THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 207 
of the liberating’ of trout fry are only a few hundred, while the sports- 
men that come in from the outside, from Portland especially, can be 
numbered by the thousands within the course of a year, which takes 
the interest in these streams beyond that of the local people. 
TWO COUGARS, TWO HUNTERS AND 
TWO TALL HEMLOCK TREES 
By Deputy WarpEen C. W. LoucHrey. 
It igs often a true saying, “It’s strange what you see when you 
ain’t got no gun.” This frequently falls to the lot of the game warden, 
and what he sees and hears from would-be hunters would fill a large 
book. 
I made a trip to the Nehalem last week—a place known for its 
hunters and sportsmen, large and small. Strange to say, none of 
these sportsmen are afraid of a deer or elk when it is running, and 
they have used almost as much ammunition trying to kill one of these 
animals as has been used in the German war. But when it comes to 
a wild animal—one inclined to put up a fight—the trees are frequently 
found full of Nehalem hunters. For instance, last week two cougars 
were seen in the valley by a man going along the road, who unfor- 
tunately had no gun, but in order to exterminate the pests he notified 
Walter Bottom and Ira Foster, two of the leading hunters of the 
valley. 
Bottom and Foster immediately grabbed all the guns and ammu- 
nition they had on hand and started for the cougars. Fortunately, 
perhaps, for them, the place where they met the cougars was close 
to two tall hemlock trees. They afterward informed me the reason 
they climbed the tree was to get a better shot at the cougars. Tim 
Corcoran, who witnessed the occurrence, says he never saw two men 
climb a tree quicker than Bottom and Foster, and he has lived in the 
Nehalem all his life, and is a professional tree climber himself when 
any varmints are in close proximity. Just how long Bottom and Foster 
stayed in the tree is not known, as Tim had to go home and milk his 
cows, and it was 9 o'clock in the morning when the tree episode 
occurred. 
The cougars are dead, but who killed them will only be known 
when the bill is presented to the County Court for the bounty. Of 
course, this is not my statement, but what every one in the Nehalem 
says, and there must be considerable truth in it. 
Some years ago there was a large “pigeon tree” on the old Grand 
Rapids townsite, underneath which was a mineral spring, and wild 
pigeons used to go there in large numbers, but the owner of the place, 
who never hunted and did not want any one else to hunt, cut the tree 
down, much to the indignation of every visitor in the Nehalem 
Valley. Since then pigeons are seldom seen here, but large numbers 
are found at Vesper. 
The Nehalem used to be a hunter’s paradise, but the advance of 
civilization has driven the game back into the dense forests and 
hunting is done with great difficulty. In fact, it is too far to walk 
for sportsmen like Bottom and Foster, who are only looking for 
ferocious wild beasts. 
