March, 1922 
I 
ness has been very poor for the past 
three years in tliis section, and the Seni- 
inoles say: “Most gone but coon and 
i possum, got to go Big Cypress to get 
much fur.” 
W. F. Rightmire, 
Florida. 
J TRAPPING HINTS 
\Dcar Forest and Stream: 
H ere are a few hints on trapping 
game. Most of them have been 
.learned from personal experience and a 
i few from old timers: 
: First I will rhention preference in 
I traps for muskrats. For myself, I would 
rather use the No. 1 Victor trap, al- 
\ though I have used the No. 1 Jump trap, 
' also the No. 0. The No. 0 is much too 
■ small, as the spring soon weakens so that 
the game gets away. Some use No. 
j hut they are a little too large. If trap- 
[ ping at the mouth of dens it is not neces- 
i sary to use any bait. Rubber boots are 
; almost a necessity when making sets, 
; as one must wade in the water to make 
I them. 
[ Locate a place where rats frequent, a 
( creek, marsh, lake or slough and try out 
the following methods : Wade out in 
the water far enough so the water will 
, be deep enough to drown the game, say 
j a foot or more in depth. Use a short- 
i: handled hoe or shovel, for convenience 
V in carrying, as any other is pretty un- 
.... handy to carry on a trap-line. Dig up 
I mud, grass, tulles and all such stuff found 
in the creek bottom, and build a mound 
in the shape of a muskrat house. . Let it 
extend above the water a foot or more, 
i and then scrape down one side to a U- 
i shaped curve, so it will look like a musk- 
: rat slide, then set your trap at the foot 
I of this slide or curve, under water at 
j least two or three inches. This set does 
not require any bait, but if bait should 
be used it should be placed four or five 
: inches above the trap. This slide serves 
as a landing place for the muskrats, so 
that they will not be climbing up on the 
mound in any place, but over the trap. 
As bait for muskrat, apples, carrots 
and parsnips are best, although 1 have 
had fairly good luck wdth muskrat meat, 
after making the first catch. For a bait 
on all other baited sets for rats, I prefer 
j parsnips best; they seem to go wild over 
them and have even climbed the bank 
over my traps to get to them, 
i Here is a fine set for skunk, and is also 
i equally as good for mink; skunk fur is 
prime soon, after the season opens. Go 
i along the bank of the creek where wil- 
j lows and thick brushy places are to be 
; found and build one or two little brush 
houses, by breaking off limbs and stick- 
i ing them in the ground in Indian tepee 
I fashion, leaving an opening in one side. 
I These little houses should not he very 
much over a foot high ; then for bait 
take a muskrat ham, if available, if not, 
a piece of tainted or fresh meat and run 
' a forked stick through it and hang this 
in the center of the little house inside. 
Be sure the house is low enough so the 
magpies or other birds can’t see the bait. 
'Set the trap in the door, or opening, 
FOREST AND STREAM 
cover very carefully and make all of 
this look as natural as possible with 
leaves, or such trash as can be found 
near there. This seldom fails. 
L. R. Fields, 
Oregon. 
CROW SHOOTING 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
F or the true lover of the scatter-gun 
there is no closed season. You can 
always have sport shooting crows. Take 
an evening, a few pieces of light gauge 
sheet metal and a little ingenuity and 
decoys will be the result. They can also 
he bought at first-class sporting goods 
dealers; they also handle calls and a 
spring contrivance that will act like a 
wounded bird. Study them and use them 
to advantage in ealling, as well as setting 
out decoys amid fitting cover and they 
will give remarkable results in the num- 
ber of dead birds. 
Place your decoys in a field where 
corn is popping out of the ground in as 
natural a wmy as possible. Place a few 
on fence posts near the set and arrange 
a blind of brush with plenty of dried 
leaves, for a crow’s eyesight is wonder- 
ful and cover is the main feature. After 
the corn has grown high and the trees 
and bushes have become full-leaved, a 
high, dead tree is productive of the best 
results. Another nice place to set out 
is afterthe first crop of hay has been cut 
in a slough. There seems to be a lot of 
feed for them there and the call does 
not have to be so alluring to attract 
them. 
Use under-brush of poplar, for that is 
not so full of barbs and sharp twigs as 
other kinds. A call named the Kankakee 
is as natural a one as .an he gotten liut 
it has to be used as circumstances 
present, such as the distress call when 
you have a flock excited by having a 
number of them down. A wing-tipped 
bird can he used by giving him a squeeze 
now and then to make him yelp. As the 
dead are picked up they can he added to 
the decoys by employing sharp sticks. 
123 
In fact they make the most attractive 
ones, for the wings and feathers arc- 
blown by the wind. 
No. 7 shot is large enough, and the 
birds should he led about the same dis- 
tance as you would lead a mallard duck. 
Unlike game-bird shooting, any time in 
the day is good for shooting provided 
the light is right. Wind)' da)s prf)vide 
the most exciting sport, Pm then the 
birds come in at all angles and it takes 
a good shot to bring them down. 
William Barber, 
Wisconsin. 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
M embers of the Wemersville Rod 
and Gun Club, Wemersville, Pa., 
have formed a crow-shooting s(juad and 
were successful in shooting 1,011 during 
the twenty-eight days of February, 1921. 
The roosting places were located about 
fourteen miles distant from Werners- 
ville, where the several members of the 
club congregated, and when the crows 
started to approach, towards evening, 
they were headed off and shot. 'I'hcy 
are very plentiful in the vicinity, doing 
damage to liirds’ nests, young ]ioultry 
and crops. 
The farmers are congratulating the 
several members for the success they 
have attained in exterminating at least 
some of them. They were not all shot 
near the roosting places. Some were 
.shot at feeding places, where they con- 
gregate in the winter time; and some 
were decoyed by means of the "Crow 
Call” and shot from ambush. 
Wm. P. Gerhart, Pa. 
A GOOD FLORIDA GUIDE 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
1 WANT to bring to the attention of 
northern sportsmen a rattling good 
guide for the Florida waters, particularly 
the Gtilf Coast. His name is Lloyd 
House, and his address is Maples, I'lor- 
ida. He and his brother ha\c a new 
cabin ciuiscr precisely suitai'Io fm' those 
waters and built especially f<>r the pur- 
pose. They also have a good guide boat 
Four members of the Wemersville Gun Club and their bag of crows 
i 
