268 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. i, i8d 
Adirondack Deer Hunting Conditions. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I believe Mr. Burnham is right in saying in "Adiron- 
dack Deer Hunting Conditions," in your last iissue, that 
the non-hounding law does not suit most of the native 
hunters and guides of that region; also in suggesting 
that a selfish motive is behind the law. I differ, how- 
ever, as to the early opening of the season. The '"city 
guests — business and professional men, college students 
and the like — who found it more convenient to hunt in 
August and September than later," form a very large 
proportion of male visitors to the Adirondacks, and 
have as good right to their legal quota of deer as resi- 
dents, or the smaller proportion of city sportsmen who 
can hunt whenever they choose. But with most of the 
former class it is a deer in August or September, or 
never. The season is not too long for fairness all around. 
Again, it is affirmed that in many sections deer are in- 
creasing from year to year. But this is not due to the 
fact that hounding is not permitted. Competent judges, 
veteran guides and veteran sportsmen, agree that at least 
half the deer run by dogs escape. But it is true that 
the keeping of dogs tied up during the close seasoH has 
had a salutary effect. 
Another phase of the operation of the present law: 
From conversations with reliable guides this summer 
and from statements by a gentleman whose business 
brings him into touch with nearly all the Adirondacks, I 
am convinced that far more deer were killed last fall 
than in previous seasons. The killing was done largely 
by guides. They were indignant at the law — it interfered 
with their business by keeping many sportsmen away, 
and those who were there could not hunt as usual; as 
a consequence the guides could not earn their living in 
the usual way, and so they clubbed together and slaugh- 
tered deer for the winter's meat. Who can blame them? 
They and their families must live, and they must live off 
the forests. In the absence of sufficient paid employ- 
ment, they worked for themselves and their loved ones, 
and a large toll of deer was the price of their labor. 
This, I am credibly informed, is the simple fact of the 
case through a large portion of our beautiful North ■ 
Woods. 
On the other hand, however, it is believed that the 
Maine woods have drawn a part of the sportsmen who 
formerly went to the Adirondacks. Possibly more vig- 
orous efforts at restocking our trout waters would help 
to turn the tide back again. State interests would cer- 
tainly be promoted by such restocking. 
Juvenal. 
Two Opening Days. 
Dunbarton, N. H., Sept. 16. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Sept. 15 was the opening day of the shooting 
season in New Hampshire. Long before I was up in 
the morning, in fact, as soon as it began to grow 
light, I heard guns in all directions. I had arranged 
to go out with 'one of my neighbors, and we started 
about 8 o'clock. I had heard a good deal of shooting on 
the grounds we proposed to hunt, and in consequence 
we did not find a single brood of birds which had not 
been broken up. A single bird here and there, or at 
most two in a place. At half-past I o'clock we had 
killed eleven grouse, five to my neighbor's gun and six 
to mine. We came home then. 
Twenty-five years ago I started out on the opening day 
to hunt over part of the same ground 1 was on yesterday. 
I owned then a young setter, which I thought very 
oromising. I had spent a great deal of time training 
him during the preceding spring and summer, and he 
oroved to be the best dog I ever owned. My intention 
on his first day after grouse was not to hunt him much, to 
let him find and point the birds I killed, and to accustom 
him to hearing them get up. I found the first brood 
of birds in about five minutes after leaving my house. 
I shot at and killed the first bird which rose, and left 
the rest. I went on in this manner during the time I 
was out, getting usually from one to three shots on each 
brood when the first rose. I did not try to follow them 
up, but went on after another brood. About 2 o'clock 
I had killed ten grouse, and I then gave up for the 
day. 
Now to compare the two days. There was not very 
much difference in my two bags, but there was a vast 
difference in the number of birds found on each day. 
Yesterday we followed up each bird we started, and we 
got most of them. On the other day I did not follow up 
any of them, and I left in each brood three or four times 
as many birds as I killed. On the opening day of 
twenty-five years since I did not meet nor hear of any 
one else out hunting, nor did I heard a single gun other 
than my own. Yesterday there was plenty of evidence 
that gunners were numerous. The sharp crack of nitro 
and the heavier report of black powder was almost in- 
cessant in all directions. Surely the opening day of 1898 
was celebrated as it never has been before in this 
vicinity in such a trulv orthodox Fourth of Julv manner 
_ c - M." Stark. 
The Maine Moose Student Case. 
Until a month or two ago there was widespread com- 
plaint made about the moose law that was passed two 
years ago. Mr. Carleton asked that the absolute im- 
prisonment clause be added to the law in order to carry 
terror to the hearts of the men who could easily pay a 
heavy fine for killing moose out of season. He pleaded 
so earnestly and so eloquently that the Legislature 
granted his request, and the" bill became a law. All 
went well until the famous "students moose caee" came 
up m Piscataquis county. Then it is claimed that Mr. 
Carleton veered oft* on another track, for what he claimed 
were sentimental reasons, and used his every endeavor 
to cl ear the boys who had confessed to the crime. He 
even went so far as to make an eloquent plea before the 
Governor and his council, asking that no papers be is- 
sued for the purpose of bringing the boys back to 
trial. When he succeeded a howl went up from eastern 
Maine that was echoed in all the papers. Mr. Carleton 
contended that as the criminals were mere boys and as 
this was their first offense they should not be punished 
The hunters argued that if a moose law meant anything 
at all, it meant justice to rich boys from Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania as well as justice to hungry hunters 
in Maine. They further contended that questions of 
youth and responsibility were matters for the court 
to decide and Mr. Carleton was meddling with what 
was none of his business when he stepped in and diverted 
the course of justice. If the court believed the boys de- 
served clemency the judge could suspend sentence and 
place the case on file. Perhaps this one case had more to 
do with bringing the game laws of Maine into contempt 
than all the other illegal acts that have been committed 
in Maine for years. Beyond a doubt Mr. Carleton made 
a mistake in allowing his sympathies to run away with 
his judgment, but he has done much to atone for his 
error since the boys gave him and his law the laugh of 
defiance. He has been prompt, careful and industrious 
to investigate all reports of game law violation. He 
has devoted a great deal of hard study to learn how 
the laws may be enforced. He has shown himself loyal 
to the best interests of Maine in many ways. Just now 
he is advocating the repeal of the "absolute imprison- 
ment" clause in the moose law, and making the penalty 
imprisonment or fine at the discretion of the court. As 
a heavy fine means imprisonment to most poor hunters 
of Maine who violate the law, and as most of the hunters 
who come to the State are well to do, such an act seems 
an unjust discrimination against the citizens of Maine 
and in favor of the visitors, though it is possible that 
Mr. Carleton can put another interpretation upon his 
idea. — Bangor News. 
Are Bull-Bats Game? 
Asheville, N. C, Sept. 20.— The boys have been 
having great shooting at night hawks, which are called 
bull-bats in Virginia and southward, and last night some 
scores of the birds were killed on the baseball ground 
within the city limits, an hour before sundown. The 
birds have been flocking in large numbers in this vicinity 
at intervals during the past six weeks, but will soon 
leave for Louisiana and the South. They afford ex- 
cellent practice for Stevens' rifles, as well as for scatter 
guns, and are easy to hit after one has learned their 
flight movements. For September shooting bull-bats 
afford better sport than reed birds, to my notion. At 
all events we on the mountains have our chances for 
legitimate early field practice, as well as you uns on 
the marshes. Just why this particular flight should have 
selected the ball grounds for their evening quest is not 
altogether clear; though one can seem to trace a close 
analogy between bat and ball when the game is on! If 
the bat doesn't happen to hit the ball, the ball is likely 
to hit the bat, don't you know? 
We had a platter full of the birds on the breakfast table 
this morning, and as a comestible they were not half 
bad, as our English friends put it, the flavor being like 
that of many beach birds, or perhaps of a jacksnipe, and 
there is quite a good lump of meat on the breast. I don't 
see why they should not come within the category of 
game birds? 
Night hawks are common in the Catskills and Green 
Mountain ranges, and I have found them breeding in 
considerable numbers in late June on the St. Lawrence 
River plain, among the Thousand Islands. As far as I 
have observed, there and in Massachusetts and else- 
where they invariably drop their eggs on the flat of a 
bare rock, trusting more to the radication of the summer 
heat to hatch out the young than to the maternal body 
warmth. Nests are easy to locate, if one watches the 
movements of the mother bird, but they are not so easy 
to find. The fledgelings are so nearly the color of the 
rock on which they nestle that I have inadvertently 
stepped on them in spite of great caution in my search 
for them. On the whole, they are among our most in- 
teresting birds, their struchfre and markings being as 
singular as their habits. They are exclusively insect 
feeders, and their quest is wholly in the upper air. 
I Charles Hallock. 
The Ontario Deer Law. 
Chief Game Warden Edwin Tinsley sends us a 
copy of the circular of inquiry he has sent out to deer 
hunters. -It runs: "During the last session a good deal 
of discussion took place as to the legislation respecting 
deer, and particularly as to the change in the law pro- 
hibiting the killing of deer in the water. There have 
been very divergent opinions expressed regarding this 
provision of the act, and there always have been ex- 
treme differences of opinion, apparently about equally 
divided, as to the propriety of allowing the hounding of 
deer. Admittedly the coupon system has had a useful effect 
in limiting the number of deer brought out, and there are 
those who urge that the prohibition of hounding would 
very much reduce the yearly slaughter of deer. The 
views of sportsmen on all matters affecting game are 
valued. Sometimes, however, their opinions are not 
founded on considerations of game protection or limita- 
tion of the number of deer or other game which may 
be taken. It is, however, thought that it might be 
useful to have the views of those who last year re- 
ceived licenses to shoot, on some of these matters, and 
I accordingly enclose herewith a blank form with ques- 
tions, which I will thank you to answer and return to 
me. It will be most advantageous if you will in the first 
place give your answer either affirmatively or negative- 
ly, and then add any reasons which may occur to you. 
"Questions. — (1) Do you approve of the hounding 
of deer? (2) Do you think the abolition of hounding 
would conduce to the increased protection of deer? 
(3) Give reasons for your answer to No. 2. (4) Do 
you approve of the killing of deer in the water or when 
just leaving the water? (5) Give reasons for your 
answer. (6) The protection of deer being the object 
in view, please make any suggestions which you may 
consider useful to the Government or the commission- 
ers on the subject." 
Under date of Sept, 23 Mr. Tinsley writes: "Suffi- 
cient returns have not as yet readied me to enable us 
to determine what the ultimate result will be. So far 
there is a large majority in favor of hounding, also in 
favor of prohibiting the killing or pursuing deer in 
the water. The allusion to this matter in your last 
issue is substantially correct," 
Night Rifle Shooting. 
In Forest and Stream of Sept. 10 your contribj 
Backwoods gives his plan of night shooting, notabl; 
coons. He is no further back in the woods than M 
I can suggest some things on the subject that have 
improved and approved by the experienced. 
1 have so far advanced in the higher ethics of s|a 
inanship that I do not like to kill animals any more 
when it is necessary or judicial I want them kille, 
humanely as possible. Therefore I ask you to 
what has been fully established as the best method 
shooting animals by night, particularly those that C; 
into trees. 
Instead of depending upon the light of the 111 
which is not always where and when you want it. 
under its best conditions will most often cause the sl'l 
er to miss and maim, let Mr. Backwoods merely 
miner's lamp, or wheelman's lamp, or any small lig' 
his hat or cap, immediately over his eyes. If be 
then glance along the' sights of his rifle, and if he 
reputable marksman, he need seldom fail to place Ms 
let fairly between the eyes of his victim, thus killi; 
instantly and not injuring its pelt often. 
The eyes of a coon or any other animal that cl 
trees will be directed to the lamp, will shine like 
balls of fire, and it is an easy performance to pi 
bullet squarely between them, as the rays of the 
gleam along the rifle barrel and over the sights, 
darker the background the better the method pr ; 
Try the experiment at a piece of white paper iii 
dark, Mr. Backwoods, and profit thereby. In th« 
sence of a small lamp that you can attach to your h| 
cap, a lantern held or placed behind the shooter, sc 
its light will gleam along the gun sights, will an] 
but is not as good as a smaller light atlached t< 
hat or cap. I will undertake to kill ten coons straigh 
shoot th em all in the head, if you will get 'em uj4 
decent tree. You may have the night as dark a* 
can fix it. Ransack 
Shasta Mountains, California. 
Boston Gunners. 
Boston, Sept. 23.— Not one of the Boston gu 
that went down to Maine last week has returned 
any partridges. The universal verdict is that 
tridges are exceedingly scarce. Not much bette 
ports are yet to be had from the covers of New H 
shire. Leonard Chapman, the boy of seventeen 
the broken-stocked gun, is winning laurels as a 
fridge wing shot. He took two more on Mond; 
the Reading woods. His dog, a pup of his own 
ing, pointed the birds, and when flushed the 1 
took them both. He has also shot fifteen gray sqi 
since the season opened. A Boston policeman h 
over the same ground all one day last week, with 
dogs, but did not get a shot. C. H. Tarbox has 
one day after the birds in the vicinitv of Byfieh 
without getting a shot. The Plum Island gunners 
not yet reported any good flights of shore birds, 
weather has continued too fine for such sport, 
birds ' fly too far out to sea. From Monomoy ■ 
are more good reports of bird shooting. L. S. I 
brought up twenty birds on Monday, and believe, 
he could have doubled the number if he could 
stayed another day. 
Some big trout have lately been taken at the 
Dam, Me., since the cooler weather, but none < 
monsters that have been taken there in days go* 
Trout up to 4 and 5lbs. were taken there last wee 
the regular fishermen, who have been waiting- 
days for them. N. G. Mason has had good fishin 
Richardson Lake, though the water is the lowest V 
ever seen there. Low water is doubtless the str« 
reason why the big trout have not yet run uo w\ 
pool below the Upper Dam. Spec?! 
The Sporting Mauser. 
New York, Sept. 21. — Editor Forest and Stream, 
last week's issue Mr. E. Hough remarks tha 
Opie Read would like to get hold of 01 
those Mauser rifles to shoot squirrels with. I 
is a regular sporting model of- Mauser rifle oi 
market, which is sold by Schoverling, Daly & 
of this city. This sporting rifle differs from the 
tary rifle in the stocking and finish only. It h;i 
greatest .penetration, longest range and flattest traj 
of any rifle made, and I do not doubt that Mr. Opie 
could kill a squirrel with it — and an elephant too, 
ever had the chance. TJ. F. Beni 
Virginia Shore Birds. 
Chincoteague Island, Va., Sept. 16.— Atlantic . 
birds of all the sorts are in the greatest abundai] 
this writing, The only way to account for an uk 
quantity of birds this summer and fall is the cd 
rains that we have been having. The island peop; 
me that plenty of rain will always bring the birds, 
rains will also have the effect of fostering the gro^ 
the grass on the under water bottoms of our bay, 
will give us a good supply of red necks and black 1 
this' winter. Thos, G. Ellk! 
Don't go by an Old " Brief" 
No more than you would consult a last year's tab 
your train time. The latest Brief index is dated' 
15. If you have a July, 1898, or an August, 1898 
Sept. t. 1898, indexed Brief, send us the index leu 
we will send the one for Sept. 15, 1898. If you I 
Brief which is index-dated prior to July, 1S98, you ,J 
get a new one. Forest and Stream Publishing Con 
The Fouest ahd Stheam is put to press e3.cn .week 00 T 
Correspondence intended for publication should rp.ieh us 
litest by Monday, and as much earlier as practicable. 
