266 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[NOV. 1, 1888. 



to gBt a running shot at a fawn about fifty yards off. and did 

 good work, tumbling kirn at the crack of tire gun. I brought 

 home a fine lot of antelope and deer meat, upon which wife 

 and I propose to feast for days to come. It is certainly de- 

 licious Wheu it is all gone I am going again and will 

 report. BlAOK Tail. 



El Paso. Texas, Oct, 16, 188S. 



EiVtnr Fonst 



Wearenw 



of in.' Rocky 



GAME IN THE ROCKIES. 



Srr.rnris Sr-itixos, Colo.. Oct. 21, 1883. 



; delightful autumn weather in this section 

 onntains. A great deal of game is now be- 

 nostlj deer. wTlh a tew antelope and an oc- 

 Very few elk have yet been found until to- 

 il one parry who killed" fifteen on the head of 

 Willow ( reek, about fifteen miles north of this place. There 

 has been but very little snow as yet, and the elk are still 

 feeding upon the high mountains. The deer (black-tail, or 

 mule) are mostly killed on Gore Range anil beyond. They 

 are very fat, and some of them large. I saw one the past 

 week that weighed, dressed and with head off and legs to 

 the knees, 224 "pounds, another 196 pounds. One hunting 

 party brought in thirty -one, another forty, another thirty". 

 A man told me today that he and two others averaged twelve 

 deer per day. hunting about two hours. I do not "think any 

 meat is yet being wasted, but at ttjg present rate of killing 

 I !i game cannot last long in any great numbers. The meat 

 is worth here from four to five cents, and at the nearest towns 

 and camps from six to seven cents per pound. The large 

 growing towns, mining Camps, and railway building forces, 

 make a ravenous demand for game, and everybody who can 

 turns hunter for the time being. 



Babbits of three different varieties, that were formerly 

 very plentiful, then became scarce for several years, and are 

 now growing quite abundant again, ate being* killed by the 

 wagon load. Sage hens, ditto. Other grouse are less plenti- 

 ful, and but few are killed. Trappers are fitting out for their 

 u inter work. We have still a good mauv beaver, mink, mar- 

 ten, etc. "" ' \V. IN B. 



DEER AND BUMBLEBEES. 



FORTY years ago deer were plenty in Plymouth Woods, 

 and a. short drive on any woods road would discover 

 their track. The frequent woods fires which raged more or 

 les> every year over some part of the extensive" scrub oak 

 barrens would show where deer could be found the next 

 year grazing on the new checkerberry leaves, of which they 

 are eery fond. There were four of us with two good dogs; 

 and we started out from Wareham on the great South 

 Meadow road, and finding tracks, put on thedpg*. in a 

 little while they jumped the deer. Then we took our stands: 

 they three stretched out on the old Indian "Wish flock" 

 stand, one of the best deer crossings; and I said i would go 

 On to the ''dry tree" or fluxing place. I. however, stopped 

 at the "dry tree" stand. Waiting a while 1 heard the dogs 

 pass on away ro the Herring Pond district, Just as T was 

 going lo call to the others, 1 saw a fox skulking along -cue 

 eighty yards off. I drew up my old king's arm and blazed 

 away; the fox bounded off and I scored a clean miss. 

 The next thing was to hide away from the boys, who would 

 swear I had shot at a deer and missed. The "dry tree" was 

 an immense dead oak, which had been broken off some eight 

 feet from the ground and was hollow about four feet down. 

 1 quickly concluded to get down into the hollow where 

 1 could safely bide from The boys and listen to what they 

 said, and when they had gone on 1 would come down and 

 follow, or remain on tbe stand. 1 hastily climbed up and 

 slid down into the hollow tree. It was' just the nicest, 

 cosiest place; and just as I was laughing in my sleeve and 

 congratulating myself on how nicely 1 would fool them and 

 make them think I was on someother stand, buzz, buzz, 

 whack, buzz. buzz. buzz, whack, whack, and I just got out 

 of that hollow five with all possible dispatch. Under the 

 leaves aud rubbish in that hollow tree was one of the biggest 

 bumblebees' nests in all Plymouth Woods. The boys came 

 up just as I was hall naked, examining the swelling' bunches 

 on my legs. 1 told them I had run on a yellow wasps" nest, 

 and in tho excitement my gun had gone off accidentally. 

 Then we hurried on after tbe dogs and got our deer — shot 

 him in Herring Pond. All of us had a shot, and in the good 

 time I forgot all about my bumblebee stings. 0. F. W. 

 Putnam, Conn. 



A WHITE HARE DRIVE. 



IN Scotland the white hare is called the blue hare in sum- 

 mer on account of its change from the pure white, or 

 white with brownish spots, of its coat in winter time, to a 

 gray-blue color when the snow is off the hills. These bares 

 art very numerous on ,D '-' '"s' 1 teas or mountains of the 

 Scottish Highlands. 



Late one fall 1 Was asked by the kind-hearted gentleman 

 who rented the shooting of Reinony' owned by the Karl of 

 Breadalbaue. to join a white hare drive. On a crispy, cold 

 morning we ascended the hills rising from the borders of 

 beautiful Loch Tay, eight guns in all, with the iwo kilted 

 Highland gillies and about twenty five drivers, boys with 

 sticks and little Hags, recruited from the village near by. 

 We reached the heather-grown sheep pastures, high up on 

 the hills. Now and then a tine old ted cock grouse would 

 rise away ahead of us, made wild by the shooting that had 

 gODe on since the 12lh of August, but we let the grouse alone, 

 -. i reeded all our cartridges, and we kept rising higher and 

 higher. 



A consultation takes place between Mr. H. and the 

 gillie.-, and they leave us, taking the' drivers with them. A 

 peculiarity of the white hare is that when frightened it 

 always runs up hill toward the summit of the mountain 



We get all close together, and climb up until we reach the 

 lop of the mountain. "a mass of heather growth interspcised 

 with granite boulders, and we disperse along the crest at 

 the top. 1 sat down behind a little cairn, placed my cartridge 

 bagin front of me, and waited, anxious to score well in my 

 first hare drive, i looked down and in the valley below. I 

 could sec the drivers walking in a concentric line toward 

 the base of the mountain. Then I begun to hear their shouts 

 1 was started by a bang, bang, on my right, bang on my 

 left, and suddenly a big old jack rushes up ihe hill, straighl 

 toward me, A quiet aim, aud down he rolls. Now they 

 begin to come, and Hie fusUade is heard everywhere. The 

 big white hares rush on, lam reloading as fast as I can. 

 Tliis lasts about twenty or thirty minutes, and the drivers 

 haven i , mill (he hares stop coming. Twenty- 



eight are picked up by the drivers around my shooting 



place, and about one hundred and fifty have fallen to the 

 eiirhl guns. 



Now lunch is had. and the old white pony who has 

 climbed up with us is loaded or rather overloaded with the 

 game. 



After lunch we try two ot her hills, and above three hundred 

 white hares fall that day. no extraordinary number lam told, 

 but a tine day's fun for me. 



Every driver, the gillies aud the pony are loaded. We 

 reach a lower level, and the pony is harnessed to a peat cart 

 left there for us. nearly a ton of hares is dumped into it, and 

 the old cart winds down the peat Toad behind us. We reached 

 the house after a long walk, donned our dress suits after 

 throwing off the shooting garments, and ended the day with 

 a fine dinneT. " _ G. V. 8 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



\\J 1LD ducks of the different varieties are showing them- 

 t T selves in the Susquehanna River, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Harrisburg, aud quite a number, are being shot. 

 Parties who are returning from the State report that quail 

 are more plentiful than for several years, but say the foliage 

 still remains on the trees and make's shooting both difficult 

 and uncomfortable in the morning alter the raws. There 

 have been but few frosts as yet, and many sportsmen are 

 postponing their trips until November. 



A vast number of our shooting men patronize the States of 

 Maryland and Delaware for their hunting grounds, because 

 lrirds are generally more plentiful there; but this year it will 

 pay to make trips to the central counties of Pennsylvania. 

 It does not seem to be understood by many that have gone 

 into the State that rabbits do not' come" in season by law 

 quite so soon as the quail does, and numbers of cotton-tails 

 have been brought to the city in miserable condition. From 

 the Lehigh Valley I hear that ruffed grouse are very hard to 

 find, while it is known that the breeding season has been a 

 good one. The fact is, the birds are still upon the mountain 

 plains— if they can be called such— where there is yet 

 quantities of feed. Only cool weather will cause them lo 

 come down to the foothills and ravines between them, where 

 they are protected. 



The flats at Slaughter Neck and Prime Hook marshes, 

 Delaware, are thronged with sprigtail and baldpate ducks, 

 and I am told that, there has been during the past week good 

 snipe shooting in the same neighborhood. A few miles from 

 Milton, Delaware, on the marshes on both sides of Milton 

 Creek, where the turnpike crosses, a flight of snipe has set- 

 tled and are yet unmolested. This ground is out of the way 

 and seldom 'visited, aud will pay just now to work. The 

 bottom is treacherous and very soft, aud high hip boots are 

 needed there. Milton can be' reached from the railroad by 

 stage, but the accommodations at. this town arc miserable, 

 and prices high both for hoard and livery. 1 am sure, good 

 shooting can be had in this section for quail also after Nov- 

 ember 1, but as a rule the farmers are crusty, and need fee- 

 ing. Deer are being killed in greater numbers in Hew Jer- 

 sey this year than for many "seasons. The Petersons, at 

 Tuckahoe, have been very successful since the season opened, 

 but 1 think all does should be spared if an increase i- wanted 

 It is a difficult matter to spare them, however, after they have 

 been started and are run within gunshot of you. 



The Anglers' Association of Easton, Pennsylvania, are 

 making very strong efforts to break up the practice of weir 

 aud net setting in the upper waters of our rivers, and will 

 surely succeed in their efforts if they continue the agitation 

 of the question, and push still further the steps already taken. 



Homo. 



NOTES FROM MICHIGAN. 



IN one of your recent issues "Old Dick" stated that he 

 fears a greenhorn in the woods more than he does wild 

 beasts or anything else. What a multitude of hunters share 

 "Old Dick's" fear— especially deer hunters, who spend but 

 a few days each season in our northern woods. For a uuro- 

 ber of years regularly, sad "accidents" have occurred in 

 Michigan from hunters shooting at unkuowu moving objects, 

 many of these objects, alas, proving to be human beings, and 

 often chums or of the same party as the excited culpable 

 shooter. Many a happy camp lias been changed into a 

 mourning place, aud a number of huuters have returned sadly 

 to their homes, bearing not the game they went to seek, but 

 the corpse of a companion shot by some forever after un- 

 happy greenhorn, who imagined that any rustling or moving 

 object in the brush must be perforce a beai or deer. 



I regret lo note the first sad occurrence of the kind in our 

 State this season. Last Wednesday Dr. James S. Fraser, of 

 West Branch, was shot at dusk by Emory Brownell, of the 

 same place. Brownell heard a movement in the thicket, aud 

 although he could see nothing, deliberately tired in the direc- 

 tion of the sound. Dr. Fraser received the bullet in his 

 groin. The wound is probably a fatal one. Brownell "sup- 

 posed the noise was made by a bear or deer. " Varbumswp. 

 A nervous man hunting in Michigan these days, remember- 

 ing the long series of" awful catastrophics, hardly enjoys 

 himself in the way still-hunters are supposed to in their soli- 

 tary chase of the deer. One eye on the lookout for their 

 game, the other on the lookout for greenhorns, all the while 

 dreading lest you hear the crack of "some rifle aimed at your 

 devoted head." Pleasant, isn't it V 



Shooting around Detroit just now is excellent. Good bags 

 of woodcock, snipe and ducks are reported. Quail, too, are 

 being shot in large numbers, although the close season does 

 not expire until November 1. Certain pot-hunters usually 

 begin this illegal shooting, whereupon numerous pretendud 

 sportsmen howl for a few days in wrath, then, reasoning 

 that as "every one else is breaking the law we might as well 

 have some sport, too " they also join the vast army of law-- 

 breakers. Notwithstanding these vexatious matters, quail 

 shooting will be fine next month, and I am eagerly waiting 

 for November 1, having been invited by Mr. J. E. Long lo 

 take a shoot over his noted Nixie, said to lie a most remark - 

 able field dog. 



Mr. Harry Newberrv is back from a week's ciuise in his 

 elegant hunting yacht around St. Clair Flats, having had 

 fine shooting, especially at Johnson's Chanuel. He killed a 



Siodlv number of canvas-backs, mallards, teal and redheads, 

 is boat is probably the best equipped hunting craft on the 

 lakes, is replete with even possible convenience, aud accom- 

 modates comfortably eight to ten persons. 



Mr. W. A. Butler, of Detroit, has just purchased for use 

 at the flats the fine hunting yacht Chispa, built a year or i wo 

 since by 0. K. Hopkins, Esq.. of St. Clair. The Chispa is 

 fitted up with every conceivable comfort, and in her Messrs. 

 Fred Butler. Davidson, Parker and Jennings are now on a 

 ten davs' -hoot at Johnson's Channel. 



Duck shooting is at its height along Lake Eric, although 



not many mallards are being killed owing to continued 

 easterly winds. Messrs. Jewell and Brown bagged ISO n d 

 heads and blnebills (mostly redheads) one day this week. 

 Detroit, Oct. u" ' DeI/TA. 



Okntiial Lake, Mich,, Oct. lit— Deer are plenty; all the 

 hunters watching for the first snow. One came i;' ! 

 clearing on Torch Lake, where a man was chopping, last 

 evening. Having his rifle, he stopped it. The trappers are set- 

 ting their gins for fur. Buffed grouse plentiful. Ducks 

 coming in in good numbers. Without giving my Opinion 

 concerning running deer with hounds, it Is best to say that in 

 these forests it often results in the death of the dogs. Kei.t-te. 



Elk Rapids, Mich., Oct. 25. — The seagulls were flying over- 

 Central Lake yesterday, which looks as though the "herrings" 

 had come. Several deer have been killed in that neighboi- 

 hood within a few days. Bears seen) more numerous than 

 usual this season. One of three which have been '" working 

 cornfields between Central and Torch. lakes, lost part of its 

 foot in a trap the other night. They have also done a good 

 deal of damage to corn further nor. h. toward the head of 

 Torch Lake. An extremely large one was seen by one who 

 knows a large bear, crossing the old stage route from Central 

 LaKe lo the Cedar Rivet, three days since. I hear of others 

 seen elsewhere, but have not known of any deaths among 

 them. Kei.t'iic, 



OUR ROCHESTER LETTER. 



Editor Fwest and Stream: 



1 was engaged this evening in an effort lo recollect enough 

 items of interest on which to frame a letter for your columns, 

 and had given it up as a failure when I chanced tc 

 "Seneca's" explanation of the cause that made a dog CUM 

 away from me, as detailed in a former letter "Seneca" is 

 so complimentary to me as a spoilsman that 1 cannot allow 

 his criticism to p'ass unanswered. He writes like a man who 

 knew enough about shooting to be above the folly (if he 

 meant it seriously) of complaining that, tiring a charge of 

 light shot at a fence would compel "Ihe poor fanner" to 

 repair it. "Seneca" was jesting. 1 hope, but lest he should 

 grieve too deeply over the thought of the poor farmer's loss 

 on this particular fence, I will say Dial it is of thai variety 

 which a lamented President of these States passed some of 

 his earlier days in constructing. It was old enough lo have 

 been made by -'Seneca's" grandfather, and at that fateful 

 moment of time immediately preceding the disappearance 

 of the dog, I was a good forty yards from it; hence "Seneca" 

 will see that his sjmpathy wa's in this instance misplaced. 

 I do not Usually crave for condolence, but it occurs to me 

 that if "Seneca" had any bowels of compassion be would 

 have been moved to rend his garments in sorrow ;it the 

 thought of a brother of ihe gun who had worked hard all 

 day and never saw : a bird. Who would nol shoot ;ii a fence 

 or eveu a stone wall or any other sensitive and easily dam 

 aged property in a town where a man could go through 

 miles of woods and never get a ri 



If the farmers "forbid all shooting on their lands" in that 

 town in consequence of my shot at ihe rail fence. 1 ralhei 

 think sportsman can bear the loss, especially if the rest of 

 the ground is as barren of game as that part I beat over. 

 "Seneca" must now see that although 1 hive "thought it 

 over," I do not agree with him, verily I have fired ma 

 shot "at a fence,'' and other objects, and if il were worth 

 while to look up the record, it might be found that the ob- 

 jects were generally hit i. in fence shooting particularly 1 take 

 second place to no man and am prepared to wager' untold 

 stuns, that 1 can wing as many matched board fences, spume 

 from ground traps, Hurlingham rules to govern, as Bogar- 

 dus or' Carver or Capt. Grubb or "Seneca" or any other per 

 son who handles "the modern breech-loader' i. 



In one of my letters ] related the experience of "W. .1. B." 

 With a woodcock. He signalized himself in another V 

 few days since and has been envied bv all gunners who 

 appreciate a few hours' good spoil. The ex-treasurer of the 

 State Association lives on his farm a short distance from the 

 city limits, aud one day last week he and his sou came oul of 

 the country and on a piece of boggy ground within the city 

 boundary lines bagged sixteen snipe. The field where this 

 noteworthy feat was performed has long been a favorite re- 

 sort for snipe, and I suppose that as many birds have been 

 shot there as ever were brought down On any ground of 

 equal size in the State. The sport there is varied occasion- 

 ally by some lucky individual knocking over a horsi i > 

 anil a county official told me to-day that he once, in shooting 

 over this ground, knocked down » snipe with ihe right barrel, 

 fired at a second bird, and with (he spent shot hi: 

 horses hard enough to make them run away, That is only 

 one of the remarkable incideuls thai have taken place Oil this 

 historic field; and even stranger ones might be related, for 

 the place is BO well aud favorably known, that hosts of "the 

 boys" gO out while yet darkness covers the face ot ihe earth 

 and roost on surrounding fences until daylight bl'i 

 allows them lo see and shoot. This morning two ardeni 

 young sportsmen, whose time is taken up with i acting 

 business, drove oul to the locality while the electric lights 



were illuminating the field, and as a ieward for the a 



got a brace of ducks and three snipe. 



The duck shooting in Irondequoit Bay and Ihe town of 

 Greece is pretty fair. That Rochester man. whose gnu suf- 

 fered mosl at the burning of the -Monroe County Club's tent 

 during the Conev Island convention, brought Up tweutj 

 ducks and a variety of smaller game from Braddock's Bay 

 last week after two days' shooting. He has shol over several 

 States, but says that he came on one field near the bay where 

 the "signs" of snipe were more abundant than he ever SAW 

 before, but the birds had flown. 



Secretary Hartmnn has been as busy us usual in shooting 

 woodcock.' and has brought several score to town during the 

 last two weeks. 



A venerable friend. Michael O'Brien, in whose blood Ihe 

 sporting instinct is so strong that painful infirmities, con- 

 tracted in the war for the Union, and seventy wine - till 

 not chilled it. came to me with his eyes sparkling a few days 

 ago and imparted the secret of where a fine bevy Oi ., ,. 

 sheltering, offering to lead me to the place lo do the 

 while he looked on an interested spectator. I reminded him 

 that the season did not open until the 1st pro.x., and you ma} 

 hear from them later. It is a treat to hear O'Brien discant on 

 the attractions ot the county Clare Ireland, as he enjoyed 

 them forty years ago, when he assures me he could pul up a 

 thousand snipe in a day, and gray plover came in myriads 

 every winter, While the streams were alive with Iron!, and 

 To keep game cocks, to hunt the Box, 

 And drink ID punch me- Schvay, 

 were still customs religiously observed not only by "the man 



