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FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 17, 1906. 
The large number of birds left last fall and the 
mild winter certainly promised much. It is true 
the spring was cold and rainy, but there must be 
other reasons for the scarcity. I am told by 
poultry men that last spring was an unusually 
bad season for the hatching out of eggs. It 
would be interesting to. know the reasons for 
this, and if the same conditions could apply to 
the Wild members of the gallinaceous family. 
Woodcock, both native and flight birds, have 
been found in unusually good numbers this fall. 
For the past five seasons the writer has carefully 
hunted this bird in the same covers and believes 
that it is in no danger of extermination. It is cer¬ 
tainly holding its own, if not somewhat on the 
increase. He not long ago very luckily dis¬ 
covered a new cover, an old pasture grown up 
to alders on a partially abandoned farm. He esti¬ 
mated that there were at least fifteen acres of 
alders with old cow paths winding through them. 
He put up some twenty different woodcock in 
only a partial beating of the ground. The writer 
does not profess to be a good judge of farms, 
but this alder-covered pasture was to him the 
most attractive piece of real estate he has seen 
in a long time. There is certainly hope for the 
abandoned farms of New England if they will 
only grow alders. H. A. Noyes. 
The Long Island Deer Season. 
New York City, Nov. 9.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Is it not evidence of a decided lack of 
interest and public spirit upon the part of sports¬ 
men in the State of New York that an open sea¬ 
son on deer in Long Island should longer be 
tolerated? The motley and ill-equipped mob that 
crosses the East river annually, to inflict damage 
upon property, to shoot each other, and incident¬ 
ally to frighten the few deer in Suffolk county, 
is a nuisance to Long Islanders, and a disgrace 
to the State. 
If it is necessary, in the interests of agricul¬ 
turists, to prevent any increase in this number of 
deer at large in that section, let it be done by 
confining the animals so far as practicable, upon 
the preserves of the South Side Gun Club and 
other like organizations, all of whom would 
doubtless be glad to co-operate with the State 
authorities to this end. Such provision, and the 
inauguration of a permanent close season on 
Long Island deer would not only relieve Suffolk 
county from annual raids by New York “sports¬ 
men” (heaven save the mark), but would event¬ 
ually result in building up a herd that might be 
drawn upon from year to year, for restocking 
other sections of- the State in which deer hunting 
may be participated in with less annoyance and 
danger to citizens. 
It seems eminently within the province of 
Forest and Stream, as the representative sports¬ 
man’s journal of the State and country, to take 
up this question and push it to a successful issue. 
Harry Palmer. 
Another North Carolina Preserve. 
A press dispatch from Baltimore says New 
York and Baltimore men have formed the 
Croatan Club and acquired a tract of 22,000 acres 
in North Carolina for a game preserve. Those 
interested are Gen. John Gill and Bernard N. 
Baker, of Baltimore; James T. and William 
Woodward, Oakley Thorne, Cord Meyer, James 
Henry Smith, William B. Dickerman, Andrew 
W. Smith, D. M. Look, and W. M. Barnum, all 
of New York, and William Du Pont, of Mont¬ 
pelier, Va. 
These capitalists will incorporate the Croatan 
Club, each of the twelve subscribing $5,000 to the 
capital stock. With this fund it is proposed to- 
erect a club house and keeper’s home on the 
property and to make other improvements. 
The tract acquired is in the vicinity of Man¬ 
chester, in North Carolina, and is traversed by 
the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad. 
There are 8,000 acres of arable land in it. This 
will be cultivated in corn, wheat, buckwheat, hay 
and other necessities for the wild game, but none 
of the product will be harvested for market. 
There is a lake of 500 acres on the property well 
stocked with fish. The new club house will over¬ 
look this. It will be arranged to- accommodate 
the families of the members and their friends, 
as the preserve is intended by its owners to be 
a place of enjoyment for their wives and 
daughters as well as themselves. 
The forest, which is of spruce, pine and hem¬ 
lock, abounds in deer, pheasants, quail, wild tur¬ 
keys, squirrels and rabbits. There are also many 
foxes. 
The Chinese Sportsman’s Gun. 
Bremerton, Wash., Oct. 31 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream.: I have recently returned from a so¬ 
journ of several years in different parts of Asia, 
and was much interested in seeing in a late num¬ 
ber of Forest and Stream an article describing 
some of the fashions of the Chinese hunters. I 
have never had the pleasure of participating in 
sport as they practice it, but can. confirm the 
statements made as to the shooting arms used. 
I have seen, hundreds of these guns, some of 
the finest workmanship and elaborately inlaid 
with gold and silver, and with dragons and var¬ 
ious other animals—actual and mythical—carved 
on them. The handles or stocks are just as were 
represented by the writer. 
During a recent short stay in Ki.u Iviang, 1 
was told that deer, ducks, pheasants and other 
srpall game were abundant in that part of the 
country. 
China, of course, needs .to be modernized, but 
Japan is very different, and its inhabitants are 
industrious little folk. R. I. Cooper. 
Killed by a Tame Buck. 
The body of Herbert Bradley was found last 
Saturday night in the - woods on his estate near 
Montclair, N. J., and next day it was proved that 
a pet bnck deer had injured him so badly that he 
bled to death from a wound in the thigh. Mr. 
Bradley was last, seen alive shortly before dark 
on Saturday, engaged with a servant, in putting 
out a fire in the dead leaves on his place. From 
evidences found next day it appears that the 
buck charged him and that he tried to drive it 
away with a broom he was using to- beat out the 
fire, but it wounded him so- severely that he died 
from loss of blood after crawling a hundred 
yards toward his house. He was missed and the 
search began after he had bled to death. Next 
day the buck was found to be spattered with 
blood, and shot. The buck was one of the small 
herd kept as pets on the place, and it is supposed 
that Mr. Bradley, in fighting the fire, paid no 
attention to the excited buck until it made for 
him. 
In South Florida. 
Homosassa, Fla., Nov. 10.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Far down on the gulf coast of Florida, 
hidden away from the beaten tracks of travel, 
lies the village of Homosassa. The sportsman 
can find here just what he is looking for. If 
he cares not for shooting, he can find thousands 
of the gamest fish. To one unacquainted with 
the teeming life in river and gulf the stories of 
big catches sound like fairy tales. On the river 
sheepshead, drumfish, black bass, bream, shiners 
and sea trout are a few of the varieties found. 
With the incoming tide schools of fish enter the 
bays, creeks and river. 
Bear, wildcats and panthers are plentiful. The 
whitetail deer are found here. The panther is 
hunted by torchlight by a few sportsmen, but 
as a rule this animal is left severely alone. The 
climate is particularly good. The warm waters 
from the gulf afford protection from sudden 
changes—no snow; no piercing winds. 
W. L. Lowry. 
Commissioner Whipple’s Lodge Burned. 
Halcyon Lodge, on North Mountain, near 
Salamanca, N. Y., the summer home of State 
Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner J. S. 
Whipple, was burned recently, together with its 
contents and Mr. Whipple’s collection of fire¬ 
arms, relics and books. It is said the fire was 
started through the carelessness of a plumber, 
who was at work in the house and left a lamp 
burning when he went away. 
Kiamika Club Hunts in Canada. 
Hudson, N. Y., Nov. 5 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The first hunt of the Kiamika Club of 
Quebec closed successfully on Oct. 31. This club, 
which was formed last summer, has under lease 
about one hundred square miles of forest and 
lakes that have been hunted and fished by the 
Indians only. Deer were taken to the limit of 
the law by the hunting party, although the ground 
was unfamiliar to many of the members, and the 
Indians employed as guides were poor hunters. 
1 he members of the club believe they have one 
of the most desirable hunting and fishing tracts 
in Canada. But one of the numerous lakes has 
been fished by others than the Indians, and then- 
reports of the quantity and size of the fish swarm¬ 
ing in the waters would be doubted, were it not 
that they have received ample corroboration from 
observations made by the members of the "hunt” 
who- saw the fish on the spawning beds. Lake 
trout to thirty pounds in weight have been 
brought in by the Indians,.and Canadian red trout 
up to seven pounds. 
I he only drawback to the perfection of this 
tract is the number of wolves that roam the 
-forest, but the club guardians will devote much 
of their time this winter, while building camps 
and opening up the preserve, to the extermina¬ 
tion of these destroyers. 
I he party report numerous signs of bear; 
partridges were found everywhere, and ducks and 
geese were seen on all the waters. 
J he members are already looking forward tri 
the spring fishing, and on many bodies of water 
next May will be cast the first artificial fly. 
Simon- 
No Deer Shooting in New Jersey. 
All doubt in relation to the New Jersey deer 
law has been swept away by an opinion submitted 
to Governor Stokes by Assistant Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral Duffield in which he holds that deer are pro¬ 
tected absolutely until June 20, 1909, and the open 
season will consist of the' Wednesdays in the 
month of November of that year. Last winter 
the old law was amended by the legislature, and 
three years added to the closed season, but the 
construction of the law was not generally under¬ 
stood, hence Governor Stokes asked the attorney- 
general for an opinion, in order that there need 
be no doubt. 
Hunting on Military Reservations. 
1 hree sportsmen, of Leavenworth, Kan., were 
arrested by the military authorities recently, 
charged with hunting on the Fort Leavenworth 
military reservation. They were taken before the 
officer of the guard, who held their guns, but 
released the men, he being uncertain what steps 
to take tow'ard punishing them for violating the 
recently promulgated order issued by Secretary 
I aft s office, forbidding hunting on military 
reservations. Later on the men were held iii 
light bonds to appear before a magistrate for 
trial. ■ 
November. 
A cold gray mist that bites one to the bone, 
A gray goose harking southward quite alo.ne, 
The last one loth to leave the frozen north, 
When, lo! from out the mist the sun peeps forth, 
And all arrayed in gold the autumn stands 
With golden-rod and asters in her Kind. 
A cold wind, wet with hints of snow, 
The sluggish brook, too full of leaves to flow; 
October’s red has changed to sober brown, 
In serried ranks the leave's have-drifted down; 
The dead leaves rustle to the rabbit’s tread. 
Where once the robin sang the Bob White calls instead. 
Along the stream, round many a curve and twist, 
A hunter, silhouetted through the mist; 
His -brown duck coat as dreary as the day, 
While just ahead the bird dog trails away. 
He stops and stands with one foot raised, 
A gun barks thickly — ’tis November days. 
Wm. Felter. 
