March 23, igoi.] 
FOREST AMD STREAM. 
227 
To Save the Big Game, 
Denver, Colo., March 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
To many of us in the West the game question is a sub- 
ject of more than ordinary interest. 
For years the Governor of Colorado has had more or 
less complaint of the Indians, who were said to be 
slaughtering the large game strch as elk and deer. When 
the Ute Indians were removed from White River, the 
treaty which was made with them provided tliat every 
fall they were to be allowed ta hunt and kill game for a 
winter food supply. The Indians use every part of an 
animal, even to the entrails, which they roll on a stick 
and eat with great relish. They leave the horns only. 
They crack the bones, fpr the marrow, and make buckskin 
from the hides. 
There is more game destroyed by pot-hunters and men 
who have the wherewithal to buy a repeating rifle than 
by all the Indians on earth. Men such as I speak of 
get into a band of elk or deer and blaze away right 
and left, losing their heads completely. It is a wonder 
to me^ they do not kill each other. The result is quan- 
tities of game are wounded and hide away to die, thereby 
feeding the wild beasts. Many a noble buck is left to 
rot, the head and horns only being taken to grace some 
gentleman's dining room or library. 
In the years 1890-1895, at San Juan, Hinsdale county, 
Colo., on the headwaters of the Rio Grande, the Texas 
Club had its headquarters. Its members adopted a set 
of rules and regulations, providing for the payment of a 
heavy fine if more game or fish were killed than could 
be eaten. The result was that they had plenty of sport 
with no wantonness. 
My friend, Mr. Chas. Christy, formerly a Government 
scout of more than thirty years' experience, had a talk on 
this question while at the Ute Indian agency with Ignacio, 
Cervaro, Buckskin Charlie and Nanice. He spent Christ- 
mas week of last year, 1900, with them. Mr. Christy 
speaks their language fluently, and brought back some in- 
teresting stories. 
I do not wish to give the impression that the Indian is 
above reproach, but he is not half as destructive to 
game as many of these white so-called sportsmen I have 
before mentioned. Now for the remedy. Form a national 
game protective association that will come down to busi- 
ness: 
Allow ho rtian to go into a game country with anything 
but a single loading rifle. He will then become a better 
shot and liable to kill rather than wound the game. 
Do away with pump guns and repeating rifles. They are 
well enough for war, but not for a true sportsman. 
Have men appointed game wardens who are interested 
in game matters, with a salary large enough to warrant 
men of ability accepting the position. 
Have these men appointed by the Government on the 
civil service plan, to hold the position during good be- 
havior. Where men are appointed for two years only, or 
during the term of a Governor, the temptation is too 
great to make all the money they can, even to accepting 
bribes. 
Make it a penitentiary offense to accept a bribe. Now is 
the time to strike or the history of the buffalo will be 
repeated. Frank Dana Bartlett. 
One Phase of Spring Shooting. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
While this question of spring diick shooting is being 
discussed, I believe that we ought to show to the sports- 
men of the State, as clearly as possible, who are the most 
formidable opponents to any bill stopping spring shooting 
of wildfowl, I do not know the conditions prevailing in 
the other counties of the State, but I can tell j^ou what 
they are in Jefferson and Oswego counties. The strong- 
est opposition in these counties comes not from the 
sportsman or market-hunter, but from a few persons who 
wield great political influence and who own or control by 
lease certain waters in Jefferson and Oswego counties 
that are open very early, or if the ice doesn't go out 
quick enough it is cut and shoved under to make an 
open water hole. 
This is heavily baited, and when the ducks first come in 
the spring they congregate at these places in immense 
numbers. The sportsmen are wired and the so-called 
sport begins, and continues until the last duck is killed 
or driven from our waters, and four-fifths or more of the 
ducks killed are the black ducks, which if unmolested 
would stay and breed in this State. It seems incredible 
that any persons owning a game preserve should be so 
short-sighted as to refuse to allow the birds to remain and 
rear their young, or that they should prefer an old, lean 
and hungry duck in the spring to a young, fat and well 
fed one in the fall. I had a short conversation with one of 
the principal spring duck shooting sportsmen of Oswego 
county last fall, and during our conversation suggested 
that we compromise the matter and pass a law stopping 
the shooting in the spring of such ducks as we knew would 
breed in this State vs. black duck, mallard, teal and wood 
duck. He very quickly informed me that the black duck 
was the only duck he cared to kill in the spring, that 
he could kill more of them in the spring and kill them 
quicker at the open water hole than he could in the fall 
* when they flew around so much ; and from what I have 
learned since, I am inclined to believe that he can. Now 
I may be entirely wrong in my theory, but I honestly be- 
lieve that these gentlemen are opposing their own best in- 
terests, and that' the passage of a law stopping spring 
shooting in this State would be of greater benefit to them 
than to the larger and less fortunate class of shooters 
who have to depend upon the open waters for their shoot- 
ing. And I believe also that if they would consent to 
try the experiment and pass a law stopping the spring 
shooting of wildfowl for three years, it would convince 
them that three months of good shooting in the fall, 
when the birds can be killed in a fair and sportsmanlike 
' manner, are better than a few days in the spring, shooting 
mated birds in an open water hole. 
W. H, Tallett, Pres. J. C. S. A. 
Watertown, N. Y. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I see in your editorial of March 2 you mention Massa- 
chusetts as one of the States where spring shooting is 
still allowed Our Legislature passed a law last year 
prohibiting the shooting of wildfowl from March i to 
Sept. I, thus adding another to those States already in 
line on the right side of the fence. 
This law will protect those ducks which frequent our 
fresh-water ponds and streams for breeding purposes from 
being molested in the spring. These include the black 
duck, wood or summer duck and teal, all of which will 
breed here if not disturbed during their breeding season. 
Superintendent Brackett, of the Fish and Game Com- 
mission, tells me that the wood and black ducks breed 
near the ponds and streams in the State reservation, 
where they have been protected for a number of years. I 
know of the nesting places of both the wood and black 
duck not very far away from Boston, where the birds 
continued to breed imtil destroyed by the brute who 
shoots in the spring the pair of ducks whose flesh is unfit 
for food, and thus destroys what would, under natural 
conditions, produce quite a flock of birds of great food 
value in the fall. 
I am glad to learn that New York has a bill before the 
Legislature for the protection of these birds in their 
breeding season, and sincerely hope it will pass and thus 
add another State to those who have turned from bar- 
barism to civilization. I would like to learn through 
your correspondents how many States in the Union are 
still slaughtering these valuable food birds in their breed- 
ing season. Let us have the roll call and oblige, 
G. L. B. 
Boston, Mass., March i. 
Ways of Fox Hunting. 
I, — In West Virginia. 
Albert^ W. Va. — Editor Forest and Stream: I will try 
to observe your advice and not sling mud at those who 
do not agree with me, but I must say that I seriously 
disapprove of the manner in which several contributors 
to Forest and Stream do their fox hunting. I was much 
surprised in reading an article entitled "The Wellman 
Fox,'' a short time ago, to find that the author was hunt- 
ing ifoxes with a gun. In Moorefield, Hardy county, this 
State, where most of my fox hunting was done, one would 
almost as soon think of shooting a man as a fox. I have 
seen a good deal of fox hunting, and I never saw any 
•one go out with a gun. Indeed, any one attempting it 
would decidedly lose caste as a sportsman. I suppose 
the Wellman incident was an isolated case, but in the last 
two numbers of Forest and Stream I find several similar 
ones. 
Now I contend that this is not sportsmanlike. It re- 
quires very little, if any, skill to shoot a fox by those 
who understand fox hunting. I cannot help but think 
that those who think otherwise are but amateur hunters. 
Indeed, the author of the first mentioned article very 
clearly showed that he was an amateur when he con- 
fessed that he did not know that fox hunting could be 
done at night. As a matter of fact, they run better by 
night, do their ruiming over a smaller territory, and 
during dry weather the dogs can scent them much better. 
In our country we leave it all to the dogs. If the fox 
gets away, well and good; he has shown his superiority 
for the time, and we will chase him another day. 
With some of our packs this happens very seldom when 
the ground is in proper condition for running. Hiram 
Kuykendall, for one, has a pack from which a fox very 
seldom escapes. Old Hi knows fox hunting from Alpha 
to Omega, and I have yet to see the man w^ho could give 
him a point. If the fox happens to be a gray or a bastard 
and he holes or trees near the home of the hunter, he is 
often left to be chased another day. If a good distance 
off, he is shaken off or dug out, given a start and the 
dogs put on again. A red will seldom take to a hole, but 
will generally die game on the ground. 
I have given you my views of fox hunting; now I will 
give you two celebrated fox hunts in Hardy county, and 
my readers can judge as to which way is the more sports- 
manlike. One is spoken of as the Old Fields' Hunt, and 
the other as the Bunker Hill Hunt. 
Some years ago in February in the Old Fields, Hardy 
county, John Van Meter, Hiram Kuykendall, Will Har- 
ness, Arthur Cunningham, Joseph Cunningham and John 
Newhouse started a red fox about 7 A. M. Thirty 
hounds entered. It was a beautiful chase, being almost 
entirely through large upland pasture fields. Three times 
the fox went to Patterson's Creek, a distance of twelve 
miles. The dogs never lost him for an instant, and at 8 
P. M. in the same field from which he had started 
thirteen hours before, John Van Meter's bitch Flash 
caught him. Eight hounds were in at the death— three of 
John Van Meter's, three of Will Harness' and two of 
Hiram Kuykendall's. 
Now we come to the most celebrated hunt I know of — ■ 
one that has been told for the last fifty-three years in 
Moorefield, and will be told as long as the town exists. 
At daybreak one Saturday morning in 1848 John G. 
Harness, Sr., started a red fox in Parson's Thicket, four 
miles northeast of Moorefield. The pack consisted of 
three hounds — a bitch and her two offspring. They ran 
the entire day, and soon after dark went out of hearing. 
The next day, Sunday, about sundown, three hunters at 
Bunker Hill, Berkeley county, seventy-five miles away, 
heard some hounds running. Knowing from their tongue 
that they did not belong in that neighborhood, they agreed 
to go out and meet them. They found them on their last 
pegs. However, upon cheering, the dogs quickened up a 
bit and caught the fox. All fell in a heap and could, not 
be persuaded to move a step. The hunters picked them 
up and carried them to a house. Now if any of my 
readers wish to verify this, there are three, perhaps more, 
men yet living in Moorefield who personally know the 
facts — John Harness. Sr., Wm. Wirt Harness and Pat 
Turley. A letter addressed to the sheriff or clerk of 
Hardy county or any business man in Moorefield could 
give you any information as to their veracity. 
A, P. Butt. 
n. — ^In New Hampshire. 
Dunbarton, N. H., March 9. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: While foxes are much scarcer in this section 
than in years past, some seasons there are a fair num- 
ber. It has been, however, during the present winter a 
very poor time for hunting. During December there were 
some good days ; since there has hardly been a day when 
it was at all fit to run a dog — very cold, rough weather, 
with a continuous crust, which would just bear up a fox. 
During the first part of the winter I saw just six foxes, 
which my dog was after, and I killed the six. My old 
dog is the mo.st remarkable fox hound I ever owned. He 
is thirteen years old and seems nearly as good as ever. 
I have had him out three days in succession, and he would 
run from four to six hours. 
In years past when foxes were not hunted in this 
vicinity as they arc now, I usually killed from twelve to 
sixteen during the winter. I killed that number my- 
self, not counting those killed by companions hunting with 
me. In those days I killed fully two-thirds of my foxes in 
the woods, usually in swamps or sprout land. Foxes then 
with the dogs I used would play about in such places, keep- 
ing a short distance ahead of the dog. Now I seldom get 
one to run in such a manner. They keep a long dis- 
tance ahead and seldom run over the same ground a 
second time. Some of those I shot this winter were fully 
half a mile ahead of the dog. 
I was told recently by one of the Fisli and Game Com- 
missioners that foxes in what we call the north country 
(that is northern New Hampshire) were increasing, A 
good many hounds in that region have been killed on 
account of chasing deer, and the foxes, as my informant 
said, were getting to be a nuisance. Usually in places in 
the back woods, where I have been when hunting deer, 
foxes, judging by tracks, have been scarce. Aroostook 
county, Me., was an exception. From Patten to Atkins' 
camps, above Oxbow, I saw a great many signs of foxes. 
The dead waters around the above camps were covered 
with fox tracks. Over on the other side of Maine, around 
Parmachenee Lake, there were but few signs. 
I have never tried to trap foxes, but I am told that it is 
very hard to trap one in the woods. John Danforth, of 
Parmachenee, told me that he could trap a fox pretty 
well out on the ice or in a clearing, but that traps set in 
the same manner in the woods were a failure. Foxes 
would walk around such traps, but seldom, if ever, get 
caught. I saw one fox, however, which he had caught 
in the woods. We were following a line of sable traps 
from Parmachenee to Arnold's Bog. A light sprinkle of 
snow had fallen, just enough to see a track in the trail we 
were on. A fox had gone along the line, springing every 
trap he came to, and taking the bait. He kept this up 
for some miles, but evidently grew careless, as in trying 
to poke the trap out of the hole in the tree, he put his 
foot in and we found him there. This was the only fox 
track we had seen, and yet within half a mile of 
where the fox was caught a second fox had taken the 
trail and followed the line," springing every trap he 
came to. 
When hunting foxes I have seldom found it necessary 
to be out of sight of the fox. Many a time have I stood 
in plain sight (keeping perfectly still) in an open pasture 
and had my dog drive a fox to within easy shooting dis- 
tance. Also many a time have I called up a fox my dog 
was after when the former was a long distance out of 
gun shot by squeaking like a mouse. In doing so I had 
to be behind something, entirely out of sight of the fox. 
Recently I heard of an instance Avhere a fox was called 
up in a peculiar manner. Two men were crossing a lake 
on the ice, when they saw a fox come out a long dis- 
tance away. The men stood perfectly still, and one of 
them called. The fox started toward them, stopped and 
turned to one side. The call was repeated and the fox 
came on. This was kept up until the fox was near enough, 
when he was shot. C. M, Stark. 
III.— Still-Honling in Ohio. 
Newark, O. — I read in Forest and Stream of Dr. E. 
H, Niles and his partner shooting foxes in New England 
with their hounds driving the fox to them. But this is my 
way to shoot the fox: When the snow is good tracking 
I go out, find a trail, follow this trail with care until I 
find the fox lying; asleep, and a shot from the old gun 
kills it where it lies. The gun I use is an old muzzle- 
loader double barrel of fine material, 11 gauge, 8>2 
pounds, 30-inch barrels. I also carry a Smith & Wesson 
revolver, which sometimes is needed. I have shot a 
great number of foxes in my time so far. 
The first day I went out to shoot a fox the tracks 
were so plentiful I could not follow one far till it was 
mixed with others, so I gave that up. I walked down a 
big hollow in the woods, watching carefully, and presently 
I saw a nice fox lying on a log, and only 50 yards away. 
I drew up the gun and took a look at it lying there. It 
looked so pretty I hated to kill it. All at once it looked 
up the way which it had come from. "The next glance 
you will see me," and the trigger was pressed. Sharp and 
loud cracked the gun. The fox dropped his head. It 
was his only move. The BB's had done their work. 
In all the Forest and Stream num.bers I have read so 
far I don't see where any hunter hunts the fox as I do. 
I love this sport above anything on earth. 
This winter so far I have shot five large foxes. The 
first was shot the 26th day of December. There was not 
much snow, and this made the chances against me. It 
lay in a bad place to get at; after I saw it I tried to get 
close enough to kill it, but it was away down the hill, and 
the hill was awfully steep. I stepped as quietly and easily 
as possible, using my gun to help me walk. I come to a 
stump and some brush ; it is 80 yards yet. Can't get closer. 
I now think of a good rifle. According to the condition 
of the ground, it is apt to come up the hill, the creek 
being below it. so I held about a foot above the f o.x. The gun 
was loaded with 4 drams of best black powder, 1% ounces 
BB shot. At the crack of the gun the fox came up the 
hill on time. It got about 40 yards from me. I covered it 
and was pressing the trigger when it fell stone dead. 
When I skinned jt I found one shot had entered back of 
the short ribs, passed through and come out near the 
shoulder. 
On Jan. 25 I went out and hunted till nbon and didn't 
see a track. After a while, heading for home, I crossed a 
hog run on a walnut tree which had fallen across the creek. 
Somewhere here I routed a fox. The trail showed it was 
not much alarmed. I followed across a field, and it showed 
signs of lying. I got ready, and soon I saw it l3dng. I 
gave it the old reliable right barrel. This fox being an 
extra nice one in every way and tipped with white, I 
started to take it home, carcass and all, to make a fur 
out of it for my girl to wear around her neck. T was 
