BO 8 
"The flight was a steady flight all da}' long, and I 
am safe to say that while sitting on the veranda of the 
hotel there were flocks of ducks in sight every minute of 
the day from daylight until it was too dark to see, and 
then the whistle of the wings of the birds as they passed 
over the high banks bound for Lake Michigan and the 
south could be heard late into the night, and often great 
flocks showed up distinctly against tlie pale light of the 
moon. Mr. Bender, who keeps the hotel, said it carried 
him back twenty-five to thirty years, when at that time 
of the year the birds could be fomid on the ducking 
grounds in countless thousands. A friend of mine, Mr. 
Duchateau (one of the ten members of the Point Au 
Sauble Club) was with me at Bender's, and as he had 
never seen a duck flight it was interesting to see him 
and hear him talk of the big flight of ducks. .And yet 
with all these countless thousands of new ducks on that 
day there were no heavy bags made, as the birds are out 
on the shallow bars which cover miles here, and as we 
are not allowed to shoot in open water we consequently 
get no ducks out of these great flights. 
"We ought to be allowed to shoot in open water at 
this place as well as in Michigan, Maryland and other 
States, and I understand there is a movement on foot to 
get a bill passed allowing open water shooting in this 
State, backed by many of the large clubs. 
"The flight of geese has passed south, and the snipe 
did not stay very long, although there was a heavy flight 
and some good bags were made. One great drawback 
here, we have had but three frosty niglits up to Nov. 2, 
and everything was as green as summer up to this 
week, and now the ground is covered with snow, and all 
our cold Aveather has been this past week. 
"The great duck flight went on south, I think, almost 
the same day it reached here, the birds stopping over but 
the one day, as the evening flight was immense and 
mostly to the south and east. 
"A heavy flight of woodcock reached here ten days 
ago, but left after a day or two's stay, and no bags were 
made, but I have the positive knowledge that one man 
hit the flight of woodcock, and shot nearly 125 shots 
in one afternoon and killed but four woodcock. He was a 
farmer who hunts rabbits, but cannot shoot on the wing, 
and uses No, 4 shot, so you can almo.st guess the result. 
He told me two days after, but I was too late, as I got 
but a few birds (did not have my dog, as I was down 
duck shooting), and so missed a chance in a life time 
to make a bag of these fine birds Avhich are rapidly dis- 
appearing from what used to be the sportsman's paradise. 
• "Partridge are scarce this season, but rabbits are here 
in good numbers, and a great many are being killed 
every day. 
"I trust my fall's experience may be of some intere,«t 
to you and to my brother sportsmen. I would like to 
have some idea through your paper of lo-gauge guns as 
a duck gun, and a 12-gauge as to pattern and penetration 
at 50 yards and over, both loaded to the limit with Nos. 
4, 5, and 6 shot. I use a 12-gauge Parker, with 4 drams 
smokeless, 3-inch shell, 1% ounces No. 6 or No. 4 shot, 
and would like to know if I would gain anything in getting 
a lo-gauge. Would like to hear a good deal on this sub- 
ject." 
If Mr. Holmes shall adopt the advice of the majority 
of shooters to-day, he will stick to his 12-gauge and not 
buy the lO-gauge. There is a per cent, of advantage in 
favor of the larger bore, but the consensus of opinion is 
that the advantage is not equal to the inconvenience 
caused by the additional size and weight of the arm. 
Time was when all our Western shooters carried 10- 
pound guns, and loaded them with 4 or 5 drams of pow- 
der, sometimes 6 drams, but these heavy arms are almost 
obsolete, and the whole tendency is towai'd the lighter 
weapon. I have seen a 20-gauge gun kill five wild geese 
out of a flock passing over. The T2-gauge bored on 
modern lines is an arm heavy enough for any sort of wild 
fowl shooting to-day. The load of 4 drams per 12-gauge 
is unnecessarily large, and 3;^ drams of the better nitros 
is a load heavy enough, certainly if one uses lyi ounces of 
shot. The additional powder siniply goes to ruin the 
pattern, and to pound the shooter, to say nothing of the 
additional danger to the gun. I was shooting quail not 
long ago with a load of 2^ drams of a nitro powder in a 
6^-pound gun. I think I should not use over 2j^i drams 
with the same gun again. Of course, in wild fowl shoot- 
ing the question of long range is more important, but 
S'A drams of any smokeless powder is enough, and most 
men will kill as many birds with '3 drams. If a man's 
gun is pounding him he cannot deliver his charge with 
the same smooth and confident swing which he gains with 
a more pleasant load. This applies rather to upland 
shooting than to marsh shooting, but I believe a great 
many men use too heavy a load. 
Mr. Arthur Bennett, the well-known painter of horses 
and hunting dogs, is in Chicago this week, fresh from y 
successful shooting trip in Michigan. Mr. Bennett lived 
in California when he purchased the winning dog. Dash 
AntoniQ^-^f Mr. R. Bangham, of Windsor. Ontario. Since 
then tic has been in different parts of the country, and 
once upon a time fell into the village of Brownsville, 
Tenn., where I myself once had some of the pleasantest 
days that I remember. Mr. Bennett Avas one of the 
pall bearers at the funeral of that splendid sportsman. Dr. 
W._D. Taylor, of Brownsville. He met there my friend 
Major Benj. C. Miles, and others of mv earlier shooting 
companions. He tells me that Mr. Miles for a while 
owned a dog which he called Joe the Gentleman, "In con- 
tradistmction," said Mr. Miles, "from the many other 
dogs of this community which are named Joe, but which 
are not gentlemen," 
One Deer Party. 
Mf. D. J. Hotchkiss, of Fox Lake, Wis., writes the 
story of an average Wisconsin deer hunt as below in a 
letter just at hand : 
"Have just returned from my first attempt at deer 
hunting, and have a hard luck story for my pains. I went 
up to Star Lake, way up in the northern part of this State, 
in Vilas county, and made camp in a log shanty with four 
other friends, sixteen miles beyond the end of the rail- 
road. Just got nicely settled in caiuj) when I was taken 
with a severe attack of rheumatism in my knee and was 
unable to do a thing but sit around camp and swear at 
my hard luck. I was out in the woods iust half of one 
^f.j, y/hkh, CQmprised all the hunting I did on the triq 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
In that time, however, I jumped a nice little spike buck, 
but did not get him, as I waited just a second too long to 
be sure of my target being a deer instead of a man, thanks 
to Forest and Stre.\m's slogan, 'Be sure before you 
shoot.' I fired at the flag just as it went out of sight, 
but must have got over it. After lying around camp two 
or three days and getting worse every minute, I pulled out 
and was thankful to get home alive, instead of waiting for 
the boys to pack me out of the woods over that sixteen 
miles of terrible road. I managed to make the walk in 
eight and one-half hours, but every step was like sticking 
a knife into my knee. 
"There were plenty of deer there, and had I been able 
to remain until the close of the season, as intended, I am 
confident that I would have had my two deer all right. 
Tlie boys had seven deer and three bears, one old one and 
two cubs, when I left, and I think they will have no 
trouble in securing the other deer they are entitled to 
before they break up to-morrow, 
"There were thousands of hunters in the Wisconsin 
woods this season and the deer were quite plenty, though 
not every hunter brought out a deer, of course. The In- 
dians in that neighborhood do considerable deer hunting, 
one old buck in particular I hear having killed fourteen 
deer and sold them to the logging camps in the neigh- 
borhood. Partridges and small game were very scarce, the 
dee]) snow and heavy crust of two winters ago killing out 
a lot of them and they have not had time to grow another 
good crop as yet. The country is grand for deer hunt- 
ing, being full of ridges and gullies, with lakes on all 
sicTe-s, and plenty of slashings and pieces of heavy timber. 
The weather was quite cold, ranging around the zero 
point all the time I was there, but there was from 6 to 8 
inches of snow on the ground. This made tracking easy, 
and one certain patch of slashing near our camp looked 
like a rabbit patch every morning from the number of 
tracks through it. The deer went into it at night and out 
in the early morning. It was pretty cold to sit on a run- 
way, but the still-hunting was fine, and our parly had very 
nice luck." 
The Real Mouad Builder -. 
Probably every boy who ever read Prescott has dwelt 
with interest upon the descriptions of the great Indian 
mounds of Ohio and other Western States, and I presume 
nearly every outdoor man of the West has at one time 
or another found occasion to ponder over these curious 
monuments of a forgotten past. Most scientists have 
as.signed the construction of these mounds to a race of 
men now extinct, though there have not been wanting 
many believers in the theory that the mounds were the 
work of the North American Indians. Hon. J. B. Brower. 
of Minnesota, is an adherent to the latter theory, and in a 
recent address before the Minnesota Historical Society he 
read an able paper in which he sought to prove that the 
Sioux Indians were the builders of the famous Mille Lacs 
mounds. Mr. Brower claiins without reserve that the 
Indians were the mound builders, and that there is plenty 
of evidence to show that they, and not a prehistoric 
people as the Aztecs, constructed the mounds. He quoted 
Peter Esprit. Radisson and Medard Chouart, the French 
explorers, who were in the country in 1659; and Michael 
Accault, Father Hennepin, Anthony Auguelle, J. B. Lind. 
Carver. Catlin and numerous others to show that the 
Sioux Indians built mounds to bury their dead. He 
showed specimens of the instruments and ornaments 
found within the mounds, and, comparing them with those 
of the Sioux, proved that they were practically identical. 
He also showed from the history of the Indian people 
that Mille Lacs was the home of the Sioux. 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
Massachusetts Game Conditions. 
Danvers, Mass., Dec. i4.-~Editor Forest and Stream: 
The shooting season is practically over. We had a gen- 
eral new layout for this year. The first and most im- 
portant was the adoption of your ganie plank to stop the 
sale of patridges (grouse) and woodcock. The little 
quail, however, w-as on the bill of fare, but it will prob- 
ably be their turn next. Some concessions had to be 
given to the market-men who live so near the State 
House, Then the allowing of rabbit and squirrel shoot- 
ing up to March i will have to be attended to. 
\Ve have had an unsually good season for hunting. 
Up to date, there has been no snow, and not much water 
in the swamps. I have shot just twenty-one birds on 
the few days I have been out — five partridges, three 
woodcocks and thirteen quail. Most of the quail were 
males; the last one shot was a hen weighing ounces. 
My partridge for that day's shooting weighed 23 ounces. 
I have flushed just three Mongolian pheasants, and I 
thiidv I saw six the previous year, T doubt whether they 
will ever amount to anything as game in this country. 
T don't think they breed well. All the birds seem to be 
old birds; I never saw any young. All I flushed were 
in open places, and it would be a "dead easy" shot to kill 
one. They fly about like old hens, and you can hear the 
old cock cackle as far as you can see him. 
Many quail are left over. I hear of many large flocks 
being seen. They are large, strong birds, and in fine 
condition. There certainly must be more partridges left 
than for many years. I have not seen many rabbits or 
squirrels, but I think the hunters who make a specialty 
of that kind of shooting have had good luck. 
There is one good thing about this old common- 
wealth. With a city "every five miles in any direction" 
a person who does not carry a fat pocketbook nor own 
any land can travel and hunt without being ordered off 
and sworn at. I haven't seen a "No trespass" sign this 
fall, except those posted to prevent berry picking for 
the market. I understand that some city shooters tried 
to. lease the shooting privileges of several farms north 
of here for their personal use, and suggested that if the 
farmer had any friend that wanted to game out and 
shoot as heretofore, to charge him a couple of dollars. 
I'heir bristles were too conspicuous, and their proposi- 
tions were rejected. They still have the same privilege 
of hunting there as myself. Old New .England is pretty 
good about that; one liian is as good as another, and 
they are well fixed enough sq they can pay their own 
|uxcs. 
How I shptild like \\\ a ftt^pd flock of wild ducks 
[Dec. 29, 1900. 
with their long necks. In my boyhood days I used to live 
on the south shore of this State, and there I used to see 
thousands of black ducks, but never a one do I see back 
here, five miles from the coast. That is one bird they 
never need vv^orry about being shot out. 1 suppose a 
thousand die of a natural death to one being shot. Here 
on the coast they sleep on the rolling deep far from 
land, with a few old drakes^ on guard. Then just at 
dark they go up the rivers and feed on the mud flats 
far from shore. At daylight out they go again with a 
full roll call. They get their fresh water from the spring 
holes, and feed on minnows and the mussel beds. 
Several of hound-hunting sportsmen have been 
out of the town and State, but have not been very suc- 
cessful, except Mr. A. W. Beckford, who accompanied 
Mr. Stark, of New Hampshire, and had such a time with 
the bears and deer, as has been cited in the Forest and 
Stream. Mr. B. goes up there every year, and gen- 
erally gets more game than all the other hunters in 
town collectively. John W. Babbitt. 
The Adirondack Deer. 
Gansevoort, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: A 
newspaper clipping sent me by one of my sportsman 
friends reads as fallows: 
"Old Forge, N. Y., Dec. 2. — It is the general opinion 
among woodsmen and those interested in the preserva- 
tion of deer that the hunting season should be shortened 
at the latter part. xAt this time it is obvious that the 
hunters have great advantage when snow covers the 
ground. At the rate deer have been killed during the 
last few seasons they will be exceedingly rare in a few 
years." 
It is very strange, to say the least, that those "woods- 
men" and others who are so deeply "interested in the 
preservation of deer" should advocate cutting off that 
part of the open season when deer are in the best con- 
dition, when the meat can all be saved in good condition, 
when the most sportsmanlike way of killing deer can only 
be practiced, and when the deer have left the water and 
cannot be killed by dude sportsmen (?) ahead of the 
jack. This latter way of killing deer is still much in 
practice in spite of the law, and I wonder how much this 
fact had to do in causing the above item to be written. 
It is also strange that those "woodsmen" have not 
noticed, and mentioned the fact, that "during the last 
few seasons" deer have become so numerous in many 
sections that " those interested in the preservation of deer" 
have foimd it necessary when the snow was deep to 
cut down timber to furnish them sufficient food to keep 
tliem from starving by the hundred. The "woodsmen" 
who in the face of such facts predict that "they will be 
cNceedingly rare in a few years" must be creatures of the 
writer's imagination, created to give weight to his fal- 
lacious assertions. 
I have hunted deer in the Adirondacks nearlj^ every 
season since 1866, and modestly claim to know a few 
facts respecting Adirondack deer. Mv first extieripnre 
was gained when deer were crusted, jacked, hounded 
and still-hunted ; when they were killed for market, 
for home consumption, for their hides, and for fun; and 
truly they were then in danger of extermination, and 
did become very rare in many sections. But gradually 
public opinion among the residents of deer inhabited 
districts changed. Crusting was frowned upon and 
stopped, and deer at once began to increase. Next, jack- 
ing was p]-onounced unsportsmanlike by the better class 
of sportsmen and less of it was done, and deer increased 
in numbers still more rapidly. Lastly, hounding was 
made unlawful, since which time deer have increased 
very rapidly, so that now they are found in many sec- 
tions where they were not found before within the mem- 
ory of the oldest inhabitant. They are itndoubtedly 
driven to these new environments by lack of food in 
the sections from which they came, and the correct 
thing for "woodsmen and those interested in the preser- 
vation of deer" to do is to stop writing bosh and to 
shoulder axes and go into the deer forests when the 
snow is deep and fell timber to keep the deer in over- 
stocked districts from starving. 
Whenever it is found necessary to shorten the open 
season on deer, these "woodsmen and those interested 
in the preservation of deer" will escape the suspicion 
of being tenderfoot dudes, who can kill deer in no way 
except ahead of the jack if they will advocate shortening 
it in the way common sense and true sportsmanship say 
il should be shortened — i. e., by cutting off the whole of 
September. Jos. W. Shurter. 
Talks to Boys.— VL 
Well, boys, by this time you have acquired considerable 
handiness in the use of the gun. It no longer seems to 
)-ou like a strange tool that you do not at all know how to 
carry. It is no longer awkward in your hands. You are 
getting used to it. When you put it on your shoulder it 
seems to belong there, or when you throw it up to your 
face and look along the barrels, these do not wave about, 
pointing in all directions except the right one, but arc 
directed pretty nearly at the spot that you are looking at. 
It takes you but a short time to cover the mark with the 
sight. You are getting into the way of holding the 
muzzle of your gun so that it never points at any one, and 
it is only once in a while that your instructor feels obliged 
to speak to you about this. 
I am particularly anxious that when aiming at anything 
)'Ou should learn to catch the sight quickly, and also that 
you should be readj^ enough so that when the sight covers 
the mark you should pull the trigger at once. I think it 
better for you to bring your gun up slowly and cover the 
mark quickly than to bring the stock against your shoul- 
der with a jerk and then be obliged to feel around for 
some time before the aim is had. You will find. I think, 
that if you raise the gun to the shoulder deliberately 
hut quickly, you can catch the sight more readily if 
you jerk the stock up with a sudden movemenj;. 
After the first principles have been learned, you must- 
remember that in all quick shooting the means by which 
success is to be reached is to keep your eye fixed on the 
object aimed at. and not to regard the gun at all. You 
nM)s^ \^&XV^ I9 aim yovtr gun as a carpenter learns to ain^ 
