March i, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
271 
not have enough manhood to appear and render 
what assistance he could. 
An amusing incident also occurred in the 
same country. A hunter who was wearing a 
red hat had it shot from his head. Instantly 
dropping behind a rock, he waited for the man 
to come up and claim his game. I like to 
imagine what would have happened if he had 
done so, but unfortunately the hunter passed on 
his way with the remark that he had shot at 
a sheep, but he did not think it worth while to 
climb up and see. 
If the Legislatures of our different States 
do not make strict laws that would tend to 
protect hunters against such carelessness, do you 
not think they ought to give permission to the 
victims to take a return shot? I firmly believe 
that any Montana jury would quickly acquit any 
man charged with such an offense. 
Wm. St. John. 
Hunting in California. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
With the quail season at an end and but 
a few days left in which to hunt ducks, the 
winter shooting season may be regarded as being 
over. Taking everything into consideration, the 
season as a whole has been a satisfactory one 
for sportsmen, as game has been fairly plenti¬ 
ful. The quail season was late in commencing, 
as the birds hatched late, and in some sections 
of the State the opening dates were postponed 
for several w^eeks. Ducks have been quite plen¬ 
tiful throughout the season and geese have been 
present in their usual large numbers. Records 
kept by the California Fish and Game Commis¬ 
sion place the number of deer killed at 7,200, 
but it is likely that the number is nearer 10,000, 
as the reports from some counties are incom¬ 
plete. 
The valley quail of California is in greater 
need of immediate protection than any other 
game bird at the present time, unless it be the 
wild pigeon. Within the past five years a very 
marked decrease is to be noted in the number 
of quail, and this grand game bird is now more 
sought for than ever. The automobile and the 
game hog are largely responsible for its dis¬ 
appearance, and there are but few places where 
it is unmolested. The problem of conserving 
the valley quail will probably be solved by set¬ 
ting aside game districts in certain sections of 
the State where hunting will be allowed at no 
time. Quail are quick to take advantage of pro¬ 
tection, as can be seen in Golden Gate Park, 
where they are to be found by the thousands, 
and on private farms where hunting is not al¬ 
lowed. The setting aside of a few breeding 
preserves in favorable locations would solve the 
quail question for all time. A start along this 
line has been made, and it is proposed to pro¬ 
hibit hunting on all municipal watersheds. 
Duck shooting has been good during the 
month of February along the bay shores, in the 
marshes and other sections where water is to 
be found. In some places, however, the con¬ 
tinued dry spell has kept waterfowl away, and 
sport has been unsatisfactory. Of late, canvas- 
backs have been plentiful, and most of the bags 
were of these. 
The State Legislature is now taking a thirty 
days’ recess, as provided by law, but will con¬ 
vene again on March ii and take up its work. 
Considerable attention will be devoted to the 
non-sale of game measure, advocated by Cali¬ 
fornia sportsmen through their various organi¬ 
zations, but the hotel men and kindred interests 
are planning to fight this proposition to a finish. 
Not only that, but they promise to introduce 
measures placing quail, doves and deer on the 
list of game that may be sold. The latter half 
of the session of the 1913 Legislature promises 
to be of great interest to those interested in 
the conservation of wild life. 
The Marin county hills, although but a short 
distance from San Francisco, form the haunts 
SNIPE SHOOTING. 
Drawing by Hy. Watson. 
of many predatory animals, and those desiring 
a day’s sport behind a pack of dogs can have 
it without journeying far. A. Tosy, who lives 
at Tocoloma, recently had an unusually success¬ 
ful day’s hunt, bringing home with him three 
panthers, one wildcat, one ’coon, three foxes and 
four skunks. Sportsmen of that county advocate 
a bounty on predatory animals, so plentiful have 
they become. 
Wolf Caught in Wire Fence. 
Fort Dodge, Iowa, Feb. 10. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The statement that a large timber 
wolf was found near this place, caught in a 
wire fence, may seem an odd assertion. How¬ 
ever strange it may seem, the statement is true. 
While this is a prairie country, and all the 
prairie land under cultivation, there is consider¬ 
able timber along the Des Moines River. The 
wolves still remain in the wooded broken coun¬ 
try on the river below here, and about two weeks 
ago a teacher of a country school in Otho town¬ 
ship, driving to her school house, saw a large 
wolf entangled in a wire fence near the road. 
The teacher informed a Mr. Chelleen, who 
lives near the school house, and the latter found 
the wolf securely held by a hind leg in the wire 
fence. Chelleen shot the animal and brought 
the skin to the county auditor’s office to obtain 
the bounty. The skin was that of a large gray 
timber wolf. Mr. Chelleen said the wolf was 
caught by the hind leg which had in some way 
been caught between the top wire of the woven 
wire fence, and a strand of barbed wire which 
was strung along the top of the woven wire. In 
its struggle to get free, the wolf had broken 
its leg and the skin of the broken member had 
been pierced by the barbs on the upper wire. 
The wolf must have crawled under the upper 
wire and then gone over the top of it, as the 
skin of the broken leg was wrapped around this 
wire and held by the barbs. The ways of civili¬ 
zation are not kind to wild creatures. 
C. A. Bryant. 
Frank Forester. 
Pipestone, Minn., Feb. 21. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: As a collector of sporting litera¬ 
ture, I wish to thank you for the article on 
Henry Wm. Herbert (Frank Forester) con¬ 
tained in your last number. I have many auto¬ 
graph letters, portraits, etc., of this greatest of 
American sporting writers, and copies of all his 
books pertaining to angling and shooting, to¬ 
gether with many newspaper and magazine clip¬ 
pings of a biographical nature, and a number of 
biographies. The Hollyer etching is superior 
to the one you give from frontispiece to “Field 
Sports.’’ The Zimmerman photograph, from a 
painting by Meade, is a very beautiful portrait. 
It is true, as Ralph Penbrook says, that 
Forester’s dwelling on the pleasures of the 
punch bowl was in a measure unwise, but such 
allusions are only to be found in his stories of 
a lighter vein, particularly “The Warwick Wood¬ 
lands’’ and its sequels “My Shooting Box’’ and 
“The Deer Stalkers” (what grand sketches they 
are!). But such criticism cannot be made on 
that great American sporting classic, “Frank 
Forester’s Field Sports,” on which his reputa¬ 
tion chiefly lies. 
Let us have more such articles. 
Alfred Peterson. 
The Latch String. 
Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 6 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: It is not necessary to look over Forest 
AND Stream to see that you have made a change. 
I have noticed that from time to time. Your 
circulation man is on his job, and there is no 
reason wffiy you are not coming to the front, and 
why you will not arrive, if you have not already 
arrived. We are anxious to see it succeed. We 
know that the user of an Ithaca gun will be 
suited with Forest and Stream if he reads it. 
Maybe you would like to follow the hounds. 
If you would, we have the hounds, and we have 
the foxes and the latchstring is out. Bring 
yourself and your appetite and leave everything 
else at home, as we have it. 
L. P. Smith, Ithaca Gun Co. 
