Oct. 14, 1893.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



319 



no settler who has to live near them. Certainly no game 

 warden, made of ordinary flesh and blood. And so the 

 slaughter wiU go on as long as the game lasts, law or no 

 law. The white man is simply prohibited from killing the 

 game in order that there may be more for the red man to 

 butcher. 



Fortunately we may go across the boundary line into 

 Manitoba, which is but a few miles from here and where 

 a white man is stm given an equal show with an Indian, 

 but is it just to compel us to go into the Queen's domain 

 to hunt while there is plenty of game on our own soil? 



I have lately talked with many settlers who live in and 

 near the moose country, and they all say that they shall 

 continue to kill moose and other game, the same as here- 

 tofore, law or no law. I heard of several moose having 

 been killed during the past summer in Kittson county, and 

 of many more that are to be killed as soon as there is a 

 good tracking snow. G. O. Shields. 



Pelan, Minn., Sept. 27. 



MINNESOTA GAME AND GUNNERS. 



DtTLUTH, Minn., S^pt. 30.— The Central Gun Club, at its 

 last business meeting] decided to postpone indefinitely its 

 weekly trap and monthly medal shoots, owing to the 

 small attendance on account of the fall liunting season. 



A good many complaints are heard of the violation of 

 the State game laws, many reports having reached the club 

 where game was killed and taken contrary to the game 

 laws, and preliminary steps are being taken to form a pro- 

 tective game association in connection with the Central 

 Club, and to offer a reward for the conviction of any one 

 violating the State laws. This is a good plan, and it will 

 meet Avith the approval of all honest sportsmen. 



The past, fishing season has been all that could be de- 

 sired by lovers of the rod, and some remarkable catches 

 have been reported. The latest is fm-nished by Mr. C. A. 

 Pearson and his wife, who shortly returned from an out- 

 ing at Deerwood, Minn. ; and to Mrs. Pearson, who like 

 her husband is an expert with the rod or gun, belongs the 

 honor of landing the largest muskalonge of this season, 

 having caught four, weighing respectively 20f, 19, 16| 

 and 161bs. 



The himting season begins very promising. The north- 

 ern part of the State and the West of course as yet is the 

 source of supply of our market, and will continue to be 

 so until the regular flight southward, when the weather 

 becomes colder. Owing to the unusual growth of %vild 

 rice in the lakes in our immediate vicinity, large numbers 

 of the scattering flocks that are moving, find a resting 

 and feeding place here, and some good bags are being 

 made by the professionals, although the amateurs are 

 everywhere. They generally are satisfied with rice birds 

 which are very numerous this year. There is good sport 

 ahead for those who prefer geese to ducks and other 

 game. 



Several black bear have lately been seen within a few 

 miles of the city, and deer also are more numerous than 

 for some years, owing no doubt to the heavy forest fires 

 which have been raging in northeastern Wisconsin and 

 Minnesota, and when the prohibition is released on Nov. 1 

 until the 20th, an exodus of lovers of large game will 

 no doubt occur, and a big round-up is looked for. 



Mr. J. W. Nelson, president of the Central Gun Club, is 

 the owner of a 5-year-old foxhound of local production, 

 which he values very highly. In addition to being a first- 

 olaas deer runner he will tree partridges, run rabbits and 

 on command take to water and retrieve ducks as well as 

 many dogs which have only the latter quaUfication. The 

 owner of such a dog should well be proud of him. 



Hanqoe. 



IN THE BOWSTRING COUNTRY. 



DuLUTH, Minn., Oct. 3. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 You will find inclosed a clipping from the Duluth evening 

 Herald, giving an account of a canoe trip a couple of 

 friends of mine made to ^the headwaters of the Missis- 

 sippi. It may interest some of your many readers 

 and open their eyes to the greatest ducking and hunting 

 and fishing country in America. Deer and moose were 

 never so plenty, although the latter may not be hunted 

 until 1898. The country abounds in hundreds of small 

 lakes teeming with bass and landlocked salmon, which 

 are seldom fished except by the Indians and land ex- 

 plorers. The country has just been opened up to the 

 tourist by the Winnepeg Road, which does away with 

 the hardships formerly endured. 



A great many bears have been killed near Duluth this 

 month, and every day ducks are shipped in by the hun- 

 dred. Just fancy buying nice fat mallards at two bits 

 apiece and teal at forty cents a brace. N. B. McN. 



On the afternoon of Aug. 30 a small party of Duluth 

 sportsmen boarded the Duluth and Winnipeg train at the 

 TJnioa depot and started on an outing that lasted about 

 three weeks. Hunting and canoeing were the chief 

 pleasures in prospect and the "Bowstring county," Lake 

 Winnibigoshish and other watere on the borders of 

 Itasca and Cass counties were selected for the scene of 

 operations. The trip was a grand success. Members of 

 the feathered flock feU before the unerring guns; the 

 dangers and pleasm-es of canoeing were most abundant; 

 camp life was experienced in all its phases; the redman's 

 life and characteristics were studied; appetites created; 

 muscles toughened and a vigor of mind and body attained 

 wholly beyond the power of medicine. 



"About twenty- five or thirty miles north of Deer River, 

 the terminus of Duluth & Wiunii^eg Railroad," said Mr. 

 Nash, "lies Bowstring Lake. This body of water is the 

 'ricing' grounds for the Leech Lake, White OaJi and 

 Winnibigoshish Indians, who. with their families, camp 

 from two to three weeks in the vicinity of the rice fields 

 during the latter pai-t of August and the first of Septem- 

 ber. Reaching Deer River, we transported our outfit 

 over the logging i-oad twelve mUes to Little Bowstring 

 Lake. The first day of September found us paddling our 

 Peterborough canoes up a shallow creek to Big Bowstring 

 Lake. 



"Here 'ricing' is an occupation of great importance to 

 the Indians in those regions, as they coimt on gathering 

 a supply sufficient to satisfy the family needs through the 

 winter. Any surplus is easily sold at the trading posts. 



"The process of gathering this wild grain is very simple. 

 Two squaws paddle their birch bark canoes well into the 

 beds and then, with short clubs, pound the heads of rice 

 that overhang the sides of the canoe. The grain drops 



into the bottom of the craft and the work-is kept up until 

 it is full. The rice is then put into an iron kettle, over a 

 small fire, and the roasting process begins. The oldsquws 

 perform this part of the work also. We found them sit- 

 ting on the ground before the kettles, stin-ing the rice 

 with short paddles to keep it from burning. When thor- 

 oughly roasted the grain is emptied into a hole in the 

 ground lined with wooden slabs. Then it is pounded 

 with long poles to separate the kernels from the shells. 

 After that has been thoroughly done the rice is put into 

 shallow bark ti-ays and winnowed by the Indian girls by 

 emptying from one tray into another untfl all chaff is re- 

 moved. It is then put into sacks and stored away for 

 future use." 



THE EAST AND THE WEST. 



Crawford, Neb., Sept. ^.—Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I have often wondered why there is so little in the Forest 

 AND Stream from this Western country, where game and 

 fish and the various topics of which it treats, abound. 

 New England and all the Eastern States are written up by 

 talented correspondents, so much so that one might natu- 

 rally be led to believe that the great portion of our best 

 hunting gi'ounds and fishing resorts were in that part of 

 the continent. Of course Judge Greene and "Podgers" 

 and others have done justice to the Pacific Coast, but 

 what I desire particularly to speak about is the middle 

 Western States. Is it because there is so little interest 

 manifested in the sporting fraternity of this country, or 

 rather is it because of the fact that game is so abundant 

 and requiring so Uttle skill to secure it that the events of 

 the hunt are considered of so little importance that it is 

 not worthy the space in our great family journal? 



I am inclined to think that the true sportsmen, those 

 who hunt and fish and observe the game laws, those who 

 are everything the word implies, those who go to the 

 woods or lake or mountain stream for the genuine pleas- 

 ure of outdoor sport or recreation, to commune with na- 

 ture's creatures, giving and wishing all an equal show for 

 which they were created — these are, I am loth to confess, 

 to be found more abundant in the East than in the West. 

 It may be, that being confined so closely to business in the 

 cities, or thickly settled country, it gives one more pleas- 

 ure-when once he does get away, so that he feels like tell- 

 ing the world what a good time he has had on his outing, 

 and writes about it. While here we live in a "free and 

 go easy" sort of way, taking everything as it comes as a 

 matter of not much consequence, so that a habit of indif- 

 ference is formed, to such an extent that our pleasures are 

 not half known, even to ourselves. We live in a country 

 where everything is free, comparatively, so far as game is 

 concerned, and we make no provisions and few anticipa- 

 tions when we take a little shooting or fishing excursion. 

 We know we will get all we need without much effort, 

 and as a consequence we think but little about it. 



I am a traveling salesman, strongly addicted to the use 

 of a gun, and during my ti-ips I have frequent recourse to 

 that idol. Just so it is a gun, it does not matter to me 

 whether it is a $200 hammerless or a $10 smoothbore. 

 And that is about the case with the majority of those who 

 shoot in this part of the West. There are exceptions, of 

 course, be it said to their credit. 



Every little village and town is full of dogs, "bird dogs," 

 that's^ their pedigree, but they will hunt with anybody, 

 and find just as many birds as one wants to shoot, and 

 make just as many pretty points as many of the fine pedi- 

 greed stock I have seen in field trials. An owner of a dog 

 seldom boasts of the good qualities of his canine, for he 

 knows his neighbor has one equally as good. 



A few weeks ago on my trip to central Wyoming I had 

 the pleasure of hunting by raih-oad, using the locomotive 

 of a regular train to flush the bu-ds. In that country, the 

 common grouse and sage hen mostly inhabit, the latter 

 largely predominating. On this trip the conductor, as 

 usual, had his gun aboard, and when the engine woidd 

 flush a covey the engineer would shut off steam, put on 

 the brakes and stop, while the train crew, passengers and 

 all, would take to the grass after having marked them 

 down. In this way we got, with one gun, enough young 

 birds to supply the' families of the entire crew for several 

 days, and to be considered a fair bag in some locaHties for 

 a two days' hunt. The train went into every station on 

 time, too, and I dare say, my Eastern friends, if you hap- 

 pen out this way, and want to amuse yourself by shooting 

 this kind of game, that same conductor will accommodate 

 you in the same manner and be pleased to have you with 

 him. 



I take a hunt every year among the big game and in 

 the wildest country I can find, and am beginning to rea- 

 lize that I have been more of a hunter than I was a sports- 

 man. I am one of those of whom so much has been said 

 and written in recent years concerning the slaughter of 

 buffaloes. And when I lookback now to those times,when 

 we kiUed tlie game for the paltry amoxmt received for the 

 skins, I am ashamed to think that I had ever been a party 

 to such devastation and the destruction of that magnifi- 

 cent game animal. I have worked by the year on a stipu- 

 lated salary "and found," to shoot them down merely for 

 the hides,which brought the owner, by the piece, less than 

 $'<i delivered at the trading post 300 miles from camp. If 

 I had the old dried up horns now of those I have helped 

 to slaughter they would bring more than the skins did in 

 those times. 



I was a hunter then, but far from being a sportsman. I 

 regret it and shall aspire to be the better in every sense of 

 the word hereafter. Reme. 



New Jersey Game Outlook. 



Colt's Neck, New Jersey, Oct. 2.— The prospects for 

 gunning jn this vicinity are about as follows: Squirrels 

 are nearly if not quite as plenty as they were last year. 

 Nearly every one who has hunted for them has succeeded 

 in getting a good-sized bagful. 



Owing to the remarkably cold and snowy winter of 

 1892-93 quail are scarce. But few coveys, and several of 

 them quite small, are to be found in fields where last year 

 were many flocks having goodly numbers. Partridges 

 are represented to be about as plenty as usual off to the 

 south of tis, along the edges of the pines and among them, 

 and also in the outlying brush lots. 



The number of rabbits, according to nearly aU state- 

 ments, is remarkably large, even more so than last year, 

 although many of the bunnies are yet small. Taking our 

 gunning outlook altogether, we think it is fully up to the 

 average. A. L. L. 



The Usefulness of Non-Export Laws. 



Binghamton; N. Y.— Editor Forest and Stream: It is 

 highly gratifying to me to note the growing tendency 

 toward better protection. So many articles have appeared 

 of late bearing on this question that we feel it a fitting 

 time to relate a little of our experience, being in a border 

 county. UntU Pennsylvania has a law forbidding the 

 shipping of birds we will not enjoy as much protection 

 as interior counties, for the simple reason that market- 

 hunters are shooting the birds and carrying them over 

 the State line to ship. The northern tier of counties in 

 Pennsylvania are also the sufferers to the extent that a 

 great many market-hunters go there in order to avoid 

 the New York non-shiprnent law. 



Rouse, ye Keystone sportsmen, and get a non-shipment 

 law passed as soon as possible. A little circumstance 

 that has come imder om- notice goes to show the wisdom 

 of that law. At the beginning of the season feo profes- 

 sional pot-hunters from this section packed their "sawed- 

 off 10-bores and started for a Western State said to 

 abound with chickens. They went with the avowed 

 intentions of staying until the season closed. What 

 seemed like a very short time, indeed, found them back 

 here loudly boasting that 150 birds were easily bagged by 

 them in a day, but they could not ship the birds. Lots 

 of sport in leaving a field of 75 birds and taking up one 

 where six birds is considered a good day's bag. A non- 

 shipment law was the price of sport in the former 

 instance. 



A game protective association containing some of our 

 leading and most influential men has recently been 

 formed here, each member being pledged to do all in his 

 power to uphold the game laws; they also employ a 

 private detective. May we witness as rapid growing 

 sentiment in favor of this branch of protection as we 

 have in the past in respect fo spring shooting. 



_ A few days since Mr. George A. Kent, a public-spirited 

 citizen, procured and released about twenty-five English 

 pheasants. Already the hawks have destroyed four of 

 them. Should this come under the notice of any one 

 who knows a remedy or preventive we should be very 

 glad to hear from him. Would not spring be much bet- 

 ter time for releasing them? Protector. 



Vermont Game. 



HiGHGATE, Vt.. Oct. 6. — Reports from various sections 

 of northwestern Vermont show that some good bags of 

 ruffed grouse have been made, and in but one locality are 

 gray squirrels to be found. No woodcock excepting an 

 occasional bird. Foxes are fairly plentiful and every 

 frosty morning our hoimds are out, and one hunter has 

 already secured half a dozen pelts. 



In answer to yotir Rutland correspondent, we would 

 say that we have for many years studied the habits of 

 many of our game birds, especially the woodcock. Have 

 shot this bird not only in many of our States but also in 

 all of the Canadian Provinces where it is to be found, 

 and re-aflirm all that we stated in your issue of Sept. 16; 

 and in conversation with one of our commissioners we 

 understand him to say that in framing the late bird laws 

 they were governed largely by the opinions received from 

 their local taxidermist in Rutland. 



Some fine catches of black bass are being almost daily 

 made here in the river, 4 and 5-pounders being taken 

 quite_ often. Deer have been recently seen in this 

 vicinity. Stakstead. 



Wisconsin Deer. 



The season for hunting deer opened Oct. 1 in Wisconsin, 

 and the grand race was made from this city and other 

 lake towns for the deer fields. Many of the parties will 

 remain out during the entire season. Though the period 

 for hunting deer only opened yesterday a great many men 

 who evidently have no regard for game laws have been 

 on the ground for several days. Well-known men from 

 Superior and Duluth, it is said, in open violation of the 

 law, have slain deer by the score before the season opened. 

 The hunting this year, however, will be very good, as a 

 great many of the deer from the forests of central Wis- 

 consin have been driven north to the lake region by the 

 recent timber fires. Last year in two tiers of counties 

 along the south shore of Lake Superior a conservative 

 estimate of the number of deer slain was 5,000. This 

 year it ig expected that the number will be larger. The 

 carcasses of the deer slain bring if sold in the market 

 from $8 to $12 each.— W^esi Superior, Wis., Correspond- 

 ence Milwaukee Sentinel. 



Iowa Game Notes. 



Matlock, la., Oct. 3.— The game shooting in the north- 

 western section of Iowa is good, though perhaps not quite 

 up to our expectations. Both quail and chickens are 

 fairly plentiful, but it has been very dry, making the scent 

 poor, so that no large bags have been made yet. From 

 six to ten chickens or quail is a good half-day's shooting. 

 We have had a couple of fine rains the past week and 

 shooting of aU kinds will improve from th''3 on. No ducks 

 have come from the north yet. The few that bred here 

 have mostly been killed. Snipe and plover are scarce 

 owing to the drought. A party living some ten miles 

 from here shot a bald eagle recently, wings measuring 

 some five feet across. Longfellow. 



Game Near Washington. 



Washington, Oct. 6.— Messrs. Tom Marron, Dick Mills 

 and Bill Lanham took a ten days' cruise in the "Let-the- 

 Bug-Hop," gu nn ing and fishing. Sept. 20 they found rail, 

 or sora, thick, but very small and poor. They were 

 actually so thick that they could be knocked over with 

 p des. Blue-winged teal and mallards were much above 

 the average in numbers for that time of the year. These 

 ducks were, in fact, quite pleatiful. A few stiff-tails 

 were also seen. Coot were numerous from Piscataway 

 down. From information obtained it is safe to predict 

 fair quail shooting in those parte. In Otterbach's woods, 

 right back of the "White House" landing, plenty of gray- 

 squirrels were found. Bart, 



Iowa Prairie Chickens. 



Waterloo, la., Oct. 1.— There are plenty of prairie 

 chickens here, with ducks, a few geese and some wolves. 



