Sept. 39, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



271 



Forest and Stream's . 



• Shooting News Postals. 



NOTES FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



New Hampshire Game. 



Lancaster, N. H., Sept. 24 —1 too, with "Von W.," 

 wonder where all the gray squirrels come from, and I 

 suspect that we must look for a solution of the problem 

 to the same source that informs us "where all the pins 

 go to." I have not heard of a "gray" in these parts for 

 at least three years and all of a sudden they appear on 

 the scene, and our sportsmen come in with a bag of 

 from three or four to a dozen. What seems more strange 

 tn me is the fact that squirrel year is not confined to 

 New England, or a portion of it, but, as "our paper" in- 

 forms us, extends throughout the entire eastern portion 

 of the United States- Were it not for this we might con- 

 clude the squirrels migrated from one portion of the 

 country to another. 



Euffed grouse do not as yet show up Tery plentifully, 

 though, of course, it is still early to hunt them very suc- 

 cessfully, even if they were plenty. It seems the wet 

 weather must account for the scarcity, as broods of 

 young were frequently reported in the spring. 



For some reason, I do not hear anything from the Con- 

 necticut Lakes since the shooting season opened. I ex- 

 pected before this to report the capture of several deer 

 from that place, but "nary a word" do I hear. There are 

 (or were last suoimer) plenty of deer, more than I have 

 ever seen theje before, and I am pretty well acquainted 

 with that country and know, too, that summer shooting 

 is not indulsred, and, for that matter, very little of that 

 is done anywhere in the county. Coos county is a pretty 

 safe place to count on a deer, if you really want one, and 

 there are plenty of camps, guides, dogs, etc., for your 

 accommodation if you Avill avail yourself of them. I am 

 sorry tn say that hounding is allowed in this State from 

 Sept. 15 to Nov. 1, and furthermore I am sorry that all 

 good sportsmen (and who ever saw a bad one) don't take 

 the same view of the dogging business and abolish it. 

 It's time. Rob. 



The Pocono mountains. 



New Yobk, Sept. 25 —I have hunted for the past ten 

 years in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I have 

 always stopped at the Spruce Cabin, owned by Wesley 

 and Milton Price, in Canadensis. They own considerable 

 hunting territory, which is a decided advantage, as a 

 number of land owners now object to trespassing, and 

 some employ watchmen to keep otf trespassers. I spent 

 a week up there lately, and can say that there is every 

 prospect of a good supply of ruffed grouse, of which I 

 saw many broods and also many single birds. There are 

 plenty of rabbits or hares, and although the woods are 

 alive with red squirrels there are but few of the gray 

 variety. Eutfed grouse were very scarce in that locality 

 last fall, but it looks as if they would make up for it this 

 year. Deer signs were numerous, and some lady boarders 

 when out driving saw a black bear which ran across the 

 road ahead of them. This locab'ty is the best hunting 

 ground that I know of near New York. The above 

 named brothers are excellent guides and have thoroughly 

 trained dogs. F. W. S. 



"The Wind." 



I HAVE just enjoyed reading Wilmot Townsend's de- 

 lightful article on "The Wind," and wonder if he knows 

 that the verse of the old English hunting song he quotes 

 is intended to describe a soft damp winter morning, when 

 the fro3t will be loosened in the clods and pastures, and 

 th© scent lies well? Probably he does, but we usually in 

 this country speak of "hunting" as the pursuit of game 

 of any kind with the gun. In England "hunting" is only 

 the chase of the fox or deer with horse and hound. If 

 the hare is the game, it is "coursing," and. whenever the 

 gun is used it is "shooting," and a "hunting morning" 

 imj)lies anything but a good one for partridge or wood- 

 cock shooting! It may be a gentle drizzle, or a "Scotch 

 mist," and yet be all right for fox hunting. 



I see numerous other correspondents note the great 

 squirrel migration of the year, VoK W. 



Maine Ponds and Mountains. 



Boston, Sept. 8.— In your issue of Sept. 1 Fred K. 

 Owen gives the elevation of West Chairback Pond. Me., 

 as 3,l30ft. above sea level, and that of Chairback Moun- 

 tain as 3.270ft., and he claims the pond as the highest 

 trouc pond in Maine. I have fished it many a time, and 

 climbed Chairback many a time, and feel sure thai; Mr. 

 Owen is wrong in a few points. Whatever the height of 

 West Chairback Pond, the summit of Chairback Moun- 

 tain must be far more than 150ft. higher. I should say 

 two or three times that at least, and I cannot resist the 

 impression that Greenwood Pond and the Spruca Moun- 

 tain ponds, all good trout waters, are higher than West 

 Chairback Pond. Will not Piscataquis county men set- 

 tle it. C. H. AMKS. 



Buckshot in a Chokebore. 



Austin, Texas, Sept. 19.— Mahlon G-ore asks about 

 buckshot in a chokebore. I had a very good shooting 

 gun, lO bore, for sizes 3 to 8 shot, hut with buckshot at 

 fifteen paces I nevpr could find a fence or tree big enough 

 to stop them all. I finally remedied the trouble to a 

 large extent by melting stparine candles, and after seat- 

 ing the buckshot carefully in the shell, filling up the in- 

 terstices w ith wax, and finishing with usual wad and 

 crimp. Care of course must be taken that the inside of 

 the shell does not exceed diameter of the choke. 



J. V. B. 



Connecticut Game Prospects. 



North Westchester, Conn.— Our season opens Oct. ] . 

 and from a few walks through the cover I should say that 

 the shooting was going to he much better than last season. 

 Have two broods of young partridge located and several 

 flocks of quail. Last year very few young partridge were 

 bagged in Connecticut, bat this year there f=peni to be 

 young birds, E. A. C. 



Fin and Feather. 



Toms River, N. J.— The inclosed clipping from the 

 Ocean County Democrat, printed at this place, may be 

 of interest to your readers. It reads rather "fishy," but 

 I have no doubt of its entire truthfulness, as I am person- 

 ally acquainted with Austin, and he bears a good reputa- 

 tion: "Nate Austin, of Bamber, wentout on the pond at 

 that xjlace one day last week for the purpose of hunting 

 ducks. While looking for ducks Nate saw one and 

 attempted to fire at it, but the cap snapped. The duck 

 making no movement to get away, Austin went up to it 

 and found it apparently fast to something. He took hold 

 of the duck and on attempting to raise it out of the water 

 he found that a large snapper had the duck by one of its 

 legs. Nate landed both in his boat and the snapper, upon 

 being weighed, tipped the beam at 14lbs. Nate made his 

 supper ofi" the bird ;ind sold the snapper to Dr. E. C Dis- 

 brow, of this town." G. C. L. 



An Octogenarian Sharpshooter. 



HiciHGATE, Vt,, Sept. 19. — Flight woodcock are coming 

 here now in goodly numbers, and the few who are posted 

 and know their resting and feeding grounds are making 

 good bags. An immigration of gray squirrels has made 

 them very plentiful in this vicinity. Tueir skins tacked 

 up on every woodshed shows that the farmer's boy and 

 his pot-metal gun have not been idle, and that they are 

 reaping their share of the harvest. My old governor, 

 though eighty years of age, is out with his muzzleload- 

 ing rifle, and at arm's end (off-hand) can still pink a squir- 

 rel through the head, and no sighting shots required, 

 ; Stanstead. 



Ontario Ducks. 



SowERBY, Algoma, Canada, Sept. 11.— The Kingfishers 

 have been camping with me this summer and have had 

 grand sport with the bass. I guess Mr. Hickman will 

 write you all particulars. "Hickory" is well up to camp 

 business. I found them all perfect gentlemen and well 

 up to the little game they came for. Eight gentlemen all 

 told. The trout have only commenced to bite. I am ex- 

 pecting some of them to return again this fall. Partridge 

 very plentiful, and in another month the ducks will be 

 here by the million. G. F. D. 



Wood for the Camp-fire. 



Boston, Sept. 16.— Your editorial discussion of the best 

 wood for camp-fire is all right for the region of the plains 

 and Rocky Mountains, but leaves a great deal to be said 

 about other hunting grounds— e g , the Maine woods. 

 In Maine the camper always has wood at hand in abun- 

 dance, but much of his comfort depends on his choice. 

 For myself I have found the black ash the best. When 

 I can fell a black ash I am all right for my camp-fire. Of 

 all green woods I believe it to be the best. I would like 

 to hear the opinions of some of the brethren. 



C. H, Ames. 



Monroe County, Pa., Grouse Shooting;. 



The prospect this fall of good shooting is far above the 

 average of the last few years. Rabbits are abundant. 

 Grouse are also more abundant than since 1890, and with 

 the opening of the season, Oct. 1, good sport is predicted. 

 One of the most favorable places to visit is Analomink, 

 situated on the famous Broadheads trout streams. Only 

 three hours from New York by the D., L. &, W. R. E, 

 Excursion tickets to and return from Spragueville (the 

 name of the station) costing $4.40. Three express trains 

 daily. Y. 



A Vermont Reward. 



Rutland, Vt., Sept, 20.— To any fish warden or any 

 other person who shall cause the final conviction of any 

 person found guilty of any of the game laws, the under- 

 signed will, until further notice, allow a sum equal to 

 one-half of the fine imposed in each case; certificate of the 

 justice imposing the final sentence to be the evidence of 

 who is entitled thereto. Vermont Fish and Game League: 

 Henry R. Dorr, President; John W. Titcomb, Secretary. 



Hawk Migral ion. 



Hackettstown-, N. J., Sept. 33.— O a Wednesday morn- 

 ing, S"pt. 31. I noticed an unusual flight of hawks, 

 some 150 to 300 individuals, circling over our town, too 

 high to distinguish the species, yet apparently all the 

 same. It was a curious sight, and something I have 

 never before seen during an experience of more than 20 

 years with red and gun. James L. Smith. 



[Such flights are not uncommon in the autumn.] 



Vermont Small Game. 



Rutland local hunters report an abundance of game. 

 They say the woods east and west of Rutland are alive 

 with gray squirrels and partridges. Blackbirds are 

 plenty, and a number of wild ducks have been seen on 

 Otter Creek. Sportsmen claim that feathered game is 

 unusually plenty this season, and think that the strict 

 observance of the game law has had a great deal to do 

 with it. 



The First Canadian License. 



Boston.— You know it requires a license now costing 

 $35 for an American to shoot in Canada. My partner. 

 Dr. H. M. Johnson, who started Aug. 29 on his annual 

 two months' duck shooting trip got out the first license. 

 No. 1. JoNN Shaw. 



PUBLISHER'S DEPARMENT. 



Forest and Stream never loses its interest, which, with resu- 

 lar readers, acuounta to fascination. It is not a "sporting" paper, 

 biit a true sportsman's paper, one in which evpTy lover of nature 

 will find real and rare pleasure.— £«Zti'more Methodist. 



Bloomingtok, 111.. Sept. 15 —Forest and Stream Pub. Oo. : The 

 Trajoiotory 'L'est received O. K and would not be without it for 

 manv times its cost.— R. B. Htjrst. 



ASHriELD, Mass., S^pt. 15— .My friend's four year old little girl 

 has been looljine at Mr. Thompson'-^ picture of the panther in ibe 

 last issue of Forest and Stream, and savs "it is a real mean 

 looking cat and not a nice pussy at all." — Canteen. 



"PENNSYtiVANIA KaILBOAD TO THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION" 



IS t be iitle of a v^ry eensih]:,- prepared and useful handbook of in- 

 formation, issued by the Pennsylvania Railroad for tne guidapce 

 of us patrons. There are descriptive notes of New Tork, Phila- 

 delphia, Washineton and ChicaKO, with jnany illustrations and 

 maps ot the cities named> 



ANGLING NOTES. 



Memories. 



In Josh Hillinc4S"s Almanac there was a long line 

 drawn to include the first days of the month of Sep- 

 tember, and opposite was the legend, "About these 

 days is a good time to trade mules." If Josh had 

 been of a different turn of mind he might have written 

 that about these days the larger part of the great army 

 of "summer outers" are returning to their homes — 

 chiefly to homes in the cities and larger towns. I 

 was reminded of this to-day when I saw a trainload 

 of people with their faces turned southward from 

 northern New York. Nearly every one in the car had 

 some memento of the summer, and nearly all looked 

 brown and happy, and well and strong, and I presume 

 that they were better in mind and body for the vacation 

 which was drawing to a close, The souvenirs in the 

 corners of the car seats and in racks overhead, were 

 many and varied, and told of the mountains, the forests 

 and the lakes; of the fashionable caravansaries, the quiet 

 farmhouses and tbe camps under canvas and bark; and 

 also told of fishing and shooting and boating, and tennis, 

 and straw rides, and moonlight walks, and dancing and 

 flirtations. I do not mean to say that they actually told 

 of all these summer amusements out loud, but they sug- 

 gested them, and it occurred to me that these people 

 were taking home with these stacks and stacks of mem- 

 ories of the summer, perhaps to dream over during the 

 winter. I certainly hope they were all pleasant memories, 

 but I cannot tell, because 1 am not a first-class mind 

 reader; nevertheless, I shall try my 'prentice hand on two 

 men returning to New York city. One ia loaded with 

 the memory of a flock of black ducks that he saw in a 

 creek in northern New York, and when his thinking 

 machinery is in working operation, he recalls how he 

 crept through the brush until he got within range, and 

 then raised his gun to his shoulder and turned loose both 

 barrels on the flock as they sat on the water, and after- 

 ward picked up three dead ducks and carried them to his 

 boarding-house and had them cooked. Of subsequent 

 events regarding the killing of black ducks in the month 

 of August he has no knowledge— as yet, but he will have, 

 later— therefore his memory rests with the eating of the 

 ducks. If he could know that a native of the region saw 

 him kill the ducks, got his name, made a complaint 

 against him, and that a suit for the penalty, namely, $25 

 per duck, was being instituted at the present moment, 

 the memory of the event might not be entirely pleasant. 



The other gentleman is probably weighted down with 

 the memory of a day's trout fishing on a lovely mountain 

 brook not many miles from the creek where the gentle- 

 man of the first part killed the ducks. Under the sooth- 

 ing influence of an after-dinner cigar he pictures again 

 and again the winding of the stream, and here and there 

 he takes a speckled-sided trout and places it on the ferns 

 in his basket. Then again, in memory, he returns to the 

 hotel and the cook prepares the fish for his supper, and 

 his friends congratulate him upon catching sixty odd 

 trout from an over- fished brook. I wonder if it would 

 disturb the pleasant memory if he should know that this 

 day-dream had a tail to it with a string in the end, because 

 the cook was mad when she saw the baby trout, and 

 measured them and found that about forty of them were 

 from three to six inches long, and went before a Justice 

 of the Peace and swore to this fact; and that the porter 

 of the hotel also swore that they were the same trout that 

 this gentleman delivered to him; and that a game protec- 

 tor was now preparing to bring a suit in the Supreme 

 Court for the penalty? Very possibly, for even the bright- 

 est of day-dreams are expensive at $400 per dream. 



The Camera in Alaska. 



Mr. S. R. Stoddard, of Adirondack and Lake George 

 Guide Book and map fame, has just returned from a trip 

 to Alaska, where he went to expose several hundred 

 negatives of various sizes to receive impressions of natives, 

 glaciers, rivers, mountains, salmon, salmon fisheries, 

 salmon canneries, etc. His plates ranged in size from 

 the snap-shot variety up to a curved film 20 x 50in. in a 

 camera with a lens having a lateral motion and operated 

 by clock work. His companion on the trip was Mr. R. B. 

 Burchard, of New York, who was his companion also on 

 the canoe trip in the Atlantis, recorded in Forest and 

 Stream. When I called upon Mr. Stoddard I received 

 an impression myself, and that was that the very live 

 black bear that the gentleman had brought with him from 

 Alaska would be a most interesting and companionable 

 pet for somebody— in Alaska, but he was altogether too 

 familiar in his manners for the effete East, when he was 

 turned loose with nothing on him but the skin in which 

 he was born. It may be all right in Alaska for a black 

 bear with teeth and claws and things to sit in a man's 

 lap, but it is not considered good form in New Y^'ork State. 



I found that the negatives were being unpacked but 

 had not yet been developed, so the result of the trip is not 

 positively known, but Mr. Stoddard feels that he must 

 have, out of the large number of exposures, some excel- 

 lent views. On a map I followed his route but I have not 

 space to even outline it in a note. My interest centered 

 at Yes Bay, east of Prince of Wales Island, near the head 

 of Behm Canal, into which the ITnuk River flows. Here 

 was found a salmon cannery, and across the mouth of the 

 inlet stream was a dam, and the salmon were jumping at 

 it to get above it. Below the dam the water was so filled 

 with salmon that they showed plainly at the surface and 

 they were constantly jumping, so that scores were in the 

 air at the same time. Mr. Stoddard took several shots 

 with a camera at the fish that were trying the dam, and 

 also at the school below. The fish had crowded so in or- 

 der to pass the dam that many had been forced into shal- 

 low water in little setbacks, where they were found dead 

 or dying. The fish were so thick in the stream that Mr. 

 Stoddard had only to walk to the water's edge, stoop and 

 lift one out with his hands. It is to be hoped that these 

 plates, which will show the state of things at Yes Bay, 

 may develop perfectly. 



"Old Sam's" Pike. 

 I read the first part of "Old Sam's" article in last For- 

 est A^c Stream on the pike and pickerel question with 

 some dismay, for when be offered to compromise I did 

 not then see any ground upon which we could meet for 

 this purpose, and I really felt that a manj,who would not 



