200 



RECREA T10X. 



THEY HAVE PROVED AN ALIBI. 

 A subscriber sends me the following, 

 clipped from a Michigan paper, and says, 



" Please publish but djn't call them game 

 hogs": 



Frank Wellington, Wflmot Tompkins, and Charlie Pom- 

 roy, of Presque Isle, recently returned from a two weeks' 

 hunting trip to Squa Pan lake. They started out with tly- 

 . clad in true hunters' uniforms, with rifles, re- 

 volvers and knives, and proudly boasted that if there was 

 any game near the lake, they would each secure all the law 

 allowed them. After remaining a week in camp, and not 

 having shot even a partridge, they sent home by truckman 

 W illiain Hull for some home-cooked provisions, and he car- 

 ried back to them the next day some chickens and beef- 

 steak. This was a little humiliating for hunters who had 

 expected so much, but it was eat Presque Isle provisions or 

 starve. The story has leaked out that none of the party 

 dared to venture away from camp without tying a string to 

 his waist, for fear of getting lost; and the most venture- 

 some of the party, Charlie Pomroy, got but one-half mile 

 from camp during the sojourn at the lake. Parties who 

 have since visited the camp claim that there is a perfect 

 network of strings running in all directions, which were 

 used by these disciples of Daniel Boone. The total amount 

 of Li.une shot by each of the party is as follows: Pomroy, 

 one partridge ; Tompkins, one red squirrel and one wood- 

 pecker; Wellington used his gun but once, and then he 

 fired at a mark on a tree. They claim they had a good 

 time, but decided that successful hunting was not in their 

 line of business. 



No, they are not game hogs, and in view 

 of the fact that they were hungry I can even 

 forgive Tompkins for killing the wood- 

 pecker. 



The Indians would call these chaps 

 " Young - Men - Afraid - of -the- Woods." — 

 Editor. 



A CIRCUIT FROM BOISE. 



Boise City, Idaho. 



Editor Recreation: We started from 

 Boise July 14, '96, and after a ride of 43 

 miles over sage plains teeming with jack 

 rabbits we reached Canyon creek. Here we 

 caught our first mess of mountain trout. 

 Next day went on at 6 o'clock and riding 

 40 miles, camped at Castle Rocks. We made 

 30 miles the following day and camped on 

 Malad river on Camas prairie. Intending 

 to stay there some time we arranged every- 

 thing conveniently. Wm. Schultz, nick- 

 named " Cougar Bill," and Wynn Pefley 

 were our hunters; while W. F. Smith, 

 called " Shorty," and I attended to the 

 cooking and cleaned the game. The hunt- 

 ers would start from camp about 5 o'clock 

 in the evening and walk along the banks 

 of the Malad, catching the birds going to 

 water. There were any amount of birds, 

 but we killed no more than we could use. 

 'We stayed there a week and were sorry to 

 leave. 



About the first of August we reached 

 Alturus lake. This being a great range for 

 big game, we decided to stay until we could 

 get at least one deer; but the horse flies 

 drove us out after the first day. We pulled 

 across the Salmon river valley and up a 

 gulch in which we found a fine camp. There 

 we killed a deer and all the sage hens we 

 wanted. We stayed 4 days and then went 

 on down Salmon river. At our next camp, 



2 cougars sang for us all night. About 10 

 o'clock next day wc struck Stanley store in 

 Stanley basin, where we proceeded to re- 

 provision. About 5 miles farther we came 

 to the State wagon road running up Salmon 

 river to Banner. 



We stopped at Petit lake, but pulled out 

 the next morning on account of the horse 

 tlies. On the road out we killed the largest 

 bald faced grizzly I ever saw. He weighed 

 about 800 pounds. The tracks made by the 

 hind feet measured 18' j inches. He was an 

 old timer in that vicinity and was known 

 as " Old Sullivan." Our next stop was at 

 the deer lick on Cape Horn. That is a 

 series of warm sulphur springs extending 

 for 5 miles. At the upper end the sulphur 

 and alkali have formed a crust several 

 inches thick. There the deer go to lick 

 the alkali. We stayed 2 days, and could 

 have killed a wagon load of deer had we 

 desired. We contented ourselves with one. 



We left the deer lick, and in a week's time 

 were back at Boise, well pleased with our 

 trip. C. PI. Beck. 



A MILWAUKEE SPECIMEN. 



Dr. H. V. Wurdeman, of Milwaukee, re- 

 cently returned from a hunting trip to the 

 Northwest, and tells a hair-raising story to 

 a local reporter. The paper says: 



" The doctor brought home with him the 

 antlers of 3 big bucks and the heads of 4 

 elk." It also tells of the doctor's having 

 killed a cow elk. The doctor says that with 

 a guide he plunged into the forest and came 

 out with all this game. He adds: 



*' While exploring the wild country we 

 saw thousands of ducks and more deer and 

 elk than the average hunter dreams of, but 

 we did not waste a bit of game. We used 

 it all, killing it only as we needed it for 

 food." 



The doctor and his guide must have had 

 colossal appetites and stomachs like those of 

 the elephant, in order to store away the car- 

 casses of 5 elk and 3 deer. 



The doctor also gives the verdant reporter 

 the following quixotic story: 



" I had been out all one night on a ' shin- 

 ing ' expedition with my guide, when we 

 sighted 4 elk a short distance away, just as 

 day was breaking. The herd comprised a 

 bull, cow and 2 calves, and they presented a 

 magnificent sight in the early dawn. The 

 cow thought her calves were in danger and 

 she charged upon us quick as a flash, and 

 then the old bull also came at us with a rush. 

 I brought the cow down with a soft-nosed 

 bullet from my .30-30 rifle when she was 

 about 75 feet away, but the old bull did not 

 seem to mind lead any more than a duck 

 does raindrops, as we pumped 2 magazines 

 of cartridges into him as he came swinging 

 on toward us. Fortunately I downed him 

 when he was within 15 feet of me, the bullet 

 striking him full in the chest and perforating 

 the big bundle of nerves there, the heart 



