A MONTH IN OREGON. 



L. R. ISAACS. 



A jovial party, consisting of J. Cameron, 

 L. R. Isaacs, A. E. Fischer and R. Reed, 

 left San Francisco in September, '98, for a 

 month's hunting in Oregon. At Roseburg, 

 Ore., we were met by our guide, W. H. 

 Boren. From there, with a team and a stock 

 of provisions, we made our way to Camas 

 valley, where we rested one day.- We left 

 next morning with 7 horses, and by dusk 

 reached Ketchen and camped over night. 

 We were up early next morning and on 

 our way to Happy camp. We arrived 

 about 10 o'clock and decided to stay there 

 a few days. 



By 4 p. m., we had our tents arranged, 

 and provisions stored away. Boren thought 

 it was time to get some meat for dinner; 

 so off we all started. I went through sev- 

 eral canyons without seeing a deer, though 

 there were plenty of signs all around. The 

 other boys had the same kind of luck, ex- 

 cept Cameron, who killed a big buck. Reed 

 saw a doe and 2 fawns, but would not de- 

 prive the babies of their mamma. After 

 staying at Happy camp a few days, after 

 which time we each succeeded in getting a 

 deer, Borem suggested we go on to 

 where he thought we could kill an elk. 

 We left camp at 6 a. m. the following day, 

 each one carrying his .30-30, and starting 

 joyfully enough; but oh, what a difference 

 in the evening ! We tracked one big elk 

 all day and he took us back to within 

 J/2 mile of camp. It was the roughest trip 

 I ever made. By nightfall Cameron and 

 Reed came to the conclusion they had not 

 lost any elk. 



After a day of rest, Fischer and I, with 

 Boren, went again to see if we could get 

 an elk. We struck the trail of 2 cow elk 

 and their calves, which we followed all 

 morning. In the afternoon we ran across 

 the tracks of a big bull, and determined to 

 give up the cows and follow him. Over 

 rim rock, boulders, fallen trees, etc., we 

 followed that elk until dark, and then made 

 our camp near a dry log, which we set on 

 fire. We hugged the fire until daylight 

 and then took up the trail again until 10 

 a. m. Passing down a canyon, we heard 

 a noise, and after a sharp run of about 

 100 yards to a part of the canyon where 

 the poison oak, laurel and huckleberry 

 bushes were not so thick, we saw a large 

 elk, about 75 yards away. I fired as he 

 was about to go behind a large tree, and 

 caught him well back of the foreleg. 

 Fischer shot him in the shoulder, the bul- 

 let coming out of his neck. As we hur- 

 ried up to our elk, he jumped to his feet, 

 hair on end and eyes like coals of fire; but 



he was too sick to charge. So to end hL 

 misery quickly, I put a bullet through his 

 heart. The animal was in poor condition 

 and much scarred from combats with other 

 elk. The meat was not fit to eat, and had 

 a peculiar musty smell. 



Next day we broke camp and moved to 

 Fogg creek, where we pitched our tents. 

 There we were visited by Mr. A. Crouch, 

 Boren's partner, who told us bear were 

 plentiful within a few miles, and promised 

 he would help me locate them. The 

 next day Crouch and I traveled can- 

 yon after canyon, but did not see any 

 game until, while descending a mountain, 

 Crouch called my attention to a large black 

 bear on a log. The wind was in the right 

 direction, and he did not smell us. We 

 kept behind trees and bushes until we had 

 descended well into the canyon, and were 

 about 150 yards from the bear, who was 

 still unaware of our approach. While de- 

 bating the best way to get nearer, I heard 

 a crackling of bushes within 20 yards of 

 where we were hidden, and a 2 year old 

 cub followed by its mother came in view. 

 As soon as the latter saw me, she showed 

 her teeth and stood on her hind feet, fac- 

 ing me. I took steady aim at her heart and 

 pulled the trigger. She sank to the ground 

 and died without moving. The cub was 

 going up the hill as fast as he could. I 

 aimed at his right foreleg, but caught him 

 a little too low ; he stopped and began to 

 bawl. I went within 10 feet and shot him 

 in the heart. Two miles farther on, we 

 saw 3 more bears, in easy shooting range ; 

 but I was satisfied with what I had, and 

 did not disturb them. Fischer, that day, 

 also secured a fine bear. 



The next day Reed, Cameron and I went 

 to a canyon where acorns were thick and 

 ripe. When we got to the foot of the can- 

 yon, Cameron started to the right and 

 Reed to the left ; I said I would follow 

 shortly. After waiting about 15 minutes 

 I heard a shot and, hurrying up the can- 

 yon, saw Reed cutting a limb from a small 

 tree. He had shot a bear, and wanted a 

 club to finish it with, so as not to spoil 

 the hide. As I did not wish to see the 

 animal suffer more than was necessary, I 

 put a bullet behind its ear and that settled 

 it. Cameron also secured a bear, so we 

 were all perfectly satisfied. We put our 

 time in fishing on odd days, but fish were 

 small and not plentiful. 



On our way home we camped at Happy 

 camp, and 1 thought I would see if I could 

 get a deer to carry back to San Francisco. 



