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736 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
off again, but Hector Williamson had the fever 
—as deer hunters call it—and could not hit a 
barn, lie managed to empty his .30-30 and at last 
got the deer. It weighed ninety pounds dressed. 
We saw eight does that day, but were not like 
some hunters who make a practice of killing 
does and then say they were bucks. Does and 
fawns and yearlings are very thick. 
George Williamson, Jr., 
Deputy Fish Commissioner. 
Louisiana’s Open Season. 
New Orleans, La., Oct. 2 6.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Down in the Barataria section Gus 
Langhoff, L. J. Magner, Fred Weber, Arthur 
Battistella, Robert Marks, R. F. Spangenberg, 
Joe Bryan, A. and P. LeBlanc and four others 
spent the day on Harry Farwell's houseboat. 
Thirty ducks were killed by the party which 
also caught a number of assorted fish. 
Thousands of ducks and snipe are reported 
in the Barataria section, at Chef Menteur and 
Lake Catherine, but at Lookout and the Rigolets 
there is a scarcity of these birds on account of 
the devastation by the recent storm. The mem¬ 
bers of the 'Independent Club succeeded in kill¬ 
ing a 200-pQund buck on the Gentilly road. 
The deer was shot by E. B. Perelli after a chase 
of an hour. This makes five bucks this c ub 
has captured this season. A peculiar feature of 
this hunting is the fact that all these deer were 
killed within the corporate limits of the city of 
New Orleans. This city embraces an area of 
about 218 square miles, much of which is swamp 
land. It is probable that forty deer will be > 
killed within the city of New Orleans this sea¬ 
son. At Lake Catherine Alex Mastic killed a 
deer and entertained his friends with venison 
dinner. 
President Frank M. Miller, of the State Game 
Commission, has returned from a speaking tour 
of several northern parishes and reports a large 
amount of game in Louisiana this year. Mr. 
Miller was greatly impressed with the 5,000 
acres of wooded land belonging to the United 
States Government in Caldwell parish. He says 
it would make an ideal game preserve, and a 
decided effort will be made to get the Govern¬ 
ment to deed this property over to the State 
Game Commission. This land is part of the 
old Louisiana purchase and is the only remain¬ 
ing portion in Louisiana which has not been sold 
by the Government. Tens of thousands of ducks 
are in Caldwell parish and on this reservation 
in addition to quail, snipe, wildcats, wolves, deer, 
wild turkeys and various other kinds of game. 
Mr. Miller says it is the finest virgin forest he 
ever saw and no more ideal spot is imaginable 
than this tract of land. Many people came to 
hear his lecture on the preservation of the birds 
and the people are comprehending the policies 
of the commission much better now than they 
did a few months ago. He declares that Louis¬ 
iana will be the greatest State in all the world 
for game if the next Legislature restricts the 
kill to fifteen birds for each hunter per day and 
taxes the market hunter a reasonable sum for 
a license. He says it is simply astounding the 
number of quail this State can and will pro¬ 
duce. He believes there will be more quail here 
than any six States in the Union if the proper 
laws are passed and the policies of the commis¬ 
sion are carried out. F. G. G. 
Ducks in the Southwest. 
Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 27. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The present limit of twenty-five ducks 
is even harder to get than the legal thirty-five 
was a year ago. Although there is not as large 
a showing of birds in the country as usual, yet 
the difference in the sport is hardly to be ac¬ 
counted for by this means of reckoning. I have 
advices from Jacob Danz, who is shooting in 
Minnesota, which indicate that that State is bet¬ 
ter favored of the wildfowl this year than for 
several past. The sandhill country along the 
Missouri and Platte, as well as the upper Missis¬ 
sippi Valley is unusually well stocked with birds 
as judged by the last few years’ average, and 
information comes from Salt Lake City that the 
Bear River marshes are alive with waterfowl. 
Now all these things taken together make it 
seem reasonable that the great bulk of the water- 
fowl have taken the inland route to the South. 
It has long been a pet theory of mine that birds 
do not always follow the same paths in their 
migrations. Many believe they do, but when it 
is remembered that waterfowl go to breed as 
far north as Baffin Land, and are commonly 
seen in summer in Davis Straits, the Pacific, At¬ 
lantic and midland routes all converging as the 
northern breeding grounds are reached, does it 
not seem likely that some gale of wind from 
the east or west may drift them to one side or 
the other and start them migrating principally 
that way? All a duck thinks of as winter comes 
on is the South; every flight he makes is in 
that direction, and instead of making the jour- 
• ney in a night as some declare, all the evidence 
indicates that the migration is made by com¬ 
paratively easy stages, taking advantage of winds 
and storms, and seldom traveling further than 
between feeds. There are known exceptions, 
but these are not absolute proof. 
Tulare Lake, 200 miles north, is well stocked 
with ducks now. The ducks are in poor condi¬ 
tion this fall, although food is plentiful. Like¬ 
wise they seem infested with lice to a greater 
degree than is usual. Sprigs not only are scarce, 
but they are rather inferior when killed. Spoon¬ 
bills generally are very good eating. They are 
one of the best ducks in this country. Mallards 
and canvasbacks are scarce and few ever come 
into the overflows. They are a deep water duck. 
Those killed are seldom fit for the table, hav¬ 
ing loafed about the salt sloughs until too fishy 
for the epicure, but when fresh in from the 
mountain lakes they are delicious. 
Quail are becoming harder to get every year, 
according to the hunters, most of whom blame 
the automobile for the present state of affairs, 
placing as it does, the entire country tributary 
to Los Angeles within 200 miles. One firm in¬ 
forms me that it has sold 1,000 guns and a 
million and a half of shells already this season, 
which sheds some light upon the growing wild¬ 
ness of the game. 
As for the ducks, I am informed that about 
Imperial, where it is claimed the ducks destroy 
great patches of barley by digging up the seed 
just as it sprouts, the farmers have been shoot¬ 
ing all summer irrespective of game laws. Pub¬ 
lic sentiment is against the ducks and the game 
laws thereabouts, and a jury trial probably would 
acquit a man of killing the birds if he could 
show they were on his fields. The shiftless way 
in which a great deal of barley is planted about 
[Nov. 6, 1909. 
Imperial invites depredations by ducks. The 
whole country is under the Colorado River, the 
fields are diked off in forty-acre ponds, and in¬ 
stead of plowing, in many cases the seed is 
lightly harrowed in, then the canal with its silt¬ 
laden floods is turned in the length of one side 
of the field to avoid washing out all the seed, 
and a depth of two feet is run on top of the 
level expanse which, upon evaporating, precipi¬ 
tates an inch or two of the finest, richest silt 
soil imaginable, similar to the Egyptian method 
of raising small corn. Of course this is extend¬ 
ing an invitation to the ducks which they seldom 
decline. The water drowns out countless in¬ 
sects, brings up worms and gives them a varied 
bill of fare. As our ducks come first from Im¬ 
perial, their wildness seems to indicate that there 
is truth in the report of illegal shooting. 
Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Expensive Birds. 
Conneaut Lake, Pa., Oct. 29. — Editor Forest 
■and Stream: Grouse and woodcock at $25 each 
are rather expensive eating, yet this seems to 
be the price which certain Pittsburgers will have 
to pay for the dainties. A case now pending 
in the courts of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 
is being closely watched by sportsmen and others 
and is most important. 
At 2 o’clock on the morning of Oct. 15, W. J 3 . 
Harper was arrested at Titusville by the cop- 
stable. He was about to board the train for Ifis 
home in Pittsburg and search in his suitcase 
brought to light fourteen ruffed grpuse and 
twenty-two woodcock. .Harper admitted that he 
had bought and shipped from Titusville during 
last season more than 1,000 birds, a commission 
house catering to the fashionable clubs of Pitts¬ 
burg getting the game. Joseph Kalbfus, secre¬ 
tary of the State Game Commission, stated that 
it is the most important case ever brought under 
the present law of the State, which prohibits 
buying or selling these birds at any season, and 
says he will fight it to the bitter end. 
Harper was given a hearing before the aider- 
man and fined $900 and costs, a provision, of the 
law giving him a day in jail for every dollar of 
the fine until the latter is paid. Harper threat¬ 
ened to “squeal” on them if the parties who 
handle his game did not come to the rescue. 
Meantime Mr. Kalbfus has gone to Pittsburg 
and proceedings are looked for at the other end 
of the line. 
Harper, after a day or two in jail, has been 
released on $2,000 bail, presumably furnished by 
Pittsburg parties, and has appealed the case to 
court. Here they have made use of a technical 
turn which to outsiders looks like a plan to 
dodge possible conviction by a jury with the 
possible increase of fine. This is within the 
power of the court should a regular appeal 
prove adverse. Consequently the plan of pro¬ 
ceedings is to make a test of the legality of the 
arrest and fine already imposed. The case will 
be tried in November. 
Three young Meadville girls were out after 
chestnuts and in trying to extricate from the 
bushes what she took for a big club, one of the 
number was horrified to discover that it was a 
big black snake. But the plucky trio killed the 
reptile and, determined to prove their veracity, 
dragged it to the home of one of their number. 
Bessie L. Putnam. 
