126 



and nearer. The fox sees that it is ail up with him, but 

 he is game to the end. Fiercely he faces his pursuers 

 and savagely bites the leading hound. It is a battle 

 royal, but the odds are too great, and in a moment as fine 

 a fox as ever raced over the sand of Cape Cod lies dead 

 on the grass. 



The gallant hounds are exhausted by their long chase. 

 They curl up beside their prey and fall asleep. Well do 

 they deserve their rest, for they have accomplished a 

 deed seldom equalled in New England. They have run 

 down and killed on the ground after a fan race a full 

 grown red fox. It is a deed worthy of record, and the 

 story of the run has been told here j ust as it was seen. I 

 take the pelt and on the way home meet the boys with a 

 good bag of quail. "Well, what have you got?" 'A fox 

 skin that all the quail you have seen to-day couldn't pur- 

 chase. I've had the greatest run on record— the event of 

 a dozen seasons." Bradley. 



A MOONLIGHT EXPEDITION. 



SOME seasons ago I was a factor in the population of 

 Elko county, Nevada, and helped, to the best of my 

 ability, to represent civilizition in a small community in 

 the valley of the Humboldt. A great many people travel 

 through this valley yearly in the Pullman and tourist 

 cars of the Central Pacific R tilroad, but few of them stop 

 off in Humboldt county, and fewer still by riding through 

 it know much of Humboldt Valley. All that appears to 

 the eye on either side of the track for fifty or sixty rnhVs 

 is sage brush, and a kind of rye grass, spots entirely bare, 

 whtu-e the soil is impregnated with alkali, and occasionally 

 a glimpse of a sluggish and crooked creek called Humboldt 

 River. In summer the landscape is rather monotonous, 

 and in winter most dreary and forbidding. In reality, 

 however, there are a great many things in Humboidt 

 Valley— besides some people. Tnere are Indians almost 

 as wild as you care to have them, lots of coyotes, some 

 deer, sage hens, rabbits, and the very finest trout in the 

 stream tnat I ever encountered — at the table at least. And 

 then in the spring the mosquitoes come along in Ia r ga 

 multitudes, and bring their Bills along. Just at the time 

 the fishing is the best the mosquitoes are the most plenti- 

 ful and industrions. Late in tne summer they disappear. 

 Then in i he fall a great m iny ducks come, and I killed 

 some of the largest and fattest mallard drakes there that 

 I ever saw. 



One evening after supper the idea occurred to me that I 

 might shoot some ducks by moonlight. Forthwith I got 

 my gun, called my Irish setter, Humboldt, and started 

 out. The moon shone very briKhtly, and I followed the 

 gleaming rails of the railroad for about a mile from the 

 station, and then turned off to some ponds near the river, 

 where I coidd hear mallards quacking as though thev 

 were holding a coavention. Wny these ducks should do 

 so much quacking is a mystery. It was light enough for 

 me to see them on the water, when they were not in the 

 shadow of the banks or the willows, and I could have got 

 near enough to those I saw if some that I didn't see had 

 kept still. As it was I stumbled across a small mud-hole 

 that was in a shadow, and about a dozen mallards arose, 

 making all the noise and creating all the alarm they could, 

 which was a great deal. 



I stopped one with two shots and scared up all the ducks 

 around tbere. I never heard such an excitement among 

 poultry as there was then. You see, those birds were not 

 accustomed to being stirred up very often in daytime, 

 and they evidently had never been interviewed by a shot- 

 gun by moonlight. The mallards all quacked, and the 

 widgeon and teal whistled, the geese honked, and some 

 cranes sent in a varied assortment of melody, and every 

 thing with wings flapped ihe waters or hurtled through 

 the air, and quacked, and whistled, and did everything 

 it knew how to do to creat a hub-bub. Then some Sho- 

 shone Indian yelled, up the river, and coyotes kiyied all 

 around until I thought I had never made such a disturb- 

 ance in my life. My dog got excited, and after retriev- 

 ing the duck I shot tried to retrieve ali that I didn't shoot, 

 and she managed to be every where and keep the birds go- 

 ing. I could hear them in myriads, but they flew so low 

 I could nearly see them except an occasional glint of wings. 

 I tried a couple of shots but heard nothing drop. When 

 my dog Humboldt finally came along it was a coyote, 

 and I didn't find itoutsoon enough to shoot. Then Hum- 

 boldt did come, and so did the coyote, and I never in my 

 life saw such a sociable coyote as he was, and by moon- 

 light he looked big enough for a buffalo, and he had a 

 playful way of snapping his teeth and dodging around. 

 Then he would bide and then prance out right where I 

 didn't expect to see him. Finally I got a fair shot and 

 that coyote must have thought for a single instant that 

 something exploded. During this time I mired down in 

 all the mud there was in the vicinity. When I got home 

 I had one duck, a coyote, a bad cold and this much exper- 

 ience. C. L, P. 



WORCESTER'S SNOW HUNT. 



WORCESTER, Mass., Feb. 5.— The annual "snow" 

 hunt of the Worcester Fur Company was held on 

 Feb. 2, and Purgatory and the Breakneck country was 

 the ground selected for the day's sport. No snow, how- 

 ever, greeted the hunters on that morning. 



Many of the enthusiasts had gathered at that famous 

 hostelry of John White's, in Millbury, the night before 

 and laid out the plans for the day's run. At daylight 

 the first squad arrived from Worcester in teams and a 

 start was made. The party separated and put out their 

 flyers in the most likely places, but the following was 

 difficult and but little could be done by the hounds until 

 the sun had warmed things up a little. Later several 

 sharp drives were started, but the hunters were well 

 placed and it was almost impossible for a red to stay 

 ahead of a pack for more than a few minutes play. Three 

 foxes were killed during the day, all of them after short, 

 but hot, drives. The lucky hunters were John M. White, 

 John R. Thayer and G. J. Rugg. A supper at John 

 White's followed, at which about thirty club members 

 and friends sat down. The hunt was marred by an un- 

 pleasant and serious accident resulting from a loaded 

 gun being laid on the ground with the muzzle pointing 

 toward George Bates, of AVhitinsville, the calf of whose 

 leg now harbors the bulk of a charge of No, Is. S lme 

 one hit the gun in stepping over it and another accident 

 is added to the already too long hit of the "Didn't think 

 it was loaded" series, ' Hal. 



POHEST AND STREAM, 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST, 



[From a Staff Correspondent.'] 



CHICAGO, 111., Feb. 6.— To show the persistence of 

 wildfowl in hanging around open water in the North 

 even late in winter, I may mention the fact that on the 

 31st day of December of this winter, Frank Woods, keeper 

 of Swan Lake Club, killed 3 geese and 40 ducks at an 

 open bit of water on Swan Lake. The fowl had kept this 

 bole open long after very heavy ice had formed in all the 

 country round. 



Mr. P. F. Stone starts for Horicon, Wis., on Monday 

 next, to defend an injunction suit brought against Hori- 

 con Club for building a dam on the marsh of that name. 

 This suit is spite work of market-shooters and not land- 

 owners, as no dam in that marsh can be built which will 

 damage any land by flooding. 



Mr. Patrick Quigley, of Jacksonville, 111., is a brilliant 

 man. He kilh d 142 rabbits, 13 squirrels and 7 crows, and 

 brought them in and made affidavit that he did the whole 

 butchering in 8 hours. The St. Louis Chronicle pleased 

 him by publishing the facts. Now, will some sportsman 

 in Jackfonvilie interview Mr, Quigley about the squirrels? 

 Our game warden thinks the Illinois State Sportsmen's 

 Association should take up this case. The association has 

 members at Jacksonville. They come up every June to 

 the tournament. Why not let them see the brilliant Mr. 

 Quigley? 



Mr. C. D, Gammon, the only big-game hunter of Chi- 

 cago, has gone down to the Cumberland marshes after a 

 rabbit. 



The following paragraph appears in one of the journals 

 which mold public opinion: "Judge Botkin, the Kansas 

 jurist, whose life has been threatened, is a dead shot and 

 holds court with his rifle within easy reach. He is said 

 to unerringly pick a 10 cent piece off a fence at 100yds." 



If Judge Botkin can unerringly even see a 10-cent piece 

 on or off a fence at 100yds., he has a lot better eyes than 

 any man I ever saw. I think "10 cent piece" is a mis- 

 print for "10-quart jug." In .Kansas, that can be seen 

 further. 



These wars in which Botkin has lately figured around 

 Hugoton, Springfield and a lot of those impos-ible Kansas 

 towns which are relics of the boom of 1886, show how 

 wrong things may go sometimes. These towns will never 

 be towns, but they spoil a big strip of the finest antf lope 

 country in the world, country which in our time never 

 will be good for anything but antelope and coyotes. It 

 is to be wished that Judge Bjtkin, his unerring rifle, his 

 friends and enemies, would move out of there, fight over 

 something more worth while, and give the antelope a 

 chance again. E, Hough. 



THE CONNECTICUT LAKES REGION. 



LANCASTER, N. H.. Feb. 5. —Editor Forest and 

 Stream: The winter thus far in this section has 

 been ^ery favorable for the protection of the large game. 

 We had no snow until Jan. 15, and since that time about 

 two and one-half to three feet has fallen, but it is, of 

 course, light and dry with no thaw to form a crust. 



No lumbering is being done in the Connecticut Lake 

 region this winter, so game will not be disturbed there, 

 although I doubt if there is a like section of the country 

 where the fish and game law3 are so well observed as in 

 northern New Hampshire, and it is certain that no State 

 is favored with more efficient fish and game commission- 

 ers than is our own, and as a result there probably has 

 been no time during the past twenty-five years when 

 deer has been as plentiful in the State as at present. It 

 w-as almost an every day occurrence during the past two 

 years for fishermen to report seeing one or more deer, 

 while out for a day's fishing, especially at the Connecti- 

 cut Lakes and the Diamond Ponds, and the past open 

 season furnished more deer than any season for years. 



There is a growing sentiment among the guides and 

 sportsmen in this part of the State in favor of a non- 

 hounding law, and the experience of the past season, 

 under the new law shortening the hounding season to 

 six weeks (from Sept. 15 to Nov. 1) has much to do with 

 it. There were as many, if not more, deer taken during 

 the first fifteen days of September than in any fifteen 

 consecutive days after dogging was legal. From my 

 personal observation I am satisfied this is the case in 

 Coos county, and I am told that such was the result in 

 other parts of the State. 



It is to be hoped that a law prohibiting dogging entirely 

 will be passed by our next Legislature. Rob. 



NOTES FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. and Mrs. W. McK. Pardee are spending the winter 

 here, and are devoting the greater part of their time to 

 shooting. Mrs. Pardee is as ardent a sportsman as her 

 husband, and equally as good a shot, with both rifle and 

 shotgun, and as hundreds of sportsmen who know Mr. 

 Pardee will understand, this is giving her a good record. 

 I drove them out two miles from town the other evening 

 to hunt jack rabbits. Mrs. Pardee used a ,33cal. Win- 

 chester rifle and killed eight jack rabbits at distances 

 varying from 80 to 200yds. At other times when I have 

 been with her she has used a 16-gauge Parker, with 

 which she bags ducks and quail on the wing as skillfully 

 as the best shots in the country. Our blue quail run like 

 greyhounds, and it requires a great deal ot walking or 

 running to get shots at them. We never hunt them with 

 dogs here, as they are nearly always on open ground, and 

 we follow them either on foot or on horseback, flushing 

 them ourselves and then shooting them. 



Several antelope have been killed lately, within two to 

 ten miles from town. Mr. W. P. Bonbright, of Phila- 

 delphia, killed one, Judge Hawkins, of this place, two: 

 Geo. W. Patton, of Chicago, one, and Dr. Can field, of St. 

 Louis, one. The antelope are tame here, and some of 

 these shots have been made at less than 100yds. 



My recent communication to Forest and Stream re- 

 garding the opportunities this country offers for home 

 seekers, has brought me letters from nearly every State 

 and Territory in the Union, and one from New Bruns- 

 wick, showing the wide circulation your paper enjoys. 

 I have not had time to answer all of these letters as yet, 

 but beg to say, for the information of all who are inter- 

 ested, that the Government land in this valley is being 

 rapidly taken up, and that any one who desires to get 

 any of it must be here very soon. Several of my corres- 

 pondents have expressed an intention to come here and 

 do some hunting. To these brethren I desire to extend 



[Feb. ii 5 189i 



all the hospitality that I can command, and to say that if 

 more of them come than I can show over the country 

 myself, I will place them in charge of ranchmen, who 

 are good hunter?, who will gladly show them around, 

 and who make no charge for their services in this direc- 

 tion. G. O. Shields. 

 Eddy, IN. M., Jan. 28._ 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Hunting Club, of South Boston, Va. , is a regularly 

 organized association, and has for its objects not only 

 sport of superior character, but to foster ana protect game 

 of all kind and to publish to the world the peculiar ad- 

 vantages this section of the State of Virginia has for this 

 kind of sport. The club has 15 members, owns a boat, 

 tent, etc, in fact everything necessary to its comfort 

 when an extended trip is taken. 



The last hunt was along the waters of the Noble Dan, 

 thence into Roanoke River as low down as what is termed 

 "Hundred Islands" — camping in tents along the banks of 

 these streams and shooting on both sides. A first-class 

 cook was carried, and everything else that would add 

 comfort and pleasure to the club. In addition to a number 

 of well-trained bird dogs, we bad opossum and deer dogs, 

 so that at night sport of a different character might be 

 indulged in. Partridges, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, 

 deer, hares, squirrels, etc, , abound in this section, and 

 when the shades of night came on and the different squad? 

 of huntsmen returned, it was indeed a sight to behold the 

 variety and quantity of game brought into camp. Wild 

 geese, ducks, wild turkeys, hares, squirrels, partridges, 

 etc., consisted the diet of every day. During the last few 

 days of the hunt all game that was not consumed was 

 brought back for the home folks, Bpsides the game, the 

 bass and jack were among the delightful fish caught and 

 placed upon bill of fare each day. The hunt lasted 10 

 days, and never more pleasure was afforded a company 

 than this occasion furnished. H. J. W. 



South Boston, Va., JaD. 30. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Probably this part of California is unsurpassed for 

 wildfowl shooting by any section in the United States. 

 We have had very little rain this season, therefore our 

 open waters are literally alive with geese and ducks. 

 Geese are so numerous they have to be "herded" off of 

 the grain. But it is not so easy to kill them as one may 

 imagine, as this part of the country is an almost geomet- 

 rical plane. Three constituted the best bair I have made. 

 We have the Canada, Hutchins's, speckle- bellied, snow 

 and brant geese and almost every variety of ducks. In 

 the fall and early winter we had good plover and curlew 

 shooting. Robins collect in vast numbers at this season 

 of the year. I heard a rancher complaining some time 

 ago of them eating his winter hog food (berries of the 

 laurel). I also know of a party of men and boys who 

 butchered ninety dozen at their roost a few years ago. 



Yoi.o County, Cal., January- Bartlew 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Quail have been very plentiful this year throughout 

 the State of Texas, and in company with two others on 

 Dec, 5 I managed to get quite a large bag. The birds 

 were old and strong and flew far and wide, giving the 

 dogs a good chance to show their skill. I was surprised 

 to find birds so plentiful so near to town (Denison), We 

 had scarcely driven three miles when we struck our first 

 covey, and every cornfield held one or two bunches. 

 Swamp rabbits and cottontails were numerous, and a 

 tramp along the bed of the Red River was rewarded by 

 one solitary mallard. W. A. D., Jr. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



On the last day of 1891 a friend and myself went out 

 and bagged nine woodcock, which I suppose will be con- 

 sidereda small number for two men in a day's shooting, 

 yet it is a great many for our country. I have been 

 shooting over the same ground for twenty-five years 

 (after quail) and have never seen more than two or three 

 in a day. The same party who accomjianied me had 

 bagged ten on the same ground two days before. The 

 birds were in fine condition. Where did they come 

 from? A. S. R, 



Windsor, N. C, Jan. 11. 



PROGRESS IN KENTUCKY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Kentucky is at last moving with energy in the purpose 

 to protect fish and game before, both shall have disap- 

 peared utterly from her borders. The membership of the 

 Kentucky Fish and Game Club, with headquarters at 

 Louisville, is increasing rapidly, and recently an adjunct 

 club has been organized in this city, with more than fifty 

 active workers in the cause. Before a fortnight the latter 

 club will embrace at least 100 members, as the interest 

 grows and applications for membership are daily offering. 

 The new organization is the Franklin County Fish and 

 Game Club, with Sam R. Smith President; Richard Mor- 

 ris, Vic a- President; Henry C. Murray, Recording Secre- 

 tary; M. P. Gray, Corresponding Secretary; A. W. Over- 

 ton, Treasurer. 



The lower branch of the Kentucky Legislature, under 

 the efforts of the two organizations named, has just 

 passed by a vote of more than two to one, a Btringent fish 

 bill, prohibiting netting, seining, dynamiting and brush 

 drags, and providing for fishways at dams that obstruct 

 the passage of fish. We have every assurance that the 

 Senate will approve the bill. 



The vigor and earnestness given to the movement and 

 the strong legislative support is something new in Ken- 

 tucky, as heretofore every effort to protect fish and game 

 by suitable laws has been met with obstruction, limita- 

 tions, restrictions to specific localities, and other burdens, 

 until such bills as went through the Legislature were so 

 crippled as to be ineffective. 



The Fish and Game clubs propose to move with energy 

 upon the works of violators of the law, should the bill 

 pass. They will offer suitable rewards and employ such 

 legal assistance as may be necessary. Angler, 

 Frank fobt, Ky., Feb. 6. 



"The Solitary Stag" is one of the paintings which 

 are the artistic fruits of Mr. W. Holberton's last trip to 

 Newfoundland. This, with another, "October Snow on 

 the Marsh," is now on exhibition at Abbey & Imbrie's, 18 

 Vesey street, this city. 



