FOREST AND STREAM 
197 
costs five hundred dollars more. It probably will rain at 
least half the time, and you will carry on your back for 
miles, at portages, your “traps,” which you would have 
to get an express wagon to move oue square at home. 
Boes it pay?— When I have had enough hunting, fishing, 
mosquitoes and bacon, tired out and about taking a four 
day’s journey for home, I think it floes not pay. But as 
Bpring and Summer comes, and all nature seems full of 
love, and when overworked in business, the “spell” comes 
on. I get qnite crazy and “hanker” for the woods. I 
think our parly for the year is about made up, and it will 
not pay for any one, unless it is you individually, to join 
us. Apologetically yours, Robert Jackson. 
Brooklyn, Y., April \2th, 1875. 
A SNOW-SHOE TRIP TO ALBANY LAKE. 
M R. FENTON, Carter, and Green, the last two from 
Massachusetts, took a fishing trip on snow-shoes to 
Albany Lake, March 10th. Thinking it might be interest- 
ing to brother sportsmen, I give you Mr. Fenton’s account 
of the trip. Mr. Carter has been stopping at the Fenton 
House No. 4, all Winter, and has spent most of the time 
tramping about hunting aud trapping, and had required 
nerve and muscle, rendering him a fit companion for the 
trip. Mr. Green, however, had been indoors all Winter, 
unused to manual labor, and had never used snow-shoes, 
consequently it told pretty hard on him, and caused a good 
deal of fun at his expense. But he determined to try it, so 
they started for the lake, which is twenty-five miles from 
the Fenton House. Mr. Fenton says: We were provided 
with a sled made narrow, so as to run in a snow-shoe track, 
on which we tied our supplies for the trip. We did not 
take any dishes or culinary utensils, as I had two years ago 
hid a whole camp kit at the lake. We started at 11 o'clock. 
Now it was that the fun commenced. I do not know but 
what it was wrong to laugh at the misfortunes of others, 
but it was impossible to keep a sober face, its our portly 
friend G. made his first attempt on snow shoes. Al- 
though he spread his feet twice as far apart as was neces 
sary, he would often lock the heels of his snow-shoes to- 
gether, and after one or two convulsive efforts to extract 
them lie would describe an arc forward, aud with a fear- 
ful plunge disappear in the deep snow, from which dilem- 
ma we would have to extricate him and agaiu set him on 
his feet, only to go through the same performance every 
few rods. We took our turns drawing the sled, each one 
drawing it about a mile at a time. Friend G. took his turn, 
although it was a great effort for him to do so, causing the 
perspiration to drop from his face like rain, fie finnlly'lx- 
eited our sympathy so much that towards night we drew 
the sled ourselves, as he became very much exhausted and 
1 began to doubt his ability to reach Wardwell’s, our stop- 
ping place for the first night, but we finally reached the 
house, G. being nearly used up. (Ward well’s is eleven 
miles from the Fenton House). As we had about an hour of 
daylight, C. and myself went up the river for fish bait. We 
were successful, and caught all the minnows we wanted. 
Mr. W ardwell is wintering at Stillwater. His family con- 
sists of his wife and mother, an old lady of about seventy 
years. Wardwell has had no communication with the out- 
side world since the first of January, except by snow-shoes 
and as we were his first guests we were kiudly cared for. 
The following morning, after breakfasting on beefsteak, 
which our host acknowledged was not of the first cut, (but 
I am sure he must be mistaken, for I believe it was the first 
cut below the horns) we added to our sled suoplies sixteen 
pounds of flour and a small sheet-iron stove', which I had 
at Waidwell’s, and bidding adieu to our friends we started 
up the road. The additional weight to our sled caused it 
to draw much harder than it did the previous day, and it was 
with many groans and expressions of dislike to this kind of 
locomotion that friend G. started off this morning to renew 
the performances of yesterday with his snow-shoes. He 
was so used up that lie made no attempt to draw the sled 
to-day, and therefore U. and myself were obliged to draw it 
all the way. About noou we arrived at the old log cabin 
of Cbauncy Smith, at the South Branch. YVe halted here 
long enough to eat a few crackers, and again started for 
our place of destination and reached the foot of Albany 
Lake about three o’clock P. M. Here we found a small 
log cabin made a few years ago by a trapper. It was a 
low, mean looking shanty, but as there was no prospect of 
finding anything further up the lake, we resolved to camp 
here. The snow was even with the top of the shanty aud 
t here was no door visible, so 1 set to work to see if I could 
find one. After an hour's work digging snow I was enabled 
to open the door and take a peep inside. 1 can assure you 
it did not look very inviting. It was about a foot high at 
the back and rose to about six feet high in front. The 
chimney was open, and there was about three feet pf snow 
in the fireplace. I threw out some of it, aud placing my 
stove on the snow anil ice I soon had a good fire, which 
caused things to look more cheerful. After preparing 
plenty of wood for the night we crawled in and took a 
good look at the inside, to see if we could be comfortable 
in such poor quarters. To me it looked very cozy, but my 
friends, to whom this was their first camping out in Win- 
ter, looked rather glum. Poor G. was completely played 
out, clothes wet and generally demoralized. There was 
nearly a foot of snow and ice on each side of the stove 
which had to be melted away, and to add to our discomfort 
we had no chance to do any cooking, and no dishes except 
a tea pot. In this we made some ten, aud with a little 
bread and butter contrived to stay our hunger, aud turned 
in for the night. I should have enjoyed a good night’s 
sleep but for the grumbling of my comrades, who were cold, 
wet, and generally uncomfortable, for as the stove warmed 
up the cabin the water began to run in all directions. But 
morning dawned at last, and we arose stiff in every joint, 
but oh, so hungry — and had to again try bread and butter 
and tea. But we expect to be all right as soon as I find 
my cooking utensils, which I had secreted further up the lake. 
The weather to-day was uufortuuato for fishing, as the 
wind blowed most fearfully, with some snow falling; but 
notwithstanding the storm we had a splendid day’s fishing. 
I caught nineteen salmon trout, weighing from two to five 
pounds each. C. caught two and G. six, one of them 
weighing about eight pounds. The only drawback we had 
to-day was the failure to find the cooking utensils I had 
hidden so carefully, leaving no land marks, aud the 
deep snow had so changed the looks of things that I was 
unable to find them. Our prospect for supper now looked 
gloomy indeed. We ate the last of our bread iu the morn- 
ing and our provisions now consisted only of flour, pork, 
an . ( !w, ap . le ? u ?, ar an , d fish ’ wilh noting to cook them in 
What shall we have for supper, said C?" 
“Flour sir, nothing but flour. ’ 
“Well,” says G., “this is the first time I was ever in the 
woods without any show of comfort; nothing to eat, and 
no decent place to s eep, and I’m going to dig out of this 
to-morrow morning. 
I bad thought,’ said C,” “ever since I came to the Fon- 
ton House, that I should like a Winter trip iu the woods, 
but if this is the kind of hardships and privutions one lias to 
endure, I have enough of flshiug in the Winter. Here I 
have been on the point of starvation for the past two days, 
nothing to eat but bread and crackers, (which I always aid 
dislike) and now we are down to flour for the rest of the 
trip. I can’t stand it much longer.” 
Now this talk was fun for me. “I aint going to starve 
boys,” said I, as long as we’ve got pork and flour, so stop 
grumbling; we’ll get along some way." 
“Arriving at the sliauty, I told them every man must 
cook his own supper." 
“We can’t,” said they, “we’ve nothing to cook in." 
Lying on the ground was an old pint cup that somo trap- 
per had thrown away as worthless. I picked it up and scrap- 
ing the rust from it with a knife, I saw that it was tight 
enouglit to hold water. 
“Now I have something to make pancake in," said I.” 
“You don't mean to mix pancakes in that do you?" said 
both. 
“Certainly," said I; “a little oxide of iron is a good 
tonic, and will strengthen you for your tramp to-morrow.” 
“But how will you bake them?" they exclaimed, looking 
around; there’s nothing here tircook in." 
“Well enough," said I, at the same time inverting the 
S int cup of batter and turning the contents on the stove. 
Iy companions looked at me in mute astouishment, and 
began to smile at the prospect of pancakes for supper; but 
when the cakes were cooked, their keen appetites over- 
came all scruples about the rust and manner of cooking, 
for when served up with maple sugar they rapidly disap- 
peared. I passed a comfortable might, but my companions 
rested but little. In the morning we had more cakes, and 
G. struck out for home, and C. and myself went up the 
lake again to fish. We were not as successful as we had 
been the previous day, taking but seventeen salmon trout; 
averaging about two and a half pounds each. I was lucky 
enough to find my cooking traps after another hunt, and 
after arriving at the cabin we had four trout of about two 
pounds each frying in the pan, and soon had a dinner “fit 
for the gods;" one that would tempt the most fastidious. We 
were now all right, having plenty to eat aud drink, and as 
our shantv got warm and dry it was very comfortable. 
The following day there came on a thaw aud covered the 
ice with water, which made it uncomfortable fishing; be- 
sides the fish do not bite well when snow water is running. 
The snow had become so soft that it was impossible to 
walk on snow-shoes, so we were obliged to remuiu until 
it should freeze up, which it did on the night of the 16th, 
and the next morning wc put our fish, about sixty pounds 
weight, into a bag and tying it to the sled started for home. 
When within five miles of the Fenton House, in making a 
turn the road, two figures appeared in the distance ap- 
proaching us. There was no mistaking W's slow and lazy 
gait, but the other seemed to be the figure of a female. 
Could it be, and the snow four feet deep! On a nearer ap- 
proach we saw it was Miss Rosa Wardwell on snow shoes. 
She was in advance of her father, while he seemed to be 
doing his best to keep up with her. She had been to school 
all Winter, and was just returning home on a vacation. I 
have since been informed that she walked from No 4 to 
Stillwater, eleven miles, in three and a half hours without 
being the least fatigued. Think of that, ye city girls. Wc 
arrived home about sundown, having walked and drawn 
our sled twenty-five miles. F. Bou.es, Jr. 
DUCK SHOOTING, FOUL AND FAIR. 
SINK BOXES AND BUNDS. 
Washington City-, April 12, 1S75. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In my previous letter I demonstrated how destructive tho big guns 
were on docks, and that one big gun used will in a short time either 
drive the ducks away or render them so wild that it is impossible to get 
near enough to shoot them wilh a shoulder gun. I regret to say that 
since the laws have been made and euforced so rigidly on the Chesa- 
peake aud its tributaries, it bos sent to us all their sink boats. To your 
renders who have not seen one of these boats or read a description of 
them, I wilt give a brief sketch. The sink bout, or more properly box, 
is about six feet three inches long, one foot two Inches deep, two feet 
wide at the top, one foot eight inches at the bottom. To lids box is 
fastened a platform about twelve feet long and seven feet wide, and to 
this platform is fastened a frame covered with muslin, os follows:— 
Width at head, nine inches; width at sides, two feet. This box is car- 
ried to the shooting grounds by placing it on a boat, and is then anchored 
at head and foot, head towards the wind. The shooter then places his 
decoys at both sides and strings them towards the foot, so that the de- 
coys will form n V shupo; but place most of your decoys on the left, so 
that the ducks will come on yoor left, as this is easiest shooting. After 
this is done the shooter gets into the box and places weights iu It, so 
that it will be sunk cveu to the water. The shooter then lies down In 
tlie box with his face to the leeward, so that he can see every dart made 
and thus have an easy shot. Where ducks are plenty this Is a most des- 
tructive contrivance, as the docks can see nothing until they get over the 
decoys, and then It Is too late, for at this moment the shooter rises up 
and pours in his deadly Are After tbo bunch of decks have been shot at 
under these circumstances, they fly a long distance and do not alight 
within sight. I should say wo have about a dozen sink boxes iu tbls 
city; so you can see that between the big guns and these sink boxes our 
prospects are not very inviting. I am happy, however, to say that the 
laws in Maryland anil Virginia are so stringent that they are seldom 
violated except at a few places, and these places are such that it is im- 
possiblu to capture the violators, as they are ever on (lie lookout. The 
law that we hope to have Congress pasB next session, will impose n flno 
to ho doubled at each offence. Thure is no excuse whatever for using 
these sink boxes, or big guns, os good shooting <^n be bod at all times 
wilh a little tronble and very little expense. The place where I shoot 
contains at all times plenty of ducks, and the gentleman who owns the 
place can shoot every day iu the week and on tbe last day be has as good 
shooting ns the flrst. Now your readers will all be anxious to know bow 
such a certainty cun be accomplished. Well, ho builds what is termed 
blinds, at a distance of about a mile apart. These blinds uro made an 
follows:— Select a place from u bandied to three hundred yards from 
shore, at a place where the water la from three to ten feet deep and at 
good feeding grounds, if possible, then with a heavy hammer drive four 
posts at a distance of from four to six feet apart, forming a square. At 
a distance of nbont a foot above the highest tides, connect these posts 
with Inch stuff, uud upon this lay a flooring; about throe feet above this 
flooring fasten strip* both on the ontalde and Insldo of these posts 
aim between those opening* put in cedar or pine, so as to conceal com- 
pletely all tbe woodwork; then at the eud of the blind nearest to the 
shore make a »eat. so that when tho shooter is seated his eyes will ho Just 
abovo the cedar, so that ho can havo a full view in every direction. I 
should ray that it 1* best to leave the rear oud of the blind open, so that 
it will bo easy to get In nud out of it from a boat, having your bllud 
made, ami wishing to shoot, your next step Is to put out your deeoy»-a 
very simple thing when yon nudersioud it, but to one who has noverseeu 
it done or bad It explained to him, I might say that It la Impossible, pro- 
vided you waut good shooting. It Is true that no matter how you put 
them out yon may coax a strange duck now and then, but you will soon 
perceive that them Is some defect, for you will notice almost all tho 
ducks when they get within two or three hundred yards of yonr blind 
either turn aside or keep on the course aud pay no attention to your 
decoys. Let us supposo that tho wind Is blowing from your right; in 
this caso all the duck* will come up on your loft or to the leeward, as all 
dackB when they alight como up against the wlod. To yonr right and at 
n distance of about thirty-flvo yards, anil on a line parallel to tho front 
of yonr bllud and at a distanco of thlrty-flve yards from It, place a leader 
(deeby,) and from tbls point string yonr decoys on this paral»l line nud 
each side of It towards yonr blind so as to form a V; when directly op- 
posite your blind taper off yonr decoys, so that tbo space occupied by 
them will nearly rcsemblo a diamond. It Is best to have a good show 
directly opposite your blind, aud It Is best to Icavo several spncee, so 
tbut the ducks will select these poinU to alight in. If the decoys havo 
been placed properly, your blind properly constructed, you will got a dart 
from every bunch of ducks that may pas* up or down the river iu a 
reasonable distance from you. Novcr allow the ducks to alight, but 
shoot them when they ore hoveilng to alight, a» at tills time you have tho 
best opportunity and your lire is the most destructive. If the flock (s 
very largo, then you may let thorn alight; but I think it is a safe rule to 
never allow thorn to alight, for as soon as thoy nr© In tho water they 
separato and commence to feed immediately, aud shooting under tlioso 
circumstances yon will shoot somo of your decoys, which iudientes n 
bad sportsman. Nothing look* so had in my mlud a* to *eo a por*on 
with his decoys Ailed with shot; and you can rely upon It that he seldom 
gets one-fourth of tho game that he should. Very ofteu when wo place 
onr decoys out it Is a dead calm. Iu this ca»o tho water is as a sheet of 
glass, and tho decoys loom up to almost twice their usual size, a* Iu a 
fog, and nndar theso circumstances tho ducks will readily discover tho 
deception, long before thoy come near to you, nnd will either turn out of 
their way or will pass by beyond gun shot. Undor these circumstance 
wo can easily chnngc tho prospects aud havo good shootlug with but 
little trouble. To do this, solcct two or throe of yonr lnrgost und host 
decoys as follows:— Say two on the outsldo and one In the centre of the 
decoyi. To a loop In tho breast of each decoy run n striug to oue end, 
attach a plcco of lead, Iron or stone, weighing say two pounds, thou 
carry your strings to your blind, and as soon as yon sen a hunch of 
dneks pull these strings violently, nnd by doing this tho decoys will act 
as If feedlDg voraciously; nnd not only this, but they will create waves 
that will glvo motion to all tho other decoys. Tho past Winter 1 shot 
several times during a calm aud never failed In having good Hhootlng, nnd 
I can recollect of but one or two Instances when I failed to draw tho 
ducks (were they at a reasonable distance), and in theso Instances I mn 
confident that by our cnrelossnesa la standing up that tho ducks saw ua 
before we did them. 
We always build onrblind* Just as soon as the ducka como In tho Fall, 
go they get accustomed to it. But tho reason why wo always have good 
shooting is, that wo allow no big guns or sink boxes to bo used in the vi- 
cinity; but the most important Is, that wo halt tho placo. To do this, 
place from twenty-five to forty yards in front of onch blind, 
two or throo bnshols of corn or gralu, or tho screenings of tho same. 
Sooner or later a bunch of ducks will find thl* out, nnd will communi- 
cate It somehow or other to every duck for miles around. As soon a* 
they And it yon can rest assurrod that the ducks will remain feeding on 
this grain until It is ail gone, which will take a long time; bnt by once 
every two or three weeks putling out another buehol you will have ducks 
until they leave for their funding grounds. It Is always best to put out 
com At first, as tbe ducks notice this so much sooner, nnd after tbls bait 
with ryo or wheat, which Is more dlfllcalt for thorn to get. Now thin 
shooting will bo all right as long as the river does not freexo, or the Ice 
Is not over an inch or two thick. In this latter caso wo brenk tho ice la 
front of the blind, so as to havo a space about forty or sixty yard* sqaare, 
and then by placing the decoys out wo will have tbe best of shooting, as 
this will be the only open water In tho vicinity, and by placing decoy* In 
It you cannot fall to draw evory bunch that may pas* op or down. But 
in case the ice is from four to eight inches thick nnd freezing all tho 
time, as it was lust Winter, wo have to resort to another method. In all 
freezes there are air holes open at some placo or other within a mllo or 
two of our blind or of our house, and tho question Is how to get our boat 
there wilh its load of decoys, Ac. (Let me say here that la duck shooting 
none but a flat boat should be used, as tbls Is tho only one that can go 
In shallow water, be hauled on shore or transported without trounle In a 
wagon .) We nail two thin strips (about an inch thick) on tho bottom of 
the boat, as runners, and then ihln them from the centre to each ond, so 
as to form a sort of ovnl. To these runners fasten Iron about an Inch 
wide, nnd let this iron be what is termed half oval, (which can ho pro- 
cured at any hardware store). I should *ny that the runners should bn as 
long ns possible, nnd placed about throo or four Inches from the edge of 
the bout, aud then not allow tho ratmers lobe nearer than four inches to 
the end or point of the boat. With a boat fixed In this manner the least 
force exerted will make It elide rapidly over tho ice. In going with a 
bout on the ice from ono place to another, never pull it with a rope by 
walking In front of the boat. This I* the way ibat all novices will act, 
bnt It Is dnngeron*. from tho following reason, viz:— that no matter how 
thick the ico may be, there are always somo thin places, ond thorn will 
give away as soon as ono gets on thorn with hi* full weight; In such a 
case you will get a good ducking at the best, and run the risk of a more 
serious disaster. To avoid all theso risks you push tho boat from be- 
hind by placing your hands at the stern, aud have your body thrown well 
forward; Is this case, if tho ice gives way, you can easily Jump Inlo (lie 
boat without risk, or ul the most have only a wet foot. I howovor, for 
safety take hooks along. They are made similar to Ice hook*. I cannot 
well describe them hero, except to say that they are much shorter than 
ice hooks and very light. By sitting well forward in the boat and using 
this hook you can go along rapidly with very little exertion, and If the 
Ice should give way you aro safe In tho boat. In casoyoubreakln.lt 
is easy with an ico hook to pull your boat upon strong Ice. When wo 
arrive at the pluco whero wo wish to shoot, we can either build a blind 
ont o/ice, or use the bout as a blind. In the former case, we pile up 
cakes of ice about three feet high, building it In a seml-circolar form, 
nnd then by placing a few boards on the ice, or bags of straw, wo have n 
comfortable sbooliDg place. If wo Intend to use the boat us a bllud then 
all wo have to do Is to place it parallel to our lino of decoys aud place 
cakes of ice on the wde of it next to onr decoys, so as to moke the boat 
look like u hummock of Ice. But in Oils case, however, (and I might 
add in all our shooting on Ico) wo must wear a long while shirt and havo 
onr hat white by using a havelock. Then by sitting iu tbo boat or on 
tbe ice, It la almost Impossible for tho duck* U> see you, provided yon 
keep quick A great many persons in *bootlug on ice whiten their gun 
burrelH with chalk, as a black barrel is very apt to be noticed. I havo 
never as vet taken this trouble, asjby keeping quiet 1 have always man 
aged to get a shot. 
Snch are somo of our various modes of shooting dneks on Ice, and I 
trust that they may bo useful to somo of your reuders, a* I have never 
scon them in prlDt. There are a great many other devices used, but my 
letter Is too long already. If any of your readers should at tbo next 
shooting season be successful in tho ways I have Indicated, I earnestly 
hope that no mat'er how fascinating the sport may be. they will not 
shoot any more than they need, and not take delight la shooting when 
they have more game than they wank Duke. 
