) 146 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 21, 1897. 
course of her meandering. So each had recorded not merely 
a fragment of its life's history, but something of its traits. 
With thoughts which were but a boy's thoughts, not 
dwelling much on either, but more on the duck prospects of 
Louis Creek, I entered the deepest shade of the hemlocks 
where the raccoon family had turned aside to their home, 
and the fox had goue his pathless way into the forest depths, 
when a large bird flew noiselessly downward, alighted in the 
road not 20yds. before me, and at once began rapidly pick- 
ing the leaves of some low ground plants Tbebird bore 
the crest, the ruff, the broad tail, and the colors of a ruffed 
grouse, yet I could scarcely believe my e} es when these 
proofs of its identity were forced upon me, against the one 
fact of noiseless flight which was quite at variance with my 
previous experience. At any rate it was enough like a par- 
tridge to be worth shooting, and to that purpose I sacrificed 
the rare opportunity of observing a grouse feeding undis- 
turbed by the presence of an enemy. But at my first motion, 
slow and cautious as it was, the alert bird became aware of 
me, and burst away with a roar of pinions that dispelled the 
last doubt of his personahty, while with flurried aim my 
shot went wide of the vanishing mark and I was served as I 
deserved, though I did not then recognize the justice of it. 
No more grouse came to be looked at as 1 foiloWed the 
road which led me, in a long, irregular curve, among trees 
apparently as old as the earth they grew upon, to an old 
clearing, now reclothed with a flourishing growth of gray 
birches and an undergi'owth of ferns, save on the smooth 
circular sites of former coal pits. In one of these scenes of 
a past generation's labor, further memorialized by a level 
sward of English grass and clover, a fox had made a bur- 
row, and the yellow earth thrown out at the several entrances 
. was mixed with fragments of charcoal — all bestrewn with 
the litter of Madame Vixen's kitchen middens. Wings and 
bones of wild and tarne fowl, the shanks of a lamb and pads 
of a hare, showed that the provision for her young family 
had been abundant and various. 
Here I left the road and attempted a short cut to my pros- 
pective hunting ground. Stooping to avoid the numerous 
dead lower branches of the birches as I waded hip-deep 
through the ferns, 1 deviated from my intended course, but 
did not become aware of it until I saw the sheen of water 
close before me beneath a patch of open sky. 
It was not the creek, but a narrower bit of water quite new 
to me, inclosed on one side by a dense thicket of button 
bushes, on the other by a sloping bank bearing an under- 
growth of alders and some higher wood, most conspicuous of 
which were an oak and a lofty pepperidge. It was the 
deadwater of an old channel, but its surface was stirred by 
something which I could not see moving upon it, and I 
crept cautiously to a point that gave me a view of almost 
its whole length. 
Then what I beheld nearly took my breath away. The 
little lagoon swarmed with woodducks, some in rows on the 
many mossy old logs that lay athwart and along it, some 
comfortably asleep, wxth head indrawn or tucked under a 
wing, some preening their gay plumage, some standing up- 
right to stretch their wings, while the water was alive with 
otiers, indolently swimming to and fro, seaming the duck- 
weed with innumerable aqueous paths, or nibbling the 
water, or thrusting their heads beneath it, and all in aban- 
donment to a perfect sense of security that it was cruel to 
disturb. 
But no emotion of pity softened the youthful savagery of 
my heart. It beat only with the joy of great discovery — the 
chance of a lifetime that lay before me. It beat so vehe- 
mently that it is a wonder I so much as hit the pool, to sav 
nothing of hitting one of the uncounted dozen of duck's 
ranged on the nearest log, for whom my aim was intended- 
yet I saw three tumble helplessly from tbeir perch, and when 
with a roar of wings that was like a prolongation of the re- 
port of my gun, innumerable ducks arose and filled the air 
before me, 1 fired wildly into it, two more chance-stricken 
victims of the aimless shot plunged back into the troubled 
water. The ducks seemed unable to realize that this safe re- 
treat had been discovered and invaded by a cruel, relentless 
foe, for they continued to circle and hover over it till with 
trembling hands, in more haste than speed, I reloaded my 
gun, and grown cool enough to select single birds, brought 
down one with each barrel. 
Then the last and boldest lingerer reluctantly departed, 
and the silence of desertion fell upon the place, except as I 
splashed and poked about it to secure my game; and with a 
view to future onslaughts, made a path for a stealthy ap- 
proach, clearing away every sprout and dry twig that might 
swish or snap a signal of alarm. There was not a sign to 
show that the place was ever visited by any one else, and I 
congratulated myself on possessing sole knowledge of its ex- 
istence. 
Many a day thereafter I went to it alone, guided from afar 
by the oak and pepperidge, which, towering above the sec- 
ond growth, were unmistakable landmarks, whether in leaf- 
age of green or scarlet and brown, or in gray nakedness ; and 
while I kept my secret seldom was a visit unrewarded by at 
least one shot at wood ducks, or later in the season at the 
larger and warier dusky ducks, which haunted the seques- 
tered slough until it was frozen. 
But in an evil hour I disclosed it, under promise of secrecy, 
to a faithless friend after an unsuccessful day with him on 
the two creeks. It was not long before the path was worn 
by the frequent tread of other feet than mine, and ducks 
began to be shy of a retreat that no longer promised rest and 
safety. In two years it was common to every gunner in the 
neighborhood, and worth no one's while to visit. 
As one still searches for something lost past all hope of 
finding, so was I now and then drawn thither, but never to 
find more than a solitary heron standing like a gray statue in 
the desolate slough, or a lone sandpiper skirting the low 
shore, or perchance a muskrat channeling the duckweed with 
Ms silent wake. 1 had given away my discovery only to 
Lave it made worthless. Row^land E, Egbinson. 
A Stupid Blunder. 
Harbis-stxle, N. T., Aug. 10. — Editor Forest a7id Stream: 
1 notice an error on page 43 of Oatne Laws in Brief, just re- 
ceived. Sec. 40 says the open season for deer is Aug. 15 to 
Nov. 15. Sec. 41 says possession only from Aug. 16 to Oct. 
31. How are we allowed to kill and not possess? Please ex- 
plain and correct. G. W. H. 
[The Brief gives the law precisely as it is in the original. 
The last Legislature amended the dates in See. 40 relative to 
hunting season, but neglected to amend Sec. 41 relative to 
possession. If the Brief had the original drafting of the 
game and fish laws they would be free from many other 
blunders quite as stupid this one in the New York deer 
law.] 
LAYING IN WINTER'S BEAR GREASE. 
Editor F&rest and Stream: 
I HAVE read in your paper many bear, moose and other 
hunts, where tracks in particular have been plentiful; but the 
writers have never been in the bears' paradise, which is be- 
tween the month of the Smoking River and the Rocky Moun- 
tains on the Peace River. The banks of the river run from 
800 to 1,500ft. high, and are formed of small bhiSis of poplar, 
jack pine, and prairies covered with the saskatoon berry. 
Along the banks of the river is any quantity of the red wil- 
low, the berries of which the bears are very fond of. In 
places the river is full of islands covered with raspberry and 
red willow. 
To show what can be got there, 1 will give a short account 
of a hunt 1 made there in 1869, my object being a supply of 
bear's grease for the winter, as the fur was worth little or 
nothing. Iremained from the 12th to the 27lh of August, and 
during that time killed sixteen black and brown, and seven 
grizzly bears. I took a Beaver Indian woman and her daugh- 
ter with me to make the grease and cook. I camped on" a 
small island at the mouth of the Pine River, a few miles be- 
low Fort St. John, and hunted early in the morning and late 
in the afternoon. Most of these bears were killed in the 
usual way without any excitement. I would approach them 
and shoot them with one or two shots. Two, however, gave 
me a little more fun. 
The first one was a large, white-maned grizzly, which is 
always plucky and on the fight. One evening the Benner 
woman and her daughter had gone across the river to pick 
berries. Shortly after I left and landed a little below them, 
intending to cross the pomt and hunt below. The point 
was very narrow across, and 1 had only gone a short dis- 
tance in the woods when I heard a bear, so I approached 
him within about ten steps and then I saw a large, white 
mace. As I was between him and the hills and the two 
women, I thought I would not open the quarrel in case of 
an accident, so I stood up and left it to the bear to decide 
what would be done. He got on his hind legs and for a 
short time was undecided about it, finally he thought berries 
were better than bullets, so he very quietly walked off, go- 
ing rather in the middle of the point and I felt sure he would 
get around me and take up the hills, so I ran across and cut 
him off. I soon heard him coming along, so I waited for 
him and he found me in his way again. He got up on his 
hind legs and gave a snarl or two and then cams a little 
closer and got up for another look. He was then about 6 or 
7yds. away, which is a little further than I like. At last 
he thought he would decide on peace, little thinking that I 
had gone out on the war path and would not agree to any- 
thing like peace, but was only choosing my ground. I knew 
he would now cross the Peace River, so I ran tc m}' canoe 
and threw in a few stones and then saw the bear take the 
water. I got up to him in a minute and began pelting him 
with stones, so he put after me and forgot all about going 
ashore, at last, having spent the stones, 1 shot off first one ear 
and then the other. You may imagine wh-at a rage he was in. 
I then gave him a few grains of small shot by w^ay of a finish, 
and by this time we had got quite a way down the river, as 
the current is pretty strong, and I had to cut him up and 
paddle up stream again before dark to the camp, so I decided 
to end up the fun. I look good care to see the powder well 
up in the nipples and put on a good cap, and then landed a 
little below, hauled up my birch bark and waited for him. 
I could see the very look of pleasure in his face when iie 
saw me ashore — he was determined I would never get him on 
the water again. As soon as he landed he rushed straight 
on, and as he rose to jump the canoe my bullet was inside 
of his brain, and he remained on one side of the canoe and 
I on the other. 
The other one was in a different way. I had been shoot- 
ing beaver in the afternoon and had got water splashed on 
my gun and had not properly dried it, Late in the evening 
I went among some of the islands where the channels were 
dry, the water being low at this season I heard a bear com- 
ing my way, so 1 got up the bank and lay down until he was 
almost on me. I was expecting nothitig bat a black bear, 
but when I got up here was a large grizzTy at just the right 
distance; so I pulled the right trigger. It hung fire a little, 
and down he went only stunned. I ran on him with the left 
barrel, and it snapped. Just then he began to lise. In two 
steps I was down the bank, and ran three or four steps down 
wind and up the bank again. Just as 1 got up, down he 
came as mad as could be; but he took my back track 
across the channel, which gave me time to get the gun in 
order before he found his mistake. When he did I was 
ready, and as a natural consequence I had more bear grease 
for winter. I only use a doublebarrel muzzleloading gun, 
28-bore. H. 1. M. 
BAITING DUCK GROUNDS. 
Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
send you two letters I have received in reply to inquiries 
about the profit of baiting duck grounds. The first comes 
from Wide Water, Ya., ex-President Cleveland's favorite 
duck shooting grounds, and the second from your contribu- 
tor, Mr. James Norris, of Maryland. Guido. 
Wide Watee, Va , May 2Q.—Mr. W. A. WhmtUy, — ^Dear 
Sir: Your letter received in regard to baiting duck. I think 
from your description of your property it best to feed with 
sheaf oats and wheat. 
Have the sheaves tied with wire to a small stake, also pour 
out a good large quantity of shelled corn. 
Liberal baiting will insure good results. 
We use corn mostly poured out in about 4 to oft. of water. 
Ducks feeding here are whittle wings, blackheads and mal- 
lards. 
Mallards can be taught to dive as well as any other ducks. 
We feed upon an average aOO to 400 per day, and kill, 
when we shoot, from twenty to fifty in a half day. We 
shoot only three times a week and then only about half the 
day. 
Will be glad to give you any information in my power. 
WlTHEKS WaLLEK. 
Magnolia, Md., July 24.— Jtfj', TF. A. WhecUlT/. —Dei.r 
Sir: Yours duly received. lam unable to give you any 
additional information to what you have in Mr. "Wallet's 
letter from Wide Water, in reference to feed for the purpose 
of attracting waterfowl. The only grain I know of being 
used in this vicinity (near the mouth of the Gunpowder 
River) is wheat and corn, and not very extensively . Some 
of the deep-water divers — blackheads, redheads, and per- 
haps some other classes — feed on the grain as an auxiliary, 
when their natural food becomes scarce, and whea that ia 
exhausted, I do not think any substitute will prevent them 
from leaving the locality. It appears to be an inherent attri- 
bute in them, particularly those which invariably feed in deep 
water — canvasbacks, redheads and blackheads— to migrate 
annually further south about the same time (the middle of 
December), without regard to the quantity of food remain- 
ing or the condition of the weather, and then to return to 
their previous locality in the early spring, preparatory to 
their northern flight and breeding place. 
The marsh ducks do not appear to be governed by such an 
imperative instinct in their migrations. They feed in the 
shallow creeks and lagoons, and remain until the ice compels 
them to leave, and return when it thaws. It is in those 
haunts where the grain is distributed, over which the decoys 
are placed, which are in gunshot of a well-constructed blind, 
composed of a substantial, watertight box sunken in the 
mud at the margin of the water about 3ft,, with about the 
same projecting above, which is covered with the tall marsh 
grass indigenous to the vicinity. It has a capacity sufBcient 
for three or four sportsmen, who deliver their fire as the 
ducks are in the act of alighting among the decoys. 
Chesapeake Bay Ducks. 
Twenty years ago this locality, from the mouth of the 
Gunpowder seven or eight miles up, was one of the finest 
feeding resorts on the Chesapeake Bay for canvasbacks 
and redheads, and during October and November acres in 
extent could frequently be seen feeding, with flock after 
flock winging their way in different directions. This im- 
mense feeding ground is intersected by a peninsula extending 
a mile out in the river and terminating with Maxwell's Point, 
which at that time was considered one of the most celebrated 
shooting points on the Chesapeake. The shores of this penin- 
sula and also the margin of the river along the mainland 
afforded an abundance of food suitable for swans and geese, 
to which they resorted in great numbers, and still continue 
to come, as their food is abundant. 
"rhis is not the case with the canvasback and redhead; the 
species of marine plant which furnished their food is nearly 
obliterated from some cause, supposed to be the great amount 
of sediment uncongenial to its growth, working down ^om 
the cultivated lands above. Therefore, this once beautiful 
and extremely animated and exciting scene is now com- 
pletely silent and gloomy. Apparently with the view of 
tantalizing the old sportsmen of the past, au itinerant flock 
of redheads may occasionally be seen flitting over the surface 
of their deserted haunts and vanishing in the distance. 
Swans and geese are nearly as numerous, but not sought 
after by sportsmen to any extent. They are extremely wary, 
and feed invariably at night. They leave the shores at early, 
dawn, swim out in the river about a half mile, and remain 
during the day. They are not considered an edible luxury, 
therefore not a great many are killed; yet their presence adds 
beauty and animation to the scene, which would be exceed- 
ingly monotonous without them, since the departure of the 
canvasbacks and redheads. 
Maxwell's Point, when in the acme of prosperity as shoot- 
ing grounds, was also the home and breeding place of the 
Chesapeake Bay dogs. The kennels of Edward Lynch (now 
dead), the manager of the property, bred and preserved the 
purity of those dogs up to the highest standard. Bunco, the 
dog you mention, was bred here. Here he made his initial 
plunge in the surf; and here he gained his unsurpassed repu- 
tation as a retriever of water fowl, and also of wonderful 
sagacity. James Nobkis. 
Game Protection and Sensational Journalism. 
I BEEM it only proper to call the attention of the board 
to malicious and frequently willful misrepresentations made 
in certain newspapers concerning the work of the Wardens 
and deputies. Although the presS genelrally is in t&foi 
of the proper protection of fish and game; there are in- 
stances in -vVhich Unscrupulous persons in the employ of 
newspapers seize upon prosecutions for the purpose of 
viUifying the wardens and bringing their work into dis- 
repute. The most glaring instance of this kind took place 
during the last week of July. Mr. Orrin Vanderhoven, 
a deputy fish and game warden, ascertained that two 
Italians living in Passaic were in the habit of robbing birds* 
nests for the purpose of securing the young, either for the 
table or for the market in New York. These Italians 
were in the habit of robbing nests, principally of robins; 
the young birds were either b^led and eaten or they were 
kept a few weeks and then disposed of to dealers. Mr. 
Vanderhoven reported the state of affairs to mcj and I ad- 
vised him strongly to prosecute at once. Mr. Vanderhoven 
did so, and the result was that two Italian men were ar- 
rested and each fined $20 and costs, certainly a light enough 
Dunishment for their misdeeds. On the following day the 
Kew York Workl and Journal came out with sensational 
articles, declaring that the persons arrested were two young 
school girls, who had run across a nest of robins and had 
appropriated two of them as pets. Mr. Vanderhoven was 
denounced in bitter language for his alleged heartlessness 
in arresting two little girls, the Journal going so far as to 
produce the alleged pictures of two weeping Uttle misses 
mourning over empty cages, declaring the pictures to be 
those of the persons arrested. Mr. Vanderhoven at once 
communicated with these two publications, and the World 
sent an emissary to Passaic to work up the story. The 
emissary apparently pursued the matter no further than to 
see the original liar, and then dished up another articlCj 
worse than the preceding. The Herald, which apparently 
did not have the story until a few days later, then came 
out with a bitter denunciation of Mr. Vanderhoven and 
game wardens in general, making up for its neglect to 
obtain the story the first day by Increasing the number of 
"golden-haired" tots from two to four. The Herald had 
the decency to publish a contradiction of its untruthful 
statements, but the World declined to pay any attention 
to letters of protest sent to it, This is not by any means 
the only instance of this kind where sensationmongers 
have willfully distorted facts for the purpose of creating a 
sensation and to the injury of the good work in which the 
officers- of the State are engaged. A groat many of the 
deputies are men of means and of high standing in the com- 
munities in which they reside, and they have secured their 
appointments only for the purpose of decently protecting 
fish and game. The work they do is a labor of love; they 
are actuated only by noble impulses, and few ever receive 
any pecuniary reward; the share of the fines to which they 
are entitled is more than expended by cash outlays, for the?^ 
is no way in which their expenses even can be paid. These 
are the men in many instances who are selected as victim^ 
by the vampires who have attached themselves to the ht^i}- 
orable occupation of jou^nali8m^ 
