Makch SB, 189a. I 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Judge Greene Pleads Extenuating Circumstances. 



«^ Portland, Ore., March 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I have just read " 'Podgera's' Commentaries" in last 

 Forest and Stream. Some of my sporting friends were 

 sitting here in the oiSce at the time, and as "Podgers" is 

 always entertaining I read his Commentaries aloud for 

 their benefit and edification. Well, I was reading and 

 hurraying for "Podgers" because he was everlastingly 

 bui-ning up the poachers and law breakers, but imagine 

 my surprise when I myself was ordered to stand up and 

 answer to the charge of being an accessory after the fact. 

 Let me quote the exact charge: 



As many as 100 dozen [Mongolian pheasants] were receiFed here 

 [San Francisco] one day last week. Such wanton destruction of this 

 beautiful bird is simply damnable. [Here "Podgers" requests you to 

 excuse his French; but as the English offers no stronger or mori- ex- 

 pressive term, let us adox^t tlie French word and say amen.] AV'here 

 are all the sportsmen of Oregon, and whv do they permit this slaughter 

 to go unpumshed? Where is Judge Greene and other weU-known 

 sportsmen that should be alive to the destruction of such valuable 

 game? 



Dear "Podgers," we aU plead guilty, but please point 

 your gun the other way. My hands are up, but let me 

 state the extenuating circumstances. 



Speaking for myself alone I desire to say that for years 

 I have fought, growled, cussed and made enemies on tliis 

 proposition. I beheve that tlie facts, the records of the 

 State and my few remaining friends will bear me out in 

 the assertion that no otlier private individual in the wliole 

 State of Oregon has gone fm-ther or worked harder to 

 correct this wrong than my humble self. But you know 

 how little one man, or in fact many men, can accomplish 

 in a legitimate way toward correcting these wrongs or 

 piinishing such offenders. 



It was tills very condition of affairs that prompted me 

 to prepare the game warden bill which, by the energy of 

 Oregon's true sportsmen, the firmness and loyalty of 

 Oregon's noble Governor, Sylvester Pennoyer, and' the 

 grace of God, is now a law " and in operation, and lias 

 been for several weeks. The efficacy of that law is be- 

 ginning to make itself manifest, as ten of our game ship- 

 pers (now in the hands of om- grand jury) will testify. 



Friend "Podgers,'' I am a httle sensitive on this subject 

 at all times and your excoriation has left my skin so 

 thin that if leniency can be extended under such cir- 

 cumstances I feel that I am entitled to it. 



S. H. Greene. 



Hard Play is Hard Work. 



ViOKSBURG, Miss.— The other day while out on a duck 

 himt, I was sitting in a blind facing a swift current of 

 water on the Mississippi River. The position was a pro- 

 jecting point, and gave promise of being an average good 

 stand, as the flight appeared to be mainly by this point. 

 The decoys wore well exposed and the current and exist- 

 ing wind gave them a motion that was almost as natural 

 as life itself. 



You see on a previous trip Mr. Warner had made a 

 score that I was anxious to eqtial, and was mentallj'' re- 

 solved to strain myself in an effort to do so. While in 

 this mood a flock of teal decoyed. One only was close 

 and a sure shot, while the next nearest were three well 

 away though closely bunched. These latter got my first 

 barrel and the near one got my second as it took wing. 

 Two dead and one crippled with first barrel and a dead 

 duck with second barrel. I then gave vigorous canoe 

 chase after the wounded duck, which was bagged by an 

 additional shot. After retrieving the other turee I went 

 into the bUnd feeling comfortable, thank you. 



In not very many minutes a flock of pintail decoyed 

 with one close and three at long range as before. Quick 

 as I could shoot I played ditto in this gang. On looking 

 out I was no little surj^rised to see four wounded ducks 

 scattered over about as many acres of swift rumiing 

 water. The way they got over the water and radiated 

 from me was astonishing. It took an exciting race with 

 the canoe and five additional shots to bag those animated 

 sprigs. I went back to my blind out of wind and needing 

 rest, but didn't get it. 



Just as I sat down, two sprigtails came in. It was 

 another temptation and I fell. A far off and a close sprig, 

 and both went away as only scared ducks could go with- 

 out indication of either being hit, until one had gone far 

 out into the river where he lit. A view throiigh the 

 glass showed him to have been hit, and it took another 

 enervating puU to windward and far out in the swift 

 current to chase down and bag this duck that proved to 

 be more vital than dumpy. 



I guess I must have been very tired when, soon after 

 reaching the blind, I was called on for the fom-th and 

 final double shot, for I made two inglorious goose eggs, 

 getting not so much as a feather. Very sitddenly I got 

 himgry and paddled off througli a blue streak of atmos- 

 phere to the launch to eat, on the way cogitating on the 

 futility of _ events and the rapid descent of at least one 

 man, leaving Warner's score of twenty-seven in an hour 

 stillin the lead. W, L. P. 



A Notable Shot and its Corroboration. 



Philadelphia, N. Y.— One day last fall a local sports- 

 man was out himting gray squirrels. He had had good 

 luck, having got seven, and as this was all lie cared for, 

 he ^\•alked toward his home. While coming through a 

 patch of woods a mile from here he saw a gray squirrel run 

 along a fence and sit up on the end of a rail to readjust a 

 butternut in its mouth. The gunner did not care to shoot 

 the squirrel, but while watching it he thought what a, good 

 mark its butternut was. He took a shot at the nut and 

 the squirrel feU, Its mouth was wide open and the sides 

 expanded in a violent effort to breathe. The hunter picked 

 the squin-el up and looked into its mouth. One end of the 

 nut had been driven down the squirrel's throat in such a 

 manner as to shut its wind off. After removing the piece 

 of nut the squirrel became as Hvely as ever. 



It escaped from the man by chewing through his game 

 bag, where he had put it. The hole was afterward shown 

 to friends while he told the story. Woodchuck, 



Juniata County Quail. 



JCINIATA CoiWTT, Pa., March 15.— lam sorry to have to 

 report that zero weather, followed by deep snows, proved 

 too much for our quad to weather. A neighbor who pre- 

 serves and "pets" the birds on Ins place had a covey that 

 wintered near his barn, which he used to see daily. One 

 morning, he told me, dming the drifting weather tliey did 

 not put in an appearance, and he has not found any traces 

 of them since. On om- own place out of a lot of twenty- 



five, less than a third are about. Still, as the quail vvere 

 abundant last fall, therej may yet be left enough pairs to 

 replenish the covers. We hope it may prove so. 



Ontjutta, . 



The King of Northern Maine. 



Lynn, Mass.— I was much interested in Mr. Egbert 

 Bagg's account of "A Big Deer of the Adirondacks," and 

 in the excellent cut which accompanied it in the Forest 

 AND Stream of Feb. 16. It is indeed a "notable head." I 

 think that lie is right in judging it to be our common deer 

 and not a "cross." 



I beg leave to send you a photograph of "The King of 

 Korthern Maine." I think that the two are of about the 

 same age. This one is seven years old, and that is either 

 six or seven. In this, also, there is quite a notable palma- 

 tion of the horns as you see, and the left horn has four 



A MAINE DEER HEAD. 



distinct branches besides the spike (they do not show 

 ill the photo). The head is very shapely and symmetrical, 

 and the horns are very large. I think the largest of the 

 common deer that I have ever seen or heard from that 

 region, 



I shot him in the fall of 1892 near Second Eoach Pond, 

 while still-hunting, about 2 o'clock P. M. 



He ran twenty-five rods with a .44cal. bullet through 

 his lungs and then fell dead. He was the largest and the 

 handsomest deer that I have seen during twelve annual 

 visits -to northern Maine. The carcass weighed, after it 

 was dressed, 2161bs. without the head, the head (estimated) 

 28, making 2441bs. dressed, so that as he stood when shot 

 he must have weighed from 325 to 3401bs. If there are 

 larger deer or larger horns this side of the "Rockies," I 

 should be glad to learn of the fact. Let us hear from the 

 "boys." S. W. Staples. 



Well, Well, Well! 



Here is a special to the New York World, from a Long 

 Island town: "FAiimNGViLLE, L. I., March 14.— Farmers 

 here are complaining that the swelling buds on the fruit 

 trees are being picked out by bevies of partridges, which 

 swarm in the orchards. They intend appealing to the 

 supei-visors to offer a bounty for the extermination of the 

 birds. The prevalence of partridges in this part of Long 

 Island is said to be due to efforts made by the Waverly 

 Gun Club to stock their preserve. The cold winter and 

 prevalence of snow coverine: the deer feed, to which they 

 are very partial, bas driven the birds from their usual 

 feeding ground. At nightfall the trees in the orchards 

 swarm with them, and the farmers have been killing the 

 birds with clubs in hopes of preventing the destruction of 

 the fruit crop. The county of Suffolk authorizes the pay- 

 ment of bounties for the killing of woodchucks and pos- 

 sums, and the farmers are now preparing to petition that 

 partridges be added to the hst. A committee of indignant 

 citizens has notified the gun club to either provide food 

 for their birds or dispose of them." 



Iowa Game Notes. 



Matlock, la., Mai-ch 13.— The river is breaking up 

 here and will be clear of ice in a few days. Ducks and 

 geese are coming. Was out for a few lioms to-day, but 

 both geese and ducks were flying high and not ligiiting. 

 Will be better shooting in about a week. The latter part 

 of the winter here has been very hard, and the game has 

 suffered considerably. There were several large bunches 

 of quail around early in the winter, but have not seen 

 any for the past month. Chickens have stood it better 

 and seem to be fairly plenty. Rabbits, both jacks and 

 cotton-tails, have been the thickest ever known, but there 

 is no danger of their becoming so plentiful as to be a 

 nuisance. 



Pampas Snipe Score. 



Beaumaris, Ont. — Allow me to correct an error which 

 I made in my account of shooting in Buenos Ayres. I 

 stated that I had shot 23 brace of snipe one afternoon; it 

 should have read 22 birds— i. e., snipe. J. H. W. 



A Fish and Game Pocket. 



Providence, R. I.— Some of your correspondents in the 

 past have written of game pockets that would delight 

 any sportsman, but they are all located too far away for 

 most of us in the East to reach in the limited time at our 

 disposal. 



For many years I have journeyed annually to the 

 woods for trout or game and know what one may reason- 

 ably expect in the wilderness of Maine and Eastern 

 Canada. I have found in a certain locality in that 

 country a well-stocked trout hole, or rather, a group of 

 them, and their margins are tracked by moose, caribou 

 and deer. The trout are there in abundance and of fair 

 size; some of our catches have averaged a pound to the 

 fish. The fishing grounds are some eight or ten miles 

 from a farm house where visitors are welcomed and 

 made exceedingly comfortable. A trapper, with the 

 experience of age and the strength of youth, a pleasant, 

 kindly, honest man, who has traversed the region for 

 twenty years, is glad to go as guide and has about him 

 some young men, from whom all needed help can be 

 hired. The place can be reached in less than twenty-four 

 hours from Boston. 



This country is little known to sportsmen and I do not 

 care to send any wastefid man there, but shall take 

 pleasure in giving any information I possess to gentlemen 

 who know how to enjoy nature's gifts without abusing 

 them. Such will find me ready to answer their letters of 

 "iquiry. Fred Talcott. 



Podgers's Decoy Deer. 



Seneaquateen, Kootenai Co., Idaho.— It has become 

 customary that one of us reads Forest and Stream to the 

 other, and I happened to be reading the number contain- 

 taing the article about a decoy deer. When about half 

 through the recital of the deer's exploits, my friend inter- 

 rupted me, saying, "Hold hard; brakes down. I want to 

 propose a wager. I bet four days' work at anything, that 

 should, either in this story or at any future time, the death 

 of this deer be reported, the poor animal, after all it had 

 done for the protection of its race in aiding the very 

 acme of true sportsmanhke deer killing, was ruthlessly 

 butchered, without a show for its life by either a market 

 or pot-hunter or possibly a game-hog." Without reflect- 

 ing on the chances pro and con, I accepted the wager and 

 found before finishing the story that I had lost four days' 

 hard work. 



As I mentioned, I never took my chances in considera- 

 tion at the time I accepted the wager, but have since 

 turned the matter over in my mind and no matter how I 

 look at it I cannot see that my friend had the drop on me. 



Mux. 



Arkansas Small Game. 



Little Rock, Ark., March 13.— Our shooting season in 

 Arkansas closed March 1, and left us plenty of quail for 

 seed, and I predict a good crop for next year. On my 

 last two trips for quail of one and a half days each we 

 found thirty-three coveys the first time and twenty^three 

 the last. This will give you an idea of our supply. Not- 

 withstanding a liard winter and our usual supply of trap- 

 pers, quail in this section of the State are all right. Snipe 

 shooting was very fine several days this week on Grand 

 Prairie, and a great many ducks passed in their northern 

 flight. We expect to have elegant snipe shooting after 

 the first warm rains come, as a recent cold snap sent them 

 south again. Black bass are being taken in our mountain 

 streems already, and the prospects are very good for ex- 

 cellent sport in this fine in the early future. 



Jos. Irwin. 



Tennessee Turkeys. 



This is one of four heavily wooded counties in this 

 State. Wild turkeys are not uncommon and not very 

 hard to get when you know what a wild turkey is. Last 

 fall Morris Ring and W. O. Jones of this place returned 

 (long after dark) from what was, as they claimed, a very 

 successful turkey hunt. The report of "two gobblers 

 killed" was noised around the next morning, and though 

 neither foot, feather nor beard had been seen by any one 

 but themselves, doubts subsided when Frank Laberdy, 

 who had eaten a leg, pronounced it turkey, but a little 

 "queer fiavored." However, the owner turned up in a 

 few days, and his price was only five dollars for the four 

 3^oung pea fowls. And tliis is why they sold their guns. 



J. T. P. 



Warner, Hickman Co., Tenn. 



Vermont Buffed Grouse. 



HiGHGATE, Vt., March 18.— Our noble game birds, 

 ruffed grouse, have wintered well. When hare hunting 

 we see plenty of signs, and also many bu-ds. Foxes and 

 owls are very scarce. Stanstead. 



A Myth Shattered. 

 Mr. W. S. Alden has evidently not a very exalted opinion 

 of the intelligence of St. Bernards and the mythical tales 

 that are told of the Hospice dogs. This is what he says in 

 an amusing article he contributes to the Cleveland Leader: 

 "Look at the lies that have been told for the last 100 years 

 about the St. Bernard dogs! People really believe that when 

 a snow storm comes on the St. Bernard dog gets out with a 

 blanket, a flask of whisky, a spirit lamp, a box of matches, 

 some mustard plasters and a foot bath strapped on his back. 

 When he meets a frozen traveler we are told he sits own and 

 lights the spirit lamp, mixes some hot whisky and pours it 

 down the traveler's throat, gives him a hot foot bath, puts 

 mustard p]a.sters on the soles of his feet, rubs him down and 

 wraps him up in the blankets, and then hoists him on his 

 back and brings him to the convent, where the monks put 

 him to bed and read prayers to him till he feels strong 

 enough to put some money in the contribution box and to 

 continue bis journey. Now, I've been to the St. Bernard 

 convent. I went there just to meet one of these dogs and see 

 for myself what he could do. There was a pack of about 

 forty of them, but the only thing they did was to sit up all 

 night and bark at the moon, while the monks shied prayer- 

 books and wooden sandals at them out of the windows. I 

 wanted to see a few travelers rescued from the snow, but the 

 monks said the supply of travelers had been running low of 

 late years, stiU, they added, that if I'd go and sleep in a 

 snow bank a mile or two fi-om the convent chey would see 

 what could be done. I wasn't going to risk the forfeiture of 

 my life insurance policy by such foolishness as that, so I 

 came away without seeing any dog performance. However, 

 I saw enough a little later on to convince ure that the St. 

 Bernard dog is about the biggest kind of canine fool that 

 ever imposed on credulous people." 



