!74 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[MARCH u, i#, 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, 111., March 19.— There is no part of a sport- 

 ing paper so interesting as that which tells of country, 

 new or old, where actual sport can be had right now, 

 actually and in the present, where game or fish may still 

 be actually found. Last week there appeared in these 

 columns some account of a certain locality where upland 

 shooting, and some marsh shooting and some big game 

 shooting could be obtained from one central camp. The 

 identity of this locality was concealed, wisely, I think. 

 From what I have learned already, I do not think it will 

 be difficult to fill to more than overflowing the quarters 

 of my intentionally anonymous informant, though it is 

 too early in the season to give anyone definite knowledge 

 of the place. In regard to this I have received a letter, 

 which I give below: 



Union Lb 4gue Club, Chicago, March 16, lSitt —Several days 

 since I read your correspondence in Forkst and Stream and 

 was much interested, not to say amused, in your friend's de- 

 scription of his little game "pocket." 



He's far too modest, I am sure, for a raconteur of hunting 

 stories. While he was telling it he might just as well have 

 rounded hi* yarn off hy adding to his chickens elk, moose aDd 

 deer, buffalo and possibly kangaroo to make the tout ensemble ef- 

 fective. 



You must know that chickens do not consort with elk and 

 moose, nor is there any likelihood of either of the latter being 

 near enough to a railroad to ship out. 



I have been to several places where moose were said, by the 

 natives, to be "plenty." but so far have never got nearer than old 

 sign to the animals themselves. 



I have seen hundreds of elk and can direct any one of the right 

 sort to hunfng ground where there would be a "su^e thing" even 

 for a tyro, but they are never found anywhere near a chicken 

 country because, the latter do not generally advance much, if any, 

 beyond a settled and cultivated community. 



I know of a region, told me in confidence by Mr. Charles Hallock, 

 where moose can be bad with tolerable certainty, and not far 

 away possibly some chicken and goose shooting could, be had. 



I cannot even guess your correspondent's little private pre- 

 serve unless it might be in the Turtle Mountain country. 



Still, I would be glad to know of it and will return for the favor 

 equally valuable pointers as to elk and bear. 



Harvey M. Hakper. 



I am sure I am obliged to Mr. Harper for the knowl- 

 edge that "chickens do not consort with elk and moose," 

 etc., etc., for otherwise I might have been left in ignor- 

 ance on this head. I have killed a little big game, not 

 much, and shot a few chickens, not many, and I must 

 say that I never found the two sorts of game together. 

 Still, I am not prepared to call it impossible to find both 

 sorts from the same camp, and with all allowance for the 

 lack of personal acquaintance with this region, I am still 

 disposed to think our correspondent's account of his 

 locality not only within the range of possibility, but quite 

 within the limits of temperate statement on his part. 

 We may kno w more of this by another season. At pres- 

 ent I cannot divulge this locality. Next fall I shall name 

 it to a few, and Mr. Harper may be one of these, if he can 

 show proper Forest and Stream credentials, and if I 

 happen to like him. Of course, I can't tell whether I will 

 or not. 



At this writing we are still having winter weather of a 

 very unmistakable sort, and it is playing havoc with our 

 sport. A few days ago there was a remarkable flight of 

 ducks in all over the Kankakee and Illinois, and even at 

 Fox Lake, north of here, and good bags were made in a 

 dozen different directions. Mr. Ed Bangs, shooting at 

 Swan Lake Club, averaged over forty a day for more than 

 a week, which certainly is good shooting, and others on 

 the Illinois had heavy bags. Now, however, we hear less 

 flattering reports. The continued blizzard has driven the 

 ducks out, and few are seen moving anywhere. Mr. H. 

 D. Nicholls tells me Cumberland Club has sent no bags of 

 consequence, although John Grey, a mighty man among 

 mallards, has been down there, and others also. 



Ben Dicks is back to-day from Mak-saw-ba, higher up 

 the Kankakee, and says he only had three shots. George 

 Davis is now down at Hennepin Club, on the Illinois 

 Eiver, above Swan Lake, and has sent up one bunch of 

 a dozen ducks to his friends, but can not have had heavy 

 shooting. All in all, our flight is over for the present, 

 though a warm day or two may bring the birds back 

 again. The month is very cold and backward for this 

 region. 



Last week I mentioned that Warden Buck was to start 

 down the Kankakee on a trip of investigation looking 

 toward a seizure of some nets. Buck started on time 

 Monday, left Mak-saw-ba Tuesday morning and made 

 the run of 23 miles down stream to English Lake in due 

 season. He reported finding some few nets in the river, 

 but the ice was so thick that only a few of the regular 

 netters had gone to work and he therefore thought b^st 

 to wait for a while. He said there were not many ducks 

 on the river. The following letter from Mr. Borders, 

 who was to have met Buck at English Lake, will con- 

 tinue the story. I presume all work will have been done 

 before this sees print, and indeed thought the raid would 

 have been made before this week's paper came out. Mr. 

 Bordern's letter: 



Win AM AC, Ind., March 17.— I sent my partner, Mr. Dukes, to 

 Greene's to make a trip with Buck; they found the river frozen 

 worse than when we were tnere. I saw Buck last night; only a 

 few nets are in the river, and but few will be put in while the 

 weather is at its present temperature; it is not only unsafe to put 

 the Dets in the water because of the ice, but the water is so cold 

 that the fish are not running. I sent Buck back to the river this 

 morning to wait for warmer weather or for orders from you. I 

 have the affidavits sworn to by Mr. Dennis and ready to be filed 

 when we think there is a fair chance of getting enough nets, etc., 

 to repay us. The warrants are all ready, and as soon as the nets 

 are in the water again I will go to Knox and LaPorte and cause 

 them to be issued. I think it will be well for Buck to stay at the 

 lake until we are ready to act, and then make the trip with the 

 officers over the ground. The wind is from the north and no in- 

 dications of warmer weather this morning.— B. Borders. 



On the 18th Mr. Buck wrote as follows: 



The ice is so thick I can't get up or down the river. It is break- 

 ing some on the lake and is thawing to-day, so I may be able to get 

 down to Wilder's to-morrow or next day. Mr. Borders told me 

 they only wanted me to locate any nets, and did not care for the 

 names of the owners. There are no ducks flying, and you can't 

 get around for the ice, so I have done no shooting —F. L. Buck. 



This morning, Saturday, the temperature is rising, and 

 we hope for a thaw and break up. A cold spring means 

 delay and danger both to our sport with rod or gun in 

 this section. 



An interesting action in protective matters will this 

 spring be taken by two of our stronger clubs, Mak-saw-ba 

 and English Lake, by which each club will appropriate 

 $150 for the purpose of "employing a warden for the 

 Kankakee Eiver." This does not mean that such warden 

 shall spend his time upon the grounds of either club, but 

 shall go where he is needed. It is practically a side-loan 

 to the Kankakee Association, though not affecting other 



contributions to that society, and will be looked upon as 

 a club expense from the general fund, such as fencing, 

 building or other improvement, I am far in advance on 

 this statement, for neither club has yet actually taken 

 such action, but it is nearly certain they will both do so, 

 and I am sure I do not see why Cumberland Club should 

 not do likewise. The actual expense of cleaning out the 

 netters and illegal shooters along the Kankakee would be 

 slight, and $450 a year, with the addition of perhaps 

 nearly that much from the Kankakee Association, would 

 practically make a clean sweep of the whole business. 

 The Kankakee has long been open thieving grounds for 

 law breakers, and it is indeed specifically favored, or 

 rather hurt, by certain clauses in the absurd Indiana law, 

 but there is no reason to believe that the illegal men will 

 be in position to make a long fight. We have few records 

 to show that illegal shooting or fishing has lasted long on 

 any stream where the sportsmen have shown a disposition 

 to close right in and do a little actual fighting. It is the 

 long range talking which brings protective work into dis- 

 repute. When you sift out the actual fights from the 

 verbal paper fights, it is astonishing to see how little you 

 have in your sieve. Instance the Tippecanoe. No stream 

 was worse ridden of the lawless. Yet Commissioner 

 Dennis did a little real work there, and broke up the law- 

 lessness. The same story is easy for the Kankakee. A 

 little sense and a little sand, and the fight is over. The 

 prize is worth the struggle. 



The only difficulty about freeing a given stream or 

 locality of illegal methods lies in the fact that there are 

 not interested and active sportsmen enough to go around. 

 This makes the warden system good in the specific, but 

 bad in the general. Under this system there is no doubt 

 that active local societies, banded into gensral control- 

 ling unions for States or large given regions, present the 

 most favorable chances for practical success. We can 

 protect the Kankakee, the Tippecanoe, the Illinois, until 

 what time we know millennium, and see game and game 

 fish put under an operative taboo for the dealers who are 

 an fond responsible for their untimely taking off. 



Meantime the patient sportsman spreads his sails for 

 any probable wind. Duck shooting, for instance, has 

 grown almost pathetic in some of its aspects. Same of 

 us were figuring the other day, and we made it out that 

 it costs a duck shooter, if he fires say, 150 shots in a day, 

 about $15 a day to go out hunting. The Chicago shooter 

 who has good sport, and who hires a pusher, will spend 

 more than that figure unless he is economical. Thus it 

 is easily seen that the birds come high. The worBt of it 

 is, they so often don't come at all. 



Dr. J. W. Hutchinson is back from Florida. It is most 

 pleasant to state that his hand, injured by the gunshot 

 wound, is nearly healed. He can use it now in writing. 



E Hough. 



ADIRONDACK GUIDES' ASSOCIATION. 



SARANAC LAKE, N. Y., March l8.-Editor Forest 

 and Stream: The first annual meeting of the Adir- 

 ondack Guides' Association was held in this village on 

 the 2d inst. There were present somewhat more than 

 200 guides, gathered from different portions of the Adir- 

 ondack^. Verplanck Colvin, honorary president, of 

 Albany, was present and delivered a very interesting ad- 

 dress. • 



Officers for the ensuing year were chosen as follows: 

 Honorary President, Verplanck Colvin, of Albany; Presi- 

 dent, Eitz Green Hallock, of Saranac Lake; Vice Presi- 

 dents, Thos. Redwood, of Paul Smith's, and Alonzo Dud- 

 ley, of Saranac Lake; Secretary, John H, Miller, of Sar- 

 anac Lake; Treasurer, F. D. Kilburn, of Malone. Exec- 

 utive Committee: Simeon D. Torrance, Benjamin R. 

 Moody, Calvin Brown and Lucius Evans, of Saranac 

 Lake; Elverdo Patterson, Ross Hayes and John Mc- 

 Laughlin, of Paul Smith's; George Alford and Miles 

 Kennedy, of Lake Placid; Earl Derby, of Saranac Inn; 

 Isaac Ken well, of Indian Lake; Robert W. Nichols, of 

 Keene; Ernest H. Johnson, of Tupper Lake, and John J, 

 Richards, of Raquette Lake. 



The Adirondack Guides' Association was organizsd 

 June 27, 1891, and its objects are: 



To promote and facilitate travel in the Adirondacks; to 

 secure to the public competent and reliable guides, thus 

 assuring the welfare of tourists and sportsmen ; to aid in 

 the enforcement of the forest and game laws of the State; 

 to secure wise and practical legislation on all subjects af- 

 fecting the interests of the Adirondack region; to establish 

 a uniform rate of wages of guides; and to render financial 

 assistance to its members in case of sickness or other dis- 

 ability, or to their families in case of the death of such 

 members. 



The increase of railroads and the rush of travel into the 

 Adirondacks has brought among us unknown persons 

 who offer themselves as guide?. Such persons may or 

 may not be competent. This association proposes a regis- 

 tration of all competent and properly-equiped guides, 

 who will hold cards of membership, issued by officers of 

 the association, after such persons have been passed upon 

 by local committees of guides of established reputation, 

 each committee acting for its own section of the Adiron- 

 dacks. 



The cards of membership have been prepared by the 

 American Bank Note Company, handsomely engraved 

 from a special design made for the association by the 

 company. 



Besides the membership composed of guides, there is 

 also a class known as "associate members," constituted 

 from those who are friendly to the association and may 

 desire to enroll themselves. They are admitted by ballot 

 in the same manner, and pay the same fees and dues as 

 guides, but are not empowered to vote. 



The following is a portion of the address of Verplanck 

 Colvin, honorary president, made at the first annual 

 meeting of the association: 



And now, that you are to have a permanent organization, may 

 I offer you one word of advice? Let your organization he as 

 simple as possible. Do not tie yourselves up with a multitude of 

 new laws and rules. Do nothing that you will have to undo. 

 Have a few good rules and as little, government as possible, re- 

 membering that, when occasion requires, you can bring in by- 

 laws and rules to correct any evils that may be found to require 

 such treatment. Do not burden your minds with troublesome 

 things. 



What were vour objects in forming this organization? Your 

 card of membership says: "To insure the comfort and safety of 

 travelers." As you are yourselves, all of you great travelers, I 

 assume that it is also to insure your comfort and security as well 

 as that of those whom you guide through the wilderness. 



The Adirondack region of savage men is a thing of the paBt. 

 The decay ,of savagery commenced in the days of the French and 



Indian war; and you, by your labors and exertions have made the 

 wilderness the safe health resort of a new civilization. 



Many of you will remember the stories told of your brave fore- 

 fathers; how they entered this forest, to carve out a livelihood for 

 themselves and their posterity. How they fought with wild beasts 

 and wild men; how they endured e very privation, cold and hunger 

 —you know full well. 



And now you find, in the last phases of the civilization— for 

 which you have cleared the way— a danger to yourselves and your 

 employers in the incoming of unknown men; who are not to the 

 manor born; who may or may not be safe or good men; and you 

 of the olden time) — who know on« another — draw more closely 

 together (you and those who have employed you in the years gone 

 by), so that the old associations may be preserved — the same safety 

 and security shall exist in the woods as heretofore, and that the 

 lack of police supervision may not permit dangerous characters 

 to impose upon the public and upon you, you now associate your- 

 selves in this organization. You secure yourselves and friends 

 from the bad elements -the decay and froth of civilization which 

 often make their way to remote places over new railroads. 



This appears not only to be wise and proper, but may have many 

 beneficent features. You may, to some extent, form a friendly 

 mutual benefit society for life insurance or protect ion for one an- 

 other and your families. 



Have wisdom, therefore, in your councils. Adopt no rules hast- 

 ily or without referring to committees; taking kindly and gentle 

 council of one another for the good of all, and this association 

 will be of the greatest benefit to you. Then you, who have learned 

 to love, to venerate the gift of mountains and forests and 

 lakes, will retain the benefits of your own labors aud of those 

 of your ancestors. You will preserve the forests and be to New 

 York State a race loftier than that of the Scottish Highlands, 

 more fortunate in your advantages in life and knowledge, with all 

 the possibilities of the intellectual development of our race and 

 the freedom which only belongs to Americans— that, great heritage 

 secured by constant battle. You are unquestionably the best 

 body of riflemen in America— a very safeguard to the Slat" should 

 war aiise, we will hope that such emergency may ever be deferred, 

 and that your victories may be the victories of peace and good 

 will towards men; this must and cannot fail to tie your ereat 

 desire. Then with true hearts, faithful work and kindness 

 toward all— you cannot fail to obtain every reasonable good you 

 may desiie. 



John H. Miller, Sec'y. 



PENNSYLVANIA STATE ASSOCIATION. 



To the Sportsmen of Pennsylvania: 



I present a few of the reasons why every shooting or- 

 ganization in the State of Pennsylvania should become 

 members of the Pennsylvania State Sportsmen's Associa- 

 tion: 



1. The organization is formed for the purpose of com- 

 bining to secure proper legislation for the progagation 

 and protection of our game birds and animals. 



2. The consolidation of the shooters of the State means 

 a power, and through it there is no reason why we should 

 not receive an appropriation annually equal to that re- 

 ceived by the State Fishery Commission for stocking our 

 State with game. 



3. It makes every individual member of a club joining 

 the Association a member of the organization, eligible to 

 compete for any and all of the valuble prizes donated 

 and contested for annually, and a police officer or game 

 warden who will report to the officers of the Assocation 

 any unlawful hunting or trapping, thus it will be seen 

 that we will have thousands of men who will, through 

 their aid, see that game is protected in accordance with 

 the laws cf this Commonwealth. 



4. It only costs, if you are a club or an association, five 

 dollars to join, and your annual dues thereafter are one 

 dollar. If an individual, one dollar, and annual dues 

 fifty cents. The expense to a club is but a trifle, and the 

 benefits to every true sportsmen are incalculable, and 

 your children's children will thank their grandfather 

 that he was and ever may remain a member of the 

 Pennsylvania State Sportsmen's Association. Send along 

 the required fee, and let us by union of thought and 

 action make the Association an honor to the State whose 

 name it bears. Yours fraternally, 



Harrisburg, Pa. James H. Worden, Secretary. 



A TYPICAL IOWA SPORTSMAN. 



IN all the broad domain of Iowa it would be difficult to 

 find a truer representative of the highest type of sports- 

 manship than the subject of our illustration on page 273, 

 President John G. Smith, of the Iowa State Association 

 for the Protection of Game and Fish. Mr. Smith is an 

 all-round sportsman with the gun, but his special forte is 

 duck shooting, a branch of field sports in which he has 

 great skill and rich information gained from more than 

 forty years pursuit of the game in nearly every State of 

 the Union from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He is also 

 well known as a trap-shooter, of which sport he is very 

 fond; and he enjoys a wide acquaintance among the trap- 

 shooters of the country. He is a close friend of Mr. C. 

 W. Budd, with whom Mr. Smith makes his home while 

 in Des Moines, in attendance upon the Legislature. 



Mr. Smith has always been warmly interested in game 

 protection and has ever been unsparing of effort to ad- 

 vance the cause in public estimation, giving freely of both 

 time and money. He was one of the founders of the 

 State Association; has attended every one of its meetings, 

 and for five years has been honored as its President. Mr, 

 Smith is a member of the Iowa Legislature, and has been 

 active in prnmoting game and fish protective legislation. 

 His home is in Algona, and the portrait shows him to be 

 in the prime of life. 



ESQUIMAU CARIBOU HUNTING. 



THE ancient method of taking caribou by the Esqui- 

 maux was by means of pitfalls. These were dug in 

 the snow along the banks of rivers, where the snow 

 lodges in immense quantities, and wherever there is a 

 sloping place down which the reindeer, can travel. The 

 pits were covered with thin slabs of snow strong enough 

 to hold their shape, but if trod upon by the animal it was 

 immediately precipitated into the cavity. As an extra 

 attraction for the caribou to walk into his parlor, a bunch 

 of moss was gathered and pinned with little sticks to the 

 center of the slab covering the pit. The old people say 

 they used to work very hard digging these trap3, the 

 women working as well as the men. They would exam- 

 ine the pits every day, remove the game that was caught 

 and dig others. They say the natives labored so hard 

 that in the spiring they were all very much reduced in 

 flesh, but strong and hardy. 



This method is still employed by the old men who are 

 unable to travel rapidly. Of course when this plan was 

 in use their only weapon was the bow and arrow. It will 

 be seen that where the banks are steep, any place at 

 which the snow drifts in such a manner as to make a 

 passable way would be chosen by the caribou in passing 

 from one side of the river to the other in changing their 

 feeding groundB. E. P. Berbndeen. 



