290 
FOREST AND STREAM* 
7t 
from his first answering grunt until his arrival at the 
inquest an hour elapsed. 
Only one moose, up to the present time, has been 
harves'ted with a spread of over sft- This prize fell to 
the ready rifle of Mr. Guy Saunders, of Woodstock, as 
the result of a four days' hunt up the left hand branch 
of the Tobigue. The "exact measurement of the horns 
was 5ft. 2in. 
There is a very perceptible decline in the use of small- 
bore rifles by visiting sportsmen this season. Many of 
those who have used the .30-30 and .30-40 now condemn 
them because of uneven results, and have gone back to 
their old standbys, among which the -45-70 seems to 
have the call. Some of our moose guides will not allow 
a small-bore rifle to be taken in on their grounds, claim- 
ing that during the past two seasons more moose shot 
with the .30-3o"have been maimed and crippled (in some 
cases wandering ofl" to die a lingering death) than have 
been killed outright. 
Reference was made in last issue to Mr. Foskett's 
hard luck in meeting his moose when his riile was not in 
commission. The fact was omitted by your correspondent 
that upon the moose starting Mr. Foskett succeeded in 
shoving in a cartridge and taking a flying shot, which 
though it drew blood, was thought to have only inflicted 
a flesh wound. To-day I am in receipt of a note from 
Dr. Morehouse, of Upper Keswick, who had been in to 
Grand John Lake for a short trip, during which he 
found Mr. Foskett's moose. The animal, of course, was 
badly decaved. The antlers measured 44in. 
Frank H. Risteen. 
New Zealand Game and Fish. 
The story of stocking New Zealand with the game and 
fish of Europe and America has been told in our columns 
by Mr. Wakefield. In a recent issue of the Sydney 
Referee, which a correspondent sends us from that city, 
we find an interesting account of the experience of a 
Sydney sportsman in New Zealand. 
The' climate of New Zealand, says the Referee, is 
such that nearly all kinds of game— fur, feather and fish — 
will thrive. The Government has been for years awai'". 
of the fact, and with commendable enterprise has stocktr 
field, forest and stream with the choicest specimens of 
game and fish, the result being that to-day one can get 
sport amid British and American game and fish at a 
price which would make sportsmen in the old land, who 
pay fabulous prices to rent deer forests and salrnon and 
trout streams, turn greeii with envy. Mr. C. H. Gorrick. 
the well-known Sydney sportsman, who recently returned 
from a six months' tour of the North Island of New- 
Zealand in the Monowai, relates his experiences as fol- 
lows: 
"Fishing; in the Makakahi River, jii the Forty Mile 
Bush district, for nearly three weeks (where brown trout 
abound), with fly only, I caught some baskets of trout 
that averaged 3lbs., the fish running up to 4lbs. in 
weight. This river is rather a difficult one to fish, as 
some of the best ripples and pools are unapproachable, 
owing to the precipitous banks running down to the 
water's edge, while in other places the banks are fringed 
with bushes, which overhang the stream, making it al- 
most impossible to cast a fiy without becoming 'hung 
up' in the bushes. 
"Hearing that raltibow trout were to be caught in a 
stream about twelve miles distant, I hired a trap from 
the hotel keeper and started out. My first essay at the, 
rainbows was not a success, as the day I chose was farj' 
from suitable; rain having fallen the previous night, the ! 
river was in slight flood, which kept the fish from feed-' 
ing. But my next trip, about a week later, proved more 
fruitful. 
"T commenced early in the day, with natural bait in 
the shape of a cicada (a small species of locust), fished 
dry — i. e., cast up stream and allowed to float down with 
the current. This lure proved most deadly, and at almost 
every cast I was into a rainbow. Never in all my angling 
experience have I found such game, fighting fish. From 
the moment he is hooked he commences to take long 
ru.shes that make the reel simply screech. At tlve end 
of this rush, which generally runs out from 20yds. to 
40yds. of your line, he takes a terrific bound out of the 
water, jumping quite ^ft. in the air. This is generally a 
inoment of intense suspense, as it is now, iinless securely 
hooked, your rod suddenly becomes straight, and you 
have that sickening feeling that an angler generally ex- 
periences when he has lost a good fish; but should the 
hook be well home and your tackle strong the fight 
usually continues for upward of thirty minutes without 
a single moment's cessation. He bores, plunges, rushes, 
leaps, until at last he wears himself out and is quietly 
drawn into the landing net. Nothing is gamer than a 
rainbow trout, and nothing more handsome._ Just landed 
he shows a blood-red bar about ij4in. to 2in. wide, run- 
ning down his side from head to tail, and gradations 
of all the colors of the rainbow running off the red 
streak. By the way, not more than 20 per cent, of the 
fish that are hooked are landed. The name of this river 
is the Mangatainoka, and it is without exception about 
the very best river in the Forty Mile Bush. It is an 
ideal stream for trout, being composed of a series of 
deep pools (a sure 'lay' for a rainbov/), ■ with lovely 
ripples in which the fish usually feed and disport them- 
selves. The scenery on this stream surpasses and de- 
fies description. Every kind of fern and bush may be 
found on its banks, and in some places completely shuts 
out the light, and forming a snug retreat for some old 
monster trout, who is secure from capture — that is, so 
long as legitim.ate lures are used. I am sorry to s? 
however, that sometimes a charge of dvnamite is set in 
these pools, which kills and maims all the fish for 20yds. 
around. This is rarely done, however, and then only by 
some road-maker or other who wants a change of diet. 
The artificial fly on this river is very killing after sunset 
or when the water is beginning to clear after a flood. 
"While in this district I also fished the Man^ahau 
River. This stream is a much bigger river than either of 
the two before mentioned, and is heavily stocked with 
brown trout, which run from lib. to i4lbs,; but these 
leviathans are as a rule too cunning to be captured with 
artificial bait; but sometimes when extra, hungry one 
is caught, generally on an artificial minnow. I caught 
some good bags of fish in this stream, my best being 
twenty-three fish, that weighed 7ilbs.; the heaviest 
weighed 6^1bs. All these were killed in bright sunshine, 
between 10 and 2 P. M,, on the live grasshopper (fished 
f'i"y)- , . , . 
"From here I went to Ktimerpa and stayed with tnat 
prince of anglers, viz., Mr. J. 1. N. Mackie. One of 
the best, if not the best, trout streams in the North Island 
Hows through Mr. Mackie's property. He is a large 
landholder, and is acknowledged to be the best minnow 
■fisher, in New Zealand; but during the last two seasons 
lie has given up minnow fishing and adopted the artificial 
fly. This lure he finds quite as killing as the deadly 
vyhite bait minnow. The Manawatu is the name of this 
excellent river, and one has only to stay in one ripple 
to fill his creel, the rapids being in some places 200yds. 
across and the same distance in length, and each rapid 
is teeming with lusty trout of the brown species, which 
average 2y2lbs. to 3lbs., but a 5-pounder is not unusual 
• to find in one's basket at the end of a day's fishing. The 
fish here arc quite equal to salmon in their- sporting and 
fighting habits. Here I had the best sport. 
"When- the fishing season closed I moved up to the 
Wanganui district, for the purpose of having some deer 
stalking. After purchasing a license (which costs £1, 
and entitles the holder to kill four stags), a party com- 
posed of Messrs. Chavannes, Palmer and myself started 
out to the Khiwhike Mountains, which lie about twenty 
miles from Wanganui. We pitched our tent_ about mid- 
day, unpacked our rifles, ammunition and field glasses, 
and sallied out into the mountains in quest of stags. We 
all took different directions, and made for high points 
in the hills, where we could command a good view of 
the surrounding country and spy out the land. 
"At this period of the year the stags are usually on 
the move all day (this being the rutting season), and their 
whereabouts are generally discovered by their roaring. 
I had not been more than ten minutes on my point of 
vantage, when I heard a stag roaring about 400yds. 
.'iway from me in a thick patch of bush, I had the wind 
in my favor, and had not long to wait befort- his lord- 
ship moved his quarters, and started to come in my direc- 
tion. I kept well out of sight, being hidden in some 
long grass, and waited breathlessly until he was within 
about looyds. of me. At that distance he stopped for a 
moment to listen, and gave a splendid broadisde shot. 
Aiming at the point of his shoulder, I pulled the trigger; 
the stag gave a bound in the air, and lay kicking on his 
back. found my bullet had gone clean through both 
his shoulders, smashing his heart to pieces. Aiter stick- 
ing him I gralloched him, and cut his head oft', with the 
object of getting it set up. This stag carried a nice head 
of ten points, but turned out to be the worst head I 
got, the others being much better (the best carried six- 
teen points);, 
"I was shortly joined by Mr. Chavannes, who had 
been following a fine stag, but W'as tmable to get a shot 
in before the buck entered sotne thick bu.?h. We de- 
cided to wait on the edge oi this manuka scrub on the 
ofT chance of the stag coming out the same side as he 
had entered by. While having a smoke we were sud- 
denly startled to see him standing within Soyds. of us. 
So astonished were we that we simply stared at him, 
not for the moment thinking to shoot; but C. pulled 
J-iimself together sufiiciently to have a shot; but when 
the smoke cleared away the stag was standing in the same 
spot, apparently untouched. This gave C. a chance to 
put a fresh cartridge in his rifle, but the movement m.ade 
in reloading set the stag off at a fast gallop, crashing 
through everything; but C. instantly had his rifle up, and 
made the prettiest .shot 1 ever witnessed, putting a bullet 
from his .303 express right through the buck's head. 
This without damaging the antlers in any way. This 
proved to be the best head we got all the trip. 
"I could tell you many such adventures, but this is a 
sample of the sport, and will suffice. We continued 
shooting in this part of the country for three days. We 
then had shot all the heads we were entitled to, so 
packed up and made back to Wanganui. We killed 
ten stags between us, viz.: Mr. Palmer four, myself 
four and Mr. Chavanrfes two, the latter only hunting 
for two days. We took all the heads into town, and they 
are now being 'set up as trophies. We also took in six 
carcasses of venison, and distributed it among frieiids. 
"A license only entitles a shooter to kill stags, and 
all must carry a head of not less than four points; this 
to prevent young bucks from being killed. Does, of 
course, are perpetually protected — and rightly too. We 
saw quite 200 head of deer during our visit, and plenty 
of fine bucks among them. 
"In the Wairarapa district license holders have been 
permitted to kill an unlimited number of stags this season, 
and over eighty good heads came into Martinborough 
(a small township) alone to be mounted, which goes to 
prove that now vast herds of deer are roaming over the 
back country in New Zealand. Good deer stalking can 
be had almost anywhere in the North Island of New 
Zealand, and all for £1, whereas in Scotland the prices 
paid for a deer forest are something enormous, while 
the trout fishing in New Zealand is the best in the world 
(quite a number of English visitors came out to New 
Zealand for the deer stalking and trout fishing thi^ 
season). 
"The New Zealand Government and Wellington Ac- 
climatization Society deserve all sorts of credit for the 
way in which they have stocked the country with game. 
Last year the Government sent an expert to England, 
America and the Continent of Europe to bring out game 
of every variety, and fish from the various countries 
visited. Now the Government has set apart an island 
to breed the various game imported, and proposes to 
distribute it all over the province. Several varieties of 
quail, pheasants, ducks, deer, caribou and wapiti are now 
arriving, so in a few years New Zealand will be literally 
teeming with game of every description under the sun. 
At the present time I know of no place where • such 
excellent spori can be obtained at such small cost. It 
only requires to be better known lor hosts of Australian 
visitors to go over everv season for the sport to be 
obtained, and this at such small cost. 
"A month's fishing and shooting could be had tor a 
nominal sum. The fishing license co'sts £1 for the 
season, while a license to shoot pheasants and quail cot 
but another £1, and as I said before a Hcense to k 
stags but 20s." 
Mr. Gorrick's bag from May 1 to 22 was as follow 
Quail, 90 brace; pheasants (cocks), 40 brace; pigeons, 
pair; wild pigs, 7 head; hares, 140 head; stags, 4 hea; 
fish, about i,ooolbs. weight. 
Specimens of each were brought over in the co; 
chambers of the Monowai for disaribution among frienq 
The quail to be found were in countless thousands 
so plentiful that few bather to shoot them. _With rega 
to the wild pigs, Mr. Gorrick says that it is poor spc 
shooting them (with dogs), but if a spear was used, 
in India, it would be excellent sport and exciting wor 
The rivers are stocked v/ith trout, including Loi 
Leven, rainbow, brown and fontinalis or brook char, i 
experience has proved that the different species do} 
get on well together, each river is stocked with a separ^ 
kind. In the Mangatainoka, however, the brown ai 
the rainbow get on together, although the brown speci| 
don't breed. 
Down in Maine. 
Boston, Oct. 2. — The Maine angling season of x8l 
closed Saturday night. In some respects it was, a i| 
niarkable season. The number of anglers has increase 
while resorts that were formerly devoted to anglers <! 
most altogether have begun to be noted as summer i\ 
sorts where angling is indulged in after a fashion, but 
not the primary object of the summer boarder. An git 
are feeling more and more that they are being driv, 
out, and must seek regions more remote from the dre, 
suit and the whistle of the locomotive. The season 
1899 has taken more Boston anglers to New Brunswic 
northern Canada and Nova Scotia than ever befo) 
while some have begun to seek Newfoundland for trc 
and salmon fishing, and are pleased with the results, 
is true that certain newspapers, devoted to boomi 
Maine fishing and hunting resorts, declare that the fis 
ing has never been better than the season just past; tt 
more and larger trout and salmon have been taken. B 
a glance at their own files will show that they have sj 
the same thing every season for many years: hence t 
fishing must have reached a perfect paradise by the pr(( 
ent time, if their assertions are to be believed.^ A gri, 
many fish have been taken the past season, it is true, 
the well-known Maine resorts, but the number of angle 
has been greater, while they have fished more earnesi 
and with all the improved methods and greater skill t? 
the years have been bringing out. It I read aright, t 
late September catches at the Upper Dam and otl 
celebrated Rangeley resorts were smaller this year, w 
smaller fish, than last. There is scarcely a report 
a trout above .^Ibs. for the whole month of Septemb 
while on other seasons trout of 6, 7, S, and even up 
9 and lolbs. have been taken. 
My friend Wesley C. Hemmenwa3% of Boston, l,o\ 
angling as well as the best of them, but he usually sta 
at home and attends to business whUe the "boys" 
the firm go fishing. He says that Mr. A. L. Picket, . 
Nashua, N. H., has recently made a remarkable cat 
of black bass at Morey Lake, Fairley, Vt. He to. 
rhirty-one bass in about five hours' fishing, the largt 
weighing 4lbs. 2oz. The total weight of the catch vi 
55lbs. The fishing in that lake has been very much i: 
proved by screening the outlet. Mr. Picket has a go 
photograph of the fish, that may be seen by brotl' 
anglers if they desire. 
The full open season on Maine big game has begi 
Oct. I being the opening day, except on bull moo 
which may not be legally killed till Oct. 15, and on c* 
moose and caribou, which are under a perpetual ck 
time. There is httle doubt that deer are more abundr 
in that State than a year ago, while concerning b 
moose reports widely differ. I saw a hunter Saturd 
who is familiar with the Maine woods, having visit 
them every season for several years. He says that thi 
are more bull moose in the vicinity of Moosehead, W' 
Branch of the Penobscot and Allegash region than e\ 
before. A bull moose is reported to have been seen 
the Rangeley section, not far from the carry betwe 
Rangel.?y and Mooselucmaguntic lakes. A number j 
reported in the vicinity of Kennebago Mountain, wh 
the Seven Ponds region has its usual number or mo: 
Flagstaff Lake boasts several big moose. The Aroc 
took region has a great many moose, if we can belie 
the many reports. 
Sept. 30. — The shore' bird gunners have had a fi 
season thus far, and most of them are at home after t 
first shooting. The flights of plover and snipe ha 
generally gone by, and it is still rather early for dud 
though sheldrake and coot are found in consideral 
numbers. L. W. De Pass has returned from shooti 
at his Plum Island camps. He shot thirty-one beet 
head plover and two curlews. Ducks are beginning 
bed, a local gunner having secured several black due 
C. A. Brown is back from shooting at Chatham. He ( 
not work very hard, but secured pbout thirtv "^io- bird 
He has a beautiful specimen of winter yellowleg, t 
result of this fall's shooting, as well as a fine beetie-he 
plover. He means to secure a moimted specimen 
every shore bird frequenting our coast. 
The partridge gunners are getting only a fair showi' 
of hir'^'s. L'^''"''ard Chanman. a boy of eighteen, livi 
with E, M. Gillam, has taken a number of partridges 
the Reading woods. He has also shot a fish hawk wi 
a spread of 62in. to the wings. Of this he is very nrot 
Gardy Eames, the crack wing shot of ea,9tern Mast 
chusetts. got six or eight partridges the first day of t 
open season. Ed Eames, who was hunting at the sai 
time, secured almost as many. Mr. Hallowell. of B(; 
ton, got none the first day of 'the season. C. H. Tarb' 
got five the first time he went out in Byfield, the ope 
ing day, I believe. He had a new dog, only a pupf 
but he worked splendidly, putting up a flock of ni 
within a short time. The first barrel brought two hire 
n very luckv shot, and Tarbox is naturally proud of 
The other barrel brought one. The dog soon put t 
-birds up^aietiin and the hunter took one with each hi 
rel. Considering this good luck enough for one day, 
called' m the dog and went home. Mr. Foss. of Bostr 
with his son; a boy of X2, is just back from a hunting tl 
