336 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 81, 1894. 



STOP THE SALE OF GAME. 



A Platform Plank.— The sale of game should be forbidden at all 

 times.— Forest and Stbbam, Feb. 10. 



Binghamton, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: I am 

 heartily with you in your platform. "The sale of game 

 should be forbidden at all season." My observation has 

 proved to me the necessity of some such legislation. I 

 have seen shipped from a small western Pennsylvania 

 town to the New York market at one time 40 pheasants, 

 60 quail, 45 gray squirrels and a box full of rabbits. For 

 this amount of game the shipper paid the magnificent 

 sum of $11 and made a clear profit of $40 or $50. We 

 examined the birds pretty carefully and could find no 

 shot marks on many of them. These probably "fell dead 

 from fright." Now, figure on the profit to the rural 

 sportsmen and farmers' boys in that $11. Would it not 

 have been more profitable for them to protect the game 

 on their farms and then charge for the shooting privi- 

 lege? I have found farmers usually a very kind and 

 gentlemanly class; having made it a rule to ask permis- 

 sion to shoot over the land I have rarely met with a 

 refusal. There is only one way to do it; ask permission, 

 and if you cannot get it bid Mr. Farmer good morning 

 and seek "green fields and pastures new." 



Now, suppose Foeest and Stream's plank made into a 

 law, the pot-hunter and the farmer's boy are the two 

 classes who would oppose it. As far as the pot or market- 

 shooter is concerned a word is sufficient; he is in a hope- 

 less minority in any community, let him wail and fine 

 him everyjtime he breaks the law. I have known a good 

 many farmers and farmers' boys, and have shot with 

 them too, and found them good fellows and true lovers 

 of sport for its own sake. The farmer or his boy who 

 sells game usually does so to pay for his ammunition. 

 Now, if those who go on the farmer's land would remem- 

 ber this and so arrange it, with tact and delicacy — for 

 the farmer is very keen to resent any seeming slur on 

 his hospitality— to leave either ammunition or its equiva- 

 lent in money, the hearty co-operation of the farming 

 class in observing the law will be assured. A dollar for 

 a pot of coffee, a few quarts of milk or a horse feed has 

 often brought a good day's sport on favorable grounds 

 and a very kind invitation to come again. Sportsmen 

 generally* would certainly be willing to pay enough for 

 the privilege of shooting in good covers to reimburse the 

 farmer's boy for his loss in the sale of game. I once 

 knew a man who wanted $5 for the right to fish 500yds. 

 of trout stream one afternoon, but that is another story. 



J. H. LaRoche. 



Victoria, B. C— Editor Forest and Stream: I am 

 sorry that H. W. D. L. thinks your correspondents who 

 are in favor of prohibiting the sale of game are at all 

 selfish. I know quite well that if the market-hunter were 

 stopped here there would be more game for every one. 

 There are hundreds of fine blue grouse killed for the mar- 

 ket and I think it is a great shame it cannot be stopped. 



E. M. 



FIELD PERMITS. 



Once upon a time, in the indefinite past, the woods and 

 fields were alive with wild game which it was everbody's 

 privilege to shoot. To-day freeholders have only a few 

 partridges, quail and prairie chickens left on their 

 premises, and a sorry chance even for them, for most of 

 this class of farmers have little leisure for sport, and every 

 gunner from town or neighborhood has an envious eye 

 on the birds and covers. Lands are for the most part 

 posted, it is true, though strangers who are gentlemen 

 usually get permission to shoot over them for the asking. 

 Nevertheless, human nature is so perverse that it gener- 

 ally prefers to trespass rather than apply, and disputes 

 are consequently occurring constantly between shooters 

 and land-owners as to their respective equities in creatures 

 which the law adjudges to be ferce naturae, upon the pub- 

 lic domain, and exclusive property only so long as they 

 remain on grounds in which there is vested fee. To 

 adjust these conflicting claims has been an irritating 

 problem for many years, for which litigants and claimants 

 would gladly accept a solution that would be mutually 

 satisfactory. Perhaps a combination might be effected 

 in a way which involves no humiliating concessions from 

 either party, and it might even aid, Mr. Editor, in your 

 commendable scheme to preserve the game and squelch 

 the market-shooter. Let me submit it dialeetically: 



When a farmer grants a sportsman the privilege to 

 shoot over his fields, the sportsman bags the game, but 

 what consideration does the farmer get? Often nothing, 

 not even a thank you, for the sportsman usually leaves 

 the premises at a more convenient point than where he 

 entered, so that he does not meet the owner, who occa- 

 sionally suffers an actual loss in crops and fences by the 

 permitted raid. He does not deem it incumbent or obliga- 

 tory to make acknowledgment or amends. Now, in the 

 wooly West and bumptious South, where it is customary 

 to farm "on shares," the owner furnishes the land and 

 seed, and the tenant the tools and labor, and the two 

 divide the returns even, or pro rata. Just so it should be 

 between sportsman and faroaer. As soon as permission 

 is given the former to enter the premises they become 

 partners. The farmer furnishes the land and the birds 

 (which are the seed), and the sportsman the tools and am- 

 munition, and does all the work. Obviously, the farmer 

 is entitled in equity to a division of the game, and so they 

 divide the proceeds, as agreed upon. 



This, Mr. Editor, is the mainspring of the movement, 

 and I am persuaded that sportsmen's hotels and railroads 

 would not only countenance and abet the scheme, but 

 become potential factors in inaugurating it. Jealousy 

 between farmers and gunners would cease by removal of 

 its cause. Market-shooters and pot-hunters would be ex- 

 cluded from the fields by the right of land owners to dis- 

 criminate in granting permits, and the inducement of 

 pecuniary gain to mercenary land owners and market 

 men would be diminished one-half by the regulation 

 requiring division of the spoils. Prosecutions for trespass 

 would cease. Game wardens would be strengthened in 

 the performance of their duty, and hayseed would no 

 more stick to the green cloth. Besides, the radical ter- 

 giversation involved by the legal adoption of your "plat- 

 form plank" would be tempered by letting it into place 

 gradually. Bona fide sportsmen who hunted on shares 

 with farmers might be permitted to sell game in restricted 

 quantities, whereby it would be possible for invalids who 

 had no shooting friends to obtain a bird now and then by 

 purchase. The masses of the community ought not to be 



disbarred from the luxury of eating game in order that 

 Lucullus may feast. 



Whether feasible, sensible or advisable, I believe that 

 my idea is at least novel; and it may serve to start a dis- 

 cussion in your paper, such as is needed periodically to 

 stimulate its circulation. Charles Hallock. 



JIM. 



We were camped amid the wilds of the Rockies in 

 Wyoming, and on the banks of a small, noisy mountain 

 stream. H. had gone fishing that morning, but after 

 futile attempts to lure the trout from their sool and 

 sparkling homes, he concluded to go up the mountain to 

 where a bear trap was set. Here he found a brown bear 

 fast in the jaws of steel and two of the cutest little cub 

 bears near her. But, immediately upon his approach 

 these ran nimbly to the very top of a tall tree. A shot 

 quickly settled the mother bear, and then H, did look 

 longingly at those little fellows in the treetop. Camp 

 was five miles away, that tree was high and devoid of 

 limbs to the very top; he could not fell it without an ax, 

 and not knowing the natures of bears, was afraid to leave 

 them for fear they would come down and make off while 

 he was gone. 



Suddenly an idea flashed into his mind, and calling to 

 Ranger, a handsome bird dog, he took a fish cord from 

 his pocket and attaching it to Ranger's collar secured him 

 to the tree. He said he left the place as quickly as 

 possible, for Ranger's howls were piteous. 



The news excited all at camp, and after a hurried lunch 

 we were soon to the spot. Here a pretty scene presented 

 itself. A dead bear, and up the tall tree, more properly a 

 pole, a little, cunning black head on one side and four 

 paws clasping the tree, and just below the picture re- 

 peated, and at the base the wondering Ranger. 



HAS A SWEET TOOTH. 



To climb the tree was impossible for any one there, and 

 Daddy, our helper, was soon making the chips fly. Down 

 came the tree but no bear, for the top had lodged in 

 another tree and the little fellows were safe in its top. 

 Another pine fell and with it one cub, but the other es- 

 caped to another treetop. H. immediately grabbed the 

 one and sent him head foremost into a gunny sack and 

 handed all to me for safe keeping. I secured the sack 

 and put it on the ground some 25ft. from the carcass of 

 the mother, but the poor little fellow with cries almost 

 human, crawled in the sack to her side. 



Meanwhile Daddy was felling another tree, and when 

 this was nearly ready to fall, H. admonished Daddy to 

 fall it easily, so it would not kill this cub. The admonition 

 was of no avail, as the tree crashed into the only clearing 

 around and the poor little brother was kicking his last 

 when H. and my husband reached him. We all felt bad, 

 for it would have been pleasure to have had both. 



But soon he and his mother were stripped of their coats 

 and we were at camp again. The cub was immediately 

 christened Jim, and secured by a chain attached by a 

 piece of rope to two buckskin thongs around his neck and 

 back of his legs. He would drink condensed milk 

 eagerly. One tablespoonful in a tin cup of milk-warm 

 water three times a day was his rations and he thrived. 

 He was cunning and amused us very much by his antics. 

 He and. Ranger were good friends and a pretty sight it 

 was to see them asleep with the bear's head on the dog's 

 neck. 



But alas! for human hopes and ambitions. One after- 

 noon Jim was missed, and upon investigation we found 

 he had severed the rope from the chain and gone with the 

 two thongs of buckskin around him. We searched every- 

 where but we never found him and H. was obliged to go 

 home without him. 



But the story of Jim is not without a sequel. Some two 

 weeks after H.'s departure, an Indian appeared at one of 

 our small stores with a brown cub that had two buckskin 

 strings around him when caught. To inquiries of "How 

 did you catch him?" the Indian said, "Him heap tame, 

 him no fight, no scratch, no run. Me heap catchee." It 

 seems that while hunting in the mountains he had come 

 upon him, and Jim having no fear of man was easily 

 made captive again. He was purchased from his second 

 captor and sent to H., and when he and the cub attempted 

 to renew acquaintance Jim bit the ends of his fingers 

 so severely that H. declares they are not on speaking 

 terms now. 



The picture appended shows Jim in the act of gratifying 

 his constant desire for sweets by reaching for a stick of 

 candyg Mrs, D. 



IN DIXIE LAND.-VII. 



[From a Staff Correspondent] 

 A New Sporting Country. 



The Rockport region is one undoubtedly unfamiliar to 

 many if not most of the Forest and Stream readers, and 

 is worthy of careful description. I shall try to cover in 

 advance some of the questions sure to be asked about it. 

 It is a new sporting country. 



The town of Rockport is situated on Aransas Bay. There 

 is little marsh about the region, except at the heads of 

 the bays. The live oak motte country comes down close 

 to the town on the north. 



Aransas Bay is one of those long shallow bays which 

 skirt the coast for perhaps hundreds of miles. Its outer 

 boundary is one of the long, low, narrow sand dunes 

 common in the coast contour. The outer island, key, or 

 sand sprit, is known as St. Joseph's Island. To the west 

 of this runs the Mustang Island. These outer fringes of 

 land are not much visited. They are covered with sand 

 and scrubby trees in many parts. From Rockport to St. 

 Joseph's Island is only about six or eight miles. 



Beyond these narrow outside skirts of land the Gulf of 

 Mexico lies. The points where the Gulf breaks through 

 and connects with the inner bays are called "passes." The 

 "deep water" scheme was to open a ship channel from the 

 passes across the shallow bays and up to the towns on the 

 mainland. Corpus Christi, Aransas City and Rockport all 

 had this dream and the consequent boom. Rockport is 

 thirty years or more old. It is simply a quiet, lazy, sleepy 

 town of perhaps 1,000 inhabitants, with a lovely climate 

 and a large indifference whether school keeps or not. 

 Many winter resorts have bepn built up with not one-tenth 

 of the attractions naturally possessed by this town. 

 Twenty years ago Rockport was wealthy. Twenty years 

 from now it may be wealthy again. 



The average temperature in winter is 57°; in spring 

 months, 77°; in summer months, 86°; in fall 60°. The 

 summer climate is not bad, being tempered by night 

 breezes. 



The town is built on a live oak peninsula. Back of this 

 lies the great extent of the Fulton ranch, once the property 

 chiefly of Col, Fulton. Since the recent death of Col. 

 Fulton it has been known as the Col. Fulton estate. This 

 ranch comprises 172,000 acres. I have spoken of visiting 

 the Puerto Bay, then of going west of that 20 miles to the 

 Shellbanks, and then of sailing 20 miles further west to 

 Shamrock Cove. In all this stretch we had hardly sail ed 

 the length of the shore line of this one great "pasture." 



Part of this "pasture," or what was once the pasture, is 

 that lovely live oak promontory which runs out into the 

 bay at one side of the town site, and which is practically 

 or will be part of the town. This high and breeze-swept 

 peninsula separates Aransas Bay from Copane Bay. 



The Aransas Hotel, conducted by Mr. Milton Everett, is 

 the one where the sportsman naturally goes, because of 

 Mr. Everett's sporting tendencies, as well as because the 

 hotel is the best of the town, is at the center of the town, 

 and at the main wharf. Rates here are $2 and $2.50 a day, 

 $15 a week. Mr. Everett knows how and where to go for 

 all the sport of the region. 



Sailing and Boating Waters. 



There are no finer sailing and boating waters on any ; 

 coast than those of Aransas and adjoining bays. The 

 outer bar or island forms a breakwater, so the river bay ] 

 is not rough like the Gulf. Then there are bays within i 

 bays. One may be half a mile from land and not have 

 over 8ft. of water under him. 



There are plenty of sailboats and rowboats, but no steam 

 or naphtha launches. The tarpon fishing is 10 miles or* 

 more from the hotel, and when one depends on a sailing 

 craft, he may lose his day, for there are no accommoda- 

 tions of any extent at the Pass. In time there may be bet- 

 ter transportation. The present methods are in keeping 

 with the climate and with the whole disposition of the, 

 place, and perhaps they are better than more rapid onesc 

 for him who is seeking a resting country. 



Varieties of Ducks. 



The redheads seem, perhaps, the most numerous ducks, 

 and of these the market-shooters say there are as many as 

 ever. Pintails are also very numerous, and there are some, 

 bluebills (dos-gres). The marsh ducks in general como on 

 the salt flats to feed, but the pintails more especially. At 

 least this was our experience. We did not see a mallard ' 

 nor a teal. 



Chief of all the fowl is the canvasback. This country ; 

 is a natural winter home for this bird. We saw great num-| 

 bers of them. As was stated, they are annually shipped ; 

 by thousands out of Rockport, which is one of the great- | 

 est of the market-shooting headquarters. The annual' 

 shipment is 25,000 to 60,000 head of canvasbacks, I was 

 told. The best months are November and December. led 

 is obtained readily of the fish and oyster companies. Thisl 

 year the low price of game stopped the shipment. 



No Club Preserves. 



Rockport is probably, indeed almost certainly, the best 

 canvasback water now left open to the public in the 

 United States. There are no club preserves. I do noli 

 know where to direct any one for better open duck coun- 

 try. 



Character of Shooting. 



The shooting is almost all open-water shooting. Tht 

 shallow bays afford untold miles of feeding ground. Th£ 

 shooters stick down bushes into the mud, making brusl 

 blinds, into which they run their boats. For this sort oi 

 shooting one needs large fleets of decoys. The local de 

 coys are rude but seem to serve. The sailing boats carry 

 some decoys. There are few houses at which one caii 

 stop, and practically one must figure on stopping on boarf; 

 his schooner. Terms for schooner, as mentioned, averagr 

 $8 a day. 



The shooter should take with him all the ammunitior 

 he needs. He can get nothing good but shot at Rockportj 

 The best way is to take in shells loaded with powder and 

 wadded. These can be shotted and crimped at Rockpor 

 by the shooter, who will find its weight saved in baggage 

 a great consideration. 



Take plenty of the best gun oil and rust preventives,, 

 and be] very careful with your guns, for the sea air and 

 salt water will_rust_them fearfuUy, _ J\ly.£viend's,expen 



