554 
monly called, was a famous trapper of 
northeastern Michigan about 1860 to the 
early eighties. He always used a single- 
shot, muzzle-loading rifle. His mangled 
body was found in Otsego County, Mich., 
and near by a dead female bear and cub. 
It has been proposed to have a closed 
season on bear in Michigan, but this 
suggestion has met with a solid wall of 
opposition from the wool growers of 
the northeastern section, who have suf- 
fered far greater losses from bear than 
from sheep-killing dogs. In this coun- 
ty (Ogemaw), I think the ratio is easily 
ten to one. This occurs in a county 
with about ten thousand population, of 
which more than seven thousand is rural. 
The county contains 1,296 square miles, 
of which about one-half is under ac- 
tual cultivation. The farmer who loses 
sheep by dogs is paid by the county, but 
the one whose sheep are killed by bear 
is entirely out of luck. If protection is 
extended to bear in this state, the com- 
monwealth must assume all losses for 
sheep killed. 
Edw. E. Evans, Michigan. 
THE UNEXPECTED IN 
FISHING 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
U PON looking over some old notes I 
find that it was on the 14th of June 
that I got a line on the unexpected, or 
rather the unexpected on a line. 
I was fishing in the Indian River, a 
small river in the northern part of this 
state, and had not been having very good 
luck. 
My brother, who was with me, sug- 
gested that we move further up the 
stream and left one of the rods that we 
had set for still-fishing for me to bring. 
We both had casting rods, and I had 
caught one pickerel. Imagine my sur- 
prise to pull up this pole that had been 
set and find a large pickerel on it. We 
had not seen him bite and had no idea 
that there was a fish on that line. 
Another and somewhat amusing inci- 
dent happened while I was fishing with 
a boy for suckers. We had been having 
good luck and were just thinking about 
going home when my young friend said 
that he thought he had the biggest one 
yet. I can see him now, eagerly lifting 
it to the surface of the water — to pull 
out a mud turtle. It was really comical 
to see his expression of chagrin and 
disgust as he cut the line without even 
trying to get the turtle into the boat. 
The greatest surprise I have ever had 
in my piscatorial experience was when I 
hooked into a giant pickerel one Decora- 
tion Day. My uncle, Victor Cooper, my 
father and myself were trolling; I had 
a short, stiff pole, with a line perhaps 
thirty feet long, and a small spoon no 
larger than one’s thumbnail. My uncle 
had not let his line out, and we had 
not gone more than forty rods when I 
thought my spoon had caught into a 
snag. “Hooked on a rock,” said I, and 
we stopped; but just then I felt a couple 
of violent yanks and saw that I had a 
fish, and no ordinary one, either. We 
looked back and saw him near the sur- 
face. He looked about eight inches 
broad and four feet long. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
I had no reel and so, when he dived 
to deeper water, something must break 
and it was the hooks on the small spoon. 
What seems remarkable to me is that 
so large a fish would strike at a small 
spoon like this and so near the boat. 
The largest wall-eyed pike that I ever 
caught was on a big bunch of worms that 
I had been fishing for red-finned suckers 
(mullets) with. 
Theodore H. Cooper, New York. 
GAME IN INDIANA 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
H AVING noticed that there are often 
inquiries about different sections of 
the country, I am writing to give a brief 
but accurate account of game conditions 
in Central Eastern Indiana. 
One of the most notable things here is 
the regard shown for closed seasons. 
Years ago three-quarters of the hunters 
could not state the limits of the closed 
seasons. Now everyone waits for the 
“fust day.” 
There are very few unlicensed hunters. 
Sportsmen’s organizations are springing 
up and enrolling many serious-minded 
hunters and fishermen who realize the 
power than can be used by organized 
societies. 
Squirrels, the most hunted of our 
game, are more than holding their own. 
Not only do they continue to increase, 
but they are developing curious sub- 
species, with a tendency toward albinism. 
Gray squirrels have always been com- 
mon here, but of late years a squirrel, 
closely resembling the gray in size, but 
having a white tail and entirely light fur 
on the body, has become rather numer- 
ous. 
Red squirrels are becoming quite a 
pest, deserting the woods for farm yards 
and corncribs. 
Rabbits are overrunning the country. 
Quails are coming back in ever-in- 
creasing numbers, due, I think, because 
farmers protect them in winter. 
December, 1921 
Pheasants are common, there are three 
coveys in my immediate neighborhood. 
These birds are not hunted; only once in 
a while does some blundering “city sport” 
bring one in. His pleasure is decidedly 
checked when he exhibits it for most 
hunters are only too glad to inform the 
warden of such outrages. If everything 
goes well, in 1924 we will get a short 
open season on pheasants. So you see we 
want some birds left. 
Trapping is on the decline on account 
of the lowered prices. The fur-bearing 
animals are taking advantage of this and 
seem to be multiplying in fine shape. 
They are found here in the following 
order according to numbers: Skunks, 
’coons, possums, minks, muskrats, foxes 
and wildcats. 
The muskrats suffered severely when 
25c hides hit the $7.00 mark, and some 
time will be necessary for them to regain 
their proper place near the head of the 
list. Foxes and wildcats are rare but 
each township can boast a pair or more. 
Bass are more common here than most 
people suspect. Gravel pits are their 
main strongholds. O. N. Swaney, 
Indiana. 
LARGE TROUT CAUGHT IN 
PENNSYLVANIA 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
I T’S some thrill when you are casting 
your line in some little mountain 
stream and you get a bite, and, after a 
fight you land a trout and find you have 
hooked one weighing 3 or 4 pounds, but 
when you land a trout with a girth of 
15 Yi inches, 27 inches in length and 
weighing 9 pounds, your chest begins to 
swell. This was the experience of Albert 
Smith, of Bellefonte, Pa., recently while 
fishing in Spring Creek, and the trout he 
landed is the largest ever known to have 
been taken from a stream in this section. 
It is of the brown species and is being 
mounted. E. Ellsworth Claspby, 
Penn. 
Oscar S. Tyson, winner of Forest and Stream Wilderness Cruising Trophy at 
the 1921 American Canoe Association meet. Sugar Island, N. Y. 
