136 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 15, 1896 
LONG ISLAND DEER. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Among the very many bills introduced at this session 
of the Legislature, designed for the amelioration of the 
condition of New York game birds and mammals, is one 
"authorizing the hounding and killing of deer in Kings, 
Queens and Suffolk counties on each Wednesday of the 
month of December." 
Not having read this bill, I am of course unacquainted 
with its provisions, but would suggest that some provision 
be made for the removal of all non-combatants from the 
island on field days, or else provide that they be safely 
housed in shot-proof structures. This suggestion will not 
appear out of place when the many sad events of the sea- 
son of 1894 are called to mind. 
Owing to the somewhat depleted condition of the Kings 
county deer supply it would perhaps be well to cut off a 
portion of the hounding season for that county, say one 
or two of the several Wednesdays of December. 
It would also be well to provide for regulating the 
speed of the Brooklyn trolley cars on field days, for noth- 
ing would be more distressing than to have a trolley car 
dash through the pack when "in full cry," or run down 
some unlucky sportsman who might be stationed on one 
of the choice Kings county runways. 
The law should also provide that in the event of any 
deer being driven into Kings county waters, they be killed 
in the good old way with a club, and that the use of steam 
pile drivers and other deadly engines be strictly prohib- 
ited, also that the carcass of any deer killed in the waters 
of Newtown Creek be thoroughly fumigated before being 
placed on the market. 
Of course these points may all be fully covered in the 
bill — bills amending our game laws are usually quite full 
and comprehensive — and my suggestions are merely 
offered in a friendly spirit, in the event of the provisions 
named having been omitted. 
There are, however, persons very well informed on the 
subject who will tell you that the existing law relative to 
Long Island deer ought to be let alone long enough to 
give it a fair trial, also that should this bill become a law, 
Long Island deer — should there be enough to last that 
length of time— would be slaughtered during the whole 
month of December, but perhaps these people may be 
prejudiced. S. 
Troy, N, Y., Feb. 8. 
Boone and Crockett Club. 
The annual meeting of the Boone and Crockett Club, 
which took place last week, Feb. 5, was an occasion of 
much interest. More than thirty members were present, 
among whom were: Hon. Benjamin H. Bristow, Gen. 
W. D. Whipple, Hon. W. Cary Sanger, Hon. Theodore 
Roosevelt, Archibald Rogers, Owen Wister, W. A. Wads- 
worth, W. A. Chanler, the African explorer; Winthrop 
Cbanler, W. B. Devereux, of Colorada; Lewis Morris, C. 
Grant Lafarge, Madison Grant, De Forest Grant, H. A. 
Munn, Dr. J. West Roosevelt; Dr. W. B. James, Dr. W. 
K. Draper, Mr. Frank Billings, W. Milne Grinnell, Alex- 
ander Lambert, J. Walter Wood, Jr., Geo. Bird Grinnell, 
Dr. John Rogers, Alden Sampson, H. L. Stimson, Dr. J. 
L. Seward, Jas. L. Watson and other well-known 
sportsmen. The principal business of the meeting was the 
presentation of the reports of committees. The editorial 
committee announced the publication of the club's last 
volume, "Hunting, in Many Lands," and the treasurer 
reported the satisfactory financial condition of the club. 
The officers chosen for the ensuing year were: Hon. 
Benjamin H. Bristow, President; C. Grant Lafarge, Sec- 
retary; W. A. Wadsworth, Archibald Rogers, Winthrop 
Chanler and Charles Deering, Executive Committee; Geo. 
Bird Grinnell and Theodore Roosevelt, Editorial Com- 
mittee. 
The discussion after the dinner turned on the effectiveness 
of the Mannlicher rifle, and Messrs. W. A. Chanler and 
W. B. Devereux, who had used the arm — the one in 
Africa, the other in Colorado— gave their experiences, 
which were listened to with close attention. 
A Quail Shooting Limit. 
Newark, N. J.— A letter on quail slaughter in Florida 
leads me to pay a tribute to Dr. C. S. Packard, of Welaka 
Fla., a charming little village on the St. Johns nearly- 
opposite the mouth of the wild and romantic Ocklawaha 
River. Dr. Packard is 60 years old and is still an ardent 
gunner and a better shot than most of his visitors from 
he North. Moreover, he can tire out the best of them 
upon a day's tramp. He is the owner of one of the best 
broken red Irish setters I ever had the pleasure of shoot- 
ing over, a dog that never needs a word of caution and 
minds every gesture of his owner. A low whistle attracts 
his attention and he looks to see what his master desires. 
A wave of the hand will send him on down right, left or 
to heel. 
Dr. Packard loves quail hunting too well to destroy the 
future prospects in his neighborhood when quail are rea- 
sonably plenty. He goes out frequently in season and in- 
variably stopa when he has killed six birds. He enforces 
the same rule upon any of his friends who may be visit- 
ing him and shooting over his dog. He says with sound 
reason that six quail are enough for any man to shoot in 
a day, and it speaks well for his skill with the gun to say 
that he carries all the shells for an afternoon's shooting 
in his waistcoat pockets, which are of the normal size. 
In fact, I never knew him to take out more than a dozen, 
shells, and his usual quota is ten; but then he never starts 
out before 8 o'clock in the afternoon and usually gets his. 
six birds within half or three-quarters of a mile of the 
house. Harrimac. 
In Virginia near Washington. 
Alexandria, Va., Feb. 3.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I send you a short article on woodcock, and where good 
shooting may be had, for the benefit of visiting sports- 
men. Migratory birds arrive from the South about 
March 1, and breed here in March and April in swampy 
woodland around Alexandria. A great number of these 
birds can be found in Fairfax county, about six miles 
from this city, at a place the sportsmen here call the 
Double Ditches; good shooting may there be had at this 
fine game bird from July to September, excepting in a 
very dry season. The open season here is July 1 to Jan. 1.. 
Good shooting may be had at the Big Dyke, two and one- 
half miles from this city, on the fine of the Mt. Vernon 
electric railway, in the last two summer months. Sports- 
men here get fine shooting at flight birds from the north 
at Franconia and Long Branch, on the line of the A. 
F. R. R., from the middle of October to Dec. 1. I see no 
decrease in woodcock around here, they were more 
plentiful last fall than for a number of years. There is 
nothing to shoot at present; we are all waiting now for a 
flight of jacksnipe. Quail are almost exterminated in 
Virginia, owing to the severe blizzard of last February ; 
we hope they will catch up again, as the Legislature of 
Virginia has passed a law protecting them in the State 
for two years. Chip. 
A Tavern Club Caricature. 
Ever since the announcement was made at the Tavern 
Club that each of the men was required to paint a portrait 
of himself or some other member of the club, the fun has 
been fast and furious, and the present exhibition is the 
outcome of the artistic efforts of the entire club. Of course 
some of the pictures are mere daubs, by men who never 
before held a paint brush, while others are clever in the 
extreme. One of the most noticeable is a sketch by 
R. Glipstone Sturgis, Esq., of his cousin Mr. Charles W. 
Sturgis, of Marlboro street, who is an enthusiastic sports- 
man. It is entitled the "Coot Hunter," and represents 
Mr. Sturgis in a frappe hunting costume, unshaven and 
unshorn, and sunburned to an appalling extent. His nose 
is an excellent match for Fair Harvard's banner, made so 
no doubt by too familiar sunbeams, not, as it has been un- 
kindly suggested, by alcohol. Mr. Sturgis is opening a 
market basket, showing too clearly his noble game has 
not been brought from the forest primeval, but from a 
produce dealer's. — Boston Courier, 
One of Secretary Lakey's Questions Answered. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I cannot answer all of the National Game, Bird and 
Fish Protective Association secretary's questions, but on 
one of them I feel sure I can turn pure and radiant light. 
It relates to the true sportsman, and Secretary Lakey 
asks, and I answer: 
Q —What is his chief delight? 
A.— To read Forest and Stream. 
Contrary minds, no. The ayes have it. 
Dick of Connecticut. 
§mn$=^m tglickmngs. 
"That reminds me." 
Tbe Bell on the Moose. 
Nostjtche-Chdnk-Amug, Jan. 20. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: One of your correspondents asks information 
about the bell on the moose which I am able to give, being 
the one who put it on. This is how it happened : I had 
some years ago young cattle and an old cow running in 
a clearing on the other side of the pond, and having 
trouble in finding them when I wanted to salt them I 
thought I would put a bell on the cow, which was very 
tame. So one day in the summer I took a bell which was 
made for this use and fitted it with a strap and started 
across the pond in my boat. When about half-way over 
I discovered a moose swimming across and started m pur- 
suit of it just for the fun of a race. The moose turned 
straight down the pond and after a long hard pull I 
caught up to him, a very large bull with the widest horns 
I ever saw, though not yet full grown. I caught hold of 
his tail and tied the painter of my boat to it, and so let 
him tow me for some distance. I thought I would like 
to mark him in some way, and it came into my head to 
put the bell on him; so I took it in my hand and crawled 
along his back to his neck, which I sat astraddle of, and 
reaching down around it fastened the strap after length- 
ening it with cord. It was a hard job, but I made out to 
do it after a while, and crawled back into the boat. 
When we were about 10 rods from shore I unhitched the 
Tope, and the moose swam ashore, turned and faced me, 
and I think would have charged upon me; but when he 
shook his head the bell, now clear of the water, began to 
ring and put him in a great fright. He dashed along the 
ishore for some distance and then stopped and listened, 
evidently trying to make out where the sound came from; 
then dashed away into the woods at a great pace, stop- 
ping every now and then to listen, as I could tell by the 
isound of the cow bell, till the noise of it died away in the 
distance. In the fall I hear it frequently, and at that 
time the cow moose got to know the sound of it and fol- 
lowed the bell in droves, as shown by the tracks, like a 
herd of cattle. One night I got a shot at him, but over- 
shot and only cut the cord that held the bell on the top of 
fiis neck. He is as much my moose as any wild well 
moose ever was any man's, but I have not got him. If 
Any one wants proof of this story I can show him the 
hell with the strap and cord on it. 
James Monkhotjse. Jr. 
Skinner's Great Sport. 
Skinner — "Did I ever tell you of the great sport I had 
'on one of the little lakes up in Maine? No? Well, air, in the 
•course of half an hour I caught fifty trout, some of them 
twenty inches long, and all of them over a foot. But, as 
luck would have it, I lost every one of them overboard 
coming ashore." 
Walton — "And I can swear to the truth of what Skin- 
ner says, for I Baw him when he came ashore, and there 
wasn't a single fish in the boat." — Bostoti Transcript. 
"Yes," said the meek-looking man. "I've no doubt 
you've had some great hunting experiences in your travels 
.aibroad." 
"I have, indeed" 
"Buffalo hunting " 
"Yes." 
"And bear hunting " 
"Of course." 
"Well, you just come round, and let my wife take you 
!house hunting and bargain hunting with her. Then you' 11 
hegin to know what real excitement is." — Tit-Bits. 
}m mid HJfivqr ^faffing. 
THE ANGLER IN COLOMBIA. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It has always been an open question in my mind which 
sport was the best, shooting or fishing. In summer I 
used to decide mentally that fishing was the thing, all 
considered, but in fall and winter generally changed my 
mind, particularly if during my annual trip the ducks 
were plenty. Now that I am here in a perpetual summer 
it would be logical to suppose that my mind and gun were 
both at rest, but as of old my gun and rod are both in use 
and my mind still perplexed. One of my old friends in 
Jersey puzzled over this same question for many years, 
but now, his sight having begun to weaken and the woods 
and fields having apparently grown to double their former 
size, he has definitely decided that fishing is the only real 
sport, and perhaps with patience I may one day bring 
myself to concur in that opinion. 
Fish and game are both abundant here in Colombia, but 
among the former I recognize some old friends, notably 
the black bass, calico bass and the humble but succulent 
catfish, and I find that difference of latitude makes little 
difference in habits and tastes. Rivers here in the tropics 
grow longer year by year, the growth taking place at the 
big end, known in local parlance as "the bar mouth." 
The bar is always shallow and the continual deposit 
carried down by the stream and washed back by tbe 
waves keeps the river banks growing, and mangrove trees 
spring up in the mud, and so, slowly but surely, the 
growth in length of the river itself goes on. Entering 
one of these streams from the lagoon, you pass through a 
long stretch of mangrove swamp. Here the water is 
brackish, and tide rises and falls. This is the home of the 
catfish, often weighing 15 to 201bs. 
At high tide schools of mullet and "jacks" (a second 
cousin of the bluefish) often run in this reach of the river. 
Leaving the swamp and continuing the ascent of the 
river, we find that the stream above the swamp soon 
grows shallow, with deep pools and many riffles, and here 
in the pools under some old stump is the bass and also, a 
species of trout. 
A friend of mine (call him H.) has a plantation on 
Spanish Creek, and during August I was a visitor at his i 
camp. One morning on visiting the commissary for sup- 
plies, we found our ham had fallen down from the rack 
and was almost destroyed by ants. It looked as if break- 
fast would be a slim meal, but H. said to me, "Can you i 
fish?" I owned up, and in five minutes we were off. Our j 
equipment was of the simplest: pole, cord and hook, and I 
I certainly regretted not having my rod and reel. The I 
pool he went to was full of tree tops, lying just as they \ 
had fallen when cut from both banks. In places I could ( 
hardly see any water. We dug a few worms and at it we 
went, and I am satisfied that had we wished we could ( 
have caught a barrel full of bass. In less than an hour i, 
we were back at camp with thirty-eight — or two apiece j 
for all hands. They ran about i to fib., one I am sure 
going all of 2£lbs. 
For a week we kept this up, and when I came away I 
had not once wished for a new ham. 
The bass bite at anything. The trout only at a small 
red berry that grows in the woods, and not very certainly 
at that. 
Planters often get them by using dynamite, but this 
can only be done effectually when the water is low and 
clear — conditions, fortunately, rather uncommon. 
Set lines baited with small fish are used for the jacks, 
and often a catfish is caught on one of them. 
The little white perch about 3 to 4 in. long are ver^ 
plenty and the sweetest of all fish, but too small for com 
fort, as about twenty-five of them make a mess for on 
man. 
Many a fine string of bass have I brought in in time for ij 
breakfast, and I can assure you they are always welcome. ; 
Hunt. 1 
THE BEST LURE FOR TROUT. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your correspondent, Mr, Forbes, gives an interesting I 
account of an Adirondack pond very full of trout, but of 
which none can be caught unless under exceptional cir-.j 
cumstances with any bait or fly tried by him, and he does i 
not think 300 fish have been caught out of it within five 
years. He asks of your readers suggestions as to some- , 
thing better to try with, or explanations of the failure of j 
the trout to take baits and flies usually successful. He 
further states that nearly all of the very few he has caught 
were taken late in the evening or early in the morning, 
when almost dark. 
I believe from his statement that the trouble is not with] 
bait or flies, but in the clearness and stillness of the water'! 
and the ease with which the trout can see the angler and ' 
his shadow in the water and every movement he makes an 
distances greater than any cast can be made. I have] 
never known a trout to take any kind of bait or fly \ni 
any case in which it was certain that he could see the] 
angler when the cast was made. I have known bass tc I 
do so in a few instances, but never a trout. Even in fish-l 
ing mountain streams we find deep, still and glassy sur-j 
faced pools in sundry places, and we all know that to ap- j 
proach such pools carelessly and cast over them in day- j 
light is merely time wasted. But I have demonstrated iv 
many instances that the large trout in those pools wili 
take any good fly after sundown and before dawn, when] 
there is barely light enough to see the flash where thf ) 
whip strikes the water. 
I have demonstrated that by keeping entirely out ol! 
sight of the water and casting from complete conceal 
ment these same trout can be taken at high noon unde' 
the full blaze of a glaring sun. In order to accomplisl 
this I have waded water up to my chin to approach the 
spot where I wished to place my flies on the water fror 
behind a huge boulder in the stream, and have had rises 
at the first cast where all attempts to catch a trout bj 
casting from the shore, either bait or fly, had uniformlj 
failed, unless when nearly dark. I have constructed, a 
times, an artificial screen or blind in order to approach ; 
pool of this sort and make my cast unseen by the trout 
and have succeeded in catching a number of fine trout : 
a full strong sunlight. 
I could give a great number of incidents illustrating 
thiB principle which would, I suppose, interest Mr. Forbe 
