262 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[MakcH 23, 1«98, 



BOSTON AND MAINE. 



Monomoy Brant. 



Boston, March 20.— The first party of the season, of 

 the Monomoy Brant Chih, went from Boston last week, 

 and at the time of this writing the party is at the chib's 

 fine accommodations at Monomoy Beach. No shooting is 

 yet reported from them, and Mr. Warren Hapgood, one 

 of the pioneers of the chib, doubts the success of this first 

 party. No brant have yet been seen in the market; not 

 that this party would sell brant in the maxket, but out- 

 side hunters send them to Boston, about as soon as they 

 appear. 



This party is in charge of Mr. Outram Bangs, so well 

 known in the Massachusetts F. and G. P. A. The second 

 party was to leave Boston on Wednesday, March 23. This 

 party is made up of A. H. Wright, E. Frank Lewis, R. H. 

 Gray, Henry Colburn, N. W. Arnold, H. D. Reed and two 

 or three others. The four first mentioned are members 

 of the club, I believe, while the others are invited guests. 

 The hopes of the party are not very high from the fact 

 that the boys feel that it is altogether too early for flights 

 of brant. But the rules of the club are such, with tlie 

 membership so large, that each party must go at the ap- 

 pointed time; and some parties must necessarily be late, 

 with others early. Still the boys hope for a south wind 

 and with it a change of weather and a good flight of 

 birds. One or two flights of geese were seen in tlie vicin- 

 ity of Plymouth on their way northward during the south 

 wind and warm weather of a week ago, but the north- 

 west wind and cold weather which immediately followed 

 is supposed to have stopped the birds. 



Kennedy Smith. 



Kennedy Smith, the well known guide, woodsman and 

 later hotel-camp keeper of Smith's Farms. Tim Pond and 

 Roimd Mountain Lake, Me., has been in Boston for a few 

 days. He is a man wonderfully preserved, considering 

 that his spine has actually been broken, with two or three 

 ribs separated from the sternum, by a tree falling on him. 

 an accoimt of which was published in the Forest and 

 Stream at the time. The accident happened a number of 

 miles away in the woods and poor Smith lay for hours till 

 help arrived, on the ground, crowding liis hands in die 

 mud in order to cool the terrible fever he was in. He 

 could not turn his head so much as an inch, not even to 

 take a draught of water. One of the backwoodsmen, the 

 first to arrive, bethought himseK of a tobacco pipe. The 

 stem of this he put between the, as he thought, dying 

 man's lips, and the bowl in a birchen cup of water. "Oh 

 how good that water tasted!" says Smith, at this day. He 

 was at last borne many miles out of the woods on a 

 sti-etcher, and to-day he is able to be up and about, and is 

 a comparatively weU man and as fond of woods life as 

 ever. He hopes yet to do light guiding, though it troubles 

 him to use an ax even more than to tramp with quite a 

 load. It seems as though he would be just the man to 

 guide a party of boys; genial, fond of the woods and the 

 expert that he is. 



No Maine Deer Hunting in September. 



Mr. Smith has been at Augusta, Me., during the better 

 part of the session of the Maine Legislature that is about 

 closing. He has been much interested in the opening of 

 the month of September, or a part of it, for deer hunting. 

 He has labored earnestly, but the pressure against the 

 measure from the eastern part of the State has been too 

 great. The measure has been killed. There is no hope of 

 even a part of September. Mr. Smith thinks the measure 

 might have been carried for the northwestern counties of 

 the State if such a measure had been labored for early in 

 the session. He believes that with the growth of a love 

 for hunting and the value of the deer supply, the resident 

 hunters of the State of Maine, especially the eastern pfirt 

 of the State, would be pleased with any form of law that 

 would keep foreign hunters away altogether. It is furth- 

 est from their idea to grant sportsmen out of the State 

 any greater privileges than they enjoy to-day, and Sep- 

 tember will not be opened, if these Maine hunters can 

 help it. "September!" they say. "Why that is too early; 

 earlier than we can leave om- crops to himt deer. No! 

 We will not consent to the opening of September, just to 

 please the guides and liotel men, with their dude citj^ 

 boai'ders." One of these eastern Maine lobbyists actually 

 went further, in Mr. Smith's hearing, than he intended. 

 "September!" says he. "That istooearly; the game isnot 

 worth anything then to send to market." "Market?" asks 

 Mr. Smith. "ILow about the non-transportation law?" 

 "Oh, we'll repeal that this session; and besides, we have 

 three lines of steamers and any amount of coasters, so 

 that we have no difl3.culty, even with the law, in getting 

 our venison to Boston and New York when the weather is 

 cool." 



IVIaine License Fee. 



The Maine Legislature has just passed, through both 

 branches I believe, a most shameful amendment to the 

 game laws. It permits the killing of one cow moose in a 

 season by each hunter. Thus the protection that the 

 noble E. "M. Still well labored so hard for is gone. Would 

 that his spirit might come from the realms of the dead 

 and visit Gov. Cleaves with the desire to veto such a bill. 

 It is a fact thoroughly established that moose had begun 

 to increase wonderfully under the law forbidding the 

 killing of cows at any time. The shameful non-resident 

 license measure is also in a fair A\'ay to pass, though the 

 license lias been reduced to $3 instead of $5. All the 

 Maine hunting interest mentioned above is likely to favor 

 this measure. It will keep foreign sportsmen from 

 getting their fish and game. Then the lumber interest is 

 likely to favor it. "It will keep the hunters out of our 

 woods," they say. "Tax a citizen of the United States 

 for the privilege of shooting and hunting in Maine!" say 

 some of the Boston sportsmen— born in Maine. "Bah! 

 Take the $3, or even $5 or $10, out of us in some honest 

 and less distasteful fashion if you want it, but dehver us 

 from the paying of a hcense fee!" 



Tine Gilbert Trout Bill. 

 The Gilbert trout biU has passed the House of the Massa- 

 chusetts Legislature, though it is being fought in the 

 Senate. It has been saddled with an amendment which 

 forbids selling of trout under Sin. in Ipugth. It is said 

 that this amendment has been tacked on to please some 

 of the protectors nf wild trout, since wild trout are seldom 

 ■met with in this State of above Sin. in length. If one 

 will reflect ^ moment he will be convinced that a trout 



that is not Sin. in length is a pretty smafl one, since it 

 takes a wild trout of about 13in. to weigh one pound. 

 A Boston Man in Florida. 

 Dr. E. B, Kellog, of Boylston street, Boston, a lover of 

 the woods and waters, with his son Foster, is in Florida 

 enjoying the shooting and fishing. He writes from Hotel 

 Ponce (ie Leon, St. Augustine, that the fishing is fair and 

 the shooting is good, if one goes far enough after it. But 

 it is not "all right in front of the hotel." 



Maine Moose for tlie World's Fair. 

 The Maine Legislature has granted Mr. Gifford, a Skow- 

 hegan taxidermist, permission to take one cow moose and 

 a calf in the close season, the skins to be mounted for the 

 exhibit of Maine wild animals at the World's Fair at Chi- 

 cago. Mr. Gifford is also to prepare an exhaustive ex- 

 hibit of the mounted skins of the animals found in Maine, 

 some fifty or more specimens. The first shipment is soon 

 to be made. 



Mr. C. T. Odiorne, who with Mrs. Odiorne and Mr. A. 

 T. Waite, a.ssistant managing editor of the Boston Herald, 

 made a delightful hunting and fishing trip to Byron, Me., 

 last summer, an account of which was in the Forest and 

 Stream at the time, was one of the victims of the Lincoln 

 street fire in the Ames building on the fatal Friday night 

 of March 10. His body lay under the ruins till exhvimed 

 on the night of the Friday following. Mr. Waite was con- 

 stantly on the ground, watching the work of removing 

 the debris. When asked if he was not endangering his 

 own life and health by the exposure, his reply was: "He 

 would have done as much and even more for me." Thus 

 it is that to hunt and fish and camp with a friend doeth 

 so endear him. Speoiai.. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[From a Staff Correspondent, 

 Chicago, 111., March 18.— Mr. Benjamin Harrison, ex- 

 President of the United States, seems a very philosophical 

 and very sensible sort of gentleman. He spent the week 

 after his retiring from the White House on the duck 

 marsh at Havana, 111., on the Illinois River, and had 

 fairish sort of shooting, too. But how about the example 

 of a President shooting in the spring? 



At Koslnkonong. 

 The flight was a week ago all over Wisconsin. At 

 Koshkonong later the birds came in for a day or two in 

 great shape. Mr. A. W. Knox brought back a half dozen 

 from his trip of a week ago. Mr. R. A. Turtle says that 

 large numbers of geese were crossing middle Wisconsin 

 the latter part of the week, as he learned on a business 

 trip. 



Abe Kleinman's Canvasbacks. 



Calumet Lake, in Chicago, has held a good many wild- 

 fowl in the last two weeks. That well known old timer, 

 Abe Kleinman, killed three canvasbacks and half a dozen 

 other ducks one afternoon last week without decoys. He 

 just walked over with a few sheUs in his pocket to see 

 whether any birds had come in. He says that if he had 

 gone properly prepared he could have made a big bag, as 

 the birds were flying well. 



Texas Tourist. 



Another 



Mr. Geo. H. Miller, of Chanute, Kas., has tasted of the 

 delights of a Southern winter trip, and writes me enter- 

 tainingly as follows: 



"I am a regular subscriber to that most excellent jour- 

 nal. Forest and Stleam. I was one of a party of eight, 

 beside boat's crew (thirteen in all) who spent about a week 

 in Januai-y on the Texas coast near Rockport and Corpus 

 Ghristi, wliere we saw more water fowl in an hour than I 

 had ever seen, all put together, in my life before. We 

 had a good time, and some very good shooting. After 

 leaving the coast one of the party, D. L. Mechling, of 

 Denver, and myself, came up to Beeville, thence west 

 twenty-five miles by stage to Oakville, Avhere we were 

 most hospitably entertained and enjoyed some good tur- 

 key shooting. There are still a good many deer and pec- 

 caries in this locality, and though there were not many 

 turkey in sight when we were there, presumably on ac- 

 count of the continued dry weather, a letter just received 

 from the party on whose ranch we hunted says they have 

 had good spring rains, everything looks green and fine, 

 and the turkeys have apparently returned in increased 

 numbers. In i'act he says, 'This morning it seemed to be 

 one turkey roost as far up and down as I could hear them 

 gobble.' l-Iis ranch is located on the Rio Frio, tliirty-five 

 miles from any i-ailroad. 



"We learned that owing to the very dry weather of the 

 past two or three years, and the generally poor market 

 for cattle, that a ^reat many of the ranchers (there is no 

 farming in this part of Texas), who own from 5,000 to 

 20.000 acres each, are hard up, and land can be bought 

 for almost any price from |2 per acre up. And most of 

 it as good land as a man ever looked on. This is a good 

 opportunity for clubs, as the country is well watered by 

 streams and seems to be well adapted to all hinds of 

 game. 



"Billy Griggs's letter to you speaks of the pictures. Of 

 course you are an experienced Kodaker and know what 

 machines are most generally and successfully used, I 

 have had several machines within the past year, none of 

 which seemed to fill all tlie just requirements. Had 

 one on the Texas trip and made failures of some things 

 wliicli I would have given almost the price of a machine 

 to have had. 1 started this letter principally to ask jou 

 what machine you consider as the best all round one." 



If I should say, right out in meeting, what camera I 

 preferred, I would differ pronouncedly from the view of 

 aU the camera makers but One. Indeed, I do not know 

 that one can pick out any one kind of camera as the 

 "best," any more than he can any one make of gun. I 

 shall be glad to give Mr. Miller the name of the camera I 

 used. I value the pictures I got as highly as anything 

 about my trip. I have two photos, just of some clumps of 

 reeds, of which I think a great deal more than I did of 

 my biggest bag of bu'ds. It seems to me that the camera 

 is a coming thing in the sportsman's kit. Of com-se, one 

 must get results, or it is no fun. To this end he would 

 best go out for a while with a professional photogi-apher, 

 and learn something about focus, light and shade. Many 

 amateurs make exposures with the lens toward the sun , 

 and wonder why they "didn't get anything." The ligiit 

 should shine most; straight on the object, when possible, 

 from liehin'i the camera. If making a portrait of a man, 

 ha^e bim pti^h Jiis hat back, so that the light will shine 



all over his face, otherwise you will get part of his face 

 black in the shadow. Distance is something tha,t only 

 practice a,nd experience wiU teach, but most of the 

 cameras have distance marks for focusing, say, at 10, 15, 

 40 or 100ft. Posing is something that the outdoor artist 

 will not often have to do. When he does, well, he 

 shouldn't do it, ever. Get 'em without any pose. Posing 

 is what kills and stiffens so many amateur photographs. 

 I got pictures of Billy Griggs and Bud Stephenson shoot- 

 ing out of their canvasback blinds, and they look as 

 natural as life. These men couldn't pose when .they were 

 in the act of shooting. They tried to, but they couldn't, 

 it was too natural an act. One photo I got of Grigga 

 shooting over his decoys, which I think is the best and 

 most realistic duck picture I ever saw. We spent a whole 

 daj fooling around making pictm-es. The duck blind pic- 

 tures I made from a boat, and to keep the camera motion- 

 less—an absolute essential often overlooked by amateurs— 

 I drove an oar down in the mud, and "took a rest" on the 

 oar when I shot. The instrument used on this ti-ii) was a 

 4x5, but I am getting a 5x7, as I think the larger Held will 

 be usefrd. Mr. Miller's grief over losing his work I can 

 well understand, for once I lost a valuable lot of exposures 

 in the IndiaJi Nation. The cause for this, I found later, 

 was a camera box that leaked light. A good one can be 

 bought for $50. My machine carried a roll of seventy -five 

 films. On return from the trip I took the camera entire 

 to the firm, and had them take out the holder, and develop 

 and print for me. This is usually the easiest and safest 

 way, though you are then exposed to the long delays of 

 commerce, and come to lose confidence in human natm-e, 

 m view of the constantly broken promises of picture man 

 to have your views "right down to-morrow." In the 

 smaller towns, the local photographer could probably do 

 as well and would be quicker. 



Wisconsin Way. 

 The following letter is of interest and I wish we might 

 hear more from the writer. The item about the necessity 

 of uniform laws in this group of States is the most direct 

 practical comment on this ma,tter I ever saw. Gov. Peck 

 is, however, wrong. He should make his stand and have 

 the others come "to it. If we wait for a simultaneous 

 passing and signing of good game laws in all these States 

 we shall always remain where we are to-day— in the 

 Dark Ages of sportsmanship. The letter follows: 



"Milwaukee, March 16.— I inclose a clipping from this 

 morning's Milwaukee Sentinel, .and, on examining it. you 

 will see that, according to its Beaver Dam correspondent, 

 the bidlliead crop is not yet exhausted. Gentlemen from 

 this city who have been "on the gi-ound" vouch for the 

 ti-uth of much that has recently been printed in the hne 

 of the article referred to. 



"My home is on Pewa,ukee Lake. The ice softened con- 

 siderably last week, and on Sunday morning I took my 

 ice boat' 'down' and stored it. Before leaving the boat 

 house I took an ice chisel, and on cutting through and 

 measm-ing, found to my surprise that the ice isstifl 27in. 

 thick. Saw a few golden-eyes or whistle wings this week, 

 but there is no open water in Pewaukee. 



"Gov. Peck is reported to have said tha,t unless the sur- 

 rounding States pass bills prohibiting spring shooting he 

 will not sign any such measure. 



"Our present law prohibits the spring shooting of mal- 

 lards, woodduck and teal, but on my way to the train last 

 night I saw a fine bunch of greenheads hanging in front 

 of a restaurant on the principal thoroughfai-e of this 

 town.— H. S. A." E. Houok. 



175 Monroe Street, CMcago. 



SOME MAINE DEER GROUNDS. 



Editor Forest arid Stream: 



In Forest and Stream of March 16 "G. W.," of Paw- 

 tucket, R. I., asks for a good place in Maine to go for 

 deer which can be easily reached. South Mohmcas, 

 Aroostook county, Maine, is quite a good place. Take 7 

 P. M. train from Boston to Mattawamkeag, reaching the 

 latter about 8:o0 the following morning. There take Pat- 

 ten stage, which passes South Moluncas about noon. I 

 stopped at South Moluncas for a couple of days last wiri- 

 ter when on my way home from the headwaters of the 

 Mattawamkeag River. There was no chance to still-hunt, 

 owing to a very noisy snow. Four deer were killed while 

 I was there by a couple of native hunters living in the 

 house where I stayed. I cruised around not fa,r from the 

 house, more to see what the signs were tlian to hunt, 

 jumping eight deer and seeing a good mauy tracks. In 

 some respects it is a hard place to hunt, as the woods 

 are full of old tops left by the lumbermen and there is 

 considerable undergrowth. It is easily and quickly 

 reached, and is not expensive; for further information 

 write to Clem Emight, South Moluncas, Aroostook county, 

 Maine. 



There is also good deer hunting back of Stacy "Village, 

 three miles from Sherman, on hne of Patten stage. It 

 will take nearly a day longer to reach this iilace. Clar- 

 ence Peavy, of Moro', Aroostook county. Me. , knows the 

 groimd and is a good still-hunter and guide. The latter 

 part of November is a good time for still-hunting, jjro- 

 vided there is good tracking, dry snow. Of late years the 

 snow has come late, and on three triijs I have made to 

 jMaine there has been hardly any chance to still-hunt. 

 Noisy, crusty snows have been the rule rather than the 

 exception. "Last December I spent over three weeks 

 where there w ere quite a number of caribou and did not 

 have a single dav of it to hunt. It was so noisy all the 

 time that "I jumped everything I tried to follow before 

 getting anyAviiere near it. I think in either of the places 

 I have named anv one would get chances enough (pro- 

 vided tliere was the right sort of snow) to kiU all the deer 

 the law allows in less than a week's tune. 



C. M. Stark. 



WtNCHissTEE, Mass.," March SO. 



Two Woodcock at a Shot. 



Greenfield Hill, Conn.— "J. I. C." asks if there ever 

 was a man in North America who killed two woodcock at 

 one shot on the wing. I did it once a number of years 

 ao-o, and did it but once, and I have hunted more or less 

 for over forty years. It was in the fall when the birds 

 were making tlieir annual flight. It was in a spring place 

 where the cattle had made paths. My dog pointed and I 

 went up to him and there were three woodcock that got 

 up and took one of the paths. I killed two at one shot, 

 and I think I woimded the third, for I found liiui a short 

 dlsl^ance awav, and when he flushed I got him, too. 



M, M. M. 



