46 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Jan. 13, 1912. 
Quail Shooting. 
Denton, N. C., Jan. 3. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: One day in December Rear-Admiral 
Thomas Perry and Judge Cornell killed five quail 
out of a bevy, and they seemed to us uncommon¬ 
ly big birds. The apothecary’s scales show the fol- 
ing weights: One cock, 714 ounces; one hen, 
7J4 ounces; two cocks, 6J4 ounces each; one 
hen, 6J4 ounces. 
We were shooting over beautiful grounds re¬ 
cently acquired for our club. Can you tell me 
the record weight for quail? 
On Christmas day Judge Cornell, of New 
York, and myself spent the day quail shooting, 
which appeared in the morning to be a very 
poor day for sport, but we had one of the best 
days of the season. It looked every minute 
as if rain would pour. I do not remember of 
ever seeing any better dog work or birds more 
plentiful, the Judge killing a nice bag of fifteen, 
nearly every bird over points. In the morning 
we hunted Homer, Mr. Thebaud’s griffon, with 
the Judge’s favorite field trial winner. Rock. 
These dogs worked to perfection. It was odd 
to see an English setter and a griffon pointing 
and backing. The griffon is a great retriever; 
on one occasion he followed a bird down a 
stream, where the current had taken it for 
one hundred yards. Whether the dog took the 
scent from the water I can not say, but if he 
did not he surely reasoned the thing out, for 
he followed down stream until he came to the 
bird, which had lodged against the bank. 
That afternoon we hunted Rye and a young 
pointer the Judge had just purchased. One 
piece of good work after another was per¬ 
formed, in fact I saw Rye do one of the best 
pieces of roading I ever saw any dog do. These 
birds went up wind, down wind and' across 
wind, but Rye nailed them in good shape; never 
once put his nose in the grass or pottered on 
scent. 
I have never seen such large quail and as 
many of them as we have on these grounds, 
the Denton Sportsman Club. 
G. Dan Morc.^n. 
[The average weight is about to 8 ounces. 
—Editor.] 
San Francisco, Cal., Jan. i.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The fish and game commission 
will shortly make a number of reports covering 
the work of the past year. Prominent among 
the investigations now being made is that in 
regard to the alarming decrease in the number 
of valley quail in the sections where a few years 
ago they were plentiful. Fish and game officials 
in the various districts of the State have been 
instructed to look into this matter and to ex¬ 
press their opinions as to the reasons for this 
decrease. Without an exception these officials 
have stated that in their opinion excessive 
shooting is toiblame for present conditions and 
radical changes in the present law are urged. 
The automobile as a means of rapid transpor¬ 
tation is held largely responsible for the in¬ 
creased interest that has been taken in quail 
shooting. It has also increased the activity of 
the market hunter, for in spite of the game 
officials, quail are to be found in the market. 
The commission is attempting to secure a large 
number of live birds, and during the coming 
season special attention will be given at the 
Game Farm to the rearing of valley quail. Mr. 
Dirks, the new superintendent, has made a great 
success in rearing quail and his experiments 
have upset some of the ideas formerly enter¬ 
tained. He has proved that quail can be raised 
the same as pheasants with one male for five 
or six females. 
The rapid decrease in the number of quail in 
Marin county has resulted in an agitation to 
have a bounty paid for predatory animals, and 
this is being considered by the supervisors. The 
sportsmen of that county have organized a 
strong protective association. They desire that 
the open season be made more uniform through¬ 
out the State, and that in most cases it be 
shortened. They favor the payment of hunting 
licenses to the county clerk, the money secured 
to be devoted to each particular county, and 
further desire a system of county patrol. 
So far this season no reports have been re¬ 
ceived of any malady among waterfowl in Cali¬ 
fornia, although from other sections, notably 
the Salt Lake district, information has been 
received of ducks dying in large numbers. Last 
season thousands of ducks died in the Stockton 
and Tulare Lake districts and preparations have 
been made for a thorough investigation by State 
and Federal officials in case there is a recur¬ 
rence of the trouble. 
Louis Rink, of San Francisco, died recently. 
He was a member of the Gustine Gun Club, 
the Golden Gate Gun Club and the California 
Wing Club. He was an expert at the traps. A 
traveling man by occupation, he covered a large 
part of the State and enjoyed the friendship of 
leading sportsmen. Golden Gate. 
Raleigh, N. C., Jan. d — Editor Forest and 
Stream: V’ery curious things happen to sports¬ 
men, and one of these occurred in Chatham 
county. Three men were hunting quail. One of 
them fired at a bird and some of the shot struck 
a poplar tree and a few shot glanced therefrom. 
Two of them struck Mr. Bruce, one in the fore¬ 
head and the other under the eye, the latter mak¬ 
ing a very painful wound, which has put the 
sportsman in the hospital. A look at the place 
where the accident occurred shows that the shot 
glanced from the tree at a most peculiar angle, 
and in fact seems to have almost rebounded, in 
order to strike Mr. Bruce. The gun was in the 
hands of a very careful sportsman, who had no 
idea that Mr. Bruce could be injured, but the 
case shows that it is very hard to tell what may 
happen. 
As the quail hunting season goes on, it is seen 
that there is a heavy.crop of birds in the pink 
of condition and well grown, and excellent bags 
have been made almost daily, though ten days 
of rain in December cut out a deal of shooting. 
Men from the North have made in some cases 
strenuous efforts to get birds out of the State, 
and a few have succeeded. It is said that in 
one case the shell of a large cheese was used 
to contain the birds, because the man figured 
that the trained bird dogs which have exposed 
so many of these shipments would thus be at 
fault. But now the wardens and the railway 
people are on to this scheme, as well as practi¬ 
cally all the others. 
The coldest weather of the winter has started 
in, and this will greatly improve the duck, goose 
and swan shooting from Morehead City north¬ 
ward, on the long stretches of the sounds. 
The deer shooting in the eastern section has 
so far been, good. Sportsmen will find Jackson¬ 
ville, the county seat of Onslow, very good head¬ 
quarters for good shooting, and in winter for 
fishing and other sports along the stretch of that 
singular stream the New River, which is really 
a salt water estuary, wide, deep and only about 
twenty-five miles long, with fresh water streams 
pouring in on both sides, in considerable num¬ 
bers. Fred A. Olds. 
Insect Pests. 
Tarpon Springs, Fla., Jan. 4. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: In your issue of Dec. 30, your 
correspondent “A.” asks about insect or animal 
pests in the South. The station where I live is 
241 miles south of Jacksonville, and perhaps 
two and a half miles from the Gulf of Mexico. 
I have camped scores of times along the west 
coast of Florida, and a few miles inland. From 
Nov. i until the last of March, there is little 
trouble of any kind, unless occasionally from 
hogs or rats. I have seen the latter near the 
mouths of the rivers. The hogs, if you are near 
their paths, may trouble you at night—not 
often, however. Mosquitoes are not bad in the 
winter. Roaches are to be met with anywhere, 
and I always prefer to hang my eatables in a 
tree in order to avoid them. Punkies are some¬ 
times troublesome, but not often. Scorpions 
are scarce, and I think not dangerous, though 
their sting is painful. I have never seen “jig¬ 
gers” here, though they are common in South¬ 
west Missouri. 
The meanest insect pest here is the redbug. 
They are not in evidence between Nov. i and 
the last of March. They do not bite every jier- 
son, but are annoying to some. Cooking .soda 
or coal oil are the best remedies. 
The insects never troubled me in Southern 
California, but I think it was because that coun¬ 
try is so dry. Kelpie. 
Easy to Find. 
Batavia, N. Y., Jan. 5.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The changing of the pheasant season 
to November for last year, 1911, has made it 
easy to track them, and large numbers have been 
killed the season just past. Our association, the 
Genesee County Fish and Game Protective As¬ 
sociation, introduced resolutions at Schenectady 
and Rochester, State League and Western New 
York Association, respectively, to change the sea¬ 
son back to October and Thursdays only. We 
must watch out not to kill the goose laying the 
golden eggs. 
Our partridge (grouse) has about been cleaned 
out in this county, and we expect to get a three 
years’ closed season beginning in the fall. 
Chas. W. Gardiner, President. 
