Dec. ^1, 1901.] 
FOH£;ST AND STREAM. 
487 
started for the. house and a rest. After femoving our 
•heavy boots and shootini? coat and lighting ouf pipe, we 
sauntefed out toward the baril, whefe We heard sundry 
hammering, and we tried to superintend the architectural 
construction of a pig pen Harmon was building, and we 
guess we succeeded, for it looked like a good substantial 
porcine domicile when we passed our opinion on it. 
The second day, first part, was pretty much a repetition 
of the first as far as rabbits (hares) were concerned. 
Oeorge killed a couple of quail and Jacobstaff shot a 
crow, atld wanted to kill a hutldred or two bltiejays, but 
they afe pfoteeted. Why? The screeching, thievitig ras- 
cals may eat a few grubs and insects when they can't get 
anything else, but if there is a meaner, more dissolute 
feathered biped in all the world, we don't know it. Why, 
the scotmdrel will watch for you from a great way off 
across fields, and when you are creeping noiselessly on a 
jgra^' sQUirrel, off goes his confounded screech, and youf 
squirrel is in his hole in a jiffy. How the deer hunters 
(I mean the genuine still-hunters) of Wisconsin hate 
him ! Many a lordly buck owes Mis temporary life to this 
fiend of the woods. 
And now comes the halcyon of our ten days' shoot. We 
had approached a swale where we hoped we might find a 
bevy of quail, when we heard a shot from across, and 
over on the hillside we saW a couple of sportsnien, one 
of whom had jiist shot doWn into the swale. We Heard 
him call 6Ut, "60 fetch him; that's a good dog." and as 
we got around we saw a fine-looking setter dog bringing 
carefully a hare, which it dropped at its master's feet. 
We were introduced by Mr. Trelease. The one with the 
bird dog was Mr; Al Glass. "Glass, Glass; that name 
sounds faffliliar. . We used to know a Frank Glass out 
Newark way ; a famous shot, and we have stood by him 
many a day in years gohc by at the traps." "Why, that 
is .my brother." That was, sufficient, and we shook again. 
After a shoft talk Mf. Glass Was about to turn away, 
when t Fema.rked, "You have left your rabbit." "Oh, I 
don't Want him ; you are welcome to him." Then, as he 
turned, he stepped back to me and said, "'x\re you not 
Jacobstaff of Forest anu Stream ?" "Well, I guess yes." 
Then he stepped closer, and in a low voice said, "Can't 
you shake these rabbit fiends? I heard this morning of a 
flight of birds in a swale about half a mile from here, and 
if YG\i will go around the swamp I will meet you on the! 
other side and we may get a few good birds.'' 
Well now, for a fall Woodcock. All the hares, in 
Christendom may go to thunder. We were soon hurfyittg 
acr&ss the pasture and cornfields to the low ground. Ah! 
the whistle of an October woodcock as he springs from 
the bog and essays to climb the treetops. What music 
it is to a hunter's ear, and as he gathers it in, lays it care- 
fully on its back in the palm of his hand, smoothes down 
its velvety, glassy feathers and mentally calculates its 
Weight 6y> or 7, or perhaps 7^ or 8 ounces (perhaps but 
rarely more in these parts), with what pride and unction 
he places it in his shooting coat. We did find a nice 
flight, and A! did some good shooting. He has a good 
dog, and is one of the best brush shots, we are told, in the 
neighborhood. He had the dog and did most of the 
shooting, but, like his brother, he is big-hearted, and we 
got the birds — nine fine large fall birds, a bag anybody 
might be proud of. We parted with many expressions of 
good will and the hope that we might meet again next 
season and repeat the experience. 
.\nd that ended our trip to Missis county. We took 
the train home, well pleased with our visit. After election 
we were off to Sussex county with Doc Cummins, of 
Jersey City, who swears by Forest and Stream. But, as 
Kipling would or did say, "That is another story." 
W'e arrived before noon at our destination, Washing- 
tonville, Sussex county — a decidedly one-horse, one-man 
(but he is a gentleman) and one-light station. We were 
met by Martin Couse.. a very promising young stalwart, 
and "chip of the old block," youngest son of Mr. John 
Couse, Doc's friend, where we expected to stop. A drive 
of but a few minutes put us there, and we were met at 
the open door by Mr. Couse, a most courtly gentlernan 
of the old school (we do not see so many of the kind 
nowadays) and his grand wife, Mrs. C, with her silver 
hair and mother grace — how she reminded us of our 
good old mother. They were extremely kind, and we 
were placed at our ease at once. Afterward we were in- 
troduced to the two charming daughters, Nellie and 
Mary. Mrs. C. is the sister-in-law of the Hon. Hugh 
McLaughlin, noted politician of Brooklyn. We should 
judge that he is held in high esteem throughout the neigh- 
borhood where he makes annual pilgrimages, and owns 
considerable property. Mr. Couse is a wealthy and sub- 
-•stantial farmer and public-spirited citizen, having held 
•offices of trust and being in high repute by his neighbors. 
We were off betimes in the morning with the two dogs. 
One was a hound with a good nose, but wanting more 
experience. The other, a good old pointer of nearly a 
dozen years; he has seen good service, but reliable yet 
for not too long trips ; he was one of celebrated pedigree 
sent up years ago to the farm by Mr. Bob McLaughlin, 
Hugh's nephew. Bob died several years ago. He was a 
noted all-round sportsman and well-known in the Foun- 
tain and other gun clubs. 
There were supposed to be, so the legend said, two 
coveys of quail somewhere on the place, and we wanted 
to find them. But in vain. Field after field was scanned, 
line fences, brush heaps and hazel thickets. Hares there 
were, and Doc and Martin had their fun. Doc is an in- 
defatigable tramper, and when he hunts he says he 
!hunts, and I should rather say he does. Why, it came on 
to rain in sheets the second day, but out he must go. 
'"Why," T said, "you will find no game. The quail will be 
huddled under a bush; so will the rabbits, or in wood- 
chuck holes." But out he went, and he and Martin came 
back in a few hours wet as drowned rats; but as sure as 
eggs they got in all that rain three rabbits and three gray 
squirrels. Squirrels must have been hard put to lay up 
their winter stock to be out in such weather. Doc made 
one good shot at a gray running on a rail fence — a diffi- 
cult shot — and another he knocked out of a nest, to his 
astonishment, I guess, as well as the squirrels. 
It was 2 P. M., and we had not seen nor heard a quail. 
I got tired, as I often do early in a first day's shoot. The 
hound was off with Martin and Doc a mile or more 
away, running a rabbit or fox, for aught we knew. We 
had enough, and with gun crosswaj's over both shoulders 
saantered home along a line fence, Thinking of getting 
off the heavy boots and slipping down into the cheese 
house and a long draft of that sweet cider, when whirr, 
whirr, up got a bevy of quail within less than a quarter 
of a mile of the house. A nice double shot rested one 
Wonderfully, and when they were marked down on the 
open hillside, titere was another double shot, and the 
rest dropped down by a line fence running up the hill. 
There they got up singly. One down, another a clean 
iniss=— guess I Was flustered by that time, but I got the 
next. Well, si5t good large birds out of one covey in 
twenty minutes without a. dog. Great Scott! how mad 
the Doc was when he came home half an hour afterward 
and wanted to know what in thunder I had been shooting 
at; said they had heard seven guns. All I said was "Go 
out and look in the kitchen. Thev are hanging up there." 
Then they were mad. "Why did you not wait for us to 
come with the dog ? Might have got the whole flock," etc. 
"Wait nothing. You take the dog over there. There are 
two down thftt we could not find. There, don't you hear 
them whistle? If yoU go over now, you can locate them; 
but if you wait until they get together they may be a 
mile away." But no, Doc wanted his dinner first. In 
vain we protested, "Confound it, you can get dinner any 
time, but you can't find quail calling whenever you want 
to." But he must eat first, and after a half or three- 
quarters of an hour they sallied forth. They immediate- 
ly found my two dead quail, but not the covey. Served 
tnem right, Some folks never will learn anyway. 
The next day it pourcd all day, and it looked so much 
like a three days' rain that we started for home. As we 
reached the depot the sun was setting in red and gold, and 
we were half-inclined to go back. As it turned out, there 
were seveivil days of clear, cold weather — ideal weather 
for shooting. 
We left this happy home with feelings of regret, for all 
was so homelike, and their last words called out as vft 
drove away, were a hearty "Come again." 
We neglected to mention a rather singular episode in 
our hunt. Doc Cummins and us were reclining on a 
hillside overlooking a .«mall swale just below us, taking a 
rest and a smoke, as it were. Martin and the dog had 
gone over the hill a half-mile away to try a swamp, when 
the Doctor called out, "What's that?" as an English snipe 
(Scolopax wilsoni) dropped in the bog almost at our 
feet not half a gunshot away. This was about noon, We 
kept quiet and watched until Martin came with the dog, 
and we pointed to the place where we had seen the long 
bill light, and the dog soon pointed him not 10 feet from 
where we had located him, and as he flushed we knocked 
him down, a nice, full-grown, full-feathered Scolopax. 
What was he doing there at that season and that time of 
dav? We didn't see any more. 
Jacobstaff. 
Rabbits' Rest. 
A FEW years ago, while living on a farm in southern 
Maryland, I was invited by one of my neighbors to join a 
rabbit hunt which he was giving. He had asked most of 
his friends in the community, and also two of his city 
acquaintances to join the sport. Beside his regular farm, 
he owned a small piece of land about twenty mile-s down 
the county, which he had several years before turned into 
a rabbit preserve. This land was mostly cleared ground 
covered with sage grass and brush piles with a thickly 
wooded knoll in the center. If was strongly fenced in 
and posted with the usual notices, "No gunriing alloAved 
under penalty of the law," and had, he claimed, been a 
safe retreat and uninterrupted breeding ground for rab- 
bits for three years. Hence the name "Rabbits' Rest." 
The day of the hunt we started out bright and early 
with two corn wagons loaded with men and dogs. Our 
host, Mr. Willis, having wrought himself up to a high 
state of excitement and good humor, probably by the aid 
of a little "red eye," and the anticipation of innumerable 
rabbits, had concluded to "loosen up" enough to offer a 
prize in the shape of a gallon of his best home-made wine 
to the hunter who bagged the most game. 
It would take too much time to go into a full descrip- 
tion of the whole party, but I beg to say a word in regard 
to the two city men. Walker, the lawyer, was an old 
experienced gunner, and no more may be said at present. 
Dr. Jones, however, deserves a little lengthier descrip- 
tion, as he figured an important part in the day's history. 
He Avas a short, fat, bow-legged little man ; wore glasses, 
and carried himself with military bearing. His su:t con- 
sisted of the finest hunting coat, trousers and leggins that 
money could buy, while his belt contained the best variety 
of smokeless shells procurable. He carried (rather 
awkwardl}-, though) one of Parker's latest hammerless 
double barrels, loaned him by a friend especially for the 
occasion. It was, moreover, his first hunt, and many 
were the "knocks" passed at him as we bumped over 
the uneven country road on the way to the cover. It 
had been found out by some unknown means that the 
whole neighborhood in which he resided had learned of 
his intended trip, with the result that when he started 
for the station, accompanied by his Avife, two sisters and 
maiden aunt, nearly every window within two squares of 
his home contained beaming faces and fluttering handker- 
chiefs, while the younger fry met on the pavement with 
numerous questions and begeed to be allowed to examine 
his different articles of warfare. 
We arrived at the grounds in about three hours' time, 
and eagerly piled into the sage. We formed into a long 
line, with instructions to be careful how we shot when 
we started anything. 
It was half-past nine when we got out of the wagons, 
and we walked till 12 o'clock without so much as seeing 
a rabbit. We were all pretty well disgusted, and wanted 
to go home, but our host insisted that we try the other 
side of the Rest before giving up. So after going back 
to the wagon and refreshing ourselves with sandwiches 
and cider, we started out again. 
This time we walked along carelessly in groups, as we 
simply went to please our host, having long ago made up 
our minds that there were no rabbits within five miles 
of us. 
The Doctor and I were walking together, when one ot 
the dogs started a cold trail right in front, and after 
nosing around for a little time, struck out in a bee line 
for the knoll. The rest of the dogs and the Doctor 
joined in and we had a lively chase for a few minutes. 
We saw them disappear into the bushes at the foot of the 
knoll, and then suddenly stop. The Doctor then came to 
the edge of the clearing and began hollering and waving 
to us in such frantic manner that, although, owing 
to his excitement he was unable to make himself under- 
stood, we gathered from his wild gestures and bellowing 
that there must be something "doing" up on the hill. 
Running on and dashing into the bushes, we found the 
dogs standing in front of a hole, which looked to be like 
that of a 'possum, 
"He's there! He's there!" shouted breathlessly the 
little Doctor. 
"What's there?" 
"Don't know; but he's there all right," answered the 
Doctor. 
"But Avhat k it?'* asked Willis, impatiently. 
"Don't know, I tell you. It was sort of a gray thing." 
"Well, that's not very definite," Willis said. 
Finally it was decided to dig it up, whatever it was, and 
two negroes were sent to a neighboring house to get the 
tools. The darkies did not get back for nearly an hour, 
so it was fully 3 o'clock before we started digging. There 
were three picks and a shovel, and while four worked the 
others rested by the fire. The Doctor stood ready, how- 
ever, gun in hand, ready to detain any animal that should 
wish to leave the premises. 
The lawyer had produced a pack of cards and had in- 
duced a couple of farmers into a little nickle freeze-out. 
The rest were lounging around the fire. 
I believe I had just gotten to sleep, when I was startled 
by a shout, and jumped up in time to see the Doctor let 
both barrels go at a fox which had just sprung from 
the hole. EiSier the Doctor was a pretty poor shot or 
it was "a pretty fast fox, for he escaped without injury, 
other than the loss of the rear portion of his brush. 
The Doctor was very much vexed that he did not get 
more fox, but reminding us that we hadn't gotten as much 
as he had, stuck what was left of the tail in his button 
hole and waited further developments. 
Doc had just reloaded and "cleared for action" when 
another fox appeared. This time our worthy physician 
only fired one barrel at a time, as he wanted to take two 
chances. The first shot struck a log situated about six 
feet further above sea level than the hole. The next 
shot did considerable damage to the_ ground in the 
vicinity of the poker game, and came within about three 
inches of finding a resting place in the lower extremities 
of the lawyer. 
We had now reached the end of the hole. Unlike most 
fox dens, it contained no other entrance, but terminated 
in a kind of vault about 12 feet by 6, and 2 feet high. This 
place contained quantities of bones and feathers, and root- 
ing among the debris we found an old rusty steel trap 
with four toes between the jaws. A fox had probably 
been caught in a muskrat trap and had come all the way 
to the hole before gnaAving itself out. Judging from the 
condition of the trap and also the condition of the toes, 
we thought that it had been there for almost any period 
over two years. When we got back home that night, we 
were the most ill-humored and tiredest bunch I ever had 
the misfortune of falling in with. The Doctor insisted 
on explaining how he would have gotten that last fox 
if a tree hadn't been in the way, and the lawyer insisted 
on reminding him that if he had been about three inches , 
worse a marksman, he (the lawyer) would now be walk- 
ing on his hands. 
The only plausible explanation given in regard to the 
lack of rabbits was offered by one of the local nimrods, 
who claimed that the foxes had driven them all away, as 
in any locality where foxes are at all numerous, the rab- 
bits are proportionally scarce. 
The Doctor was awarded the gallon of wine for getting 
the most game. Edw. B, Powell. 
Adirondack Deer. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
There is no doubt in the minds of most men who travel 
these woods that the deer are on the decrease. It is 
thought by many to be due to the fact that the law is 
not enforced. 
Juvenal is about right when he says the lumbermen 
have plenty of trout and venison in camp when they want 
it. .Some camps have their men whose business it is to sup- 
ply the camp with meat. These men are paid for this 
by the head or by the month, and make their living in that 
way. The deer killed in season by the lumbermen' is 
nothing compared with the number killed out of season, so 
I haA'e been told. 
When cold weather sets in, the camp hunter takes his 
gun and kills all he can. If he puns into a "flock" they 
all die, if the snow is deep enough to prevent them 
from getting away, for they will keep, and whenever the 
camp gets low in its supply of meat, the hunter drags in 
as many as the "boss" wants. Unless luck is against 
them, there is always some ready to be brought in. This 
manner of supplying meat is a source of much profit to the 
lumber jobber. To supply a lumber camp with provisions 
which have to be hauled over rough roads from a distance 
necessarily costs something. 
It is not so much what the law is, it is the way it is en- 
forced. The lumberman says : "They can make the laws 
to suit themselves, Vv e'll have meat just the same." _ So 
they will, as long as a deer inhabits the woods within 
ten or fifteen miles of the camp, or as long as they know 
the game protector doesn't do anything. 
While the lumber jobber, I think, is the main hindrance 
to the increase of deer he is not the only one. The natives 
and outsiders come in for their share. It is hard telling 
which of the two is the worse. Each say: "I might as 
well kill 'era as to let the other fellow," so the deer die. 
The resident with a couple of neighbors goes crusting 
about February, and they kill all they can carry — say two 
or three. Comparatively few deer are killed in this way, 
and the men who do it are poor men with families, and < 
need the meat. 
The outsider comes in with a party in the fall, and if 
he is lucky he gets his two deer, but as a rule he goes out 
with his one anyway, even if his guide has to do the 
killing. It seems to be the point of such parties to go 
out wdth a "deer apiece to show what good hunters we 
are," and to "give John, Bill and Harry some venison be- 
cause they are good fellows and never ate any." Of 
course the last reason deserves some praise, because it is 
being kind to man, but it i$ hplpipg to cleaw out the 
