Dec. lo, 1899.] 



* 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



809 



A NOVEMBER OUTING. 



PiTTSBTJBGH, Pa., Dec. <i.— We were plain, professional 

 men. We iiaa grown tired of our dests. We loved the 

 fields and the woods. So we concluded to go hunting. 

 Our wives consented on one condition, that they should 

 oe taken along. That was satisfactory and we began to 

 look for the happy hunting grounds. We were all patri- 

 otic, so Pennsylvania, and western Pennsylvania in jjar- 

 ticular, polled a unanimous vote. We would go first to 

 Butler coiiaty, then to Mercer and Crawford, meanwhile 

 trying to beep ourselves posted on the flight of ducks at 

 Lake Conneaut. 



Our party as it left the city of iron, natural gas and 

 smoke, consisted of four persons, namely, ourselves and 

 our wives and three dogs, The dogs were all setters, for 

 the confessedly primary object of the trip was to hunt 

 quail. Pheasants came second in our estimation, rabbits 

 uext and squirrels ntxt, while we were always ready to 

 jump should a telegram as lo ducks reach us. 



As I said before, we were plain professional men. We 

 knew what trap shooting was only from the jnle of spec- 

 tator. We made no pretensions to being fine wing shots, 

 though we confidently believed we could bring down a 

 Bob Wnite once in a while. Our guns were medium 

 grade, good but not fancy; and we were just cranks 

 enough to insist on loading our own shells.' Our dogs 

 were not particularly interesting from the bench show 

 standpoint, but they were near-and dear to us. Our main 

 reliance was a fine old English setter, who in the long 

 ago had had all the skill of a competent 

 trainer. But his lot had been cast with 

 a busy man, whose heart was too big to 

 refuse the loan of him. The result has 

 been that fine old Ranger, for that is his 

 name, has two very bad habits. One is 

 that he positively refuses to lie down, y:*^ 

 He will compromise on a sitting posture, 

 but not another inch will he go. The 

 other habit is that when Br'er Rabbit 

 gets up he cannot resist the temptation 

 to make tracks after him with all speed. 

 Otherwise he is perfect. He is a fine 

 ranger, a careful worker, as steady as a 

 clock and a good retriever. Then we 

 had an Irish setter, two years old, 

 broken to everything except retrieving. 

 His fault was tnat he was jealous of the 

 other dogs, and insisted on getting as 

 close to tne birds as possible, occasion- 

 ally flushing the game and always 

 making us nervous. Our third animal 

 was a handsome little English setter 

 bitch of good breeding, only eighteen 

 months old. She was so gun-shy that 

 we did not consider ic worth while to 

 put her into the hands of a trainer. We 

 simply took her along as a forlorn hope, s 

 and because two or three Pittsburgh 

 nimrods of more pretensions than we 

 had asked to be remembered in case we 

 "were going to give her away." 



We stopped first in Butltr county. '''i 

 The village hotel proved a delight to 

 the ladies, and we lost no time in get- 

 ting the dogs out into the buckwheat 

 fields with which we found ourselves 

 .surrounded. 



We speedily made two discoveries. 

 The first was that we were not in the 

 same class with Elmer Shaner and 

 "Jim Crow" of our town. We made 

 :too many misses, but we hoped for im- 

 provement. •The other discovery was 

 that farmers have to be cultivated. We 

 found that they had partially organized 

 .against hunters of all kinds; and we 

 were frequently ordered out with all 

 the vehemence of a just cause. But as 

 the farmers learned that we were gen- 

 tlemen and law-abiding they grew kindlier and we had 

 free range. The tales of wounded sheep, frightened 

 ■cattle, rumed fences and frightful vandalism we heard 

 from the farmers convinced us that they were right and 

 that the great majority of hunters in our State are them- 

 ;selves responsible for the determined stand the farmers 

 have taken. In a few more years, unless there be a re 

 form, the game preserve will be all that is left to the 

 respectable law-abiding sportsmen of Pennsylvania, 



We spent a very enjoyable week in Butler county, and 

 as our shooting improved our bags became, aqcording to 

 ■our modest standard, quite respectable. The English 

 ■setter bitch spent the entire time at her owner's heels, 

 save when a gun cracked, at which she dropped down 

 and refused to move for some minutes. Bat we thought 

 we detected some improvement, and concluded to keep 

 her. The other dogs worked splendidly on quail, but not 

 quite so successfully on pheasants. We oagged nine 

 pheasants the first five days. 



One day, as we were kicking around a bit of woodland 

 for rabbits, we missed the old setter. He had last been 

 iseen leaping into an adjoining stubble field, which did 

 not seem very promising. He had been gone for perhaps 

 fifteen minutes when we concluded we had better look 

 bimup. He was nowhere to be seen, and we climbed 

 over into the stubble. At last we saw something white 

 ;ahead. On nearer approach we saw old Ranger quietly 

 sitting down. As he caught the sound of approaching 

 (footsteps he got up and came to a stand. The same 

 'thought struck ue both at once. 



"Ranger got tired of waiting for us and sat down 

 awhile," said Mr. K. 



"Let's walk on past and see what he will do," I re- 

 sponded. 



As the white gradually grew fainter we saw Ranger 

 quietly squat down again. When we returned he re- 

 humed the stand, the Irish setter who had come up, 

 backed him beautifully, and when we flushed the birds 

 Ranger had the pleasure of retrieving three of the hand- 

 some brown beauties for us, while the little English setter 

 hitch dropped down at our feet and trembled lest we 

 flhoot again. 



Then came a telegram that the ducks were in. Our 

 wives soon had our trunks packed, we bade farewell to 

 the kindly hotel keeper at the village and his good wife, 

 and sped away norttiward. It had been spitting enow 



for a day or two, and as we went northward the beauti- 

 ful grew deeper. At the depot on the lake we hired a 

 two-seated sleigh, and to the merry jingle of bells 

 bounded away over the hills to a little cottage hotel that 

 nestled in the mouth of a ravine at the water's edge. It 

 was jolly Jim Reaney's place. We had been told about 

 JLm Reaney. Mr, W, G, Sargeant, General Passenger 

 Agent of the Shenango Railroad, all-round good fellow 

 and the only man in the western part of the State who 

 can tell on sight every variety of fur, fin and feather this 

 section produces, had written us: "If you go to Lake 

 Conneaut, hunt up Jim Reaney. He's a dead game sport 

 and his wife can cook for Victoria's table." And we 

 found the half had not been told. Jim made us all at 

 home at once. He told yarns of duck hunting until we 

 were wild. Then he would tell of quail hunting twenty 

 years ago in Ohio, of turkey shooting, and of big fishing. 

 Mrs. Reaney cooked our game as we had never eaten it 

 before, and our stay as far as hosxiitality was concerned 

 was most delightful. 



As our sleigh rounded the last curve and the little 

 cottage hotel came into view two young Pittsburgh tiim- 

 rods came staggering out loaded down with ducks. They 

 hailed us with the airs of Roman conquerors. 



"Is all the fun over?" we asked. 



"Oh, no: just begun," was the reply that set our blood 

 going faster. 



It was growing night and we abandoned ourselves to 

 Mr. and Mrs. Reaney, who soon had us all comfortable, 

 save one of the ladies who had an attack of sick head- 



A SNAP SHOT ON BPaHN. 

 From a photo by J. J. Mills, M.D. 

 (fforest awl Stream Amateur Photography Competition.) 



ache. Of course we did not sleep much that night. The 

 lake had been almost covered with ducks that day and 

 the day before. The waterfowl make this the first stop- 

 ping place on their journey southward from Like Erie, 

 and if the sportsman is lucky he drops in when a big fly 

 is on and can hardly see the water, so thick are the ducks. 

 And there are all kinds, from the fine mallards, canvas- 

 backs and redheads down to the palatable little butter- 

 balls. 



We were out of bed at B o'clock, Mrs, Reaney had had 

 prepared for us a delicious breakfast of buckwheat cakes 

 with trimmings, but we forgot the trimmings; and long 

 before daylight Jim Reaney had one of his boats ready 

 and we sat down impatiently to wait. We kept our ears 

 open for the rustle of wings, but they didn't rustle. At 

 last streaks of gray began to thread the sky and we piled 

 into the boat with as much grace as three sets of under- 

 shirts, two vests, a hunting coat and a heavy mackintosh 

 would permit. Our fingers trsmbled on the triggers as 

 Jim pulled us out across the lake, but we went clean 

 across without hearing the whistle of a wing. .Jim began 

 to be nervous. He didn't say much but he kept looking 

 around into the fast receding darkness. Then he pulled 

 into the bay, and as the day broke the blue waves re- 

 flected back the image of nary a duck. 



"Gone, by gum." 



That was enough. We knew we had missed it just 

 forty- eight hours. But we went on and managed to rind 

 a tew flocks of butterballs. They had been through the 

 battle of the previous days, and as the boat approached 

 got up beyond our reach. It was only by the most care- 

 ful work that we are able to carry back enough ducks to 

 escape the merciless taunts of the merry jokers we owned 

 as our better halves. 



"Well, there are rabbits here if there aren't ducks," 

 said Jim, disconsolately, and we readily assenting, he 

 rowed us across the lake, where with aid of the snow and 

 a hound we soon had fourteen "bunnies." Tnis pro- 

 gramme — ducks first, rabbits next — -was repeated several 

 days with always the same result— few ducks and all the 

 rabbits we could carry. 



The snow began to go, and as no more ducks came in 

 we concluded that the last fly of the season was over and 

 turned our faces southward. We found a nice little hotel 

 in one of the small towns of Mercer county, and turned 

 our dogs out again. They found a good many quail, and, 

 suddenly, to our amazenaent, the little English oitch took 



to pointing. And she was over being afraid of th« gun-, 

 She developed rapidly, and when we started home she 

 had many a fine feat to her credit. "What's bred in 

 the bone will out in the flesh" sooner or later, and it came 

 out in this splendid little animal all at once. The boast 

 of her father's owner was that he had never flushed a 

 bird. We claim the same now for the young setter we 

 so often threatened to give away. She proved the most 

 careful of the three and would hold a point indefinitely. 

 One day we had downed a pheasant over the back of the 

 Irish setter. It was in a low, swampy thicket and we 

 could not find the bird. A stream perhaps 15ft. wide, 

 swollen by the melting snow and ice, ran through it. We 

 could not find the fallen pheasant ^and called the little 

 dog to help. She did not come," Looking down the 

 stream for the cause we saw her at a point, standing 

 belly deep in the middle of the swiftly flowing stream. 

 And when we came to her a fine pheasant rose, and it 

 went on, too. Pheasants are easier than quail to us if 

 they give us the same chance, but pheasant shooting in a 

 spot like this is not the easiest thing in the world. At 

 least that is our modest unprofessional verdict. 



The working of the three dogs was a delight. They 

 backed each other up splendidly, and during the last 

 three days of our stay, the three dogs in a row, all point- 

 ing at the same bird, was a frequent sight. I need not 

 tell your sportsmen readers of tne thrill of pleasure such 

 a feat brings. 



We did not make any such strings as we see reported 

 in the Forest AND Stream, If we brought in a dozen 

 quail, a pheasant or twOj and a few 

 rabbits, we congratulated ourselves. 

 Often we didn't do so well. But we 

 had a splendid time, and there was 

 more genuine pleasure in watching the 

 dogs work and back each other up 

 than there was in the actual shooting. 

 Twenty-two quail and four rabbits was 

 our best day's bag. That day we got 

 up five flocks of quail and our two guns 

 were banging away from 9 to 3, with 

 ah hour out for a good dinner at the 

 home of a farmer we had "cultivated." 



Wherever we stopped we found the 

 farmers ready to meet us half way. If 

 they found us gentlemanly the best 

 they had was ours. In only two cases 

 were we rebuffed. A farm of 400 acres, 

 said to abound with game, belonged to 

 three brothers and a sister. None ever 

 married and now they are getting old. 

 We went direct to their house and 

 stated our case. It was no go. No- 

 body could shoot tiieir pets. They fed 

 the squirrels and birds all winter and 

 did not propose to have them killed. 

 So we passed on, refraining from draw- 

 ing beads on two handsome gray squir- 

 rels that scampered away from us as 

 we passed off the farm through a bit of 

 woodland. The other case in which 

 we failed to make any impression was 

 tha,t of an old farmer of crabbed dispo- 

 sition, on to whose farm we strayed by 

 mistake. He caught us red-handed, 

 and he wouldn't be persuaded. But he 

 intimated if we had asked permission 

 before shooting we could have had all 

 the sport his land would afford. 



The time for starting home came all 

 too soon, and we will long remember 

 two November weeks in western Penn- 

 sylvania. We have no remarkable tale 

 to tell, but as said in the first line, we 

 are plain professional men , too busy to 

 attain the skill of which most of your 

 contributors boast. The great majority 

 of the lovers cf the field, we believe, 

 are situated about as we are, and if 

 they shall be interested in our story 

 our object in writing this shall have been attained. 



And about that little English setter bitch. The lesson 

 is one of patience. Many a time we were so exasperated 

 that the poor beast got no consideration at all. l&any a 

 time we threatened to leave her out in the country as not 

 worth her railroad fare home. Now she is in the hands 

 of a trainer, and though we are not rich it would take 

 lots of money to make us part with her. 



The idea of taking ladies along on an outing is a 

 novelty, I judge, from reading the Forest and Stream, 

 Lst these ladies testify that it was a most pleasurable 

 change and one they wish to repeat next season. And 

 the social phase of such an outing is not the least consid- 

 eration by any means. M. N. M. 



The Ways of Wild Rabbits. 



Huntington, L. I., Dec. 8.~ErMtor Forfist and Stream: 

 From experience and observation of tame rabbits, I am 

 led to believe that the male will seek to destroy young of 

 his sex only, and this is rather a benefit than injury; 1 

 am also inclined to think that it is more likely that the 

 female wild rabbit (with young) will hole more readily 

 than the male. I have found that tame bunnies when 

 liberated burrow, the young being brought forth under 

 the soil, with but few excej)tion8. From the habits of 

 tame rabbits I conclude that the burrows frequently re- 

 sorted to by wild rabbits when chased are likely to be of 

 their own digging than woodchuck holes. 



Clarengr B. Waep. 



[We should not be disposed to attach much weight to 

 deductions as to the habits of wild rabbits (hares) 

 drawn from the ways of life of the tame rabbit. It is 

 well understood that domestication greatly modifies the 

 natural habits of animals and it is also known that the 

 ancestors of the tame rabbit differ widely from the 

 hares in their mode of life. The European rabbit {Le.pm 

 cunieulus) digs a burrow in which to bring forth its 

 young; our gray rabbit never does so, but brings forth 

 its young above ground in a "form" or little hollow, 

 covering them from sight by leaves, moss and fur from 

 her own body. The wild rabbit {Lejras sylvaticus) often 

 takes refuge in a hole in the ground, or iu a scone fence, 

 but it is not thought that it ever digs such holes for its 

 own use. 



