Aug. si, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
IBS 
BOSTON ANGLERS IN MAINE. 
Boston, Aug. 14, — Mr. Freeman, of Somerville, has re* 
cently returned from an extended fishing trip 1o northern 
Aroostook county, Me. To his friends he is very enthusiaf- 
tic concerning I he country and the fishing He visited Por- 
tage Lake and Big Fish Lake, and Big Fish River. Trout 
of 4 and 5!b8. on the fly were not at all uncommon. Small 
trout, that is trout of from 1 to 2ibs. -were common, and 
could be caught by the hundreds in very many places. In 
one pond he tried the experiment of attaching' his friend's 
leader to his own line, giving him two leaders, wiLh six flies 
in all, just to see how many trout he could hook at one cast. 
Frequently, he had six on at once, all* the way from half a 
pound to a pound or two. The sport was gr<;at, though the 
most he succeeded in landing at any cast was two. The 
trout were too livply, pulling every way at once, and actually 
breaking away and destroying his flies, At length his com- 
panion obiected to having his casts spoiled, and Mr. Free- 
man had to be contented with the ordinary cast of three flies. 
Some of the late fly fishermen are getting ready for the 
fall campaign at the Rangeleys and other waters. At the 
Upper Dam, T. B. Stewart is reported as having landed the 
biggest trout of the season, with a fly, at those waters, 6^1b3. 
Mr. Stewart has spent a great many seasons at the Upper 
Dam. This year his son, a college student, i.s with him. 
Both are enthusiasts with the trout rod. Mr. Stewart allows 
every trout not wanted to eat to escape, alter beina- caught 
and weighed. Would that others would do likewise! 
Mr. Eben E. Rmd, of PoitJand, with Mrs. Rand and a 
couple of friends, has been on a fishing and camping trip for 
the past two weeks They have been quartered at Camp 
Stewart, Richardson Lake, and have fished the ponds in that 
section. Fishing they have found very poor indeed, and 
with hard work only have they been abU to get trout enough 
for their table. To do this thsy have Irrqiiently been 
obliged to resort to bail; the fish ruing to the tly only very 
sparingly. But with that quantity they are entirely satis- 
fied. Some large trout have recently been taken in the lake 
there, by deep fishing. 
L 0. Crane sends a good trout story from Round Moun- 
tain Lake. Oi) Aug. 0, with a fellow fisherman, he took 
310 trout from Little Alder Stream, generally small, but five 
of the number weighed 4lbs. They had cans or some tort 
of vessels with them, and every trout was kept alive and 
brought down to Round Mountain Lake and liberated. Mr. 
Crane only desired the pleasu e of taking the trout on the 
fly, be was very glad to contribute his share in transplanting 
the fish to the lake. His partner here, Mr. Hemmingway, 
thinks it a good idea, and that the trout should "grow larger 
and erive somebody some good sport in the lake." 
Still the guoners in this section are doing next to nothing 
with the shore birds.. Among quite an extended acquaint- 
ance with Ihe gunners here I am not yt t able to hear of any- 
body who is taking much of an interest in shore-bird shoot- 
ing. The market men say that the market gunners are 
doing next to nothing, and that they arc mt getting their 
usual supply of plover, summer yellow-lees and other sum- 
mer game. Great pity, isn't it? Should the sportsmtn 
mourn at this lack of rotting birds in the markets? 
• SpeciaI/. 
Western Camping Grounds. 
Q-RAUD Rapids, Minn., Aug. 11.— Capt. J W. Hague, of 
the Rover Fishing Club, arrived liere last tvening with the 
following gentlemen from Pittsburg, Pa. : Judge .James Fitz- 
simmons, Henry Brant, F. C. Miller, F. W. Gill and A. N. 
Hunter, Capt. Hague first made his appearance in this 
region two years ago. He has baggi d so much game and 
struck such fine fishing up here that he is in for another 
round of pleasure. The party struck out this morning for 
Deer T ake, and will go through the chain of lakes to the 
Big Fork country. They are assured of bass in Deer and 
Bass lakes, which have been favorites with Messrs. Hague, 
Salisbury and others of the united (or consolidated) hunt- 
ing,_fi8hing and camping clubs, and they feel confident of 
finding fine muscallonge in tliese northern waters. They 
took a liberal supply of provisions from here, and expect to 
be gone two or three weeks 
Moose are loo numerous to suit the settlers in the upper 
Mississippi basin. Its northern lake region is particularly 
well stocked with them. They tear down fences, destroy 
gardens and grain fields and give the agricultuiiats a great 
deal of trouble. Some people have shot at them in self ■ de- 
fense, but it is likely that the annoyance will soon be materi- 
allv decreased. For five years past there has been a fine of 
|500 for shooting a moose, but the new game law of Minne- 
sota wiU allow sportsmen to hunt anlkred moose and caribou 
from Nov. 5 to 10, and deer from Oct. 25 to Nov. 15. Thus 
the settlers wi'l be relieved from some of the dangers from 
moose, and as the deer are very plenty, the good shots will 
have first-class fun here this fail. A cruise up the Missis- 
sippi and into Bass, Deer and Moose lakes ibis week shows 
that the tracks of these animals are more numerous than 
usual. Strings of nice large bass were seen at several points, 
and the campers report that they are having splendid luck. 
Eastern people keep coming to this region and Ihty make side 
trips to the Big Fcirk and Leech Lake hunting grounds, but 
they are net anxious to iet the outside world know what 
good luck they are having. They are a pleasant crowd, 
however, and they make Grand Rapids, Miun., their center 
of supplies, for they can always get what is needed at 
Itasca's county seat. William H. Dtoke, 
It is the Sheephead,: 
In the issue of Forest and Stkeam of July 3 is a letter 
from Chas. M. Honey, of Newton, 111., who gives his expe- 
rience about the noise made by what he calls the "white 
perch." 
What he calls the white perch is the fresh-water sheep- 
head, known also by the names of croaker, stone perch and 
drumfish. That these fish do make a croaking noise of con- 
siderable volume is beyond dispute. Several years ago, at 
our club house at Moredock Lake, our party caught several 
large sheephead, and, more out of curio.-ity than anything, 
put them in the live box. While sitting on the platform 
near the box, 1 heard the peculiar croaking, andappiosch- 
ing cautiously I distinctly heard the sheephead, which were 
prisoners, mating ttiis noise. Before this, 1 bad been skep- 
tical as to the source of the noises heard so constantly in the 
late afternoons as we were fishing on the lake. 
A few weeks ago I was fishing on Black Lake, at Holland, 
^lich., and as we rowed the boat home about sundown, the 
noise made by the thousands of sheephead actually resem- 
bled the rearing of a distant railroad triin. Tue noise was 
so striking that I called the attention of my companions in 
the boat to the fact so that it could be verified. 
It may not be generally known that the channel catfish 
when taken out of the water will make a distinct, grunting 
noise. I presume there are other fish which also have use of 
a vocal apparatus. 
Some time ago a contributor to Fotiest and Stkeam said 
he would tell how to cook fresh-water sheephead so as to 
make them palatable, but I have never seen his recipe. 
The sheephead were not unknown to the pioneers of this 
country, as the following extract from "Life Among the In- 
dians," published in 1857 by Rev J. B. Finlcy, will show. 
The incident related happened in 1821, when he was floating 
down the Sandusky River, in Ohio. He writes : "We started 
about noon, and the Sandusky being very full, our bark ca- 
noe went over the rapids almost with the swiftness of a biid. 
But when we got down to eddy water, which we reached a 
short distance below Lower Smdusky, we met schools of 
fish called sheephead, and they much annoyed us by sticking 
fast to the bottom of our canoe. Once in a while one of the 
Indians who steered for us would take his knife out of his 
belt and slip down his arm into the water and stab one of 
them, and it would almost jump on board; but they not being 
good to eat, we cared not to take any of them." 
Abbhdeen. 
St. Loots, Mo. 
Sharks in Long Island Sound. 
Greenwich, Conn , Aug 18 — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I witnessed the capture of two sharks in the Sound this week. 
One was speared in Indian Harbor on the morning of Aug. 
y by Stanley and Garfield Chard. 
Next day. while .sailing on the Sound, William Chard 
called my atteniion to a large fi?h floundering on the surface. 
It proved to be another shark. Mr. Chard rowed to the fish in 
the tendur and struck it a blow with the boat-hcok. Instead 
of trying to escape, the shark seemed to turn on the boat. 
Mr Cnard finally managed to spear him under one of the for- 
ward fins. He then grabbed the fish by the tail and hauled 
it into the boat. 
The first one was 5ft. long, and the other 5ft, 6in. 
Oystermen and others say these are the only sharks that 
have been caught near Greenwich Harbor in over ten years. 
We look a shot at them with a camera, and if it should 
prove that we have secured a gcod picture, I will send you 
one later, William H. Avis, 
New Jersey Trout Fry Distribution. 
AppiiTCATiONS to have streams stocked with trout should 
be sent to the Fish Commissioners at once. They may be 
addressed to Howard P. Frothingham, President, Mount 
Arlington, N. Y. 
he Mmmt 
F I XT U RES. 
FIELD TRU.LS. 
Aug. 25.— Coatinental Field Trial Club's Northwest Stake, Brown's 
Valley, Minn 
Aug. SU.— Western Canada Kennel Club's trials, 
Sept, 1.— Continental Field Trials Club's chicken trials, Morris, Man. 
Sept. 6. - Manitoba Field Trials Club, Morris, Man. 
Sept. 7.— Northwestern Field Trial Club's Champion Stake, Morris, 
Man. 
Oct. 25.— Brunswick Fur Clnb's ninth annual trials. 
Nov. 1.— Dixie Red Fox Club's third annual meet, Waverly, Miss. 
Nov. 1.— New Eneland Beagle Club's trials, Oxford, Mass. 
Nov. 2.— Monongahela Valley Game and Fish Jfrotective Associ- 
ation's trials, Greene county. Pa. 
Nov. 8.- Union Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. 9.— Central Beagle Club's trials, Sbarpsburg, Pa. 
Nov. 9.— Peninsular Field Trial Club's trials, Leamington, Ont. 
Nov. 15.— E F. T. Club^s trials, Newton, N. C. 
Nov. 16.— International Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials, 
Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. 22.— U. S. F. T. Club's autumn trials. 
1898. 
Jan. 10.— U. S. F. T. Club's winter trials, West Point, Miss. 
Jan. 17,— Continental F. T. Club's trials. New Albany, Miss. 
SCHOOLING THE DOG.-X. 
The pointing instinct, possessed by setters and pointers, 
assists them in obtaining a food supply when thrown on 
their own resources. It is a necessity to their existence in a 
wild state. In domesticity, the dog does not lose the desire 
to pursue his prey. While he is afliectionate and loyal to 
his master, his master's family, and is on friendly terms 
with such of his friends and acquaintances as he comes 
directly in contact with, he in most instances is unfriendly 
to all others and at times hostile. Man also has the hunting 
instinct strongly developed. He, observing that the dog 
would gladly go with him to the woods and fields in search 
of iur or feather, was pleased to assert that the dog sought 
birds, rabbits, etc., tor his master's benefit. Observing 
further that setters and pointers made a pause when they 
had located birds — an act called pointing, setting or 
standing — it was an easy matter to convince himself 
that the point was made for man's benefit, Man can 
show no proof that he was directly or indirectly the cause of 
the setter's or pointer's hunting instinct. He can neither 
force nor induce a dog to seek birds or anything else if the 
dog does not wish to do so; he is quite as powerless in respect 
to a dog's pointing. However, the voluntary efforts of the 
dog in search of prey he can restrict in such manner that he 
can interpose and appropriate to himself the fruits of the 
dog's labors. And here is where old and new writers took 
note that the dog could be so trained in his own seeking that 
man could derive all the benefit therefrom, and therefore 
they did not hesitate to assert as a fact the instinct to hunt, 
and particularly the instinct to point, were implanted in the 
dog for tbe benefit of man. As man in his egotism has 
claimed, first and last, that everything in the universe was 
made for his direct and personal benefit, the small matter of 
claiming a dog's pointing instinct was no serious obstacle. 
There seemed to he some proof to sustain the claim in a way, 
lor did not hundreds of men really shoot over dog's points? 
"The Dogs of the British Islands," by Stonehenge, gives 
the following as the explanation of the origin of pointing: 
"The setter is, without doubt, either descended from the 
spaniel, or boib are offshoots from the same parent slock. 
Originally — that is, before the improvements in the gun in- 
trouuced the practice of 'shooting flying' — it is believed that 
be was merely a spaniel taught to 'stop' or 'set' as soon as he 
came upon the scent of the partridge, when a net was drawn 
over the covey by two men. Hence he was made to drop 
close to the ground, an attitude which is now unnecessary, 
though it 18 taugh-t by some breakers, and notably to very 
fast dogs, who could not otherwise stop themselves quickl^^ 
enough to void flushing. Manifestly, a dog prone on the 
ground allowed tbe net to be drawn over him better than if 
he was standing up; and hence the former attitude was pre* 
ferred, an additional reason for its adoption being, probably, 
that it was mere easily taught to a dog like the spaniel, 
which has not the natural cataleptic attitude of the poioter. 
But when 'shooting flying' came in vogue, breakers made 
the attempt to assimilate the attitude of the setting spaniel — 
or 'setter,' as he was now called — to that of the pointer; and 
in process of time, and possibly also by crossing with that 
dog, they succeeded, though even after the lapse of more than 
a century the cataleptic condition is not so fully displayed 
by the seller as by the pointer." 
It would be difficult to crowd more trashy nonsense into 
the same space than is contained in the foregoing quotation. 
A labored and far-fetched theory is painfully worked out, 
though not a single instance of tangible proof is adduced to 
sustain it. The instinct, which had such an artificial origin 
in the setter, is conceded to be natural to the pointer, and 
why it should be natural to the one and not to the other the 
reader is left to solve as best he can. The point is treated as 
baing cataleptic when it is neither such nor remotely related 
to it. The pointing dog is keenly alert; his eyes glow, nos- 
trils play, and his muscles are tense for the instantaneous 
strike to seizi his prey. It is strange that the conjectures 
and maudlin theories of a past age should be the oasis of 
much of the fact of the present. As to pointing, cur of 
good hunting ability may be taught to hunt birds with more 
or less success,- and he learns to draw carefully and silently 
on them because he must do so to be even moderately suc- 
cessful. The method of pursuing a rabbic would be wholly 
unsuccessful if applied to birds, and mee versa. Setters and 
pointers naturally employ distinct methods in pursuing fur 
and feather. They fire openly vigorous and dashing in pur- 
suit of rabbits, give tongue merrily and trust to their swift- 
ness to capture; after birds, they are silent, painstakingly 
cautious, and draw as cloae as possible before making the 
final spring to surprise and capture These different methods 
are a necessity, iioxes draw on grouse in this manner. 
Cats have a similar method of drawing on birds or vermin, 
but as they venture to capture birds in the openest places, 
they are forced to use even greater degrees of caution. 
We may safely conclude that if it was a natural trait of 
the pointer, it was equally a natural trait of the setter; that 
it being a trait more or less common to all dogs and wild ani- 
mals which hunt birds, it was natural to the setter; that if 
the trait became instinctive from education, all his other 
education would have become instinctive at the same time; 
that the conjectures of one man are very poor. data for the 
facts of another; and, lastly, the pointer or setter display the 
pointing act in pursuing birds whether their masters are 
with them or not. 
Young puppies will draw on little birds and point them by 
signt. As the puppies grow older they begin to use their 
noses more, and catching scent of game birds they draw 
stealthily on them, point, then dash m to capture. Their 
first efforts are very awkward and unsuccessful, for they 
require experience to determine the exact whereabouts of con- 
cealed birds. If a dog presses too close on them he flushes 
them; stopping too far away, he is outside of the limits 
wherein he can make a successful attempt at capturing. 
After a time his nose and judgment become so developed and 
traioed that he can discriminate between the body-scent and 
foot-scent, and estimate with precif-ion the location of the 
birds. The purpose of the point is to assist in the capture of 
the birds. They are a part of his natural food. Ihey are 
palatable and nourishing; why should he not take tbem"? 
When he makes his point, every muscle is at its utmost 
tension; the opening and closin^j; jaw regulates the intake of 
breath so that the nostrils will not be disturbed m their 
powers of nice discrimination; the eyes are set with a fixed 
purpose. He springs in with mighty energy and astonishing 
quickness, and often captures before the birds can take wing, 
or, taking wing, before they can rise beyond his reach. He 
can spring a few feet quicker than a bird can rise from tne 
ground a few feet. Still, he makes many mistakes. Some- 
times, through error caused by eddies of wind or bad judg- 
ment, he may jump the wrong way, or be may have made 
his stand too far away from the birds and his spring con- 
sequently lands him short. 
There are vigor and a purpose in the natural points of the 
dog, or the points made when he is half trained, that are 
absent from them when he is fully trained, though few fully 
trained dogs point rigidly, but there is not the same high- 
tension placing of the legs for a spring. In lime, the point 
of the trained dog becomes more or less^perfunctory ; he may 
become slouchy on it, and may even learn to lie down in- 
stead of standing up as he naturally should do. He learns 
its purpose as an act assisting the gun, and that there is no 
need of the alert readiness to spring. 
The shooter who appropriates the dog's efforts, preserves 
all the dog's pointing methods as much as he can up to the 
juncture where the dog has located his birds, stands, and is 
ready to spring in to capture. The latter part the dog must 
be taught to forego. The former is useful; flushing is not. 
Therelore, the shooter permits the dog to search for birds 
and to find and point them, and there he must stop. 
If he springs in and flushes he is punished. And to per- 
fect the stanch point is where some nice judgment is neces- 
sary on the part of the trainer. There is a certain difficulty 
in making the dog understood what is required and what he 
is punished for. He may fancy that wl;en punished for 
flushing he is punished for finding the bii-ds at all, so when 
he is near birds he shies away from them and leaves them. 
He blinks. He has thus acquired one of the worst faults a 
dog can have. This should make clear the need of delibera- 
t on in training the dog to stanchness on point. Excessive 
violence defeats its own ends. 
_ No one can teach a dog to point if the dog has no inclina- 
tion to do so. He, however, can be taught stanchness ou 
points. However, the dog generally has all the natural de- 
sire to hunt birds and to point them; the trainer forces him 
to so restrict his efforts that they will serve the purposes of 
the gun. 
Seeking birds is such an enthralling passion with the dog 
that he will submit to a great deal of restriction and punish- 
ment before he will quit, though he can in time be made to 
quit; therefore, the trainer should keep in mind that if he 
punishes him too much, the dog may cease all effort. 
The FoBEST AND Stkeam is 'put to press each week on 
Tuesday, Correspondence intended for publication 
should reach us at the latest by Monday^ and aa mauoh, 
earlier aa praiticable. 
