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May 26, 1898.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



499 



the neck in the median line, and the whole neck 

 to be skinned free and cut off at the point where the first 

 cervical (neck) vertebra supports the skull. The freeing 

 of the skull from the skin of the head is a more intricate 

 operation than any of the others, but even so, it is not 

 difficult. For this work the large and small blades of an 

 ordinary jack-knife are better than a butcher knife. 



From the point between 

 the ears, where the cut 

 along the back of the neck 

 ends (Fig. 6), make two 

 diagonal cuts, one to the 

 base of each horn, the two 

 form ins: the sides of a 

 broad V, whose angle lies 

 between the ears. Now 

 cut completely around 

 and close to the horns. 

 Beginning at the back of 

 the head, flay away the 

 skin toward the ears on 

 each side, catting through 

 the cartilage of each ear 

 close to the skull and skin- 

 ning down toward the 

 sides of the head. Next 

 skin away the V-shaped 

 flap of skin between the 

 horns and work the skin 

 down away from the 

 horns, both on sides of 

 head and on the forehead toward the eyes. This is 

 quickly done. Care must be exercised when the eyes 

 are reached not to cut their lids, nor to cut the skin below 

 the eye, where it goes into the deep fossa, or pit, in the 

 skull. Follow the bone closely with the point of the 

 knife and keep the skin well pulled out and you will 

 have no trouble. Following down toward tne nose, the 

 next place where care is needed is about the lips. It is 

 safer to cut the flesh off close to the bone and afterward 

 to clean it away from the skin. This takes a little longer, 

 but by doing this there is no danger of cutting through 

 the lips. The nose should be cut off well back from the 

 nostrils. The skin is now free from the head, and the 

 meat should be removed from about the ears and from 

 the lips, nose and chin, care being taken not to cut away 

 too much of the skin of the lips. The object of all the 

 work is to make the skin so thin that it will dry readily 

 and that the salt, or poison, if you use a preservative, 

 shall penetrate everywhere. After the skin has been 

 cleaned it should be hung up in the shade to dry. If 

 you have salt or powdered arsenic, use it freelv, but do 

 not if you can help it, neglect the drying of the skin, 

 Never attempt to dry a skin by a fire nor in the sun. 



You must now clean the skull by cutting away all the 

 meat that there is on it. Disarticulate the lower jaw and 

 clean that. Take the skull down with you to the stream 

 and with a stiff stick small enough to enter great fora- 

 men, through which the spinal cord passes, break up the 

 brain, every now and then filling the skull with water 

 and pouring it out. In this way the brain can be re- 

 moved in a very short time. The skull should then be 

 put where it can dry. 



Before the skin of the head and neck is dry, it is well 

 to turn it inside out and carry it home with you reversed. 

 Pack it in a sack and put the sack in a box if convenient. 

 It is thus protected from rubbing and from many dan- 

 gers to which such a mass is exposed. In drying your 

 head skins see that they are hung up out of reach of 

 dogs, coyotes, rats and other animals that may destroy 

 them. I have had the nose chewed off more than one 

 valuable skin by dogs, wolves and foxes. 



If the hunter should wish to bring home with him fox- 

 mounting a complete skin of any animal, he must exer- 

 cise some care in skinning. The cuts along the legs 

 should begin as near the sole of the foot as possible and 

 should be at the back of the leg. In a deer or any hoofed 

 animal, insert the point of the knife between the dew 

 claws and split up the back of the leg to the "knee" 

 or hock, thence up inside the leg about midway 

 between its front and hind border to the breast or belly, 

 and then straight across to the middle line of the 



Fig. 7. 



belly. By doing this the seams made by the taxidermist 

 . in sewing up the legs will all be out of sight. For a skin 

 which is to be mounted, the bones of the legs and the 

 skull should all be saved, cleaned and brought back with 

 the skin. It is best in the case of a large animal to take 

 the bone of the tail out by splitting the tail on the under 

 side. Often the bone can be taken out without splitting, 

 but if this is done the tail dries slowly and there is dan- 

 ger that it may spoil. 



I have thus given very briefly, yet, I hope, clearly 

 enough to be of service to the ordinary hunter, some of 

 the operations necessary to be performed in dressing and 

 skinning an animal — butchering it, as the phrase is — and 

 if any reader desires to go into the subject in ereater de- 

 tail, he should read carefully a copy of Mr. Hornaday's 

 excellent work, '-Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting." 



Old Man. 



Trout and Bass Fishing. 

 We Have secured, for the private information of the readers of 

 Forest and Stream, knowledge of a number of streams and 

 lakes easily accessible from this city, where we believe that good 

 fishing for trout and black bass may be had. The information 

 we shall be glad to furnish without charge to any reader of Forest 

 and Stream who will apply for it, either personally or by letter. 



AN ANGLER'S SONG. 



When the springtime rains are falling, 

 When the birds their mates are calling. 



Haste away. 



Nor delay, 



Where the mountain streams are brawling. 



Grassy banks and leafy cover, 

 Mossy rocks the hrook leaps over, 



Waiting there, 



Sweet and fair 

 As a maiden for her lover. 



In the meadows, violets springing; 

 In the orchard, bluebirds singing; 



Birds aud flowers. 



Sun and showers. 

 All the summer's promise bringing. 



Hear the trout brook splashing, dashing; 

 See the sunlit riffles flashing; 



Down the glades 



Leap cascades, 

 Into foam the water lashing. 



Overhead the clouds are drifting, 

 Through the pines the sunlight sifting 



Flecks the way, 



Gold and gray. 

 With soft shadows ever shifting. 



Make your rod and tackle ready; 

 With a careful hand and steady, 



Cast your fly 



(Trout are shy) 

 In the foam beside the eddy. 



Trail the feathery lures across 

 Where the dancing wavelets toss; 



There's a rise! 



Note his size; 

 Strike or else you'll mourn his loss. 



From sylvan pool to pool we tarry. 

 Where our casts the waters harry; 



Size and weight 



Compensate 

 For the heavier creels we carry. 



So the angler wends his way, 

 Fishing down till close of day, 



When the west 



Bids him. rest 

 And his cunning hand to stay. 



By the river's rap'd flowing, 



With the Northern pines bestowing 



Life and health, 



Nature's wealth, 

 Soon the camp-fire's flame is glowing. 



L'envoi. 

 Pleasant is the angler's roaming 

 Through groen woodlands, going, coming; 

 Lofty mountains, 

 Sparkling fountains. 

 And the upland air hpalth giving 

 Make the angler's life worth living. 



William Austin Bkooks. 



MAINE MAY TROUTING. 



Probably the sportsmen have never experienced 

 colder weather in the spring than that of the past few 

 days, But the welcome rain has come, where it has not 

 been actual snow, and higher water is following in all of 

 the lakes and streams of New England. Snow fell on 

 Friday and Saturday, to the depth of four or five inches, 

 in some parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, while in 

 the region of the Maine trout lakes the weather was very 

 cold, with more or less of snow. Such weather is not 

 usual after the middle of May, and the fishermen have 

 found it very uncomfortable. Trout fishing has also been 

 unusually poor. There are very few accounts of good 

 catches. I am in position to hear of good catches both 

 by mail and telegraph, either at the Kangeley or Moose- 

 head waters, but the sources of news are almost entirely 

 silent. Even the Maine local newspapers, the business 

 of which it is to puff the fishing all it will bear, and 

 which never mention any thing that is damaging to the 

 trouting interest of certain localities, have no big fish 

 stories to tell. When such papers are silent sportsmen 

 may rest assured that fishing is indeed poor. But heavy 

 rains have fallen and the lakes and rivers have been ris- 

 ing—never a good condition of affairs for trout fishing. 

 They were previously the lowest on record, at this time 

 of the year. The entire condition of trouting affairs is 

 likely to change. When the water has reached its height, 

 and begins to fall, with the weather changed to warmer, 

 then look out for good fishing in the Maine trout waters. 



Still the trouting parties are going, though some of 

 them have also begun to get home. A party of Boston 

 and Charlestown gentlemen left Saturday morning for 

 Enchanted Lake, in Maine. The following names made 

 up the list: Herbert A. Skinner, .lesse A. Dill, L. Frank 

 Hinckley, Frank A. Morrill, A. V. Peabody and J. H. 

 Powers. This party has every reason to expect about 

 the finest trout fishing to be had in the country. The 

 lake is but little visited and comparatively but little 

 known- It is well up to the Canada line. They go as 

 far as Bingham, Me., by rail, thence by buckboard up the 

 Canada road, over about the same route as that of Bene- 

 dict Arnold in the days of the Revolution. They go by 

 buckboard some thirty or forty miles to the vicinity of 

 Parlin Pond, where they leave their teams and go nine 

 miles on foot over a tote road to the lake. The Forest 

 and Stream is promised an account of the locality and 

 the trip after the gentlemen return. The theory is that 

 the trout are abundant, but not large there. 



Mr. C. D. Sias, of the well known coffee and tea firm of 

 Chase, Sanborn & Co., has just returned from a happy 

 fishing trip to Grand Lake and Grand Lake Stream. His 

 wife was with him, and this doubtless added much to the 

 pleasure of the outing. Mr. Sias is as brown as a ripe 

 chestnut, and Mrs. Sias — I dare not say how brown. 

 They took in all about 50 landlocked salmon, ranging 

 from 21bs. to 4lbs. The salmon are running small this 

 season, making it all the more curious why the salmon of 

 Sebago run up to even 321bs. , while those of Grand Lake 

 rarely reach 71bs. Both are landlocked salmon, with very 

 little distinguished difference. The Maine Fish Commis- 

 sioners are of the opinion that it is a lack of food that 

 leaves the Grand Lake salmon so small, and an abundance 

 of it that causes the Sebago salmon to grow so large. Mr. 

 Sias says that it is not at all difficult taking six or eight 

 salmon a day at these waters. But his greatest catch was 

 something larger. It was a lake trout or togue that 

 weighed 16flbs. This big fish he sent home to his friends 

 at the store. He was trolling for salmon when the big 

 fellow was hooked. He uses only a 7oz. split-bamboo rod 

 for trolling for the Grand Lake salmon. By the tugging 

 and pulling he was aware that he had bold of a very 

 heavy fish. He had out some 70 or 80ft. of line, a part of 

 which the fish would allow him to take by means of the 

 reel, but about there he had to stop. After sulking for 

 a while the fish would make a run, taking out again 

 the 35ft. of line Mr. Sias had reeled in. He found 

 that he could work his prize out into the deeper 

 water and, as he was rather near a rough shore, he 

 directed the guide to head the boat that way. In this 

 way the fish was worked out where there was 

 "plenty of sea room." After a hard struggle, Mr. Sias 

 begun 'to 'get his fish occasionally up toward the top of 

 the water and to get his big mouth open. Then the stub- 

 born fighter would go down again and sulk. When Mr. 

 Sias did at last subdue him so that he would lie quietly 

 at the top of the water and near the boat, he found that 

 his prize was too large to secure with the landing-net. 

 Here was a dilemma. It would not do to lose such a fish. 

 He was well hooked and the rigging was as good as ever. 

 The tired sportsman decided to try and beach him. The 

 boat was slowly paddled toward the shore, Mr. Sias lead- 

 ing the monster trout. Once or twice he made turns and 

 ran for deep water. In such cases he had to be given 

 line again. After a struggle of an hour and forty-eight 

 minutes the trout was beached and saved. The rod was 

 not injured and the rigging was all whole. Mr. Sias 

 justly feels somewhat proud of his skill in handling a big 

 trout on a 7<">z. rod. 



Mr. and Mrs. Sias also found the weather very cold. 

 There were spits of snow in the air during a part of three 

 or four days of their trip, and it required all their extra 

 wraps to keep them from actual suffering. Mr. Sias 

 thinks Grand Lake a very windy one, as Maine lakes 

 usually are during cold weather. On Tuesday evening, 

 May 17, there was ice in the puddles and the mud was 

 actually frozen in the road. 



May 23. — A party of some twenty-five or thirty of the 

 members of the Megantic Club and invited guests had 

 planned to leave Boston, by special car, on Tuesday, for 

 a couple of weeks fishing at the club's preserve, but so 

 cold and disagreeable had been the weather up to Mon- 

 day, the trip was put off to more genial days. 



The well-known Tuttle party went in to Mr. R. A. 

 Tuttle's handsome camps, just above the Mountain View 

 House, Rangeley Lake, on Saturday, the 14th. This 

 party was composed of Mr. R. A. Tuttle, of Boston: Peter 

 Reid, of Passaic, N. J.; Moses Worthen, of New York; O. 

 H. Sampson, of Boston: F. S. Dickson, of Philadelphia; 

 K. M, Gilmore, C. F. Hutchins and Col. U. Corcoran, of 

 Boston. These gentlemen are all regular visitors in that 

 region, and are very successful fishermen. Mr. Dickson 

 has a most beautiful camping establishment on the 

 island of a long name in the" middle of Rangeley Lake. 

 The Parlin party, or perhaps better known as the Magee 

 party, is to leave Boston on Wednesday or Thursday of 

 this week. The Forest and Stream has already had a 

 full list of the names of the party, and there are no 

 changes, I believe. 



Mr. C. Z. Basset, of Geo. B. Appleton & Co., with his 

 friend Mr. G. N. Smalley, started on Saturday for the 

 Maine lakes. They go direct to Billy Soule's camps, on 

 the island in Cupsuptic Lake, though they are to make 

 extended excursions through the lake region during 

 their stay. They are both expert fishermen, preferring 

 the fly to trolling. Mr. H. G. Jordan, a well known 

 member of the Boston coal trade, is now absent with a 

 small party of friends at Moosehead Lake. They write 

 home accounts of very cold weather. 



I got an account yesterday of some very good fishing 

 that the Shattuck and Stevens party is having at the 

 Narrows, Richardson Lake. The report is that on Thurs- 

 day they took two trout weighing 71bs. each, followed 

 the next day by one of 6|lbs. and another of about Tibs. 

 This is good luck enough for a party of four, and it is the 

 best report yet of the season. 



Senator W. P. Frye, of Maine, is now at his cottage on 

 Mooselucmaguntic Lake, I suppose. But the society 

 gossip columns of a well-known Boston Sunday paper 

 announced yesterday that Senator Frye was at his "log 

 house, Moosehead Lake." It is a curious fact, neverthe- 

 less, that he has visited his camp on Mooselucmaguntic 

 every season for many years, which is not a log camp at 

 all and is more than fifty miles from Moosehead Lake. 

 Newspapers do blunder occasionally. Mr. Calvin Austin, 

 who has been a member of the Harry Moore fishing par- 

 ties for several seasons, does not s;o a-fishing this spring. 

 On the contrary, he sailed for Europe on Saturday to 

 meet his bride to be, a sister of Harry Moore. The lady 

 has been traveling in Europe for some weeks. The boys, 

 several of his fishing friends, conceived the happy idea 

 of giving Mr. Austin a "good send-eff." They" invaded 

 his stateroom on the Cephalonia before she sailed and 

 loaded it with flowers and all the best things of the 

 season. They also chartered the tug Emily to take them 

 back from Minot Light, going down to that point on 

 board the steamer with their friend. The tug was well 

 supplied with bombs and rockets, which were sent off 

 as a parting salute by Mr. Austin's friends. But alas! 

 the know-it-all reporter of a Boston daily announced that 

 "the tug Emily accompanied the Cephalonia as far as 

 (Quarantine to take back the friends of a noted pugilist 

 who was departing for Europp" and that "they saluted 

 their friend right nobly." Mr. Austin is about as far 

 from a pugilist as a man could be. His friends are 

 naturally a little disturbed at the item. Special. 



