Jan. 5, 1895.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
9 
d«er would strike to the t heart of anybody but a butcher. 
It is a pleasure to" hunt, _but_to 1 wonud_game iil and suffer 
it to escape is a shainc. The giving "of^it^half^ killed 
over night is something sad to think of. T-. a ^- -"^.asB- 
Mr. Woodbury worked hard for a deer, and jumped 
many a fine buck, but that region had been hunted till 
the deer had found out the forms and generally the 
scent of their worst enemies. Special. 
DEER IN MICHIGAN. 
Lansing, Dec, 24.— Mr. O. D. Hardy, with C. Towner, 
Harland Towner, J. C. Harrington, George Northup and 
Clyde Smith; have just returned from their annual 
camping and deer hunting trip to Northern Michigan. 
They had the good luck to get eleven deer — two bucks, 
two fawns and seven does. In the immediate vicinity of 
their camp a great many deer had been killed during 
the close season, and the people paid no attention what- 
ever to the law prohibiting the killing of deer or to the 
game warden. It is reported that the deputy warden 
visited one Of the camps and not finding the campers at 
home inspected the camp and found abundant evidence 
of illegal shooting. He returned to town for assistance, 
and with the sheriff again visited the camp and 
attempted to arrest the hunters. The hunters pulled out 
their guns, and with the business end of three or four 
Winchesters pointing toward them the wardens took 
their departure and gave up the arrest. 
The Hardy party have gone deer hunting so many 
years together that when the season opens no questions 
are asked, but each member of the old company gets out 
his rifle and with camp equipage always ready and 
supplies by the carload, they fall in line like veterans, 
and start on their journey. ■ Last year I gave you a full 
report of their hunt and as a result the woods were full 
of hunters in the neighborhood of their camp, so I con- 
clude that hunters read Forest and Stream pretty 
generally, and that they pick up all the good points and 
make good use of alll suggestions that come their way. 
This year the location of the Hardy hunting camp they 
keep to themselves. The party from Bath, consisted 
of Mr. Tricker, Tom Hall, Cyclus Rose and Charles 
Cusbman. This party is also an old one. It was organ- 
ized a^ great many years ago. The membership has 
cbanged a little, but its constitution and by-laws never 
change, no more than the Declaration of Independence. 
The party always get plenty of deer, because they know 
how to shoot, and this year they have splendid luck. 
Last year they got a big bear, but this season the bears 
were not at home. 
In the vicinity of their camp this year hunters were 
so plenty and the shooting so careless that many of the 
hunters wore strips around the shoulders to distinguish 
them from the deer. Hounding was practiced quite 
generally all throughout Northern Michigan. The loca- 
tion of the Bath camp was kept concealed because of the 
great number of new comers who visited their last year's 
camp before the season opened. It would seem that our 
letter to Forest and Stream "gave away" all the good 
things of that section, and was instrumental in flooding 
that country with a new set of hunters. 
Mr. Hardy met :a hunter from up North who claims 
that he saw the elk that was shot up there. He states 
that the elk — the shooting of the elk— and the 600 pounds 
oldead elk— was a fact. How the elk got into Michigan 
is "quite a question. 
~ It is the opinion of most of these hunters that a 
better law is needed in Michigan, not only for deer, but 
for all kinds of game. They suggest a uniform season 
for all Michigan and Wisconsin, a tax on non-residents, 
prohibition, the sale of all game, limiting the amount 
of game allowed to one gun and prohibiting the shoot- 
ing of does and fawns. Julian.)^ 
A Virginia Game Country. 
West Point, Va. — Being a generous and philanthropic 
sort of shootist and not even remotely related to the dog 
in the manger sportsman, who keeps a religious and 
awe inspiring silence whenever he finds a good thing, 
I have decided that (now that I have finished) the rest 
of the world may have a chance, and if you appreciate the 
information of virgin possibilities as I think you do, he 
who runs may read. Perhaps thirty or more investi- 
gating hunters, besides yours to command, have enjoyed 
the almost unlimited sport to be had in the swamps 
and territory contiguous to the Mattponi and Pamunkey 
rivers, thus far this season. Did those who are rushing 
off to Missouri and other foreign countries know what 
they, are missing we would not be able to kill mallards 
off the Terminal Hotel verandas, as Mr. Wm. T. Mayer 
of Albany, N. Y. , did yesterday. This, however, is no 
novelty, for in the short time I have been down I've 
seen three flocks within gunshot of the hotel. Messrs. 
Piel and Cook of Brooklyn went back this week loaded 
to the guards with everything but deer, and it was only 
because they didn't go after the last, named game that 
there is something left for the rest of us. Last Thurs- 
day a local hunter bagged two deer weighing 116 and 
164 pounds respectively in one afternoon. As I said 
before, I merely want some of the rest of the world to 
benefit by my experience. Thos. M. Williams. 
Foxes in the Mohawk Valley. 
Rome, N.Y. , — Sound the tally-ho horn, for the woods 
are full of foxes and the foxes are full of the poultry 
they are stealing from the. farmers in the valley of the 
Upper Mohawk. During one night of this month a 
nd of these wily midnight maurauders made a raid 
on a well known poultry yard about three miles north 
of us, stole sixteen Christinas ducks, then taking them 
down to the moorlands, but a short distance away, they 
seemed to have held high carnival over the feast for the 
rest of the night. 
From the number of tracks made in the new fallen 
snow it would seem that they must have been at least 
one hundred of the "varmints" at the banquet. Yet it 
is not probable that there were more than three or four 
in the ring. With high bred hounds, costly guns and 
all the trappings going to make up the fox hunters' 
equipments, the boys are prepared for the chase and 
the way they will soon make the fur fly will be a caution 
to all they do not kill dead On the spot. 
Id the town of Lee, bounding us on the north, the 
officials report that .six^hundred^ turkey s^ have been 
destroyed^ during the past year, and they "are praying 
the^Board^of Supervisors' to offer a bounty of one dollar 
per head for all foxes killed. As that part of the town 
bordering on the big woods and that famous old trout 
stream, Fish Creek, has ever been the home of game 
indigenous to the State of New York I believe the 
statement given to be true. J. B. McHabg. 
Combination Anns. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of Dec. 8 Mr. J. J. Meyrick writes so 
earnestly and well concerning combination arms and 
guns generally that I regret feeling obliged to form an 
issue with him on a collateral matter. But it seems 
necessary. The reason lies in his prefatory paragraph 
which says that in your paper for Oct. 8 "there is an 
article by Cayuga condemning the combination gun 
chiefly on the ground that it is inferior to a shot gun for 
winged game shooting, or to a repeating rifle for large 
game. " Hence when I read this statement I turned to 
my file of Poeest and Stbeam with some misgiving that 
perhaps my residence among the Siwash of the North 
Pacific coast had distorted my comprehension of "Eng- 
lish as it is spoke" on the Atlantic seaboard. 
So I called in a philological expert, whose name is 
ornamented with several university degrees, besides 
being learned in Chinook, and bade him read and 
interpret. He says my demurrer is sustained, and in 
my opinion that settles it. Now lot Mr. Meyrick again 
read my little script in your issue of Oct. 6, read as 
carefully as he shoots, and perhaps he will discover that 
I did not condemn the combination arm, per se, but 
the a.ll-round arm, so called, as not possessing perfection 
under all conditions. I think he will also notice that I 
spoke favorably of the combination arm for certain 
uses, pointing out, however, that it is fallacious to 
treat it as an all-round weapon of complete satisfaction 
where special calls will frequently be made upon it for 
artistic, economic and effective service, all of which is 
not in controversion of the fact that the union of a rifle 
with double shot barrels for a general outing in some 
particular locality is a most desirable combination. 
Cayuga. 
Tiger-Slayer-in-Chief. 
^ To those who are aware of the proficiency and cour- 
age shown by French sportsmen in their pursuit of 
big carnivora,, it will be no surprise to learn that the 
Governor of the Straits Settlements has just selected 
a citizen of that aspiring nation, M. De Nancourt by 
name, to fill the post of "Tiger-Slayer-in-Chief " at 
Singapore. It appears that M. De Nancourt has killed 
500 tigers with his own rifle, against a bag of only 400 
made by Major- General Probyn, the well known English 
shikarri. Some of our Parisian contemporaries claim 
credit for the French nation as supplying an official 
akin to their own Grand Louvetier for employment in a 
British colony. 
We are reminded by our lively friends across the 
Channel that until M. Du Chaillu encountered and slew 
the gorilla we knew nothing as to the existence and 
habits of that formidable monster, and that the greatest 
of our living hunters Mr. Selous, is of French origin. 
If M. de Nancourt is able to keep down the number of 
tigers in the jungles and woods of Singapore and taking 
toll of the native inhabitants, neither the latter nor any 
other British subject will take any exception to his 
nationality. The great bulk of the population of Singa- 
pore, numbering altogether nearly 200,000 souls, are 
Chinese and Malays, who, like the natives of India, 
look to white shiicarris to rid them of dangerous and 
savage beasts of prey. In the meantime the importance 
of Singapore and of the other dependencies of Great 
Britain in its neighborhood demands that what is called 
"the scourge of the colony" — the tiger — should be kept 
within reasonable limits. 
We hear, therefore, with satisfaction that a "Tiger- 
in-Chief to the Governor of the Straits Settlements" 
has been created for this purpose. The commerce of 
the colony has increased enormously within the last few 
years, justifying the acumen and foresight of Sir 
Stamford Baffles, whose early death at the age of 47 was 
a severe loss to this nation. — Loudon Daily Telegraph. 
Talk of Gnn and Rifle. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Positions iu shooting, combination arms, aiming at the head, 
light loads and heavy — what an enticing list of subjects for the 
cranks to spin theories about. Already the flood of manuscripts 
which " Uncle Belknap " anticipated has begun. 
Now, I have long been a convert, theoretically, to that business 
of aiming only at the head or neck, but *' most ingenerally al- 
ways " when 1 get a chance at a nice deer I aeem to forget, and 
let drive at the place that is easiest to hit. I mean, of course, 
the vital part of the bouy ; I am not such a chump as to shoot at 
the hams or side back of the ribs. I scarcely think the objection 
of deer getting away with a broken jaw is valid. The point of 
aim is really the neck, as one does not care to spoil a pretty set 
of antlers, and every experienced hunter is very cautious about 
shooting over. A shot in the neck with a decent bullet, if it does 
more than cut the skin, will, as a rule, knock the animal sense- 
less. Though I will confess that I let a little deer get away from 
me once with his under jaw smashed by a .44 bullet. The thing 
troubled me a whole lot, too, poor follow. 
I was surprised not to And in " Modern American Bifles " 
(good book, that), among the many cuts illustrating positions in 
shooting, one that is exceedingly common among the mountain- 
eers of tue West and wbieh I often employ. Perhaps the reason 
it is not included is that it is scarcely feasible ou perfectly level 
ground. It is simply sitting down with the feet near together, 
the knees thrown apart and the elbows resting on them. If on 
a hill side, where the feet can be placed on a level siightly lower 
than the seat, it is a position that can be taken with great ease. 
Even on level ground it is not impossible if one's joints are still 
supple. (L have just now tried it on my study floor and find 
that I can get the muzzle of my gun down to the level by some- 
thing of an effort.) This position offers the advantage of a com- 
paratively firm support for the arms, with almost entire freedom 
from the effects of heavy pulsations. I have found it espeeiafly 
good after a run uphill. But, nevertheless, I pin my faith to 
straight off-hand shooting, with the arm pretty well extended. 
I think if a man is going to use the rifle he ought to learn to 
stand up and shoot it like a man. 
That is some interesting information that J. J. M. gives us 
about loading heavy guns with a light ball. When men have 
actually tried and proved a thing, as he and "Iron Eamrod" 
(why cau't we have something from his interesting pen again? ) 
always do, it gives much weight to their advice. 1 have a .45x90 
rifle, and got from the Ideal man a little mold for a light bullet 
(192 grs.). The twist of this gun is about the same as that of 
the .44-40 Winchester, and I saw no reason why this bullet, 
which weighs about the same as that of the cartridge mentioned, 
Mould not perform well with the same charge of powder. Bui all 
Igot in the way of results were some shells swelled at the j>oint 
where the bullet was seated till they stuck in the chamber, and 
the bullets scattered ail over the target at fifty yards. 
If I can get some lubricated wads I am going to try Mr. Mey- 
riek'a plan of leaving the bullet in the mouth of the shell and 
seating the powder with a wad. I wish very much to get a 
charge for this gun that will do good service at squirrels and 
rabbits and that will kill a turkey without blowing it iuto atoms. 
" Projecting " with the service charge of this gun has given 
me great amusement. I have at last settled down to the load of 
§5 grs. powder and the 330 gr. Gould bullet. I am surprised that 
tue Winchester people do not put this load on the market. It is 
the most accurate one at the target that I have tried, beating 
both the 9U-300 solid ball and the 85-300 hollow point. I have 
not tried the 85-350 solid ball load fully, as I fancied the recoil 
■was greater. I believe in the hollow bullet for ^ame, anyhow, 
though the 300 gr. hollow point, is too much taken up by the hoi- 
low and flies to pieces badly on striking. I have only lulled one 
deer as yet with the Gould bullet, and that was shot through 
the neck, so that 1 could not study the effect of the bullet to ad- 
vantage. But 1 believe if your ' ■ Tenderfoot" correspondent — 
who is, by the way, no great shakes with the pen — had used it 
his big elk would have tumbled at the first shot, insteatl of scar- 
ing him to death by walking off. (I hfid a big buck deer treat 
me that way once, when I was using a 38-40 Winchester). 
The three-barreled gun stands well here in Mexico, though 
most that I have seen are in the hands of men who use the shot 
gun comparatively little. It seems to be a well made and hon- 
est weapon. It is muzzle heavy, of course, and clumsy about 
the breech, but is a shooter with both ball and shot. A friend of 
mine and companion of many a hard-fought still hunt after the 
cunning white-tail, has just killed his one hundredth <!eer with 
a three-barreled .38.55-rifle. He Is under promise to write up 
the story. 
I want to ask a question of those gentlemen who have bean 
recommending means of making shot act as a solid ball, cutting 
around the shell, stringing them, sticking them together, etc. 
Would they risk that in a choke-bore gun with light barrels? 
And, by the way, again, what makes a choke-bore gun shoot 
about a foot higher with heavy buck shot when you have fitted 
them to the muzzle than it does with drop shot? Mine shoots 
nine buck shot (about 1% oz.) very close together and drives 
them home, but throws them too high at forty yards. 
About the time I get this folded and sealed I'll think of some- 
thing else I meant to say. But probably the Editor will be glad 
I forgot it. Next week we're a gwine after the tigres. If we get 
one you shall hear about it. I think about all the ducks iu Mex- 
ico are wintering in Acambaro. f was there the other day, pass- 
ing through, and, between trains, killed twenty- Ave. 1 never 
saw fatter fowl. There are none hereabout. No water this year. 
Acambaro is about half way between here and the city, and on 
the main line of the Mexioau National. The railroad has a fairly 
comfortable little hotel there. Aztec. 
SAN Luis Potost, Mex. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
"Greetings from Red Spinner." 
In a recent personal letter from Mr. Wm. Senior 
fishing editor of The London Field, he refers to the 
proposed organization of a Fly Fishers' Club in this 
country in a way that I predicted he would should he 
know about it. 
"I have just seen Tkep?orest7and|Streain^of ^October 
20, in which your proposed Fly Fishers' Club is dealt 
with. 
"You areTperfectly right in thinking that] such a 
scheme is one'that interests mo quite as much as it does 
our always good mutual friend Marston. Let me, there- 
fore, in formal words send you greetings that are not 
second to his in heartiness, and wish your Fly Fishers' 
Club an out and out 'God speed.' That is not a bad 
idea of Marston to make your club a sort of Siamese 
twin, for the States and the Dominion, in the matter 
of fishing, are bound very close together by kindred 
interests. I do uot see, however, why there should hot 
be two clubs, one American and one Canadian, in close 
and clearly arranged affiliation. When I was in Canada 
last year they told me that all the good salmon fishing 
there, if possible, was snapped up by cute sportsmen of 
the great Republic, so there is a really practical, as well 
as a sentimental, connection between you. 
' ' We are having our annual dinner of the Fly Fishers' 
Club here on Friday next and I wish you were here to 
respond to the toast of the visitors. Our success has 
been really a marvelous one, for we have only a modest 
club room (although it is a veryi beautiful and well 
furnished one) we have no water of | our own, we pub- 
lish no proceedings, yet here we are with, I think, about 
three hundred members, more or less, and we shall sit 
down Friday night under the presidency of 'John 
Bickerdyke, ' about two hundred strong, and all gentle- 
men representing the highest branches of the sport 
that we all love so well. Marston is not one of our 
seniors, either in years or appearance, but he is prac- 
tically the father of the club, and but for his almost 
superhuman energy and perseverance during the early 
years of its existence, the institution would not have 
existed. 
' ' Our harmony has never been broken and I doubt 
whether there is a more delightful brotherhood of the 
kind in the world. I suppose when your fishing club is 
formed , you will, as usual, "go one upon us in many 
things, but I do not think you will beat us in that 
primary essential of all club life— good feeling. 
1 ' This will reach you in time to wish you and all 
American anglers, in the old English phrase, 'A nierry 
Christmas and a happy New Year ;' and for next season 
health, happiness and. sport of the best. ' ' 
This letter is characteristic of the great angler, 
" Eedspinner, " who is the embodiment of kindly good 
feeling, which radiates from him as heat from the sun, 
not only at this glad season, but at all seasons. Buc I am 
of the opinion that our club in New York City can bo 
made broad enough to shelter the fly fishers of the 
United States and the Dominion of Canada. This also 
seems to be the opinion of Canadian anglers so far as 
they have expressed themselves on the subject, and yet 
for actual fishing American anglers are turning their 
faces more and more toward Canada. 
A few, days ago I lunched at a club in Albany and 
afterward talked fish and fishing with friends over otu- 
cigars, and I was surprised to hear a gentleman whose 
interests are largely in the Adirondacks say that the 
fishing in the North Woods was good enough for those 
