[Atcvpst 51. 1382. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



8B 



Opbk Sba.b6hb, — Sf* tefti ■, ■ .,r\ for garnt and Jhh 

 ■ ful>/ 80, 



CAME IN SEASON Ir. 



TaEfoUowiagsoliBdulettSJitbite the 

 in ]>!' : . uhieh OpCI 



Alabama- . ,1 . Sen 



CalifrtniM ''■ r I.-.-.-'; 



OdVado-D 



ConnoctietH 



rail.. 

 Dakota— Gw 



low. plove 

 Delaware -\ 



n 



Miffed :.a 



EPTEMBER. 



(.Also, 

 .okvslo- 



quail, deer, wild t 

 lelope, monnta&i 

 falo. 



Sew York- — Woo 

 ■teor.vilil. 



tudg. . 



Idaho 

 grouse, de r, i 

 and Koai. elk, u 

 Wildfowl. 



miuois u',1.,,1.-.-, 



Ii,.|i.m:'i "v.'... .;. 



: wiMfowl.piii- 



•r. wild lUlki'V. 

 -i,. wilfltowl. 



.,-,-. wild- 



Maine E^uiTud 



wildfowl, nlov... 

 jfaiylmtd Ruffed grouse, iroofl- South i 



Oregon Grouse, quail, wildfowl, 

 isp. mountain sheep. 



elk. antelope. 

 Ontario Woodcock, snipe, hares, 



wildfowl, p ! i"ji>:aiiis. partridges, 



rrou-e. prairie fowl. 

 Pennsylvania — WoodootSk*, wild* 



Bowl, plowr. i.iil. road birds, 



wildlowl: [15th, rimed grouse), 



!■:•„., I • 1-1. „.i -v.-...,.i,- ..,-,,. roil-d 



groTHf, woo'lcvl;. ivild.Wl, 



Ho. n. jota Grouse, troodcook-, 



quail, wildfowl. 

 Mississippi— <1M tk, meadow link. 



tldl r 



Missoni i -Woodcock 1 , plover, mea- 



M.ovl.-iH:. dove. pinui:u;.l grouse, 

 lb wild turkey) 



;-c, piar- 



wildfowl). 

 Nebraska 

 Savada- Glk. antelope, mountain 



sheep au.l ;.'o-il. .:.-r. grouse, 

 anil, woodcock, wUJfowl. 



riaii- 



fow 



Venn 



-I'lk. dear. : 



Sheep, grtii 



ml -United 



Ill.slope, mollll- 

 se. onail, wild- 



grouse, wood- 



coel 

 Vi.vii 



la^-Kuffed'e 



•ouso, wUdfowl, 



\\ ash 





ory— Paer, elk, 



■ 



West 



dee 



Virginia -!' 



Bsln — Woo 



se, will turkc\\ 

 lOOclC, grouse. 



Ne 



q„a 



Xew Jersey 



—Reed lords, I "' s 



hard taJlgroi 



sqlllTel. 



i 



rUdfowl, ploy 



„*•-:•...•, 



Gentians, local laws, etc. 





al ■•;:.' ! lsau 



■. ol July 80. page 489. 





IV !l 



e day's hunt lo 



llyi 



ng between the 



d in 



versed by little 



Th 



•re was B mere 



era 



unci, but it con- 



trv 



Bpcct. Ill this 



tr::i 



se find ominous 



A DEER HUNT NEAR LAKE SIMCOE. 



IN that district of Canada lying between Lake Simcoe and 

 the great Georgian ii.iv. and even in territory bordering 

 south and westward, up to I860 were to be Found some of 

 tli • beef liaunta ie deer and deer shooting anywhere in the 

 north. Deer were numerous, vigormm, and" there was a 

 notable number of large ones, The bell of country between 

 .Ie witters has a width of thirty and more miles, and to the 

 northward is merged in the vast wilderness which stretches 

 away to the Frozen Ocean, In the borders of which -Teal 

 territory on the Severn and in the region of Lake Musknka, 

 north or Lake Simcoo, the first of the limited settlement 

 which it will ever aiuuit. had. in I860, just been planted. 



The Lake Sbucoe region of which \vr speak is coursed by 

 Several rivers uud numerous rapid flowing creeks and brooks 

 of purest, water, is dolled with a few little lakes and with 

 limited exception was covered with a forest of gigantic 

 growth, mainly the hardwoods, hut commingled freely with 

 all the evergreens of the north, the piue and hemlock being 

 predominant. There, were frequent patches of swamp" 

 soon- of considerable extent, furnishing dense covert, and 

 there was an abundance of ground hemlock which fed the 

 deer when the d lep bhom a had fallen. The country in the 

 rjjain is pleasantly undulating, but in some localities there 

 are tremendous valleys and long and sleep hillsides. There 

 w iv a few patches termed plains, which were simply 

 barren and formerly burned laud, and in the valleys of 

 some of l he si reams, when the leaves had fallen, the open 

 view amid the great rock elms was most inviting and mag- 

 nificent. The settlements were sparse and the clearings ad? 

 vanccd yeTy slow, tils inhabitant- lived most simply, and 

 among them were bin few good guns or hunters. There 

 were tracts of wilderness where one would not see a clear- 

 ing across a road for ten and even more than twenty miles. 

 Besides deer were some beaver and otter, foxes, lynx, and 

 wolves and bear abounded. Occasionally there was a stray 

 elk, sometimes a rnoojsc wandered to its northern borders, 

 and there hot plently of Uie ruffed -rouse. 



Up to lSuO hunters from abroad had despoiled this region 

 but little; but since that period, with fhe greater advance of 

 clearings and the iner two of hunting, the larger game has 

 greatly decreas stinguiBhed in some localities, 



although in some neighborhoods it still is found. 



Annually, for quite a nun, her ol years, we used to eo 

 thither fi.i.n Ne.-. 7Qrk and 3pand Several weeks in the ffdl 

 and earh wlutei! in eanie-i hunting, until the nation's battle 

 drew us to its ranks; and one of the closing chapters of our 

 experience we now oiler you, it. having lain all this period 

 in manuseripl, although it.'belongs to (.lie unforgotioii past. 



Li \vi the LBth da.\ ni November, 1861. I was hunting 

 in a locality about fifteen miles west from the west arm 

 of Lake Simcoe, along the old pioneer Suunidalu road. By 

 the imperious decree of affairs to-day and the morrow wen 

 the last days left for me here this campaign. Although sue 

 cess in hunting by others around nie. was not llatteriiis, vet 

 fuituna was favoring me quite satisfactorily, and I dread- 

 fully hated to leave. I did not know how lo break away 

 from the hunting, and stronger si ill was the charm of the 

 wild Northern Woods, J loved to haunt through them and 

 commune with nature and behold her passing lit" and 

 seasons. Such hours were hours of purest pleasure — like 

 the fuiiillmeni of. golden dreams in the heyday of existence; 

 and I neve:- turned jny back on these wild woods of the 

 North, even when the stem cold of winter had conn . and 

 the deep snows had fallen, making Ihem impracticable for 

 the hunter, wil.houl saddened feelings and deep regrets. 

 Dm t w"i'c mil near SO plentiful as they had always been 

 in f..re, and it was good Fortune, as ran the chase, to get one 

 any day, and it was the. common luck to fail. A good na- 

 tive hn'nici averaged about a deer a week, and J approached 

 the results of my now brief opportunity wilh more than or- 

 dinary interest. ' 



Early in the morning I took my way fi 

 n LarVe woods of hardwood and ever 

 Bnnntdale and the Northern Batlwa; 

 Streamlets flowing to the Nottawasj' 

 sprinkle of snow in ti„; : air and 01 

 tinned tq fall, mid increased, with 

 northern clime the weather often hi 



milduess, even hut the day before winter come:, with vigor- 

 ous advent to hold continuous and rigorous reign, 



1 proceeded overground heretofore famous for t lie game, 

 with eves open rnd" idort, and vet the afternoon came and 

 was well advanced and I had not seen n single track or deer. 

 1 had come to a slight run and was standing beneath some 

 cedars and about "to cross when I saw, about fifteen or 

 twenty rods in advance, the indistinct movement of some- 

 thins, and directly made out the ears and tipper part of a 

 deer's head thrown up, and approached to the trunk of an 

 old and largo fallen tree, on its further side, as if looking 

 over in my direction, ins moment turning away, but in such 

 manner that I thought I was not discovered. The deer wa- 

 in the edge of a mat of large hemlock and pine, strewn 

 with a good many enormous old trunks of anciently over- 

 turned pines; where grow numerous small evergreen., and 

 the vi-ion could but indihtincl.lv peuelrate here and there 

 the recesses of its dark shadows.* I had wondered where all 

 the deer had gone; the snow was gently sifting, tlr: appear- 

 ance for the time we- that of dark.Viecp yet mild midwinter, 

 and it was now plain they had taken to the covert of the 

 evergreens and fallen timber. In a moment or two 1 saw 

 two or three separate movements over beyond the prostrate 

 trunk, and knew I had a small Hock of deer before me. I 

 watched 'with rifle, ready", but the glimpses I obtained were 

 ho brief that I had no chance for a sliof. Standing perfectly 

 still, with interest at its greatest, tension, T soon discovered. 

 indistinctly and at mtervals, a largedeer meandering amid 

 the laega timber beyond ihe great trunk, and gradually 

 making toward my left. .My ritle came to shoulder more 

 than once, but with all my effort 1 obtained no chance, when 

 at last the deer stopped, "with its form outlined through a 

 maze of little dead branches of cedar and hemlock. A cau- 

 tious step forward improved my view .-omewhat, and hold- 

 ing on a little clearer spot over' mid-body 1 fired, when the 

 deer started a little, then turned aud quietly walked back, 

 ith little apparent concern and yet as if 'a little warned. 

 aud disappeared. 



Stepping behind a large tree 1 loaded and then looked 

 sharply for another opportunity for about live minutes, when 

 I cautiously moved four or rive rods aero.-s the run behind a 

 giant pine, past the sides of which 1 kept a sharp lookout, for 1 

 felt sure the deer still lingered before me. Suddenly, within 

 the' thick shadows of the timber, at some distance. I dis- 

 covered the back of a deer above a large log. al which i 

 promptly leveled and tired. When the smoke had disap- 

 peared so had the deer, aud as I saw no movement and heard 

 no noise Kome unpleasant misgivings crept, into my mind. 

 Nowhere during tlus trip had I seen such a show of deer. 

 aud they were evidently in that dull indifferent mood often 

 noticed in them when a storm i^ passing or impending, af- 

 fording the hunter a largely increased favorable per cent of 

 chances. 1 remained at my post for some, minutes, and see- 

 ing nothing stood out a little one side and advt 

 a -in all evergreen, when a deer walked business- 

 anil stopped and looked as if suspicious of da ngi 

 neck and shoulders advanced in plain view 

 abrupt broken end of a large Fallen tree. Quietly I brought my 

 rifle on him and with good aim and some feeling of nervous- 

 ness, fired, and the deer instantly whirled about and disap- 

 peared in the direction whence he came. Rapidly loading I 

 cautiously advanced a little and continued slowly to do so, 

 making frequent pauses to observe, and sighted one or two 

 deer, now in more open woods. But. presently I was dis- 

 covered, and with a few jumps they sprang from view and I 

 saw them no more. 



After going a little furtheraad finding the deer had left, I 

 turned back to examine the. field of action" aud learn the result. 

 Hunting out the tracks of the deer I had Bred at and the 

 places whore they stood, behold.' the ball had cut the hair-off 

 the first one across the back, as was evidenced by the cut 

 hair lying thickly scattered on the snow; in the case of the 

 seconrl one the locality had been thickly tramped and 1 could 

 not determiue certainly, within some rods, it.- position, but. 

 obtained no evidence of hitting at all. Where the third one 

 stood hair freely sprinkled the snow, but a careful search 

 failed to find a trace of blood on the Bold. Three shots and 

 not a deer in hand! Ibtt 1 still had some hope of a trace of 

 success, and as the next best move pursued on the trail of the 

 deer which had tied. Sometimes, after a fatal shot and 

 where the game can he pursued by discreet pursuit, but tin 

 merest trace of blood is lost, which is easily overlooked 

 But I found nothing except that the deer, of which there ap- 

 peared to be five, which had left in a body, after feeding 

 along for a little, had separated and each walked In a separate 

 course. 



Sunset was near at hand and 1 turned homeward, cha- 

 grined and meditating over my ill-luck, soon striking along 

 a liue ground and large open timber. There are -oinet i nes 

 conditions of atmosphere and weather when what seams the 

 ordinary aim will (tarry too high, and greal care has to he, 

 ■xercised not to overshoot; the'aim must be low, and 1 think 

 wl frequently when snow 

 ny failure today to be due 



in to sight 



vith head, 

 ivond tin 



I belit 



ed 



ledtoiin 



the-t 



deer, aud on the it 

 uld sec them; if i 





knew would dissipate tin 

 which now told of the 

 course' of its Wandering! 



I have noticed th 

 covered the ground. 

 to such cause, and d 

 self in the matter. Neither shot, 

 made over if Quito twenty rod.-, 

 so easily, lor I was used to shoot 

 with great certainty, wherever 1 

 the run. 



1 was now indulging in the careless expectation of not 

 meeting any more deer this evening, for I was returning over 

 grounds where not a track was to be seen in the forenoon. 

 Tint 1 did not sufficiently note that the clouds had broken, 

 the air become very mild, that the snow was thawing — one, 

 of those briof pleasant periods when gome is at once 

 abroad everywhere, when it is very liveh and yet approach- 

 able and daring of chances. I had reached a gentle knoll 

 and was about I o shoot al a mark which 1 selected on an old 

 stub, when 1 decided to look for a more satisfactory one, 

 and continued mr advance, not half thinking of deer hunt- 

 ing. Presentlv, stepping upon the well decayed body of a 

 huge old fallen pine, lying in my course, I instinctively 

 scrutinized the expanded view, when a dark object sixteen 

 rods awav, deep under the heavy topped hoinloek^. attracted 

 mv attention, and I quickly made out the broadside of a 

 deer, with his head up aud gaze fixed on me. Bringing my 

 rifle up with care and holding on his chest the forward 

 sight looked bright and large, but when I drew fine the form 

 of The deer was so indistinct that I readjusted ray aim, aud 



with care, I deemed, when the blue smoke puffed fiercely 

 out and the loud resounding report seemed as if it must 

 startle every deer in his covert. Aaid the deer jumped like 

 lightning and ran with great swiftness for about forty rods, 

 Circling as usual toward the last, and bringing up in "thicker 

 covert on the banks of a little stream, closely followed by 

 another deer which had started seven or eight rods nearer to 

 me. of the presence of which I had noRuspicion before. All 

 this I saw quite plainly in the open timber, and after load- 

 ing 1 made careful and circuitous approach toward the lo- 

 oafity where they stopped, and from which with careful 

 watch I had not seen them depart, But I failed to sight 

 tin in. neither did search reveal any dead deer or blood, and 

 it struck m? that neither track much denoted a cripple. I 

 wen; with rapid steps to view the spot where the buck had 

 started fi om the shot. Fie jumped so quickly and ran so 

 ierccly that 1 thought him hit. but 1 felt a rising apprehen- 

 lon thai 1 had failed again, 



When a deer slarts from the shot and was not viewing the 

 hunter at the time, in ninety-nine caeca out of a hundred it 

 has felt the ball, and when one that is viewing starts quickly 

 to the shot. Hi.- chances are many that, it is from the same 

 •ause. In this case, seeing the puff of smoke and hearing 

 the fierce crack of the rifle in the same direction, was cause 

 for quick alarm. Examination of the spot he started from 

 and the track nf his flight revealed no blood nor hair or evi- 

 deneo of toy die* being hit, and 1 went to the log from 

 which I harf find to reassure myself of the locality. 1 pro- 

 led instantly In test my belief that the atmospheric con- 

 dition Was cheating me in'my shooting, The first shadow of 

 evening had fallen, but I could see the sights plainly, and 

 holding upon a mark eight or ten rods distant, fired. I'pon 

 going to see the result, behold! the ball was very near two 

 feet above the target!—;! greater exaggeration from this 

 cause than 1 remembered to have met, aii example that fixed 

 itself in my memory, and the occasion of my most remark- 

 able chapter nf failures was plaiu. 



Impelled by a little forlorn hope I went again to the spot- 

 where the lost deer had stopped in their flight and examined 

 further They appeared to have walked away together, and 

 I found no evidence of Wounding. There were several fresh 

 tracks of other deer, but darkness soon stopped my tracing 

 and I turned homeward. The light of the brilliant northern 

 sky gleamed gratefully down amid the branches of the dark 

 evergreens, and the repeated cry of a lynx not far from me 

 awakened my interest and drew more than careless glances 

 over my shoulder. I accounted this the uuluckiest day in 

 my somewhat extensive hunting experience, a day of good 

 opportunities and rare ill luck, "which days, somehow, now 

 and then come to the best of hunters. 



With the morning came my last day in the woods, and-1 

 bestirred myself early to re-iime the hunt, where I had left 

 it the evening before, with strong resolve to make the best 

 of opportunity which fortuue might throw in my way. A- 

 liitle more winter had stolen on than yet had been; there 

 was Ice In the puddles, and the ground in the road was quite 

 rozcr.. But a bright sunlit day was coming on, which 1 

 " frost and largely tfie slight Bnow, 

 presence of game, the time and 

 As on the preccdiug morning, I 

 took my route over the finest of grounds for deer aud where 

 previous to the present year they had been plenty, but not 

 a track COttld I see. I took up and followed for a little the 

 track of the deer last tired at the evening before, but it soou 

 became commingled with those of other deer, all taking off 

 in a northerly direction. An extensive bout throughout the 

 locality where I had found my deer the. day before, disclosed 

 not a single fresh track- Early in the preceding evening 

 quite a number of deer, the snow told, had loitered about, 

 a::d then leisurely and quite separately taken off in the same 

 northern direction. Not a track ran counter, and when 

 noon came 1 had not seen a single track made to-day, and 

 there evidently was not a deer in the locality. They "had all 

 tramped away' somewhere, aud the question was where 1 

 could find them. One who hunts deer much observes that 

 upon the near approach of decisive winter deer often take 

 such general temporary tramps. They might return at. 

 evening, but for this I could not wail, and decided to con- 

 tinue the hunt in the general direction the deer had taken, 

 and soou came upon the fresh track of ft small deer going 

 the opposite way. My course was taking me direct from 

 home, and I soou diverged obliquely, and in an hour, in a 

 beech ind maple tract, saw enough tracks made this morning 

 to make, me think deer were thick. But not one could I 

 find, and 1 resumed mv former course, aud directly entered 

 an extensive pine slashing. 



I felt weary and pursued the easier walking along an old 

 wood road I happened to strike. The crisp noisy walking of 

 the morning had been long dispelled by the bright sun and 

 the snow was disappearing. I presently struck an iumense 

 and fresh track of a buck going a little to my right, which 1 

 followed for a few rods and heard a hard knocking noise a 

 little aside, which I believed made by the antlers ol the old 

 monarch himself, who 1 fancied might he turning in his 

 course. But the ground was too open for safe approach, and 

 1 returned to the wood road, intending to presently circle in 

 bis direction, and in a few moments Struck the recent tracks 

 of five deer which 'had entered the road and continued 

 ; tracks did not seem sufficiently recent to as- 

 ime was just ot hand, yet tracks made in a 

 ire often much nearer u point of time than they 

 way, it was evident deer was about me and 

 meet them ere long. 



fter feeding along the road, made across a run 

 to mv right, and I approachcdlhe sedgy edge lo cross also 

 when I noticed, aboul five rods distant, through the thick 

 dead lower branches of the cedars which grew in lb" run. a 

 dark spot which might answer for a deer. I could outline 

 no form, but the spot was suspicious, aud I determined to 

 make the experiment of a shot. Holding my rifle on, it 

 seemed as if] could hardly get a ball safely through the mass 

 of small crabbed branches, and 1 carefully moved a Step to 

 improve chances when the live deer started' from the covert, 

 their white tails all creel, and in a moment were out of sight, 

 affording no Opportunity for a shot. The suspicious spot 

 was gone as well as some of my chances for success. 1 now 

 tried to stalk upon them, advancing a ii'.tle aside, and started 

 them twice, they running only a short distance but starting 

 before 1 saw them, when'l quit this useless business and re- 

 versed my course to take in the big buck, and the locality 

 where 1 had to-dav first seen the" numerous ftcsh tracks. 

 This was on the home stretch, and the sun was well de- 

 clined. 



1 had not gone far amid the logs and slashed tree tops, all 

 the debrisof former lumbering, when I came upon the tracks 

 of the buck, now turned about, as I had anticipated, and 

 going in my changed direction. It was indeed «.u enormous 



iloug 

 nellii 



it. Th 



e tin.' g 

 g snow 



ippea 



hat I 



The 



•. Any 

 was to 

 flock, i 



