2tS 
FOREST AND STREAM^ 
.{March 16, 1901. 
A GtJjfe iot Nervous Pfosttation. 
Tampa Bay Hotel^ March 4. — Mr. Marc Klaw, o£ New 
York, with an 8-ounce rod and a silk braided line, went 
out into the alligator precincts of the Hillsboro River 
yesterda}^ afternoon trolling for sea trout. He had been 
fishing about a half-hour and had laid down his pole for 
a moment to take a camera snap shot of a grove of pal- 
mettos, when there was a whizz of his reel and the line 
began -paying out so rapidly that the boatman will rnake 
affidavit that it actually smoked. Mr. Klaw, who is a 
recent convalescent from grip, dropped Ms camera over- 
board and went sprawling on his stomach in his effort to 
get to the pole. His attendant was horror-stricken to 
witness the struggle which now ensued between a man 
recovering' from an attack of nervous exhaustion and a 
big redfish just contracting that disease. Before Klaw 
could say Ben Hur the fish had taken out enough of his 
line to fly a kite, and had done it so rapidly that it wore a 
blister on his thumb, which he was using as a brake. After 
playing him for about twenty minutes the fish made a 
dart under the boat, the line became tangled in the 
rudder, and while tbe boatman kept the little craft waltzing 
around in a vain effort to untangle, Mr. Redfish got a 
taut line and broke it. Mr. Klaw preserves a sphinx- 
like silence on the subject, but to his attendant he re- 
marked that he would wager $100 that any man who can 
go through the experience he had in that twenty minutes 
will either be cured of nervous prostration or die in the 
etfort. The nurse says his temperature was normal at 
the end of the adventure, but that his pulse was about 
J 10. The boatman, who is a reliable man, says that the 
fish didn't weigh less than 15 pounds. H.. A. D. 
Whitefish fof Lake Ontario. 
Tk his monthly report to the Fish Commission for 
September, 1900, State Fishculturist A. N. Cheney wrote :- 
"I have inaugurated a new policy in whitefish work, 
Avhich will result in the saving of at least $600 as com- 
p'ared with the work of last year. I believe it should be 
the policy of the Commission to plant the great bulk of 
whitefish reared by the State in Lake Ontario. I am 
utterly opposed to planting the Great Lake whitefish in 
Adirondack trout lakes, where they simply consume the 
food of . trout and serve no good purpose as food fish, as 
the law does not permit the taking of whitefish in nets 
from these lakes, netting being the only means of faking 
them. Whitefish is a most delicious food fish, and people 
should' be encouraged to net them in such lakes where 
they are now found where licenses can be issued under 
Section 64." < 
In February of this year Mr. Cheney wrote us: "I 
secured from the United States Fish Commission 25,000.- 
000 eggs. The fry from these eggs will be planted in 
Lake Ontario. Ten million of fry hatched from State 
eggs will also be planted in Lake Ontario. My belief is 
that, with one or two exceptions, all whitefish eggs taken 
from State waters should be hatched and planted in a 
lake where commercial fisheries are authorized. In our 
case, it would be Lake Ontario that would receive the 
benefit of whitefish eggs taken in interior waters." 
— ® — 
Fixtttfes. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
March 6-9.— Pittsburg, Pa.— Duquesne Kennel Club's annual 
bench show. F. S. Stedman, Sec'y. 
March 13-16.— Chicago.— Mascoutah Kennel Qub's eleventh an» 
nual show. John L. Lincoln, Sec'y. 
Training the Hunting Dog. 
By B. Vatefs» Author of "Fetch and Carfy: A Treatise 
on Retrieving." 
Xni.— Ranging. 
(Continued from fiage 92.) 
To the novice the manner in which a dog seeks his 
prey is a matter of but little consideration. So that the 
dog gallops out in search of birds, or even gallops at all 
if he will but continue galloping, it would seem that 
nothing more was necessary or to be required. It, how- 
ever, is far from being such a simple matter. 
In practice the novice will sooner or later find that a 
dog, though he be of great range and speed, may have 
distinctly inferior finding abilities. Good heels require 
good brains and noses to direct them. 
The best ranger is the dog which "stays out at his 
work," beating out the likely ground in front and on 
both sides of the general course of the shooter, and all 
this with such method and regularity as the nature of the 
grounds best permits. His judgment should be so 
.good that he forecasts the course of the shooter in a 
general way, or determines it by wise observation, and 
keeps it ever as a base of operations from which to work. 
Let us assume that the dog is seeking quail. Bare or 
unpromising country, such as bare ground, closely grazed 
pasture, etc., he skirts or entirely avoids. He notes such 
covers to the right and left as are likely to afford a habitat 
for the birds, and he ranges from one of them to the 
other, observing due economy in following his course so 
that he will cover the most ground with the least gallop- 
ing consistent with the work to be done. He goes 
through cover when "in his wise judgment it is . necessary 
for the best chances of success, or taking the wind to the 
best advantage he gallops along other stretches of cover 
v/hich are likely to be sought by the birds as a place of 
refuge. Sometimes he skirts around an entire field to hit 
off the trail of moving birds, while at other times he goes 
■through it, accordingly as the wind, scenting conditions, 
•etc.; dictate. From experience he learns the kinds of 
-ground which the birds most frequent, and the times of 
day in which they are most likely to be found in them. 
■ When the birds are plentiful he beats otit a much 
-smaller area 9f J^roitnd than he d,0(^s \v|ien they ^re 
Ill the broad, prairie, the chiclcen country where to tlie 
untrained eye there is little difference of ground surface 
appai-erit, the dog may not need to exercise so much 
good judgment as in seeking quail, but he needs to 
exercise good judgment nevertheless. The prairie, from 
where the beholder stands to the horizon, has its lesser 
an;d greater undulations, with their innumerable minia- 
ture .water sheds, forming networks of hollows, in which 
grow much coarser and ranker grasses than those of the 
higher ground. They therein afford concealment and 
shelter to the chickens during the night and the midday 
hours. In the morning and evening, their favorite time 
of food seeking, the chickens frequent the grain fields in 
the season when the grain is fit for their food or the 
higher ground, where the growth is shorter, and where 
insect life is more abundant. 
Of the dogs which range at high speed, a large per- 
centage run faster than their noses and judgment war- 
rant if we consider the best possible results. Indeed, 
some run so fast and hurriedly that they do not take time 
to dwell even for a moment in searching out the likely 
places, although they have the general appearance of 
earnest and good industry. They simply are high-class 
pretenders. 
A dog may be so intent in the use of his eyes to pick 
out the easiest going that he gives no attention to the 
practical use of his nose. 
In a country known to contain birds he may work 
over great areas withotit finding other than the birds 
which he happens to run directly across. He on the other 
hand may have the speed and good finding intention 
which are shown by continuous industry and judgment, 
and yet, from functional dullness of the nose as an 
organ of scent, be incapacitated as a finder. 
Before a dog can range in the best manner he must 
have had sufficient experience to learn what sections of 
ground and cover the birds prefer for a habitat and a food 
supply, what are their general habits of life, and what 
peculiar devices they exercise to evade pursuit. In a 
manner it is much the same knowledge that the shooter 
himself should possess. 
Of two shooters, the one knowing at a glance what 
section of certain grounds the birds seek for food and 
shelter, the other ignorant or heedless oi tneir habitat, 
habits, and the manner of working the ground to the best 
advantage, no explanation is needed as to which of them 
would be the most successful. 
The intelligence and industry which the shooter must 
exercise in bringing success to the use of gun are not 
iinlike those which the dog must exercise similarly in 
bringing success to the use of his nose. 
As to working out the ground properly there is no 
arbitrary method. What might be a thorough working 
of it by one dog might not be so at all when done simi- 
larly by some other dog. The one might have a very 
keen nose, which would command a wide scope, and 
therewith might take every intelligent advantage of wind 
and grounds; the other, owing to a dull nose and its con- 
sequent smaller scope, might be unable to work out 
the ground properly if he followed the same lines set by 
his keener nosed rival. 
Local conditions also have their importance. In a 
close country the range should not be so far that the dog 
is out of sight for appreciable lengths of time, for then 
the shooter cannot know what the dog is doing. If he 
then gets on a point he is difficult to find, and if he 
flushes and chases, the shooter is ignorant of it. If he 
points a mile away on the prairie it is more of labor than 
of pleasure to go so far to him for a shot. 
The matter of pace is essential to consider in connec- 
tion with ranging, and with it also the matter of en- 
durance. As hinted at herein, a very fast dog, extended 
to his utmost in speed, is rarely a thorough hunter. Being 
over-extended, he has not the time. to consider or search 
out the nooks and corners with the care and thorough- 
ness necessary to the best finding results, nor time to 
concentrate his mind on anything other than mere run- 
ning. On the other hand, a dog may show, good speed 
for a while, then slow down to a trot, worlcing a while 
and loafing a while. 
The best pace is a steady, swinging gallop, which is 
easily within the dog's physical compass, and such as he 
can "maintain all day long. If to this he has bird sense 
and concentrates his powers on his work, remaining out 
at it constantly, he as a success is in pleasing contrast to 
the flashy, over-speeded dog, whose mind is concentrated 
solely on picking out a clear course to run in. Too 
much speed often denotes an ignorance of hunting 
rather than a knowle-dge of it, as it relates to the service 
of the gun. 
Aside from the matter of pace, the most common 
examples of bad ranging are as follows: When a dog 
takes his casts, be they long or short, straight out in 
an}' direction in which he firgt starts, generally up or 
across wind, then turns and comes directly back to his 
handler on nearly the same line which marked his course 
in going out. On the return, in most instances, he for- 
gets that he has a nose while using his. eye to watch his 
handler as he hurries straight to him. In any event, it 
is not then necessary that he should use his nose on 
ground which he a moment before ran over. 
A particularly annoying phase of this style of ranging 
is the taking of a straight line directly ahead in the course 
of the shooter. Thus, most of the time the shooter and 
the dog are following the same Hne. More than half of 
such dog's time and effort are wasted, for it takes him as 
long to return as it does to go out. He necessarily is 
a poor finder. He knows no difference between the best 
and the worst ground. He may point birds when he hap- 
pens to run across them, as he is sure to do sooner or 
later in a' bird country, for even the shooter will himself 
walk up a bevy now and then; but so far as any real 
merit is concerned, such a dog has none. 
Another faulty manner of ranging is when the dog 
turns to the rear at the end of a cast and swings in be- 
hind his handler or on to ground which he covered before 
in his previous cast, thus repeatedly and uselessly cross- 
ing his course. , 
Some dogs acquire the habit of .working entirely on one 
side of the handler's course. If forced to cast on the 
opposite side, they are intent on returning to" their favor- 
rite position, and soon craftily return to it. Others have 
the extremely objectionable fault of working behind their 
)^a;^<i^ef§, §tiil Other§ ^orH Yfr^^ clg^e fpf wli^le; Re- 
gardless of the character of the ground, then take an 
extrernely long cast with little judgment or purpose to it, 
returning after a time and resuming the pottering range. 
The wind and its direction are important factors in 
ranging; all dogs work best when the shooter is walking 
against it. They can then beat across it to and fro, turn- 
ing up wind at the end of their casts if they turn properly, 
thus having the best advantages of catching scent of the 
birds which are within range of their noses. 
If the shooter is going down wind the dog, though he 
can beat across wind as before, must necessarily turn 
down wind at the end of his casts if he keeps best in 
place relatively to the shooter. If the dog turns up wind 
under these circumstances, he turns on to ground which 
he has worked, making loops at the end of his casts, all 
of which results in inferior effort. 
In their ability to work out the ground regardless of 
whether the shooter walks up, down or across wind, 
dogs vary greatly in their powers. Some dogs, good 
rangers up wind, seem to lose all ideas of intelligent 
ranging when the shooter walks down wind; others per- 
form well regardless of the course of the shooter. 
When the shooter walks straight across wind he gives 
the dog the most difficult proposition to range to, since, 
if he then casts straight across the shooter, he must go 
straight up and down wind. The wise - dog, of good 
sense and good experience, works well regardless of his 
handler's course, for he casts out and stays o«t far 
enough to have a free fling according to the circum- 
stances. 
It is better to give the dog experience in- working out 
the ground regardless of the wind, for many times it 
happens in a day's shooting that owing to the nature of 
the grounds and general course of the hunt, an up wind 
course cannot be followed. 
Quartering denotes that the dog crosses to and fro in 
front of the shooter on lines as parallel and equidistant a.s 
may be. It is an artificial method, and no doubt is of 
use in a section where the ground is favorable to it and 
where birds are likely to frequent all parts of the ground 
indiscriminately. The English authorities emphasize its 
importance. In America, where the grounds exhibit all 
kinds of irregularities as to surface and covers, it is. much 
better that the dog should beat out the ground intelli- 
gently from one likely point to another. The habitats of 
the birds are so irregularly placed, and "there is so much 
barren ground mixed in with that which is fertile, that 
a set form of quartering is neither taught nor desired by 
the majority of shooters. 
In quartering, the dog covers as rtittch ground as his 
nose and speed will permit consistently with the size of 
the field or ground to be worked, and at the same time 
with keeping in front of the shooter. It is apparent that 
if the dog makes his casts too wide he will not be able to 
ciit out his parallels and at the same time keep in front 
of the shooter. In sections where on the one hand the 
intelligent ranger succeeds in finding birds in abundance, 
they on the other might appear to be very scarce when 
sought by a dog which hunted in parallel lines across his 
handler's course, ■ 
A dog which does not range well naturally is capable 
of but little improvement from the efforts of his handler. 
If he comes in repeatedly as a habit, a crack or a cut of 
the whip, as he comes in, will tend to keep him from 
coming entirely in; but instead of going out to work 
when so unpleasantly received he may stilk. At all 
events, his imperfect judgment is not to be materially 
mended by any efforts of his handler. Constant whistling 
and signaling and directing may help the faulty dog to 
a limited extent, but the handler then is furnishing all 
the brains and doing the thinking for the dog which 
the latter, if of the right grade as a worker, would do for 
himself. 
To teach the dog quartering, implicit obedience to the 
whistle and signals of the hand must be taught as a pre- 
requisite. The course is always up wind. Then when 
the dog is ranging the handler walks to and fro from left 
to right, keeping him on the correct parallels across 
wind as near as he can, and turning him when at the 
proper distance at the end of them. This is continued 
day after day till the dog will from mere habit follow the 
artificial range thus established. It requires a world of 
labor and patience to teach it thoroughly. After it is 
taught it has certain spectacular features which appeal 
to the novice, but which to the expert suggest a worth- 
less redundancy of effort. 
The theory of brace work when the dogs quarter tTieii" 
ground is that they work on wider parallels in their 
casts, which alternate so that neither works on the 
other's ground except when turning at the end of their 
casts. They should cross in front of their handler at 
about the same time, should cast about the same dis- 
tance to the right and left, and should make their turns at 
the ends of their casts at about the same moment. To 
approximate, even remotely, to this degree of refine- 
ment, the dogs must work independently, must be nearly 
equal in pace and industry, and in general must have the 
same ideas of quartering; in short, they must be fairly 
well matched. 
Dogs develop idiosyncrasies in quartering as they do 
in free ranging. One may cast well on one side, tiirning 
up wind properly, while at the end of his cast on the other 
side he turns down wind; or he may cast irregularly 
wide and close, or wide on one side and short on the 
other, or come to his handler in the middle of his cast, 
or cast to the rear of his handler betimes, etc., or be 
working outside the boundaries which are most advan- 
tageous to the shooter's success. A point made a half 
mile or more away imposes a great loss of time and 
extra walking or riding on the shooter, as do also the 
long searches for the dog when he is lost on point, and 
the latter is a frequent occurrence when the dog works 
beyond bounds. The dog which so works is a semi- 
self-hunter, and is a very laborious dog to handle. 
"Hello, Bub! Is this a good place to hunt for reed 
birds?" 
"Y-e-s." 
"Seen any round here?" 
"No. Pop's been beatin' the marshes for over a week." 
"Did he get any?" 
"No; he didn't get none. That's why it's a good place 
to hunt 'em— but as to finding 'em, it's m?an«st pl^ce, 
in. Jarsfiy,''---Phi!84eipWa C^ll ,. 
