Termti, Five Dollara a Year. 
Ten Cents a Copy. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1876. 
Volume 0, Number 13. 
17 Chatham 8t. (Cltyllnll Bqr.) 
For Forest and Stream, 
hinting j |iipiti ai( the ][ony. 
I N 1870 I closed my business in the East and came West 
to engage in Btock-raisiug, Being a true lover of the 
chose, I felt exceedingly anxious to locate in some section 
abounding in game. I had hunted successfully all the 
minor game of the East,'.including deer in Michigan, and on 
landing at Cheyenne, and seeing the head and antlers of a 
large elk, I at once decided that my life -would never be 
completely rounded until I became the possessor, by right 
of my rifle, of the beautiful head and horns of this species 
Of the Cervidoi. 
Being unable to suit myself in Colorado, taking all things 
into consideration, I retracod my steps, and finally located 
here. Elk, at that time, -were said to be plentiful. Buffalo 
could be eounted'by the thousand, while antelope graced 
I nearly every grassy hillock and undulating divide. I suc¬ 
ceeded well in shooting buffalo, but the "prong-hornf" 
gave me many a hard day's jaunt in the saddle, interspersed 
with creeping and crawling, to find myself reflecting, as I 
} watched them gracefully speeding away: “Thoutcerfso 
near, and yet so far!" But at last one warm day in AuguEt, I 
' Caught a fine young buck napping, and rode home triumph¬ 
ant with Anlilocapra Americana lashed behind my saddle. 
The spell once broken 1 had little difficulty, having since 
killed many of the dark-eyed beauties. But elk, they con¬ 
tinually evaded me. Every fall I took trips of two or three 
hundred miles to find them, but, as often my attempts 
were baffled for I found nothing but a cold trail made dur¬ 
ing the summer. Thus time passed on until last fall, Octo¬ 
ber and November, 1875; then taking your editor's advice, 
I started in my covered wagon, with complete camping out¬ 
fit for the “Middle Loup," having for a companion Geo, 
H., who, like myself, was most anxious to lull his first elk. 
The outfit necessary for pleasant and successful hunting in 
this country, should have in addition to the usual covered 
wagon and camping utensils an extra, steady-going saddle 
horse, accustomed to the picket-rope, and not easily fright¬ 
ened by the use of fire-arms. The clotbiDg should be of 
1 heavy woolen material, and of a pale yellowish-brown. 
! The rifle used should be breech-loading, of small bore, 
I heavy charge and light express, or an explosive ball. 
I Such a rifle I find has the main elements which make np a 
I good hunting gun. It gives a flat trajectory up to three 
\ hundred yards, the outside hunting range, and is deadly 
enough for the largest elk. A powerful field glass will bo 
found a most useful accessory. 
The Loup is a miniature Platte, (of which it is a tribu¬ 
tary) in very many respects, and drains witli its branches 
much of northwestern Nebraska. The upper Middle 
Loup, where the most of our hunting was done, has the 
same broad channel and innumerable sand-bars. Its low 
banks and many islands aro densely covered with a thick, 
tall growth of coarse grass, weeds, and willow brush. The 
^Country lying adjacent to this river, and its main branch, 
the Dismal, is, to say the least, very hilly, being composed 
of Tanges of bluffs lying parallel to the river, and succeed- 
' ing each other at intervals of one or more miles as far as 
the eye can reach. The intervening valleys are made up 
»of short, sharp ridges and steep-sided knolls, usually but a 
'few yards apart. Deep canyous from the river, wind out 
into the various ranges, furnishing timber of several kinds, 
including cedar, elm, ash, boxelder.and many brush thickets. 
iThe first grows in thick dark clumps along the steep sides, 
and is intermixed with the latter varieties along the level 
floor-like bottoms of the canyons. Such grasses as are in¬ 
digenous to the soil, grow sparsely on the up-lands, among 
which is the famous buffalo or gramme grass. The low¬ 
lands furnish a rank growth of “blue-stem,” or “blue- 
joint," every where common in the West. 
The game found in this section is “lordly elk,” or wapiti 
(C. canadensis), black-tail or mule deer, (O'. Macrotis), White¬ 
hall deer, (O. Virginianus), prong-horn antelope, and occa¬ 
sionally a stray buffalo. Musquash, beaver, and otter, aro 
found In nearly all the shallow swift-running streams. Of 
game birds, there is the sharp-tailed grouse, common pin¬ 
nated grouse, and, in their season, all the water-fowl com¬ 
mon to the West. The elk and black-tail deer range 
among the highest points of the blnffs; the former in bed¬ 
ding, choose some elevated spur or ridge, while the mule- 
deer bed in “blow outs" (excavations made by the elements 
in the loose soil) along the higher ranges, both varieties 
going some distance for water. The Virginia deer prefer 
the willow-covered islands, the reedy patches, and the 
many plum thickots in Uie immediate vicinity of the river. 
On the first day from Kearney Junction, and the sixth 
from our starting point, we fell in with a settler, on his 
way home from the railroad, whom we will call Mack, and 
engaged him to accompany us with hia mule team. Just 
before we reached his ranche Geo. H. shouted me to ‘ ‘come 
here if you want to see deer.” On my way to him I saw 
not deer, but a band of elk; six female with their young, 
and one “monarch of the glen.” Our guns were wrapped 
np, and before we could get them, the elk mounted a dis¬ 
tant hill-side and passed on out of sight. We watched 
them as long as they were in view, particularly the stag, 
he being the first wo lmd ever seen. 1 noticed well his 
glistening antlers, dark brown mane and legs, and his light 
smooth sides of gray. Leaving Ihe teams with the settler’s 
boy to be driven to the stables, we took our guns and a 
shorter route, and while on oilr way we jumped a large 
black tall doe from her bed in a “blow-out." She started 
off with that short stiff-legged bound peculiar to this species, 
but both of us being excited we missed her. 
Heavy fires, a few days before, bad run over the country, 
Consuming everything combustible which lay in its way, 
and for forty miles up Mud Creek Valley thero was hardly 
grass enough on which to picket our teams. On reaching 
our destination we found that the fire had been there be¬ 
fore ns, and burned the country for miles with the excep¬ 
tion of a few deep canyons. It was late in the day when 
we arrived and we drove our teams into a steep-sided can¬ 
yon, dark with cedars growing on the level bed, and up the 
almost perpondicular sides. Making a huge fire of the dry 
cedar, we cooked our evening meal of meat and potatoes, 
which, with good bread, butter, and coffee, we relished 
thoroughly. Later in the night the wind began to howl, 
the weather turned quite cold, and not long after drops be¬ 
gan to strike the canvas cover of our wagon. Then 
they came thicker and thicker, and on peering out in the 
morning, we found it snowing furiously. The storm con¬ 
tinued until noon, the wind piling the “beautiful” (?) into 
drifts two feet deep, and this on the 25th of October. As 
soon as it abated we took our guns, Made and I going one 
way, and Geo. H. on horseback,-another. Alter some 
difficulty in ascending to the uplands we proceeded to an¬ 
other canyon, which lay three hundred yards or more to 
the left of our camp. It was covered with grass, tangled 
thickets, and scattering groves of elm and ash, which had 
escaped the fire. 
The snow flakes were still falling when we reached the 
bank, and on looking closely over wc saw the unmistaka¬ 
ble bead and ears of a mule deor feeding, and below us 
nearly two hundred feet. Stepping quickly back out of 
sight and taking a circuit wo entered the canyon without 
trouble. Mack being no hunter, I took the initiative and 
succeeded by careful stalking in getting within forty paces 
of the buck, while he ate at his leisure, nipping the soft 
green leaves of the wild snow drop which grows here lux¬ 
uriantly. He had just secured a dainty little mouthful 
when on raising his head he discovered me with rifle to my 
shoulder, and that was the last vision, poor fellow, that he 
ever had, for my Sharp’s bullet killed him instantly. 
Gazalloching him we snaked him over the snow to a placo 
where we could scale the sides of the canyon. Grasping 
each horn we pulled and tugged, and in a few minutes we 
reached the top and wore soon in camp; which we had 
hardly reached before II. came galLoping in, and nearly 
offended me by taking no notice of my fine young buck. 
I But in a few minutes it came out in this wise: "Boys! 
Harness up the mules for I’ve killed the biggest buck elk 
on the range!” The announcement nearly took away our 
breath. We shook hands and "yelled like the yell Of an 
Iroquois, 1 ’ and came near, like Dickens’ two jolly tars, 
“pommeling each other’s heads” In our joy. After the 
congratulation a were over, wc went two miles from camp 
to bring'in tile dead stag, and on our way H, “fought the 
battle o’er." He said !hat lie found a herd of seventy-five 
or more feeding in a deep canyon; creeping within a hun¬ 
dred steps lie selected a male with the finest antlers and 
shot; the herd scampered away, leaving his elk struggling 
on his side, which soon regained his feet and walked slowly 
away and laid down, not, however, until H. hud put two 
more balls into him. Thinking him nearly dead, H, ap¬ 
proached him, when the elk “rose to explain," and “made 
for him,” in a “manner quite shocking to sec." H. said 
he thought a propel- regard for personal safety required in¬ 
stant flight, and so he climbed a steep bank with the agility 
of a monkey, and from this stand-point, brought him to a 
full stop with a bullet from his 41 Wesson. 
Mack’s iiitlc mules hauled the liugefellow on the snow, 
up and over the bluffs to our canyon. That night there 
was a sight worth seeing in our camp. The deep, steep- 
sided canyon, dark with its scattering cedars; the white- 
covered wagons, drawn closely together near at hand; the tent 
with the cainp-firo crackling before the open door, on which 
was cooking our bountiful supper, the familiar faces of our 
Tour-footed friends, the horses and mules, as they content¬ 
edly munched their corn close by, casting many a wonder¬ 
ing look at the great antlered monarch of the prairies as 
he lay in the lire light. My black-tailed buck which we 
had placed beside it for the purpose of comparison, tho 
bright firo shining over all, and on the happy interested 
countenances of the group as we listened to Ihe recital of the 
day's adventures and triumphs, the while far above in the 
narrow opening the stars twiukled and blazed as it seemed 
for our particular cheer, 
The day following I shot two more male deer, and with 
this exception we, killed nothing else but time, while in 
that camp. Giving Slack the greater portion of the meat 
to carry homo to liis lillle ones. We broke camp, crossed 
the main divide between Mud Creek and the Middle Loup, 
and drove down to the town of New Helena, on the latier 
stream, one hundred miles from the railroad. 
Belpkos, Kansas, March 18ris, 1876. G. W- B. % 
[To he continued in ou/r rlfirt]. 
SPORTSMEN’S REMINISCENCES. 
Editor Fours® and Sttikam:— 
“Recollections of Old Sportsmen,” printed in your Issue 
of the 20th i nst., brings up pleasant memories of collegi¬ 
ate days thirty years ago, spent within walking distance of 
Eresh Pond in "Old Cambridge. Although guns aud sport¬ 
ing implements wero tabooed in the college buildings, still 
a few enthusiastic youths dared the penalties anil smug¬ 
gled their guns and game into their rooms under the eyes 
and noses of investigating proctors. With my first gun, 
procured from “PocO,” the Jew peddiar, at a great sacri¬ 
fice of wearing apparel, 1 made one shot at a bevy of quail 
Dear the ice-houses at Fresh Pond. It was also the last 
with that gun; for although I secured a bird the guu weut 
to pieces as suddenly as the deacon’s shay. 
A former Solicitor of the Treasury aud a distinguished 
member of tho New York bar, wero my frequent compan¬ 
ions on Saturday forays about the wooded shores of Fresh 
Pond aud on the marshes, and many blue borons, teal 
ducks, rabbits, quails, and partridges graced tlie board at 
the evening sessions of the “jolly friars,” cooked to a turn, 
suspended from the ancient mantels before the glowffig 
grate. On one memorable occasion when with a descend¬ 
ant of the Wyth family, on a walk home we crossed Ale- 
wife Brook, out on the marshes we descried two strange 
birds of the heron species. Having brought no guu, one 
watched tho strange visitors while the other ran to “Whit’s” 
well-known resort, celebrated in winter for “flies,” and 
soon returned with a duck gun ready loaded. Cautiously 
he approached the birds ou the open marsh, and to our 
surprise they did not appear alarmed. When within, 
shooting distance one rose, but the other received a shot 
aud was soon secured. It was a splendid bird, witli long 
curved bill, unlike anything we had seen. Carefully 
smoothing its brilliant purple feathers, we bore it home. It 
t was presented to tbs Natural History Society, and declared 
