FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



213 



away the underbrush, leaving nothing but 

 blackened trunks of trees and fallen logs, 

 for many miles. So, if you are accustomed 

 to seeing deer in their haunts, it is no trick 

 to discover one in this locality. 



I had been at Lost lake nearly 3 weeks, 

 and had seen, in my travels around the 

 lakes, numerous fresh deer tracks, but could 

 not get sight of a deer, although, coming 

 on my btock track one day, I saw where one 

 had stepped in one of my footprints. 



I told our guide about it and he said I 

 would see plenty of them if I knew how to 

 look for them. I did not care to kill one, 

 but simply wanted to see one. 



One day, while exploring around the out- 

 let of Wilson's lake, a small lake West of 

 Lost lake, I discovered a natural lick, and 

 it looked as if a herd of sheep had visited 

 it, so thick were the tracks. It was about 

 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so I climbed a 

 tree and watched the lick till nearly sun- 

 down. At that time I was rewarded by 

 seeing a young buck suddenly come in 

 sight, as if he had risen from the ground. 

 He came leisurely toward the lick, till 

 within 10 rods of it, when a puff of wind 

 came up and he stopped. He had scented 

 me and stood a few moments when another 

 puff of wind came. This satisfied him and 

 he gave that whistle so familiar to hunt- 

 ers. Up went his flag, and about the same 

 time, to my right, was another signal and 

 there went as large a buck as ever I saw. 

 The way those 2 bucks sailed over fallen 

 logs was interesting. 



In about half an hour 2 does came right 

 under me, went up to the lick and stayed 

 there till I got tired of watching them 

 when I moved a foot and disturbed the 

 branches. This put them to flight in an 

 instant. They looked thin, as if they had 

 passed a hard winter. I came down from the 

 tree, well paid for my trouble. If this had 

 been in season I should probably not have 

 seen a blamed deer. 



This lick was at the base of some rocks, 

 and a spring was close by that tasted strong 

 of iron. I saw an artificial lick, near a 

 lumber camp, that had been made by pour- 

 ing brine on the roots of a large stump. 

 Near by was a tree, with a ladder reaching 

 up into the branches, where a seat was 

 placed among the limbs. There the hunter 

 seats himself, and when the unsuspecting 

 deer come underneath he shoots them. 

 Hundreds of deer are killed in and out of 

 season, in this Northern country, during 

 the year; yet you can hardly blame the 

 settlers for killing what deer they want. 



During the summer the deer have plenty 

 of feed; in winter they have poor picking. 



After I saw the first deer, among this 

 dead timber, I had no trouble seeing them 

 every day, during my stav at Lost lake. 



The deer, up here in Wisconsin, are very 

 large. They are light gray, while over in 

 Minnesota they are smaller and darker and 

 you will find among them some black tails. 



The guide and cook we had was Frank 

 Griffin, of Hayward, Wis. 



Frank W. Cheney. 



FIVE DEER IN 50 SECONDS. 



Olympia, Wash. 



Editor Recreation: I noticed in the 

 May number of Recreation a communi- 

 cation from F. H. Knowll.on, about killing 

 2 deer in half a minute. I can discount that 

 record. Last fall I was in Clallam county, 

 Wash., and hunted with a young man who 

 had never seen a live wild deer, in his life. 

 One night we camped at the foot of old 

 Mount Constance; taking an early start 

 in the morning to climb to the summit. 



As we cautiously slipped along the crest 

 of a ridge, I spied 2 deer, about 150 yards 

 below. They heard us and were looking 

 our way. I told my companion to get 

 ready, for I intended to shoot the larger 

 one. At the crack of my rifle they started, 

 my deer tumbling backward at the second 

 jump. As the other one reached the sum- 

 mit of the ridge, it stopped just long 

 enough to get a bullet behind the shoulder. 

 The killing of both took about 15 seconds. 



The next morning we again started for 

 the summit. Along in the afternoon, we 

 saw a bunch of 6 deer, 60 yards away. 



I got in one shot before they started to 

 run. The buck I shot took a jump and 

 turned up his toes. The others scattered, a 

 big doe taking the lead, right up the can- 

 yon; and the biggest buck of the band was 

 only one jump behind her. I let him have 

 it through the hip. He went on, as though 

 nothing had happened. Being determined 

 to get him, even if all the others got away, 

 I pumped another bullet into his body, this 

 time close to the fore leg. At the second 

 jump, he keeled over, just as I let another 

 buck have it. The last one was hit in the 

 rear — a shot that was a ^ettler for him. 



By this time the old doe was nearly ouli 

 of range, so I let her go, turning my atten- 

 tion to a spike buck that stopped to look 

 back, and a big doe taking a short cut over 

 the ridge. I halted the doe with a bullet 

 in the flank. The little buck had his neck 

 broken by a bullet. 



I now turned to my companion, and saw 

 him standing still, with a look of surprise 

 stealing over his features, evidently hav- 

 ing forgotten he had a gun. I had killed 5 

 deer out of 6, and they lay kicking, within 

 a space not larger than a square acre. I 

 am sure the time of the shooting was not 

 more than 50 seconds. 



We had started to go over the rarfge, but 

 with so much meat on our hands, we went 

 back to get help to bring it out. Every 

 pound was consumed by the settlers. 



Allen Weir. 



This does not justify you in such a whole- 

 sale killing. One or 2 deer is enough for 

 any man to kill, at one time. Editor. 



