FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March It, 1892. 



The other day Mr. W. W. McFarland, one of our stalwart 

 duck hunters, ventured across this mysterious bit of 

 country. At the edge of the half acre he saw a mink 

 and a muskrat engaged in a bitter fight, and killed them 

 both at a shot. A hawk passed over, and he shot it, but 

 it towered straight up and passed out of sight above, 

 doubtless a spirit hawk. A duck sprang "near by, and he 

 knocked it down, but it disappeared, falling near a 

 muskrat house. Determined to investigate this, Mr. Mc- 

 Farland went tip to the rat house and looked about it. 

 He found the channel leading into the house, and a show 

 of feathers convinced him his mallard had gone into this 

 hole. Taking a stick, he poked about in the side of the 

 rat house. As he stooped over, his face almost against 

 the house, he was startled to see the clean, intelligent 

 features of a large raccoon protruded from the aperture 

 and gazing directly in his countenance. Not having 

 time to take up his' gun, and thinking that this was a 

 spirit coon anyhow, Mr. McFarland availed himself of 

 the only weapon at hand, and spat a large and forceful 

 stream of tobacco juice full in the coon's face, at a dis- 

 tance of about 6in. Great tumult ensued. The muskrat 

 house disappeared in ruins, and as the coon fled, weep- 

 ing bitterly, Mr. McFarland grasped his gun and slew 

 him feloniously. Then he went home, wondering what 

 would happen next in the haunted half acre, and refus- 

 ing all suggestion that the coon was only fishing in the 

 muskrat house. Mr. McFarland is certain that all natural 

 laws are suspended in this fateful locality. 



Mr, Charles M. Hampson, of Denver, prominent so long 

 in the Rocky Mountain Association, was in town last 

 week for some days, 



Mr. S. A. Tucker, of the Parker gun, saw the match 

 shooting in this city last week, and starts next week for 

 the long coast trip. E. Hough. 



ABOUT HOODLUMS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



So far as New Hampshire is concerned, "Von "W.'s" 

 conclusions in the matter of the game vp. the country 

 hoodlum may be very accurate; but to New Brunswick 

 and Maine they will not apply. They appear to me 

 slightly constricted and as if they had been reached by 

 generalizing from the conditions obtaining in a very lim- 

 ited district. 



Miss Hardy needs at my hands neither praise nor 

 defense. But since it comes directly in my way. I may 

 remark that in showing up the truth of game matters in 

 Maine she undertook a difficult and thankless task — one 

 that required nerve and a courage born of the convictions 

 that she was right. The person who takes a stand against 

 "the state of things," as Daudet puts it, travels an uphill 

 road. Many more heap abuse on his head than "rise up 

 and call his name blessed." It matters not that he is in 

 the right; the sympathies of fair-minded people who are 

 not in a position to know the facts, are always with the 

 law, and he who takes the opposite side of the question 

 will find it very hard to convince them that he is not sel- 

 fish and prejudiced. 



As I understand her. Miss Hardy does not express sym- 

 pathy with the hoodlum element. But she claims that in 

 Maine outsiders have interested themselves unwarrant- 

 ably in the making of laws that are neither fairly nor 

 effectively administered ; that these people, in the capacity 

 of summer tourists, violate the game laws shamefully; 

 that the country people think they have as good a right 

 to kill game out of season as the tourist; that in the east- 

 ern part of the State public opinion is aroused to such an 

 extent, that many who can fairlv claim to be good citi- 

 zens consider it no harm to kill game out of season, so 

 long as they break none of nature's laws and save all the 

 meat. In the face of the testimony she brings, "Von W." 

 might very well hesitate to place the blame for game 

 destruction on one class to the exoneration of the others. 



I believe the variety of summer tourist, which she 

 classifies as the "eporV' to be fairly entitled to all the 

 blame she lays on him. Were any additional evidence 

 to that she brings needect, ray own observations both in 

 the Maine woods and on the lines of travel leading to 

 them point the same way. One of the worst violators of 

 the law I knew while there was a man who hailed from 

 New York. He shot any kind of game he could find in 

 the month of August, spent his money lavishly, filled up 

 himself, his guides and haugere-on with whisky, gave 

 the landlord of a hotel where I was stopping one Sunday 

 a dollar and a half for the privilege of smashing the re- 

 flector of a hall lamp with a rifle bullet, and finally when 

 the officers of the law got after him, made a sort of sand- 

 wich emigration , between two days. If that man was a 

 sportsman I don't know where you will find your hood- 

 lums. 



One July day a few years ago I stood in a Boston gun 

 store watching a man outfit for the Maine woods. He 

 was what the world would call an "American of the 

 better class." He had with him a Remington-Hepburn 

 .45 rifle and a 12-bore Webley shotgun. He ordered 5200 

 rounds for the rifle and 300 small shot and 50 buckshot 

 cartridges for the shotgun. He told Messrs. Lovell to ex- 

 press both artillery and limberchests to Skowhegan, Me. I 

 know from what I have seen myself and what I have 

 been told by acquaintances employed on the routes of 

 travel that a large percentage of the parties who visit the 

 Maine woods carry with them just such batteries. They 

 do not carry rifles to defend themselves against the fierce 

 mosquito, neither did that man want buckshot cartridges 

 to make war on the ubiquitous porcupine. He intended 

 to spatter any unfortunate deer that would let him come 

 within range. 



The summer tourist follows the waterways; the deer 

 come there to feed. Is it at all surprising, then, that 

 when men go to the woods "heeled" like the one above- 

 mentioned, many meetings occur which are disastrous to 

 the e-ame? 



"Von W." seems to me a little unfortunate in his at- 

 tempt to fix so accurately the pedigree of the country 

 hoodlum. He will find it difficult to convince his read- 

 ers of its correctness. I know, and I think upon reflec- 

 tion "Von W." will acknowledge, that the lineage of the 

 hoodlum traces to just as Tnany sources as does that of 

 the people of the North A merican Continent. He may 

 be of English, Scotch, Irish, German, Swiss, French or 

 African descent, or his pedigree may be untraceable. 

 This is too axiomatic for any one to refute. The worst i 

 poacher described by Miss Hardy is, as I happen to know, 

 " Canadian, born of parents who both came from the 

 E uerald Isle, 



My acquaintance with Maine is mostly confined to the 

 territory adjacent to the St. Croix waters, comprising 

 parts of Washington, Penobecot and Aroostook counties; 

 from Lee to Houlton, from Vanceboro, east, to Matta- 

 wamkeag, west. The staple industries are lumbering, 

 bark peeling and tanning. The bulk of the population 

 live in villages. Though I saw much of the people I 

 made few intimate friends: in the main their ways axe 

 not mine. I had little to commend me to them save a 

 civil tongue and a strict attention to the eleventh com- 

 mandment — "mind your own business." Few of them 

 are rigid upholders of the game laws. Yet, in all the 

 time I spent in these villages and around bark shanties 

 and lumber camps, in which it is only reasonable to pre- 

 sume that the hoodlum element was not entirely wanting, 

 I was never spoken to uncivilly; I never overheard a dis- 

 paraging or annoying remark about myself or any other 

 stranger. In my intercourse with the people I had but 

 two disagreements, one with a hoodlum, the other with a 

 pair of impudent law officers. 



Concerning the innate wickedness of the country hood- 

 lum, "Von W." and I are in perfect accord. I don't deny 

 that he destsoys his share of game. But when it comes 

 to assigning him a definite pedigree, or holding him en- 

 tirely responsible for the destruction of game to the ex- 

 clusion of the visiting "sport," we differ most emphati- 

 cally, unless upon maturer reflection "Von W." concludes 

 to abandon these points and come over to my side of the 

 house. L. I. Flower. 



McDonald's Corner, N. B. 



A KENTUCKY CONVENTION. 



To the Fishermen and Hunters of Kentucky: 



At the last stated meeting of the Kentucky Fish and 

 Game Club (or, more properly speaking, Protective Asso- 

 ciation), held at headquarters, in Louisville, March 2, it 

 was unanimously resolved that the members of the Ken- 

 tucky Fish and Game Club and the fishermen and 

 hunters of Kentucky from all portions of the State be 

 called to meet in convention at Frankfort, Tuesday, April 

 19 next, at noon. 



Every club or local organization in the State is invited 

 to send delegates, whether they are members of the 

 Kentucky Fish and Game Club or not. That every fisher- 

 man, every hunter, and all those interested in the protec- 

 tion of fish and game will be welcome, and are urged to be 

 present without further notice. It is earnestly desired 

 that every county in the State be represented. The 

 objects of this convention are threefold. 



1. To consider and place the seal of approval of every one 

 interested in the protection of fish and game in Kentucky 

 upon the fish and game laws having been and about to be 

 presented to the General Assembly, after harmonizing the 

 changes suggested by several of the club3 throughout the 

 State. 



2. To evidence to the General Assembly the character 

 and earnestness of those interested in their efforts to 

 benefit the Commonwealth, and to memorialize them in 

 a body to grant such wise legislation. 



3i To become personally acquainted with each other, 

 and map out a line of procedure by which we can assist 

 in rendering effective the laws passed, and uphold them 

 until the public fully appreciate their benefits and cease 

 to violate them. 



The farmers of Kentucky are especially invited, that 

 we may perfect the trespass clause of the proposed game 

 law. 



Never in the history of the State was there such inter- 

 est manifested in the matter as now. There will be a 

 large gathering, distinguished speakers from this and 

 other states will address the meeting, all who come may 

 expect a pleasant and profitable meeting, Local clubs 

 will please appoint their delegates (any number) at once, 

 and send list of names to H. C. Foreman, Secretary, 830 

 West Main, Louisville, Ky., by April 1st, 1893, if pos- 

 sible. 



Frank. Hagan, Jr. "] 



Dr. J. B. Alexander, | 



Wm. J. Watkins, ^Committee, 



Dr. C. Lewis Diehl, 



Robert J. Snyder, J 



J. Fry Lawrence. President. 



THE ANTELOPE COUNTRY. 



Editor Forest and. Stream: 



Mr. J. F. Eberhart of Chicago, came here last week to 

 do some hunting. I took him out east, ten miles, where 

 we found a bunch of eight antelope, but they were on an 

 open, level country, so it was impossible to get at them, 

 Mr. Eberhart killed eight jack rabbits on the trip, with a 

 . 38 "W inchester, and proved himself an excellent shot. He 

 had a shotgun along, and killed a few quail. My time 

 was limited, so that it was impossible for me to take him 

 into the antelope country proper. On our return he got 

 a team and drove to Capt. Day's ranch — 15 miles up Roci y 

 Arroya, in hopes of finding some deer. Not getting prop- 

 er encouragement there, he returned the next morning. 

 I think, however, if he had gone into the foot-hills, 4 or 5 

 miles back of the ranch, he would have had no trouble in 

 finding deer. A ranchman, who lives three miles above 

 Capt. Day's, tells me that he frequently finds deer, with- 

 in three to five miles of his rancn, in the canyons. 



I was at Capt. Day's ranch yesterday, and was told that 

 one of the ranchmen, who lives a few miles above, had 

 lately ridden across the country to Seven Rivers, and on 

 the trip jumped 21 deer. He crossed several of the can- 

 yons that run into Rocky Arroya, and passed through the 

 same section of country in which I advised Mr. Eberhart 

 to hunt. Mr. Eberhart took a shotgun with him, and 

 brought in a fine bag of quail and ducks. He expresses 

 himself as being well satisfied that there is plenty of 

 game, such as antelope and deer, in this region, and says 

 that if he could have spent more time, in getting into the 

 proper game ranges, he would certainly have had good 

 sport. 



Mr. W. R. Kmm, of Chicago, has been here about two 

 weeks, and has had good shooting every day, on ducks, 

 quail and jack rabbits. 



The manager of one of the hotels, here, has a young 

 mule deer, a yearling buck, which has become as tame as 

 a kitten. It has, however its own ideas of friendship and 

 social equality. A large mastiff, belonging to one of the 

 boarders, approached it the other day and attempted to 

 make friends with it. The buck resented the dog's famil- 

 iarity by jumping on him with its fore feet, punching I 



two good sized holes in his shoulder. The dog ki-yied, 

 got out of reach of the deer's cable tow, and has ever 

 since steered clear of its stamping ground. 



Mr. Hough alleges, in your issue of Feb. 25, ignorance 

 of the Allard herd of buffaloes. If he will oil up his think 

 machine and give the crank another turn, he will doubt- 

 less be able to remember that I contributed to Forest AND 

 Stream a brief account of this herd, some years ago. 1 

 think it was in '87 that, in company with Mr. Chas. All- 

 ard, the owner of the herd, I rounded them up and photo- 

 graphed them. The pictures were reproduced in the 

 Photographic Times, soon after. Mr. Allard 's ranch is 

 in the Flathead Valley, and his address is Ravalli, Missouli 

 county, Montana. The herd numbered, at that time, 35 

 head of full blood buffaloes, seven of which were calves, 

 and I have heard from them frequently since, to the effect 

 that they were increasing rapidly, so that I presume there 

 must be over 100 of them now. 



Mr. Allard started with four head, some fifteen years 

 ago. He allows them to run at large on the range, and, 

 strange to say, up to the time I was there none of them 

 had ever been killed. I presume, however, that some 

 blooming idiot will yet run across them, some day, and 

 slaughter a lot of them. When I saw them they were 

 somewhat wild, but by riding round them in a circle, for 

 an hour or two, we finally got them quieted, and got with- 

 in 50 feet of them, at which distance the photographs 

 were made with a detective camera. G. O. Shields, 



Eddt, New Mexico, March 3. 



MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The monthly meeting of the Massachusetts Fish and 

 Game Protective Association was held at Young's Hotel, 

 Thursday, March 10, President Geo. W. YViggjn in the 

 chair. Fifty members were present. Messrs. F. T. Rue- 

 ter, S. W. Card. M. J. Kiley, N. S. Hotchkiss, Geo. R. 

 Alley, Arthur H. Alley and Edward H. Osborn were pro- 

 posed for membership and their application referred to 

 the committee. 



Mr. Henry H. Kimball stated that House Bill No. 100, 

 known as the Gilbert bill, allowing domestic-raised trout 

 to be sold during close season on wild trout, would prob- 

 ably pass the House; and he presented the following 

 resolution, which was unanimously adopted: 



Whereas, House Bill No. 100 now pending, commonly 

 called the Gilbert bill, allowing the sale of artificially 

 raised trout during the season in which the capture and 

 sale of natural trout is forbidden, is beyond any doubt the 

 most destructive measure to our trout fisheries ever advo- 

 cated, and most in opposition to what has bsen the settled 

 policy of the commonwealth, 



Resolved (unanimously), That every effort should be 

 made to prevent its becoming a law, and, 



Resolved, That a copy of this vote be sent to-morrow to 

 the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker 

 of the House. 



Messrs. Frank II. Ricker, Samuel Sbaw, James Nicol, J. 



A. Hartwell, Josiah T. Dyer, Jos. E. Brown, Dr. Horner 

 Emerson, A. C. Lombard", E. P. Libby, H. L. Cornell, E. 



B. Stearns, Will S. Atwood, Chas. B. Locke, Randolph 

 M. Appleton, Chas. A. Meserve and Chas. IL Reed were 

 elected to membership. Richard O. Harding, Sec'y. 



THE WOOD BUFFALO COUNTRY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read with interest the description of the aurochs 

 or European bison, by Mr. Waldeck, and have arrived at 

 the conclusion that the so-called wood buffalo of North 

 America are, in habits and description, identical with the 

 European bison. Of the wood buffalo little is known be- 

 yond what information can be gathered from the em- 

 ployees of the Hudson's Bay Co., half-breed and Indian 

 hunters, and occasionally from a hide being brought in 

 for sale. Some persons say that "the wood buffalo are 

 those of the plains, driven into the northern forests to 

 escape the hunters;" but it is reasonable to presume that 

 this idea is incorrect, and, moreover, lacks proof. 



1. The wood buffalo were known when the white men 

 first came into the country, and at that time thousands 

 of buffalo were on the plains. 2. They are a larger spe- 

 cies of animal than that of the plains, heavier forequar- 

 ters, longer in the hair and are not prolific. 3. Thewocd 

 buffalo has never yet attempted to quit the timber and 

 return to the open prairie, which act would be only 

 natural, if they were plain buffalo. 



The habitat of the wood buffalo is within an area 

 bounded by the Slave River, Peace River and the heavy 

 timber north of the Salt Plain, In summer it grazes on 

 the short herbage of the open spaces or glades in the for- 

 ests, and retires in the winter to swamps and muskegs, 

 there feeding on the twigs and small branches of trees in 

 a similar manner to the aurochs. As far as it has been 

 possible to ascertain from the personal observation of the 

 Salt River and Athabasca Indians, but few of the wood 

 buffalo remain. A band was lately tracked and seen, 

 but imperfectly counted, contained from 60 to 70 head. 

 They are extremely wary and very difficult to approach, 

 though odd ones are occasionally killed by hunters in 

 search of moose. 



Should any reader be inclined to "trek" to the far North 

 in search of what probably are the only specimens of this 

 noble animal in America, I can say that his journey will 

 not be in vain. If the buffalo are not found, there are 

 musk ox, elk, moose, reindeer, bears and lynx in numbers 

 to give both profit and pleasure. The musk ox can be 

 found in great numbers on the barren grounds east of 

 the McKenzie River; these, as well as all those animals I 

 have above mentioned, are seldom hunted, and would 

 give sport to an enthusiast that could not be surpassed 

 either in India or South Africa. 



Any information as to hunting, guides, etc., can be 

 obtained from the Hudson's Bay Co., or from George W. 

 Gairdner, a 23-years resident in the Great Lone Land, 

 who now lives at St. Albert, Assa., who will be happy to 

 answer any inquiries. G. P. 



Qu'Apelle, Canada. 



Forest and Stream Ads Did It. — Monmouth, 111., 

 March 12.— Forest and Stream Pub. Co.: Stop my ad 

 until further notice, as I have sold everything out clean 

 and can get no new stock to ship until May, My trade 

 has surprised me this spring. Will give you another ad, 

 later on.— F, A. Allen. 



