112 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Jan. 24, 1914. 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Hazen, President 
W. G. Beecboft, Secretary. Charles L. Wise, Treasurer. 
2‘2 Thames Street, New York. 
^CORRESPONDENCE:— Forest and Stream is the 
recognized medium of entertainment, instruction and informa¬ 
tion between American sportsmen. The editors invite com¬ 
munications on tlie subjects to which its pages are devoted, but, 
of course, are not responsible for the views of correspondents. 
Anonymous communications cannot be regarded. 
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This paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout the 
United States, Canada and Great Britain. Foreign Subscrip¬ 
tion and Sales Agents—London; Davies & Co., 1 Finch Lane; 
Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano’s. 
Entered in New York Post Office as Second class matter. 
THE ANGLER IN WINTER. 
The Northern angler, whose business and 
whose purse allow it, practically knows no winter. 
He goes South. The Southern angler keeps it 
up all winter; in fact that is his best season, 
for the combined effect of heat and insects 
renders his summer fishing a questionable enjoy¬ 
ment. 
With these two classes our present article 
has naught to do. We write of the angler ot 
the North whose lakes and streams are frozen 
and who, for various reasons, cannot spend two 
or three months in Florida. What can he do? 
Many of the hardier sort fish through the ice 
for the ever-hungry pike. Holes are cut, fires 
are built and the angler, well swathed in wool¬ 
ens, keeps his blood in brisk circulaiion by run¬ 
ning from one hole to another to take out the 
fish which has notified him of its readiness to be 
so taken by hoisting the flag attached to the 
“toggle” at the upper end of the line; or he goes 
to see that the hole has not frozen over and that 
the line will run free. If the ice be free from 
snow he does this on skates although many 
affect to despise it as “handline fishing with no 
chance to play a fish,” it 's a good and a hardy 
sport. The cold air is exhilarating, and the 
appetite is enormous. After a week of such 
fishing in ordinary fair winter weather, a man 
returns “like a giant refreshed with wine.” 
This and smelt angling near the sea coast 
are about all that the Northern angler gets un¬ 
less he takes the lake trout in much the same 
manner; but the lake trout is not often found in 
the smaller lakes and when not forbidden by law, 
is usually taken by professionals, in winter. The 
black bass in the North hibernates and so do 
most Northern anglers. Winter is .lie time that 
the tackle is overhauled, rods varnished, reels 
repaired and lines tested. The tackle maker re¬ 
ceives orders for new rods, made to a specified 
length and weight, not to exceed a lair’s avoir¬ 
dupois in the latter, and the old lines are ex¬ 
amined foot by foot for flaws that might lose 
the largest fish of the coming season. Flies are 
inspected and laid away in camphor or, better 
yet, in tightly corked bottles, to keep the moths 
away. The gut is looked at with a critical eve, 
and the frayed parts cut out or rubbed smooth 
with India rubber. 
What anticipations of coming glorious sport 
the care of fine tackle brings! What memories of 
past achievements its contemplation conjures up! 
The cleaning and oiling of the smooth-running 
reel is a pleasure. Its sharp click recalls the 
struggle with a two-pound trout in the pool 
under the roots of the oia sycamore; or the 
silent whirl of the multiplier suggests the fierce 
fig'ht with the great bass, which was the envy 
of the local fishermen and the talk of the town 
for days after, and which was finally recorded 
in the pages of Forest and Stream. 
The Northern angler in his hibernation has 
these enjoyments, and others besides. He now 
looks back over the printed record of angling in 
all parts of the country in the pages above re¬ 
ferred to, which he only had time to hurriedly 
scan in summer. He reads the angling books 
which he has bought during the summer, es¬ 
pecially to be read during these long winter 
evenings; for your enthusiastic angler loves fish¬ 
ing books next to fishing, and always has a 
coiner in his library where a goodly collection 
of them is to be found. Before a cneerful fire, 
pipe in mouth, the hibernating angler of the 
North takes in a world of quiet pleasure and 
learning from his books and his Forest and 
Stream —pleasures which those who can fish all 
the year round know little of. 
THE BUCK LAW SHOULD REMAIN. 
There is one subject upon which all thought¬ 
ful sportsmen agree, namely, the necessity of 
important changes in, and additions to the Con¬ 
servation Law of the State, in relation to hunt¬ 
ing as well as fishing and game conditions in 
the Adirondacks. We place these subjects in the 
order of their importance. 
Henry Chase, the well-known game protec¬ 
tor of Bennington, Vt., asks what need is there 
in our heavily wooded forests of these high pow¬ 
er rifles, and says that the notion is absurd that 
deer cannot be captured without such rifles. He 
refers to the fact that Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire where large numbers of deer have 
just been killed, allow only shot guns to be used, 
and gives the important information that loaded 
ball-shells “more deadly” at from 50 to 75 yards 
(225 feet) “than any bullet from any rifle now 
ci the market” can be readily obtained from re¬ 
liable cartridge makers. He also states, what is 
well known to every hunter, that one rarely, if 
ever, gets a shot at a deer in the woods at a 
greater distance than 200 feet, and recommends 
the 38-40 or 44-40 and like calibres as the safest 
rifle for use in the Adirondacks. 
In a similar vein is the communication of 
Mr. C. S. Foster of Winsted, Connecticut, also 
published in Jan 3, 1914 issue, who says that 
he came near being shot twice in the Adiron¬ 
dacks by these long range gold pencils, and that 
it is no longer safe for any person to go into 
the woods during the hunting season. 
In Ticonderoga, New York, at Eagle 
Lake, was organized about 15 years ago, a local 
association for mutual protection in deer bunt¬ 
ing time—and they have s^me deer in Essex 
County, too. It was called K. W. Y. A. A. and 
the meaning of these mysterious characters is 
simply Know What You Aim At. This body 
is purely voluntary in nature. No dues are 
charged, but all members are requested to meet 
once a year in New York City and eat a good 
dinner paid for by themselves. From these gath¬ 
erings held at the Yale Club and elsewhere many 
valuable suggestions have originated, including 
one for the use of black or low pressure pow¬ 
der rifles for Adirondack deer hunting. While 
a few members have lately taken up the 30-30 H. 
P.. the great majority still use the 38-55 black 
powder Winchester or similar rifles of other 
makes and “vintages” with which they are now 
killing deer regularly. As a result of caution in¬ 
stilled by K. W. Y. A. A. not a single case of 
death in the forests by being mistaken for game 
or from wandering bullets lias occurred in that 
immediate section in 15 years, although much 
hunting is done both by city men and natives. 
The average Adirondack hunter buys a H. 
P. rifle because he thinks that with it he can 
reach game at great distances, across lakes and 
from mountain to mountain with greater certain¬ 
ty than with the ordinary rifle. This may be 
true from a sharpshooter’s point of view, but a 
true sportsman must take into account the safety 
of his fellow men when hunting. Suppose, for 
instance, that one sees a deer standing on the 
opposite shore of a pond 500 yards (1500 feet) 
distant. What are the chances that the average 
shot without a ’scope will place his soft-nosed 
bullet from a H. P. in a vital spot and thus 
secure that deer? In any event there will be but 
little chance of his getting in a second hit at that 
distance before the game will be off. Now, by 
the time a boat has been hunted up or a painful 
floundering around the pond through the dense 
tangle and bog accomplished, where will that 
deer have gone? In nine cases out of ten he 
will never be found. If hit in any vital place, 
he will eventually die a lingering death. So, what 
good did that rifle do this man after all. Fur¬ 
ther than this, Mr. Sportsman must not shoot 
now at a buck unless the animal’s horns are 3 
inches long. How can he with the naked eye 
decide this sex and horn question at, say, one- 
third of a mile or more? Clearly then, the long 
range flat trajectory weapon is not needed, as 
the law now stands. There can be no logical 
reason for its further use. But the real danger 
to brother sportsmen and others from shots like 
this, or those across fields and roads, must here¬ 
after be taken into account, even if we have to 
give up long distance shooting altogether. It 
was formerly considered a mark of sportsman¬ 
ship never to fire at a deer or other animal, un¬ 
less the rifle or gun covered a vital spot, so that 
a single shot would kill. Hear the words of 
Natty Bumpo when training “La Longue Cara¬ 
bine” upon the panther that had just killed a 
faithful old dog: “Hist! Stoop lowe r gal; yer 
bunnet hides the critter’s head.” That shows 
what the old flint-lock marksman expected of 
his trusty single-shot rifle. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Down through the Forest’s leaf-thatched roof 
The sunbeams sift their way 
And light the dim, rough pihared aisles 
Where wood nymphs laugh and play. 
At night the camp-fire’s fitful blaze 
Reveals the nearby trees 
To those who rest on balsam boughs 
And feel the drowsy breeze. 
The restless Stream flows ever on— 
In silence o’er the lea 
Or laughing down the hillside steep 
It seeks the distant sea. 
From far beneath its moss-grown banks 
Or from its rock-bound depths 
The speckled trout beholds the fly 
And, rising swiftly, leaps. 
Dreams, idle dreams! The city’s grip 
Restrains from wood and mead, 
Our only consolation is 
To turn these leaves and read. 
F. G. 
