Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $i a Tear. 10 Cts. a Copt. I 

 Six Months, $2. f 



NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1893. 



J VOL. XLI.— No. 15 



} No. 318 Broadway, Nw York. 





CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



"Excellence and Progressive 



Character." 

 Vigilant and Valkyrie. 

 Hard Times andthe Game Fields 

 Snap Shots. 



The Sportsman Tourist. 



The Saginaw Crowd.— i. 

 Natural History. 



Moose in Harness. 

 Fred Mather's Snipe. 

 White Rattlesnake. 



Game Bag and Gun. 



Adirondack "Caribou." 

 Million-Dollar Buck. 

 Rockies of Colorado. 

 Minnesota Moose and Indians. 

 Minnesota Game and Gunners. 

 Bowstring Country. 

 East and West. 

 Camp-Fire Flickerings. 

 Sea and River Fisliing, 

 Outing in Canada. 

 Tarpon at St. Andrews. 

 Angling Notes. 

 Potomac Fishing. 

 Forest akd Stream in the 

 World's Fair. 



Thie Kennel. 



Ottawa Show. 

 Minneapolis Show. 

 Danbury Show. 

 U. S. Trials Entries. 

 New England Trials. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



Hunting and Coursing. 



International Coursing Meet. 

 Brunswick Fur Trials. 



Yaohiting. 



The America's Cup Races. 

 Canoeing. 

 More About Camp Sites. 

 The Racing Rules. 

 A. C. A. Board of Trustees. 



Rifle Range and Gallery. 



Rifle Club Doings. 

 Rifle Notes. 



Trap Sliooting. 



John Watson's World's Tourna- 

 ment. 



Michigan League Tournament. 

 The Virginia Championship. 

 Drivers and Twisters. 

 Answers to Queries. 



"Excellence and Progressive Character." 



These are two qualities which in the field of journalism 

 command commendation. For a recognition of their 

 possession any journal in any honorable field may well 

 strive. In the attainment of that i-ecognition it may take 

 honest pride. When a medal is awarded for good jour- 

 nalism, it goes to the paper of recognized excellence and 

 progressive character. If Forest and Stream is in the 

 race it wins the medal. 



The Committee on Awards of the World's Columbian 

 Exposition has just given to the Forest and Stream a 

 diploma and medal in recognition of this journal's excel- 

 lence and progressive character. This is an award which 

 will be indorsed by the tens of thousands who have 

 visited our cosy corner in the Angling Pavilion and by 

 yet other tens of thousands, for whom no World's Fair 

 exhibit was needed to demonstrate these distinguishing 

 qualities of the sportsman's favorite journal of America. 



From the opening of the World's Fair to these last 

 October days of the great exposition, the Forest and 

 Stream's exhibit has been an occasion of pride and 

 pleasure, for it has brought out as nothing else ever did 

 before, and in wholly unexpected measure, day by day 

 and week by week, the hearty good will and honest 

 esteem and sympathy which are held for the paper by its 

 circle of readers. Our gratification at the winning of 

 such recognition as is betokened by the committee's 

 award is more than doubled by the assurance that the 

 giving of this medal will be acclaimed by all these hosts of 

 friends old and new. 



He wlio sees in the prize medal Forest and Stream 

 exhibit at the World's Fair only a material display of 

 hunting trophies and pictures, with the forty bound 

 volumes of the paper's twenty years, and the bric-a- 

 brac of the craft, has not caught its true meaning. It 

 stands for the field sportsmanship of the age. It typifies 

 the sensible, manly, upbuilding recreation of fields and 

 woods and running streams and shimmering lakes and 

 briny billows. It signifies that in these last years of 

 the century, the rod and the gun have large place in the 

 lives and activities of the people of the New World. 



When one comes to think of it, the World's Fair would 

 have been incomplete without Forest and Stream. 



ANIMAL PORTRAIT SUPPLEMENTS. 

 This issue is accompanied with a supplement portrait 

 of the Moose drawn by Mr. Ernest E. Thompson. The 

 illustration is the first one of the series of four. The 

 others will be: Nov. 4, Woodland Caribou. Dec. 2, 

 Coon. Jan. 6, White-Tailed or Virginia Deer. The dates 

 of the former series (of which copies can be supplied) 

 are as follows: Sept. 8, 1892, The Panther. Oct. 6. The 

 Ocelot. Nov. 3, The Canada Lynx. Dec. 1, The Bay 

 l^jnx. Jan. 5, 1893, Gray Wolf. Feb. 2, White Goat. 

 March 2, Qo^Qte, April 6, Antelope, May 4, Fox. 



THE MOOSE. 



The moose is singular among existing deer for its great 

 size and its ugliness. It has also the reputation of being 

 the most keen and wary of any of its family, and its size 

 and the difficulty of hunting it make it the most desir. 

 able of all deer to the sportsman. 



An adult male moose considerably exceeds a horse in 

 height, usually measuring at least six feet at the withers, 

 and sometimes much more. Its legs are very long, and 

 the long, loose, mane-like hair on the neck, shoulders and 

 back being usually slightly raised gives the animal an 

 appearance of still greater size. In the autumn, when 

 his coat is new, the body color of the moose is black, 

 with tan muzzle and legs, and a grayish beUy, but as this 

 coat grows older and the tips of the hairs wear off, it 

 loses its glossy blackness and becomes a grizzled brown. 



The general appearance of the moose is well shown in 

 the accompanying picture, which is the result of Mr. 

 Thompson's study of many living animals. The points 

 about it which are most striking are the great size of the 

 head and horns, and the great size and power of the fore- 

 as compared with the hind-quarters. 



In the United States east of the Mississippi River the 

 range of the moose is at present confined to two or three 

 localities. It still exists in northern Maine, but is believed 

 to have been extinct for thirty years in the Adirondack 

 region of New York, where it was once abundant. In 

 Michigan and Wisconsin a few moose are still to be 

 found, and when one reaches the dense forests and tam- 

 arack swamps of Minnesota they are still more abundant. 

 The great plains are unsuitable to their mode of life, but 

 in Montana, northern Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and 

 possibly Oregon they are still found in small numbers. 



All through the British possessions, from the Province 

 of Quebec to central British Columbia, and from the 

 United States boundary line north to Hudson's Bay and 

 Peace River, moose are found wherever there is a country 

 suited to their habits of life. 



The food of the moose consists largely of the smaller 

 shoots of trees, and it is more dependent on this browse 

 than any other of the deer kind. It is said to prefer 

 especially the young and tender shoots of the birch, 

 mountain -ash, maple and poplar, buf sometimes eats also 

 those of some coniferous trees. In summer it feeds much 

 along the streams and the shores of lakes, browsing on 

 the willows and various aquatic plants, and also feeding 

 to a considerable extent on the roots of the water lily, 

 which it digs up from the bottom. In winter, besides 

 eating the shoots of the trees, it often peels off the bark 

 from young saplings, and also rides them down to bring 

 their tops within reach. 



The horns begin to grow in April and are usually hard 

 in September, at which time the rutting season begins. 

 The bulls are fierce fighters at this time of year and are 

 apt to lose their natural shyness and to become extremely 

 combative. A number of instances are on record where 

 wild moose have attacked unarmed men, who have been 

 forced to take to the trees to escape with their fives. 

 Advantage of this disposition is taken by hunters, who 

 call them up to their place of concealment by imitating 

 the cry of the cow moose. The young are said to be born 

 in June, and to vaiy in number from one to three. 



As is well known, the moose is readily broken to har- 

 ness, and becomes a very speedy beast of burden; but as 

 they have never been regularly domesticated, those which 

 are driven are often very uncertain in temper and action, 

 and are likely to do unexpected things. 



While the moose are yearly growing less abundant in 

 the United States, there is no special reason for thinking 

 that in the vast Canadian region which lies north of us 

 any serious inroads are being made on their numbers. 

 The moose does not go in herds, but is found only singly 

 or at the most a family together. This prevents any gen- 

 eral slaughter like that which has taken place in the case 

 of the elk, the caribou, the buffalo, or even the musk-ox. 



There is no doubt that in early times the range of this 

 animal was very much more extensive in the territory 

 which is now the United States than it has been of late 

 years, and yet we know of but few records to show what 

 that range used to be. It is very desirable that this ma- 

 terial should be brought together and pubhshed, and 

 readers who may have any facts bearing on this question 

 are requested to send them to us, , 



Because of its great size and its wariness, and the mag- 

 nificent trophy afforded by its antlers, the moose holds 

 a high place among the game animals of the continent. 

 Men make long pilgrimages to the moose-haunted bogs 

 in calling time, and when the tracking snow comes they 

 follow the trail of the bull for days. Moose hunting is 

 a favorite theme of hunting story; our files contain 

 scores of readable and re-readable accounts of adventure 

 with the game; only the other day we published a story 

 of the "Museum Moose," which has deservedly attracted 

 much attention. 



HARD TIMES AND THE GAME FIELDS. 



At first thought it might hardly be considered that 

 there was any close relation between the business situ- 

 ation of the country and the game supply, or that the 

 hard times would lead to an increased destruction of 

 game and fur. Something of this, however, is likely to 

 take place this winter. 



The business depression which prevails over the whole 

 country — not only in the shops of the East but in the 

 mining regions of the West as well — has thrown out of 

 work a very large number of men, many of whom will 

 spend much of the autumn and winter in hunting and 

 trapping. Most of these men, in ordinary times, have 

 steady employment aU through the year, and are only 

 able to take a few days annually for their recreation 

 afield with rifle, gun and dog. This year, as they are out 

 of work, many of them will spend all their time afield, in 

 many cases making a business of hunting. This season — 

 because of their necessities — men will hunt for the mar- 

 ket who never did so before. They will sell their birds, 

 or if they hunt in a section where big game is plenty, the 

 meat which they kill will reduce their winter provision 

 bills, while the hides will give them a little ready cash — 

 enough probably to pay for their cartridges and their 

 grub stake while in camp. 



In like manner and for the same reason the trappers 

 will be out in force, and many streams long undisturbed, 

 and where the beaver have made a little start again, or 

 where mink are plenty, will be trapped from end to end, 

 until all the fur on them is destroyed. 



The destruction of game likely to result from this gi-eat 

 addition to the already large army of gunners and hunt- 

 ers must be very great and will have a serious effect on 

 the game supply, cutting it down in some places to noth- 

 ing, and making serious inroads on it even in those locali- 

 ties where it is now abundant. 



It is doubtful if there is any present remedy for this 

 state of things, but it ought to teach to every thoughtful 

 man its own lesson — that of recognizing the importance 

 of moderation in the field, remembering that the season 

 which has just opened is to be terribly severe on game of 

 aU descriptions. 



VIGILANT AND VALKYRIE. 



The success of Vigilant in two races and especially 

 the display of her superior speed under normal racing 

 conditions in the second race make the final result 

 almost a foregone conclusion. In order to retain the 

 Cup, Vigilant has now to win but one more race, while 

 to take it Valkyrie would have to win three straight 

 races. After the display of Vigilant's speed in Monday's 

 race, and the probability of similar conditions in the 

 next trial, there is hardly a possibility of Valkyrie win- 

 ning in the end. Such is the outlook at the time of our 

 going to press on Tuesday. 



While the speed made by Vigilant on Monday, under 

 the favorable conditions of a reach in a good topsail 

 breeze, is not up to the wonderful reports of the early 

 season, being just 12 knots, she is unquestionably faster 

 than any of the older Cup defenders, and than all the new 

 boats of the year. It is quite probable that Valkyrie 

 may return home without an opportunity to show herself 

 under any different conditions of weather, but though a 

 thorough test of the rough weather abilities of the two 

 would be interesting and valuable, the w^inning or losing 

 of the America's Cup is still, as it always has been, a 

 matter of absolute speed under the prevailing conditions 

 of our summer racing, and in such a test Vigilant is by 

 far the faster boat, It is a matter for general congratu- 

 lation, however, that the conditions of the races have 

 been as fair as it is possible to make them, and also that 

 the weather, after two days of disappointment, has at 

 last given such a_breeze as was wished for by both side?, 



