
HALCYON 
In January, 1892, 2 friends and I made 
a hunting trip to Gomez peak, in the Davis 
- mountains, West Texas. We carried rifles 
for deer and bear, and shot guns for quails. 
In the way of grub we had flour, bacon, 
frijoles, coffee, sugar, dried apples, chile, 
baking powder, salt and rice. 
DAYS IN WEST TEXAS. 
_ Mexicano, by boiling and frying with chile. 
They are nourishing and a good standby. 
At the section house whence we were to 
start to the peak, we piled off the train, 
unrolled our blankets and slept till morn- 
ing. Then we got a Mr. Smith to haul 
us and our outfit to his ranch, where we 
_ passed the night. The next day we got 
another man to take us to the foothills. 
On our way up there we shot a lot of quails. 
_ We camped near a cool spring of water, 
put up our 7x7 tent, cooked our birds and 
ate supper. 
The next morning we started out to look 
for deer. We soon found plenty of signs 
and I saw a deer. I told S. to shoot, but he 
said he could not see it; so I took a crack 
at it and missed. E. saw a buck but failed 
to get a shot. 
The next morning we went out again and 
_ jumped a fat doe. I got in the first shot 
and she stopped, hit in the loin. E. turned 
loose with the cannon and we had veni- 
son. 
; A few days later I broke the foreleg of a 
_ deer near the shoulder and I failed to get 
it, though I traced it a long way. After 
losing the trail of it I started for camp, not 
_ knowing exactly where I was. 
_ down a narrow canyon I heard stones rattle, 
and on looking up saw a big buck trotting 
t slowly down the canyon. I took a shot as 
: he ran, and missed. He ran up on a little 
_ ridge where he was-sharply outlined against 



the sky. 
~ left, I dropped on one knee and drew a bead 
on his shoulder. At the crack of the rifle 
_he gave one jump, dropped his flag and 
came rolling down, shot through the heart. 
It was nearly sunset, so I hurriedly 
dressed him, saving the head and horns to 
_be mounted. I doped the entrails and blood 
with poison, took one ham and, hanging 
the balance of the carcass in a tree, started 
_ again for camp. 
I followed on down the canyon and soon 
struck the main one, which ran just back 
of camp. As I neared home I heard the 
_ pattering of feet, and on looking just across 
the ravine saw 2 yearling deer. They 
stopped and looked at me in surprise, and 
The frijoles, or red beans, we cooked a la 
As I came > 
As I had but one rifle cartridge. 
FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 
The man who quits when he gets enough, with plenty of game still in sight, is a real sportsman. 
apparently could not make out how the 
buck’s head happened to be on my back. 
I drew my 6 shooter, held it with both 
hands, drew a bead on one of the deer and 
let go. I heard the ball strike the rocks 
with an angry pi—ng—and the deer scam- 
pered away. I was not sorry, for’ we had 
meat enough. 
The next day I met a cowboy who said 
he had shot a young deer that morning and 
that there were 2 together. 
When I got to camp I found E. had killed 
a deer, making one for each of us, which 
was enough. 
We went out the next morning, brought 
in the rest of my buck, and found near the 
poisoned entrails a dead civet cat, which 
looked much like a domestic cat. Its tail 
was ringed like that of a coon, and it had a 
peculiar odor. We saw panther and bear 
tracks, but failed to meet either, though we 
searched diligently for Ephraim. 
We saw plenty of Messina quails, hand- 
some little creatures, the head being marked 
something like that of the male Bob White. 
They made a chirping noise when we 
came near them and would rise in a bunch, 
take their flight together and alight the 
same way. We did not kill any of them, as 
they were near the deer feeding grounds 
and we did not carry our shot guns to that 
section. 
We remained in camp 2 weeks and I never 
enjoyed a hunt more in my life. , 
Can anyone tell me how a deer gets along 
without a gall? And of what use are the 
2 little openings at the inner corner of each 
eye? 
What is the best way to take the grease 
out of bear skins, or those of other animals? 
David F. Crowell, New Haven, Conn. 
ANSWER, 
Hornaday’s Taxidermy, and his Amer- 
ican Natural History, published by Chas. 
Scribner’s Sons, New York, will tell you 
“all these and many other useful things.— 
EpDITOor. 

A HELLROARING BEAR. 
October 11th, 1899, while hunting alone 
on a mountain side near the head waters of 
Hellroaring creek, Montana, and after 
tracking for several hours what I supposed 
was a black bear, I took a chance shot at 
a moving object about 60 feet distant and 
probably 20 feet above me, nearly concealed 
by snow-laden scrub pines. At the crack 
of the rifle the bear made a spring over 
and through tht small trees directly toward 
me. That spring measured 7 long paces. 
