Deo. 19, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
491 
month of September of this year to be numbered by the 
hundreds." 
(Here Dr. Warren quotes a number of newspaper arti- 
cles, showing that the fish laws are being violated in all 
parts of this State.) 
He continues: 
"This State has never deemed its game interests of 
value enough to have ever appropriated |I toward their 
{)rotection, and that the subject has been greatly neg- 
ected and misunderstood by those shaping the affairs of 
State there is no necessity of argument to prove. The 
writer is informed by one prominent in th« subject of 
game protection, that the members of the State Sports- 
men's Association are now securing statistics from each 
township in che State of the amount of game taken dur- 
ing this present gunning season. 
"Violations of the game laws are perhaps as numerous 
as are those of our fish laws, but their protection is not 
intrusted to any one in particular. Recently, in company 
with Game Commissioner C. K, Sober, of Lewisburg, the 
writer was tramping along a mountain road south of 
Pardee, Union county, and in a distance of not over three- 
fourths of a mile we found fifteen snares set (evidently 
from their large size) for wild turkeys. We also, on the 
same day, found three brush tui-key blinds. 
"Ferrets are so generally used in the pursuit of rabbits 
in some of our northern border couotiea that they are 
dubbed by the hunters 'punching sticks,' and a reliable 
gentleman informs the writer that it had been estimated 
that there were 200 of them owned in Wyoming county 
for this purpose. Deer licks, turkey blinds, quail traps, 
dead-falls, box traps, snares and ferrets all play an im- 
portant part in helping to depleSe our rapidly decreasing 
game supply. 
"In some quarters of our State quite a number of deer 
are taken out of season by hunters who watch for these 
animals at deer licks. The running of deer with dogs is 
also carried on to a considerable extent in several sections 
of the Commonwealth notwithstanding the fact that this 
is contrary to law." 
Williani M, Kennedy, Allegheny City; C, K. Sober, 
Lewisburg; I. A Scearns, Wilkes-B irre; Charles Heebner, 
Philadelphia; E, B, Westfall, Williamsport, and James 
H. Worden, Harrisburg, the new State Game Commis- 
sion, met here this afternoon for ororanization. Ex-Mayor 
Kennedy is president, and B, H. Warren, State Zoologist, 
was chosen temporary secretary. 
The Commission took up the subject of needed learisla- 
tion, and recommended the passage of three bills: Creat- 
ing a universal game season to extend from Oct. 15 to 
Dec, 15; to prohibit the sale of deer, wild turkeys, pheas- 
ants and quail killed ih this State; and to prohibit the 
transportation outside of the State of game shot here, 
A committee, consisting of James Worden, Harrisburg; 
Charles Heebner, Philadelphia; and Dr, B. H. WaiTen, 
was appointed to draft bills on the above-named recom- 
mendations. The next meeting will be held in this city 
on Dec. 29. 
GAME NOTES FROM NEW BRUNSWICK. 
Fredericton, N. B., Dec, 12. — The partridge season in 
this Province expired on Deo. 1, The export of this bird 
is now forbidden by law, as also the sale or shooting for 
purpose of sale. Amateur gunners, however, are more 
numerous than in former years, and as modern firearms 
are coming more and more in use in the rural districts 
the birds fly faster and further than ever before, As long 
as New Brunswick retains its present magnificent heritage 
of virgin wilderness there is not much danger of the 
grouse becoming a thing of the past. In the cities and 
larger towns a considerable number were sold this season 
contrary to law. 
Deer are multiplying so rapidly in this Province that, 
with reasonable protection in the winter months, they 
may in a few years be as plentiful as in Maine, Among 
the fortunate local marksmen are R, T, Mack, Will 
Chestnut, Sirg. Walker, Private Girvey and the under- 
signed. Rjports from the interior of the Province — 
from the Miramichi, Tobique, Nepisiquit and other 
regions already renowned for the presence of moose and 
caribou— indicate that dear are now plentiful where they 
have not been seen for a quarter of a century. It was 
only about three weeks ago that the veteran hunter and 
guide, Henry Braithwaite, who has killed more moose, 
caribou and bears in the last thirty years than he will 
ever be able to count up, shot his first deer near Little 
Sou' west Lake, It must bave made Henry smile. 
John Bodkin returned the other day from East Brook 
Plains with the venerable guide Joe Mitchell, Mr. Bodkin 
shot a bull caribou, the only one he saw. He states that 
forest fires have driven the game out of that section of 
country. 
Arthur Pringle, of Wayerton, the well-known guide, 
has had excellent luck this fall. Messrs. Slack and Holmes, 
of Brookline, Mass., who went with him to the head- 
waters of the Nor' west, crowded the game law rather 
close with four moose and six caribou. The genial "Bob" 
Armstrong, of Newcastle, then tried his luck and secured 
two fine caribou and a bear. Mr. Tarn bull, of Halifax, I 
believe, secured a small moose on the last day of his trip. 
Will Chestnut returned on the 7ch from a very enjoy- 
able cruise with Henry Braithwaite. Will is going to 
tell Forest and Stream all about it, so I will merely 
remark that he brought down a moose, a caribou and a 
deer. Will is the best amateur woodsman I know of, 
cheerful, energetic and observant. 
Caribou, for some reason or other, have been ranging 
closer to the settlements than usual. A few weeks ago 
seven of them appeared on the bank of the S">u'west at 
Boiestown within rifle shot of Duffy's hotel. Since then 
another drove appeared and three of them were shot by 
Al. Mead on the highway road. 
From the standpoint of the sportsman who wants big 
game the crying need of New Brunswick is reliable, ex- 
perienced guides. There are plenty of hunters, but very 
few, so far as my observation goes, who know how to 
properly look after the comfort of the sportsman. As for 
the Indian guides, some of them are fairly good men, but 
the visitor will need to lock upliis wet groceries in a 
burglar-proof safe. Naw Brunswick is now the best 
country in America for moose and caribou. It wUl 
certainly be invaded in the course of the next few years 
by an army of big-game hunters. The resident popula- 
tion will reap the benefit financially, but will not regard 
the invasion as an unmixed blessing. The untouched 
wilderness of New Brunswick, however, is so vast, and 
its game supply so great, that I do not thmk all the moose 
and caribou that are likely to be killed by sportsmanlike 
methods in the fall of the year for a long time to come 
will produce any scarcity of game. It is the crust- hunt- 
ing by loggers, gummers and Indians out of season that 
calls loudly for the attention of our legislators, 
Hunter Selick, who lives near Moncton, has sold two of 
his herd of domesticated moose, which have been shipped 
to Providence, R I., to be placed in a park there. It is 
said he received $700 for the pair. 
Albert Perkins returned the other day from the head- 
waters of the Tobique, where he was engaged with a sur- 
veying party. They shot several caribou with a .44-40 
rifle, but when they put two bullets into a bear which 
they discovered devom-ing a caribou, the bear walked off 
in his usual health, 
Fred and Tennyson Vanwart, of Hampstead, captured 
a deer on the ice on Dec. 7. Fred fired three shots with- 
out stopping the deer, whereupon Tennyson, having a 
pair of skates with him, put them on and gave chase on 
the glare ice. The deer gave his pursuer a hot race, but 
finally slipped and was held by Tennyson until Fred 
arrived and gave him a finishing shot. 
Harry Atherton joined the charmed circle of the 
chosen ones yesterday by dropping a fine buck and doe 
while hunting on the Han well with his friend George 
Hoegg and your correspondent. Harry is our finest 
wing shot, and he downed both of these deer on the run 
with a .33-20 Winchester. Frank H. Ristben. 
BOSTON NOTES. 
Boston, Dec. la. — Boston deerslayers continue to be 
heard from. W, B, Wadsworth passed through Boston 
the other day with a handsome buck, shot on the Cupsup- 
tic River in the neighborhood of Billy Soule's camps, 
where Mr. W. was stopping at the time. Carrabassett, 
Me., is contributing a good deal of big game to the city 
sportsmen this season. W, P, Corson, A. S. Martin and 
A. S, Cowles, with O. B. Wood, came out from Gold- 
smith's camps on Poplar Mountain recently with four 
deer. Dr. L. F, Criado, with his son, and H, P. Williams 
have each obtained buck deer. Dr. Wood shot his two 
deer this fall. He visited the Aroostook country. He 
tells a good story of a young hunter who was fond of 
shooting partridges with a small rifle. He was out from 
camp after such game, having a .22-caliber repeating rifle. 
Something jumped up from behind a big windfall. It 
was a buck caribou. The young fellow let him have one 
shot, and the animal jumped up again. As he was in the 
air the third shot met him. This time he was hard hit, 
and fell down dead. The caribou weighed between 300 
and 400lbs. 
I met a gentleman yesterday who says that he "has it 
pretty straight" from Game Commissioner Carlton that 
he is bound to do all in his power to stop the hunting 
of Maine's big game out of season, and by the rich, who 
do not mind the fines if they happen to get caught. 
"We shall ask the Legislature this winter to make the 
penalty for killing moose illegally absolute imprisonment 
— no fines about it. The rich poacher cares little for the 
fines if he can kill his moose and get the head. Absolute 
imprisonment wUl be likely to cast something of a gloom 
over the conduct of the poacher with a plenty of money." 
Mr. Carlton is in favor of shortening the season on moose 
to one month — November only. There is a good deal of 
sentiment in favor of opening a part of September for the 
killing of deer, taking off equally as much from the end 
of the season — December. Laws concerning the market- 
men are also to be changed, possibly requiring them to 
have a license in order to deal in game, which license 
they will forfeit if they attempt to ship game illegally 
out of the State, "If caught violating the game laws 
they should be prohibited from doing further business." 
My informant also believes the Commission to be medi- 
tating upon the plan of forbidding the carrying of rifles 
into the State during the close season on big game. Citi- 
zens of the State must have licenses in order to be allowed 
to carry guns during the close time on game. A man or 
boy may have a gun in hand in order to shoot a bear or 
a hen hawk, but not to shoot deer or partridges. 
Carefully watching, I have found several instances of 
deer arriving from Maine into the markets here. Bat so 
many hunters are selling their deer, and ordering them 
straight into the^ands of the marketmen, by way of the 
American Express, that it is very diflS.cult tracing game 
that is illegally killed and shipped. It is certain that no 
sportsman who goes into the Maine woods in any sort of 
deer section need come home without one, for there will 
be a number killed ready for him. He may buy one and 
forward it directly to some marketman, and the law is 
almost powerless to stop it. He may arrange to bring a 
deer to the Boston market for some guide or hunter he 
happens to meet on his trip; and it would not be easy for 
the wardens to detect any thing illegal about the shipment. 
The American Express Co. has it in its power to aid the 
Commission greatly in enforcing the non-shipment-of- 
game law, but it would seem that the position of that 
company is to make the last dollar there is out of Maine 
game. The hunter who jwould honestly bring out his 
game is forced to put it into the hands of that company, 
which holds a complete monopoly of that class of trans- 
portation. The revenue from that source this year is a 
great one, and it would seem to be the least that that com- 
pany could do would be to discourage illegal shipment of 
game. I am not certain as to the exact position of the 
American Express Co. in this matter, but prominent 
sportsmen and merchants tell me that everything offered 
for transportation is being received. 
It seems that the Dr. Robbins moose, already mentioned 
in the Forest and Stream, was really a monster. It was 
certainly the largest killed this year, and one of the larg- 
est ever taken. Dr. E. D Robbins and Thomas Dickson, 
his partner on the hunting expedition, were absent on 
the shoot about three weeks. Forty miles north of Ox- 
bow, on the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, they were 
about as far north as any hunters have penetrated thus far. 
The big moose was killed by two shots from Dr. Robbins's 
rifle. He measured, as he lay on the ground, 21 hands 
from his toes to the top of the shoulder. His length was 
10ft. from the nose to the end of the hip. His antlers had 
a spread of 50in, , with 13 prongs on one and 13 on the other. 
The guide estimated that he was from nine to twelve 
years old. The small moose was a beauty; clean and 
very black. Both males were with cows at the time they 
were shot. The cows put up their heads in blind aston- 
ishment, evidently, when their partners fell; but, getting 
the scent of the hunters, they were quickly off like the 
wind. Special, 
Game Protection on the Eastern Shore. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It may be of interest to your many readers to be in- 
formed in regard to the game laws of Virginia. In but 
few cases do such laws apply to the entire State; instead, 
they are enacted to suit the different sections and to pro- 
tect such game as may be found in such sections. Hence 
our game laws are more special than general. ' 
Wild turkeys abound in the more western localities; so 
with deer. This game is amply protected, so that each of 
these sorts of game has largely increased within the last, 
few years. 
The act passed by our Legislature Jan. 27, 1896, pro- 
hibits the killing of quail anywhere in the State for two 
years from the passage of the act, under a penalty of $10 
fine for each offense; having or being in possession of the 
birds being prima facie evidence of guilt. Rabbits can- 
not be shot between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15 of any year. 
All egg-laying coast birds, the marsh hen, gull, strik- 
er, willet, etc., are well protected; the taking of their 
eggs being confined to very narrow limits during summer, 
while the killing in the case of the marsh hen and wiUet 
is greatly restricted, the destruction of the gull and 
striker being entirely so. 
The Eastern Shore Game Association (this applies to the 
counties of Accomac and Northampton only) have done 
and are doing more for the protection of our sea coast 
waterfowl than has yet been done. The Association is an 
incorporated body, having full power to enact laws for 
the furtherance of the end in view, and which do not 
conflict with the constitution of the State, The fee re- 
quired for membership is $3 for residents and $5 for non-- 
residents, with an additional annual fee of $3, This fund 
is employed in payment of a regularly equipped force, 
who patrol our bays and narrows during the duck shoot- 
ing season to make arrests in case of traps or lights or the 
shooting of birds during night, or the having in possession 
any arm that could not be shot from the shoulder without 
a rest. The Afesociation received its charter under act of 
March 5, 1894, and even for so short a time we find our 
waters as to the duck family of birds decidedly more 
populous. If the increase continues our broad waters 
and narrows will afford the best field for duck shooting 
sport anywhere to be found along our coast. 
Lighting, night shooting and trapping will very soon 
drive the game away. Under such conditions our gam^ 
supply, especially of ducks, grew very scarce at one time, 
and but for timely measures would in but a few years 
have been entirely gone, T. G. E. 
KKiiBR, Va., Dec. 7. 
< A Maryland Game Country. 
Stockton, Worcester County, Md., Dec. 8. — ^The farmers 
in this section top and blade all their corn, then husk it 
from the standing stalks; as a result lots of shattered 
grains fall around each hill, and the ground where the 
corn is thrown in a pile is literally covered. The quail 
soon found this out and abandoned the stubbles and waste 
land for the cornfields; they run out from the woods and 
thickets, fill themselves in less than a half hour and then 
go back to the woods until evening. Our shooting here 
this season has all been done in the woods, and although 
we put up from six to fourteen coveys every day, the best 
bag yet in a morning has been fourteen birds to one gun. 
There is no pot-shooting in this; all depends onthestanch- 
ness of your dog and your skill in handling your gun. 
Nearly all who have tried it here express themselves 
better pleased with their good shooting than they would 
be with twice the number of birds killed in the open 
stubble. 
Geese are very plentiful, are in splendid order and un- 
usually large for young birds, weighing from 9 to llilbs. 
Brant are here in good numbers, but are decoying poorly; 
the bunches appear to be more than half old birds. They 
turn and circle around often a dozen times before giving 
you any chance at all, and by night your throat is all 
cracked up calling. We have had such a warm, calm 
fall that the redheads have not yet come to the shoals; 
they appear to be still in the fresh-water bays and rivers. 
Bluabills, whistlers and other small ducks are here in num- 
bers and are making fair shooting. 
I have never seen Coopar's hawk and the sharp-shinned 
hawk as plentiful as they have been here this season, and 
I think this is one reason the birds held so close to the 
thickets. I would not like to say how many have been 
killed since the season opened, for the number runs over 
100 in this neighborhood alone, and still you can see them 
beating the edges of the woods and thickets. 
There has been an unusual number of woodcock here 
this fall, but as yet no jacksnipe on the marshes. 
O. D. FOTJIiKS, 
Hunter's liuck. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of the Slat ult, is a letter under the above 
heading signed by Jacobstaff and reciting what he con- 
siders a good joke on Dr. Levering— one of his hunting 
party — because he did not shoot at a supposed bear, as he 
thought it was the hunter's dog. All honor to Dr. Lever- 
ing, and may he some day happen into our county and 
in my neighborhood, where I can show him how at least 
one hunter can appreciate him. Would that we had 
more like him. Four years ago at Lake Rosseau, in the 
Muskoka I-ake district, I was hunting near some gentle- 
men from Naw York. They had Monteith's dog — every" 
one knew what a fine fellow he was. The New York 
Doctor was on guard, and the Doctor in the excitement 
shot the dog as he jumped over a log. This is a true case 
and can be vouched for. I have had the ground plowed 
up at my heels; I have had the shot whistle passing my 
head, and have hunted with the fool that carries a double- 
barreled shotgun on his shoulder, both barrels at full cock; 
and I will always feel thankful for the opportunity this 
letter gives me of paying a tribute to a careful man who 
will not be foolhardy for fear of being laughed at. There 
is too much of this quick shooting without being sure 
what you are shooting at. F. E. Galbraith. 
Haldake Hill, Ontario. 
The FoEKST AND STREAM is put to prcss each weeJt on 
Tuesday, Correspondence intended for puMieation 
should reach us at the latest by Monday, a/nd as nrnch 
earlier as pratMcaMe. 
