog Ben bark- 

 ing way off in the direction of Turtle Pond Hill. They 

 started immediately at a lively gait in the direction of 

 the sound, visions of treed coon flitting before their ex- 

 cited eyes. They soon found the dog at the foot of a tree 

 in which the shining eyes of Mr. Coon could be plainly 

 seen. Now, just here a question arose. Whose coon was 

 it? For when the party arrived Ben was not alone, for 

 Pete, the dog of the other party, who soon came up, was 

 there also. To be sui-e, Ben was at the foot of the tree 

 and refused to allow Pete to come near. It was decided 

 that thecoon belonged to Ben, and as hiscoonship was dis- 

 lodged from his lofty perch, Ben's molars fastened them- 

 selves into his throat, soon finishing him. The tree where 

 the coon (which, by the way, was a 15-pounder) was treed 

 was in the rear of the Bergen estate. A good-natured riv- 

 alry exists between the two parties, and each vie with the 

 other in this exciting fun of cooning. At present the 

 Lower Parish have the largest number of coons to their 

 credit, but the Upper Parishers are stayers and may tie 

 and even lead the other party before the season closes, 

 —Cape Awn Breeze, 



