90 
[Feb. 4, 1899. 
Iowa Realities and Unrealities* 
Vinton, Jan. 27.—Edttor Forest and Stream: Last 
winter there were nine hounds in Vinton. They were of 
dififerent blood, but all of them would run wolves. The 
most of them were young, but would hold a track from 
twenty-four to forty-eight hours. No two hounds were 
owned by one man, and nearly every day some of them 
were across the river in the bluffs running wolves. They 
had many a scrap with the big timber wolves, and some- 
times came home more or less cut up. One wolf that 
they killed was found on a bar in the river. Eight miles 
from Vinton they had a wolf nearly run down, and the 
wolf went through a farmers yard and jumped into his 
hog lot, and made a stand among the hogs. Of course 
the eager hounds jumped right into the lot and pitched 
on to the wolf, then from fifty to 100 hogs pitched on 
to both the wolf and dogs. The uproar that followed 
soon fetched the bare-headed farmer to the scene, and in 
an instant he had a chib and was in the thick of the 
fight, and while the fur, hair and bristles were flying, he 
got a crack at the wolf and laid him out. At another time 
the dogs had a wolf nearh' played out, and a man on a 
horse killed it with a club. 
Last spiking I went out with Mr. Upple and six of the 
hounds. For quite a while we stood on a runway and 
listened to the dogs, who seemed to be having trouble 
down in the timber a mile aAvay. On going to the dogs 
we learned by a man that a prairie wolf that was heavy 
with young had passed there thirty minutes ahead of 
the dogs. I also learned that this pack of hounds could 
not follow the track of a wolf or rabbit if the latter were 
in that condition. This was new to me, and l wonder if 
it is true of all dogs. 
This pack of hounds shortly afterward came to a sad 
and treacherous end. They had stolen out of town and 
were hunting alone. Thej^ did not return, and in a few 
days Mr. Upple found on a bar in the river seven of them 
that had been poisoned. The other two escaped. 
This winter a badger was killed not far from Vinton. 
It is the only one killed for a good many years, although 
in early days they were numerous. 
A fiock of twelve geese stayed on the prairie north of 
Vinton until Jan. 4, when they went south ahead of a 
storm. Quail are A^ery plentiful. It has been a good 
winter for them. Little snow and not extreme cold 
weather. Chickens seem to be in small scattering flocks. 
Jack rabbits are increasing. 
The hunters' trespass law gives fair protection to garne 
on the prairie, but everjrthing in and near the river is 
free booty. Mount Tom. 
In the "Woods and 0«t. 
An Indiana corresnondent, who subscribes for the 
Forest and Stream to be sent to a guide in Michigan, 
writes: 
"Buchanan is a professional hunter and trapper and 
guide, and one of the most hospitable, generous, modest 
fellows in the world, and I do not know of anything 
which will give as much pleasure as this. 
"He told me (and I have no doubt of his absolute 
truthfulness) of the lawlessness 01 seH-stj'led 'gentle- 
men' who come up into the woods, and finding them- 
selves far from game wardens, pay no attention to legife- 
lative enactments, or the laws of common sense which 
these embody, but do just what an unbridled instinct 
prompts. It is easy to see what moral a man reared in 
the woods must draw from such an example. 
"I hope you will continue to hold up to scorn the 
'sportsmen' who consider game laws a good thing for 
others, but not for themselves — and bv-the-bye, do you 
not think that when you publish a letter from a corre- 
spondent who boasts of stealing game or fish, or of 
poaching on strictly preserved property, which is the 
same thing, j'-ou ought to show your disapproval by some 
comment? Not long since, I forget the date and the 
name at this moment, such a one told in your columns of 
his experience in stealing a fine trout at Carlsbad. The 
description was quite realistic ; how he concealed his 
tackle so that no one would suspect his design, how he 
crouched down and hid behind a wall when the guardians 
of the property were in sight, as any other thief would; 
how he hid his plunder when concealed, etc., etc. 
"Would you publish a well-written and detailed ac- 
count of a successful raid upon some gentleman's hen- 
roost or into his cellar? Lexden." 
Florida Game and Fish. 
De Land, Fla., Jan. 6. — Quail were unusually numer- 
otJS about De Land early in the season, and some of 
them are still left. The forage and cover for them is 
better in this part of the State, I think, than in many 
others. The crop of wild peas has been very prolific. 
A few ducks are being bagged on the upper St. John's, 
most of them wood duck, the best local variety. 
A friend just back from the East Coast says that trout 
and sheepshead are biting voraciously there, but other 
varieties of salt-water fish not so well. The ducks have 
either not come south yet or are kept off the rivers by 
steam launches. Sea bass (?) were numerous off Smyrna 
in the fall, and the same friend landed one which, he in- 
forms me, weighing 3Slbs., and caused nearly an hour of 
hard work. 
The threatening weather this season has influenced 
hunting. H. R. Steiger. 
Shots that Happened So. 
One of the most remarkable rifle shots, or rather pair 
of shots, ever known, happened out in Wyoming a few 
years ago, and is vouched for by the son of_ a brigadier 
general, U. S. A., who was a participant in the hunt 
where the shooting was done. "My guide and I," said 
this gentleman at the Camera Club the other evening, 
"were out in the mountains one fall after deer, and we 
succeeded in creeping up on to a bunch of four and killed 
three almost instantly. The fourth escaped unhurt from 
our first firing, and started off at full speed along the 
edge of a sort of clearing. The guide fired twice as 
carefully as he could, but was not able to stop him. After 
a third shot, the buck ran a way and lay down. I worked 
carefully arounrj a hill and when he saw me he was up 
and oflp again like a streak. I let him have a shot from 
my little Winchester 'tick-tack' and bowled him over. 
When we came to examine the buck, we found that every 
ball fired had taken effect. The fir.^t two shots had 
bored round holes in the right and left ears respectively, 
and the third shot by the guide had passed nearly 
through the deer's body, but not in a very vital part. 
This shot, however, had caused him to lie down, and thus 
enabled me to get to him." 
Deer are often shot through the ears, but I never heard 
of another instance of their ears being bored separately 
by two consecutive rifl-e shots. Peter Flint. 
New York Citv. 
Odd Quail Shootingf Incident. 
MiLFORD, Conn., Jan. 20. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have to tell a shooting story. It borders on the im- 
probable, but I know it must be true, tor it was related to 
me by Mr. S. W., a gentleman who is noted for his exact 
statements and his adherence to facts. 
Mr. W. and his friend were hunting on the grounds of 
the H. F. A., of which both are members. They had 
started a small bevy of quail. Subsequently a scattered 
bird or two were shot at, and one of them seemed badly 
hit, but kept on toward an old ruin, a Connecticut farm- 
house. Only the chimney was standing, and as the hunt- 
ers watched the bird in its flight, it seemed to disappear 
beyond this chimney some 200yds. away. 
As they hunted around in the little swamp just beyond, 
they missed the dog, but finally found him pointing close 
to the base of the chimney, where tlie old fireplace had 
been. Finally Bob broke his point and disappeared. Then 
they heard him scraping and scrambling up the chimney, 
and in a few moments he reappeared, coming downward 
and backward with the dead quail in his mouth. 
M. G. 
Wild Rice in Chesapeake Waters. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 26. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I would be glad^ to hear what experience, if 
any, some of your correspondents have had as to the suc- 
cessful planting and growing of wild rice in Chesapeake 
waters. 
I am a member of a ducking club, and we have tried 
for several years to successfully install this plant, and 
while we have had it grow, we have never had it propa- 
gate itself. We are very reluctant to give tip the enter- 
prise, but have already expended considerable money 
without results, and hesitate to make further efforts with- 
out knowing more certainly that the plant has been suc- 
cessfully grown thereabouts. Our shore is north of Balti- 
more, opposite Carroll's Island. J. S. L. W. 
In Louisiana* 
A correspondent writes from Provencal, La,, of the 
game supply and controlling conditions : "We have a 
fine crop of partridges in the vicinity — fotmd mostly in 
open pine woods in thick grass. They are unusually fat. 
We have an abundance of gray foxes. A good pack of 
hounds here will outgeneral Reynard in about two hours. 
There are no red foxes. Deer once were very plentiful ; 
they have been almost annihilated with the improA^ed arm 
and the head light. Our laws in this State do not furnish 
the beautiful animal sufficient protection, and laws are 
not enforced. Woodcock are scarce. We have very few 
ducks ; sometimes they make us a visit, but so many 
shoot them ; they are not allowed to light, and infre- 
quently evaporate in the air for want of food." 
A Sportsman. 
Maine Moose Statistics. 
A Maine correspondent writes: "The number of 
moose taken in Maine, as published, is far from correct. 
Of loi received up to New Year's by one taxidermist 
about fifty were killed in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia 
and Canada. I think that 100 will be ample estimate for 
every moose taken in Maine in 1898. The railroads and 
the commissioners wish to make a good sho\ving, and so 
the railroad counts every head carried as coming from 
Maine, and the newspapers double that on the supposi- 
tion that as many more have been illegally killed." 
"That reminds me." 
Mac's Fox Hunt. 
An I niver tould ye about me an' ould Patton havin' 
the fox hunt. Well, sor, 'twus the funniest thing ye 
ever see, Ould man Patton wus a naybor of moine, livin' 
down betuxt Jim Casey's farm an' the crick, an' as quare 
an ould chap as ye'd see in many a day. He wus a little 
man, widout much mate an him, an' purrty well bint up 
wid age, for T think he wus moighty near eighty, but 
shprj^ for all dhat. He had a harse that wus nearly as 
ould as himself; an' anny toime, day or night, the ould 
chap wus ready to hitch up an' dhrive into the village wid 
anny of the lads. 
Well, wan day wan of the lads wus tellin' me he 
knowed where they wus a foxes' din, about a moile over 
in the woods, an' axed me would I go over wid him an' 
dig him out. "I'd go," I sez. But in dhe* marnin' the 
lad hirt his feet an' couldn't go, an' so I axed ould Pat- 
ton would he go, an' he sez, "I will," he sez, "for I niver 
wint an a fox hunt in me loife," he .sez. So we tuck our 
shovels an' stharted for the din. Well, we r'ached the 
place all roight, and comminced to dig the foxes out; an' 
me an' the ould man dug for a couple of hours; but 
dhere didn't same to be anny ind to the hole, an' ould 
Patton sez, sez he, "Mac, there's a divil of a lot of harrd 
wurk about fox huntin'," he sez, "and I've a good no- 
tion," he sez, "to go round," he sez, "an' dig up frum the 
other side," he sez. "Ye'd hev to dig 10,000 moiles," I 
sez, "an' we haven't got toime," I sez. An' so we med up 
our moinds we'd give' up dhe job an' sthart for home. 
An the way back we sthapped at Tomm.y Black's place 
for a dhrink, for diggin', 's moighty dhry work, an we 
found Tommy: out behoind the hquse, hivin' bees, an' we 
stud there an' lucked at thim for quoite a whoile, whin 
purrty soon some of the bees lit an ould man Patton's 
legs. I tould him to stan' still an' they wouldn't hirt 
him, but he comminced to knock thim aff; an' the first 
thing he knowed, dhe whole swarm wint for him, an' 
ye'd 'a' died laffin' to see the ould chap put for dhe bush, 
an' the bees afther him. He wus thro win' his arms 
around his head an' legs, an' yelHn "Git aff out of dhis! 
Git aff out of dhis !" Purrty soon his wind gev out, an' 
he culdn't run a sthep, so he sthopped an' stuck his head 
in a bush, an' stud dhere, doubled up, wid dhe whole of 
his legs an' body stan'in' out big an' woide, for the bees 
to laight an, an' boy dad dhey did loight an him, too. I 
belave if we'd left him there, for foive minits we c'u'd 
have schraped two quarts of honey aff his pants, but 
foinally we got him away from the bees and inte the 
house, an' thin stharted for home, an' the ould man was 
dhat swelled up you wouldn't have knowed him. An the 
way T sez to him, I sez, "Wet clay'll take out the sthings," 
I sez ; but the ould man sez, "Dhere isn't enough clay," 
he sez, "in the whole State of Michigann to do dhat," he 
sez. Whin we got up boy moy house, dhe ould man wint 
an a few stheps, an' dhin kem back aga'n, an' shakin' his 
finger in moy face, he sez : "Mac," he sez, "dhat wus the 
first fox hunt I iver wint to, an it'll be dhe lasht." 
G. J. B. 
I am reminded of an incident of my earlier hunting 
days. I was about sixteen years old, a fair shot and 
passionately fond of any kind of shooting, which in fact 
I have never outgrown. The day before this incident 
there had been a grand hunt; the moon was full, with 
high tide in the morning, helped by a stiff sea breeze. 
Five shooters started out in their sneakboxes. I was one 
of them. At noon we all took account of stock on the 
hotel veranda. I had thirty-eight marsh hens, the other 
four had in all thirty-two. Spangler, a reporter for some 
Philadelphia sporting paper, was one of the five shooters; 
and he said he was going to write me up. I was elated. 
The next morning I got one of the fishermen to set 
me on Seven-Mile Beach. I had started out with the 
deterrnination of making a record on snipe, to go in with 
the rail story. I potted about a dozen sandpipers, and 
was about to give it up for a bad job, when I heard 
some curlew. Crouching down behind a tuft of grass, I 
called them, and although the attempt was crude they cir- 
cled and dropped into a small pond, formed by the high 
me, and there was nothing to prevent my getting a pot- 
me, and there Avas nothing to prevent my geeting a pot- 
.shot at them at 20yds., except two swampy little holes 
filled with water. These didn't phase me in the least. 
I crawled wormlike. Without daring to look up, until 
at length, after what seemed to be a two-mile crawl, I 
reached the sand hill and peeped cautiously over. The 
birds had disappeared. I stood up, disgusted, when a 
shrill whistle back of me drew my attention to seven 
curlew sailing off leisurely 40yds. or so away. They had 
passed me within 40ft. while I was crawling toward them. 
My gun was soaked with salt water, so was my watch, 
and my clothes were in a sad condition. It is needless 
to say that Spangler had no occasion to enlarge his 
article on my success as a snipe shooter. 
Chas. G. Blandford. 
It was bedtime for little five-year-old Howard, and his 
mamma undressed him. For some reason he did not want 
to say his usual prayer — "Now I lay me," etc. — and his 
mamma said : "Howard, you do not want to go to sleep 
without first asking God to take care of you, do you ?" He 
looked at his mamma, then answered; "Why, papa has 
got a gun !" 
Proprietors of fishing and hunting resorts will find it profitable 
to advertise them in Foeest and Streau. 
Florida Fresh- Water Fishing. 
There is good fishing at Auburndale, in Polk county, 
Fla. A lesident told me that there were over seventy 
lakes within five miles of town, and that many of them 
had never had a line in them. I took his word for it, as 
I was apt to. find several new ones every time that the 
neighborhood was explored, Ariana, on the north side 
of the town, furnished us with all the fish and sport neces- 
sary. Frequently the water would be churned in every 
direction by large schools of bass after minnows. A 
visitor from Schenectady, N. Y., who took these commo- 
tions for tropical waterspouts when he saw them for the 
first time, came ashore. He was very quick, too, when he 
saw anything unusual to understand what it meant; but 
those disturbances had startled all of us. The speckled 
perch were often as much in evidence. 
Shiners were considered the best bait for bass. We 
caught these minnows near the thick bunches just be- 
3'^ond the water grass belt along shore. Switches were 
used for rods, and threads drawn through small bottle 
corks for lines. The hooks were the smallest that we 
could find^ — about a No. 14 Carlyle, I should judge. The 
bait was either dough mixed with raw cotton or grubs 
called "sawyers," found under the bark of dead pine logs. 
We would push the boat a few feet into the grass belt and 
then fish in the open water beyond the edge to catch 
shiners. Their mouths were tender, but by landing the 
minnows on the floor of the boat many of them were se- 
cured that fell from our hooks. When we could not 
catch shiners, we fished for very small perch around float- 
ing logs, and in the pools among the grass, and used 
sawyers or bits of top-water minnows as bait for 
them. 
Every one has his own theories about fishing. Mine 
are numerous. One is that the season here begins with 
February and extends into June. Another is that the 
most productive water of the lakes is within 150yds. of 
shore. Our favorite position was several boat lengths out 
from the grass, where we could cast to either side. _We 
made our largest catches on afternoons of warm, bright 
days. . . , . 
The bass were somewhat erratic m their movements as 
the season advanced. Probably the schools of deep-water 
