864 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Mat 11, 1895. 
AMERICAN GAME PARKS. 
The " Forest and Stream's" Second Annual 
Report on Came in Preserves. 
Blue Mountain Forest. 
M& AUSTIN Corbin has every reason to congratulate 
himself on the entire success of his efforts to preserve some 
of the large game animals of America, which are grad- 
ually becoming extinct through want of proper laws for 
their protection in the States and Territories. 
Canada may be included in this accusation, as game is 
murdered there for skins and heads as readily as in the 
United States. 
Considerable has been said in these pages of the progress 
of affairs at the Blue Mountain Forest, and will be further 
told from time to time. 
In the Blue Mountain Forest, New Hampshire, there 
has been a steady and rapid increase in all the herds, 
particularly among the elk, deer and wild boar. There 
are probably within the fence 750 elk, 700 deer and 500 
wild boars. The moose have not increased so rapidly, but 
they count about 100, old and young. The buffalo have 
done well, but the original number was comparatively 
small, and there are not more than 55 all told. The com- 
aratively large increase in elk and deer is accounted for 
y the fact that two herds of deer and three herds of elk 
were transferred from Babylon, Long Island, which was 
their home for several years, to the more congenial atmos- 
phere of the mountains of New Hampshire. 
Among the late comers to Blue Mountain Forest are a 
pair of beaver's, which appear to be quite at home. They 
are. located near the ponds and have done some dam build- 
ing. Singular to relate, they have been visited by several 
of their own species, which have been seen only twice by 
the keepers. Where the visitors came from or went to 
no one knows. It may be that a beaver colony exists 
somewhere not far away, which has never been discov- 
ered. This is not at all unlikely, as the remains of two 
"GROVER CLEVELAND." 
genuine beaver dams have been found in the swamp close 
to the fish ponds. These two ponds are now well stocked 
with bass and pickerel and the streams with trout. 
The dog colony is also increasing rapidly both by im- 
portation and breeding. There are now in the kennels 
over sixty dogs, comprising St. Bernards, great Danes, 
English foxhounds, German boar hounds, fox-terriers, 
pointers, setters and rabbit beagles. 
A few months ago two female boar were captured, but 
it was found impossible to catch a male, so a fine speci- 
men was imported from the Black Forest in Germany. 
They will be kept in an inclosure by themselves, as the 
experiment of breeding them in captivity is to be tried. 
There were until lately a large number of foxes and coons 
upon the mountains. They have been thinned out by 
hunters employed for that purpose, who shot over 100 red 
foxes and 50 coons within a few months. 
Keeping watch and ward over 26,000 acres of land and 
thirty miles of fence is no small job, but as in all Mr. 
Corbin's affairs everything is done systematically. There 
is a complete telephone system connecting all the stations, 
ten in number, with the superintendent's house, which lat- 
ter is connected with Mr. Corbin's residence. Daily reports 
are made, Sundays excepted, from each of the stations to 
the superintendent, who transmits the substance of them 
by wire to Mr. Corbin's office in New York. The rules 
for the guidance of the keepers require them to report as 
follows: If any indication of trespassing; if everything 
is all right so far as known; how many animals, if any, 
have been seen and the kind; any general information in 
connection with the forest that would seem important 
for the superintendent to know. The stations are: Cen- 
tral, East Pass, Walker's, Grantham, West Pass, White 
Water Brook, Head Station and Brighton. The main 
stations are Corbin's, Stockwell's (superintendent), David- 
son's (in charge of the west side of the mountain). In 
addition to the daily reports all station keepers must 
report immediately to the superintendent trespasses or 
any other information coming to their knowledge. The 
keepers have nice roomy cottages for their families and 
all are to be remodeled in Queen Anne style. They are 
located at different points of the forest just outside of 
the forest fence. 
A few of Mr. Corbin's friends have hunted during De- 
cember. They were mainly after "pig," but would take a 
deer or elk if they could get it. Five boars and three stag 
elk was the extent of the bag. Elk meat is much finer 
than deer, as it is not dry, but when properly cooked is as 
juicy as beef, and has a very pleasant flavor. The largest 
elk weighed 6001bs. when dressed. The wild boar meat is 
very firm and not so fat as that of the domestic animal. 
It has a peculiar flavor, which is attributable to the food it 
lives on, such as nuts, young roots, etc. It is decidedly a 
clean animal. It requires to be cooked in a quick oven 
and the smell caused by the process would make a mori- 
bund individual feel the pangs of hunger. One pig was 
250 and the other lOOlbs. The hunting party was com- 
posed of a member of the largest banking house in Lon- 
don; a well-known Scotchman, who is a great shot; Mr. 
Corbin and Mr. Edgell. The party traveled to the foot of 
the mountain in sleighs, halted on the east side, and tak- 
ing their guns and rifles, started into the brush. They 
had only gone a short distance when up jumped a Belgian 
hare, The Scotchman knocked it over with a bullet from 
his Winchester, but he regretted this shortly after when a 
small drove of boars were sighted, headed by a big male. 
The hunter crept slowly forward and when he had made 
a very fine sight pulled the trigger, but alas! there was no 
report. He had forgotten to remove the empty shell after 
shooting the hare, and he was almost inclined to be pro- 
BLTJE MOUNTAIN ELK. 
fane. The big pig and his fellows whisked their tails and 
vanished quickly, and the hunter lost his bacon. Hunters 
are prone to make merry at each other's mistakes, and 
much merriment was indulged in, which was cut short by 
the sudden descent of Mr. Edgell for a distance of about 
20ft., caused by a treacherous snowbank. The gentleman 
was kept busy for several minutes after he landed pick- 
ing the snow out of his eyes, ears, nose and gun, which 
was sticking stock uppermost about 5ft. away. When the 
operation was over he remarked, "Well, that's the first 
Corbin bank I ever knew to be unsafe." 
The experience gained by Mr. Corbin shows that large 
game will thrive in locations where the climate is reason- 
ably steady, and browse is to be found in quantities; 
also, that the elk and deer are the hardiest and most pro- 
lific; that the boar can find plenty of food in the brush; 
that the buffalo can be domesticated without much 
trouble; and that it takes a pile of money to carry out 
this idea, which the National Government, and each of 
the States and Territories, should have done for the pro- 
tection of large game long ago. 
The writer is of the opinion that it would be in order 
just now to pass laws which would prohibit the killing of 
large game for five years at least. This would keep not 
alone our so-called hunters at home, but the hundreds of 
foreigners, who make flying visits to America for no 
other purpose than to kill for the pleasure of killing (for 
which some of them are willing to go to the ends of the 
IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
earth), and who bring along an arsenal, ready to obliter- 
ate anything from an ant to a buffalo. The only redeem- 
ing quality they possess is, that they do not write articles 
for the magazines illustrated with pictures of impossible 
episodes, such as hunting moose in Canada, the hunters 
wearing summer costume and ungloved hands, or taking 
photographs of the same animals in places where they 
have not been seen for the past seven years or more. 
T. H. Ryan. 
Adirondack Mountain Reserve. 
Beedes, N.Y., March 1.— Adirondack Mountain Reserve 
was incorporated in 1887, and a.t once acquired title to 
Township No. 48, Totten and Crossfield's purchase, in the 
towns of Keene and North Hudson, Essex county, New 
York, containing over 28,000 acres of land and water. 
In the year 1890 some 1,600 acres, in various lots in said 
town of Keene, were purchased and added to the orig- 
inal property of this company. 
Township No. 48 was never subdivided into lots. It lies 
in one of the wildest and most picturesque regions of the 
Adirondack Mountains — a tract where nature has spread 
out beauty and grandeur with a lavish hand. The policy 
of the Reserve has been to keep its territory, especially 
said township, in its natural state so far as practicable — to 
preserve the lakes, streams and forests in their native 
beauty, and to protect the game thereon and stock its 
waters with trout. No timber is allowed to be cut except 
dead or fallen trees for fuel, and trees in the way of roads 
and for building camps. This tract, Township No. 48, 
retains in the main the original growth of trees, its for- 
63ts never having been given over to the lumberman's 
axe, and destruction by fire or water flooding has been 
remarkably slight. Situated as it is amid and containing 
within its boundaries some of the high mountains of the 
State, being well supplied with water and bearing a prim- 
eval growth of many kinds of trees, this territory affords 
ample shelter and choice homes for animals, birds and 
fishes, and is in fact by nature a veritable paradise for 
game. Mfcs. Marcy and Dix are upon its borders with 
summits just outside the lines, and Gothics, Haystack, 
Sebille, Noonmark and other lofty peaks stand within its 
lines. Its principal waters are the two lakes Au Sable, 
each two miles in length, with their outlet, a river of the 
same name; Elk Lake lies adjacent to and has an inlet of 
considerable water from its territory. Besides these there 
are other small ponds and many streams of worthy size. 
When the Adirondack Mountain Reserve was organized, 
one of its chief regulations was to allow no hunting, for 
several years at least, on the property, and to employ 
wardens to watch and protect the same. As a result, the 
game animals — the deer more particularly — have increased 
in numbers amazingly. Observations made now compared 
with those made in 1888 give unmistakable evidence of 
this. Then deer were found few in numbers, and hunters 
or those accustomed to going in the woods in these 
regions say deer were scarce. Now they are quite abun- 
dant, and it is safe to say the deer have increased tenfold 
in numbers here during the last seven years. At the 
Upper Au Sable Lake, in early summer, it is not an unus- 
ual sight to see from eight to twelve deer feeding on the 
lily pads near one spot. As many as fifteen have been 
seen at one view, and by taking a boat and passing for a 
mile along the favorite feeding grounds thirty deer have 
been seen in, a single morning or evening. The inlets to 
Au Sable and Eik lakes give excellent cover and feed for 
deer in either summer or winter. 
The deer seem to learn and know where hunting is not 
done, and hence go to and inhabit protected localities. 
When hunters in this section go out to start dogs they like 
AT SHORT RANGE. 
to get near the Reserve bounds, and they say the deer are 
more plenty there than in places where no protection has 
been given. There are many places on Reserve lands to- 
day where deer -are yarded by the deep snow, and they 
are taking care of themselves so far as the food question 
goes. The reports which have been circulated at different 
times by way of newspaper articles, "That the deer are 
starving and dying in the snows of the Adirondack 
regions," are not verified in this locality by those who 
know the facts. If dogs and poachers are kept out of the 
woods where deer stay in the winter, as a rule the deer 
will care for themselves and live through the hard times 
of snow. Occasionally one may die from starvation, but 
in the greatest number of cases when deer are found dead 
in the snow, the cause of death may be charged against 
men or dogs. 
Many deer when worried in deep snow by dogs will die 
if not bitten, and when one is bitten by a dog that deer 
rarely, if ever, lives long after. Old hunters contend, and 
maintain it with proof, that the bite of a dog kills a deer 
in 99 cases out of a 100. The day of wolves and panthers 
here is past, and the greatest foe with which the deer now 
have to contend is the dog. Keep the dogs chained up 
during the close seasons and the deer will fare better. If 
the law allows hunting of deer with dogs for a certain 
time, then mighty restrictions should be put upon the use 
of dogs out of season. Every dog, whether a hound or 
cur, which is allowed to be used in hunting deer should 
be licensed. The game laws should be so made as to com- 
pel, under heavy penalty, all persons who own or harbor 
dogs which will chase deer to procure a license which 
will allow the use of such dogs during the hounding sea- 
son only. Do not allow dogs which will chase deer at 
large, whether in forests where deer inhabit or any 
other place, except in the open season. Many a dog good 
in the race after a fox or rabbit is good also on the track 
of a deer, and hence much mischief. If you cannot draw 
the line with a dog between a fox and a deer — and you 
cannot, for it is only a step from the fox hole in the field 
to the deer shelter in the forest — then make the owners 
keep their dogs tied up except in the deer hounding 
period. Dozens of deer in Essex county every year are 
chased during the close season by dogs put but in fox 
hunts, and it is fair to presume that in other counties of 
the State dogs do the same thing. 
Of the fur- bearing animals bear are common in this 
region. In this county fifty bears are known to have been 
killed in 1894, and of these this section produced its fair 
proportion. 
Foxes, raccoons, mink and martens here are quite 
plenty. A fisher is seen occasionally and an otter rarely. 
Trapping to any extent has not been permitted on the 
Reserve. 
As to game birds in this section the partridge is the only 
I 
