THE REFERENDUM 



36S 



distinct herds of them, the Southern herd 

 only going as far north as Nebraska, while 

 the Northern herd never came south of that. 

 How is it ? Will some one who may know 

 more about them than I claim to know give 

 us his opinion on this? I am aware that all 

 buffaloes looked alike, whether we found 

 them North or South. I have hunted them 

 as far North as the Sweet Grass Hills, and 

 as far South as I could go, and not invade 

 Mexico. I would not have found any of them 

 down there had I invaded it, and I have held 

 many arguments with men who had hunted 

 them nearly as far through the country as I 

 had, but the question is still an open one, 

 with me, at least. The last buffalo that I ever 

 saw running wild, I and an old Comanche 

 chief killed near the head of the Canadian 

 River in November, 1899, and I believe that 

 he was the last one that was ever killed in 

 that country, Western Texas. In May, 1882, 

 a party of miners, who had been prospecting 

 south of Fort Union, New Mexico, brought 

 in a report to El Paso of having seen a small 

 herd of buffalo in among the mountains near 

 Fort Union. A party was got up at Deming, 

 New Mexico, to go out and hunt them. They 

 hunted the whole country closely, but saw no 

 buffalo, nor the signs of any — one of them, 

 an old buffalo hunter afterwards told me that 

 none had been there in the past four years. 

 What Captain Dixon says of the horses' fear 

 of the buffalo is very true. Some horses 

 never could be trained to run them, while 

 others in a short time lost all fear of them, 

 and would carry their riders right up to a 

 running herd. 



I have had several good buffalo hunters 

 among the cavalry horses I have ridden. I 

 rode cavalry horses for 20 years. I would 

 take a green horse that had just been bought, 

 and in a short time make a good hunter out 

 of him. A great deal would depend on how 

 the horse was handled while doing it. The 

 Comanches had many good buffalo ponies" — 

 one of the best hunters that I ever mounted 

 was a short heavy milk-white Comanche pony 

 that, when I first met him, was five years old, 

 but had never been ridden. The Indians 

 could do nothing with him. I took him and 

 broke him in ; then made a buffalo hunter out 

 of him. That pony would carry his rider right 

 up on top of the buffaloes. He seemed to 

 know what was wanted of him, and would 

 run until he dropped, if I would let him. The 

 chief gave him to me, and I made a pet of 

 him, as I did of any horse I ever rode. 



When it comes to eating large quantities of 

 buffalo meat, I have had Comanches that I 

 would back against "Chief Pretty Bird," or 

 any one else. Fourteen pounds would only 

 be a light lunch for one of them, if he were 

 hungry. 



John A, Brooks, 



Erie. Pa. 



THE MIDNIGHT DRUM. 



Editor Recreation : 



In the July number I saw a piece about 

 grouse drumming at midnight. 



I agree with Mr. J. E. Keyer, of Lincoln, 

 N. H. 



I have camped on streams in Oceana and 

 Emmet Counties, Michigan, in the spring; 

 mostly in May, and on still moonlight nights, 

 I have heard grouse drum all times of the 

 night. 



And there are lots of grouse in Emmet 

 County ; also a few in Oceana County. 



I have seen lots of grouse drum on logs, 

 but I never saw one on a branch. 



I think the foxes and owls catch a good 

 many of these birds, as I have found feathers 

 of them in the woods where they were caught 

 and eaten. I have also seen where owls have 

 picked up cotton tails ; saw their wing marks 

 on the snow, a few feathers and some hair, 

 and no more rabbit tracks. 



Chas. F. Mundt, 

 Brutus, Mich. 



NOCTURNAL DRUMMING. 



Editor Recreation : 



The discussion as to whether grouse drum 

 at night, in the July issue, recalled an experi- 

 ence of mine which agrees with the statement 

 of Mr. J. E. Kezar. of Lincoln. N. H. Sev- 

 eral years ago, in company with a friend, I 

 was deer hunting one bright moonlight night 

 late in the fall. We started about eight o'clock 

 and until half-past one, when we went home, 

 could hear the grouse drumming at intervals 

 all through the night. I remember watching 

 for deer in a clearing near a deserted farm- 

 house for about two hours, and the drum- 

 ming was very noticeable. I have also heard 

 the birds when coming home from long gun- 

 ning trips after dark. Foxes, while not ex- 

 tremely aboundant in this section, are still 

 seen and shot quite often near the place to 

 which I refer. 



Indications point to a good year for fall 

 shooting, and the brook trouting has been a 

 great source of sport this spring and summer. 



Hoping that Recreation has a long era of 

 prosperity in store, I am 



Carleton Doak, 

 Belfast Me. 



A SAVAGE ELK. 



Editor Recreation : 



A great many of Recreation's readers will 

 remember the killing of Gen. Bull by a bull 

 elk. Gen. Bull used to live at what was then 

 Bull City, Kansas, but is now Alton. He had 

 at the time of his death, several pet elk, and 

 one morning one of the bulls became enraged 

 and not only killed Gen. Bull, but two or 

 three other men besides. I send you a copy 



