SS2 
Forest and stream. 
[Oct. 21, 1905. 
reach of the deadly choke ; perchance their siren notes are 
heard by that glorious band of Canadas, whose filmy 
wedge is barely discernible amid the driving mist. Their 
tremulous reply mellowed by the distance, fires the sports- 
man’s blood, every nerve thrills with expectancy, he hugs 
his trusty lo-bore in silent ecstacy. Again that wild, weird 
chant emanates from the moving triangle, rising and fall- 
ing in jangled harmony as they voice their hopes and 
fears, vociferous cries of pleading comradery arise from 
the artful decoys as they wistfully watch their dreamy 
drift. Aslant the rosy dawn the first faint flush of sun- 
light flecks the waving cohort. As they wheel with beauti- 
ful precision and head in, an ominous silence pervades the 
ranks of the oncomers, as like an aerial bolt they cleave 
their way on whistling pinions ; they are almost within 
touch of the rejoicing frauds before a vague sense of 
danger checks their oncoming rush and sends a tremor 
of alarm shivering down the line ; their brave array 
crumples up as they swing outward in full retreat, pur- 
sued by the dulcet refrains of their false friends, whose 
coaxing blandishments flout dark suspicion and eventually 
brings them circling back. On they come with out- 
stretched necks. Lowering their flight in anticipation 
they hover above the decoys. At that precise instant the 
innocent-looking sandbar vomits death among the unsus- 
pecting geese, the choicest of the flock go down before 
the pitiless rain of shot, the survivors beat the air with 
frenzied strokes in their efforts tO' climb out and scatter 
in wild dismay to sadly reform their broken welge far 
away o’er the waters of the deep blue bay. 
The end of all things is now in sight, the sun swings 
low in its. orbit, the cold grows more intense, the pools 
that fleck the frozen marsh, give back an icy stare, ice of 
ominous thickness encroaches on bay and river, the croak 
of the mallard sounds like a dirge as flock after flock 
wend their way southward, leaving their northern ad-' 
mirers disconsolate; wild geese and ducks, wary and sus- 
picious to the last degree, still brave the pitiless blasts 
that sweep over the freezing surface of the bay and work 
around the air holes, their depleted ranks occasionally re- 
inforced by stragglers from above. 
At this stage of the game many sportsmen, unable or 
un-willing to stand the racket, retire to the snug quarters 
of the club leaving a husky band of sportsmen to fight it 
out with the rear guard. These hardy men reck nothing 
of exposure for hours in batteries and blinds amid the 
howling of wintry gales, the clash of icy waves, waiting 
and watching for the elusive brant, often risking life and 
health in the pursuit of wary laggards and cripples. The 
occasional toll they take from passing flocks helps keep 
the interest alive. 
The season is flickering, threatening to vanish in a 
flurry of snow. As if to emphasize the situation, a 
mighty host of honkers appear upon the northern horizon, 
a sure precursor of winter’s dread approach. Sadly the 
knights of the choke-bore gaze upon .the baseless triangle 
that drifts athwart the evening sky, and fain would ac- 
company them in their flight to regions where ice and 
snow are rarely seen. The hoarse clamor that emanates 
from the flying wedge, filtering down from frosty heights, 
vibrates upon the twilight atmosphere, glorious, sweet 
and solemn. Longingly they watch the vanishing cohort 
until they fade away amid the gathering shades of night, 
then turn away to take up the burden of politics, business 
and social duties that have been remorselessly side- 
tracked during the all too brief shooting season. 
The fortunate few that can strike a balance between 
business and sport propose to join forces with the South- 
erners in the warm welcome they are extending to the 
new arrivals at Currituck and other points down the line. 
The sportsman who descends upon the Southern shooting 
grounds will find it warm in more senses than one, unless 
he carefully studies the situation. Good shooting can 
often be secured on posted lands by the use of diplomacy 
or greenbacks. But all this will avail you not when 
you are up against Arkansas and Louisiana. Arkansas 
has virtually confiscated the club property of St. Louis 
and Memphis sportsmen, the courts uphold them in the 
whole transaction from A to Z, so there you are. Georgia, 
South Carolina and others demand licenses from outsiders. 
Dogs and guides are uncertain quantities. Barring cer- 
tain well known hostelries, the further South you travel 
the more dubious is the prospect. Liveries will some- 
times furnish a rig, guide included, at a moderate rate, 
but without the well broken pointer or setter little can 
be accomplished with quail, the standard game bird of 
the South, as the time, has long gone by when game over- 
ran the plantations and woodlands. Snipe can often be 
picked up in an informal way, but to hunt ducks suc- 
cessfully in marshy places a good retriever is almost 
indispensable. 
Canvasbacks and other choice ducks are persecuted 
from morning to evening by market gunners. The 
wild turkey and deer are fast disappearing from the set- 
tlements. This necessitates the use of teams and camp- 
ing outfits to reach the best grounds. As a rule, game is 
very scarce near towns and hamlets, wild turkeys are only 
found in' sparsely settled regions. Game in many parts 
of the South is decreasing at an alarming rate. 
The choke-bore and rifle ought to be retired in the 
Gulf States after the first week in February, leaving the 
visitor to amuse himself during the remainder of the sea- 
son in casting the fly for black bass or battling with 
gigantic tarpon. North Carolina leads off with a galaxy 
of attractions that decoys many a disciple of Walton and 
Nimrod across the bor'der to taste the delights of trout 
fishing and hunting in the Sapphire country, whose lakes 
and mountains hold much that is dear to the heart of 
the sportsman . and lover of nature. As winter invades 
the mountains, Nimrod gracefully^ descends to the low- 
lands to dally with the quail and snipe. Artist. 
[to BE CONTINUED.] 
G«ffit«cfc Game, 
Currituck, N. G., Oct. 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Wild ducks for some reason are very scarce up to the 
present, ft has been unusually warm, but the crop of 
food is a poor one, which, I think, is . the nrincinql reason. 
On the other hand, we have more quail than I have ever 
.''.pen here. I think there are two broods in every farnily. 
We have had good bay bird shooting ; yellowlegs and 
dowitchers have been here in abundance. More Anon. 
A COATING OF MANY-USE OIL 
^eeps gnns plean and rvist}e«s; bore bright; ready for: 
Scotch Grouse Moors. 
Fx'om the London Daily Express. 
The true sportsmen who can really -shoot and who 
love sport for sport’s sake are being to an extent sup- 
planted by the rich men who rent large moors because 
it is fashionable 'to do so. Often they have had neither 
time nor inclination to learn to shoot well, and adopt 
any means whereby their bags may be well filled. On 
the “glorious 12th” they usually have the assistance of 
their guests or the gamekeepers, so that they may make 
a respectable show in the columns of the local press. 
But when their reputation is assured and the special 
guests are gone they are thrown on their own resources 
and must do their best to give their keepers some- 
thing. to carry across the moors. 
These amateurs do not get much satisfaction among 
the grouse. They are strong on the wing this year, 
and not easily brought down. I know of one moor on 
which a party of seven fired about 60 rounds the other 
day before a feather fluttered earthward, and another 
on which two city youngsters spent a long forenoon 
and afternoon among hundreds of birds and had to re- 
turn to the lodge with only one between them. 
The grouse may be too flighty, but they have the 
deer or the roe. Their choice invariably abides with 
the latter. The roe has a slim body, abolit the size of 
that of a big hare, and it stands slightly higher than a 
collie dog. Sometimes you see one that looks like a 
rabbit on stilts. It is a quiet, inoffensive, half-tame 
animal. Unlike the deer, it is not easily scared. The 
sportsman who is on its track may make as much noise 
as he likes, and he will not scare it so long as he keeps 
out of sight. 
If he sits long enough among the bracken he is sure 
sooner or later to stumble against one. And, better 
still, if he sets out the beaters he will have them run- 
ning past him in half-dozens. 
Against the shy, pretty roe the “sportsmen” who cailn 
not shoot like sportsmen use dumdum and explosive 
bullets. A charge sufficient to kill a cat or a rabbit 
would bowl over a roe, but the city man cannot afford 
to risk a miss at 20 yards. He must kill at any price. 
On a. certain Highland moor some days ago a gallant 
party had to their credit about half a dozen roes. One 
was bowled over at a distance of 15 yards. An ex- 
plosive bullet struck it right amidships and carried 
away the greater portion of the lower part of its body. 
Another had been struck by two explosive bullets. The 
first had decapitated the animal and the second had re- 
duced its hinder part to a pulp. In the entire collection 
there was not a skin that could be preserved. 
It is a bad thing for the moors when sportsmen of 
this kind are let loose upon them. They are the in- 
direct means of causing a scarcity of grouse. When 
they return home the keepers have to undertake the 
work of thinning down the coveys so that the birds 
may not exterminate their race like the Kilkenny cats. 
Young male birds outnumber the young females by 
about three to one, and in the springtime the bachelors 
in grouse land begin to fight innumerable duels to the 
death. 
It is necessary therefore that the gamekeepers should 
shoot as many male birds as possible. But when the 
moors are left freely stocked the gamekeepers are prac- 
tically unable or not numerous enough to cope with 
the task, and large numbers of guests are invited to 
take part in the sport. These guests may be, and 
usually are, good marksmen, but few of them are able 
to tell a male from a female bird at sight. The conse- 
quence is that the cure is often not little better than 
the disease, and the females are left in a hopeless 
minority, being less strong on the wing than the males. 
Another reason for the growing scarcity of good 
birds is the prevalence of disease. Here again the 
modern sportsman is the indirect Cause of the loss of 
birds. The grouse feed on young heather, and to insure 
them getting the proper food large tracts of moor must 
be burned when the year is young. In the old days a 
30-acre moor fire was no uncommon spectacle,, and 
young heather was thus allowed to grow in abundance. 
The young birds flourished, and were found in respect- 
able strength over wide areas. But a different arrange- 
ment now obtains. 
Instead of having large tracts of heather destroyed, 
the keepers set fire to long, street-like patches, so that 
the birds may be encouraged to feed and nest in the 
narrow drives. When the glorious 12th comes round, 
the sportsmen simply operate along the moor roads 
shaped by the burning operations, and slaughter the 
birds in hundreds. 
The arrangement may be an economical one, but it 
cuts both ways. The majority of the birds may find 
lodgment among the new heather, but as they are not 
as intelligent as human beings, they cannot be pre- 
vented from picking at the old heather. As a matter 
of fact, many coveys do feed on old heather, which 
breeds disease, and once disease becomes rampant, it 
spreads rapidly and kills more birds than the sportsmen 
do. 
Still another cause of the growing scarcity of grouse, 
due also to the commercial spirit which pervades sport, 
is the rapid growth of bracken. All over the Highlands 
north and west, from Perthshire to Sutherlandshire. 
complaints are heard of its slow but sure conquest of 
the hills. 
The agriculturists and sheep farmers used to keep 
down the bracken, but when the deer forests becam.e 
fashionable the bracken assumed the role of the mon- 
arch of the glen. And the older the forests- the m.pre 
■ plentiful is the bracken. 
In these deer ..forests the old pests of Scotland are 
increasing -in great numbers. Wild cats, eagles, foxes, 
adders, etc., flourish free from disturbance by their 
natural enemy — man. The owners and lessees of’deer 
forests are aware- of this fact- and do not object to the 
increase of these wild animals, because they keep down 
grouse and ■ ground game, which disturb and warn 
the deer -when ' the stalking season is in full swing. 
But the sheep farmers, i suffer much loss from the 
ravages of the foxes, which, when birds and hares seek 
pastures new, give much • trouble' bv worrying and de- 
vouring -sheep and Iambs., 
The decay of old-fashioned sport is doing much in- 
jury to the Highlands of Scotland. Artificial conditions 
have been created to make it easy for the holiday-maker 
to boast of record bags. But nature is taking her 
revenge, and the day .is coming when the country will 
pay the penalty for the empty glens and the bracken- 
conquered hills, which will, as years go on, yield less 
sport than ever. 
In New England. 
Boston, Mass,, Oct. 14.- — Editor Forest and Stream: 
A communication received this week from East Pepperell 
informed me of a “side-hunt” to occur on Monday and 
Tuesday of the present week. Two captains had been 
chosen, each of whom was to choose his men. The 
writer says “more than fifty men and boys will go to the 
slaughter.” This was a great surprise to me, for I had 
supposed the day of such hunts had gone by. A quarter 
of a century ago they were not uncommon in certain 
sections. As your readers know, it is customary on such 
occasions for the party beaten in the final count to pay 
for a supper. The gentleman who sent me the letter is a 
land owner and was anxious to know if he had a right to 
protect the game on his premises. Such affairs merit un- 
qualified condemnation. They are calculated to do great 
damage to decent, legitimate sport. Hunters in that 
neighborhood must expect the owners will post their land. 
They are not to be blamed for doing so, and might rea- 
sonably be blamed if they did not. A member of our 
Legislature told me last winter that a hunter in his sec- 
tion boasted of killing eighty-three grouse last fall. It is 
time for sportsmen to- learn to practice some self-denial 
and to be satisfied with reasonable bags of game, to leave 
some birds “for the other fellow.” 
The town clerk of a township in the western part of 
the State, who' has himself served as a game warden, 
writes me this week that on Oct. I four pot hunters 
started in with their guns and have hunted from daylight 
until dark, every available minute. These men are boast- 
ing that there is no game warden sharp enough to catch 
them, and that they can dispose of their birds in a way to 
defy the* sharpest of detectives. This writer says further, 
that there is a warden not far away whose private busi- 
ness is of such , a character that he dare not arrest a 
hunter for breaking the law. More surprising still, he 
says that while serving as deputy warden he was info^rmed 
by one of the force sent from Boston, that it would not 
be well to disturb those wishing to hunt on Sunday, as 
such a course was becoming unpopular with the com- 
mission. I have given the statements of the writer in 
substance as furnished me over his signature. I forbear 
to give his name, although not requested to withhold it. 
The writer takes it for granted that the Bay State read- 
ers of Forest and Stream desire to know as much as 
possible about conditions as they now exist. It is hardly 
necessary to add the writer of the above declares that 
the game laws in his section are not well observed. 
Another correspondent, a zealous worker for game pro- 
tection, declares his belief that the only real benefit the 
sportsmen have derived from the work of the State Com- 
mission was the putting out of business the market fisher- 
men and market gunners. He says the prohibition of the 
taking of trout less than six inches long from streams 
that never Contained a fish of that length is on a par with 
making the open season for woodcock shooting after the 
last woodcock has reached the South. He then draws the 
conclusion that matters pertaining to the protection of 
game and fish should be regulated by those who know 
something of their nature and habits, and that a knowl- 
edge of shell-fish and crustaceans does not fit the -case. 
The writer of the above did not request that his name 
be withheld. 
As regards the observance of the fish and game laws of 
eighteen different towns in Berkshire county heard from, 
the report from twelve is “yes,” three report “fair,” one 
yes except by Italians, the others make an exception as 
regards the laws on trout fishing, which, they declare, are 
not well observed. 
Judge Tenney, of Williamstown, and Mr. Sayles, of 
Adams, emphasize the need of more warden service. C. 
S. Galusha, of Windsor, wants ofificers to enforce the 
Sunday law. Deputy Cross, of Becket, wants officers to 
have the right to search without a warrant, and Mr. Van 
Huyck says improve the search law, which he considers 
a dead letter, so far as the protection of game is con- 
cerned. Since the above w^as written your correspondent 
has received further information that the side-hunt was 
deferred till Monday and Tuesday of next week, and that 
a w'^arden has arrived on the scene. My informer promises 
to write again after the hunt is over. 
A report has just come in from Mr. Sweetman, of Bed- 
ford, Middlesex count}'-, in which he says this is the first 
season he recalls , since his childhood that the sweet 
cadence of Bob White has not been heard by him in his 
rambles afield. He saw one bunch of ruffed grouse this 
summer while out fishing. He regrets that there is no 
warden in his vicinity who enters into game protection 
from the true sportsman’s point of view. He says we 
must run to earth the Italian slaughterers, make it a 
capital offense for anyone firing upon a warden, give 
dynamiters ten years at hard labor, prohibit the sale of 
quail, also the killing of quail, grouse,- woodcock, black 
and wood ducks for at least three years, and give the 
birds a chance to breed before it is too late. 
Mr. Wheeler, of Concord, takes great interest in plant 
and bird life, his ayocation being that of a florist. He 
has heard very few- quail this season, and says grouse are 
scarce. , He also complains of Italians, who constitute the 
bulk of the law-br,eakers. He favors a close season of 
two years on gamejbirds, including snipe, and would have 
no sale of game birds in the State, except in the hunting 
season. 
Several letters from towns in Worcester county have 
come since my last, letter, all of which pronounce quail 
scarce, or very scarce. A paid deputy from Framingham, 
says there is a great deal of Sunday shooting in his neigh- 
borhood, but before an officer gets near the offenders they 
are off at a double quick pace. He is doing his best to 
round them. up. .A sportsman just in from Foxborough 
says there were ,a Ipt of gunners in the woods’ of that 
section last Sunday. He proposes getting an appoi,ntmeji;| 
a.s a warden and, geLon their trail. 
