FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 3, 1898. 
Scotch Grouse Moors. 
Here is a bit of shooting history, from the London 
Field, which has interest for us in this country, where, 111 
lesser degree, a like development is taking place: 
The student of shooting history may perhaps at times 
feel inclined to look back with regret to the time when 
King William IV. sat upon the English throne, as in 
those days grouse shooting, apart lrom the cost of 
travel, was a cheap amusement indeed; for it was so 
little sought after about seventy years ago that most 
landowners in Scotland kept it in their own hands, and 
scarcely ever dreamed of attempting to find a shooting 
tenant. They regarded grouse as indigenous to the 
ground, just as a man with a pOnd would expect to find 
fish in it; and. finding the grouse there, they shot them, 
without thinking that any southerner would ever bid 
a fancy rent for the privilege of walking the. moors; and 
when moors were first let the sum demanded for the 
shooting was moderate' in extreme — so moderate, indeed, 
that there is no room to doubt the smallness of the 
sum really laid the foundation of the popularity of 
grouse shooting. It could originally be enjoyed at so 
moderate a cost that many - people, perhaps, scarcely 
noticed the gradual rise in rents, in their zeal to find 
pastures new. Nor need we feel any surprise. To the 
hunting man a change from one country to another may 
bring with it merely an alteration in the nature of its 
fences; but to go from one quarter of England to an- 
other save in a very few cases, means but little; though 
to pass from the well-tilled lands of the south to the 
wild hills of the north is a change which anyone can 
appreciate. At the present, as in past time, a goodly 
number of the moors in Scotland are m the hands of 
those who have a connection with the north country; 
but as years have rolled on more and more southerners 
have taken shootings north of the Tweed, until at the 
present day grouse shooting, like golf, may be said 
to be invaded by those who aforetime were absolute 
strangers to both forms of amusement. It was about 
fifty years ago. perhaps, that to have a moor in Scot- 
land became one of the ambitions of life, and many a 
Scottish landowner must have since thanked his stars 
that it was so, for the southerner has put many a 
thousand pounds into the pocket of the northerner. As, 
however, the rent of shootings has increased, so has the 
class of tenants become more limited, until at the pres- 
ent day a very gfeat number of those who are to be 
found on the moors in August and September are those 
upon whom fortune has smiled in commercial and finan- 
cial circles. The English squire, it need hardly be said, 
who is often but too anxious to let his own shooting, is 
in no hurry to hire that of some one else. Nevertheless 
those who can afford the luxury find a shooting expe- 
dition to the north a holiday after their own heart. The 
invigorating air, the exercise, the novel surroundings, 
the comparative simplicity of life at the lodge, one and 
all contribute their share to the enjoyments of grouse 
shooting. 
Maine Partridges. 
Boston, Aug. 29— The legal Maine partridge season 
opens Sept. 15, but if reports are true, many of the birds 
will have fallen into hunters' bags before that time. 
Vacationists are already in that State in great numbers, 
armed with shotguns, and some of them declare that 
they shall shoot "enough partridges to eat; law or no 
law." Not every gunner will do this, it is true, and 
that makes it all the more unjust and unfair for others 
to shoot partridges before the open season begins. The 
indications for partridge shooting in that State this 
fall are poor as a whole, though some sections are re- 
ported to have some birds. In the vicinity of Round 
Mountain Lake and about Alder Steam fishermen and 
vacationists report that they have seen a good many 
partridges The same reports also come from the beven 
Pond section. Other observing sportsmen, who have 
been through the Megantic preserve several times this 
season, say that they saw a good many broods of par- 
tridges At the Middle Dam, Rangeley Lakes, a fair 
supply of partridges is also reported. Men who ought 
to know say that they have seen a good many wood- 
rock there this season, and especially on the Buck- 
board road to Sunday Cove. A few woodcock were 
taken at the Middle Dam a number of years ago, but 
these last reports are all that has been heard of such 
game birds there since. In Lower Oxford county, where 
partridge shooting was good a few years ago, there are 
only a very few. Some of the Androscoggin county 
gunners are looking for fair partridge shooting a tew 
miles out of Lewiston, and a good flight of woodcock 
is looked for by Farmington gunners. In the vicinity 
of Bridgton woodcock are also reported to be fairly 
plenty I have carefully questioned returning rod and 
reel sportsmen, and at other than the above places very 
few partridges have been noticed. There is a feeling 
that this splendid game bird is doomed 111 Maine, and 
the most stringent legislation, or rather entorcement ot 
legislation, is urged, before it is too late. 
& SPECIAL. 
Trapping Coons. 
Claremont. N. 11., Aug. 20.— You tell that man or 
person who wrote in Fur Trade Review that the only 
way to trap a coon was under water, that he is way 
off for I saw a coon trapped by setting a steel trap 
right close to a turkey's nest containing eggs, on the 
side of Sunnapee Mountain. The trap was only con- 
cealed by the brakes surrounding the nest. The coon 
had been in the habit of robbing the nest, so the 
turkey was confined, some eggs placed m the nest, and 
the trap was set close by. and the next morning the 
coon was in it. , Columbia. 
Shore Birds on Virginia Coast. 
Chincoteague Island, Va„ Aug. 22,-Editor Forest 
and Stream: Bay birds were never so plentiful on the 
meadows and sands of Chincoteague and the neighbor- 
ing Virginia coast as now. Gunners here are getting 40 
to 100 to the man each day. Yellowlegs are the prin- 
cipal sorts- large and small; there are some wihets 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
"Wh**e to go. 
One important, useful and considerable part of the Forest and 
Stream's service to the sportsmen's community is the information 
given inquirers for shooting and fishing resorts. We make it our 
business to know where to send the sportsman for large or small 
game, or in quest of his favorite fish, and this knowledge is freely 
imparted on request. 
On the other hand, we are constantly seeking information of this 
character for the benefit of our patrons, and we invite sportsmen, 
hotel proprietors and others to communicate to us whatever may be 
of advantage to the sportsman tourist. 
Rod and Pole, Fly and Bait. 
Marshall, Mich., Aug. 10.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
For the past two or three summers I had been writing 
to my brother in New York, telling him of the wonder- 
ful bass fishing here in this district, of my great catches, 
etc. I was trying to persuade him to pay us a visit and 
at the same time to drop a line to the bass. He never 
took any notice of my letters, but always went up m 
Maine for his outing, and never refrained from men- 
tioning the fact that he always used flies to make his 
killing with. 
This summer he fished in Michigan waters, and now 
swears by them. A letter, telling me he would be there 
on Friday, pttt me in excellent spirits, and gave me 
ample time to put my tackle in condition. A pole (not 
a rod) was all I had, and I never fished with anything 
different. Awaiting his coming, iny mind wandered back 
to the times when we used to fish the Kalamazoo, when 
we were both youngsters. I pictured again and again 
the trips we used to take down the river, he with his 
18ft. 6in. cane pole, casting this way and that, and as 
soon as a bass struck the hook it was jerked in the air 
36ft. above water before it knew it. He always was proud 
of the fact that he owned the longest pole, and used to 
brag over it. But I was not to be outdone this time, for 
I had a 20-footer, the longest I could buy in Marshall. 
It kind of worried me for fear he would bring a longer 
one from the city, and still be ahead of me. I even went 
and bought a dozen bass hooks, on snells, not that I 
' ever used them, but more to make him envious. 
Well he landed in Marshall at last, and as he stepped 
from the train my heart sank. He had no pole, and 
was dressed altogether too duchshly to go on a fishing 
excursion Timidly I asked him where his pole was, and 
he said in his tackle bag. It began to dawn upon me 
that here was one of those New York fishermen one 
reads about, but the like of which we in our district had 
never seen. I could hardly wait until I got him home, so 
anxious was I to see that outfit— the tackle of a city 
sportsman who had been away up in Maine. Arriving 
at the house, and after greetings all around he opened 
the box Well, sir, he had rods and reels galore, casting 
spoons by the dozen and lines by the hundreds. He also 
had what he termed flies, that nobody in this world ever 
saw in real life, and a few bugs that looked as though 
they would bite the fish instead of the fish biting them. 
Right there and then I said to myself, if ever he drops 
one of those ugly-looking bugs in front of a bass 111 
these waters, the bass would kill himself getting away. 
He talked unceasingly of Seth Greens, dusty millers 
and hackles, coachmen, etc., until my brain was in a 
whirl trying to remember all he said, and I was glad 
when mother said he had "flymania." He quieted 
down, and asked me where our first trip was to be. i 
told him the following morning at sunrise would tel . to 
follow me and I would run him over the finest bass 
grounds in southern Michigan, on the Kalamazoo River, 
a five-mile trip by boat, drifting with the current to a 
place called Wheatfield Dam, with plenty of good Ash- 
ing from beginning to end. 
The evening quickly passed, and we retired to our 
respective rooms. Sleep was out of the question with 
me There were flies and bugs, rods and reels, leaders 
and hooks, all mixed up in a confused mass, constantly 
appearing before me. The crowing of a rooster under 
my window told me it was time to rise, and never had 
I appreciated that rooster's voice until that morn. 1 
was up and dressed in just about three minutes. Cross- 
ing the hall, I knocked softly on Gene s door. No 
response. Knocking still harder, I heard a mulled 
voice "Well, what is it?" "Come on, Gene; we re late 
now" He said: "Great Scott! Why don't you start in 
the middle of the night?" and rolled over for another 
nap. But I kept at him, and after we had had a cup ot 
coffee, we started. . . 
A brisk walk brought us to the boat. Leaving him 
there I went below to my minnow box, and took out 
about seventy or eighty nice chubs They were for my 
own use, for at starting he refused even to look at a 
minnow. He tried to convince me that it was a waste 
of time fussing with minnows, as he cou d catch all we 
could use with his flies. But I knew the bass in the 
Kalamazoo River were plain livers and would hesitate 
to tackle anything that looked as delicate as Ins flies. 
Getting everything in readiness, I gave him the posi- 
tion in the bow of the boat facing down stream so that 
he could command both sides and straight ahead I was 
crazv to know how these flies worked, and did not 
intend to do any fishing myself except at times when 
we were anchored. The sun had just begun to show 
itself as we pushed off and started. Waiting unti we 
oot fairly in the center of the stream, he began working 
his line out," as he called it; and the way I was kept 
busv dodging that bunch of flies would have done credit 
to a professional dodger. We were drifting very slowly 
now and he was casting this way and that; and in a back 
cast he made his first catch, on a basswood limb about 
Toh above water. Really, I was glad of ft, as I was 
dis<ntsted with those flies and his city fixm s. I asked 
him if he was trying to catch a bird. He muttered 
something in an undertone; I think any fisherman ever 
placed in the same position can guess what it was. He 
made no attempt to get them, but cut the line as far up_ 
as he could reach. 
We had already passed over some excellent bass 
grounds, and I was convinced that those flies wouldn't 
work in these waters. I wanted him to try a minnow, 
but he said he would be smoked if he would. So he 
made up a lovely collection of curious and gaudy flies., 
topping them off with a bug. I can't recall the name of 
that bug now, but it was a daisy. Starting again, he cast 
here and there, but got never a strike. Getting dis- 
couraged, he said there never was a bass in water that 
refused that bug. I said they were not so foolish as to,' 
bite such a looking thing, and that if he would only, 
try a chub and hook him as I directed he would get a; 
strike before we had gone soft. But no; he hadn't fished 
with live bait in years, and wasn't going to begin now; 
said I blowed so much, etc., and finally, "You take that 
flag pole of yours and see what you can do." 
I was only too glad of the chance. I wanted to show 
him that there were bass in plenty, and to convince hiir 
that his city outfit was no good compared with my own 
spear pole. Changing places with him, I selected a fail 
sized chub; and never was I so careful as how I hooket 
him. I put the hook down through his mouth, ouj 
through his gills, and twisted the hook around and in- 
serted it so the point came out directly in the middle 
of his body. A minnow hooked thus will always keep 
a horizontal position in the swiftest running waters, anc 
it is very seldom a fish strikes and gets away. j 
Glancing ahead a few feet, I saw a likely place foi 
bass — an overhanging bush, partly in the water, whos 
branches had caught a small amount of driftwood, etc: 
the outer edge of which was covered with foam, 
knew there was a bass under that foam waiting for h 
breakfast; something about the waters seemed to tel 
me so. I could almost see him, so certain was I. Th 
mystic information proved correct. I pointed the spo' 
out to Gene and said: "Watch the professor." 
Getting a firm grip on my pole, I measured the di 
tance and dropped the minnow near the edge of t r 
foam, and dangerously near the driftwood. There \va i 
a rush, a splash, and a bass swinging in the air befor 
Gene could recover his surprise to exclaim, "Well, I'fi 
smoked." JL 
He certainly was disgusted the way I yanked that bas 
out of water; said I was a "killer," and I never ough 
to do that, but play them, give them a show, etc. 
knew he was right, and felt ashamed of my action, but 
couldn't help it. Anybody who was brought up to uS 
a cane pole, and was always taught to get them in th; 
quickest way possible, you can't blame much; for 
man brought up thus would endeavor to throw a 611, 
bass in the air, just as he would a sunfish. 
1 caught two or three more bass in the same way. an 
finally persuaded Gene to put up his flies and try mir 
nows. Reluctantly he put on a chub, whose weight alon 
made his little rod bend almost double, and made two c 
three casts, until finally he said, "Ah, there, at last! 
I could see his reel gradually unwind, slowly at first, bt 
with increasing swiftness, until I could stand it n 
longer, and veiled: "Pull up!" He immediately set th 
hook in him, and the fun began. There was a sudde 
stop as he set the hook, then a rush that made U1 
reel scream. It was a great fight. 
Several times the bass broke water, and as man 
times I said, "He's gone!" only to see him start agal 
on one of his famous rushes. Gene got so excited thf 
he yelled, "Say, Bob, this beats fly-fishing all hollow^ 
After a couple more of rushes the fish was gradual 
reeled up to the boat; then did we appreciate its size 
bass of 4341bs., which evidently had been through tl 
war as it had several scars on the body, and part 3 
the tail was gone. As it lay there in the bottom of tl 
boat too tired to flop, it certainly did look like an o 
warrior. It was the picture of defiance, every fin ere 
and an ugly look in its eye. 
On our trip Gene alone caught twenty-eight bass, b 
his first was the largest. One thing I was satisfied w.j 
that I had converted him to using live bait and 1 w; 
trying to convince him that a cane pole was the bes 
but he swore bv his jointed rods. A farmer acquamtau 
I was relating our experience to remarked: "No u 
talking to those cute New York chaps; it s only a was 
f 3.11* " 
° Later I will describe a trip to a small lake called 1 
the few farmers near the locality "The Pork Barrel. 
Van. 
Trouting in the Pecos. 
Glokifta New Mexico, Aug. 9.— Editor Forest a 
Stream: During the past month I have been fishu 
for trout in New Mexico, along the line ot the ban 
Fe road Mr. Edward B. Linnen and Geo. Cross, bo 
of Santa Fe, were my companions, and we have tr 
sport enough to satisfy most trout anglers We fort 
the streams in the vicinity of Glorieta, New Mex. 
which is on the Santa Fe road, about twenty-seven mil 
distant from Santa Fe. About eleven good streams cj 
be reached, by train, in from one-half to a day s an 
from Glorieta. . , 
We preferred to fish the Pecos River, and its hea 
water the Mora River, which in our opinion contai 
more 'trout than any other stream in America, hrc 
Glorieta to the mouth of the Mora River is abo 
twentv-five miles, and from Strong's ranch, seven mi 
from ' Glorieta, to the head of Mora River is abc 
forty miles, and the best forty miles of go 
trout fishing, I venture to say, in the counti 
The Pecos and Mora rivers are just wide enout 
for fly-casting, both streams having a hard b 
of intermingled sand and rock, with a swift ct 
bead of inter-mingled sand and rock, with a swift ct 
rent making numerous sharp bends, and each stre," 
contains countless deep pools and riffles. The d< 
pools are the abiding places of the larger trout, ' 
from 1 to gibs., while the riffles and edges of the dee 
pools are alive with smaller trout, ranging lrom 6 
loin in size. We used a small brown fly— a sort ot 
hackle— and a royal coachman fly with best success. 
In fishing the Mora, or upper branch of the Pec 
River we fish up stream, casting the flies upon t 
surface of the numerous pools, or "pockets, formed 
water dashing over immense rocks, sweeping out sat 
A 
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