Ai'Rrr. 28, 1831.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



245 



ideeJ 



of tin. 



escape only possible through great ejections 



men of lighter physique or less pluck e mM n 



the return iri|j. Shooting from boats < 



question ; the ice too thick to force a boat tin 



6trong enough to hear the. weight of a mnu. We were in 



for it, and had to wait for a thaw or for ice Bfrorjg enough to 



bear us. 



Most of tUe pani.es at Carpenter's Hotel had left for l heir 

 homes, as had those encamped where wagons could reach 

 them, but wo. were complete!', isolated and del 

 hide our time. We discovered an air hole Of some acre: 

 extent about half a mile bom caiHp and near the 

 terminal point of our peninsula. By dragging 1) rats' 

 over the strong ice and working through the- thin 

 places, Col. W. and John C. reached tin fdrlHer Ride of tud 

 opening where ducks and geese had congregated in lartrc 

 numbers, wbilojfJapt. E. and I remained on the shore. Here, 

 by ciint of perseverance and defiance Of an amount of cold 

 that would have congealed an Esquimaux Indian, wo man- 

 aged to I >ag fifty or sixty ducks and three or four geese per 

 day, losing at least as many raore that fell on the ice where 

 we could not reach thcan. On the 33d the ice bee.une strong 

 enough to justify us in venturing across the lake with hag 

 aud baggage, and this wedid. Oiir tents were pitched with- 

 in a 100 yards of a trapper who lived in an old boat and plied 

 his vocation for six or eight miles up and down the lake. To 

 him We were indebted for much kind assistance in making 

 our escape from our imprisonment. 



He made us a sled upon which we moved our baggage thai 

 could not he packed in the boats; and when every! 

 loaded we presented rather an da<cric appearance as We strung 

 out along the ropes with which wo drew thent over the icei 

 audi am able to record the solemn and still painful fact that 

 the Blippery side of that ice wag uppermost arid that it de- 

 veloped a wonderful dexterity in its motions. Aftor greal 

 labor, much fatigue, innumerable falls and sev 

 through thin places we reached a point within a 100 vard- of 

 the hotel shortly after nightfall, leaving everything on the lee 

 until morning. After a supper at Carpenter's, we re- 

 tired to clean beds aud slept the sleep of the innocent Wag- 

 ons were waiting us early next morning and we left fo'r 

 Union City, reaching our homes iu due time, and so far from 

 being the worse for wear, feeling that we had gained in health, 

 strength aud vigor. Ki.ien. 



li'ru/Mi ii . 2'e/in., 1880. 



about i 



the "c 



eh fr >m 



! bluff 



ANTELOPE HUNTING IN COLORADO. 



OUR starting-point was the ranch on the Pouhtaine, fifteen 

 miles north- of Pueblo. Our destination, Chico. a dry 



creek some thirty miles to the eastward, from the- bed of 

 which rise numerous springs called by the natives "water 

 holes," where, the antelope eaineTo drink. Our outfit — blan- 

 kets, provisions, rifles, ammunition, etc — was packed in a 

 large covered wagon. There were three of us in the party. 

 Hany, who was to cf rive die mole team because lie bad seen 

 service; Dan, a New England boy, who had been in the 

 country long enough to learn the ranges and the manner of 

 hunting, and myself, » "tenderfoot." 



At sunrise we were on the move, Dan and myself leading 

 off on the "broncos" bb guides and advance guard of our 

 ' ' wagon train." It was quite necessary that, some one should 

 pick out the best path for the wagon, as the country was 

 quite rolling, aud we were to strike directly across jr.." The 

 Fountaine Valley reminds one of New Ehglahd, Its plumps 

 of cotton-wood trees are similar to our silver leaf ; 

 and its groves of wild pluni interlaced with huge grape vines 

 much resemble our black alder swamps. 



These thoughts were quickly dispelled, however, on mount- 

 ing the opposite bluff and seeing spread out before us as far 

 as the eye could reach, a brown and sere desert, not a I tee nor 

 even a sbrub, except the clump of cactus and sagebrush, and 

 patches now and then of prickly pear, and occasional tufts of 

 buffalo grass about the color of au "old fog," and cropped 

 closely by the fine teeth of the sheep. Huge 'turkey-buzzards 

 wheeled iu the air, watching with keen eye for the "carcass of 

 some sheep that had succumbed to age or disease, or, perhaps, 

 for the remains of the coyotes' last night's men). '_'■ 

 rabbits scampered before us from cactus to cactus, while oc- 

 casionally a jack -rabbit leaped out from beneath the horses' 

 feet and bounded off with the speed of the wind until he 

 had placed a safe distance between, himself and our parly. 

 Now we came upon a prairie dog village with its hundreds of 

 holes, each one resembling the f rustruru of a cone, the entrance 

 at the top being ten inches or a foot above the level of the 

 ground. On the rim sat the dogs upon their haunches, chat- 

 tering like so many magpies, ready on our nearer approach 

 to dive into their holes. 



All the morning we traveled toward a butte which seemed 

 only a few miles from us at the start, but which was really 

 only a few miles from Chico. This we reached about 1 

 o'clock, but seeing a cabin some distance further on we con- 

 cluded to push ahead, for there we were sure of wafer for our- 

 selves and beasts. No one thinks of locating in that country 

 except by never-failing springs. Although the cabin was de- 

 serted we found the spring, and after quenching our thirst, 

 and watering and picketing our animals we gathered dry 

 sagebrush enough for Dan to cook our dinner, which we rel- 

 ished keenly after our ride of nearly thirty miles. 



After lunching we drove dowu the Chico about three 

 miles to an old abandoned " doby cabin," close by a number 

 of water .holes, which show signs of antelope, and here we 

 concluded to camp for the night. We had heard befj ire m i t 

 ing that there were plenty of ducks in some of the water- 

 holes, and had brought along our guns hoping to bag a few. 

 After tramping three or four miles aud crawling up to nu- 

 merous water-holes without seeing a duck or a sign of one, wo 

 at length came to a larger one, and following the same tac- 

 tics, crawled up to it on our hands and knees, keeping be- 

 tween us and the pond a large cottonwood, and hugging the 

 earth so that our buttons "fairly plowed the ground. The 

 pond was packed and we were within thirty yards. Drop- 

 ping down, we laid two cartridges on the ground before us, 

 and together poured six barrels into the thickest bunch of 

 them. Such dashing and splashing, and such noise of whir- 

 ring wings as the great flock rose straight in the air never 

 greeted my ears before. Cramming iu our other cartridges 

 we gave them a parting shot as they were about separating 

 into smaller flocks, bringing down a few more. The pond 

 being narrow, all the birds were easily poled ashore, and we 

 found on counting up that we had thirty-four of the largest 

 and fattest gray ducks I ever saw. 



The next morning we took our stands at different water 

 holes. Dan in a crib, or foundation, of cottonwood logs, 

 built cob-houso fashion by some rancher; Harry fifty rods 

 farther down the valley, behind a big stump, and myself 





gallopec 



would a 



nt between I he two, with an 

 or a blind. We had waited 

 : antelope made their app aro 

 SflwaVy, their sides -listening in I 

 lany silver dollars. They halted tea minutes 

 tig to take a survey of the situation, and then 

 1 us at a rapid rate. Every now and then they 

 rt, throw their heads iu the air, and gaze about 

 them as it to assure themselves of their entire safety, and 

 agafn dnsb forward al their old pace. Thus they 

 until within three huudred yards of us, wilen they slacked 

 up ioa walk and I counted fcwelv i in the band; li. -v were 

 making directly tow -ml my stand. Keeping 80 low down 

 that their boras were only visible until they wore near enough 

 to shoot, I carefully raised my bead. Within fifty vards of 

 tuc v.are twelve •'!' the fiDOSl animal, of the deer kind it was 

 ever my lot to behold, each one seeming !o dore the others to 

 go near, as they walked round and round nearly in a circle. 

 Ti.e end "i my nth; all the while had been resting on the 

 bench in front of me.- Clutching it more firmly, and glanc- 

 ing along the barrel, at the same time making a short sharp 

 whistle to bring them to a stand still, I singled mil .i large 

 buck and lired. Down went a fine fellow, while the re it 

 bounded toward the bluff. Three or four more sbols at t':e 

 running band only crippled one, Which, however, led the 

 whole band until they were out of sight. We carried the 

 killed animal to the "dohv," and had hardly regained our 

 places K hen a band came over the blufl further up the valley 

 and headed directly for Dan's place of concealment. When 

 they were yet a thousand vards away, the report, of a rifle 

 rang out A, trp and clear, and tie y wheeled and galloped 

 back to the plains. It did not sound like Dun's gun, and ap- 

 peared to be a longer dis'ance off. 



Although greatly surprised, I kept my place until it was 

 repealed on the next band, and I hen went up to Dan's crib 

 to find out the cause. Dan was walking back and forth in a 



" Diifyou shoot, Dan?" said 1. 



"Shoot I Do you see that cabin up there," poiuting with 

 his linger to a "doby cabin "some half a mile up the valley. 



"Yes." 



" Well, old Sykes and his two sons live there, and a meaner 

 crew can't he found between Denver and the Spanish Peaks. 

 The old man is in the calaboose, for shooting a fourteen-year 

 old boy iu Colorado Springs, and the boys dare not show 

 their heads in Pueblo. Every baud of antelope that comes 

 down from the west one of the boys goes but and shoots 

 across, aud turns back to the hills. Now if they do it again 

 I'll show them a trick worth two of ttioire, or my name ain't 

 Dan. I'll put a ball so close to him that he'll think he has 

 had R pretty loud call." 



" Suppose you kill him ?" 



"Well, everybody in the country would be glad, and it 

 wouldsavcl.be 'cow punchers' the trouble of hanging him 

 to a cottonwood, which they will surely do if he stays *iu the. 



Auolher baud showed themselves in a short time, and while 

 they were yet a long distance off one of the Sykes walked 

 ont a hundred yards or more from his cabin and sent a bullet 

 whistling across them, sending them scampering back to the 

 bluff. 



"That's what I call a dog in the manger," said Dan, 

 worked up to fever heat again. 



Grasping his rifle and laying it across a log he blazed away, 

 and down dropped Sykes. 



"You have killed him," said I. 



"No, I haven't, but he don't want anymore-, see him 

 crawling oil bis bauds aud kuees through the sage brush. 

 He is all right," 



And it proved to be the case, for wheu within fifty feet of 

 his door he sprang to bis. feet and ran for dear life to cover. 



"Now we have cooked him we will have some good shoot- 

 iug, for the day is hot and they will come in certain," 

 said Dan. We kept our places until nearly two o'clock, 

 when we had ten fine antelopes, making with the three fine 

 bucks Harry had killed, thirteen. With these we loaded our 

 wagon and started for home, where we arrived af. sir rail- 

 night. Don't think that we needlessly slaughtered them, for 

 the ranchers along the Fountain Valley were very glad to 

 change their diet of com bread aud bacon for delicious, 

 .iuicy antelope. J. M. 15. 



MINNESOTA SPOI'.T. 



A MONO the many happy hunting grounds, Clear Water 

 Lake, on the branch line of the St.. P., M. BndM. 

 Hallway, sixty-three miles from St, Paul, Minnesota, is one 

 of the best. The lake is an irregularly formed body Of water 

 about six miles long, and from one to two miles wide. 

 It abounds in gravelly points and marshy bays, aud each 

 year from Sept ember 15 until the lake is closed with ice it is 

 a favorite resort of the toothsome teal and its larger and 

 warier brother the mallard. 



Each returning year Buds me thereon some lone point 

 which guards the passage between contiguous bays marking 

 up and down that the leaden messengers of death within my 

 faithful "Parker " may be sped at the adventurous duck that 

 seeks a passage from one feeding piace to another. Large 

 bags of game do not always reward me for my visits there, 

 but the place is quiet and retired, is almost unknown to the 

 pot-hunter and good passes are abundant where the sports- 

 man can see his game, a mere speck in the distance, can 

 watch it increase in size until he can name the genus aud spe- 

 cies of the feathered balls which are shooting toward bun, 

 and can make his shot and know that whatever falls is due 

 to his gun, aud is a legitimate trophy of his luck or skill. 



On an early October day last fall I piloted a party of three 

 to this bourne from which no sportsman ever wants to return. 



There was Pat, B , the blnshing, modest Pat, who says 

 there is no sport in shooting glass balls (his average on the 

 vitreous sphere s is a fraction over one in ten), but who 1< 

 tg-pUool ducks, (in a crowd). H 

 that learned to steal from the 1 

 him, aud Pat actually believes thai 

 him was shot by liim aud. therefc 

 shoot ducks— a decided delusion, 

 just the same. There, too, was 

 blond coursing through his vein 

 hunter by instinct, and there was 



lover of a gun and dog, green fields aud shady woods as ever 

 lived. We left Bt. Paul at seven o'clock i. W , 

 and after a three-hours' run on the cars reached 

 Clear Lake section. Mine host, Blackburn, ef the Clear 

 fax i Hotel, with his team of fat ponies, met us at 

 the deput, and stowing ourselves, baggage and dogs iu his 

 commodious platform wagon, wo started for the lake, thir- 



e 



las a first-class retriever 





f breed who first owned 





verv duck his dog brings 



ii- 



, that he knows how to 



bi 



t fondly hugged by him 



.1 



im B., who has French 



8 



and who is, therefore, a 



th 



:■ subscriber, as ardent a 



teen miles distant, The day win a jewel, even among the 

 many lovely days a Minnesota ajtumn brings to m, 

 and we were a merry parly as we bowled along the 

 faultless natural roatl toward our destination. An 

 occasional mallard in the little lakes along l he way 

 excited the sanguine Pat, but ai our experience of bin was 

 that he was not! very successful with ducks, we held him iu 

 the wagon and passed on that we might have an evening's 

 shoot at the lake. 



We had engaged accommodations at the farm-hoinc of Mr. 

 Ross, a veritable hunter's home, made so by the ever watch- 

 ful kindness of his excellent wile and accomplished and pretty 

 daughters. Arriving there, wc were warmly greeted, and 

 soon after, hunters' style, we were oil our way to the pans, a 

 ridgeof land between two lakes, distant about a quarter of a 

 mile from the house. 



We found Fiauk W., a romancer (with all the name im- 

 plies), a New Yorker, a spinner of tales, an inflated Co'. 

 Sellers, at Mr. Ross', and he said there were million* of ducks 

 about the lake. Of course we knew there were not when he 

 said there were, so we trudged aloug to the pass rather 

 dispirited. The aggravating Pat sarcastically said, "Thi3is 

 a fine place to bring n man," and the quiet Frenchman 

 sniffed in the air and" forced it out again with a sound very 

 mucu resembling "No ducks here." As luck would have it, 

 just as we reached our stands a single mallard passed over 

 rather high, aud Pat scoredan "unaccountable" by dropping 

 it as prettily as one could wish. Then loudly blew he his 

 horn, and smiled he his healthiest smile, and he said, "I told 

 you so ; " and, as Jim 13. shortly after commenced his pile 

 with a bronze-head we were a happy trio anil thought we 

 had struck 'em just right. 



It was rather early for the evening flight and, as I had 

 some doubts of getting any clucks while in the vicinity of 

 Pal's dog, I took a skiff and rowed ac-oss the lake to a point 

 covered with low hushes, where the unreliable W. said he 

 Lad bagged nineteen mallards the evening before. I found 

 it a darling point for a sportsman. The flight was mostly 

 single mallards, but they came low, against the wind, 

 and as they winged their flight within range they grew upon 

 the vision until they appeared to be as large as geese. And 

 when the little pellets which were hurled from my gun found 

 a vital spot they came down into the clear water with a 

 splash aud a bound, as if they were hurled from so ne heaven- 

 ly howitzer. I bagged seven mallards before dark. Then 

 came the invigorating pull for home, the merry music- of the 

 waters as they dashed against my boat, and as the deepening 

 gloom of night fell over the waters, blotting the shore from 

 sight, the feeling crept over mc that I was alone in the world. 

 The inky waters of the lake glistened like the dreamed-of 

 scab which the phantasy of nightmare sometimes conjures up; 

 and the flapping mud-hens were demons gloating on my 

 loneliness. But the shore was soon reached, aud a'few mo- 

 ments afterwards I was seated at Mr. Ross' hospitable 

 board plying the knife and fork aud listening to the romances 



of W , vouched for by bis "Old Bill Jones," the 



genial Pat, and laughed at by all the rest. As my compan- 

 ions together only secured five ducks 1 was accused of pick- 

 ing up the ducks they had wounded and lost. The penalty 

 of greatness easily submitted to uuder the circumstances. 



After supper, cards (old sledge) iu which the ladies joined, 

 ami then bed with dreams of all the feathered tribe —they 

 being the hunters and I the hunted, the only retribution the 

 poor things can ever get with man. 



The following day was clear and warm, and small hags 

 were scored. Pat and Jim began to got anxious about their 



business, and started for home, leaving W aud myself 



sole monarchs of the lake. 



That evening the elements let themselves loose. Old 

 Boreas sought "southern climes, and whistled and howled 

 about the house in a manner quite ridiculous for an October 

 visitation. The next morning the blizzard was upon us. A 

 hurricane of snow filled the air with driving whiteness alid- 

 ad living things sought such shelter as they could from its 

 fury. About three o'clock in the afternoon the storm lulled, 

 and I started out through drifts of snow to my waist, for I 

 knew the lee shores would swarm with ducks and that I 

 could relieve my mind of the bloody thoughts which the 

 howling winds had engendered by imitating its stealthy 

 march, Vms its bluster, aud by dealing out destruction upon 

 the unsuspecting mallards that Would be feeding out of the 

 reach of the wind. The noise of the elements and the. anow- 

 uiuttled ground favored the hunter and doomed the ducks. 

 1 made a. bee line from the house to the lake, aud peering 

 over the bank felt the indescribable thrill of pleasure which 

 the sight of a mob of bobbing mallards within easy range 

 must ever give the sportsman. My first barrel surprised them 

 inthe water, audtheseeond crashed through the startled swarm 

 as they rose in the air. Three birds were bagged at this 

 shot, and soon after Dan, Mr. Ross' son, and 1 got in four 

 barrels at another flock, and bagged seven birds. Ten heavy 

 uiallards in less than hdf an hour satisfied me, and the load 

 was a heavy one to pack home through the deep snow and 

 against the strong wind. 



The following morning furnished me the finest sport of the 

 hunt. The wind had changed into the South, and I chose 

 for my stand a little point near the house. 1 hardly had my 

 blind "completed before a green-head swept down upon the 

 wind and was dropped sixty yards away upon the thin ice 

 which had formed about the shores of the lake during the 

 night, Now came the test of Pat's dog, and nobly he proved 

 himself an all-weather hunter. Every foot he made toward 

 the duck was gained by breaking the ice before him. Yet he 

 never hurried back nor flinched the cold rntil he laid his 

 duck at my feet. The noble dog repeated this ten times be- 

 fore I was signalled for breakfast, and you may be sure I re- 

 warded liim with a good square meal when we reached the 

 house. A mallard 'is regarded as a very cunning bird, and % 

 they have to be hit hard to be retrieved in open water. Ou 

 this" morning I did not lose a duck, however slightly hit. 

 When one of the beauties came down it broke the ice, but 

 the rebound sent lliem forward on the solid ice, and then 

 they were helpless. It was very ludicrous to see the old fel- 

 lows frantically pounding the thin ice with their heads, no 

 doubt wondering why they did not disappear beneath its sur- 

 face. 



Thus ended my fall hunt at Clearwater Lake for 1880. 

 It combined several elements of true pleasure, pleasant com- 

 panions, a hospitable stoppmg place, line weather for game 

 and a fairly filled bag. It furnished pleasant memories for 

 the long winter evenings which followed, and it heightens 

 the ani'icipatious of the coming time, when stooping low be- 

 hind my blind, with every nerve strained, with beating heart 

 and bounding pulse, I shall watch again the coming flock 

 until it passes within range, and the waiting fingers, respon- 

 sive to the moment, presses the trigger and the shot is made. 



Hunt, 



