10 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Jan. 3, lyo^. 
i: 
their own shelter, and a country which does not give 
I hem enough protection would hardly be suitable. Yet 
I saw some brush heaps, rude roofs piled up, and pro- 
vided with corn, on the preserve of a Canada club 
(.Ontario). E. Hough. 
126 Hartford Building, riv.cago. 
The Adirondack Deer. 
Jamestown, N. Y.. — Editor Forest and Stream: I have 
been watching the papers sinCe the closed season in this 
State on deer, so as to compare notes with former years, 
in regard to the number killed and shipped. But so far 
liave seen nothing authentic on the subject. I doubt not 
that many people would be interested in the inspection 
of such a record. Notice has again been given out by 
certain game protective associations as the sense of the 
members that the open season on deer be shortened by 
cntting off fifteen days of November. The argument set 
forth leading to such a conclusion (justice to all parties 
being considered) is hard to imagine. If the present law 
gives the hunters a privilege to slaughter more than the 
yearlj' increase, would it not be preferable to limit the 
number each hunter could lawfully kill to one deer rather 
than shorten the open season? Why keep a law that 
gives those living near the hunting grounds a monopoly 
of the sport? Should not those domiciled in the southern 
half of the State share equally with those in the northern 
half? What justice in enforcing a law that allows one 
partj'^ to ship only one carcass home with him at the end 
of his outing, while the other party (by private convey- 
ance) is allowed two? If he hunts on the 15th or last 
day of the open season and kills one or two deer, which 
would be lawful, there is no way provided for shipment 
after that date. What can he do? Leave his game where 
it fell, give it away, or try and smuggle it through boxed- 
up as [lotatoes or some other commodity? 
Why not cut off the month of September, a mouth in 
which but few sportsmen outside of the woods care to 
spend in still-hunting for deer, and add on to the open 
season the latter half of November, when the tempera- 
tnre would be cool enough for the preservation of game 
during shipment, and the economical use of it after 
arrival at its destination? This would also be highly ap- 
preciated by many of our sportsmen who make annual 
trips to the Maine or New Brunswick hunting grounds, 
who are now, by the Lacey Law, debarred from bring- 
ing game lawfully killed home with them. Cut off the 
month of September from the open season, not only on 
deer, but also on ruffed grouse, Avoddcock, black and 
gray squirrel. Limit the number of each to be killed. 
Stop the sale of all kinds of game, and you have killed 
the business of the market-hunter, and saved the lives of 
many deer slaughtered by jacking them in the night time 
and when brought in the next day, registered as having 
been bagged by still -hunting. In my judgment the cut- 
ting off of two weeks in November would not materially 
affect the professional gunner residing in the wilderness 
or living in close pro.ximity thereto, while it would debar 
many others from engaging in the sport or enjoying any 
of the fruits thereof. Old Shekarry. 
Some Ways of the Pheasant* 
Cumberland, Vancouver Island, B. C. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: In your issue of Dec. 6 I notice an ar- 
ticle on the pheasant, written by Mr. W. B. Savary. 
As I have studied the habits of this bird consider- 
ably, a few lines from me might be of service to him 
as well as others, who may be introducing them. In 
my opinion the pheasant is the game bird par excel- 
lence, both in the field and on the table. They are 
fairly hardy and easily domesticated, that is, to a cer- 
tain extent. If fed and encouraged they may con- 
stantly be seen in and about the barnyard, but when 
approached will run for the nearest cover. Of course, 
I am speaking of birds in their wild state. In some 
parts of England, where the climate is not conducive 
to the successful rearing of young birds, owing to 
heavy rains during the summer, the gamekeepers have 
orders to gather all the pheasant eggs they can find 
and these are set under good motherly fowls in the 
cover adjoining the keeper's lodge, and the foster 
mother looks after them in first-class style until such 
times as they feel that they can do for themselves, 
when they leave, returning only at intervals to see 
how she is getting on. As a further protection during 
the inclement winter weather, sheds are erected close 
to good covers, where the birds are known to congre- 
gate, and in these the keepers sprinkle grain two or 
three times a week. 
On an estate in Devonshire, over which I have fre- 
quently shot, one of these sheds was not far from the 
keeper's lodge, and his fowls used to wander down, 
help themselves and mix sociably with the pheasants. 
One year, while shooting in that neighborhood, the 
dogs put up several black and white birds, showing 
that they had crossed with the keeper's fowls. 
'i'he pheasant is a bird, which, if it does not in- 
herit, soon learns the first law of nature, i.e., self-pres- 
ervation. 
In the early part of the season, which opens Oct. 
I, they will be found in coveys. The birds then (never 
having been disturbed) lie close to the dog, and when 
flushed, offer an easy mark to an average shot as the}' 
are generally found in the open fields. A covey when 
fired into, will usually scatter and drop in cover if there 
be any at hand. When hunting up these scattered 
birds, they begin to show their shrewdness. A well- 
trained cocker is the best dog for this work. He 
strikes a scent and his stub tail suffers from a severe 
attack of the shakes, you follow at a reasonable dis- 
tance with gun at the ready. He trails it into a thicket 
of Avillows or hardback and the bird goes out on the 
other side, always taking care to keep a goodly supply 
of twigs and branches betweeu itself and you. As the 
season advances, the birds become more war}', the 
coveys split np, and by the beginning of November 
you will very seldom find a bird in the fields unless 
they are close to cover. By this time, too, they have 
learned what follows a dog, and will invariably run 
150 or 60 yards when they he^r one approaching, before 
they take wing; therefore, it is advisable at this time of 
year to keep close up to the dog. 
Pheasants (as Mr. Savary remarks) do occasionally 
-help themselves out of the garden, but what little dam- 
age they do is more than repaid by the countless num- 
ber of bugs, worms and insects they destroy. They 
appear to like feeding round damp and swampy land, 
such as an alder bottom, and I have frequently found 
their legs covered with mud when sh&t in such places. 
When fully feathered, they are by no means an 
ea.sy bird to kill, and if only winged, it takes a swift 
dog and considerable time to bring them to bag, as 
they are wonderful sprinters. I have seen one fly 200 
yards, though mortally wounded. I only know of two 
instances in which pheasants have treed, and to one 
of these I was an eye witness. It happened on the 
first day of the season last year, when a young hen 
took to a tree on being flushed the second time. 
They Avere introduced here some nine years ago, and 
put out in the farming district at Courtenay, although 
the nesting season here is, as a rule, against them, be- 
ing wet, they have multiplied so steadily that it is 
now possible to find them on every farm in the neigh- 
borhood. The shooting of the.se birds -was allowed for 
the first time last year, and then for cock birds only. 
This is a good law and one which is enforced on a 
great many estates in England; it assists largely in 
keeping np the number of birds, too, as they are not 
monogamous. Frank Ramsay. 
The Ring Neck Pheasant 
As a Fatate Game Bird for Massachusetts* 
About ten years ago I turned out the first English, 
or ring-necked pheasants, in Beverly, and the next 
year a few more, in all about twenty-five. Since then 
they have spread and increased, and I believe others 
have been introduced nearby. 
Having had a good deal of opportunity to watch 
these birds, to observe their habits and to work them 
with the dog, I want to say the following, for I am 
convinced at the present time that as a future game 
bird for this State they cannot be relied upon in the 
least. It seems to me there are several reasons for this 
view. In the first place the pheasant is a bird of the 
open and easily hunted districts, and never, unless un- 
der cold Aveather, does he appear to take much inter- 
est in SAvamps and timber. This makes him an easy 
prey for even a A'erj' ordinary hunter. Of course, it is 
possible that under heaA'y shooting he may more or 
less change his habitat. 
In the second place, he is a large bird and offers a 
tempting meal to anyone, and his habit of scratching 
up gardens and fields makes him very unpopular with 
the farmer, who, unless he happens to be a firm be- 
liever in the game laAvs. is more than liable to take 
a pot shot at him from behind a fence, as the bold in- 
truder struts about among his crops. This pernicious 
habit of the pheasant will tend to become a perfect 
nuisance if the bird ever becomes very plentiful. 
In the third place, he is not a thorough gentleman, 
and cannot ever rank with either quail, partridge_ or 
woodcock as a sporting proposition. The young birds 
often lie very close to afford excellent points for the 
dog, but these birds usually rise so sloAvly and in such 
eas}- cover that there is no satisfaction in knocking 
them down. After they are grown and educated, they 
seldom lie to the dog at all. and usually tend to run 
in open country. Many an old cock I have trailed for 
half a mile or more, either to- find he has silently 
flipped away, or to catch a glimpse of him sailing over 
a distant ridge. I have seen them run in complete 
circles, like a hare or rabbit, and have often caught 
sight of them a hundred yards ahead of the dog doing 
a race-horse act between two patches of cover. This 
sort of hunting becomes very monotonous and is more 
than liable to make the dog unsteady. 
Again, it is my personal belief that the very year 
the laAv goes off these birds they will be practically ex- 
terminated here. Their excellent table qualities will 
make them the prey of every market shooter, and 
many men will hunt them as long as they can kill one 
or two a day. 
There are, of course, several arguments in the pheas- 
ant's favor. He is a fine, large, handsome bird, and 
most excellent eating, better, in many persons' opinion, 
than either quail or partridge. He is extremely hardy, 
and as far as I knoAV never suffers from our winter 
climate. Apparently, he can eat anything, even the 
very coarsest of berries, nuts and seeds, including 
cranberries. 
These birds are also very prolific, and the young 
are A\'ell able to take care of themselves, but they lack 
the essential qualities of a game bird for a thickly set- 
tled and over-shot country. 
NoAv, the ruffed grouse has all the qualities Avhich 
are essential for his maintenance here. Hardy, shy and 
non-migratory. Ave should look to him before either 
quail or woodcock, and most important of all he is 
by far the most difficult of any of our native birds to 
kill Avith gun and dog, and if snaring and selling Avere 
entirely done away with, he Avould, I think, not only 
hold his OAvn, but increase. 
What more can a man wish than to be able to start 
in a day's hunt from fifty to one hundred of these 
Ijrown rockets. Even if the shy fellows do not ahvays 
lay close to the dog, even if they are sure to be found 
in the toughest, roughest and thickest piece, a pair 
well killed Avill afford more real satisfaction and re- 
quire ten times the skill than a dozen great lumber- 
ing pheasants shot in the same Avay. 
I merely wanted in this letter to emphasize the fact 
that we should not rely on a foreign bird when Ave 
have a native one as good as the ruffed grouse, and 
that although the pheasant may increase to goodly 
proportions, and, with strict laws hold his own, he can- 
not at the present time be looked upon as the future 
game bird for Massachusett.s. John C. Phillips. 
Both Green. — Mrs. Hoavso : "Did the butcher send the 
lobsters?" Bridget: "He did, mum, but T sent Ihini 
back. They wuzn't ripe."— Town and Cgtrntry, 
Deef^in^ "Westchester Cotjnty. 
OssiNiNG, N. Y— Editor Forest and Stream: A few 
days ago a full grown buck Aveighing about 180 pounds 
Avith fair sized antlers was killed by an early train on the 
N. Y.^C. & H. R. R, R. track about a quarter of a mile 
above 'the Ossining^ station. The man who first found the 
carcass left it lyin'g at the side of the southboliiid- track 
Avhere he found it, being afraid of the laAv governing 
deer, etc., Avaiting for the coroner I suppose. " He told 
about his find and two upper dockers (local term) car- 
ried the carcass down to the village. It Avas badly broken 
up and but 20 pounds of good meat Avas secured. 
There haA^e been three deer seen in this vicinity latclv, 
some have decided that they have escaped from Graafs 
place at Oscawana, while others are of the opinion that 
the deer have" "gotten wise" to the fact that we passed 
a law prohibiting for five years the shooting of deer in 
Westchester County, and are looking for a place of im- 
munity. Faint hope for the deer, for between the rail- 
road and a colony of Italians here who shoot CA-ery thing 
from a humming bird up, the three deer have probabh 
by this time been all accounted for. C. G. B. 
Reloading: Btass Shells. 
Auburn. Me., Dec. 14.— Under the heading of "Hints 
and Wrinkles," Bristol Hill's experience in reloading 
rifle shells reminds me of my own. As the old saying 
goes, "It is so different." His method of lubricating' the 
bnllets after the shells are loaded reminds me of my first 
attempt at reloading, for I did as he says he does, only 
to have about two out of three of the bras.s shells spoiled 
when fired; for without the grease properly put in the 
grease grooves in the l)ullet, when fired the lead takes the 
brass along- with it and renders the shell useless for fur- 
ther use. There is also one other point which I fail to 
U'.kc in as to how he closes the brass shell on the bullet 
Aviihout inserting the same into the shell below the grease 
grooves in the proper manner. JNIy first attempt without 
the grease properly applied was so disastrous to my shells 
1 have never tried it since; but with the lubricant applied 
to the bullet before it is inserted I haA^e no trouble what- 
ever and have shells which I have reloaded many times 
and are good now. 1 aiti always looking for new 
wrinkles, but these of Bristol Hill haA^e puzzled me some. 
See E. See. 
Massachusetts Game. 
_ Whitjnsvmlle. . Mass., Dec. 12.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The season just passed has proved a good otie 
for partridge shooting Avith us. We have been able to 
start twice as many birds as usual — ^that is, for several 
years back. We think this is largely the result of the 
no sale clause in our game laws. The benefit of this fea- 
ture is now admitted by almost every one; some that were 
against it three years ago now say it is a good thing. We 
do not believe it will be difficult to renew this feature 
of the laws, which will undoubtedly be done. 
Quail have been fairly numerous, but I do not think- 
so many birds were found as were expected from the 
early summer reports. 
Woodcock did not seem so plentiful as a year ago, 
though my personal score Avas better this year on these 
birds. 
The best bag that I was concerned in contained four- 
teen birds — Avoodcock and partridge, mostly woodcock. 
This was for two guns for a short day's shoot. We were 
fortunate enough to strike a flight that day and secured 
every woodcock that Ave started. 
I send a photo of my old dog on AVOodcock, wliieh 
serves to remind me of the good sport we had this par- 
ticular day, though the picture Avas taken earlier in the 
season. C. A. Taft, 
Ohio's Poet Season* 
iNIiAMiSBURG, O. — The hunting season just closed has 
been a complete failure. Squirrels were found to be ex- 
tremely scarce in localities where they Avere former!}'- 
quite numerous. Duck, quail and rabbit shooting was 
the poorest in my recollection. 
Hoping to find conditions better fut*ther north I and 
my brother went to the Grand Reservoir in Mercer 
County. We found ducks by the thousands, but we also 
found the water so low that it was impossible to reach 
the good shooting ground. W^e spent the greater part of 
the day on the reservoir and only succeeded in bagging 
two. Another party from this place went to the LcAvis- 
town Reservoir and have reported the same results. I 
may say, however, Avith some satisfaction that song birds 
are increasing rapidly, Avhile English sparroAvs are de- 
creasing in proportion. Clarence Vandiveer. 
A Michigan View. 
Mt. Clemens, Mich., Dec. 18. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The New York League talking of the abolition 
of the sale of woodcock and ruffed grouse killed Avithin 
the State, seems too foolish for sportsmen to talk about. 
Stop the sale of game by putting into effect the entire 
Forest and Stream's platform. There may be a distin- 
guishing- mark to tell Ncav York from Michigan wood- 
cock and ruffed grouse that I do not know anything 
about. How Avould it do to have New York Avoodcock 
Avear a green ribbon around their necks, Michigan ones 
a red one? J. P. W. 
Thirty Docks at a Shot. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I see reported in the morning paper that Orf Tuttle, 
a hunter, of Eastport, L. I., has made a ncAV record for 
killing the largest number of ducks at one shot, having 
secured thirty at a single discharge. 'J"hc clucks were 
closely huddled in. an air-hole in the ice. What do th^y 
U-Se doAvn there for artillery, punt guns? 
TEMPEIli\NCE. 
"Ah, I knew 'high-balls' Avould be my finish," sighed 
the wild goose as a rifle bullet struck him in mid-air anc| 
Ijrought him to the real estate.— Judge. 
