FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



119 



A HOG WHO WEARS THE BLUE. 



Portland, Me. 



Editor Recreation: I have hunted in 

 the Northern Maine woods for the last 5 

 years, every fall, and have secured many 

 fine deer. Last year I shot a moose, with 

 4 feet spread of horns. I have wanted to 

 shoot a caribou, and have hunted for them 

 diligently, but have never seen one. I have 

 wondered at their scarcity, especially about 

 Mt. Katahdin, where they were once plenti- 

 ful, but the enclosed clipping throws some 

 light on the subject. With a few such game 

 hogs, providing they were as good shots as 

 this one, we should have no game left at all. 

 I suppose if there had been a dozen caribou 

 in this herd, and they had remained in the 

 clearing, this hog would have killed them 

 all. 



The coming of your magazine is looked 

 upon with great pleasure by the sportsmen 

 here. It is doing good work among the 

 hogs and I trust it will reform many of 

 them. Subscriber, 



The clipping reads thus: 



A party of 4 of us went to Maine for a 4 days' 

 hunting trip. There was one man among us, 

 Orderly Sergeant Richardson, U. S. A., at Fort 

 Popham, Me., still in the service. On the third 

 morning 3 of us — the sergeant, another man and 

 me left camp together in search of game. We had 

 not gone more than a mile when we saw, on the 

 next ridge (a hillside), 5 caribou standing in such 

 an open place that it was almost impossible to get 

 nearer to them without being seen. After wait- 

 ing some time for them to change their position, 

 our silence was broken by the sergeant's remark 

 that he had killed deer as far away as that, and 

 thought he could kill one of these. 



We agreed to let him take a shot, and esti- 

 mated the distance at 500 yards. When he got in 

 his position, which he calls the Texas grip, he 

 selected the one on the right and told us to look 

 out for him. At the crack of the rifle down came 

 the animal with his back broken. The others, be- 

 ing bewildered, ran in a circle, coming to a stand- 

 still somewhat nearer to us. All hands now esti- 

 mated 450 yards. Again Richardson selected the 

 one on the right, and at the crack of the gun the 

 animal dropped. The other 3 leaped off in another 

 direction, as we estimated, 600 yards. Then the 

 sergeant adjusted his sights to that distance, and 

 to my great surprise killed the third caribou. The 

 other 2 separated and one of them came back 

 near to the first one that was shot, when he stood 

 broadside to us, and the sergeant fired, but shot 

 low and broke both forelegs. After a hunt in the 

 brush we found him, and one more shot from the 

 old springfield rifle, with the sergeant behind it, 

 gave us 4 out of 5 caribou and only 5 shots fired. 

 We went into camp with flying colors and were 

 the centre of attraction that evening. 



One of the party inquired of the sergeant where 

 he had obtained such proficiency in marksman- 

 ship, when he pulled his coat open and exhibited 

 the gold badge of a distinguished marksman, won 

 by him in 1889 in the division competition of the 

 army, department of the East. Our party was on 

 this hunt several days and killed 6 deer, 2 moose 

 and 4 caribou, of which Sergeant Richardson killed 

 4 caribou, 3 deer and one moose. He killed all 

 at more than 300 yards, except one deer, which he 

 shot on the run at about 150 yards, breaking its 

 neck.— J. S. Jones, U. S. A., Retired, in Army and 

 Navy Journal. 



It is unfortunate that the game wardens 

 could not have captured sergeant Richard- 

 son and given him a dose of the Maine 



medicine for game hogs. It is to be hoped 

 he is, ere this, in Cuba hunting Spaniards. 

 If he will make as good a record on these 

 as he did on game the people of Maine will 

 no doubt forgive him for having shown his 

 bristles in that State. — Editor. 



A COON HUNT. 



Last fall my friend Thomas Longley, 

 wrote me asking if hunting was good in 

 my locality. Receiving an affirmative reply 

 from me, he came. The second night of 

 his visit we arranged for a coon hunt. At 

 7 p. m., 6 of us, with my faithful hound 

 Drum, started for coon bluff, 5 miles 

 Northeast of the city. By 8.30 we were at 

 our destination. We had not gone 40 rods 

 from where we left the horses before old 

 Drum gave tongue. This being Mr. Long- 

 ley's first coon hunt, he was all excitement 

 when the clear, long drawn notes of the 

 hound reached his ears. We followed the 

 dog to where he was barking up. It did 

 not take us long to locate the coon and 

 shake him out. 



The coon, instead of dropping on the 

 ground fell squarely on Longley's back 

 and stuck there. We soon dislodged the 

 brute, however, and killed it. We started 

 to leave, but the dog was bent on remain- 

 ing at the tree. We knew at once there 

 must be another coon up there; so up I 

 went, and sure enough, way out on a large 

 limb lay another large coon. This fel- 

 low did not have a chance to raise such 

 a disturbance as the first. The dog had 

 him by the throat the instant he struck 

 ground. It was now only 9.30, but as a 

 thunder storm was coming up we returned 

 home. 



I rounded up several foxes last fall and 

 winter. Have 2 as good fox hounds as ever 

 ran. Several deer were killed here last fall, 

 within a radius of 6 miles. Wolves are quite 

 thick 10 miles Northwest of us, but a $2 

 bounty won't tempt anyone to hunt them. 

 Frank A. Moore, Baraboo, Wis. 



ON RAILROAD CREEK. 



Lakeside, Wash. 



Editor Recreation: The vicinity of 

 Railroad creek is a -splendid goat, and a 

 fair deer, bear and grouse country; but 

 for some reason, I saw little game. Saw 

 only one bear, a small silver tip with a 

 magnificent coat. I watched him through 

 my field glass and did not shoot, expecting 

 a better chance later, but he eluded me. 



In several places goat signs were plenti- 

 ful, but I saw no goats. 



When it came to fish, I had all the fun 

 I wanted. The fish are small trout; but of 

 what variety, I do not know. The only 

 distinctive mark I noticed on them, was a 

 red line under the lower jaw, on each side. 

 The creek was full of them. The largest 



