Oct. 22, 1898,] 
Bate, and soon the name of our station was shouted by 
he brakeman. Arrived at the club house, but few mo- 
rtents were lost in getting into sweaters and canvas 
oats, whose frayed appearance was evidence that the 
rearers were by no means novices in the sport of duck 
hooting. Then each one busied himself with prepara- 
ions for the morrow's shoot till a call from the ranch 
louse sent us on a double quick to a good dinner, after 
diich cards were brought out and the choice of blinds 
lecided by drawing from the ace to the nine-spot. The 
nsurance Man drew the ace and the Student followed 
vith the deuce, which gave them first and second choice. 
The blinds having been determined, the next thing 
vas to place the decoys — and to this end the Student 
nd the keeper took one of the boats and rowed from 
ilind to blind, placing from three dozen to fifty wooden 
lecoys in a crescent form about each one. These 
ilinds are water-tight boxes, sunk flush with the sur- 
ice at the lake's edge — the top screened from view by a 
ringe of growing weeds. They are fitted up with a 
■eat and shelf for shells, and make a very comfortable 
lind, as one is protected from the wind and securely 
lidden from the sharp eyes of the ducks. 
The decoys placed, Charley and the Student returned 
0 the cabin and found the rest of the members dis- 
using that inexhaustible subject — guns. From this 
he conversation drifted to stories of duck shoots long 
:one by, after which we enjoyed a social game of cards, 
nd then all turned in for the night, the Judge and the 
Jovernor going over to the ranch house, where they 
ould revel in the luxury of sheets between their blankets, 
tfs there were but five bunks in the cabin, the Insurance 
dan and the Student spread their blankets on the floor 
-nd laid down to dream of countless flocks of ducks hov- 
ring over their decoys — a dream which was partly 
calized in the morning. Just before the lights were put 
ut the Capitalist, while lying in one of the lower bunks, 
aund that by bracing bis long less agairst the mattress 
f the one above him he could lift it with its occupant 
everal inches — which he at once proceeded to do, much 
0 the discomfcrt of the Real Estate Man. who in turn 
nstituted a rough and tumble pillow fight to give vent 
0 his injured feelings. 
It seemed to the Student that he had hardly closed 
is eyes when he was rudely awakened by having a heavy 
ioot planted within an inch of his head— it was 4 A. M., 
nd ten minutes later nine sleepy shooters were sitting 
round a table on which a smoking hot breakfast was 
lid. Breakfast over, nine shell-laden hunters tramped 
ir rowed to their respective blinds. Those who were 
0 shoot on the pords pushed their decoys over to the 
ilinds in a two-wheeled cart, and while the Banker was 
truggling to get his cart over a drainage ditch, cart 
ind contents overturned into i8in. of cold water, from 
mder all of which the unhappy Banker extricated him- 
ielf with difficulty. After a half-mile walk along the 
ihore of the lake, the Student reached his blind, and 
ifter laying out a supply of shells amused himself by 
•oiling cigarettes and watching the ducks, which by 
his time were being routed from the ponds and came 
n great flocks to the main lake. A great many lit among 
he decoys, and a flock of about sixty sprigs settled in a 
ittle arm of the lake back of the blind, and not 10yds. 
rom it, giving the Student a fine opportunity to study 
:heir habits. 
It was not yet dawn, but a full- moon was shining 
:irightly through the rifts in the clouds, for the sky 
yas partly overcast. In this uncertain light four big 
;oyotes trotted around the lake shore, stopped to take 
1 drink and gaze for a moment at the flock of decoys, 
and then came so close to the Student's blind that he 
;ould have touched them with his gun. The first gun 
had not been fired, so they were safe enough, and 
seemed to realize it, for they stayed around the blind 
for several minutes, till at last the Student threw a clod 
kt one of them, and away they went over the mesa like 
ghosts of departed greyhounds. 
Dawn was breaking in the east— it was light enough 
n sbo<-t ard flock after flock of teal and sprigs wheeled 
by within easy range, many of them dropping among 
the decoys. Still the first gun was not fired, though the 
Student's fingers tingled, and he kept sliding the safety 
button of his hammerless back and forth nervously. For 
a full half-hour he waited, and then the first gurt cracked 
i half-mile away to his right. It was almost immediately 
answered by another to his left, and then the Judge's gun 
sounded across the lake. Just at this moment the Stu- 
dent saw two teal— straight incomers— making for the 
decoys, and he opened the season with a clean right 
and left- on them. They fell not 10yds. apart, their 
little black paddles beating a frantic tattoo in the air. 
Then for the next hour there was a perfect fusillade 
along the lake shore and from the ponds. Ducks were 
flying everywhere and coming from all directions— in- 
comers, tailers, sky-scrapers, and crossing birds made 
the sport fast and exciting. 
They were for the most part young birds that had 
been bred on the grounds, and were badly rattled by 
their experience "under fire." After that the shooting 
quieted down, till by 9 o'clock but few birds were fly- 
ing. 
The evening before Charley had told us that he had a 
tame checker breast goose, which was in the habit of 
flying about the lake, and asked us not to shoot it in 
case it went near any of the blinds. This injunction 
lost for the Student a nice pair of checker breasts, for 
during a lull in the shooting two of these birds (neither 
of which was the keeper's goose, as it afterward proved) 
flew over his blind not 40yds. high. 
At 0 o'clock the Judge began taking in his decoys, and 
the Student followed suit, and together they walked 
iback to the cabin, each with a goodly string of fat 
birds. 
About 12 o'clock a strong wind sprung up, increasing 
in violence till it was a regular gale, which kicked up 
quite a sea on the lake and covered its surface with 
whitecaps. At this time the Student volunteered to take 
a boat across for the Governor. Now the Student has 
never prided himself on his prowess at the oars, and the 
boat had no keel. So the result was that the boat went 
stern first, sideways, and every way but the right way, 
but after a deal of hard work and unshipping of the oars 
he reached the Governor's blind, and loading, his duffle 
on board, the Governor stepped in and risked/ his life 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
and fortune with the landlubberly Student. The return 
voyage was made without mishap, though at times the 
Governor looked dubious. 
One by one the others came back to the cabin 
and hung their birds on the side of the house, 
till a very creditable bag for the first day graced 
the wall. The Student was high gun, with the 
Insurance Man a close second — just one bird less 
than the Student had. The wind continued to blow 
with great violence till train time, 4:30 P. M., and this 
fact, and the unwonted exercise of the morning, had 
whetted our appetites, so that we did full justice to a 
miscellaneous cold lunch, after which we lounged about 
the cabin, discussing the morning's sport till time to go 
to the station. The train was a few minutes late, but 
we reached town on time, and one and all declared that 
the opening shoot had been a great success. 
If the Insurance Man and the Student had been a 
whole circus in themselves, thev would not have caused 
more craning of necks than they did as thev walked up 
town with their birds slung over their shon 1 ders. 
Culpepper. 
Maine and Boston. 
Boston, Oct. 15. — Hunting parties are now in order, 
and some of them are already returning. Considerable 
success in the capture of deer is noted by the hunters 
returning from Maine, with the remarkable feature that 
a good many bucks are being captured, whereas in 
former seasons the early captures have been does m 
majority. The Menotomy Club, made up largely of 
Arlington sportsmen, has just returned from a ten-days' 
hunting trip to Camp Foley, Northeast Carry. The 
company was made up of J. W. Ronco and N. J. Hardey, 
of Arlington; Dr. Lowe, of Newton; Dr. Scctt and Mr. 
Evans, of Jamaica Plain; Dr. Killihur, of Woburn. and 
Dr. Rogers, of Boston. Three fine deer were obtained, 
two bucks and a doe. Partridge shooting exceeded the 
expectations of any in the party. One individual, the 
cook of the company, Mr. Ronco, was ahead in that 
sport, his score being 32. ' Others were taken, of. 
course, but were more readily found about the camp, by 
the cook, than in the deep woods, where the others were 
hunting deer. 
Hunters in the vicinity of the Rangeleys are . getting 
a good many deer. From Billy Soule's several have al- 
ready been brought out. Two or three have been taken 
in the vicinity of Bemis; one of the finest heads ever 
taken in the Maine woods. Mr. Richards has taken 
his two deer at the Upper Dam, and one or two others 
have been taken in that vicinity. The Camp Stewart 
party of four got a fine two-year-old buck. Lester 
Poor has taken a fine buck near the head of Richardson 
Lake. At the Big Richardson Pond the Harry Dut- 
ton party got one deer. Clayton Sweat has been guid- 
ing a party at his camp on that pond, and they have 
secured at least one deer. The editor of Puck, Keppler, 
has been camping at the same pond, and his party has 
had venison in camp. 
Mr. Geo. T. Freeman and O. W. Whittemore, of 
Arlington, are just out from a most delightful Maine 
hunting trip, and one full of adventure. They went to 
Norcross, on the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, and 
from thence to North Twin Dam. From that point they 
went up the lakes and carries a long distance to a pond to 
the west of Mount Katahdin. Here they got three deer, 
two bucks and a doe. Several times they tried to 
photograph a big bull moose, but failed of the desired 
snap shot. It was before the 15th of October, and the 
big fellow seemed to be aware that he was not in danger 
of being shot, except with the camera, and that he did 
not care for. He seemed to inhabit a peninsular between 
the ponds, and was not exactly willing to leave his 
quarters when the hunters approached. At one time — 
they saw him several times — Whittemore was ahead, 
while Freeman was behind with the camera. Whitte- 
more came within a short distance of his lordshio, lying 
down. He called to Freeman to come up with his fish- 
ing rod and "wake him uo." Freeman also had a good 
look at the old fellow as he dozed in the sun. But the 
camera did not work. Another time they saw him lying 
on a hillock near to the shore of the pond; the hunters 
being only a few rods from the shore. At another 
time a big buck deer came out of the woods and went 
up the shore of the pond, followed by a doe, when tag- 
ging on behind came the big moose. This time the 
camera was at the camp. They saw, in all, over forty 
deer and five moose — three bulls and two cows. Both 
men declare that they want to make the same trip when 
the moose law is oft". They feel sure that the bull moose 
could have been shot but for the close season. 
A great many deer are coming into the .Boston mar- 
ket; altogether too many to have been legally shot and 
shipped. Indeed the deer come in piles, without name or 
tag of ownership, though the law expressly provides 
that moose, deer and caribou shall be accompanied by the 
owner, plainly tagged and marked. Evidently the rail- 
roads are forwarding deer illegally. I am told that one 
moose has already reached the Boston market, though 
the open season in Maine does not begin till pet, 15. 
The receivers say that the moose came from the 
Provinces, but it is darkly hinted that it was shot in 
Maine. There is work for the Maine commission in 
stepping the flood of game coming out of Maine; begun 
this year, following the tremendous illegal shipments of 
deer received last year, after the open season closed. 
Boston, Oct. 17. — Mr. Walter L. Hill, secretary of 
the Sportsmen's Show, of last spring, has returned from 
a trip to Europe. In Scotland he fished for Loch Leven 
trout. Friends, members of a Paisley fishing club, in- 
vited him to try the trout in their preserve. An old 
reservoir has been converted into a fish nond, and is 
kept well stocked. Mr. Hill found an American split 
bamboo rod in the rooms of the club, and determined to 
try it. It was light and shapely, but the Scotchmen 
declared that it was ''only a toy; and no length of line 
could be put out with it." Mr. Hill tried it, and. much 
to their surprise, he cast fullv as far as they were able to 
do with their heavier English or Scotch rods. He also 
took six trout, the string weighing about 4lbs., which 
they also regarded as an excellent catch, both as to 
numbers and size. The cast he used Mr. Hill has pre- 
served. The three flies are dark and remarkably small, 
327 
without the sign of a red or any bright-colored feather. 
He will try the same cast on Maine trout next spring. 
Elmer R. Snowman, of Rangeley, was before the Su- 
preme Judicial Court at Farmington, Me., last week, and 
as expected was found guilty of guiding without a 
license. Only a technical defense was offered: that the 
work performed was not necessarily that of guiding. 
The case went to the jury without argument, and that 
body quickly returned the above verdict. Mr. Snow- 
man's counsel asked to have the whole matter dropped, 
but the commissioners, through their attorney, were 
determined to push it to the utmost. An appeal was 
made, and the case now goes to the law court. A great 
deal of interest is manifested in the case. The court 
room was crowded during the proceedings. It is hoped 
by the enemies of the guide law that before the law 
court the law will be shown to be unconstitutional. The 
commissioners and friends of the measure are equally 
confident that it will be fully sustained. 
Proceedings have been dropped in the case of the 
prosecution cf Col. Edward B. Stoddard, of Worcester, 
Mass.. and Mr. Henry Roeloffs, of Philadelphia. The 
matter was to have been tried before the Supreme Court 
at Farmington last week. According to reports at the 
time. Warden Huntoon. of Rangeley, arrested these gen- 
tlemen for illegal fishing in Rangeley S ream; that is, 
fishing above a certain bound, set by authority of the 
Fish and Game Commissioners, under the statute. It 
is understood that the gentlemen were prepared to prove 
that the sign or board had been moved up the stream by 
authority of Commissioner Stanley, and that they were 
not fishing in closed waters. Suddenly it was announced 
that the commissioners had concluded to drop the whole 
matter. It is also reported that Senator W. P. Frye, of 
Maine, and other gentlemen of influence, had appealed 
directly to the commissioners, representing that the pro- 
ceedings were senseless and useless. The sentiment is 
strong among spor'smen, familiar with the location and 
the proceedings, that the defendants should have been 
given a chance to prove their innocence in court. 
Mr. E. S. Shannon, of the Boston office of the Asso- 
ciated Press, has been on a bird shooting trip to Phil- 
lips and Weld, Me. Frarcis Henwcod, of New York, 
has obtained a fine buck deer at Kennebago. Generally 
the local and Maine hunters are ge'ting the most of the 
deer thus far. City soortsmen are complaining that most 
of the hunting sections are badly overdone before they 
get there. It is reported that even the foremen and en- 
gineers on the Banger & Aroostook and Phillips & 
Rangeley railroads carry rifles, and fire from the moving 
trains at deer on the track. Deer are still coming into 
the Boston markets in a most shameful manner, if the 
non-transportation Maine law is to be enforced at all. 
I saw another big pile on Saturday, without tags or 
marks of any kind. These could not have been the legal 
game of sportsmen. The Maine papers say that not 
the usual number of deer are being received in the city 
markets of that State. The reason is a good one; they 
are coming, illegally, to Boston. Special. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
The Mythical Mr. Hicks. 
Chicago, 111., Oct. 15.— The city directory of Mil- 
waukee, Wis., may or may not contain the name of one 
L. H. Hicks. Even should the directory print his name, 
it does not print the street address which this Mr. 
Hicks desires to be known as the point at which he does 
his trading. To "the public at large this fact would at 
first not appear to possess any special interest, though 
perhaps we shall see that the public might well have a 
very direct interest therein. To certain express com- 
panies, trading as common carriers between the cities of 
Milwaukee and Chicago, the name and address of Mr, 
L. H. Hicks are very well known, and they represent a 
certain commercial value. This value attaches, not only 
during the open shooting season,, but has done so all 
through the closed season, and in' spite of the Wisconsin 
laws regarding the killing and shipping of . game. 
Mr. L. H. Hicks is not Mr. L. H. Hicks. His ad- 
dress is not Milwaukee, but Chicago. He is a Jekyll 
and Hyde Mr. Hicks, Whom now you see and whom now 
you don't see. A great many illegal shooters and ship- 
pers of game in the State of Wisconsin, killers of chickens, 
grouse and red-coat deer, know Mr. Hicks, of Milwau- 
kee, very well. For a long time they have been ship- 
ping their illegal game to Mr. L. H. Hicks, Milwaukee, 
knowing very well that it would not be delivered to Mr. 
Hicks, but be forwarded, finally to turn up in the hands 
of II. L. Brown & Son, of Chicago, commission mer- 
chants, and handlers of poul'ry and game. To the latter 
concern, I have no doubt, Mr. Hicks, of Milwaukee, has 
been a valuable friend. 
The newspapers of Milwaukee have discovered a great 
deal more news about the violations of the Wisconsin 
game laws than have the representatives of the law, for 
that purpose appointed. For some time the leading 
Milwaukee papers have been calling attention- to the 
many instances of open or covert violations . of the law. 
Warden Ellarson. it seems, appointed Deputy Warden 
August Zinn to look into the case of- Mr. Hicks. Deputy 
Zinn, it seems, is a hustler, the sort of which Wisconsin 
needs a great abundance, and he succeeded this week 
in catching Mr. Hicks, as it were, in the process of 
changing his coat. The express companies, who, without 
doubt, have been carrying this illegal game, and who 
will, without dcubt. continue to do the same thing, pro- 
fess the most extren'ie and friendly interest in this mat- 
ter, and state that they are very sorry they , did not 
know who Mr. Hicks was, and that henceforth they will 
be very guarded in what business they transact for him. 
The express companies regret very much the pernicious 
activity and reprehensible resourcefulness of Mr. Hicks. 
Too much credit cannot be given to the Milwaukee 
press fcr ge'ting details which were handed over to the 
proper authorities-; which resulted in the discovery of 
Mr. Hicks, as well as fcr their sound stand for some- 
thing beside political activity in matter of the deputy 
wardens over the State. An evening Milwaukee paper 
states: "Deputy Game Warden Zinn's work is a samole 
of the activity which the framers of the, game law had in 
view when they provided for the policing of the game 
