July 3, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
5 
A STAG AND HIS ANTLERS. 
A stag and his antlers are almost as insepar¬ 
able in the mind of the sportsman as in the mind 
of one to whom deer stalking is nothing but a 
1 name. Yet there are not only hornless varieties 
of the family Cervidce, but not a few members 
of the great red deer group are found to have 
been denuded by nature as well as by accident 
of the croXvning glories of their race and sex. 
Stags without horns are called Hummle stags, 
and they are far from being the helpless creat¬ 
ures one might reasonably have imagined them. 
They have been known to fight and to conquer 
heavily antlered stags of their own weight. The 
appendages known as antlers are so far from 
being universal among the cervine tribes that 
naturalists prefer to rely upon other character¬ 
istics in their definitions of the several families 
and groups. But a hornless stag is so far an 
, exception that the system of judging the merit 
of the stalkers’ spoil by the character of the 
head, and the number of the tines or points is 
1 certainly the best that could be devised. 
Many years ago an antler with fifteen points 
was dug up from an Irish bog. Assuming an 
i equal number on the antler that was missing, 
the mighty hart to which the horns belonged 
; would have been a stag not of twelve or thir¬ 
teen, but of thirty points. Such prizes are not, 
however, nowadays likely to fall into the lap 
of the Scottish deer stalkers, still less will they 
be able to send to the staffers such magnificent 
examples as those which may be found in many 
an old German schloss. The continental deer 
have always been more heavily antlered than 
the British, a fact which may partly be accounted 
for by their having access to much better feed¬ 
ing than they are able to procure in Scotland. 
| But, remembering that heads of eighteen and 
| twenty points have been killed in this country, 
| it seems quite reasonable that any head with 
I tines in excess of the “royal” should be dis¬ 
tinguished by a special designation. There is 
some difference of opinion as to what constitutes 
■ a royal hart. Strictly speaking, the head should 
inot only possess “brow,” “bay” and “tay,” and 
three on the top, but these last three—the “sur- 
I royals,” as they are called—should form cups in 
i order to qualify the head as “royal.” The more 
j generally accepted proposition, that a royal head 
I is a head of twelve tines, is, however, also the 
I most convenient in the awarding of honors 
j where honors are due. 
There are two sides to the question of how 
o procure the largest possible number of the 
j finest heads. The science of the stalk and the 
j skill of the shooter represent one side, and the 
j work of the forester the other. The question 
| Of food is of paramount importance. Good 
j feeding in the spring means good heads in the 
jiiutumn. The most points are generally found 
'In forests where there is the most wood, and 
j the best feeding and shelter.—County Gentle- 
| rnan. 
— 
FISHY. 
When Willie Jones was only twelve 
He fished ’most every day in summer. 
Quite often he brought home a string— 
Also a. yarn about a hummer— 
He said it was as long as this: 
But go away; how he did rue it. 
That fish was just about this big, 
-1 
And right well little vlfillie knew it. 
He reached the age of twenty-two 
And fished with flies and other tackle; 
The strings he caught were shorter now, 
But to the boys he’d loudly cackle 
About the missing fish—so long: 
He told of it in glowing diction. 
He would have held his hands like this; 
Had he avoided piscine fiction. • 
At forty-five he whips the streams 
And sounds the ocean’s mighty caverns 
For scaly things to brag about 
Of evenings in the clubs and taverns; 
The fish that get away from him 
Grow more and longer every season. 
From tip to tip the last looked so: 
Though this space would be more in reason: 
—New Yorlc Fishing Gazette. 
’NESTOR’ 
‘IMPORTED’ 
“ROYAL NESTOR’ 
“The Original Cairo’ 
THE NEW TROUT.BAIT 
The New Ooaxer Trout Fly 
actually seems to be alive. It ridea 
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but keeps its shape and color. It 
don't wear out. One man caught 
11^8 trout on one after his other 
flies failed. 25c each. 6 assorted 
$1.35. Bass size 30c. Postage 2c. 
W, J. Jamison. 1274 Polk St., Chicago 
New Tackle Catalog. 
FISHERMEN NEED DIXON’S GRAPHITE 
' ftpr^g^sfi gJqng of f errul es, tangling of line 
and is good for 
free sample and booklet P-52? "— 
JOSEPH DIXON CRUCIBLE CO, JERSEYCTT 
Sam Lovel’s Boy. 
By Rowland E. Robinson. Price, $1.25. 
Sam Lovel s Boy is the fifth of the series of Danvis 
books. No one has pictured the New Englander with 
tj lnsl §ht as h as Mr. Robinson. Sam Lovel and 
Huldah are two of the characters of the earlier books 
m the series, and the boy is young Sam, their son, who 
grows up under the tuition of the cbterie of friends that 
we know so well, becomes a man just at the time of the 
Civil War, and carries a musket in defense of what he 
believes to be the right. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
IStOJ 
Steel Fishino Rods 
i T. 1 J, e T r f, a l e j 10 sound arguments against “BRIS- 
iy L a salesman talks about some 
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is ignorant of the facts, or has an “ax to 
grind. In such cases, write to us and we will 
se '~ that you get a genuine “BRISTOL,” guar- 
anteed for three years without extra expense or 
inconvenience. The most reliable sporting 
goods dealers carry a full line of “BRISTOL” 
Rods and recommend them above all others. 
Always buy of your home dealer if he caters 
to you satisfactorily. 
“BRISTOL” catalogue, including nickled fish 
hook disgorger, mailed on request. 
THE HORTON MFG. CO., 
Uncle Lisha’s Shop. 
Life in a Corner of Yankeeland. By Rowland E. 
Robinson. Cloth. 187 pages. Price, $1.25. 
The shop itself, the place of business of Uncle Lisha 
Beggs, bootmaker and repairer, was a sort of sportsman’s 
where, as one of the fraternity expressed it, 
the hunters and fishermen of the widely scattered neigh¬ 
borhood used to meet of evenings and dull outdoor days 
to swap lies.” 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
WATCH IT WOBBLE! 
No artificial bait ever invent¬ 
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pickerel and all game fish as 
our Famous Glittering Pearl 
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water has an ecoentrie wob¬ 
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where everything else fails. 'J C with our large illustrate 
BY MAIL, POSTPAID. CIS# catalogue of fishing tackl*. 
B. Doering & Co., 567 Liberty Ave. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
“ NEV-R-LOOZ-’EM 
linriK C They are all the name 
llUUuo- implies. Impossible 
for Mr. Fish to get away once he tugs 
at your bait. Price, 10c. Weakfish 
size, 15c. A BIG WEAKFISH CATCH, 
August io, iqo8 . One day last week Wm. Smith of the Walter JVlib 
lar Club caught 37 large weakfish with our “ Nev-R-Looi-’em ” Hooka, 
without losing a single strike. Smith buys all his tackle of a*. 
Do thou likewise.” Agents wanted. Also dealers in Guns, Revolr 
vers and Sporting Goods. Address kirtland BROS. * CO., 9% 
Chambe rsSt. (Dept. F. 8.), New York. 
THE FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY REEL: *ch\im*soh. 
IS HAND MADE.STANDARD SINCE 1839. pifasfo r &sfjm f/tr/ub£{/£ 
PfllfWNTIWI 
ANGLING MEMORIES 
Seasonable Books for the Sportsman’s Library 
MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH 
MY ANGLING FRIENDS 
Both by FRED MATHER 
These two volumes are a source of endless delight to the fisherman. They deal with 
every phase of the gentle sport from bent pins and willow poles to salmon flies and special 
rods—with every kind of fish as well. 
They are full of a quaint philosophy, written with a rare appreciation of human 
nature, and comprising sketches of angling “characters” as well as well-known men who 
were Mr. Mather’s brethren of the angle. Much of other sport and adventure beside fish¬ 
ing will be found between the covers of these books. These two large, splendidly bound, 
splendidly printed, and richly illustrated volumes of 400 pages each regularly sell for $2 
each. While they last we offer 
Both together, postpaid, for $5.00 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, NEW YORK 
