Sept. i, 1900.] 
FOREST^ AND , STREAM. 
168 
Tame Deer but Not Tame Work. 
Perhaps the following details of a little rifle shooting I 
did a few days ago, under conditions which at the first 
glance seemed quite incompatible with the necessity for 
skill with the rifle, may be of use to those of your readers 
who may be placed under similar circumstances and want 
to get a little sport out of unpromising materials. 
The house where I am at present residing in England 
has a large park surrounding it of some 400 acres; the 
wall is partly of brick and partly oak palings ; the ground 
is undulating with clumps of trees of great 'age, and 
several ponds. I have a herd of some 100 spotted fallow 
deer (Cervus dama), some seventy black fallow deer 
{Cervus dama norwegi—thtsa. are very rare), and a dozen 
Japanese deer {Cervus sika). As the deer increase very 
rapidly, it was necessary to kill four of the largest bucks 
of the light or spotted fallow deer. 
There being ladies and children often passing through 
the park, I selected a rifle of as small a caliber and small 
powder charge as possible, to reduce the danger of any 
one being hit by a glancing bullet. My rifle was a double- 
barreled .36-cal., hollow express bullet, with wooden plug 
in hollow, and carrying some 8 grains of black powder. 
The deer being intended to give away to friends, as veni- 
son, I decided only to shoot for the brain. 
Starting about 4 in the afternoon, I found that it was 
* impossible to still-hunt. The bucks (it being Aug. 9 and 
their horns still in velvet) were Ijdng in a bunch under 
some trees, where it was impossible to crawl up to them 
unperceived. With park deer the wind does not much 
matter, as they are so used to people passing to and fro. I 
therefore walked up to them. They got up and stood 
looking at me, bunched up so close that I did not dare to 
try and shoot at the head of any one for fear of hitting 
the body of another. I slowly walked round them, at 
the distance of about 50 yards, trying to get them strung 
out _a little, and after about twenty minutes I was just 
getting a big one to step out from the rest, when two 
ladies came walking down a path, behind them and started 
them off on a run. 
They went right across the park and picked up a lot 
of does and the Japanese deer. These were a nuisance 
during all my subsequent shooting, as they are so bold 
they will come right up to one and get in the way of a 
shot, and then go and stampede the fallow deer. The 
Japs are so rare and difficult to get over alive in Eng- 
land that one must be very careful not to shoot one by 
mistake. Besides this complication, two fallow bucks 
which I had recently purchased to cross with my deer, 
joined the bunch, and I had to be most particular to 
keep my eye on both of them for fear of shooting one of 
them by mistake. 
After a lot of hard walking and occasionally running, I 
cut off a small lot of about fourteen deer, which included 
a very fine buck, and induced them to get toward the 
brick wall at the bottom of the park. There was a 
round pond here, and I used the bank (the water being 
very low at the time) to get within 30 yards of the buck. 
He was standing a little apart from the rest, his tongue 
out from running and looking back over his right shoulder 
at me. Standing up, I took a steady aim and put the 
bullet between the lower lid of his eye and his eye. drop- 
ping him in his track without a kick. On skinning him 
we found the skin was not cut, and curiously enough his 
e\-e was not injured, only slightly pushed out of its socket. 
The bullet had gone on into the brain and broken up 
there. His horns had seventeen points. This had taken 
me nearly an hour and a half's hard walking and running. 
Next day at 10 o'clock I started to get the remaining 
three bucks. When I went out I found all the deer were now 
thoroughly alarmed, and did nothing but bunch up as close 
as they could, the bucks lowering their heads and push- 
ing into the middle of the bunch, and every time I leveled 
the rifle there was a wild stampede. I therefore got old 
Blackstone (2:20) into the road wagon and got my man 
to drive round the herd constantly, "rounding them up" 
whenever they tried to break away. In this way, after 
about half an hour, we got a small lot containing a good 
buck by themselves. I got them to stand -close to where 
I had shot the buck the day before, but made a bad miss 
when I shot at his head, as he dodged and shook his head at 
the shot. I think I must have gone just over between his 
horns, as I aimed high for fear of breaking his jaw. He 
rushed up toward the stable, and just as I was getting 
up to h'im for another shot, my coachman's two smallest 
children came running out almost onto him. He whipped 
round and went under a clump of trees by the kitchen 
garden, and stood looking to the right. Resting my rifle 
against a tree trunk at 30 yards, I put the bullet in at 
one ear and out at ■ the other, dropping him stone 
dead, shot through the base of the brain. 
The rest of the bucks in this lot were too small, so I 
left them and went to look for some more. My trotter 
worked out another small bunch out of the big herd, and 
T went round two of the ponds at the lower end of the 
park for over an hour, trying to get a big buck without 
■nitting the two big ones I had bought for breeding, and 
which, unfortunately, were also in this bunch. At last 
I got a long shot, about 80 yards, at a big buck, who 
stood clear for a moment, but the bullet went through his 
left ear, I took out the telescope and had a good look 
at him, but saw that no damage was done — only a clean 
hole through the ear. 
Tn a few minutes I got a shot at another one facing 
inc. nearly in the same place, at about the same distance, 
.'^^t the shot there seemed to be fireworks of blood all 
round his head, and he made a big rush and dive, and 
then went and stood among the other deer. On looking 
at him with the telescope. I found that I had hit his right 
brow point, close to the head, and splintered it into frag- 
ments, these fragments being held together by the velvet 
of his horns and hanging down his face. He was not 
quite as big a buck as I had at first thought, and after 
very carefully examining him I came to the conclusion 
that there was no serious damage done, and so left him. 
To-day I saw him feeding with the rest of the deer, quite 
A\ell, and the place all dried up and nearly healed. 
I at last got this bunch down near the nightingale 
walk, and a big buck stood under an oak looking back at 
me. I took an off-hand shot at 35 yards and got him 
in the poll clean through the brain, and he fell stone dead. 
He had thirteen points, but was heavier than either of 
the others I had shot. I now needed one more. There 
was one buck with the points half-way down each horn 
in the form of a cross which I particularly wanted to 
spare for breeding purposes, as I wanted to perpetuate 
that form of horn, but unfortunately he was just the one I 
got for my last shot. I was so intent not to shoot any 
of the other bucks I wanted to spare, that I forgot him 
for the moment, and his horns being in velvet, he did not 
show these crosses distinctly, the points not having 
reached their full development. I worked a bunch round 
almost the same way as the last, and he stopped almost 
where the other had fallen and got the bullet at 40 
yards through the brain. He had twenty points, and 
was the biggest buck in the park, barring the two new 
ones I have just imported. 
The above rather long-winded description shows how 
I got two days' hard exercise and the need of fine work 
with the rifle, out of what at first sight looked like 
shooting which would require no skill. W. W. 
K^NT, England. 
Game Prospects in New Hampshire. 
As the open season draws near, it may be of interest 
to know what the prospects are. From what I ha/e 
seen, I am inclined to think ruffed grouse are rather 
scarce. I have not, however, been looking about to any 
extent. In years past I always saw quite a number of 
birds while driving along our country roads. The past 
summer has been an exception, and I do not recall seeing 
over half a dozen grouse in all. Not long since I went 
out late one afternoon to try a dog, intending to buy 
him for a friend. It was very hot, and dry, and I went 
over some ground before finding anything, and then 
started four grouse, which seemed to be all in that brood. 
The birds were about half-grown and very wild, getting 
up some 35yds. ahead of me and making a long flight. 
I wish to say something regarding the above dog. He 
is a good-looking pointer, said to be six years old. His 
owner said he would point and trail a bird well, but 
would not retrieve. As I could buy the dog for the 
small price of $5, I advised my friend to take him, which 
he did. Since, I have received word from him that he 
would not take $50 for the dog. From what some of 
my neighbors tell me, I should judge there may be a 
fair number of young grouse in this section. Of course 
such reports are usually circulated just before any 
season opens, and often they fail to materialize. 
As for woodcock, from my experience of nearly thirty- 
five years in this section, they seem to be following our 
former supply of wild pigeons. Some seasons we get a 
fair number of flight birds, but the supply of those 
locally bred seems to be a thing of the past. 
At the last session of our Legislature, during the 
winter of 1898, an ineffectual attempt was made to adopt 
the Platform Plank of the Forest and Stream. Various 
States were realizing the necessity of such a law. Massa- 
chusetts was one where it was most needed. Boston 
had long been looked upon as the free dumping ground 
of all sorts of game from all parts of the countr3^ The 
game dealers there were a hard crowd to beat. Yet 
Massachusetts got ahead of New Hampshire in the 
matter of prohibiting the sale of game. Great credit 
is due to those men of the Bay State who were untiring 
in their efforts to preserve from utter extermination 
what grouse and woodcock were left. 
I was talking recently with a man about the closing of 
the Boston market. He has in the' past killed a good 
many birds and usually sold most of them- wherever h 
could get the best price; yet he said to me, "We wan 
such a law here in New Hampshire if we are to hav 
anything in the future to shoot." 
There are market shooters, however, who see, or thinl 
they do, a chance to get higher prices than ever with th(, 
open market of Massachusetts closed. I know a young 
fellow who formerly lived near here. I think he is the 
best bush shot in the State. As an exterminator of 
ruffed grouse, he is hard to equal. This man can and 
does earn good wages at his trade, yet when the open 
season draws near he quits work entirely and spends all 
the season (day after day) hunting. He is a market 
hunter in every sense. Every bird means so many 
dollars or cents. He wants every one he starts, and the 
way in which he will follow up a wild and wary old 
grouse has caused many of them to think life not worth 
living. Now, this man said to me recently that just be- 
fore the season opens he should come to New Hamp- 
shire and locate the broods of birds, and when the open 
time came he should put in all the time hunting and 
that he expected to sell his game in Massachusetts for a 
higher price than ever. I told him then and there, be- 
fore some of his friends, that if I could hear of his ship- 
ping game out of the State I would do my best to con- 
vict him, and I would put my friend Wentworth, of the 
Game Commission, on his track. 
Unfortunately we cannot prevent at present the open 
sale of game in this State. The market shooter can and 
will kill ten times his share. We can, however, make it 
hot for the fraternity when they try to ship their game 
out of the State. Last year, after the season closed, I 
heard from a reliable source, of a party froin Massa- 
chusetts who spent some time in a certain section of 
New Hampshire and took home with them seventy-five 
of our grouse, which they sold for a high price iii the 
then open Boston market. Now, should this party 
attempt the coming season to repeat their performance 
of last year (and as I understand of previous years) I 
will endeavor to see that they make the acquaintance 
of Mr. Wentworth just about the time they cross the 
line, and I will guarantee them they will have good cause 
to remember the meeting. In all probability, what I have 
said will not be read by the party I refer to. The 
fraternity of which they are shining lights, as a rule, do 
not read Forest and Stre.'VM, nor anything of an ele- 
vating nature. 
We have here to-day a fair supply of ruft'ed grouse, and 
with the protection they should have they would last 
to a certain extent indefinitely. To the genuine sports- 
man, the man who goes out with dog and gun for 
recreation, and who is well satisfied with what birds he 
can use, or perhaps, if unusually fortunate, enough to 
spare for some friend who is "chained to business," we 
extend a cordial welcome. As a rule, they pay well for 
what grouse and woodcock they bag. They surely leave 
an equivalent in dollars and cents. 
I have been told that practically there was no differ- 
erence between the man who shoots for the market and 
him who shoots for sport, and that both would kill all 
they could. This may be -true to a certain extent. There 
are men who never think of selling any of the game they 
kill, yet at times some of them will kill for the sake of 
killing when an opportunity offers. They, however, are 
exceptions. In the market shooting class there are no 
exceptions; they always kill all they can, and only regret 
not being able to kill more. 
I am glad to say that the Granite State has to-day 
a Governor who is heart and soul interested in its 
welfare. He is not a sportsman. Nevertheless, he is a 
credit to old New Hampshire. He is young and he is 
progressive. He is the originator of "Old Home 
Week." Other States are following his example. Un- 
fortunately his terra soon expires. Doubtless he will have 
a worthy successor. Yet I cannot but think, could we 
have him for another term New Hampshire would gain 
thereby. 
It may seem somewhat incongruous to speak of our 
State's chief executive under the heading of- "Game 
Prospects of New Hampshire," yet I take the liberty of 
so doing, knowing how keenly he is interested in all 
things pertaining to the good of his native State. To 
show that he is interested in game protection, I will quote 
a few words from his last address at an Old Home Week 
gathering. "The fostering of those resources which 
make for the pleasure of the sportsman and the natural- 
ist would be of incalculable value to us as a State." 
New Hampshire has to-day a fair supply of game, 
both fur and feather. It is not what it has been; yet 
such as it is it is well worth protection, and the most 
practical protection is to stop the sale. 
C. M. Stark, 
Dumbarton, N. H., Aug. 22. 
Illinois Prairie Chickens. 
Chicago, III., Aug. 25.— Mr. Allen W. Jones, of Clin- 
ton, Conn., writes me under date of Aug. 20 regarding 
his chance of getting a chicken if he comes to Illinoi?. 
State Game Commissioner Harry W. Loveday is a 
prairie chicken shooter himself, and he has a great 
many invitations to come out for a chicken shoot at the 
opening of the chicken season with one or other of the 
many local wardens. Hence he may be supposed to 
have a better knowledge of the chicken crops at different 
places than almost anybody else. He to-day told me 
that the supply of birds is reported to be very flatter- 
mgly large in many different parts of the State. He 
thinks La Salle county is about as good as any. Minonk, 
in that county, has a lot of birds now. Rochelle, in 
Ogle county, is another good place. Grand Detour, also 
of Ogle county, is good. Still another point in this 
county is Earlville, and I have advised Mr. Jones to go 
to Earlville and to inquire for Mr. J. J. Poole, who is 
Congressional warden at that point. 
Other points which are reporting a lot of birds now 
are Streator, III, Gaiesburg, 111., and Henry, in Mar- 
shall county. That is down toward the duck marshes. 
At Le Roy, m McLean county, there are birds reported 
m numbers at this writing. Mr. Robt. Simple is warden 
there. Belleville, in St. Clair county, is yet another point 
which is said to be good. It is thought that these places 
are all more or less well patrolled, and so far as is possible 
to determine these are as good points as any in Illinois 
to try for a chicken hunt in season. One should get 
there as close to the opening day as possible. I was 
amused to-day by a gentleman who took me to task for 
mentioning a point where he went hunting four years 
ago and had poor luck. The same point is very good 
)j length admitted that one resident 
told him he had himself killed seventy-five birds in one 
day at or just before the opening of the season. That 
is where the birds go. The chicken crop is swiftly har- 
vested, no matter where you go for it, in these days. 
TT ^ E. Hough. 
Hartfokd Bdildikg, Chicago, III, 
Further on the Same Subject. 
Michigan City, Ind.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 
have been much interested in Ransacker's exposition of 
the term sportsman, but think his conclusions all wrong 
io arrive at a correct definition of the word "sports- 
man we must first look at the meaning of the qualify- 
mg word sport. It is defined as pastime, diversion, 
amusement, etc. A sportsman must therefore be one 
tond of sport. Anciently almost the only pastime of the 
upper classes was field sports, and gradually the term 
sportsman was restricted to those who enjoyed this par- 
ticular form of amusement. 
It seems to me plain that Webster, when he defines a 
sportsman as one who pursues the sports of the field " 
and adds, ' one who hunts, fishes or fowls," intends the 
last as only explanatory of what these sports are If 
a man hunts or fishes or fowls for his diversion he is 
a sportsman ; if for any other reason, he is not. He may 
adopt these pursuits for gain, or because his physician 
has recommended them, or for many other reasons, but 
unless the pleasure of the occupation is the incentive he 
is no sportsman, but simply a hunter or a fisherman 
that a man who follows hunting or fishing for a Iiveli= 
hood takes pleasure m his occupation does not make him 
a sportsman, for the simple reason that business, not 
pleasure, is the determining factor. Many mechanics 
take a certain pleasure in their work, but we would 
hardly be justified in speaking of a shoemaker for in- 
stance, as engaged in the diversion of making shoes 
On the other hand, a sportsman is not necessarily a 
gentleman. He is no more apt to be so than are "the 
devotees of any other form of amusement. He may be 
a game or fish hog; he may be a low blackguard but 
when he pursues game or fish for amusement he' is a 
sportsman and no amount of abuse, however well de- 
served It may be, can affect his position as such It 
is a pity all sportsmen are not also .gentlemen but such 
is very far from being the case. A taste for field sport= 
no more makes a man a gentleman or fits him for their 
