488 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
(Dec. 21, 1901. 
deer, and it would be doing a greater kindness to man 
if we would save them. The point is tliis: Too many 
deer are being killed just to take out of the woods. Eat 
your meat there where it will taste best. 
Let a party of four or five take out one deer and a 
larger party two; that will give each man's family a good 
meal and a little more, so he can invite John, Bill and 
Harry over to dinner. 
There is another thing that would be a protection to 
the deer. Cut off the last fifteen days of the season. It 
always snows during these days, and more deer are 
killed then than the rest of the season put together. This 
year it was very noisy before the snow came, consequently 
few deer were killed. I think it is generally wet, giving 
a man a fair chance. Anyway, it was a streak of luck for 
the deer this time, but they caught it when the snovy fell. 
The law, of course, cannot be made to please every- 
body. People are scarce who would like to see the deer 
go as the moose. The law made and enforced which will 
give the deer a chance to increase ought to please the 
majority. That law cannot be the law which will allow 
the deer killed in any manner. Killing deer by packing 
or hotmding is not killing deer man fashion. Give the 
animal a chance; kill him still-hunting and you have 
something to be proud of. Lg. 
Black River Association. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The annual meeting of the Black River Fish and Game 
.Protective Association, which was called this year a little 
earlier than usual, in order that it might precede the 
New York State Fish, Game and Forest League con- 
vention, to which delegates were to be chosen, was held 
on Dec. 4. The report of Treasurer H. A. Pride showed 
the Association finances to be in a very satisfactory con- 
dition. 
Secretary W. E. W olcott presented his annual report, 
which was as follows: 
The fishing season of 1901 was a fairly good one, and 
the hunting season has been about on a par with other 
years, but notwithstanding what may be said to the con- 
trary by optimistic individuals, the majority of anglers 
and hunters have not had their efforts rewarded by a 
superabundance of fish or game, and there is no gain- 
saying the fact that neither are on the increase. In 
Oneida county and neighboring counties, including that 
portion of the Adirondacks most frequented by sportsmen 
from this part of the State, the speckled trout'fishing was 
by no means as good as Avas anticipated at the opening 
of the season. Good catches were made in some of the 
lakes, but as a rule stream fishing was not good, and it 
has become evident that the West Canada Creek, Black 
River, Moose River and a number of other southern 
Adirondack streams need restocking with trout. The 
State has three fish hatcheries in the Adirondacks, and it 
is difficult to see how the output could be utilized to 
better advantage than by depositing every fish which is 
hatched there in the waters of that region. It does not 
look like good policy to breed trout there and ship 
them to remote parts of the State when the neighboring 
waters are becoming depleted. There is a splendid 
hatchery at Old Forge, on the Fulton Chain of Lakes, 
but during the summer season the most expert angler 
cannot be sure of catching enough speckled trout for a 
mess anywhere on the first seven lakes or their tribu- 
taries. These are natural trout waters, and it would 
seem to be wise for the State to keep them well stocked. 
This is only one example, but what has been said con- 
cerning the scarcity of trout in the Fulton Chain is true 
of many other lakes and streams in the wilderness region. 
The work of restocking the waters of Oneida county 
with trout, which the Black River Association has been 
engaged in during the past dozen years or more has 
been attended with such satisfactory results that we feel 
warranted in continuing it. Some of the streams are 
fished almost constantlj^ during the open season, and 
this naturally tends to keep the trout from multipljdng 
very rapidly, but if the waters were not restocked from 
year to year there would be no fish to catch. The 
anglers who spend the most time in taking trout from 
these streams are frequently persons who feel that they 
cannot_ afford to contribute toward defraying the ex- 
pense incurred in restocking, or who, for some other 
reason, do not care to do so; but this fact does not seem 
to furnish sufficient grounds for abandoning- the work at 
present. Last January our Association made applica- 
tion to the State authorities for 1,000 fingerling brook 
trout and 1,000 fingerling brown trout for restocking 
Shenandoah Creek in the southern part of Oneida 
county, and a like quantity to be placed in Oriskany 
Creek. We also applied for the same number of finger- 
lings to restock streams in the northern portion of the 
county._ The Commissioners, in response, sent at dif- 
ferent times large consignments of fish, all of which were 
in splendid condition. They were carefully distributed 
by committees from our Association, and good results 
may confidently be expected. One or two of the ship- 
ments consisted mainly of trout which were over a year 
old and 5 or 6 inches in length. Madison Lake was one 
of the bodies of water in which trout sent to our As- 
sociation were placed this year. 
Ruffed grouse and woodcock have been extremely 
scarce in central New York this season, and friends of 
g-ame protection have become quite disheartened at the 
situation with which they are confronted. Some sports- 
men believe that it would be wise to prohibit grouse 
shooting entirely in Oneida county for a term of years. 
In the Adirondack region the conditions are quite en- 
couraging; as grouse have been reported more abun- 
dant this fall than they have been for several years 
previous. 
The deer season in the Adirondacks was for the most 
part more propitious for the animals than for the hunt- 
ers. Just prior to the opening of the shooting season 
considerable rain fell, and for some time after Sept. f 
water was so plentiful back in the woods that the deer 
did not find it necessary to come down to the lakes and 
ponds to quench their thirst. As a consequence, hunters 
who laid in wait for them at these points were often 
disappointed. Then, top, the foliage was vei-y heavy, and 
tlie leave,? remained on the bushes until well along in 
gctpj^ep, rendering it ^jttr^mfily tijffi'^llt to see a t^eq* 
any distance away. By the time the leaves had fallen a 
prolonged dry spell was on, and although the conditions 
were wholly changed, they still favored the deer. The 
ground Avas carpeted to the depth of several inches with 
dry, crisp leaves, and as the noise made by a person 
walking in the woods could be heard nearly a quarter 
of a mile away, still-hunting was out of the question. It 
was not until the second week in November that there 
was snow enough on the ground to be of any assistance 
to the hunter, and then there was such a heavy and con- 
tinuous fall that it made successful hitnting very difiicult 
in the closing days of the season. The deer sought the 
balsam and spruce thickets at this time, and moved 
around but very little. Whatever tracks were made 
were speedily filled up, and the trees were so laden with 
snow that it was next to impossible for the hunter to see 
a deer unless he chanced. to stumble on it. In spite of 
the unfavorable conditions for still-hunting which pre- 
A'ailed during the season, there were a good many deer 
killed — probably not so many as last, but nevertheless 
a considerable number. This seems to be somewhat re- 
markable at first thought, but persons who are in a posi- 
tion to know, say that there have been frequent violations 
of the game laws this year, especially in the use of dogs 
for hunting deer, and this may partially account for the 
large number of dead deer which were shipped out of the 
woods. Reports of such violations have been received 
from various parts of the Adirondacks, and it is believed 
that a large proportion of the deer which were taken 
were killed illegally. 
This brings us to a subject which was discussed at 
the anminal convention of the New York State Fish, 
Game and Forest League in Syracuse last winter, at 
which 3'our president and sectretary were present as rep- 
resentatives of this Association. The latter offered a 
resolution that the Legislature be petitioned for an in- 
crease in the force of State game protectors and their 
salaries. Chief Protector Pond said that more protectors 
were badly needed. "There certainly are not enough. 
As it is now each man has two counties to oversee, more 
than he can handle." The resolution was adopted, but 
there has been no addition to the force of State pro- 
tectors. If the State is to have laws for the protection 
of game they should be enforced, and it is believed that 
an efficient protector should be designated for every 
county in the Adirondack region. 
During the last session of the Legislature your secre- 
tary had considerable correspondence in regard to 
measures pertaining to fish and game protection. One 
bill was introduced to permit the hounding of deer in 
three or four Adirondack counties, but the friends of pro- 
tection entered a strong protest, and it failed to get out 
of the committee's hands. It is a matter of congratula- 
tion that Senator Malby's bill extending the anti-hound- 
ing law for a period of five years longer was passed and 
received the Governor's signature. The many friends of 
forest protection and preservation regretted to learn that 
the bill appropriating $250,000 for the purchase of Ad- 
irondack lands had been vetoed. Last winter the Black 
River Association asked the State Forest, Fish and 
Game Commission to appoint George W. Nelson, of 
Oriskany. as special protector, and they promptly did so. 
Tile reports of the treasurer and secretary were both 
adopted, and after some discussion of matters of intei'- 
est, notably the deer question, oflicers for the ensuing 
year were elected as follows: President, Wm. L. Fowler, 
Holland Patent; Vice-President, S. R. Fuller, Holland 
Patent; Secretary, W. E. Wolcott, Utica; Treasurer, H. 
A. Pride, Holland Patent; Directors: John C. Thomas, 
Remsen; Fred W. Wasmuth, Augusta; Ed W. Robert- 
son, Trenton; S. R. Fuller, H. A. Pride, George G. 
Chassell. Ira L. Park, Holland Patent; Delegates to 
State convention: H. A. Pride. W. E. Wolcott. 
W. E. Wolcott. 
Utica, Dec. 9. 
Moose Hunting and Small Bores* 
I HAVE read with interest the article by Mr. Westover, 
'"Some Thoughts Upon Moose Hunting." My experience 
exactly agrees with his. While sometimes moose are 
very shy and hard to approach, I have found them, as a 
general rule, to be most stupid and easiest to still-hunt 
of any kind of large game. For an animal which can see, 
hear and smell as well as a moose can, stupid seems to be 
the word which fits their case best. Only a few years 
ago I saw a large old bull which allowed two men, 
neither of whom had ever seen a moose, to walk up to 
within a few feet of him on dry leaves and fire into him 
fourteen times with small-bored rifles, and the bull never 
moved. I was once where an immense bull stood and 
took eleA^en shots from muzzleloaders and never tried to 
escape. I think it must haye been fidly half an hour 
from the time the first shot was fired till he fell, and yet 
in all that time he never moved over thirty yards. 
While there are some cases, when a moose has been 
started, where he shows a great deal of cunning in 
eluditig his pursuers, and it seems almost impossible to 
get near to him, yet in most cases he seems utterly in- 
different about the approach of men. I have several 
times known of moose coming into the streets of well 
settled towns and walking for long distances close past 
the houses, and scores of instances where they came into 
fields with cattle, or close up to farm buildings. Nearly 
every fall one or more are killed in Maine by engines. 
They will stand on the track and allow themselves to be 
run over without attempting to get out of the way. I 
have known not only bulls but cows and calves to be 
killed in this way. I have paddled u-^ to within sixty 
yards of an old bull which was walking along on a rocky 
shore. He was looking straight at me and walking to- 
ward tne. He oaid no attention to the canoe till shot. 
I have known hunters with whom I am acquainted to 
paddle up to moose feeding in the water till they struck 
ihem vvith a paddle, Is there any other as large animal 
on the face of the earth so stupid as this? .\nd yet any 
of thesfe moose perhapiS' in a few hours Jnay be too shy 
to approach. 
It is just so in calling moose. Sometimes it is next 
to impossible to call one out. If he comes at all he will 
creep quietly up till he gets one's scent, and then sneak 
off so quietly that till you se^; his tracks the next day, 
yoi| c|n [int know ha? bp?fi near you, other \\xn^,ii 
he will come crashing and smashing directly toward you. 
Often they do not have to be called, but will corae to the 
noise of an ax. In 1859 my partner, while out on a sable 
line, stopped for the night in a "baker camp" made of 
bright, ne\y cedar spits. After supper, when he was cut- 
ting up his night's wood by fire light, a moose came 
to'the sound of his ax, and he was obliged to take shelter 
in the camp behind the fire. The moose came up to 
within a rod of the fire and walked back and forth, grunt- 
ing, for a long time. My partner was a man of good 
courage and used to moose, but as he only had a small 
bored rifle pistol, he thought "prudence the better part 
of valor," and did not fire. 
I never could see why it was thought such a feat to 
kill a moose. While of course there is a great deal in 
knowing the habits of the animal, there is also a great 
element of what is called luck in moose hunting. One 
may hunt for weeks and not get a shot, and he mav find 
one in an hour after leaving camp. One of my partners 
shot three within half an hour from the time he took the 
track. Although it was bare ground and very dry, they 
allowed him to get within twenty yards, and stood with- 
out lifting a foot till all were shot. On another occasion 
my partner got close to five old bulls, tracking them on 
light snow. The- stood till he shot four and wounded 
the fifth, with a muzzleloading smoothbore. 
While a great deal of credit belongs to the guide who 
gets the sportsman up to a moose, I cannot see any 
reason why the sportsman should have any more credit 
than if he had shot a cow. In all cases the guide coidd 
do the work better alone, and the sportsman is only a 
hindrance instead of a help, and yet he usually takes all 
the credit to himself. If a man can go out alone and 
kill a moose then he may have some reason to congratu- 
late himself on what he has done. The hard part of 
moose hunting is to find the moose. 
I agree with Mr. Westover that in shooting a great 
deal depends on the man who shoots, as well as the size 
of bore. Still, I do not belicA^e any one going into the 
woods to shoot moose should ever carry anything smaller 
than a .44, and I think a .45 much better than a .44.' 
While it may be true that if a small bulL- is placed ex- 
actly right it will kill as quickly as a large one. the fact 
is that no man living can always place a bullet just where 
he wishes when shooting in the woods. At least half 
the time the game stands so that he cannot see just the 
part he wishes to aim at. One may be sure that if a .45 
does not kill, a .30-30 would not if olaced the same. 1 
would give more for Mr. Braithewaite's opinion than 
that of any dozen of so-called sports who have shot one 
or two moose each. A friend has just come in who be- 
fore this season has always used a .45. This year he car- 
ried a .30-30. He can shoot a rifle and knows where to 
shoot an animal. He shot a large buck snuare through. 
With a .45 he would have been a dead deer, but as it was 
he was a lost deer. Next he shot another buck just 
where he wished to; this one ran a long way and never 
bled a drop, and as there was no snow was found almost 
by accident. Then after days of hunting he got a chance 
at a moose. He shot the moose twice, then the riext 
cartridge snapped, and while getting another the moose 
went off. After following a long ways and not finiding 
blood, they came to where he had stopned and bled a 
good deal. As it was late and they were a good way from 
camp, they thought oest to let him -e till morning. In 
the morning there was a heavy snowstorm, which did 
not cease till nearly three feet fell, and so it was a lost 
moose. My friend says that if he had taken his old .45 
he should have had a moose and two deer, instead of one 
deer, and that he will never take a .30-30 again. 
The noted guide, Louis Ketchum, says: 'T would just 
as soon shoot a porcupine quill through a moose as a 
■?>o-7,o." As Louis has probably shot more moose than 
any twenty sports who ever came into Maine, I think his 
opinion is entitled to more consideration than that of 
those whose only experience in shooting large game has 
been confined to a few shots. H. L. Leonard, who shot 
more moose by fair still-hunting than any man I ever 
knew in Maine, after trying small bores, used a rifle made 
by himself carrying a half ounce rotmd ball, in all his last 
hunting; and a moose usually did not have far to go to 
get to the end of his journey when struck by a bullet of 
this size. Because one has shot a moose dead at a single 
shot with a small bullet, it is no sign that it can be. re- 
lied upon to do it the next tiine. I once shot two moose 
in two successive days with a round ball of nearly 60 
to the pound; but a few days after one took eleven bullets 
of this size and they were well placed, too. 
I think that it makes a good deal- of difference whether 
a moose is shot when standing quietly or when he is 
"fighting mad." I think that when an animal is ex- 
cited it cannot be killed by a wound which will kill it. 
instantly when quiet. Of course, it will die in time, but 
it will be some time. 
I do not believe that any of the high-power, small- 
bore rifles should be allowed to be carried into the woods. 
There is no need of a rifle which will carry over 200 
yards and rarely of one to kill at half that distance. I 
have known those who have killed hundreds of moose 
and thousands of deer, and according to their testimony 
and my own experience most moose are shot at twenty 
to thirty yards, and deer but a little further off. I have 
seen moose shot on bare ground at not over fifteen feet 
from the muzzle of the gun, and I never saw otie shot 
at over 100 yards. The deer I have, seen shot were 
usually further off than the moose. Occasionally both 
moose and detr are shot at long ran.ge, when across 
streams or on bogs, but very seldom at over too yards 
when in the woods. In most cases the distance is greatly 
overestimated. One of our guides once sent me a news- 
paper with an article about shooting a moose. The >vritcr 
gave the distance as twenty-five rods. The guide w'i'ote: 
"This is a nice man and he means to tell the truth., but 
it was not over ten rods." Usually the distance is not 
over one-half what men not used to the woods estimate. 
One reason why high power guns should not be asled in 
the woods is that there is. no need of them, and lar.gcr 
bored of shorter range do the work better; but the areat 
reason is the danger to other people. Last year one 
man was killed here by someone sp far off that no one 
could tell who did the shooting. This year two have been 
shot in this way, no one knowing where the bullet came 
from, and several others have had narrow escapes. I 
bp)ieve that, shot for shot, one carrying » 45 o;et % 
