May 25, 1893.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



449 



'mfje md 0mj 



SNIPE IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 



LocKPORT, N. Y., May 18.— While! speak more particu- 

 .arly of Niagara county, I think my remarks will apply 

 to the entire section visited hj tliese "birds in the western 

 part of the State. The writer, a long-time reader and 

 3ontributor to Forest and Stee^vm. believes in the folly 

 ind destructiveness of spring shooting, and heartily in- 

 iorses all that lias been said in this regard. We now, 

 tiowever, step to the front to explain the position of our 

 sportsmen in regard to spring snipe shooting. 



Early last spring an item in the Buffalo Express to the 

 jffect that the Senator from the district comprising Cha- 

 iauqua, Cattaraugus and Erie counties would make an 

 jfifort to have that section exempted from the law provid- 

 ng for the close season of English snipe (more particularly) 

 ;n the spring, caught the eye of the writer. Now, as the 

 jxact conditions prevail in all the western border counties 

 )f the State, the writer at once, with the assistance of 

 )ther local authorities, so interested our own representa- 

 iive that, as the reader knows, a considerable portion of 

 ip^estern New York was exempted from the law regarding 

 English snipe, etc. Now to our Eastern brother sports- 

 nen, to whom this may have seemed unfair, let us explain, 

 ^t the most, the border counties have but one month's 

 tnipe shooting in the spring, extending usually from about 

 ^pril 5 to May 5. Further and more particularly, this is 

 kll the English snipe shooting they do have. For some 

 •eason that we are not able to explain, fine snipe ground 

 n visited by the birds on their spring flights, but in the 

 all they pass over the same ground with only an occa- 

 Lonal straggler stopping over for a day's rest. I have had 

 food fall snipe shooting on the Montezuma marshes in the 

 ehtral part of the State and to the west of us on the De- 

 roit River, where I go to our club gi'ounds for duck 

 [1 the fall, we find the snipe in plenty; but for some rea- 

 on best known to themselves the snipe family do not 

 aake western New York a fall resort. 



Now as to the condition of spring birds, we find that 

 vhen they have a week's rest and feed on their ground 

 lere they are in first-class order. The largest English 

 nipe we have any record of hereabouts was kiUed the 

 irst week of this present month by John Few, a local 

 hot. It was a male bird and weighed 6oz. 3drs. It was 

 landled by at least a dozen local sportsmen, including 

 far well-known ornithologist J. L. Davison. In connec- 

 ;ion with the English snipe, but remaining later than the 

 irst named bird, we find a considerable number of the 

 Sectoral sandjaiper, or jack snipe, as we call him to dls- 

 lingULsh him from the English snipe; this bird gets quite 

 at here in the spring and is about as acceptable as the 

 jther bird. 



To sum it all up, our excuses for our spring snipe hunt 

 u-e as follows: To begin with, after being cooped up all 

 .vinter, we have that longing to get out in the fields where 

 :he sun shines on both sides of the fence and the south 

 wind brings memories of the land ol flowers, we feel a 

 yood deal as Maurice Thompson did when he wi-ote: 

 "Ho for marshes greeti with spring, 



Where the bitterns croalc and the plovers pfpe, 

 Where the gaunt old heron spreads his wing 

 Above the haunt of rail and snipe." 



The only thing we have to hunt is the snipe; and he is 

 >nly here for a week or two in the whole year. We can- 

 aot find that the birds nest with us, neither do we find 

 hat the females are carrying any eggs. The flight in 

 Pact resembles the fall flight in other localities but is 

 jhorter. The birds are in good condition and the limited 

 lumber killed does not affect the number of the birds to 

 come any more than the fall shooting of other more 

 'avored localities Remember this applies only to English 

 mipe and we ask that these facts be accepted as a reason- 

 ible excuse for hunting that bird in this locality in the 

 spring. The new law now closes the season May 1. This 

 s satisf actorj^ to us as it would shorten our season but a 

 :ew days at most, and we will live u]> to the game laws in 

 my event. Blue Bill. 



MY FIRST BEAR HUNT. 



When I was a boy I lived in Berkshire county, Massa- 

 shusetts, not far from the Vermont line. Like most 

 farmers' boys who lived in that region I liked to hunt 

 ivoodchucks, which were very plentiful. I liad a dog 

 whose name was Bravo. For short we called him 

 Brave. This dog, which was pai-t hound, was a famous 

 ivoodchuck lumter. He often went off and hunted them 

 )n his own accoimt. And many a time when I was 

 mgaged in hoeing com or some other farm work, have 

 [ heard Brave barking and tearing around in the uj)land 

 jastm-e trying his best to let me know he had a wood- 

 ;huck in some hole in the ground or crevice in the rocks. 

 It I had time I would sometimes go and dig the wood- 

 shuck out if I could. Brave was always delighted to have 

 ;lie to come, and always eager to help in digging. Some- 

 time I would find him head and shoulders buried in a 

 hole he had dug himself, tearing away at roots and stones 

 in his eft'orts to reach the woodchuck. Sometimes we 

 succeeded, and sometimes we did not. If we succeeded 

 in unearthing the animal, it would not go far away 

 before Brave was upon it and made short work of it. 



Sometimes in the fall when farm work was not press- 

 ing, I would take my gun — almost every Yankee boy had 

 a, gun — and Brave and start out for a day's hunt. Wood- 

 shucks were the largest game we found, generally, 

 although there were many foxes; but they were cunning 

 enough to keep out of our way. There were also wildcats, 

 and sometimes bears in the mountains, but as yet — for 

 E was only about thirteen years old — I had not captured 

 anytlung larger or more savage than a woodchuck. 



One day, late in October, I started for a day's outing in 

 company with a chmn of mine, a neighboring farmer's 

 boy named Ben. He was a brave httle fellow about a 

 year yoimger than myself. I took my gun, a,nd Ben 

 carried a basket in which to bring home the nuts we ex- 

 pected to find. Of course, Brave followed us. There 

 had been a heavy frost the night before. The air was 

 crisp and fall of tliat "woodsy" smell so delightful at this 

 season. Tlie trees sveve rich in yellow, russet and crim- 

 son fohage. The grotmd was covered with fallen leaves, 

 which rustled as we walked through them. It was a per- 

 fect day and we enjoyed it thoroughly. 



We wandered a long way from home, seeking the 



wildest and most secluded places we could find, occasion- 

 ally ga,thering nuts, or popping at squirrels, which we 

 seldom hit. We had climbed half way up a pretty high 

 mountaitt, which was thickly covered with woods and 

 underbrash, with now and then a big rock jutting out 

 from its side. About noon, being, tired and very hungiw, 

 we sat down on such a rock to eat our lunch. The view 

 from this rock was beautiful. It overlooked the valley 

 for miles. The village was almost buried amid trees in 

 the distance, but the two church spires showed where it 

 was, while the millpond gleamed, a bright spot in the 

 landscape. 



As we sat enjoying the view and eating our lunch. 

 Brave, who had been lying beside us, became uneasy. He 

 got up and sniffed the air. This he did two or tliree 

 times. Then he would lie down again, hxit only for a 

 moment. I spoke to him and he came close to me and 

 whined. I noticed that the hair on his back was bris- 

 tling up. He was excited and seemed to be afraid of 

 something. I patted him and told Mm to lie down. He 

 obeyed, but in an instant he was up again, his eyes 

 gleaming and the hair on his back standing erect. 

 Before I had time to (^uiet him, with a gi-owl and a bark 

 he was off, bounding down the moimtain side. I grasped 

 my gun, which was loaded with small shot only, and 

 followed him. Ben excitedly followed me, trying to keep 

 as close to me as possible. The mountain side was rough 

 and we could not keep up with Brave, whose barking 

 grew fainter and fainter in the distance. But we fol- 

 lowed as best we could. What it was that the dog was 

 after we did not know. I had never seen him act so 

 before. vVhatever it might be I felt secure, because I 

 was armed. I had a gun in my hands and that was 

 enough. 



At length Brave's barking became distinct. It was 

 louder, and we knew he had stopped running. We hiu-- 

 ried on and soon caught sight of him. He was under a 

 large chestnut tree, in which he had evidently treed 

 something, for he was looking up, very much excited, 

 and barking furiously. When he saw us he became more 

 excited, and putting his forepaws on the tree trunk, he 

 seemed to be trying to climb it. AU out of breath, and 

 nearly as much excited as Brave, I reached the tree and 

 looked up. At first I could see nothing. But getting 

 around a little on one side, I saw, sitting quietly on a hmb 

 of the tree, near the trank, a small black object, which I 

 soon made out to be a young bear. 



At this discovery I was more excited than ever. There 

 was a chance I had longed for. I had never shot a bear. 

 In fact, I had never seen but one before, and that was a 

 tame one. I had heard bear stories and I believed them 

 to be savage and dangerous animals. But this small black 

 animal looking so calmly and mildly down at us did not 

 seem savage a bit. 



My first thought of course was to shoot him at once. 

 The mere idea of shooting a bear increased my excite- 

 ment. I had generally killed whatever I had shot at — if 

 I hit it, and of course I expected the bear to drop as soon 

 as I fired. I stepped back a little and raised the gun to 

 my shoulder. But my hands trembled so I could not 

 point it anywhere near the bear. I lowered the gun and 

 wondered what was the matter with it. I raised it again, 

 but still it would not aim at the bear. I lowered it and 

 examined it again. Then I remembered having heard old 

 hunters tell about the "buck fever." And I made up my 

 mind that I had it. As there seemed to be no danger of 

 the bear escaping I thought I would wait a few minutes 

 and calm my excitement before shooting. This was neces- 

 sary, as it was simply impossible for me to hit the bear if 

 if I fired then. 



Just then the dog's sti-ange conduct attractpd my atten- 

 tion again. He stopped barking and raised his nose in 

 the air and sniffed and whined. His eyes shone like fire, 

 his hair was standing on end like the qaills on a porcu- 

 pine. With a fierce growl he darted past me in the direc- 

 tion we had come and was soon out of sight. But only 

 for a moment. He came running back, his tail between 

 his legs, and looking behind him, and giving short snap- 

 pish barks. At this, I began to be alarmed, I felt that 

 danger was near. Overcome with this feeling I grasped 

 Ben's hand, and we ran as fast as our legs would carry us. 

 The dog ran with us. We had gone but a short distance, 

 when, hearing a queer noise behind us, I looked back, 

 still running, and to my horror saw an immense bear fol- 

 lowed by another cub, lumbering toward us on a lively 

 run. This sight did not increase my desire for bear hunt- 

 ing just then. My gun, which had given me such a feel- 

 ing of security before seemed a mere toy in the presence 

 of such an enraged monster. For an instant i thought it 

 was all over with us. But if we could only climb a tree 

 we might be saved. I remember having heard that a 

 tree too small around for a bear to climb was the safest. 

 Such a tree was just before us. Dropping ray gun, I 

 grabbed Ben and faMy pushed him up until he could get 

 hold of a limb. He scrambled up like a squirrel, and 

 swinging himself over a branch he reached do«-n, and 

 catching me by the collar of my coat helped me to a 

 place beside him. We were none too soon, for the savage 

 Ijeast was close behind me. As I struggled to get out of 

 her reach she reared up on her hind legs and made a grab 

 at my feet. The cold sweat covered me from head to 

 foot as I felt her claws sink into the flesh of my left ankle 

 raking downward, tearing my ti-ousers and pulling off my 

 shoe, which she crimched in her teeth. But I got out of 

 her reach, and I did not much mind the deep scratch she 

 had given me. Brave, belying his name, had made him- 

 self scarce. He did not mind hunting a cub, but an 

 angry she-bear was another matter. 



The bear did not try to climb the tree, instinctively 

 knowing, I suppose, that it was too small for her to clasp. 

 We climbed high up in the tree, and, feeling safe now, 

 we watched the motions of the enemy. She went to the 

 tree where the other cub was, and, I suppose, called it, 

 for it came down very deliberately. They seemed in no 

 hurry to go, but hung around, nosing over the leaves on 

 the ground hunting for chestimts. As I sat and watched 

 them I began to have a slight feeling of shame and resent- 

 ment. I did not like the idea of hunting bears and beiag 

 hunted and treed by them in return. Tlds feeling was 

 intensified by the pain I felt from the deep scratches 

 in my ankle. The longer I watched their impudent 

 movements the greater became my feeling of resentment. 

 I felt that I must shoot one of those bears. But how 

 should 1 get my gun ? It was lying under the tree where 

 I had dropped it. The large chestnut tree under which 

 the bears were was some little distance away. It seemed 

 1 hat I might slide quickly down and get the gun without 



"•btracting the attention of the bears. But there was a 

 ^reat risk in doing so. Ben and I discussed the matter. 

 Sven if I should get down there would be great difficulty 

 in getting the gun up in the tree. ^ , 



A thought came to me. In my pocket I had a stout 

 fishing line. On the end of this was a large hook, on 

 the end of which I had impaled many a good -sized sucker. 

 A short distance above the hook was a bullet which 

 served as a sinker. Shding down to the lower branches 

 of the tree I took the fish fine and fastened the bullet 

 close to the hook. I then let the hook down and fished 

 for my gun. It did not take long to get the hook over 

 the trigger giiard, and with perfect ease I drew the gim 

 up Then, bracing myself around the tree with one arm, 

 I drew the ramrod, and with the screw or "wormer" on 

 the end I drew the' paper wad from the gun and emptied 

 out the shot. I then drew the wad which covered the 

 poAvder and poured in the gun an additional handful of 

 powder making a double charge. I covered this with a 

 paper wad and, with Ben's help, rammed it down as well 

 as I could in such a difiioult position. I then took the 

 buUet froiu the fish line and pirt it in the gun. To this I 

 added a large handful of shot. This done, I felt that I 

 had a charge in my gim with which 1 could face the most 

 savage bear in the mormtains. 



By this time I had recovered my calmness. I was no 

 longer excited. My hand was steady and I had made up 

 my°mind to shoot a bear. I told Ben Avhat I meant to do, 

 and left it with him to go with me, or to stay in the tree. 

 He chose to go with me. 



For a moment or two we had lost sight of the bears. 

 There were some small trees and bushes between us and 

 the chestnut tree which hid them. We watched till we 

 saw one of the cubs, so we were sure they were still there. 

 We then slid quietly down the tree without attracting 

 attention. I opened my big jack-knife and gave it to 

 Ben in case he should need a weapon, and we began to 

 crawl stealthily toward the bears. 



It seems queer now to think of our audacity in attack- 

 ing such a dangerous brute as a she-bear with cubs, but 

 it was the courage of ignorance. We knew nothing of 

 the very great danger we were in. 



By shielding ourselves behind bushes we got pretty 

 close before the bears discovered us. There were only 

 two in sight, one of the cubs having strayed away. As 

 far as the cubs were concerned we felt no more fear of 

 them than we would of a couple of sheep. Nor were 

 they much more to be feared. No sooner did the old 

 bear see us than she started toward us on a lumbernig 

 run. There was a low pine bush between us and her. 

 As she started we halted behind this bush, ready to 

 receive her. I cocked the gun and held it to my shoulder 

 with a perfectly steady hand. Ben stood partly behind 

 me, holding his open jack-knife like a soldier waiting to 

 repel a charge. (And that reminds me that poor Ben, 

 years afterward, met his death in nearly the same posi- 

 tion on a Southern battlefield.) On came the enraged 

 bear directly toward me. I tried to keep the bush 

 between us till I got a good chance to fire. I had not 

 long to wait. I can hardly tell how it happened. A 

 dash— and the muzzle of my gun was almost in the bear's 

 ear— a deafening report— a shoulder almost knocked out 

 of joint— and I lay sprawling on the ground not far from 

 an immense dead bear. Ben was frightened when he 

 saw me fall, but I soon recovered. I had not counted on 

 the "kicking" of the gun, from such a tremendous charge 

 so loosely rammed. But I killed the bear. The cubs 

 made off" with themselves and we could not find them. 



After looking a long time at the bear, examining her 

 teeth, feeling of her claws and wondering at her gi-eat 

 size, we went home, two as proud boys as could be found 

 in Berkshire county. Getting help and a horse we got 

 the animal home early the next morning. And for a 

 long time Ben and I were the heroes of the village. 



Shelly. 



Notions of a Carthage Man. 



In the March 3 issue of the Gazette you speak flatter- 

 ingly of the public spirit shown by Dr. W. O. Blaisdell, of 

 Macomb, in introducing new game birds into this State, 

 which is commendable. But what is the use of one per- 

 son spending his time and money in trying to keep this 

 country supplied with game, while a dozen will go out in 

 a bunch and kiU everything that flies? Why not protect 

 our native species that would in a few years, if protected, 

 restock our now silent woods and fields with sufficient to 

 supply every one. The law protects game to a moderate 

 extent, but we need a general distribution of knowledge 

 on the subject ar.d a public sentiment against its wasteful 

 destruction. If our domestic poultry were treated in the 

 manner that wild game is, there would not be a chicken, 

 duck or turkey left m a week. Two neighbors owning 

 adjoining timber pastures have protected a very small 

 colony of squirrels for two years that were driven out of 

 the shot-swept woods. They have increased wonderfully 

 in this short space of time, and if immolested will soon 

 begin to send out colonies to restock the woods. Another 

 neighbor has protected three flocks of quail dmlng the 

 past severe winter, and they have became so gentle that 

 when he went to feed his cattle they followed him like 

 chicks, and he fed cattle, hogs and quail together. Next 

 summer his feathered friends will repay him well by eat- 

 ing destructive insects. Knowing the remarkable hardi- 

 ness and fecundity of our native game, the writer pro- 

 poses that everybody should interest themselves in pre- 

 serving and increasing it. 



First— A farm or timber pasture posted should be con- 

 sidered a game preserve and respected accordingly. 



Second — Hunters shovdd make it a rule never to shoot 

 at a flock of six or less. This was the inexorable rale 

 among the Indians. 



Third— Destroying nests and selling bird eggs should be 

 discouraged as much as i)ossible. Twenty years ago boys 

 used to go in the woods and pack off wild turkey eggs by 

 the himdreds to town. Is it any wonder there are no 

 flocks of wild tm-key now. 



Fourth— The selling of game should be restricted by 

 law in our State to one month in a year. 



Fifth— Hunters should turn their guns four times a 

 year on the numerous rats, weasels, mink, snakes and all 

 other enemies to our feathered game. 



Sixth— Hunting clubs all over the country shoxdd make 

 united efl;ort to preserve and increase the native game, 

 and in a very few years there will be plenty to eat and 

 for sport, but none to waste. — W. C, in Carthage {III.) 

 Gazette, 



