Dec. ii, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
935 
ceived such a rude shock from the men on the 
train that I scarcely dared to broach the sub¬ 
ject to my men, and for the two hours I sat 
there, never a game bird did I see. Alack! and 
alas! thought I, why did I come so far from 
home and the wily bra'nt in my own South Bay? 
Delmonico finished his task and came out to 
join us, rolling one cigarette after another and 
slowly smoking them up until the flight of time 
began to get on my nerves. I saw by my watch 
it was half past three o’clock, and was almost 
desperate, when I found Armstrong unscrewing 
the box containing my cartridges, and in a 
matter of fact tone, he said: “Get your gun. 
It’s time we fixed out.” 
I listened to this with amazement, for I could 
not see any special place to fix out in, nor any 
bird to fix for, and the idea came to me that 
he was going to play me for a tenderfoot by 
putting some stools alongside the sloop for me 
to look at. However, with the best grace 
possible, I put my gun to¬ 
gether, and he pulled the big 
sharpie moored astern up to 
the side and put in an armful 
of boughs which lay on deck. I 
got in with my gun and a hun¬ 
dred shells, and he shoved off, 
telling Delmonico to take the 
sloop off some distance into 
the channel. 
We shoved toward the shore 
until we were but a hundred 
feet away and in water scarce¬ 
ly four inches deep, when 
Armstrong stepped out and 
stuck the boughs around the 
bow of the sharpie. He only 
covered up about five feet of 
the bow of the boat, leaving 
the other two-thirds of her 
entirely unscreened, and the 
barometer of my hopes fell 
pretty low as I saw this 
clumsy attempt at a blind. I 
took my place in the bow, 
while he threw out a dozen 
moth-eaten decoys, and there I 
sat for half an hour without 
seeing a feather. 
Suddenly Armstrong said: “Look out to the 
north. There come five close to the shore and 
low.” 
Before I could see anything coming, five red¬ 
heads swung into my stool, not twenty yards 
away, and lighted among the decoys. “Shoot 
’em,” Armstrong whispered in my ear. 
“Why, I would blow them to pieces,” I re¬ 
plied; “get them up and I will try them when 
they get off a bit.” 
He hammered on the boat with an oar, and 
the birds got up very leisurely and started off. 
I waited a moment and then got a double with 
each barrel, the fifth bird circling around be¬ 
hind us, where he got a full view of our boat, 
and in spite of that came back to the stool and 
lighted again. 
“Kill him when I get him up,” said Arm¬ 
strong. 
“Well, I will,” I replied, “just because he is 
such a fool bird,” and I dropped him short 
when he rose. 
I shot until I thought we had enough, and 
we put back to the sloop with forty-three red¬ 
heads, not another kind of bird among them. 
The two thousand miles I had come did not 
seem like five hundred that evening. 
Delmonico was preparing dinner when we 
arrived at the sloop, and that night I learned 
how to make cornbread in a frying-pan, even 
acquiring the skill to turn it over by throwing 
it up in the air. This, with some jam and 
broiled breast of redhead, made 11s a delicious 
dinner. Edwin Main Post, 
[to be continued.] 
Continental Field Trial Club. 
Barber, N. C, Nov. 22. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The members’ stake of the Continental 
Field Trial Club was finished to-day. Eight 
brace of dogs were started, four brace were 
carried into the second series and four brace 
were run Saturday. The grounds not being 
satisfactory, nothing more could be done until 
DELMONICO ON THE LOOKOUT. 
Monday morning. The field trial party was 
taken in charge by J. Geo. Chandler and con¬ 
ducted over his preserve and training grounds. 
The visitors were very much pleased with 
the day’s sport, each brace finding from one to 
three coveys. Cowley’s Lady finished the day’s 
running with a beautiful covey find and point in 
the large field in front of the lodge. The win¬ 
ners were: First, Mar’s Dick; owner, Prof. E. H. 
Osthaus. Second, Cowley’s Lady; owner, Jim 
Flushman. Third, Pinehurst Winona; owner, 
Pinehurst Kennels. J. Geo. Chandler. 
Maryland Shooting. 
Baltimore, Md., Dec. 2. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Rabbits and quail have been unusually 
plentiful this year in Maryland. I have just re¬ 
turned from a month’s shooting trip and never 
have I had better sport. Flin. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
A Review of Sport in Minnesota. 
Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 2. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The duck hunting here as well 
as in neighboring States has been brought to a 
sudden close by the appearance of winter. Duck 
hunters seem discontented and the same senti¬ 
ment prevailed among the returned deer hunters. 
Most of them shook their heads and said they 
had seen better hunting days. Some fair sized 
bags were brought in, however. Wildfowl shoot¬ 
ing was fairly good this fall. It was on account 
of the uncertain weather the flights varied. Dur¬ 
ing the middle of October, due to the sudden 
cold snap sending the birds southward, sport in 
some of the northwestern counties resembled the 
fun in former years, for a short time big kills 
of mallards, spiketails and other big ones being 
made. The last cold spell froze the sloughs and 
the water holes and most of the big northern 
flight went by, only stopping when far south¬ 
ward. River shooting, which 
affords more excitement and 
_ sudden shots than does the 
open water in the country, for 
a few days provided excellent 
sport. 
The quiet opening of the 
quail season did not result in 
a great amount of gunning, 
notwithstanding that there is 
a fair supply of quail in the 
State. Generally the hunter 
prefers ducks and rabbits, and 
it is usually while he is rabbit 
hunting that he stumbles on a 
bevy of quail and then shows 
that he is quick at the trick 
of making a double. 
Sport in Iowa is reported to 
have been very good, espe¬ 
cially in the northern part of 
the State. This is Iowa’s first 
experience with the hunter’s 
license, and State Game and 
Fish Warden Lincoln seems 
satisfied with the results thus 
far. Over 60,000 licenses have 
been issued so far, and it is be¬ 
lieved that the number will be 
close to 80,000 at the year’s end. This is far 
above the hopes of the most enthusiastic protec¬ 
tionists, and the sportsmen who have so will¬ 
ingly contributed their dollars are now wonder¬ 
ing to what specific purpose the large sum re¬ 
alized is to be put. They are wondering whether 
it will be carefully husbanded for the benefit of 
the fish and game. At present there seems to 
be no definite plan worked out. There is talk 
of stocking the State with Hungarian partridges 
to replace the vanished prairie chicken; of ap¬ 
pointments of special commissions, of restocking 
depleted streams and other work. 
In Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan storms 
and sleet were heavy and the first week or so 
there was no hunting whatever. Some of the. 
hunters have returned home and others are stay¬ 
ing out in hopes that luck will change to the 
better. 
Now with the coming of winter days the rab¬ 
bit hunter saunters off to the cornfields to try 
his luck with the cottontails. On the edges of 
the city this sport may be had and thither go 
those who cannot afford to take a trip to the 
