Feb. 9, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
10 8 
— ® — 
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them in Fosur and bTKCAit. 
Notice. 
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always be addressed to t>e Forest and Stream Publishing Co.. and 
not to any individual cojnected with the paper. 
A February Afternoon. 
The man with a gun had been shut in by bad weather 
for some weeks, when there came a "February thaw." 
On Satvirday the sun shone clear and bright, and even 
warm, and its light was reflected with dazzling brilliancy 
by the snow that covered the ground. The ponds were 
still frozen, but South Coon River was almost free from 
ice, and the man with a giin knew that there must be 
ducks; so, after an early dinner, he struck out through 
the North Coon timber, intending to go down that stream 
to where South Coon joined it. 
North Coon was deeper water — a more sluggish cur- 
rent — and ran through the timber, so it was some days 
later than South Coon in thawing, but there was a little 
open water in one of the long reaches, and five or six 
hundred yards down the stream our man saw some ducks 
sitting on the ice at the edge of some open water. The 
bank of the stream was ten or twelve feet high, and the 
ground level, so our man made a detour and walked 
rapidly along till he judged he was opposite the ducks, 
then began a sneak toward the river bank, stooping lower 
and lower as he neared the river, and as he got 
still closer he lay down and wormed himself along the 
ground like a snake, till he got so near the edge of the 
bank that he raised his head slowly and just a little, and 
saw not 30 yards away six mallards sitting on the ice m 
a compact bunch, and one other mallard sitting alone 
four feet to one side of the others. He had taken die pre- 
caution to poke the muzzle over the edge of the bank 
in advance of his taking a look, and it was pointing very 
nearly at the bunch of mallards. Quiet and slow as the 
sneak had been, it was not so quiet but that the ducks 
Were alarmed, and when he looked over the bank every 
neck stood straight up. In one more second every duck 
would be on the wing and the chance for a dandy pot- 
shot lost. The thing to do was to shoot quickly and bag 
the bunch of six, and he felt that he could do it, and do 
it before they flew. He just considered himself sure of 
six mallards. He instantly covered the bunch all right 
and pressed the trigger, but just as he pulled the lone 
duck that sat to one side started to fly. and he in- 
stinctively threw the gun toward it as he pulled — and not 
'a duck was hit. The instant the gun swerved toward the 
lone duck he knew that everything was spoiled, but it 
was too late to help it, and quick as lightning he de- 
termined to get even with that lone duck, and springing 
to his feet he ga^^e it the second barrel with such an 
effective aim that there was scarcely an unbroken bone 
left in its body. Then he looked after the vanishing 
birds and quoted "Of all sad words." He also said other 
"words" which at the time seemed appropriate to the oc- 
casion. Then he put fresh shells in the gun and went 
down the river to where the ice w^as still solid, and 
crossing over, came back and got the dead duck. He 
wasn't taking much interest just them in the glorious sun- 
.shine and the bracing air nor the dozen or so of little 
birds that were singing around him, nor any of the many 
evidences that winter was broken, for the time, at least. 
Tramping another mile through the woods, he came to 
the mouth of South Coon, and there was a sig^it ^hnt 
made him forget everything but what he saw. A hun- 
dred yards above the mouth of South Coon was a sand- 
bar, perhaps 40 feet in diameter. It was so closely packed 
with mallards that there seemed to be no room for any 
more. They were a hundred yards away, and there was 
no chance to get nearer, as the banks on either side 
were low. He studied a while about what he should do 
and finally put shells loaded with 00 shot in the gun, held 
2 feet above the raft of ducks, fired the first barrel as 
thej^ sat on the sandbar, and the other when thej'^ were 
a few feet high. Every duck went away apparently un- 
hurt, but when they had got some hundred yards away 
one tumbled headlong to the ground. The shooter stood 
on the bank and carefully took his bearings so he could 
locate the place where the duck fell after he had crossed 
the river, and then loo.ked at the river itself to see w^here 
lie could wade it, and he then saw, almost at his feet, a 
broken-winged mallard drake drifting with the current. 
.Another shot wilted him, and then the shooter hurried 
down the stream to a shalow place where he knew he 
could cross, and wading to the middle of the stream 
waited till the dead bird drifted to him. Then he 
crossed and walked up the river bank to where he could 
.get the bearings that would locate the dead bird. It had 
fallen in a patch of thick w^eeds. all just alike. Not find- 
ing it w'hen he reached the spot where he thought it had 
fallen, he tied his handkerchief to a big Aveed to mark 
the spot, and then began to circle around it, making 
each succeeding circle wider than the previous one. In 
this manner he was sure to hunt the ground thoroughly 
and to hunt it but once. A few circles discovered the 
duck, which would in all probability never have been 
found by the ordinary aimless, haphazard way of hunt- 
ing for a dead bird. 
In marking a bird that fahs at a distance, always stand 
still till you have marked the spot by some object be- 
yond where the bird fell, and the further the object is be- 
yond the better. If there can be two objects in line 
iieyond it is still better. Having aligned the spot, walk 
straight along the line till you have gone two or three 
rods further than where you thought the bird fell, and 
right there you will probably find it. If, from the nature 
of the groimd. a detour has to be made to reach the 
I place, be sure to take bearings that will enable you to 
place yourself upon the line again after making 4ie de- 
tour. If the bird is not found by walking along the line, 
mark the spot where you thought it fell and continue the 
search either by circling round the marked spot or by 
walking back and forth on parallel lines. To many peo- 
ple hunting for a dead bird in thick cover is a nuisance 
and the bird is seldom found, but if the search is carried 
on as described' above, the bird is almost certain to be 
found if it is not entirely hidden from sight. Practiced 
in this way, the certainty of finding makes the search a 
pleasure instead of an annoyance, and one soon takes 
pride in his skill in finding dead birds. If the bird is 
onl}' winged and the cover amounts to anything it is 
hardlj'^ worth while to take any trouble looking for it, as 
it will be entirely liiddAi. but the experienced shooter 
seldom fails to note whether the bird is killed or only 
winged.- 
The shooter now went to the woods that bordered the 
stream and hid the three ducks, as he was sure to re- 
turn that way, and there was no need to carry them. He 
had just finished this, v/hen there came a mallard drake, 
flying rather low, but too far to one side. The shooter 
got behind a big tree and gave a few quacks, which 
brou.ght the drake circling in to an easy shot for the 
man and a quick death for the duck. 
Proceeding up the river, the man with a gun cautiously 
approached a bend where there was a high bank and 
peeped over, expecting to find the ducks, if there were 
any there, on the further side in the shallow water. There 
were none in sight, and he started for the next bend, but 
had only taken a few steps, when out from under the 
high bank, right at the man's feet, came a mallard 
splashing the water and quacking with terror. The man 
was startled almost as much as the duck, and missed with 
the first barrel before the duck was 30 feet away. Then 
he ptiled himself together and made sure of a kill with 
the second. The second snapped. 
The inan sat dow^n on a log. After cooling off a little 
he left himself sitting on the log and stood up in front 
of himself, and pointing a finger of scorn at himself sit- 
ting on the log, he said, "I used to think maybe you 
would get over bein.g a natural born fool some time, but 
I am discouraged about it. I really am. It is reason- 
jible to expect that you would have a pretty rank wire 
edge on yotl when you first started out to-day, as you 
haven't had a gun in your hands for weeks till this after- 
noon; but if losing those six mallards wasn't enough 
to ta'.-p' it out of yott, you are a hopeless case. You 
ought to be sent home and your gun given to a man it 
wouldn't be ashamed to be seen with. Now you will 
just put two cmpt}' shells in the gun, and the next time 
a duck flies you will see how easy you would have killed 
i! if the gun had been loaded." 
The empty shells were put in and the search for skulk- 
ing ducks proceeded. Presently another skulking mal- 
lard flushed and offered an easy shot, and when the man 
snapped his emptj' shells at it he saw how easy — how 
very easy — it was to kill a duck rising in close range, and 
although he did not get this one, it showed him how to 
get the next one — and he got it and several others with- 
out a miss. 
The setting sun. found him with a heavy bag and miles 
between him and home, but he trudged cheerfully along 
rill he came to the place where he had waded across 
South Coon, and found the melting snow had raised the 
river till he could not wade it, so he had to go around 
by the bridge, which made it two miles further, at which 
he grumbled somewhat, but finall.v pulled into town in 
fair shape an hour after dark. 
O. H. Hampton. 
Talks to Boys. — XI. 
I HAVK talked to you more or less about your dog, 
taking it for granted that you would have one; since, 
after a boy has really learned to sshoot, he wants to secure 
game birds, and will not be satisfied merely widi killing 
the little birds that very .small boys piu'sue. Not much 
can be done in shooting woodcock, quail, ruft'ed grovise 
or prairie chickens without a dog — what is commonly 
called a bird dog; that is to say, either a pointer or a 
setter. Such dogs, as you all of you know, range over 
the ground before the shooter, covering much more 
territory than he could cover. Their keen scent enables 
them to detect where the birds are, or where they have 
been, and the well trained dog carefully following up 
the scent of the running be\'y, approaches them, and as 
the scent grows stronger and he thus leanis that the 
birds are near at hand, he stops and so notifies his 
master that the birds are close by. 
In sonix; parts of the world, spaniels are used. They 
work very close to the gun. and do not stop when they 
smejl the bird, but press forward the faster, trying to 
reach it. They give tongue, however, and thus warn the 
man that the birds are near, and as they are so close to 
the shooter, he is likely to have a shot when the birds 
rise, The trained pointer or setter, stopping when the 
scent becomes strong, usually waits until tlie shooter 
is close to him, and then either is -urged forward to get 
closer to the birds and so starts them from the ground, 
cr else the man with the gun wafks ahead of the pointing 
dog, and himself causes them to take wing. 
You probably know that the act of pointing is natural 
to dogs, and to many wild animals which are hunters 
of living things. I have more than once seen a wolf 
point a bird or small animal on the prairie, when he did 
not know exactly where it was. The pointing of the 
bird dog is merely this same effort to find game, which 
man makes use of in the domestic dog, which now 
hunts for its owner instead of for itself. Often when 
you see your dog point, j'oti will also see — if you are far 
enoug-h in front of him to do so — his eyes roll about as 
he seeks to discover hy sight just what is the position 
of the bird that he smells so strongly, the warm scent 
of which makes his nostrils twitch as he stands there 
motionless. Sometimes a young dog, whose education 
has not been carried quite far enough, will see a bird on 
the ground before him. and after discovering it will 
plunge forward and catch it in his jaws, but an old dog, 
who understands his duty and the work the gun is likely 
to perform toward capturing the bird, will stand perfectly 
staunch and steady, even though he may plainly see the 
bird crouching before him. 
I do not intend to try to , teach you how to educate 
your dog for field work. Many books have been written 
about this, in which the best methods are set forth for 
training the dog to perform all the different operations 
vequ'red to make him serviceable to the sportsman. But 
I do wish to give you a few suggestions with regard to 
the way in which you should treat your dog so that you 
may make of him a confident, cheerful friend and com- 
panion, instead of a nervous, uncertain, cringing servant. 
The higher your dog's spirit and courage, and the greater 
his confidence in you, the more comfort you will derive 
from association with him, and the better the work he 
will do^ for you. Above all things avoid making him fear 
you. Sometimes you may have to punish him, but never 
do this unless you are positive that he understands what 
he has done that is wrong, *nd why you are correcting 
him. Then, when you have punished him, he must un- 
derstand, and you must feel, that the error that he has 
committed is wiped out and forgotten, and that you are 
jusr as good comrades and friends as you were before 
he made his blunder or willfully oft'ended. 
I shall not advise you to get either a pointer or a setter; 
you will have to make up your mind about that, and it 
really does not make much cUft'erence which you get* 
Each breed has certain things to commend it. The 
pointer is more easily trained than the setter, but re- 
members better what it has been taught, and requires less 
work at the begimiing of each shooting season than the 
setter, before settling down to the business of hunting. 
The pointer also is thought to be better for a country 
where "burrs are plentiful, and also for a country where 
there is lack of water, its fine light coat enabling it to 
endure warm weather more easily than the setter. On 
the other hand, for winter work, especially where there 
is much retrieving to be done from the water, the heavy 
coat of the setter makes it less susceptible to cold. In 
a country where briers and thorns are troublescime, and 
there is nnich work to be done in thickets, the setter's 
coat again protects it. Setters are thought to be more 
affectionate than pointers, but this is not necessarily a 
point in their favor, since, from this very cause, thej are 
likely to make friends with strangers and follow them off, 
to the owner's great discomfort. If you know of any 
friend or neighbor that has a working setter or pointer, 
whose performances in the field are satisfactory, and you 
can in any way obtain a puppy from this animal, I advise 
you to secure it and to try to make the most of it. 
When you Irave secured a puppy there are two or three 
things that you must try to remember in connection with 
the little animal for whom you have taken the responsi- 
bility. You must remember, in the first place, that it is 
like any other 3'onng creature, full of spirits, utterly 
without sense of responsibility, thinking only about itself 
and entirely determined, so far as it thinks ahead at all, 
to do those things which seem pleasant to it. It is your 
business now to undertake its education. You must 
begin by making it fond of you. and that means that you 
must treat it kindly, must play with it more or less, must 
try to feed it yourself and to make it look to you for all 
the things that make lite pleasant for it. Very patiently, 
but very firmly, yon must instruct it, little by little, in 
good manners: must teach il that some things may be 
done, and that other things are under no circumstances 
permitted. You must remember that this little animal 
has no knowledge of the English language, and that when 
you give it a command it at first has no idea what you 
are talking about, and that your words to if are merely 
so many meaningless sounds. One of your first duties 
therefore is to teach it what these sounds are intended 
to convey, and this lesson is to be taught only by enforc- 
ing obedience to the command as soon as uttered. Thus, 
tf you try to teach your dog to charge, which means to 
lie down, whenever y-ou use this word to him in the tone 
which you intend to have obeyed place your hands on 
him and gently force him to lie down on his belly with 
his legs all under him and his head flat on the ground 
between his paws. If you do this frequently, he wfll very 
soon connect the word "Charge';', with the act of lying 
down in the posture named, and it will be but a short 
time before the word will be enough. If after he has 
learned to charge there is slowness or hesitation about 
obeying, you can then push him down sharply and 
tjuickly, but you must be absolutely convinced in your 
own mind that he thoroughly comprehends what he ought 
to do when he hears this word. It is easy to confuse 
and bewilder a puppy, and it is much better to let his 
education go slowly and to be sure that he understands 
what is wanted of him, than to run the risk of confusing 
him by trying to hurry matters. 
All puppies have the qualities peculiar to extreme 
youth. They are affectionate and want to place their 
paws on people and to try to lick their faces. In the 
same way. because they are puppies, and because they are 
getting their new teeth, they are eager to be constantly 
chewing things. Puppies should not be permitted to get 
into the habit of putting their paws against people. It is 
a perfectly natural act, but once established it is a diffi- 
cult habit to break up when the dog grows older, and 
when it may become an actual nuisance to people who 
do not care to be caressed in this way. Constantly push- 
mg the dog down with the accompaniment of the word 
"Down"— spoken sharply, if the puppy imagines that he is 
bemg played with — will serve after a time to put an end 
to these demonstrations of affection, and it is certainly 
much pleasanter to see a young dog come and stand close 
to his masters leg, wagging his tail and looking up, as 
if to ask for petting, than it is to see a great lumbering 
animal throw_ himself against the body of the person 
whom he desires to caress. 
If you get your puppy quite young, and if you can 
nrocure for him a couple of balls to play with, it will save 
you some expense and a great deal of household criti- 
cism. A soft ball is a useful plaything for the dog, and 
can also be emploj^ed, if he is a natural retriever, in 
, teaching him to fetch and carry. But he should not be 
allowed to play with it alone nor to gnaw it, for if this 
is permitted he Avill soon destroy it. For that purpose 
a wooden ball, rather larger than he can manage, as for 
example a small croquet ball, is best. With this he can 
occupy himself while chained to his kennel, and it will 
help him to pass many an hour of confinement that 
would otherwise be weary. 
I advise you if possible to keep your puppy in a small 
yard or large pen most of the time, and not on chain 
"This IS an important m.atter. A puppv wishes to be on 
the go all the time, and frets and worries on a chain 
far more than a larger dog would. Moreover kee^inp- ? 
puppy on chain often results in making him bow-legged 
or out at the elbows, from the fact that he spends much 
of his time lying down. The worfy and annovance of 
bein.g confined on a short chain may have a bad effeet 
on his temper, and may make the matter of training 
