FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



381 



for the cedar brake, and ran his" hardest. 

 Some of the boys rode along the ridge to 

 head him off on one side, while others tried 

 to force him to climb the hill. The bear 

 beat us to the cedars, but we crowded him 

 so hard he went through them, to a ravine 

 on the other side. 



We had to leave our horses, but all 

 rushed down afoot. Each was anxious to 

 get the first shot, and so become entitled 

 to the skin. 



The day was just dawning as we de- 

 spatched the bear. We built a fire, lit our 

 pipes, and then examined the dogs. Two 

 of them were slightly hurt. Old Vic had 

 not yet arrived, but we heard her coming, 

 and waited, before skinning the bear, so 

 she might see her game. We estimated the 

 weight of our catch to be 500 pounds. 



John C. Casparis. 



EIGHTEEN SHOTS AND A BUCK. 



Olivet, Mich. 

 Editor Recreation: While looking up 

 signs and lay of country, Abe Jewell started 

 a doe and 2 fawns. He noted where they 

 crossed an old roadway. Ted Burroughs 

 came along soon after, and in a moment of 

 partial insanity Abe told him what he had 

 seen, and where they had crossed. The 

 same day, while on an exploring expedi- 

 tion, I saw the fresh tracks. Next morning 

 bright and early we all took our Winches- 

 ters and started off in different directions. 

 Abe brought up in 20 minutes on the run- 

 way. Five minutes later Ted came up. Be- 

 fore he could excuse himself and get away 

 I put in my appearance. There we were 

 with the single thought of holding down 

 that runway. I visited with the other 2 a 

 few minutes; but thinking a deer might 

 want to cross, and might dislike to break 

 through a crowd, I moved on. I had not 

 gone 2 rods before I heard a light clatter 

 on the frozen ground and saw a little buck 

 making for the runway. The recognition 

 was a mutual affair; we all saw the buck, 

 and the buck saw us. He stopped 40 rods 

 away. Now a little buck standing facingly 

 at a distance of 40 rods is not a large mark. 

 We all drew on him and held, hoping he 

 would come nearer. He made a motion 

 as if to turn, and one report rang out and 

 3 bullets sped on their course. Not a word 

 had been spoken, but the unanimity of 

 thought ^and action bespoke the instinct of 

 the deer hunter. Although hit, the deer 

 did not fall and naturally did not come our 

 way. Up the ridge he went under the 

 fusillade of 3 guns. Then stopped and 

 looked back. Abe had fouled a cartridge, 

 and Ted and I took a shot together. The 

 buck sprang into the air, ran 15 rods and 

 out of sight. Abe and I passed Ted, and 

 it seems, the deer; as he jumped up back 

 of us and ran down the hill. Just as I was 



aiming at him crack went Ted's 40-82. The 

 deer struck on his head and slid 5 rods 

 down hill. The ball had raked him from 

 stern to stem. We took account of stock 

 and found Ted had fired 7 cartridges, I had 

 fired 6 and Abe 5. The deer had been hit 

 4 times. Brooks. 



WOLVES AND COYOTES. 



From what I have observed, I believe it 

 true that wolves can signal, one to another. 

 Last fall my partner and I were in Minne- 

 sota. An hour or so before sundown, one 

 day, we iheard a wolf howl. The sound con- 

 tinued for a while and finally came toward 

 us. My partner answered with a good im- 

 itation howl; but the wolf retreated in the 

 direction from which it had come. It was 

 getting late, and we returned to camp. 

 There we could still hear the wolf calling. 

 For some time it obtained no reply; but at 

 last we heard, from the opposite side of our 

 camp, the answering howls of a half dozen 

 or more wolves. The sounds passed us, 

 going in the direction from whence we 

 heard the first call. From the difference in 

 the tone of the howls, we concluded the first 

 came from an old she wolf, and the others 

 from a party of young whom she had been 

 calling. 



At another time I was setting traps on 

 the ice in a pond. Five wolves came out of 

 the woods, to the pond. When they saw me 

 they scattered in different directions. I 

 fired 3 shots after them, but they were far 

 away and running rapidly, and I failed to 

 kill any. There was one large wolf and 4 

 smaller ones; probably an old she wolf and 

 her pups. Soon after the large one reached 

 the woods she howled, evidently calling the 

 others to her. In this case, I did not hear 

 the young wolves answer. 



I am confident the amount of damage 

 done to stock, by wolves, is greatly under- 

 estimated. Wolves are gluttonous, and can 

 gorge a surprising quantity of food. I 

 once caught one in a trap. It broke the 

 chain and escaped; but before doing so, 

 vomited enough fresh venison to fill a to- 

 bacco pail. Anyone who has cut the meat 

 from an average sized deer, to dry, can form 

 an idea of how nearly that wolf had come 

 to eating a whole deer. And wolves do not 

 eat all they kill, by any means. Bears, coy- 

 otes, ravens, skunks and other vermin, 

 come in for a share. 



- The only way to exterminate wolves, or 

 even to hold them in check, is for each 

 State to pay a good cash bounty. Michi- 

 gan pays $15 on wolves, $5 on lynx and $3 

 on wildcats. This is some inducement for 

 men to hunt them; but it is not enough. In 

 Minnesota, wolves are subject to worms of 

 various kinds, including tape and thread 

 worms.^ Further West, the alkali water 

 seems, in a measure, to prevent the growth 

 of worms in animals. 



