or 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
235° 

look after in the contemptible pot-hunters who make a 
practice of trapping wood duck for the New York, Boston 
and Portland markets. These gentry, however, are being 
looked after this fali by the ‘‘ Forest City Shooting Club,” 
and as the law lays a penalty of two to five dollars for each 
duck so taken, their profits, if detected, willhardly be large 
enough to induce a continuance of the business next year. 
This organization was formed on the 26th of June, 1871; by 
twelve gentlemen of this city, and after a prosperous life of 
two years, has at present a membership of fifty-three, and 
is quite well off, in a pecuniary point of view, having 
among its members gunners of all classes, from the fox and 
deer hunter of New Hampshire on one side, to the sea duck 
shooter of Pine Point on the other, with a medium of 
woodcock and snipe men; each ready and willing to give 
all the aid in his power to others less thoroughly posted in 
his particular branch. This club: will no doubt be, as all 
sporting clubs should be, a means of doing a large amount 
cf good to others as well as to themselves. 
The club officers are at present—Charles Day, Jr., Pres- 
ident; Jonas Hamilton, Vice President; Frank W. Smith, 
Secretar; ; Frank Merrill, Treasurer; Roscoe G. Hall, 
Chairman Executive Committee, any of whom would be 
glad to give all the information in their power with regard 
to shooting matters in this section to any brother sports- 
man. F. 
—We beg herewith to acknowledge the receipt of a brace 
of canvas back ducks from our Wisconsin correspondent, 
Richard Valentine, Esq. The gift, we are free tosay, with 
all deference to the giver, was the more acceptable, because 
it completely identified the fowl of the Koshkonong with 
those of the Chesapeake, the bill being a good two-and-a- 
half inches in length from tip to base, and not the curved 
stumpy bill that indicates the variety of redheads, with 
which the canvas back is so often confounded by inexperts. 
There was its glossy saffron-colored head, peaked at the top 
like some farm house gable, a neck of the same hue swel- 
ling gracefully at the shoulders and blending with its cape 
of slaty-black, its back and breast of mottled grey, and 
wings of the same color tipped with hues of India ink. 
Faith, ’twas a goodly bird, comely to look upon and luscious 
to the taste, and by the grace of —— the cook, not spoiled 
in the kitehen, but rare ripe and done to that degree that 
the juice followed the knife! As it was served, so was it 
carved, secundem artem, each breast first gashed lengthwise 
and basted with the juice of a lemon squeezed from its 
golden rind and seasoned with Cayenne pepper and salt; 
and when this sauce piquante had imbued the whole, two 
longitudinal strips were cut for the ladies, while the wings 
with their full proportion of breast were laid upon the plates 
of the gallants. Hn passant, a glass of Chambertin. 
The accompanying letter says: ‘‘ Our duck shooting for 
this season closed on the first of November, when the 
weather came on cold and blustering, freezing Lake Kosh- 
konong over and the river also in some places. While it 
_asted, the sport was very fine, Mr. Ira Bingham, of Kosh- 
konong, alone killing over 700 canvas backs. Should like 
to see some of you eastern sportsmen out here, either in 
spring or fall.” 
A generous wholesouled fraternity are the western sports- 
men, and their latch-string hangs always out. It is time 
we of the east cultivated their acquaintance more. We 
have no end of invitations for our readers to ‘‘ go west” in 
the season of greatest sport, and in due time we trust the 
Forest AND STREAM will become the humble medium of 
making the sportsmen of both sections better acquainted 
with each other and their favorite hunting grounds and 
varities of game. 
—Speaking of canvas-backs, 7o-Day has a very intelli- 
gent article from the pen of Harry Waring, from which we 
quote -— 
“The canvas-back, the largest and gamiest of all ducks, 
has given Chesapeake shooting its greatest celebrity; yet 
there are many varieties in its spacious inlets and bays. 
The red-head is scarcely inferior to its more’ famous con- 
ener, and they are often seen in flocks together. This 
aaeke has often been charged with the theft of the other’s 
food, the canvas-back feeding on the celery-like roots of. 
a long grass,a species of valisneria, which it secures by diving 
and on re-appearing at the surface, is attacked by the red- 
head, who easily robs it of its hard-earned spoil; for the 
nobler bird, exhausted by its efforts under the water, is un- 
able to chastise the impudent forager. 
The black duck, likewise highly valued by the epicure, 
the widgeon, teal, sheldrake, steel-head, butterball and 
numerous others are often pursued by the sportsman in the 
absence of canvas-backs, on the wise principle that ‘half a 
loaf is better than no bread.’ 
A few years ago canvas-backs showed a marked decline 
in numbers, and their absolute slaughter from the murder- 
ous sink-boats and swivel guns led to the enactment of 
stringent laws for their protection. Although they are but 
little used at present, a brief description of the sink-boat 
may interest the reader. 
The sink-boat or battery was a long, narrow box, about 
large enough to. contain a man and two or three guns. It 
was loaded with oldiron, so that it could be sunk nearly 
flush with the water’s edge. From stem, stern and sides 
floating wings projected, which, rising and falling with the 
waves, prevented the water from rushing into the battery. 
The unwieldy machine was usually towed to a place on the 
flats where the ducks congregated, and the shooter, after 
loading his guns and placing them in the box, with their 
muzzles resting on its edge, lay down o@ his baek in the 
bottom of the concern. Numerous decoys were anchored 
in the water around the battery, and some were even 
placed on its broad flats. Here, unseen by the ducks, un- 
jess they were immediately over him, and patiently gazing 
into the dim sky, the gunner eagerly listened for the rust- 
ling of wings or the splashes that denoted the settling of 
the doomed birds. Then, barely elevating his head -above 
his prison-cell, he blazed away. 
he swivel-gun, 2 huge blunderbuss-looking affair, se- 




cured in the bow of a boat, that brought down whole flocks 
ata single discharge, was another invention of the sports- 
man’s enemy. Between this and the sink-box, ducks in 
the Chesapeake threatened to become as rare as buffalo will 
soon be in Kansas; but the good effect of their partial abo- 
tition are already visible in the increasing numbers of the 
birds. 
In order to relieve the innocent red-heads of the charge 
of highway robbery, preferred against them by Mr. War- 
ing, we offer the opinion of experts that the red-heads eat 
only the leaves of the valisneria, and the canvas-backs only 
the roots, After the latter have dived and brought the 
plant to the surface, the red heads regale themselves on 
portions that would otherwise be wasted. This is only 
one of the many wonderful compensating schemes or- 
dained by Nature. 
—Doonville, Oneida County, in this State, is a good 
centre of operations for deer shooting. We have had the 
pleasure of a visit from Mr. William Bonfield, a well known 
hunter from this region, who says deer are plenty now in 
Herkimer County, some twenty-five miles from Boonville. 
The Hurlbut Hotel, at Boonville, is a good house, and Mr. 
George M. May, the proprietor, is fully prepared with 
horses and wagons to take sportsmen to John Brown's 
tract. Excellent guides can be found at Boonville, among 
whom are Brinkerhoff, Courteny and Barnes. Take 
Central Railroad to Utica, thence Utica & Black River Rail- 
road to Boonville. 
—Our friends continue to send us accounts of good bags 
of game made this month :— 
At Blooming Grove Park, one gun, three days, a 200 lb. 
four pronged buck, 15 grouse, and 7 ducks. 
At Summit Lake, New Jersey, three guns, two days, with 
a fox hound and setter, 16 ruffed grouse, 8 woodcock, 7 
gray squirrels, 4 rabbits, and one red fox. 
—A large party of Brooklyn gentlemen went to Pike Co., 
Penn., last week, to shoot ruffed grouse in the Beech 
Woods, they were accompanied by two brace of setters and 
one Clumber spaniel. It is their intention to stay a week, 
and we hope to have the report of their success next week. 
—At Cobbs’ Island, Va., there were seven sportsmen last 
week meeting with fair success. Very few young brant 
this year, geese plentiful, black duck and broadbills in im- 
mense numbers. 
—At Mockhorn Island, Va., a party of six are camped 
there—all Baltimoreans, weather cold, clear nights, killed 
22 black ducks, 18 brant and 7 geese, besides numerous bay 
snipe. 
—At the northern end of Chincoteague, a famous place 
for redheads in January, a party of Philadelphians are 
shooting geese and brant. 
—At Currituck, (old Club), there were eleven gentlemen 
present last week; Foster, of Shinnecock Bay, is down 
there with a large party superintending. There were two 
swans killed with rifles. Shooting, especially of black duck 
and geese, never was better. 
—John Krider, the veteran sportsman of Philadelphia, 
shot a crow with a white neck at Lake Mills, Iowa, re- 
cently. We are in receipt of the following letter dated Lake 
Mills, Winnebago county, Lowa, Nowember 7, 1873:— 
Eprror ForREstT AND STREAM:— 
I have for the last three years been hunting in Winnebago 
county, Iowa, and stopping at a small village by the name 
of Lake Mills, which is located in a large belt of timber 
and surrounded by lakes, where the hunting is better than 
I have ever seen in any other place where I have hunted. 
We have here in the spring and fall snipe, woodcock, field 
plover, curlew, morble, godwit, rail, yellow leg plover, 
black bellied plover, pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, sharp 
tail grouse, quail, sand-hill crane, the whooping crane, 
snow goose, white frontell, and Canada goose, with all the 
ducks except the black duck. Deer are found about a mile 
from the house that Ilivein. Elk are killed about thirty 
miles from here, and bear also. Then we: have two kinds 
of wolves and a variety of toxes. The furs that the trap- 
pers go for most are the otter, mink, coon, skunk, and 
badger. Squirrels and gophers are not hunted. We have 
wild pigeons and reed birds in great numbers, but no per- 
son here shoots them. So you see that our sportsmen have 
no occasion to go to the west for sport. If you want, you 
can killa hundred chickens per day; this I know, for I saw 
it. But for the Jarger game, such as the elk, deer, ete., 
I don’t care for it. There are hunters here that go out for 
the winter with a large wagon with a cover and all the 
traps and implements for camping. One passed through 
the town to-day, and don’t expect to return before Mare 
Two others started last week. I was out yesterday to see 
an old trapper fix his traps, something I had never seen 
before. He had about twelve traps, in which he got four 
musk rats, one mink, one badger and one skunk. The 
badger and skunk were alive, and it amused me to see him 
take them from the trap. The badger fought hard, and 
the skunk let him have twoshots. Yours, etc., 
JoHN KRIDER. 
—A bear was killed last week near Yarmouth, Nova 
Scotia, which weighed 513 pounds, and yielded 16} galions 
of oil. 
—The sportsmen of Gorrie and Wroxeter, Canada West, 
killed 9,010 squirrels in a single hunt about the close of last 
October. 
—The Germantown Telegraph says that bears and deer 
are numerous in the lowlands of Centre county just now, 
being driven from the mountains, probably, by scarcity 
of food, Panthers, also have been seen. In Clearfield 
county, also, four bears'have been killed lately and others 
seen. 
| 

—A good many mink are being caught on the Upper 
Ottawa this fall, and old trappers prophesy a very remu- 
nerative season. 
—A_ correspondent at Peace Dale, Rhode Island, says: 
“Quails are quite plentiful here, and there has been some 
good snipe shooting, two guns having killed 57 in one 
afternoon,” 
—dAn extract from a California letter, dated October 29th, 
says:— 
‘A weck ago, last Saturday, I went to Novato for ducks. 
In the morning, just before the tide began to come in, we 
could see these ducks sitting out on the flats, and as the 
tide rose they commenced to fly in. Aboutnine, A. M., the 
first ones came. They flew in numbers, varying from one 
to seven, and came along as fast as 1 could load: for them, 
I never had birds fly better; and, although I did not get but 
two at a shot and think I must have lost some thirty, as but 
few cripples were saved, I killed eighty teal and reached 
the wagon at one, P. M.” Gro. 8. Esrxy. ° 
—Here isa letter from five hundred miles west of the 
Mississippi. It makes us feel just as Adam did in the 
Garden of den, when he was surrounded by all kinds of 
game and had no gun:— ’ 
Bismarck, Dacotah Territory, Nov. 8, 1873. 
Eprror Forest AND STREAM :— 
During the summer months geese, swans, brant and 
ducks visit this country to nest and rear their voung. 
After the nesting season is over they afford plenty of 
sport to the hunter until the small pond-holes or lakes are 
closed by the action of cold weather, when they migrate to 
more congenial climes. During the fall months we have 
plenty of snipe and plover, with the wild hen or prairie 
chicken; so you can see that we have an abundance of 
feathered game, and that of the rarest kind. Elk are often 
seen within a mile of our little town in droves of a hundred 
and upwards. Deer of the black-tailed species or variety, 
ate very common, and the market is consequently well sup- 
plied with venison. 
Antelope are as plenty as dogs, and they are very numer- 
ous here as well as in any other Indian country. 
General Custar, who is in command at Fort A., Lincoln, 
directly opposite this place, has a fine pack of fox hounds, 
which, together with the Russian hounds, presented to him 
by the Grand Duke ‘‘ Alexis,” give an antelope no chance 
whatever when they once get after him. 
Buffalo have not been in this immediate neighborhood for 
the past six years, but they are at the present writing in 
the vicinity of Fort Buford; and from all accounts, they are 
slaughtering them by the thousands for their hides alone. 
It seems a pity, for it certainly will not be long until this 
noble beast is exterminated. 
Should you, or any of your friends visit this country, 
would be pleased to entertain you, or them, to the best of 
my ability, and furnish any information in my power. 
‘* EDGAR.” 
—The New Jersey Sportsmen’s Club held a field day 
last week at Fairview, New Jersey. The unfavorable 
weather prevented many of the members and friends of the 
club from participating in the sport. The birds were more 
than the average quality, and the shooting excellent. The 
champion badge was won by Mr. G. Watson, who, shoot-. 
ing at twenty-five yards, killed all his birds. The handi- 
cap challenge cup was won by Mr. Kelly, he killing four 
birds out of five. The following is a summary of the 
shooting :— : 
First.—A tournament open to all members in good stand- 
ing for the champion badge of the club. The shooting to 
be under the English rules. The contestants to be handi- 
capped between twenty-five and thirty yards, to shoot at 
ten birds each from five traps, 14 ounce shot, use of both 
barrels. Entrance fee $5, which includes cost of birds. 
I. Skidmore, 26 yards rise—1 01110111 1—8. 
G. Watson, 25 yards rise—1 1111141411 1—10. 
W. Hughes, 30 yards rise—1 00111111 0—7. 
R. Buckman, 80 yards rise—1 10110001 1—6 
A: Hughes, 25 yards rise—0 1111011 1—7 
S. Kelly, 26 yards rise-1100101100—5 
J. Brightly, 27 yards rise-0 10110110 0—6 
F. Endicott, 26 yards rise—1 11101 
J. Felker, 30 yards rise—1 111111010-8. 
A. B. Gage, 27 yards risee—0'1101101 0 0-5. 
Second.—Match for the handicap challenge cup, the 
shooting to be under the English rules; five birds from five 
traps; 14 oz. shot, one barrel. 
R. Buckman, 26 yares rise—1 0 0 1 0—2. 
F. Endicott, 26 yards mse—1 1 0 0 C—2. 
J. Felker, 26 yards rise—0 0 0 1 0—1. 
J. Brightly, 25 yards rise—) 00 1 0 1—2. 
Mr. Kelly, 25 yards rise—0 1 1 1 14. 
Dr. Banks, 26 yards rise—1 1 0 0 0—2. 
There is a party made up of membe:s of this club to 
shoot quail and wild fowl in southern Virginia. 
—The well-known Canadian pigeon shot, J. Ward of 
Toronto, has been trying his hand at sparrow shooting in 
England withsome of the crack shots there. In a match at 
Oldham, near Manchester, between Ward and Hough, : of 
Bolton,the conditions were to shoot at 50 sparrows each,use 
14 oz. of shot, stand 20 yards from the trap, the bird to 
have a boundary fall of 40 yards, £25 a side. The betting 
which was brisk, was six to four on Ward, who wona 
closely contested match by a score of 82 to31. Ward 
also shot a match with T. Harrison of Oldham; conditions, 
50 sparrows each, with 1402. of shot, 18 yards rise, 40 fall, 
for £55, Mr. Ward staking £30 against £25 deposited by 
Mr. Harrison; score—Ward, 21; Harrison, 16. 
—From the Dundee. (Seotland) People’s Journal of Octo- 
ber 25th, we take the tollowing:— - , ; . 
“Last week the Dundee Highland Volunteer Regiment 
closed their shooting season. A noyel feature was that 
