Jan. 28, 1897.] 
69 
AN ARKANSAS OUTING. 
A JOLLY company of twenty good and true sportsmen 
have recently had a nice trip to Mississippi county, Ark., 
for the purpose of chasing the wi d deer, possuoa and the 
coon. They had good luck and lots of fun. They killed 
ten deer, twenty or more turkeys, arms full of squirrels, 
scads of fish, and everything else they wanted. 
The crowd was composed of men from Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Missouri and Illinois; with preachers, doctors, 
lawyers, tobacconists, bankers, railroad men, druggists, 
and farmers, as to their avocations; and with Baptists, 
Methodists, Presbyterians, and Campbellites, as to their 
religion; and with Democrats, Republicans, Populists, and 
Prohibitionists, as to their politics; and both married and 
unmarried men as to their domestic relations; and a 
sober, decent, civil crowd in every respect as to their be- 
havior. Of course we had a good time with such a 
company. 
On the first morning after our arrival in camp we scat- 
tered out over the woods, and before 9 o'clock that 
morning had a nice deer hanging up in camp. When all 
hands had reported for the rest of the night we found we 
had two deer, ten turkeys, about SOlbs. of fish, lots of 
equirrels, some opossums and raccoons — plenty of meat to 
do us most of the two weeks we expected to be in camp. 
We had no dogs with us, and did not undertake to run 
the deer. What success we had came from the skill of 
the sportsmen as they still-hunted through the swampg. 
We found the residents of that section very bitterly op- 
posed to the running of dogs, and as we want to go again 
mto that same section we sought to create no prejudice 
against ourselves by our conduct. The day for the 
hounding of deer in Arkansas has about passed. The 
citizens will not suffer it. Those who run their dogs there 
now will do so at the risk of the dog's life, for they will 
kill such as run in the woods. 
We found game very plentiful. I suppose I am safe in 
saying that we did not hunt one single day that we saw 
less than twenty-five deer, and sometimes as many as 
fifty. We killed ten that we got, and seriously wounded 
some that we did not get. We got all we wanted and 
became indifferent about killing more. The wild turt^eys 
were very numerous. We kept no count of the exact 
number we did kill. The woods were torn up by the 
turkeys everywhere we hunted. It has possibly been 
many years since this noble bird could be found in such 
great abundance in any section of this country. But the 
light rains, and freedom from great overflows in the river 
for several seasons, are no doubt the reasons of the abun- 
dance of game. The laws for a close season on game in 
Arkansas are being closely observed, and this contributes 
in no small degree to the supply of wild animals. A few 
more years of such protection and good breeding seasons, 
and Arkansas will be the game paradise of the whole 
nation. 
These annual outings are greatly enjoyable to over- 
worked men, and our crowd will go again next year into 
the same locality, for we ask for nothing better, 
J. N. Hall. 
Kwrvcsx. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Texas Deer. 
'Near San Marcos, Tex., a deer has just been killed 
which has a seventeen-point set of antlers. The head is 
■on exhibition. 
At Encinal, near Laredo, market-hunters have killed 
seventy deer in four days. This is no guess and no ex- 
aggeration. One train took sixty deer out for this party. 
My informant says, "We Texans depend on Forest and 
•■fSTREAM to kick long and loud, and so formulate a strong 
ipapular opinion, for we intend to go to hanging a few 
market-hunters before long." I wish they would. We 
would mourn their vacant chairs, but we would try to 
tatruggle along without them for a while. 
Advice on Camping Out. 
I have just been reading a nice green book on camping 
out, written by an Englishman. That is, I read it up to 
the place where the man said any camping party would 
find a pair of bellows an indispensable article in building 
ttie fire. I didn'i read anymore after that. Wby, oht 
why was man given his old hat, if not to blow the fire 
therewith? And why, oh! why do men write things, as 
the bellows advice, anyhow? 
Moose and Buffalo Coat. 
Mr, Thomas Johnson writes from Winnipeg that he is 
corning doven to Portage, Wis., this winter to curl a few 
lines when the ice gets good, and that then he wUl come 
to Caicago. I hope he will bring his curling iron along 
and mate himself at home. 
Mr. Johnson sends in the story of a moose, a tame 
moose, not a wild one, which recently attacked a Winni- 
peg gentleman who was going by wrapped up in a big 
butf aIo coat. It evidently took him for some strange and 
dangerous creature, and before it got done with him there 
came near being material for a funeral, and it wasn't a 
moos'i funeral either. 
Tennessee Quail. 
Messrs. 0. S. Wilcox and Walter Dupee, both of this 
city, will start soon for a Tennessee quail hunt, going to 
Trenton, that State,, where they anticipate a pleasant 
time. 
Garden City Club. 
Garden City Club, of Chicago, holds its annual meeting 
this week. It has a membership of neary eighty, and is 
one of the largest of the Chicago shooting clubs. 
E, Hough. 
1206 BoYCE BuiLoiNS, Chicago. 
Vermont Game^ Modes and Seasons. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
On looking over the game laws recently passed by our 
Legislature one finds but little to give promise of a very 
marked increase in the game supply for 1897. I find only 
two new points worthy of mention; one is that the fine 
for killing pheasants has been increased from $10 to $85 
for each bird killed; the second, a provision prohibiting 
the shooting of ducks with the aid of jacks or artificial 
light. We would be pleased to learn why this was not 
carried a little further to prohibit all night shooting for a 
lUme, aUowicg our northeixt ilight ot ducks a chance to 
feed on the marshes that nearly every fall yield a large 
crop of wild oats. 
As the law now stands, night shooting is practiced on 
these marshes from the beginning of open season (and 
before) until the grounds are frozen over. The result of 
this is plain. Very few of the ducks shot at are brought 
to bag, but many are crippled and the rest are soon driven 
away. 
Another law could have been passed which would have 
been of great benefit to the game supply in this part of 
the State, viz., to prohibit the use of dogs for hunting 
birds, for five years at least. I do not know of a sports- 
man's dog (pointer or setter) for a radius of ten miles 
from here, but nearly every man is the possessor of from 
one to three yelping spaniels or cur dogs, which are 
brought into use as soon as the birds are large enough to 
take wing, and the grouse are continually hunted, being 
shot out of trees like chickens off a roost. Not contented 
with killing every ruffed grouse, the poacher with his dog 
is often seen in the covers frequented by pheasants, and 
many of them are bagged too. To prohibit the use of the 
dog means an increase in marked degree to our pheas- 
ants, for in a cover selected by them it is seldom one is 
flushed without a dog. I am credibly informed that in a 
village of a few hundred inhabitants not many miles 
from here ruffed grouse were brought in in such numbers 
that the supply was much greater than the demand (at 50 
cents per pair), and many shipments were made to other 
places. So much for a dog, gun and game hog. 
Let us hope that the State League will see that a change 
is needed, and take a hand in the matter before it's too 
late. Ferris. 
Game Protection by Button. 
Stamford, Conn. — Editor Forest and Stream: I am 
and always have been interested in reading the multitude 
of letters published in your valuable paper in relation to 
the preservation of our stock of game, and I confess that 
it amuses me in some cases to read some of the plans and 
devices advocated to accomplish that end. Not that I do 
not believe that they are honestly meant to meet the re- 
quirements of the case, but at the impracticability of 
some of them. 
Now I do not think I will live long enough to ever see 
your plank nailed down, but there can be no harm in 
keeping the question agitated. 
Everything must have a beginning, and I propose you 
make the start in this case by securing the aid of a few 
well-known sportsmen in your city and forming a society 
or organization, the motto of which shall be, "Sell no 
Game." Let the membership fee be $1— or whatever you 
may decide. Every applicant for membership sending in 
his fee to receive a badge or button, to be inscribed with 
the motto of the brotherhood, and also dated the year it 
is issued. These buttons could be gotten up at a small 
expense — say 10 or 15 cents each— the balance of the fee 
to go to paying the salary of a secretary, whose duty it 
shall be to keep track of the members and keep them 
posted on all matters that may interest them; at the end 
of the year a new button to be issued upon the payment 
of dues. In unity there is strength, and I think it will 
surprise some people to find how many buttons will be 
worn. If nothing else comes from it, we at least will 
know when we meet a man in the woods or fields 
whether he is a butcher or a sportsman, Connecticut. 
[It would be more effective to fasten the buttons on to 
the game.] 
A Bear's Vitality. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
About three months ago there was a deal of argument 
over the question as to which was the best cartridge for 
big-game shooting. I have heard many hunters give 
their opinions on this subject myself, and while they 
don't all agree on the cartridge and gun, the general idea 
is: A big, heavy gun and a cartridge with from 70 to 
120gr8. of powder and a good, heavy ball. 
I always leaned toward a 45 90 myself, and my belief 
has been materially strengthened by some news I heard 
the other day. 
Two men living near town went up in the Sierras on a 
deer hunt. Both had '86 model Winchesters, one a . 38- 56 
and the other .38-70. They were hunting quite a distance 
from camp when they spied a large brown bear about 
50yds. off and began firing at once, when, to their 
surprise, the bear started for them on a dead run. 
They didn't stop to think much about this, however, 
but pumped the lead into the old fellow as fast as they 
could, and as a result he dropped dead within 20ft. 
of them, and just as they wfre about to run. 
After they had cooled off a little they examined the 
carcass, and found that of the eleven shots fired every 
one had passed through the body, and the first one had 
pierced both heart and liver. 
Now, as some hungers say, a .44 may be large enough to 
hunt bear and moose with, but when I shoot a bear 
through the heart I want him to die before he eats me up. 
Walrod. 
New York Free Lectures. 
New York furnishes an example to other American 
cities by her liberal-minded enterprise in conducting a 
course of free lectures for the people, which, while in- 
tended primarily for the benefit of working men and 
working women, are of such a character that no one can 
fail to be entertained and instructed. 
The work is carried on by the Board of Education, and 
an idea of its scope may be gathered from the fact that 
during the present season 300 lecturers will speak on 
various topics to audiences that in the aggregate will 
number nearly half a million persons. 
This winter Dr. Leipziger, supervisor of lectures, aims 
to make American subjects the feature of the course; and 
along with American history, biography and kindred 
subjects, American sport is given a place. Among the 
names of lecturers familiar to readers of the Forest and 
Stream are those of Mr. Fred Mather and Dr. Bashford 
Dean, who lecture on "Fish and Fisheries;" Mr. F. M. 
Chapman, whose subject is "Birds;" and Mr. R. L. Dit- 
mars, "Snakes;" Mr. J. B. Burnham, "Camp Life and 
Hunting;" Mr. H. L. Bridgman, G. O. Shields, Hon. 
Theo. Roosevelt and others. 
It is worth noting that while these lectures are not the 
least instructive of the course they are among the most 
popular, proving that the love of nature and outdoor life 
IS common to all — even to those who are cut cff from 
active partioipa.tipn ia the pleasureji of field and stream, 
Maine Guide Licenses. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
I notice in issue of your paper the question brought up 
of licensing guides in Maine. I wrote on this subject 
about three years ago, in the Phillips Phonograph, At 
that time the idea was not received with favor, but senti- 
ment ia changing. It is the best plan that has been 
offered, and the State should handle such matters and no 
special favors be shown. 
To protect the best interests of all concerned, all guides 
should pass an examination, and if fully qualified should 
take out a license; and then aliens, non-residents, boys 
and every stranger could not, on short notice, palm 
themselves on sportsmen as full-fledged guides on the 
strength of having worked in the country a month or so. 
The best guides stand the best show, you may say. 
Not in all sections, for sportsmen are not all in love with 
one particular spot (if it suits them ever so well wh le 
there,) but are looking for the ideal. A few come season 
after season, and the old guides are always employed by 
them; but the newcomers, not being posted, cannot tell 
on short notice one grade of guide from another. So 
sometimes their outing is a failure, and they give the 
whole section a bad name, not realizing just where the 
blame belongs. Licensing the guides will not prevent 
our order being formed ; our association will be needed 
just the same to see that the law of license is complied 
with, and to many other matters of importance. Protec- 
tion must be had in many channels of the sporting busi- 
ness, and Maine, as a State, can afford to show a greater 
money interest in a business that brings a number of 
million dollars to the inhabitants every year. 
It is said by some of those against a license law that we 
must work some new guides in. Of course; but let it be 
understood that they are new and learning, and not glut 
the market with half-learned men and boys, while guides 
that have grown old in the business are forced to stand 
back'. Let the beginners be taken from the guides' own 
families and from the families of the old residents, as they 
are mostly natural woodsmen, and learn the A B 0 of 
woodcraft while boys on the farm. 
Maine, license your guides. 
Guides, join your interests. 
H. R, HORTON, Guide. 
EcsTifi, Maine. 
Where are the Ducks? 
Stockton, Md., Jan. 10.— So far we have had the poor- 
est ducking year ever known in Chincoteague Bay. 
There are miles and miles of shoals, rich with grasses the 
wildfowl love so well, and the weather all a man could 
wish for, but there is hardly a duck on the wing. Why 
should these thousands of acres of choice feeding ground 
be abandoned to geese and brant? We have had the 
finest goose shooting anyone could ask for. A long series 
of east winds and high tides drove them from the shoals 
to the island ponds, making from sundown to dark 
shooting that all who were in it will remember. Every 
evening for over a week we scored from five to fourteen 
geese to the gun, all large, fine, and very fat. But the 
ducks! Last year thousands of redheads and bluebills 
blackened the shoals in every direction, bunch after 
bunch trading through the great coast bays. From Isle 
of Wight to Cobb's Island, between eighty and ninety 
miles of bays and shoals were covered with a restless, 
changing flight of wildfowl. Wh^re are they? I have 
looked carefully in Forest and Stream for some word 
from the many piints and bays of the Eistern shore, but 
find almost notning ab)ut the wildfowl. I think our 
pap3r is intended to throw light on just such strange 
movements of game as this case presents, for there is no 
doubt that a cause exists for the quick passing of the 
great body of redheads and bluebills. Coots and squaw 
ducks are in countless nuoabers, but we do not bother 
them. There are also a good number of whistlers and 
dippers, but the fine ducks — the choice ones — the red- 
heads and bluebills are not here. O. D. Foulks. 
William Lyman. 
Editor Forest and Stream: •* 
I have not been so saddened for years past as I was by 
the announcement of the death of Wm. Lyman in your 
paper of Dac. 26. Although we had occasionally corre- 
sponded upon ine subject of rifla pights, I never had the 
pleasure of seeing Mr Lvman until the autumn of 1895. 
He was then on a visit to E irope. and I went to London 
in order to become personally acquainted with him. We 
spent a long evening together discussing various matters 
connected with firearms, and also social and political 
questions, upon most of which we found our opinions to 
be very similnr. 
As long as the rifl i continues to be used for either war 
or eporting purposes, the name of Mr, Lyman will be 
remembered for his great improvements in the method of 
sighting it. His last invention of a rear aperture sight 
will, I fully believe, have more effect in increasing 
the deadliness of infantry fire than that caused by the 
change from muzzle to breech- loading. It may indeed, 
in combination with smokeless powder and other modern 
improvements, ultimately produce a revolution in war of 
which few people have at present any conception 
J. J. Meyrick. 
Dkvonshirk, England^ 
loD^a Game and Fish. 
ESTHERVILLB, la., Jan. 11. — I am pleased to state that 
prairie chickens and quail hava been increasing during 
the last few dry seasons, ducks aad geese being scarce. 
We have had some very favorable legislation for the 
protection of our fish during the last two years, and stand 
a good show to have our fish preserved for legitimate 
sport, instead of being sacrificed to the greed of the pro- 
fessional fish hog, with his seine and dynamite. Mr. 
Delevan, State Fish Cnmmissioner, is doing good work in 
this line, and deserves the support and assistance of every 
true sportsman in the State. E. H. S. 
Quail in South Carolina. 
Cherokee Inn, Blacksburg, S C, Jan. 11 —Quail are 
superabundant here, and fields have been shot over very 
little. Any one seeking sport in this linp can feel assured 
of finding it here. G. H. Gbeenh. 
The FoBBST AND Stream ia put to preaa each weeh on Tuetdcm 
U<yrreapondence intmclfid for publication should reach V9 di <A» 
lataat.by Monday, and attaucih Mvlier at praetieabk, 
