Deer Hunting in Mississippi. 
Rolling Fork, Miss., April 23.— Editor Forest 
nd Stream: The idea of a horseback night hunt 
laving taken possession of me, I decided to 
ry it. So after supper one drizzly night in 
November, and against the protest of my better 
. ialf, I saddled a horse, and getting my gun, 
cnife and cartridge belt and looking well to see 
■verytlhng in ship shape, headlight, oil, matches, 
tc., I started toward the old Campbell camp on 
four-Mile Bayou. I passed the bayou about 
) o’clock and struck the trail for Swan Lake, 
fig Muphy Brakes and the Twin Lake country. 
The night was very dark and animal eyes 
ould be seen at long distances; opossum, rac¬ 
oon and occasionally mink eyes could be seen, 
ind the mournful hoot of the laughing owl 
,ounded weirdly in the otherwise silent night. 
Suddenly on the trail where I had come was 
leard the cry of a pack of hounds', and sup¬ 
posing that my dogs ha,d broken out of their 
cennel and followed me, I stopped, hitched my 
lorse to a limb of a nearby tree and waited, 
in a few moments I saw two pairs of eyes di- 
ectly in the trail coming near and nearer. De- 
ermined to punish the dogs for their diso¬ 
bedience in following me, I stood my gun up 
>y a tree and looked for a good stick with 
vhich to give them a sound thrashing, but could 
. >nly find a cypress knee (a short growth that 
! nakes no top). I waited for them until I could 
1 ;ee the outlines dimly; then with all my force 
! threw the light piece of dead cypress and was 
nartled, not by a howl, as I expected, but by 
he bleat of a fawn. Instantly I sprang for my 
gun. but too late, for the fawn had found cover 
n the thounsands of acres of almost impene- 
rable swamp lands. 
With thoughts not at all complimentary to 
nyself, I mounted and took the trail. I had 
'one possibly three hundred yards when I met 
vhat I took to be the mother deer coming along 
he trail and rode out to let her pass in safety. 
Then I rode three-quarters of a mile nearer to 
! swan Lake; when I saw in the forest ahead of 
ne a pair of eyes which I at once knew be- 
onged either to a very large deer or a horse— 
md I challenge the man who can tell the dif- 
erence. Throwing my bridle over a cypress 
j cnee, I cautiously approached. The eyes gradu- 
j dly got wider and wider as the distance became 
ess, then the buck (for such it was) reached 
lown and got an acorn and again looked up. 
: ly this time I was within forty yards, the buck 
, piietly feeding and in no way showing any 
symptoms of alarm. I had taken the precaution 
icfore approaching to test the, wind and found 
1 t coming from him to me. The atmosphere 
vas damp and heavy and 1 had already stood in 
t good smoke and used essence of wintergreen 
< o kill all human odor. In the very center of 
\ he rays from my headlight stood the most 
I nagnificent specimen of the white-tail deer 
j amily I have ever seen, an enormous buck. 
• I he woods were lighted up by the flash of first 
; me and then the other barrel, and the buck 
Las down. 
Handling him by myself was out of the ques- 
] ion, so he was left until early next morning, 
j vhen I brought help and carried the carcass 
Home and dressed and weighed it. The net 
weight was 202 V 2 pounds with head, feet and 
i fide all off, the largest and most magnificent 
pecimeri I have ever seen. The horns meas- 
red: Brow points. 6 inches apart; second 
oints, 16 inches apart; third points, 18 inches 
part; fourth points, 25T2 inches apart; points, 
8)4 inches apart; height of beams, 24 and 24)4 
aches. 
My return that night was made early, and 1 
1 iad the pleasure of seeing fourteen deer. I 
Las satisfied and did not try to kill another 
! eer that night. 
I am fully aware of what is considered to be 
1 tact by most hunters; that you have to exert 
! he utmost caution in approaching deer at 
L'ffht, and that the least noise will startle them. 
I his I have not found to be the case in horse- 
ack night hunting, ahd I have repeatedly 
i idden nearly on them before I saw their eyes, 
i light hunting is now unlawful, and of course 
1 annot be indulged in, and wisely so, from the 
1 
fact that the stupidity of deer in headlight hunt¬ 
ing is something I have never been able to un¬ 
derstand. I have often known market hunters 
to kill five or six and even more in a night. 
Deer are still plentiful here, and sometimes 
come out in the cultivated fields. With proper 
enforcement of the laws on our statute books 
they will rapidly increase in the coming years. 
Birdshot. 
South Carolina Game Law. 
Greensboro, N. C., April 27. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: At the last session of the Legislature of 
South Carolina the Audubon Society of that State 
was incorporated as the legal State Game Commis¬ 
sion. The law is modeled closely after the North 
Carolina law. The State Audubon Society has 
absolute authority in the matter of appointing 
game wardens and all these officials will operate 
under instructions from the central office in 
Columbia. A ten dollar nonresident hunter’s 
license is charged and this tax is required of 
all nonresidents whether they own property in 
the State or not. The money arising from the 
sale of licenses, together with the fees and gifts 
of the members and friends of the organization, 
will constitute the funds with which the society 
will carry forward its work. The incorporators 
named under the law are J. A. B. Scherer, H. N. 
Snyder, D. R. Cocker, Richard I. Manning, B. 
F. Taylor, O. B. Martin and Thomas F. Parker, 
their associates and successors. 
The National Association of Audubon Socie¬ 
ties will conduct an ornithological survey of the 
coast region during the months of May and June 
with a view of locating the few remaining breed¬ 
ing colonies of egrets and sea birds in that State, 
and will for the present, at least, assist the South 
Carolina society in employing competent wardens 
to guard these places. 
Mr. B. F. Taylor, of Columbia, is the presi* 
dent of the South Carolina Audubon Society, 
and is the moving spirit in the work in that 
State. In a recent statement he declared that 
the laws would be rigidly enforced as far as it 
lay within his power to do so, and he calls upon 
the sportsmen and bird lovers of the State, as 
well as the northern men who have game pre¬ 
serves in South Carolina, to assist him in his 
undertaking. Those persons who have shooting- 
preserves should extend every aid and encour¬ 
agement possible to President Taylor. This they 
can do by promptly and cheerfully purchasing 
their licenses without putting him to the expense 
and trouble of sending a man to- their club houses 
for the purpose. They can also assist him by 
voluntary information regarding violators of the 
garpe law in their territory, and by giving all 
information with which he should be acquainted. 
Copies of the new State game law may be se- 
c”red upon request of Mr Taylor or by writing 
to me. T. Gilbert Pearson, 
Secretary National Association 
of Audubon Societies. 
Congratulations. 
In 1882 two young men entered into a busi¬ 
ness partnership, and on May day of that year 
they opened a sportsmen’s supply store in New 
York citv under the firm name Von Lengerke & 
Dctmold. They were Justus Von Lemrerke and 
Ernest Detmold. On May t, 1Q07, they cele 
brated their quarter century as business partners 
and close friends. Their business has been con¬ 
ducted without change in the personnel of the 
firm or in its style. For many years their place 
of business was in the ‘‘down-town” section of 
the city, but last year, following the drift of the 
retail trade northward, they relocated in Fifth 
avenue. During all this time the firm has been 
a patron of Forest and Stream, and the trade 
mark “V. L. & D.” is as familiar to its readers 
in far-off Australia as to those nearer home. 
These partners’ success in business has in no 
small degree been due to their intimate knowl¬ 
edge of outdoor life. They shoot and fish as 
much as their patrons, and know thoroughly the 
field they cover. We know our readers will join 
u.s in congratulating them. 
New York, April 22.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I was much interested in the brief 
note entitled ‘*1 he Sportsman, the Mother Quail 
and the Pointer Dog,” published in Forest and 
Stream of April 20, the chief feature of which 
was an excerpt taken from Mr. Delmas’ im¬ 
passioned oration as counsel in a recent sensa¬ 
tional legal case tried in this city. It suggests 
tO' me that if his general legal knowledge is as 
profound as is his knowledge of sport and 
natural history, to which might be added what 
he knows about a pointer dog with a good ap¬ 
petite, he must necessarily be a prodigy as an 
all-round encyclopaedia on law and birds. Your 
brief mention did not do justice to the learned 
counsel, as it did not specify the particular ex¬ 
cellence of the points he made. Permit me to 
again quote his remarks for purposes of refer¬ 
ence, and also to add to the sum of the world’s 
knowledge as follows: 
(a) "I have seen a poor little quail when I 
was out hunting—a poor little bird not as big 
as your fist, wdth a callow brood of young ones 
in the dust of the road, and (b) I have seen a 
pointer come running upon them and I have 
seen the little bird, her feathers bristled until 
she appeared bigger than he nearly, flying at him 
who placed her young in danger, (c) until he 
stood abashed and respectful in the sanctity of 
her motherhood.” 
(a) Why was the learned counsel hunting- 
quails when they were just off the nest? 
(b) What would happen to a quail which 
charged a pointer dog? What would happen to 
a minnow which charged on a grown pike? 
(c) Who ever saw a pointer dog abashed at 
anything? What does a dog know about the 
sanctity of motherhood at all? Who ever saw a 
quail chase a pointer? 
Not being a transcontinental oracle myself, I 
would respectfully ask whether, on the Pacific 
coast, it is considered the proper thing to hunt 
quail in the nesting season, whether the bird 
can, from virtuous indignation, swell to a size 
larger than the dog, and whether a pointer in 
any climate ever stands abashed in the presence 
of his favorite titbit? If it all may be classed 
as bathos, it still leaves the learned counsel in 
an attitude of profound contempt for the game 
laws and for true sportsmanship. 
Pointer. 
Legislation at Albany. 
Bills have been acted on as follows: 
Assembly bill 1640, by Mr. Filly, amending 
chapter 196, in relation to the sale of trout, has 
been signed by Governor Hughes. 
By Mr. Gray, relating to a close season for 
wildfowl on the St. Lawrence River; in com¬ 
mittee. 
By Mr. Hooper, relating to the transportation 
of venison; in committee. 
By Mr. Stratton, relating to nets in certain 
counties; second reading. 
By Senator Nevins, relating to a close season 
for trout in Livingston county; third reading. 
By Senator Hastings, relating to rabbits in 
certain counties; third reading. 
By Mr. Hooper, relating to taxidermists; third 
reading. 
By Senator Cobb, relating to rabbits in certain 
counties; in committee. 
By Senator Whitney, relating to deer in certain 
counties; third reading. 
By Senator Smith, relating to nets in the Hud¬ 
son and Delaware rivers; third reading. 
By Mr. Burhyte, relating to trout in Madison 
county; third reading. 
New Publications. 
‘‘Future Forest Trees” is a very valuable 
book by A. Harold Unwin, assistant curator of 
forests for Southern Nigeria. As its sub-title 
declares, it relates to the importance of the Ger¬ 
man experiments in the introduction of North 
American trees. It appeared originally in the 
Austrian Forestry Magazine. In view of the 
success attained in the work abroad, where 
the forestry question is a very old one. this 
volume is of value. Published by T. Fisher 
Unwin, London. 
