974 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 22, 1907. 
sport before us. We started out across an 
immense cypress brake, a favored roosting place 
for turkeys, as there were sunken places in the 
glade filled with water. Over such places a tur- 
kev, usually selects his roost. Rodex seemed 
more eager’ for the hunt than any of us. He be¬ 
longed to that class of dogs known as droppers, 
thoroughly trained on turkey, and a most in¬ 
telligent animal- You could easily judge about 
the number in a drove when he would make a 
flush, and in every instance could tell when he 
would put up a single. 
We had gone only a short way in the break 
when we saw Rodex strike a trail. Very soon 
he was in their midst and we could see them as 
he put them up. As near as we could judge 
there were about fifteen. One pitched in the 
top of a tall cypress.. Fat knocked him out with 
a .30-30. We arranged our blind, began to call, 
and had answering yelps from several directions, 
for they were well scattered. We called up and 
killed three more before the' mother hen man¬ 
aged to get her brood together. We could easily 
have put Rodex on their trail and made another 
flush, but we were anxi’ous to explore further 
up the bottom. We had gone no further than 
a half mile when we heard Rodex several hun¬ 
dred yards ahead of us. W e hurried on to locate 
the place. Out of this drove we bagged five 
more, making a total of nine before 12 o’clock. 
We were thoroughly satisfied for that day, so 
we wended our way back to camp to enjoy a 
turkey roast with chestnut dressing that Aleck 
had prepared 1 during our absence. Uncle Ben 
and I remained in camp, all afternoon, while John 
and Fat took their small bore rifles and went 
out to try their skill at shooting squirrels. But 
a squirrel does not make so good a target as a 
turkey; anyway, they returned with an empty bag. 
Just across the slough on which we were camp¬ 
ing was an immense cane brake, known as the 
ten mile brake. It was the largest anywhere in 
that part of the bottom, the cane growing about 
fifteen or twenty feet high, and "as dense as 
possible. Late in the afternoon the robins and 
blackbirds, seeking shelter in the cane for the 
night, came in in such numbers as . to almost 
darken the sky, and such a chatter and confusion 
of sounds I never heard before. 
After supper I suggested to the boys that if 
we could get up early the next morning and 
make our way into the cypress brake about the 
time the turkeys left their roost, I felt sure we 
could flush several droves, as I was satisfied 
that all the turkeys in this immediate vicinity 
roosted in the brake. And if we were early 
enough we could get Rodex among them before 
they had wandered off to their feeding grounds. 
All agreed that my idea was a plausible one. 
We accordingly put in a call with Aleck for 
4 o’clock the next morning. In the night there 
came a steady downpour of rain and it con¬ 
tinued throughout all of the next day. We were 
very much disappointed, for a rainy day in camp 
grows rather monotonous, no matter how jolly 
the crowd; besides, our time was limited; we 
were to start for home the next afternoon and 
would have to go back by a different route and 
a much longer one in order to avoid the bluff 
at the point we came down. So we only had a 
half day in which to hunt. 
Aleck called us promptly at 4 o’clock, saying 
it was clear and the promise of a fine day. We 
donned our corduroys, and after stimulating our¬ 
selves with a cup of hot coffee, started out. 
There was just a faint light breaking through 
in the east. Pretty soon the earliest riser of 
all the birds, the Tennessee cardinal, was whistl¬ 
ing, “Get up, get up.” It was our intention to 
flush several droves if we could find them near 
enough together before we went into our blinds. 
We had hardly entered the brake before we 
scared a large drove off their roost. Uncle Ben 
and I decided to stop here, while John and Fat 
went further up the brake to see if they could 
find another bunch. After a little while we 
heard Rodex, so we knew they had been suc¬ 
cessful. Where we were the woods were very 
open; in fact, there was nothing with which to 
make a blind. Uncle Ben suggested that our 
chances were just as good sitting at the foot of 
a huge cypress tree, from which we could see 
at least three hundred yards in any direction. 
It was some time before we could get one to 
answer. When we did I stood up beside the 
tree facing the direction I had heard the yelp. 
Pretty soon I saw four or five in one bunch com¬ 
ing to our call, but yet some distance away. I 
knew any quick movement would frighten a tur¬ 
key, so I decided to ease my gun up to my 
shoulder in the position of a trapshooter when 
he is ready to call pull. I don’t think I ever 
saw turkeys come as slowly before. My arm 
was beginning to ache, but I knew if I attempted 
to lower my gun-the sharp eyes of the turkeys 
would detect the movement and be frightened 
away. They were now advancing single file. My 
arm had grown so tired that the barrels of my 
gun were beginning to wobble, and by the time 
the turkeys were within shooting distance it re- • 
quired considerable effort for me to hold the 
gun to my shoulder. 
They came up well bunched. My first shot 
was a clean miss. I did manage to wing one on 
the rise with the other barrel; even then it took 
a shot from Uncle Ben to finish him. He was 
thoroughly disgusted at my marksmanship, but 
not more so than I. We moved up the bottom 
several hundred yards. I then went out to the 
edge of the • brake and dragged in some brush 
with which to make our blind. I did not cari||| 
for any more experience like that I had j usr 
had. As soon as Uncle Ben began calling we 
were answered from several directions. I saw 
one coming up the way I was facing. Uncle Ben 
whispered to me not to shoot until he told me 
to, as there was one coming on his side of the 
blind and we might get them both. I thought 
the one I was watching was going to walk right 
into the blind before Uncle Ben gave me the 
signal to fire. Our shots were simultaneous. 
The one I shot fell within fifteen steps of the 
blind. We killed one other before leaving. 
Further up the brake we came across a blind 
John and Fat had used in the earlier part of 
the morning. While deciding what was best for 
us to do we heard one yelp at the edge of the 
cypress and we soon had another bird to our 
credit. Presently John and Fat came on down 
where we were, having bagged seven, beating 
us two. They said Rodex had flushed two 
droves besides: the one he had scared off the 
roost. We then returned to .camp and packed 
our things for an early start homeward. We 
felt perfectly justified in making the bag we did, 
considering the distance we had to come, and 
the expense of the trip. 
After reaching camp who should walk up but 
the old trapper. He took a look at the turkeys; 
then, turning to me, said: 
“Waal, didn’t I tell you so?” T. D. Cooper. 
New Pennsylvania Laws. 
Harrisburg, Pa., June 15.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Considering that perhaps you would 
be pleased to know the changes -that have been 
made in Pennsylvania game laws by our last 
Legislature, I write you to say: 
The first bill passed was one changing the sea¬ 
son for wild waterfowl, making it continuous 
from the 1st day of September to the 10th day 
of April following, and striking off the limit 
upon the number' of birds that might be killed 
in one day or in one season. 
A second bill was one opening the season for 
ruffed grouse upon the xst day of October with 
the woodcock and squirrel. 
Another was the bill limiting the deer that 
could be legally killed in Pennsylvania to a male 
deer with horns. Personally I opposed this bill, 
as I thought it would be very hard in the brush 
to tell a male from a female deer, especially 
when in motion. I would have preferred a 
close season for a series of years to a law of 
this kind, but found a decided opinion arnortg 
bird hunters that they had as much right in the 
woods during the last two. weeks of November 
as had the deer hunters, and that they also had 
a right to all the protection for their lives and 
limbs that could be drawn around them by the 
law. I understand that some forty-eight men 
were killed last fall by deer hunters and that 
something more than twice that many were ser¬ 
iously wounded in the United States. The bird 
hunters, therefore, insisted that the man with a 
rifle be compelled to look carefully before he 
fired his volley, as was customary in this State. 
The bill was made as it is, more to protect 
human life than deer. 
Another one of our laws opens the season for 
rabbits on the 16th day of October instead of 
the 1st day of November, as did our late law. 
Still another law gives absolute protection to 
all game and wild birds found within the limits 
of preserves established by the game commission 
on lands of the forestry commission. These pre¬ 
serves are simply tracts of land set apart as a 
haven of refuge into which game and wild birds 
can retreat and be safe at all times. The cir¬ 
cumference of such a tract does not exceed nine 
miles. This t-ract is surrounded by a fire line 
from which the brush has been cleared so that 
fire may be met thereon and extinguished. It 
is also surrounded by a single wire and a line 
of notices printed on cloth, calling the atten¬ 
tion of the public to the purpose of the wire 
and the purpose of the inclosure. We hope that 
game of all kinds will increase upon these lands 
and overflow into the adjoining country where 
it may be taken under our laws. 
We have still another law giving increased 
protection to- the wild birds of the State other 
than game birds, and another law forbidding the 
use of the automatic gun in this State. This 
bill simply forbids the use of the automatic gun. 
in killing game in the Commonwealth of Penn¬ 
sylvania. 
I desire to say in addition that the pamphlet 
containing the game, fish and forestry laws, ,as 
passed or amended by the Session of the Legis¬ 
lature of 1907, will not be ready for issue to 
the general public before some time in August 
or perhaps in September. 
Joseph Kalbfus, 
Secretary of the Game Commission. 
Killed by a Bear. 
Regina, N. W. T., June 4.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The following might interest your 
readers as showing some new traits in the black 
bear family. This is the first instance I have 
known of an unwounded bear attacking a man, 
and the only instance of any bear making a meal 
of his victim. The bear had doubtless very re¬ 
cently come out of his winter quarters. The 
occurrence took place at a lumber camp on the 
Red Deer River, thirty miles south of Etiomami, 
a station on the Canadian Northern Railway. 
On the morning of May 17 last two men, 
named McIntosh and Heffern, were chopping 
wood on the bank of the river, close to the cook 
shed. They noticed a bear on the opposite side 
of the river and called Wilson, the cook, out to 
see it. The bear walked into the river, swam 
across, shook himself, and then made a rush 
for the men, who ran for the cook house, about 
ten yards away. Wilson was leading and was 
going so fast that he could not turn into the 
door and shot past. The other two men man¬ 
aged to get into the cook house. Wilson kept 
on round the house, the bear pursuing him, and 
w'hen just opposite the door again caught up 
with him and struck him across the back of the 
neck with one of his paws, apparently breaking 
Wilson’s neck. 
McIntosh hit the bear with a can of lard and 
Heffern with a cant hook, but the brute took no 
notice of them and picked up Wilson’s body in 
his mouth and carried it about five yards away. 
The men ran to the main camp and got a re¬ 
volver and fired ten shots at the bear, the only 
result being that the bear picked up the body 
again and carried it to the bush, about one hun¬ 
dred yards away. Another man from the camp 
arrived with a rifle and,he fired at the bear as 
it was carrying off the body again. The bear 
dropped the body and fell and went a short dis¬ 
tance and fell again, but eventually got away. 
Wilson’s body was brought back to the camp. 
The unfortunate man’s clothes had been vir¬ 
tually stripped off him and the calf of the left 
leg and part of body were eaten. 
J. H. McIllree. 
The new edition of the Game Lazvs in Brief, 
dated June 15, contains amendments of the laws 
of thirty-nine States, Territories and Provinces. 
