Dec. -8, 1900.] 
FOREST : AND STRElAM. 
4B1 
vince lawbreakers that it does not pay .to. disregard , the; . 
laws of the State. — Adirondack Enterprise, Saranac Lake, 
-Nov, 2.9. • , 
\ ^ — ■ ^ 
In Maine. 
Boston, Dee. 3. — The Maine deer hunters have befiiti.- 
having- hard luck for a week. On Monday, a week ago,"' 
there rell from twelve to eighteen inches of • light snow, 
according to the section, in northern Maine; IThe deer 
hunters that were out that day had great ' Success, but 
the SHOW was folibWed by a slight rain' that =night, ending 
with freezing and a crust. This has made deer hunting; ■ 
extremely difficult. The wary creatures have been able 
to hdar the hunters further than it was possible to see 
them, and hence only fleeting glimpses have been caught. 
The weather has remained unchanged for a week, the 
snow crust scarcely changing at all. Generally deer 
hunters have become discouraged and left the woods. 
Manj' Boston and Portland men, and men of other 
Massachusetts and Maine cities, had planned for their 
amiual Thanksgiving hunt, when they could go home to 
the backwoods towns where they were born, eat a 
Thanksgiving turkey with parents, brothers or sisters, 
and enjoy a deer Imnt, But the crust has been too niuch. 
Generally a half mile through it has been sufficient. No 
deer have been obtained. Trains reaching Boston Satttr- 
day had a number of men with rifles on board, but the 
express cars had very few deer. Perhaps 'this is all for 
the best. The deer have e.xperienced a respite during 
the most dangerous week of the whole open season. 
The season closes Dec. 15, and even if the crust thaws 
before that time it will be bad hunting. Many more d^er 
will be left tq keep the stock good than would othe.|;);^sie . 
have' been the case. , ,;h'7,T:^ 
On Monday that the snow fell the hunting was 'grea^^. 
but, somehow it fell to local gunners rather than outside 
sportsmen. The telegraph was used by guides to notify 
hunters that it was time to come, and they started . on , ^ 
Tuesday, only to find the snow crust. At Andover, Me„ , 
fourteen deer were shot by local gunners; in several in- 
stances, boys, who have felt very proud of their succes,;?,. 
They , were not obliged to go very far from the village. 
In oiie case a boy shot a big buck, within a mile and a 
half of the village, but did not try to haul him. in till 
the next day. Then he went, with a companion, through 
ihe opening, Avith a horse and §led to bring in the trophy. 
On the way lip they saw fresh tracks where a big deer 
had crossed the road, then corrie into the road ahead of 
them. Seemg tliat the tracks were very fresh, they pro- 
ceeded cautio.usl}'',, with rifle ready. Glancing over a ridge 
they saw the deer just .leaving the opening in good rifle 
range, "the deer fell at the first shot; another big, btick, 
added to the fourteen deer of the day before. No deer 
have been killed in that section since, however, by reason. 
of the crust. Mr. J. Parker Whitney, his son . Vincent, - 
and a friend from Ne\v York, have gone up to Mr. 
WhitP,ey's camps on Richardson. Lake, for a deer hunt,; 
They reached Bemis Wednesday night, only to find the , 
snow so deep and crusted as to make it next to impossi- 
ble to go over to their camps on Mosquito Brook, six, 
or eight miles, by the woods trail, as. they had intended. . 
The next da}'^ they started from Bemis up the lake with, 
two boats and two men. The lower end of the lake was...,, 
frozen, so that they were obliged to run the boats on 
hand sleds or toboggans till the open water was reached. 
After that they went along without much, difficulty till 
they^ found that Trout Cove at the Upper Dam was -com- 
pletely frozen over. The meircury had .falleni;to ten , 
degrees above zero the , night .before, and there was .;a 
good deal of floating ice in the lake, although, the 
weather was then more moderate. They; .-were, obliged 
to land at Black Point, about a .-mile above the Upp^.r 
Dam, and then take through the w'oods, breakiiig 
through the crusted snow eighteen inches deep, at every 
step. The men who went up with_ them in the boats, 
Timothy Scannel and J. Carleton, said that it was one of 
the hardest tramps they had had in a long time. At the 
Upper Dam, Mr. Whitney and his party found . that 
Richardson Lake was more open, and that his -MosquifOr 
Brook camps could -easily be reached by boat. Mr. ■ 
Whitney is -thoroughly a trout scientist. .He' is-now 
makiiig some very interesting studies on the sensej-of 
smell: or instinct of scent with the salmon family. He 
believ€s that these fish are capable of scenting where bait-r 
has beep drawn through the water, even if it be miles 
ahead of them, or even drawn through a day before. 
He believes that all the migrations of. trout and salmon 
arc governed by this sense; that by means of it they 
instantly recognize the waters of different streams, bays 
and inlets. His arguments are sound, and he can bring 
a host of incident!? and experience to prove that he is 
right. When fully . prepared, he will publish his . 
researches, doubtless in the Forest and Stream, as he 
has .recently done his very readable and thoroughly in- 
structive article o,n the freezing and resuscitating of trout 
when thawed. 
The open .season on moose in Maine closed on Friday, 
Nov.:,.-,30. . . The shipments of that game through Bangor, 
for the season 1 thus, far have been 133, a smaller number, 
than . a year ago. but it is beheved that thene are- still a:"- 
large: number in the woods to come out; possibly suffi-^, ■ 
cient-to bring the kill up to that of a year ago. The- law : 
does' not- prohibit a. sportsman from bringing his moosef ' 
home aft<;r the open season has closed, if .legally killed 
'n open season. The number of deer shipped 'through 
Bangor for the season thus far has been .2,753, against 
3.OT5 for the.-same time last year; a decrease- of 262-,. By ' 
other outlets the number has generally been smaller, 
although by way of the Franklin ■ & Megantic .Railroad 
file number has been greater. By w^ay of Bemis, one of 
the outlets of the Rangeley region, the number, of ;deer 
shipped has been very small, while over the Phillips & 
Rart.gelei' road a good ma t1}' have been shipped, but-not 
as many as a year ago. Dr. Daintree. of Lewiston,"M.e., 
and. dotibtless next to Dr. Heber Bishop the ' leadina- 
moose hunter of the country, brought out a lar.ge .bull 
moo^e'-the other day. He hunteri for "twenty days, in the 
vicinf^V o'f his c.amp on Millinorket Lakp, before h^ ;got 
the shot he desired. Messrs. George H. Hicks. G.' R. 
Hall and Frank G. Ha11. of Boston, and C D. Washing- 
ton, rif Sprin.sifield. returned last week from a huntin.s?' 
trip of fourteen days at Kinpr and Bartlett. Thty secured 
eight deer.' including several large bucks. Congressman 
Charles E>C- ' Littlefield hal' secured a large buck in the 
Rangeley region, and taken it to his home in Rockland. 
Messrs. C. A. Barney, S. F. Johnson, Horace S. Dame 
and L.- Dana Chapman, secretary and treasurer of the 
Megantic - Club, returned last week from their hvinti-ng 
trip-: -to Jo Marie Lake. They fotind hard hunting, but: 
brought home a deer apiece. . Special. 
The Michigan Season. 
Hartford, Mich., ]<io\'. 2^.— Editor Forest dud Stream : 
Thinking thgf your readers' might lik^ tb,know what is 
being done With rod and gun in this neck 6!E the woods, I 
write you k few of the many things thit have taken 
place since I wrote you last. Frank Dean has just got 
back from a trip after bass. He- brought .back two nice 
strings, one weighing 5^ poupds, the rest w^eighing from 
2 to 3 pounds. They were'caught in a small lake in the 
town of Hamilton, Wft Bufen coimty. 
K!' W. Sweet and wife, Of.^ vS6iith Ha-ven, haVe just 
returned ' from a trip to Manistee county. They were 
hunting 'bh the Big Manistee Rivei", arid camped on the 
north side, three and one-half miles west of High Bridge. 
There they found plenty of quail and grouse and lots of 
ducks — mallards and wood ducks — and fine bass and 
pickerel fii^hm^.Jij ^.th;e Maijistee, and speckled trout in 
Pine CreelMaMln*Bfeail§C are tributary to the 
Manistee. About Nov. 7 I joined Mr. and Mrs, Sweet, 
and then we crossed to the south side every day in quest 
of the light-footed deer. ;. : ■ 
Although fresh tracks were plenty the snow fell top 
fast to suit us.,'.-aaad so, Mirs. Sweet left us, and Mr, Sweet 
and I hunted grouse, and -I succeeded in getting a nice 
string, including one wild goose — one of the white-headed 
variety— and ifew^s fine eating. .... . . ■- 
It is singular how the quail have taken possession of 
the northern counties ef -the lo-wer peninsula. Six years 
ago they first made their appearance on the Manistee, and 
now we found !. several covcys: on every farm or small 
clearing. Their stay will be permanent, for there is 
plenty of .sumac bobs on which they can feed when the 
snow is deep, and the banks of the ravines and gullies 
along the river are covered witrh cedars, and in the bot- 
toms are nice spring runs, where the snow ha,s to melt 
as fast as It falls, and I found that the quail and grouse 
took to this cover and there found i safe retreat. But it 
is an ideal shooting and fishing ground, ".as the range is 
unlimited, and if one lot gets away you can soon find 
another. ' ' -' - • ' ' 
Now as to our local deer hunters. A party of four left 
here Nov. r for Baraga county, upper peninsula, consist- 
ing of Dr. Elgas, Charley Leach and Stephen Stone and 
son Charley'. "'■■They have shipped eight -fine deer home. 
Some were very fine specimens: tWo were bucks with 
veryiarge- horns, and w'eighing 200 pounds each. Another 
party, cOrislstifig of Ed Johns, Ed Crattdal and Ldrilla 
AVhtte, report' having kifled thirteen' deer and are still 
hunting''. They 'all report grouse very plenty and found 
everywhere. ''• - '• '■ ' *"•'< 
Now- 1 Wbfd to boys who are going to learn to shoot. I 
taught 'thy -'txVo boys how to shoot and handle a gun. 1 
told them -to load and cock their guns as soon as they ar- 
rived on the hunting groimds, arid always carry their guns 
as though 'loaded and cocked, and never point their guns, 
loaded Or empty, at any one. If gunners are taught on 
this line they are dlwa3''s carefuLaiid will never point their 
gun at their dogs, their ■ wives or their friends. I have 
always carried niy gun at fnll cock -ivhile hunting, and 
have never ' had an accidental discharge in so doing, nor 
have my boys. You can hunt a week with either of us 
and nevef see wdiat caliber oUr guns are. I know that 
lots of people W6"uld think this very Unreasonable, but 
boys who think a gun safe becatise not cocked shoot their 
companions by' the- strikers catching on boat cleats or on 
their clothes or on brush. I once put my hammers down 
to get a duck out of the river and. set the gun on a siriall 
log and leaned" it against a tree. The gun slipped off the 
log, striking the' hammers on the log, and both barrels- 
were discharged. So I learned that caution was the only 
safeguard in hunting. "-If I had left the hammers tip I 
should ha>^e found a place where it would surely have 
stood before 'leaving it. So I say, always handle your gun 
as though loaded and coeked, and yOu will never .shoot 
your -dog or-your friend. " ' " ' 
I. nev"er have a gun pull more than 4 or 5 pounds on 
triggers. "- f have seen a riian with a 7- pound' gun, and it- 
took k TO'-pound' pull to discharge it. Five partridges got 
out of a btush pile one at a time, arid he pulled on each 
one till, it fl'ew b'ut of sight through the: woods, and when 
the last one was gone. I said, "Why^ didn't you shoot?" 
To which he replied, ''I couldri't pull the" thing off." 
" ' ■- ' ' SULLIVAif Gooic. 
' The Belgian Hate. 
Dansville, N. Y. — Editor Forest and -.'Stream:- I read 
with much pleasure the interesting article of Mr. G, H. 
Corsan, of Toronto, in your issue of Nov. 3 about the 
Belgian rabbit (Lepus cumculus)', erronepusly called hare. 
It is an old friend and fellow countrymari of mine.' I am 
of Flemish birth, and when a boy in old Flanders I Used 
to breed them in pens for pocket money. The flesh of the 
rabbits, after being dressed, , is exported to England 
• (chiefly to London), and the skins, dyed and prepared, are 
exported to the United States, w^here they are worn by our 
fair women as imitation seal. Large fortunes have been 
made in my native city of Ghent (Belgium) by the ex- 
portation of rabbit skins to this . couritry. The American 
breeders, for profit, should by no means neglect this part 
of the business. The pelt, when properly dyed in imita- 
tion of sealskin, is much more valuable than the flesh of the 
rabbit. Most of Mr. Corsan's observations are true, but 
I beg leave to differ, with the last paragraph of his article 
about the wild English hare not breeding with the Belgian 
rabbit. A special breed called leporides has been produced 
in Belgium by the crossing of the two. It is not a 
mule.- but fertile, transmitting some of the characteristics 
of both to 'their progeny and attaining a weight of from 
.10 to T2 pounds sometiines. . . . 
" J-EnLITJS Td^E FoxHtTNTER. 
In the Adirondack Deer Country. 
At 8 P. M. Tuesday, Nov. 6, a party of five — E. G. 
Smith, Fred Wilson, F. E. Whitney, G. Shepard and S. 
M. Bennett — left Shortsville for Beaver River. We ar- 
rived at 5 A. M., where we unloaded trunks and tents 
in a downpour of rain, took our lantern, axe and tents, 
and started on a tramp for our camping grounds two 
miles north. We had to wade through a river 2 feet 
deep, leveled off camp grounds alongside the river in 
the loneliest place on earth in winter and one of the finest 
in summer. After we had got our tents up and brought 
trunks and baggage up, we had breakfast at 11 o'clock 
and started hunting at 12 130 P. M. We saw one deer. 
The next day we had several shots, but did not get any 
deer. It rained continually until night. Next morning 
a foot of snow lay on the ground, and then the trailing 
began. 
One buck deer was the third day's total. The fourth 
day we had two deer. The fifth day no luck. Sixth day 
same. Seventh day, none. Eighth day four deer. Total 
ninth day, seven deer. Total tenth day no deer. Got up 
at 5 and pulled stakes for home. • It was snowing very 
hard, with 2 feet of snow on ground and 9 degrees above 
zero. Got baggage to' depot at 10 A. M. and had the' 
best showing of deer of any party there after living on 
deer meat for eight days. Twenty-eight deer were taken 
from Beaver River on the 14th and iSth days of Novem- 
ber, and 127 deer on train bound for Utica. Arrived home 
at j2:oi A. M., after having one of the finest hunting trips 
of the season. A man with the blues or stiff back or 
business troubles would drive them away with one trip 
deer hunting in the Adirondack Mountains. 
F. Relsel. 
The Usual Way* 
From the Dawson Nugget. 
Reports are being brought down from the upper 
Stewart country giving details of indiscriminate slaughter 
of game which should be .given attention by the Domin- 
ion authorities. The country adjacent to the upper 
branches of the Stewart River is a. natural game pre- 
serve. Moose and caribou are found there in such abun- 
dance that hunters are reported to have killed upward 
of fifty of these noble animals in a single day. Re- 
turned prospectors, state that game is being slaughtered 
merely for the fun of the thing, and scores of carcasses 
which cannot be used or carried away are left in the spot 
where they -ft^ere killed. It is certainly a shame that 
such a condition of affairs exists. The big game of the 
countrj' is one of its mOst attractive features. Moose 
and caribou are not only important as furnishing a large 
portion of our meat supply, but they are the natural 
heritages of the legitimate prospector, and should be 
protected for his benefit. We submit to the authorities 
that some means should be taken to restrain men who 
insist upon killing off our big game for the mere sake 
of killing. There is no excuse for such barbarity. 
In Old Virginia. 
You ask me to report my luck. Well, it was good 
enough for any true sportsman. Through an advertise- 
ment in your columns I selected for my outing the hom'e 
of J. H. Gafford, Baskerville, Va. His is truly a typical 
"Virginian home, full of hospitality and good cheer.. Al- 
though I went as a stranger, each member of the family 
seemed to do all they could to make my stay most 
pleasant and my hunting successful. I was furnished 
with a horse to ride and favored with the company of 
mine host on all my shooting trips. Mr. G. is a genial 
companiori, and will help fill the bag (if requested), as he 
is an excellent shot. I went tliere for quail, but found a 
variety of game. Wild turkeys are often seen in the 
fields, and a skilled turkc}' hunter will gladly take yon 
out. Deer are also plentiful. A pack of hounds is kept 
for deer or fox hunting by a neighbor near by, and you 
are sure to be invited to join in the chase or hunt, ma- 
king your own choice of the game you desire. For quail 
or an all-round shooting place, a pleasant, quiet home, I 
recommend to my brother sportsmen this place and family. 
H. O. Wilbur. ' 
Weights of Game. 
Barre, Vt. — The following is a list of weights of game 
shot last October by myself and brothers : Foxes, males, 
9, 10, 10^, 9 3-16, 9^, 9 S-16 pounds; females, 7^2, 
6^4, 9.6-16, 8 7-16, 8 3-16, and pounds. With the 
exception of four, all the foxes were a j'-ear or more old, 
judging from mouth and skin. The heaviest coon killed, 
a female, tipped the scales at ,24 pounds. The two heaviest 
grouse, cocks, out of fifty killed, weighed and i 7-16 
pounds. The largest woodcock weighed 8^ ounces. 
B. A. E. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each weeic on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us |9(l«.th€ 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable, ' " 
New York, Nov, 30. — In answer to request in Forest 
AND Stream for weight of quail would say that the fol- 
lowing birds are from Long Island, N. Y. They were 
mostly male, and were weighed on postal scales. They 
ran:as foUows : 6^, 7, 6^4. 6, 6, 7, 7^4, 6, 6^, 6^, 6, 7, 
6}A ounces each. 
Two partridges weighed 20 ounces and' 22 ounces each. . 
J. D. Walton. 
''When Food Is Scarce.^' 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The picture accmpanying the issue of Dec. i is one 
which will interest every friend of this typical Amer- 
ican partridge. The artist has most forcefullj'- portrayed 
the strenuous effects of a hard winter, whose decimation 
has resulted so fatally to the w;eaker members- of the. . 
covey that only a solitary hen is left to keep compan3* 
with the five surviving cocks. But hoAvever strenuous the 
winter, it needs no prophet to inform the intelligent 
reader that affairs will be infinitely worse in the spring 
when these^five males are seeking the favor of this single 
female. 
The Bob White branch of the American partridge family 
is neither polygamous nor polyandrou.s. Jay ?ee6E, 
,• ToiEDO, 0,,.Dec. 1, . , . 
