696 
would have five days to leave the country. They 
have not been seen since. 
On Monday of the present week it was re¬ 
ported that more than fifty persons had been 
arrested by sheriffs’ posses, soldiers and citizens 
and were in various jails, charged with com¬ 
plicity in the hanging of Capt. Rankin. Among 
them is a prominent attorney of Union City, 
who, it is alleged, was one of the plotters against 
the lives of Capt. Rankin and Col. Taylor. 
Only five men are now wanted to complete the 
list of men believed to have taken part in the 
lynching, and the country is being scoured by 
large parties of armed officers and citizens who 
are determined to break up the reign of terror 
that prevails in parts of Tennessee, Arkansas 
and Kentucky. 
Game in the Hills. 
Linville Falls, N. C., Oct. 23. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: It is a pity someone who would 
appreciate it does not come down here and enjoy 
the quail, for the natives take no interest in them 
and they are plenty. The other day I took my 
twelve-gauge and went through the garden to 
the woods looking for squirrels, when to my 
great surprise and instant delight up shot twenty 
or thirty quail. It had been some years since 
I had had an opportunity to shoot at a quail, but 
the instinct was so strong that I let go both 
barrels in an instant and with success. 
My mountain friend who knows all about wild 
turkeys has assured me that after the 15th of 
November, when the season opens, he is going 
to show me some fine ones and promises that 
he will call them up where we can look right 
into their eyes. He is one of those prudent 
hunters who believe in having a sure thing. He 
says the good gobblers about here will weigh 
twenty-five pounds, the young ones only about 
two-thirds as much. Think of that! I prefer 
to see them come tumbling down out of the 
sky, however, to murdering them on the ground. 
The up jump of a wild turkey when alarmed 
is something marvelous, according to the stories 
of the mountaineers, and they take no chances 
on getting him after he has made it if they can 
help it. I hope to take the readers of Forest and 
Stream on one of these turkey hunts, by proxy, 
especially if it turns out creditably. 
’Coons and ’possums are “ripe” now and the 
local sportsmen are after them every night or 
two, and usually with good success. Some of 
the ’coon hunters are very careless with their 
camp-fires, and already several forest fires have 
been started by them. I was awakened the other 
morning, long before daylight, by a pack of 
hounds in full cry passing close to our cottage, 
which is near the head of Linville Gorge. Be¬ 
fore I could get out to see what was up, a man 
with a lantern had passed and the dogs were 
far away. I learned afterward that some ’coon 
hunters had started a bobcat not half a mile 
from here, but the dogs lost him in the gorge, 
the refuge of many a hunted thing. The bears 
often go there and hide where dogs cannot 
reach them. 
Thus far the bear hunting has not been very 
good, but a little later it will be better. The 
mast is not sufficient to hold them now. Any¬ 
way, it is a sin to hunt them now, for they are 
poor and the fur is about like a pig’s. A month 
later they will be in better condition. 
F. W. Bicknell. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
A Great Duck Shot. 
On U. P. Train, Westbound, Oct. 20.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: Vincent Davis, or “Vints” 
as he is more generally known about Brigham, 
Utah, is the superintendent of the duck shooting 
preserve of the Bear River Duck Club. These 
preserves comprise about 9,000 acres of marsh 
to which the club holds title. Vints’ specialty 
is killing wild ducks flying at great distances and 
at score-destroying angles. Where all other 
shooters miss, Vints hits. I believe him to be 
the premier duck shot of the world. 
He used to be a market shooter, and lived on 
the present site of the club house, killing ducks 
for the market and in numbers which I will 
not tell of. One of his scores was 94 ducks 
killed with 97 shells. This was in 1907. 
It has been many years since Mr. Davis shot 
for market, and he has no desire to repeat the 
scores of old times. 
An interesting thing about him, and a claim 
REELF00T LAKE. 
that is worth making, is that he killed his birds 
so that they fell dead and nad no cripples. He 
is a never-tiring, quiet, uncomplaining, honest 
toiler; yet a man apart from all others in his 
skill in shooting wild ducks. 
At this delightful club, where I ’'.ave recently 
spent some time, gunners almost always get the 
limit—twenty-five—when the birds are there. 
They go to the blinds at 9 o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing and usually stop shooting at two or three 
o’clock. There is much to be said about this 
charming place and some other time I may 
break into your columns with a full account of 
its delights. A. A. 
Currituck Wildfowl Prospects. 
Waterlily, N. C., Oct. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Ducks and geese were a little late in 
coming to Currituck this season, but it looks like 
old times—along fifteen to twenty years ago—to 
see the sprigs, widgeon, black ducks, teal and 
Canada geese as they arise from the flats in 
countless thousands when disturbed by some 
passing boat or by an eagle as he soars above 
them. 
There is an abundant crop of wild celery 
(Vallisneria ) and smart weed, as well as the sev¬ 
eral other kinds of duck foods that grow here, 
and the prospects for the opening day, Nov. 1, 
are certainly very bright for good sport for 
[Oct. 31, 1908. 
those who go out for ducks and geese. Canvas- 
backs, redheads, blackheads and ruddy ducks 
have arrived in small quantities only. Nov. 1 is 
too early to expect much shooting at them. 
There seems, from all reports to date, to be 
a good crop of quail in eastern North Carolina 
and I am very sure English snipe are on the in¬ 
crease since the sale of them has been stopped 
here. Shore birds of all kinds have been exceed¬ 
ingly scarce during the past season. This I do 
not understand, as none have been sold for sev¬ 
eral years here except a few that are smuggled 
out near the Virginia line to Norfolk and sold 
there. Will report our experience with feathered 
tribe a day or two after Nov. 1. More Anon. 
— 
Rail Shooting. 
Essex, Conn., Oct. 18.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The season for shooting rail in this 
locality is now practically over and has been 
for that matter for the past two weeks. Every¬ 
thing considered, it has been an exceptionally 
good year. While there have been days when 
the birds were scarce, by far the greater number 
of days have been good so far as getting birds 
was concerned. 
It seems to me that the shooting has remained 
good longer this year than it usually does. We 
do not look for many birds in October, but this 
year I know of large bags being made even as 
late as the seventh and eighth of the month. On 
the first dajr of the month I also know of four 
different boats starting out and each getting the 
limit, thirty-five birds, within an hour’s time. 
However, not many boats have been out looking 
for rail for two weeks, the oats being pretty 
weli thinned out by now, and what rail are left 
seem to stick closely to the meadows. There 
are lots of them left over and this in a way 
will indicate a good season next year. 
I have not been out in the woods at all this 
fall, so cannot state positively -what conditions 
there are like in regard to our upland game. I 
have, however, questioned several hunters who 
have been out and the general opinion seems to 
be that grouse are not real plentiful, but more 
so than last year. Quail, too, are more numer¬ 
ous, even as far inland as this place, and along 
the shore where we always look for good quail 
shooting they are reported to be plentiful. Some¬ 
how the conditions seem to be more favorable 
for quail near the shore than they are back 
further in the country. 
Squirrels are very scarce this fall, although 
nuts of all kinds are plentiful. There were a 
good many squirrels last year and it seems 
strange that they should have disappeared so 
suddenly. Possibly one of the migrations, about 
which we read so much, has taken place. Cer¬ 
tainly they are not here now. 
Geo. W. Comstock. 
Sportsmen’s Show. 
The fifteenth annual Sportsmen’s Show will 
be held in Madison Square Garden, New York 
city, Feb. 26-March 6 inclusive, except Sundays, 
1909. 
Grows Better. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 16. —Editor Forest and Stream: : 
* * * One word about your paper—it grows better at 
each issue, and that is saying a good deal, for it always 
has been, I think, the standard publication of its kind 
in America. J. M., Jr. 
