[Jan. 13. 1900. 
West Virginia Deer. 
RoMNEY, W. Va. — Editor Forest and Stream: Not since 
the days of the old-time hunters, with their old rifles and 
coonskin caps, has there been so much hunting and so 
much game killed in Hampshire count}'- as there has been 
this fall. In years gone hy it was no unusual scene to 
see a Wagon on the streets of Romney containing two or 
three deer, but no one ever expected to see in this day 
of game laws wagons on the streets containing three or 
four deer; but such has been the case here his fall, and 
altogether there has been over sixty deer killed within 
a radius of eight miles of Romney. Romney is located 
on the South Branch of the Potomac 150 miles west of 
Baltimore and is reached by a branch of the B. & O. 
R. R. leaving the main line at Green Spring, 15 rtiiles 
east of Cumberland, Md. It- is principally noted for its 
hunting, black bass fishing and its peculiar residents, 
who, it is said, will arise in the dead hour of night to talk 
politics or tell a hunting or fishing yarn. Most of the 
men of the town are either hunters or fishermen, and 
being disciples of the great Izaak Walton spend the most 
of their days whittling store boxes; and when one so far 
forgets himself as to contract to do a small job of manual 
labor his fellow townsmen turn out in full force to advise 
and boss the job. Notwithstanding all these peculiarities, 
they are hospitable and accommodating to the many 
strangers Avho come here to fish and hunt. During Cleve- 
land's first administration he came here and spent a few 
hours fishing and hunting. 
Different reasons have been given for the abundance 
of deer in this section this fall. Among some of the rea- 
sons given is that owing to forest fires in Maryland and 
the western part of the State (and a large majority of 
the deer killed being large bucks), they were driven in 
here by these fires. Others claim the abundance of garne 
is due to the past three years of a close season, as this 
is the first legal hunting season we have had for that time. 
During the past three years we have not done any hunt- 
ing in parties, and as hound running is prohibited by 
law and by public opinion also in this county, the deer 
have been allowed to breed unmolested. Our game laws 
are good if enforced, but as we have no deputy warden 
the law is not enforced as it should be. The prohibitory 
license of $25 for one season, good only In the county 
where issued, has kept lots of sportsmen away. We do 
not like this law, as it gives too much license to the local 
hunter, who very frequently hunts only because he can 
get a price for the game, and has no true love for the 
sport. During a period of fifteen years your correspond- 
ent has met and hunted with the majority of hunters who 
come to this county to hunt, and can say that they gen- 
erally leave $5 behind them for every dollar's worth of 
game they kill or carry away. A general law in all States 
prohibiting the sale of game would go a longer way to 
protecting it than all laws previously enacted. The ques- 
tion of protecting game has become a prominent one in 
most States and all sportsmen should take_ an interest in 
the matter so as fo leave some game in existence for the 
next generation. There are quite a good many sportsmen 
in Baltimore and other cities who have fished in this 
stream who can testify that at one time it was one of 
the best black bass streams in the United States. But 
constant fishing, catching illegally by fish pots and tie 
rafts have done the work, and this grand sport has nearly 
become but a memory. 
The Middle Ridge" correspondent of our local paper re- 
ports the doings of the hunters there: "William Taylor 
killed one deer and five turkeys, Clark Smith managed to 
kill a tow head, John Crock killed eight deer and four 
turkeys, Charles Cox three deer. Tom Cox has killed 
since my other letter two bucks. Bob Earsom killed two 
deer and three turkeys — one gobbler that weighed 31 
pounds, feathers, head and all. William Heath killed ten 
' deer, two turkeys, four foxes, seven skunks and rabbits 
top many to mention. Adam J. Kaylor and his friend 
Mr. Henderson had a lively chase after the big buck 
which Adam says he has shot at nine times. They at 
last got it. Mr. Kaylor says he killed it and Mr. Hender- 
son says he killed it. There was a fine big deer came 
down through Frankfort and stopped in front of Mr. 
Haines' store. I suppose it came in to bid the people 
farewell, as the season was so near out." Jim B. 
Mr^ Foster's Moose. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Mr. Foster's breezy account of the manner in which he 
secured his most notable moose moves the writer to offer 
a few observations. 
Has not Mr. Foster proved beyond all cavil the in- 
adequacy of any rifle made in America to-day for the 
business of stopping moose? It will be generally con- 
ceded that no more powerful rifle, all things considered, Js 
now manufactured in the United States than the .30-40. 
Yet Mr. Foster emptied the entire magazine and two, 
additional shots into the carcass of his moose before the 
animal could be persuaded to pause. "Both shoulders 
were broken, both hips fractured, his heart was cut in 
two, there was a bullet through his brisket, another 
through his paunch, six of his ribs were cut in twain, other 
bullets went through him or were pulverized against the 
big bones," all this before the moose would condescend to 
subside. No wonder Mr. Foster's anxious soul sang the 
anthem which he describes and which so many have sung 
before: "Why don't I knock him down? Why don't I 
knock him down?" The obligato which echoed through 
the forest corridors that moist November day, but which 
Mr. Foster was too busy to hear, was : "Because your 
load is light. Because your load is light." Mr. Foster got 
his moose because he was a cool, nervy marksman, and 
literally raked his game from stem to stern. I have no 
axe to grind. All I say is that armed with an English 
Express rifle, with say a 450-grain bullet propelled by 160 
or, even 135 grains of powder, Mr. Foster would have 
mowed that moose down flat the first shot. It's the shock 
of the heavy bullet that does the business. Why will not 
our Arherican manufacturers make us such a rifle? 
Look, at the lamentable experience of Mr. Foster's two 
friends, who knocked a bull moose down three times and 
then beheld his rear elevation vanish in the bush. Query: 
Isn't it about time the title passed to the bidder when 
the OTQQSf }§ }?ngfked down three times? _ 
Just a word about the weight of moose. An animal that 
will dress 700 or 750 pounds of actual meat (as many of 
them do) will weigh from 1,000 to 1,100 "in the hoof." I 
am satisfied that a moose of 1,200 pounds is occasionally 
to be found. Moose attain their greatest perfection of 
weight and antler measurement where they are least dis- 
turbed and where the food conditions are most favorable. 
This is why the Alaskan moose outclasses the Eastern 
moose and the New Brunswick moose outclasses that of 
Maine. Fjrank H. R. 
Riverside, Cal , Jan. 1. 
Arkansas and the South. 
Lin-LE Rock, Ark., Jan. 5.— The duck shooting in this 
part of the South has been a sore disappointment to 
many, as there was practically no flight to speak of, and 
the few ducks that did visit Arkansas came in spasmodic 
flights, and these were of short duration, so that very few 
good bags were made. Early in the season the conditions 
promised much, as there was an abundance, of mast, but 
later on the weather became very adverse; it was un- 
usually warm and dry, just at the time when the best 
flight of ducks generally put in an appearance here. 
This rnay in some measure have been responsible for the 
poor shooting, but even later on when the conditions were 
most favorable, we got no ducks. This state of affairs 
prevailed generally all over the State, and to a great 
extent in the South, as I made a number of inquiries to 
locate the ducks, but reports from all points were that 
the shooting was poor. 
Last Saturday this section was visited by a snow 
storm, and while this prevailed, I have since learned, 
quite a number of ducks were seen on many of our lakes 
and bayous. At Lake Village in Chicot county there 
was a great flight of ducks, among which were many 
canvasbacks, a bird rather uncommon for this section. 
The snow was followed by some extremely cold weather, 
which froze most of our lakes and streams, and while 
these were closed I heard of the ducks feeding in the 
corn-fields; but now that the weather has again turned 
warm, the ducks will once more scatter over our marshes, 
so that little shooting can be expected, as there is now 
an abundance of water. 
There is little prospect of any shooting this season, as 
our spring flight is always very uncertain. 
While we have been favored with few ducks, we have 
otherwise had a very good game season, as our crop of 
quail has been the best for a number of years past, and 
large game such as turkey and deer are also to be found 
in Increased numbers everywhere. The quail shooting is 
at its best, and should continue good until the close of 
the season, March i. The cover is down and tlie crops 
have all been gathered, so that one can go most anywhere 
and get a good day's shooting. Joe Irwin and Tom 
Reaves went to Plumberville on the Fort Smith Railroad 
Thanksgiving Day. They put up sixteen coveys and 
bagged some seventy-odd birds. Al Schinner spent 
Christmas at Hope, and on that and the following day he 
bagged seventy-six birds, with a very inferior dog at 
that. On the last day he got thirty-six by 3 o'clock, when 
he came to the conclusion he had enough. I was to have 
made this trip with him, but my dog was sick and I did 
not care to chance, it without him. E. B. Jett and J. 
Jones went to Mayflower, which, is only twenty miles from 
the city, and brought back forty-seven birds in a day's 
shooting. They left on the morning train and returned 
the same evening. Attorney-General Jeff. Davis and two 
friends shot a part of three days around Atkins. In this 
time they gathered 253 quail. Both the last named places 
are on the Fort Smith Railroad, and along this line there 
are numerous good points. Shortly after Mr. Hough 
came down here, some six years ago, this section was ap- 
parently shot out, but now the birds seem to have been 
restored in something like their former number. 
One of the best localities for quail is along the Valley 
Railroad and along the Hamburg, Mississippi River & 
Western. Montrose, Parkdale, Wilnot and Cypress are 
the best points on the former, and Mist is the best one 
on the latter. At this place Joe Irwin and J. M. Parker, 
president of the road, shot three days last week, and 
bagged respectively 56, 40 and 65 birds. They had 
just got the birds properly located on the last day when 
the snow storm forced them to quit. Mist is just on the 
edge of Piny Prairie, and the shooting is quite easy, as 
the birds are nov/ feeding on the sumac in the prairie, and 
rarely go to cover when disturbed. Even adjacent to the 
city fair shooting is to be had. John Peniberton, who 
lives just a few iTiiles below, was telling me that yesterday 
he bagged thirty-eight in about a half-day's shooting. One 
day last week I. put up. eight bevies within five miles of the 
cit}'. Anywhere along the Iroh Mountain line and its 
branches good quaU, shooting can be found. The new 
railroad, the Choctaw, Oklahorna & Gulf, which has 
been built in a northwesterly direction to a point in 
the Indian Territory, traverses some of the very best 
game country in the State; along this line both large 
an(l small game can be found in goodly proportion. The 
best quail shooting is around Shawnee and Oklahoma 
City. This is in . a prairie country, and the shooting 
therefore is comparatively easy. 
Some three weeks of our deer season yet remains, but 
it is a trifle late for this kind of hunting, except in the 
mountains and hills, as there is now too much water 
in the bottom lands, and these are really our best big-^ame 
localities. J. K. Thibault and a party were out during 
the snow, and the morning following Thibault succeeded 
in stalking a pair of buclcs on a mountain side, and killed 
them both in three shots before they could escape. The 
Major is quite as handy with the rifle as the scattergun. 
and is capable of negotiating all kinds of game as readily 
as he does the saucers at the trap. Judging by the number 
of deer that appeared in the market, the snow made their 
killing comparatively easy. I learn that one party of the 
name of Stricklin, in the western part of the country, 
killed five dufing this tirae., . 
It is . evident that there are yet some prairie chickens 
left, as a few are shipped to this market from time to 
time, but their number, has been greatly dimnished, so that 
but very few rernain for seed, and as there will be an- 
other open season before our Legislature meets, there is 
but little chance, of averting their utter extermination. 
Every effort was made by the State Sportsmen's Associa- 
tion to induce the Legislature to adopt some additional 
measure for the protection of these birds, but nothing 
was done, and scarcely any of our lawmakers interested 
themselves in the measure, so that it was treated with 
indifference, and of course remained unenacted. This 
resulted in practically wiping out the benefit derived from 
the five years' close season, so that even though a similar 
law may be provided at the next session, it would take 
twice that length of time to restore the birds to their 
former localities. So great was the slaughter of these 
birds early in the fall that they could be purchased for 
the same price as the domestic bird in our market. The 
weather then was unusually hot, and not a few spoiled 
and were thrown away. Paul R. Litzke, 
The Sportsmen's Show. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Preparations for the Sixth Annual Sportsmen's Show, 
March i to 17, at Madison Square Garden, have been 
going ahead quietl}'-, but to such good purpose that the 
foundations and framework of the enterprise are now 
practically complete, and within the next few weeks the 
finer details of the prettiest and most realistic picture ever 
presented to sportsmen within the limits of a great metro- 
politan center will be under way. 
The judgment shown by the management last year in 
changing the character of the show from an exhibit of 
sportsmen's supplies and equipments, pure and simple, to a 
magnificent and realistic reproduction of the liunter's 
camp, sun-ounded by all of the essential environments of 
life in the woods and upon the stream, was so warmly 
indorsed by the public, that this year every effort will be 
made to build up and improve the exhibit along the same 
lines. Consequently the interior of the big Garden will 
this year be more attractive than ever before, to all who 
love the gun, the rod and the rifle ; to those who love the 
scent of the balsam and the fir, and who would rather 
spend one brief week In the wilds of Maine or the Adiron- 
dacks than to take a trip to Europe. The coming show 
will contain all of the desirable features of past shows, 
and the management have readily adopted every new 
feature that has suggested itself to them or that has been 
suggested by others, In the least calculatd to broaden the 
scope and add to the attractiveness of the sixth annual 
exhibit. 
The show of 1899 was a revelation to many who had 
formed no conception of the magnificent spectacle that 
met the eye when the doors were thrown open to the 
public last March. Consequently some interests that 
would have added not a few strong features to the exhibit 
were not represented. These same interests, however, 
have been among the first to get into line for the show 
of 1900, and they are of such a character that material and 
vahtable additions to the exhibit are assured. 
The general effect of last year's show will be preserved; 
some details in point of arrangement, however, will be 
changed. The garne park, while it will occupy the same 
location as In '99, will be more symmetrically and attract- 
ively laid out. The display of big game animals will em- 
brace a greater number of really choice specimens than has 
ever before been brought together in the metropolis. Back 
of the game park and extending across the arena is the 
space set aside for power launches, boats, and sports- 
men's craft of various styles and designs, This space is 
75 by 10 feet in size, and will contain, collectively, as im- 
posing and interesting an exhibit of small craft as it is 
possible to conceive. The leading builders of the country 
have taken space, and models will be shown well calcu- 
lated to set every lover of boating to figuring on the state 
of his finances and the probable amount he can afford to 
lay out for this particular, luxury this year. 
The next feature, as one leaves the boats, Is the canoe 
cam.p. On a gentle slope of ground at the western end of 
the artificial lake ;Will be laid out an ideal canoeist's 
camp, just such an one as attracted hundreds of canoeists 
to the annual meet of the National Association in the 
Thousand Islands last year and the year before. This 
exhibit is in charge of a prominent and popular member 
of the National Canoeists' Association, and some rare 
relics of past meets, as well as some splendid specimens of 
the canoe builiiers' art, are promised. 
The artificial lake will this year be surrounded by a 
rustic hedge iS inches high, and as the board floor of 
the Garden will be entirely removed, leaving the surface 
one of leaf-covered earth, just as one would find it in the 
woods, the shores of the lake will appear precisely the 
same as those of a natural pool. In this lake will be 
conducted the aquatic competitions that proved so popular 
a feature last year. Mr. William B. Curtis, the father of 
amateur athletics in America, will have sole charge of 
these competitions, which will attract the most expert 
swimmers and cleverist water poloists in the countiy. The 
hunter's camp, as last year, will be located upon the hill 
at the eastern end of the lake, and will be an .improvement 
even upon the beautiful production of last year. All who 
visited the show of '99 will recall the magnificent drop, 
showing the glaciers and mountain ranges of the far 
Northwest. The drop this year will represent a superb 
glimpse of the famous Yosemite Valley, and it is said will 
be the most magnificent and realistic painting of this 
famously beautiful spot yet seen in the country. 
Upon one side of the artificial lake will be located the 
aq^uaria, and as the New York State Fish and Game Com- 
mission will make the exhibit, it is safe to say that there 
will be no lack of material calculated to interest the 
fishermen. Upon the opposite side of the lake will be seen 
the exhibits of live game birds and carnivorous game 
animals. The bird exhibit is again in charge of Mr. 
Verner de Guise, and he promises the choicest collection 
of live game birds yet seen at any Sportsmen's Shov|. El- 
mer E. Shaner will handle the trapshooting events upon 
the roof, which insures some rare good shooting during 
the show, and Zettler Bros, will look after the rifle and 
revolver ranges in the basement. 
As to the exhibitors of sportsmen's supplies and equip- 
ment, all of the leading exhibitors of last year are in their 
old .spaces, not a few of them having doubled and trebled 
their spaces for this year. Many new features are now 
being negotiated and arranged for, which will make the 
show of 1900 far superior in attractiveness even to its 
brilliant predecessor of 1899. These will be announced 
as plans for their production are perfected. 
The Forest and Stream is put to .press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach u§; Jtt the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier A9 practicable, 
