Ma-roh 16, 1882,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



129 



r-Iitl i o w <i. i : ■ •.,-,■■■ tensive marshes and whose letter was 



. oti'fl to proving his club had made a bigger score 



than some other club, hie scoring between f, 000 and sooq 



ducks. The letter winds up with the statement, thai this 



□ aueonrplished by "rigorously protecting the 



The I bought natwrullV arose, "the marshes were 



doubtless well protected, but who in the d 1 protected the. 



flucksV" Not I hat dub, certainly. Here is a .similar ease 

 from (he South. Qne oi' a party hunting chickens in 

 ' 6 tie- pmiries, writing a coiurralulatory account of 

 then i : i ■. n-lls ,>[' the paiiy ddliinrf i.ofiij chiakens in one 

 trctl: I am within bounds in estimating that not onedialf 

 fl ame in either of tbj - was consumed. It was 



impossible, under the eirci im itances, and yet either of these 

 sportsmen (?) would be highly indignant to be classed as 

 "butchers. ' 



Here is another representative case from a Sportsman 

 amongthe buffalo Eor the first time. He is naturally very 

 enthusiastic over the sport and at the sight of sttch huge 

 monsters, and Is particularly grateful to some army friend 

 who assists with a. squad of 'soldiers in the sport and, as if 

 were, "rounds up" the buffalo for bis convenience. This is 

 all very natural, and the graphically descriptive account has 

 the ring of the true sportsman, the hunt winding up with a 

 bag of about sixty buffalo, huge monsters, too! Fo wonder 

 he Was elated; and only a ten days 1 hunt (say 50,000lbs. 

 ineal or 25,000 rations for one man). A year pa'sses. Tem- 

 pi/ra mutaniUr, cl nt>& mutaamur in Mi's, says the Latin 

 poet. He returns to the locality of this "exploit, but 

 either missing the buffalo, or more probably posing as "an 

 old hunter" "who had been there" on the previous year's ex- 

 ploit, proceeds to read these wicked skin-hunters a most beau 

 tiful lecture on the magnitude of their offences, in which the 

 word ' "butcher, " etc, frequently appears. It; reads most beau- 

 tifully; but recognizing the signature and recalling the pre- 

 vious year's graphically described hunt among these same 

 animals, yOu unconsciously ask, "but how about those sixty 

 buffalo?" Getting no response, you naturally recur to the 

 parable about removing the mote' from your brother's eye, 

 and those words of Shakespeare about "consistency" being 

 such a beautiful "jewel." 



The spirit of all name bans is to prevent the useless slaugh- 

 ter of game— more titan, oan he properly utilized for food— 

 whether in season or out of season. Yet, what occurs each 

 year? Prom the time the migratory birds (ducks, geese, etc.) 

 cross the 49th parallel in September on their way South, and 

 their return again in May, they are, under a constant fusilade, 

 the badly i . \ lumbering about as many as those bagged; 

 ith ili • snipe. With the grouse, the work on them 

 is of shorter duration, but far more effective, for every sports- 

 tnau of the Eastern States is dumped out on the prairies of 

 the West, and there is a constant "banging" being heard in 

 every township for several months. 



It is fair to estimate, without taking into account the 

 wounded, that not more than one-half of the vast amount of 

 9 killed are ever utilized for food. Even with the best 

 intentions it spoils on then- hands or en route to market or 

 Mends at home. There is already a marked difference in the 

 amount of game in the Mississippi Valley at this time and six 

 or seven years ago when I was familiar with the ranges. In 

 a few short years what now exists in the Northeastern States 

 (east of i he Allegheny) will obtain in the Mississippi Valley, 

 and the country will awake to the necessity of efficient game 

 protection, but only after it had been virtually exterminated. 

 A. faithf ul execution of I he game law out of season (which 

 can alone lie done by a liberal expenditure of money) will 

 only partially cheek the impending evil. I am satisfied that 

 (unlike the ease of the large game in the West) the gradual 

 extinction of the feathered game of the Mississippi Valley is 

 due to the useless killing of siwh game by what are termed 

 sportsmen. No law can reach such cases, and the correction 

 of the abuse must rest with each individual sportsman. No 

 conscientious sportsman will violate this "higher law." It is 

 done by those palling themselves "true sportsmen" each 

 year, and by I heir own confessions. 



Even recognizing the law of the "survival of the fittest" 

 and the right of man to hunt for sport, we all become 

 "butchers" when animal life is destroyed uselessly. 



In conclusion, will Congress take action in this matter? 

 If done at all it should be done at once, for game is fast dis- 

 appearing. Recollect (his is the fast of the large game of any 

 quantity remaining on the continent. By the construction 

 of the Cf, P. Railroad Colorado has been shorn of her eame 

 for the want of such a law. By the near completion of the 

 N. P. Railroad the same fate inevitably awaits Wyoming 

 and Montana. I feel sure this measure will be supported by 

 nine-tenths of the people of those two Territories. They will 

 see their interests lie in that direction, and I do not "doubt 

 Territorial action can be had if necessary. But uo power 

 but Congress can control the Indian question, and, if neces- 

 sary, the buffalo, the only animal in which the Indian is 

 interested, can lie excepted from the law. 



In regard 1o taxing foreign sportsmen I have little to say. 

 It would look just, that if ''American sovereigns" are taxed "in 

 Canada. "British lords" have the same privilege on this side 

 the line. It would, amount to little, as far as protecting 

 the game is concerned. .From my information. English 

 sportsmen who have visited northeast Wyoming and Mon- 

 tana kill but little game. As a rule, 1 hey have been among 

 big game before, and have passed that stage peculiar to most 

 amateurs, that inordinate desire to shoot their rifles off at 

 every animal tirei i, g trom them and unable to shoot back. 

 The amateur sportsmen among them usually go through the 

 pari during "fly time,'-' whenat is difficult fesr an. experienced 

 hunter to kill sufficient game or foojl 



There have been some complaints from Eastern Wvoming; 

 notably of an English sportsman, who boasted,* in the 

 columns oi I lie London 7-V, •«,.,,!' killing 400 head of large 

 game in a lew months. It was intimated by some of his 

 countrymen in Wyoming that a good deal of "this game was 

 tilled With paper bullets. But however that may he, he 

 was so roughly handled in the columns of that paper by 'his 

 own countrymen in Wyoming and at home, that no one ap- 

 pears to have followed his example, or if tliev have, they do 

 not publish the fact. 'p 



March S. 1888. 



CincAoo, II]., March 10 —Geese and ducks arc nowhere 

 in great numbers, but the high water makes it hard to get at 

 them. Mr. ; . A. Orvirj cf this city bagged sis.-tv-t.hree blue 

 bills at the Sportsmen's Club's grounds" at Thayer's Land- 

 ing, Indiana, last Saturday. I was out shooting yesterday 

 morning on the prairies Just west of the oily, "and saw 

 pigeons, robins, bluebirds and meadow larks. I had bad luck, 

 as I only got a goose and two mallards. I shot the goose's 

 "'■elyoff at fifty yards with my ten-pound gun,— 



MR. POST'S BILL. 



I^OLLOWINC is the text of the Bill introduced into the 



± House or Representatives by Mr. Post of Wyoming.; 



A Bill for the protection of wild game in the. Terr i ■-■ of 



the L'nii .'I @1 i ■ :. 



-it having become apparent that wild game natural 

 ■"■ U;: - * '''•■> 1 '■■:: the It ntted S-'eites is rapellv disappear- 

 ing, and that the efforts of the Territorial authorities have 

 proved ineffectual for its preservation, and thai, unless ade- 

 quate measures are speedily taken for its protection it will 

 soon become extinct: Therefore, 



Beitenacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 

 of the United States Oi America in Congress assembled, That 

 it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to kill or de- 

 stroy any elk, deer, antelope, buffalo, mountain sheep, or bi- 

 son in any of the Territories of the United States, at any 

 time, for any purpose or under any pretext whatsoever, ex- 

 cept for food, and then only when ' necessary for human sub- 

 sistence, being governed in amount and quantity by the rea- 

 sonable necessities of the person or persons killing the same: 

 Provided that nothing herein shall bo construed to prohibit 

 the. killing of such quantity as may be needed for domestic 

 market supply, for purposes of human subsistence only, 



Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons 

 to have in his or their possession for the purpose of transpor- 

 tation out of any of the Territories of the United States, or 

 from one of said Territories into another, any of the animals 

 mentioned in this act, either dead or alive, or the skins or 

 pelts of any such animals; and if any such animals, or the 

 skins or pelts thereof, be found in the possession of any trans- 

 portation, steamboat, or railway company, or of any person 

 or persons, for purposes of transportation, whether the same 

 be in transitu or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the United 

 States marshal to seize said property, and arrest the owner 

 thereof if he can be found, and upon judgment being ren- 

 dered against the owner thereof said property shall be forth- 

 with destroyed. 



Sec. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any person to deal in, 

 or to buy or sell, or have in his possession for the purposes of 

 sale, trade, or barter, any of the animals mentioned and de- 

 scribed in this act, or the skins or pelts thereof. 



Sec. 4. That it shall be lawful for any person who has rea-' 

 son to believe that any of the provisions of this act have been 

 violated to make complaint thereof to any justice of the peace, 

 United States commissioner, or judge of any court residing 

 convenient to the locality where such offense has been com- 

 mitted; and if such officer is satisfied that probable cause 

 exists for such belief, he shall commit such complaint to 

 writing, which complaint shall be sworn to by the complain- 

 ant, whereupon such officer shall issue his warrant of arrest 

 and cause the accused to be brought before him for trial; and 

 upon conviction any such offender shall be fined not less than 

 twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned 

 until the fine is paid, not to exceed three months for the first 

 offense, and for the second offense the fine shall not be less 

 than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty dol- 

 lars, and imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more 

 than three months; and the United States shall have execu- 

 tion for the collection of all fines imposed by this act, to- 

 gether with costs of prosecution, one-half of all such fines to 

 be paid to the complaining witness and the other half to be 

 paid into the school-fund of the Territory in which such 

 off ense may have been committed ; and all process required 

 to be issued in carrying out the provisions of this act shall be 

 served by the United States marshals of the respective Terri- 

 tories in which any proceedings under this act may be had. 



Sec. o. That it shall be the duty of the United States mar- 

 shal of any Territory of the United States to arrest, on infor- 

 mation, any person he may have reason to believe has violated 

 any of the provisions of this act. and straightway bring him 

 with the accusing witnesses, before the justice of the peace, 

 United States commissioner, or judge of any Territorial court 

 most convenient of access, and it shall be the duty of such 

 justice, United States commissioner, or judge to proceed im- 

 mediately to try the accused and deal with him as provided 

 in this act. 



ANOTHER DEER HUNT IN OHIO. 



"MAST YEARS AGO." 



THE deer hunt in Ohio, described by Mr-. D. W. Cross, in 

 Forest and Stream, Peb. 23. brought vividly to mv 

 mind a somewhat remarkable hunt which I once had iu the 

 same county. It was in Jan. 1833. I was clerking in a bank- 

 ing house in Cleveland. When a lad I had often accom- 

 panied this banker on a squirrel hunting expedition, and it 

 always pleased him, when practicable, to gratify my ever-long- 

 ing desires for a hunt. The Cleveland," Columbus and Cin- 

 cinati Railroad had not been long in operation. Within a 

 few miles of Cleveland it penetrated what was then at best a 

 half-settled region with long, com iuuous though generally 

 narrow line of virgin forest. Some seventeen or eighteen 

 miles from Cleveland the road passed near-aiarge swamp. 

 This was in the immediate vicinity of Columbia station. At 

 the time of which I write there had been a brisk snowstorm, 

 some seven or eight inches having fallen. The conductor of 

 the P. M, mail train from Columbus called in at our bank- 

 ing Office Just after nitt ana-al, and dludiag to the snowstorm. 

 said it waS a good time to hunt wild turkeys, remarking; that 

 his train scattered a large flock near the swamp from above 

 Columbia station. The banker at once asked me if I would 

 like to try them in the morning, saying he would borrow a 

 nice rifle for me if I wished to go. No'ur.ghiic was required. 

 In the evening I was duly prepared With the necessary out- 

 fit for a week's hunt if neeessaVry, and instructed not to 

 return without a turkey. Taking" the early train rhe next 

 morning I found myself forty minutes later at Columbia 

 station. Upon inquiring I was informed that a, large ilock of 

 wild turkeys lived in the swamp which, however, was nearly 

 inaccessible. Learning of a hospitable farmer who lived 

 nearest the swamp. I went there and "put up." After test- 

 ing the ride two or three Shots to ascertain how it was sighted 

 I started for the swam]) about three hundred yardsdistanl 

 across a wheat-stubble Held, the stubble just appearing above 

 the snow. As I Beared the forest I discovered fresh tracks in 

 the snow which 1 at tirst took to be hogs' tracks, but soon dis- 

 covered that they were too far apart. I then thought they 

 yei ere'- by -a pair of stray sheep, but I could si 

 part of the large field, which was surrounded by araiHei 

 as high as . I coilld 1 ■• ki b, and no sheep or other animals in 

 sight. My curiouty being aroused i followed the tracks to 

 the corner of the field projecting into a. "chopping" covered 

 With logs and large brush-heap-,. Here- I discovered that the 

 tracks had been transferred to the other side of ihe high 

 fence, leaving a space of not less than fifteen. feet betWBen 

 the tracks, For the first tune it flashed nero-.s my nund that 



I was on the fresh trail of two wild deer, though I did not 

 j a wild deer could be found nearer than the black- 

 swamp one hundred miles away, in the northern part of the 

 ' 



My excitement was now at a high pitch. Although in 

 fcrriLi-y ars I had killed many wild turk-vs 11; an idj-'m 

 ing county I had neves enjoyed a deer hunt, for they all 

 disappeared many years before. I at once scaled the fence 

 and followed the tracks withmueh trouble, as thi ; fl ent >>vi;r 

 high logs which covered the ground in every direction, I 

 was now approaching the railroad down which i had passed 

 nearly an hour before. I was hurrying on as fast as possible, 

 wondering whether the deer had" crossed before the train 

 -down, when suddenly I heard the crack of a tWig 

 ahead of me and at the same instant caught a glimpse of the 

 heads of both deer behind a large brush heap and not over 

 100 yards away. They kept so" thoroughly out of my sight. 

 behind the numerous brush heaps that it, 'was impossible" to 

 catch a snap shot, and finally I hey passed over the railroad 

 about one-fourth of a mile away and in full sight. One was 

 a very large doe and the other nearly a full-grown fawn. I 

 ran to the railroad and found that 'they had passed into a 

 strip of heavy forest not much over one-fourth of a mile wide 

 and running in a high southerly direction. The railroad ran 

 in a southwest direction. A traveled road crossed it at the. 

 station within half a mile of where I stood. Running down 

 the railroad to the edge of the timber, 1 could see that only a 

 very narrow neck, of thin forest connected at the highway 

 about 300 yards cast of the statical. I reasoned that the deer 

 would pass through this neck. Taking out my watch and 

 time table I found that an express train from Cleveland was 

 due at Columbia station in fifteen minutes, and the whistling- 

 post was near where the deer had crossed. If I could only 

 ran down through the fields and gain Ihe nick of woods be- 

 fore the deer passed, the train would surely drive them within 

 range. About half way between the station and the neck of 

 woods was a house, by which in the road stood a man and two 

 large boys looking towards the neck of woods. I feared they 

 had seen my game pass, but soon learned that they had some 

 time been watching a load of hay coming up the 'road and if 

 the deer had passed they would surely have seen them ; besides 

 they were surprised to hear that I had seen any deer in that 

 region. I was soon in the neck of woods meeting the load of 

 hay there, which, with its ox team was provokingly slow get- 

 ting away, but finally reached the house just as Ihe loeomo- 

 motive whistled. Within a few seconds I saw t he deer sweep 

 ing down at the top of their speed and the train in full sight 

 and in direct range from the instant the deer had come 

 within reach. A few jumps further and they were in range 

 of a lot of cattle in the field and as they crossed the road 

 within fifty yards of me, they were in range of the load 

 of hay, men and boys who were calling out to me not to 

 shoot that way, and a little further on iii range of the house, 

 where by this time a woman and several children had ap- 

 peared. Nothing could be more provoking, but I kept my 

 rifle ranged upon the old doe and as she reached a safe range 

 beyond the house and about 130 yards from me, I fired at her 

 just as she was entering the heavy forest. She "flagged" 

 back the signal that she was struck and almost instantly dis- 

 appeared behind the fallen tree tops. Quickly loading my 

 rifle. I soon found where my bullet had carried "the hair along 

 on the snow, and a little further on I found blood where the 

 deer had cleared a high log. I followed upon a run. 



After going about half a mile I caught sight of both deer 

 bounding away behind a large fallen treetop. The doe bad 

 laid down and the warm blood had melted a hole in the 

 snow, showing very nearly where the, deer had been struck. 

 They were now leading me in a westerly direction and soon 

 crossed the railroad through a heavy licit of timber, which 

 they followed for miles, occasionally showing themselves in 

 the distance. The wounded doe "lay down a, number of - 

 times during the afternoon, bleeding profusely each time. 

 They finally struck a semi-circular belt of timber bearing to 

 the north and east. At dark they readied a road passing- 

 through a bushy clearing and passed on toward some heavy 

 timber beyond. I could see the roof of a house over the 

 bushes about half a mile up the road, and being much 

 fatigued, concluded to go and engage quarters for the night 

 and take my deer trail early in the morning. Approaching 

 the house I was surprised and delighted to find it the same, 

 one where I had secured quarters in the morning. I then 

 saw that, the deer were heading for the swamp where they had 

 probably strayed the previous night and near where I had 

 first struck their tracks. An excellent warm supper was 

 ready and partaken of with a relish known only to the young- 

 hunter. A neighboring farmer made a call that evening, 

 and stated that during the past season a large doe with at 

 first a small fawn was seen several miles to the westward, 

 and at various times during the season was seen with her 

 rapidly growing fawn working further cast, till finally they 

 seemed to remain in the region of the swamp. They hail 

 been much hunted for two mouths past: and fired at several 

 times. The farmer thought I would find my prize within 

 half a mile, the next morning, but Iliad better start early as 

 a party had been out for them that day but in the wrong 

 direction. Prom m-. description the farmers could trace m -, 

 route, and they assured me that Iliad tramped about twenty 

 miles. 



The next morning before sunrise I was again on the track 

 of my deer and found they were bearing diagonally towards 

 the house I had just left. Their course "was 'through a 



contigrowth of underbrush. V. early : 1 sed 



out of this underbrush to the open forest jusl hi youd, 1 I td- 

 denly saw the do flj head elevated above a thick Bush 1 a' 1 red 

 with dry leaves, 1 don't believe five seconds elapsed before 

 I put a bullet through her brains, and upon running up 

 (about sixty yards) 1 found that the doe was lying on a 

 high knoll and had evidently been lying (heir several hours. 

 I cut her throat bin scarcely a spoonful of blood passed 

 from the veins. 



I soon found where the fawn had run away into the 

 forest upon my approach, and I had not folio lit 1 rack 



more than half a mile before the fawn sprang out of a 

 thicket and started on a detOUr through the open forest in 

 the direction of its dead mother, bin within a hundred 

 yards it passed through a little opening, where I had a fan- 

 shot, when its heels went, over its head and it lay for two 

 Or three seconds square upon its back, which was bedded in 

 the snow, and its feet went like drumsticks, I ran and put 

 its throat, and b bled copiou | bullet bad passed 



squarely through its shoulders. The shot of the , 11 n i 

 had struck the doe Jnsl few id had 



passer! out. just back of the right -'umlder. 



I now had two deer killed within an hour, arulnol 

 .'ds from where I had slept the previous ni 



to the I i i 1 1, the aid of the farmer and his 



span of horses and a sleigh, we had tit 



