64 
Game Bag and Guy. 
ONE HUNT OF THE CAPON CLUB. 
=| OME time in the fall of 1878, two young men living in 
Montgomery county, Md., might have been seen jogging 
along through the Valley of Virginia on horseback, getting 
a good view of the beautiful scenery, up the valley of the 
Shenandvah and down that of the James River, and stop- 
ping wherever night overtook them. Both were enthusiastic 
hunters, and when occasion offered could descant learnedly 
of the horse, the hound and the cunning *old red. One 
evening near the middle of October, our hunters put up for 
the night at a hotel known as the Sugar Grove Inn, in 
Augusta county, where they were so fortunate as to make 
the acquaintance of the president of the Albemarle Hunting 
Olub, who extended to them an invitation to hunt with the 
club some time in the near future. From that meeting 
sprang the great Capon Hunting Olub; for immediately after 
their return the club was organized, an annual hunt insti- 
tuted, and grounds selected for the camp, This club, which 
consisted entirely of young men, is still in a healthy and 
flourishing condition, and the members hope to enjoy many 
a deer hunt in the years to come. 
At the annual meeting of the Capon Club in September, 
1883, it seemed somewhat of a problem to settle on a place 
for the fall hunt, partly on account of the uncompromising 
disposition of one of our leading railroad companies, so it 
decked to accept the repeated inyitation of the Albermarle 
ub. 
On Friday, Noy. 16, our party, consisting of the secretary, 
familiarly known as John Caleb, ‘‘Billy G.,” ‘The Fiddler,” 
and the writer, known as ‘‘Arkansaw,” fully armed and 
equipped, together with four fine foxhounds, took passage 
for Rockville, where we were 1o meet our President. Dr, §., 
of Washington, D. C. The Doctor and “Billy G.” were 
armed with Winchester rifles, ‘‘The Fiddler,” with Winches- 
ter shotgun, the secretary carried a Greener with 40-.0 sub- 
caliber rifle, and ‘‘Arkansaw*’ a Snider with 40-70 sub-cali- 
ber rifle. 
After leaving Harper's Ferry we passed through beautizul 
and fertile farms, we roll along to our first stopping place, 
Charlestown, where in the distance can be seen the jail 
where John Brown was executed. A stop of but a moment, 
and on we go past Ripon, Fairfield, Berryville and other 
stations to Riverton, at the junction of the north and south 
forks of the Shenandoan River, 
Our secretary had left his hunting horn at Shenandoah 
Junction, so it was decided to invoke the aid of the con- 
ductor in its recovery, and on our arrival at Riverton he 
dispatched a telegram with orders to haye the horn for- 
rence to Stannton, where it arrived in dueseason and good 
order. 
On we gofrom Riverton, up the south fork among the 
mountains, now clad in their winter garb of russet and 
brown, but more beautiful far to the hunter’s eye than the 
emerald of summer or the scarlet and crimson of early fall; 
and just as darkness falls on the landscape we reach Luray, 
where we stop for supper. 
The caverns of Luray are doubtless the most beautiful in 
the world, and with the present facilities for reaching them 
and the splendid accommodations, will be visited by many 
thousands the coming year. During 1883 they were visited 
by over 15,000 persons, 
Our party did not stop, ag their time was limited, but con- 
tinued the journey to Waynesboro Junction, where the 0. & 
O. R. BR. crosses the Shenandoah Valley road. Here we met 
and made the acquaintance of Mr. Hicks, a gentleman of 
rare abilities, and one to whom we owe much of the pleasure 
and comfort of ourtmp. After a bountiful lunch and two 
hours spent iv splendid converse we boarded the C. & O. 
train for Staunton. On the train we met a number of the 
ventlemen who participated in the hunt, and with story and 
jest the time was whiled away till our arrival in Staunton, 
where we were met by a committee of the A. H. C. and 
escorted to our hotel. 
it had been arranged that we were to leave Staunton at 9 
o'clock next morning, but it was just 10 when the last coach 
of the train, with a cali from the driver of ‘‘all aboard,” 
swung into the street and took the road for Jennings’s Gap. 
Away we go, behind «team of four spanking grays, up, 
down and around the hills, and after an hour’s drive reach 
our first stopping point, the Middle Fork ot the Shenandoah, 
Soon Churchville is passed, and in a short time we are fairly 
in the Gap. To the south rise sharp and rugged hills, while 
on the north a more gradual slope rises for several miles and 
ends in Little Hankey. Soon we leave the waters of the 
little stream which runs through the gap, cross the divide 
and enter the grounds of the club, and at 2 o’clock, after a 
rather fatiguing ride, debark at Camp Armistead. At the 
foot of the meuntain was our camp, A long, low, one-story 
log building, with a kind of loft next to the roof, and with 
an ancient look and smell that isnot very inviting to delicate 
nosirils. To the west stretches a lony field up and down the 
hollow formed by the Calf Pasture River. To the north and 
west, in rugged grandeur, but softened by distance and a 
purple haze, harbinger of approaching evening, lies North 
Mountain, while to the northeast, with towering tops and 
precipitous sides, lie Big and Little Hankey. 
Some of the hunters proceeded to unload the provision 
wagons, while others attended to the wants of the horses, 
and unloaded bales of hay and bags of oats, Yet others 
were selecting places in the dormitory and fixing beds, 
while a few who had beds already provided by the landlady, 
“Mrs, Mac.,” proceeded to builu a fire in front of the house 
as a general place of meeting. 
These preparations consumed most of the time until about 
4 o'clock, when the gentle tinkle, tinkle, of a bell was heard, 
followed by the appearance of the chief cook with the an- 
nouncement that ‘dinner isready.” All else is forgotten 
for the time, and hungry men proceed to demolish whole 
piles of ‘‘corn dodgers” aud plates of bacon. Then all 
hands adjourned to the camp-fire and, rolling up logs for 
seats, proceeded to make each other’s acquaintance and to 
discuss the situation and prospects for a successful hunt. 
On Sunday evening all hands were called together to hear 
the reading of the rules of the camp and hunt, and for the 
appointment of officers, among which were a captain and 
several lieutenants to aid in placing the men, two misters of 
hounds, two men to see that proper care was taken of the 
meat and a fair distribution made of it at the end of the 
hunt, two men to see that good care was taken of the horses 
and thé feed properly distributed, a secretary to keep the 
minutes of the meetings and to record the incidents of the 
hunt, and last but by no means least a steward to attend to 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
the distribution of provisions to the cooks and to have a 
general supervision of household matters, : 
An enumeration having been taken, it was ascertained 
that there were twenty-seven hunters, twelve horses and 
about thirty dogs on the ground, to which were afterward 
added four hunters, two horses and several dogs. 
All of the preparations being completed, and each man 
assigned a stand for the morrow, the call came to “‘turn in,” 
Imagine a lot of herrings or sardines packed in a box and 
you will have a slight conception of our sleeping accommo- 
dations. 
All hands were up bright and early on Monday morning, 
and after a substantial breakfast, set out for their respective 
stands, and in a short time the stentorian voice of the presi- 
dent was heard calling on the dogs to “look him up,” which 
they did; and ere long the music of the chase was heard 
rolling over hill and hollow; now clear and distinct as they 
rise a ridge, anon, faint and seemingly far away as they 
descended into a deep hollow. Again a burst of music ris- 
ing Clear and distinct, and then becoming fainter and fainter, 
and at length all is again still. 
It was runway shooting. Deer have regular runways or 
paths which they invariably follow, unless very hard pressed. 
and.a deer started at a given point will almost invariably 
take the same general course, unless turned off by a hunter; 
so that men stationed on these runways or Crossings are 
almost certain to get a shot if a deer is started, The driving 
is done by men on horseback, each driver being accompanied 
by one or more men to lead the dogs and to uncouple or turn 
loose when a trail is struck, Hach driver with as many dogs 
as he can control, or his helper can handle, proceeds to the 
end of a ridge, always, however, leaving at liberty one old 
dog, which is known as a “‘strike dog.” 
When a fresh trail is struck, the driver will order one or 
more ot the dogs let Joose, and will continue in this way up 
one ridge and down another to the end of the hunt—one 
driver often running in as many asa dozen deer with as 
many dogs. 
Imagine the feeling of the himter on a crossing, the hounds 
in full cry coming directly toward him. He grasps his sun 
with a grip of steel, the blood coursing through his veins like 
liquid fire; but hark! what noise is that? a twig snaps, then 
a noise of flying feet, a moment more and a light form springs 
into view, and now comes the supreme moment. If one be 
an old and experienced hunter, at sight of the game his 
nerves becomes steady, his eye instinctively 1akes in all of the 
inequalities of the ground, and just at the right spot and right 
moment a gentle bleat or whistle brings the deer to a stand- 
still, and quicker than thought the well-trained finger presses 
the trigger and the bullet speeds on its errand of death, 
All had gone out in high hopes in the morning, but on re- 
turning to camp only one saddle graced the meat-pole and 
one hide lay on the stable roof. We had dinner at 5 o’clock, 
and soon the hunters gathered round the camp-fire and spent 
some hours in discussing the hunt, ete. At about 8 o’clock 
all hand were caJled up by the secretary, and each related 
his experience, after which the appointments for the next 
day were read and the rest of the evening till 10 o’clock was 
spent round the camp-fire, when the call came to turn in and 
was obeyed with alacrity. 
Tuesday morning dawned bright and warm, and all hands 
again betook themselves to their allotted stands, and the drive 
began. 1t fell to the lot of the writer to be placed on a stand 
in a deep hollow; so the day passed without his hearing any- 
thing except the report of one gun, and all of us were agree- 
ably surprised to hear on our return to camp that one more 
deer had fallen; this time to the gun of the honorable gentle- 
man from Richmond, and that some of the hunters had gone 
with horses to bring it in. Soon a sound of voices was heard, 
and ere long the cavalcade appeared, headed by the lucky 
man, perched upon the ‘‘old dun,” with the deer before 
him and armed with an old ram’s horn, from which eyer and 
anon he evoked strains of the most entrancing music. Der 
No, 2 was soon hanging with the first one and one more 
hide was spread on the stable roof, anda lot of hungry 
men again demolished immense quautities of what is known 
in camp parlance as ‘‘grub,”’ 
The experience meeting that night was one to he remem- 
bered, and was brought to a close by the declaration of the 
lucky individual, that “if the President told me that a deer 
was going to jump from the top of a pine tree fo the top of a 
neighboring hickory, I would place implicit confidence in 
the statement, and watch the trees accordingly.” 
Again the assignments were made for the morrow’s hunt, 
and then musie was cailed for, ‘‘and now the fun grew fast 
and furious.” Song. jest and dance followed each other in 
quick succession till “the wee sma hours ayont the twal” 
and would probably have continued all night, as one of the 
performers declared, ‘‘We won't 20 home till morning,” but 
tired nature at length asserted her rights and all sunk quietly 
to sleep. 
The third day's hunt was much like the first as regarded 
the amount of game killed, but was made a day of mourning 
to the writer of this article, as he failed to get a shot at the 
finest deer started, on account of his gun missing fire. Again 
the merry blast of the horn recalled the men from their 
stands and fun and jollity followed. It was decided on 
Wednesday night to end the hunt after one more day, and 
every one was accordingly anxious to do their best. 
Daylight saw most of the men en route for their stands, 
and as a light rain had fallen through the preceding night, 
great sport was anticipated, but alas, thoagh many deer were 
started, and several of the hunters obtained shots, the sum 
total at night was two deer, one of which fell to the lot of 
one of the gentlemen from Albemarle, who ran up and shot 
the deer in the head while one of the dogs held it by the 
hind leg. 
T must also note the fact that our respected ‘‘Steward” 
failed to shoot a deer that ran around the house and garden, 
within fifty yards of him, while he sat on the wood pile, 
talking to ‘‘Mrs. Mac,” but in justice 1othe gentleman | must 
state that be had no gun with hina. ; 
And now, ouce again the mellow tones of the horn go 
echoing oyer the hills, recalling the men and dogs; and for 
the last time we gather around the camp-fire, and recount 
the incidents of the: day and hunt, Night again settles over 
the scene, and werepair to the house, and quiet reigned in 
camp, broken only by an occasional snore, or some one in 
imagination still following the chase. _ 
On the following morning all was stir and bustle, beds 
and clothing were repacked and everything made ready for 
a start, and at 12:80 o’clock, with three cheers for the Alhe- 
qmarle Hunting Club and Camp Armistead, we were again 
oft for Staunton. On Saturday morning the Maryland party 
returned to Waynesboro Junction, and from that point pro- 
ceeded to Roanoke, the terminus of the Shenandoah Valley 
Railroad, While at Roanoke our party met and spent a 
a 
[Ave,721, 1884. 
——— = SS 4 
pleasant hour with Mr. A. Pope, the efficient general passen- 
er and ticket agent of the 8. V. & Norfolk and Western | 
ailroad. From Roanoke we returned to the Natural Bridge 
and after a few hours spent in viewing this marvel of nature’s 
handiwork, returned on the next train to our point of depar- 
ture, Shenandoah Junction. 
We received the kindest attention from all whom we 
met, and particularly from the officers and employes of the — 
8. V. R, R —with but a single exccption—one station agent 
having requested us to vacate the waiting room, during a | 
heavy rain, and when shelter was not elsewhere obtainable. 
The thanks of the party are especially due to Messrs. Frank 
P. Cord and William Hays—conductors—and to their gen- 
tlemanly conduct and efficient baggage masters, who did all 
in ther power to make our trip pleasant and profitable, May 
we all meet again in the years to come. If the reader wants 
to have a good time and successful hunt, and at the same 
time travel over the most picturesque line in America, let 
him take the 8. V. R. R. to Roanoke, secure the good offices 
of Mr. Pope, and follow his directions, and he cannot fail 
to have a splendid time, and be amply repaid as was 
ARKANSAW. 
ELK IN THE NORTWEST. 
ena some of your readers who take pleasure in 
hunting the noble elk, would be grateful for reliable 
information as to localities where they may be found in this 
section of country. There is one Ineal ty and only one in- 
Western Washington, Territory that may be hunted by an 
outer with any hope of success, and that is the eastern slope 
of the Olympic or coast range of mountains in the valley of 
the Duckeybush River. All the steamers stop at Port Gamble 
on Hood's Canal, connecting with small steamers at that 
place for different points on the canal. Twenty miles from 
Gamble you reach Seabeck. from there go to the delta of 
the Duckeybush, a distance of five miles by small hoat, and 
you are at Mr, Percy’s, a hospitable gentleman, who has re- 
sided at that place for a period of seventeen years. From 
here follow an old logging road for two miles up the right 
bank of the river, then by keeping near the foot of ihe © 
mouutains for two more miles you come to Moss Valley. 
From here on for a distance of twenty-flye miles you have 
an unbroken and well traveled elk trail, with numerous 
small open meadows, spots where the elk love to feed. No 
horse can be taken in. Supplies must be packed im by 
guides. In this manner sufficient can be taken by each per- 
son to last for two weeks, including guns, ammunition, 
blankets, etc. Of course, nothing could be brought out 
unless a trail were cut through a not very bad stretch of 
underbrush for a distance of two miles. The tiver is not ) 
navigable for more than three miles inland, but it is a fine 
trout stream, 
i spent the month of September, 1882, also the same month | 
of 1888 in the valley of the Duckeybush. The result of the © 
trip in 1882 was one cougar, one black bear and two elk; in © 
1883, one cinnamon bear, one mountain goat and two elk, 
More elk could haye been killed, but they could not have 
been saved, and the massive frontlet of a six point elk, too 
heavy to be brought out, adorns an evergreen treeto this day, 
Any further information desired will he given by me. 
TILLICUM, 
OtymprA, Washington Territory. 
BULLET VERSUS BUCKSHOT. 
Heitor Horest and Stream: 
Your correspondent ‘‘Piute,” of the 24th ult., it would 
seem, in contrasting the effects of buckshot as against the 
rifle ball in the bunting of deer, touched upon a tender spot, 
as indicated by replies from both ‘‘Wells” and ‘“Backwoous.” 
The subject is one which will bear ventilation, and I hope to 
see more communications trom different sections. 
My candid opinion is, that ‘‘Piute’s” shot was pretty near 
the mark. I do not claim, of course, that a person too 
blind to see the sights, or with neryous system too much im- 
paired to hit a barn door at 40 yards, off-hand, with a rifle, 
should be debarred from hunting; but it does not strike me 
that a majority of our young men, coursing field and fore-t 
with a double-barreled shotgun from morning uniil night, 
are thus deficient either in sight, neryes or muscle, 
The time spent in learning the art of taking a woodcock or 
rufted grouse on the wing with shot would enable them to 
do good shooting with the rifle. Game sa small that 4 hunter — 
cannot get its head with a.1ifle ball, would be pretty poor — 
eating after being. driven full of shot and feathers, I never © 
saw a bag of squirrel killed with shot that 1 would have taken 
as a gift, su full were they of shot and hair driven into the 
flesh, and with blood settled through them. This isthe very 
reason that trapped or snared game birds are sought after in 
markets, 80 Mauch in preference to those shot. The same 
holds good with venison. Who ever heard of a purchaser 
calling for a saddle shot with buckshot? 
This brings me to the consideration of contrasting the 
deadly effects of shot and ball. We have different makes of 
guns, each carrying sufficient lead to give even a grizzly a 
deadly shock. How is it in hunting deer with a shotgun? 
Of my own personal knowledge I cannot answer the question, 
but will give you a casein point to judge from. Lust Novem- 
ber I made a trip into the Adirondack woods, and while at a 
certain hotel there, I heard one of the guides say that he had 
got through going out with tenderfeet floating for deer, only 
to wound and worry them. I inguired why, “‘Well,” he 
said, ‘I have been out night affer night all summer long, — 
given them dozens of fine shots with their double-barrels 
loaded with buckshot, and not a deer did we get,” 
“They must have had the fever bad,” I suggested, ‘‘to 
have missed all of them,” 
“They undoubtedly bit a good share of them, many of 
which afterward died,” he replied, ‘‘and that is just why i 
have sworn off having a hand in any such dirty work here- 
after,”’ 
Now, those are about my sentiments in regard to hunting 
deer with a shotgun, and if ‘‘Piute” had included the hound- 
ding of deer as equally barbaric and unsportsmanlike, he 
would not have been far from the truth, as | believe the two 
modes of capturing deer go hand in hand. It would not be 
unlawful to kill deer in this State, | believe, after the 14th of 
the present month, by either mode. But any person or party 
that goes out and kills to any great extent before the latter 
part of October, I should judge must go for the mere pur- 
pose of slaughter, Car Locs, 
Frewssure, Aug, 10, 
Fiditor Forest and Stream: : a 
Tam inclined to agree with ‘‘Piute,” in his letter of July — 
5, in regard to the rifle being a more humane weapon than © 
the shotgun. ‘I should think a bullet hole in a deers leg or — 
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