Aug. i, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
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Hunting in California. 
Pasadena, Cal., July 20 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The open season here for deer and 
dove shooting began on the 15th inst., and at 
early dawn the incessant popping to the south 
and east of the city reminded me of a sharp 
brush out on the skirmish line in the early 
sixties. Later in the day I went out to a ranch 
where I have made many a good bag of valley 
quail. I found plenty of doves, but they were 
mostly not over half grown and afforded no 
sport for a wing shot, and as I am not partial 
to pin feathers they were of no use to me for 
table use. I let them go and will see them later 
in the season unless some other fellow pots 
them. I saw a few deer sign, but none of the 
animals. I saw some very large coveys of quail. 
Some of the birds were nearly full grown. So 
far three deer have been reported as shot near 
the city. The largest buck weighed nearly 200 
pounds. 
It is reported that over 115,000 local licenses 
have been taken out this season in this State. 
This means $115,000 to be used in game pro¬ 
tection throughout the State. The badges are 
round metal tags with the number and amount 
paid stamped on them, with date on which they 
expire, etc. It is to be hoped that old Vermont 
will be one of the eastern States that will this 
fall come into line and adopt this plan of rais¬ 
ing funds to protect her game. The amount 
that could be raised in this way added to the 
small amount generally appropriated by the 
State would go far toward giving. Vermont’s 
energetic commissioner, Mr. 1 homas, a fund 
that would enable him to in a great measure 
carry out his scheme of thorough game pro¬ 
tection. 
While our friends East have been sweltering 
with intense heat we here in Pasadena have 
been enjoying ourselves with just enough heat 
to be comfortable during the day and cool 
enough in the nights to sleep comfortably under 
a heavy blanket. Stanstead. 
San Francisco, Cal., July 18. —Editor Fores! 
and Stream: The open season for deer and 
doves is now in force in most of the counties 
of the State, and hunters are now enjoying some 
excellent sport as game, as a rule, is quite plenti¬ 
ful. Deer are to be found especially plentiful 
in Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, 
and it is here that the majority of hunters have 
gone to open the season. In the southern pait 
of the State, game is not so plentiful and many 
hunters have come north for their sport this 
season. For the past two seasons conditions 
in southern California have been especially 
favorable for the breeding of deer. The water 
holes were numerous, the ranges covered with 
an unusually thick growth of brush, making 
the access to the deer haunts quite a difficult 
matter, and the large number of feeding places 
scattered the attentions of the hunters, affording 
additional protection to the deer. 
Forest rangers and fishermen returning from 
the higher coast mountains have reported that 
deer signs are less numerous than is usually the 
case, and sportsmen are at a loss to understand 
the apparent absence of game. Some attribute 
the scarcity of deer to the hot weather of late 
and are of the opinion that the game has re¬ 
treated to the highest and coolest fastnesses of 
the mountains where the water is still more 
plentiful and there is green foliage. Some 
sportsmen are of the opinion that a careful hunt 
will find the game and are planning to make 
excursions there at once, while others prefer 
to wait until the weather becomes more pleasant 
and believe that tjie damage done by early sea¬ 
son sportsmen will not seriously affect then- 
chances later on. 
J. S. Hunter, deputy game warden for San 
Mateo county, reports that deer are fairly plenti¬ 
ful in that region. So far there have been but 
very few violations of the law. 
Miss Louisa Wirt was the first woman in San 
Francisco to apply for a hunter’s license this 
year. The application for licenses this season 
GOT HIM. 
From a painting by Maud Earl. 
to date are much heavier than to the corres- 
ponding date last season, and a record sale of 
badges is predicted. According to Deputy Com¬ 
missioner Vogelsang, the demands for licenses 
made by county clerks throughout the State has 
been very heavy. He predicts for this year in 
the number of licenses issued an increase of 
fully 25 per cent over the total of last year. 
More than $120,000 was realized last season from 
the sale of licenses alone, not counting the 
money taken in for fines from violators of the 
license laws, and the money thus received will 
go a long way toward securing adequate funds 
for the matter of propagating and protecting 
the game of the State. 
In northern California and Oregon the pros¬ 
pects are foi a good year’s sport of all kinds. 
The winter has been mild and the quail have 
been able to raise large broods to furnish fine 
sport in the fall. Doves are plentiful, and next 
month will see many hunters in the Klamath 
country. Throughout Shasta and Siskiyou coun¬ 
ties everything points to a good deer season, and 
the same prospects are found in southern Ore- 
Grouse Shooting Forty Years Ago. 
James Fleming, writing to the Field, says: 
“It may prove interesting to some of your 
shooting readers to hear of bags made forty 
years ago with what is now looked upon as an 
antiquated weapon—the muzzleloader. The late 
Lord Henry Bentinck, who for many years was 
lessee of Glenavon deer forest, and adjoining 
grouse moors on the estate of the Duke of 
Richmond and Gordon in Banffshire, had few 
equals in his time as an all-round sportsman. His 
last season at Inchrory, Glenavon, 1866, was a 
particularly good one, grouse being in that year 
plentiful. He generally devoted about a fort¬ 
night to grouse shooting, the rest of the season 
being spent in the deer forest, relieved at in¬ 
tervals by salmon fishing on the Avon. 
“In the year mentioned he spent the first ten 
days of the season grouse shooting, bagging 
daily to his own gun (a muzzleloader) over one 
hundred brace. One day, on what was then 
known as the “home beat,” he killed to his own 
gun 138)4 brace of grouse, besides a few hares 
and snipe. Some of his guests, too, that same 
season frequently bagged eighty brace and over. 
Toward the close of 1866 grouse disease made 
its appearance, and continued during the spring 
of 1867, making great havoc. About the end of 
May, 1867, Lord Henry Bentinck paid a visit 
to Inchrory in order to satisfy himself by per¬ 
sonal inspection with regard to the reported 
ravages of grouse disease. On that occasion I 
accompanied him and his head keeper, Charles 
Dent, over the home beat (which the previous 
year yielded such excellent sport), and after 
carefully hunting the ground with dogs (will it 
be believed?) only five live birds were seen, 
though quite a number of carcasses in all stages 
of decomposition were to be seen strewing the 
burnside and under the walls.” 
Virginia-Carolina Field Trials Ass’n. 
Richmond, Va., July 20. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Virginia-Carolina Field Trials 
Association desires to announce that it has se¬ 
cured the services of Mr. Simon C. Bradley. 
Secretary of the Eastern Field Trials Club, to 
judge for the Virginia-Carolina Association at 
their trials which begin Dec. 8 next at Spray, 
N. C. Mr. Bradley was prevented from attend¬ 
ing the Virginia-Carolina trials last year on ac¬ 
count of conflicting dates, which will not be 
the case this year. The other two judges will 
be selected later. Several of our members have 
secured high class dogs and others are in the 
market • for good ones, and it looks very much 
like we will place our trials on a very much 
higher plane than ever before. The admission 
fees in the members’ stakes also have been in¬ 
creased to $5 to nominate and $5 to start, mak¬ 
ing the purse in the members’ stakes very much 
larger. In the free-for-all, as usual, the guaran¬ 
teed purse will be $300. The membership in the 
Virginia-Carolina Association is open to any 
amateur sportsman of good standing, and the 
initiation fee is only $5. Many new members 
have joined with a view to attending the trials 
and running their dogs in person this fall. In 
this way they not only get the prestige of own¬ 
ing a winning dog, but the pleasure of running 
him individually in the trials. Our member¬ 
ship continues to increase, the last number on 
the roll being 203. Chas. B. Cooke, Sec y. 
