The Portland daily press., 1900-12-07
NOVA SCOTIA AS A HUNTING
FIELD.
IL. ra..-Io- VIVA. Ano-a Good sport.

ing Post.
| Autumn breaks the spell OF summer
earlier mp In Evangeiine's land than In
the United States, and when the mid lie
of September removes the laws protection
from most OF the big and little gains,
hunters are already on the scene or on
their way to the woods and forests Nova
Scotia is new paradise for hunters,
whose possibilities In this direction are
just beginning TO be appreciated. No
part of Canada can be reached 80 quickly
or offers more variety and abundance OF
game. From Yarmouth, where the
steamers land you, to Dlgby, the travel Is
| through farming land and half. cleared
forests, and from the picturesque Annapo-
| lis basin to the heavily timbered noun
tains and hills beyond, the journey must
be pursued on foot or horseback. The
whole interior of Nova scotia Is grand
hunting-ground, where MOSS, caribou,
deer, bears and all smaller animals and
birds abound, and there are many points
at which one can begin operations. One
route Is to get oil the train at Digby
and hire a guide to accompany you in.
land, but owing to the forest fires, which
have been raging for weeks this fall,
most OF the game has been driven further
north. 1t would be much safer to take
the train to Windsor, which can be
reached in i've hours from Yarmouth,
and then. waiting for local, make
your way to Falmouth, Newport, Ellers-
house or Beaver Bank, One is here in
the very heart Of the Wild mountain and
lake region of Nova Scotia. Clear water
and lakes abound, andistreams OF silver
connect one with another. Giant frs,
spruce and pine cIothe hillside and valley
with their perpetuai green, while the
glistening while birch CLEANS out OF the
| iabyrinths OF emerald like strips and
patches OF snow. Five miles away from
/ the railroad in either direction plurges
one into a country that has seldom bsen
explored by surveyor or hunter
Ths game laws of Nova Scotia ara wise
and stringent enough to protect the game
and this fact is fully appreciated by tn
hunters. The line for Killing more than
| two moose is not the penalty that the
ing and dstaining the offender for con-
! siderable time more actual punishment
is melted out than by demanding nne,
| and all game oonstables and oihoars are
instructed not to accept inns except In
rare cases In this way the moose has
found ample protsction in Nova Scotia,
and the hunter is more apt to find one in
| a days travel than In our own Maine
woods, where the surplus OF irresponsible
hunters In the past has greatly reduced
| their numbers. The same Is true OF the
| caribou, which 10 now found In consider
able numbers In the lake regions OF Nova
Scotia. The true lake region OF the
province Is the natural habitat OF In
| Vulnerable small and large animals, and
| 10 Is located in one OF the widest and
most desolate parts OF the country sui
water and Tobeatio lakes are the center
ana as outlets TO thess and other lakes
are the Jordan, Roseway, Bloody, Clyde,
Main and Tusket rivers. Each one OF
these streams is as picturesque and wild
in It's natural scenery as any that ma
their origin in the United States They
| are more attractive than most OF our
rivers because of their pristine natural
i ness. The hand OF the iumberinan alone
1 has desscrated their sides. The sprucs
and pine have been out down along tneir
banks and tioated on their bosoms TO the
marts OF ths world, but generally as the
hand OF the lumber vandal Is manifested
along the rivers banks, there 10 stili
beauty and pictursqueness enough lefS TO
impress the hunter.
Fires this season have been more de-
structive to the heavy timber than tina
| ak OF the lumberman, ana they nave
ragged along the banks of Bear river with
unapated fury for a month. In ons way
this burning over OF the woods produces
good results for thu hunters. For year
or two the moose and caribou are driven
| away, either by the FIRE or the absence OF
food, but when the young saplings and
eecond-growth spr ace and pine spring up
over the burnt regions, they return and
! ma better feeding ground than ever De-
fore. In these burned over districts OF
two years ago the hunters hn1 their best
/ game, and uhither they resort whenever
/ fOTAat
help the smaller game in this way, and
! In soma regions the rabbits, quail, par
tridges, grouse and squirrels have left,
never to return. There is wild tract OF
young forest land near Lake hoisignol,
which was formerly the home OF thous-
ands of these creatures, but widespread
fire chat SWEPT over the woods i've years
/ ago cleaned them out. Since then hunt
eYs claim they have not seen bird or
small animal In the woods, although
south OF the lake, where the hre ala not
penetrate, they are as plentiful as TO-
merly.
There has been close SEASON for two
years for grouse, partridges and quail,
and their numbers have Increased so In
the noun tain districts OF Nova scotia
| that this fall will be record one for
hunting. One feature of tall hunting In
the provinces that Is not generally no.
tioed by writers Is that for wild ducks
| ana geese. The lakes are the natural
! feeling place late In the season Tor mil
lions of them. They fly across the land
from ocean TO ocean, and In the middle
of the spruce forests they find protection
from their enemies. The waters ara
| literally alive with them, and In Octo'
! Der and Noven. Der 1t becomes slaughter
rather than sportsmanship to kill all
that come within range OF the rifle. A
man could on fayorabie days destroy
them as fast as he could load and shoot
| his gun. One ruthless hunter has the
record OF killing QUO ducks and geese In
single day, and he desisted then only
because his ammunition gave out, one
fin1s on the shores of Annapolis and
Mi aas Basin more guIls and terna than
elsewhere In Canada or the United
States. From the car windows OF the
Dominion Atlantic railroad hundreds Of
| thousands of these beautiful birds oan
be seen floating on the blue water
| The secret OF their protection is said 20
be not SO much In the game laws OF
the province as in the absence or any
demand for birds wings and breasts FOR