Oct. 21, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



till hauled away in a state of perfect preservation. This 

 very party had' during the preceding marching time shot 

 about thirty, the carcasses of which were buried about a 

 mile from salt water and a day's joiu-ney distant from the 

 tilt. Having by hauling ropes," fastened to sleds, and 

 assisted by dogs, drawn the carcasses down to the water's 

 edge, their boat would c< ane up, take them on board, and 

 sail with him to St. Pierre, wliore tlirec-quarters of a franc 

 per pound would be obtained for tlie venison. This, in 

 fact, ^^'as the very object that the trader Inmself had in 

 view. Hence, tlie enthusiasm with which he hunted was 

 the enthusiasm of commerce. 



We now liad plenty of provisions in camp, for these 

 men had come to stay. Two days later we set out for 

 another camping place about twelve miles distant, this 

 being the center of the isthmus and within a short dis- 

 tance of the main line of deer travel. Two or three of 

 the new party had been out along the hills Avith their 

 glasses and seen what they called "signs." The signs, I 

 leaiiied, were two or tliroe large herds mo\dng with regu- 

 lar motion toward the north. ' "You'll have lots of fmi 

 to-morrow,"' the trader said; "everything comes round to 

 him who waits." We slept soundly that night and were 

 early astir in the morning. The day dawned in russet and 

 pink, something unusual for the season, and some of the 

 party predicted tliat it was going to be a "borrowed day." 

 A borrowed day, I learned, was an imusual mild or sunny 

 day, coming in the better season, and always followed by 

 "dirty weather." "Borrowed." I suppose, because its 

 fineness had to be paid back and storm received instead. 

 But it would be a good day for the deer, they said. We 

 would have rain afterward^ and "they (the deer) go to the 

 norrid like everything when it is soft." 



It %vas decided thaf we should divide into two parties, 

 and I was among that which had choice position — that 

 is to say, of the two posts taken in covert near the main 

 marching lead, those at the point where the herds first 

 pass, had the choicest one. If not frightened the herds 

 came easily along, now tttrning to the right or the left to 

 crop a mouthful of browse, or to frisk with one another. 

 One can then get a choice shot. But after they have been 

 alarmed they run for several miles, and sometimes do not 

 stick to the lea.d but scatter confusedly over the marshes. 

 So the other jjart had to take a chance like this. From a 

 ridge that overlooked the lead at about ten in the morn- 

 ing we discovered with our glasses several stragglers 

 moving slothfully along toward the north. As we deemed 

 these to be a sort" of advanced guard of the main body, it 

 was thought best not to fire at them. It was very temi)t- 

 ing, too; we might have got two of them as they moved 

 on, now grazing, and again tossing then- heads into the 

 air as if they had a sort of presentiment that there were 

 enemies near if they could only make them out. Once 

 more out upon the ridge and this time with better luck, 

 A flock containing not less, we estimated, tlian eighty, 

 was moving toward us. We tooli up position again in the 

 fir bushes. At tiie signal of the trader we were all to fire, 

 he, too, arranging which animal each was to fire at. I 

 could not exactly say how many marched abreast on the 

 lead, but they seemed to mc to be tangled up; sometimes 

 three or four seemed to move neck by neck, again two 

 would walk side by side, and now only one. Then a 

 break would seem to occm', which was soon mended, how- 

 ever, by the hastening footsteps of those lagging in the 

 rear. 



Midway in the herd we foxmd the objects of our aim; 

 and tlie guns went almost simultaneously. It was good 

 work, five deer fell; and before they got off I knocked 

 over another. The six were not killed, but were so griev- 

 ously wounded that they could not get away, and we did 

 thern to death upon the marsh with oiu- knives. Upon 

 the firing of the shots the flock ran in vnld confusion in 

 every direction, but soon recovered their bewildered wits, 

 for the stag, though frightened as badly as the rest, held 

 his way unswervingly along the lead. His followers 

 soon marshalled themselves in order again. Not many 

 miimtes had elapsed when we heard the distant cracking 

 of muskets. Two animals, one of them the leading buck, 

 fell, which made a total of eight. 



But it was not as those Avho had observed the caribou 

 at other times stated, that the flocks were linked together 

 in a continuous line. Till late in. the afternoon no other 

 deer came in sight, but then a herd of about twenty came 

 trotting briskly about oru- ambush. "There's some other 

 out fm-ther upV' the trader whispered to me, "and these 

 fellows are frightened.'' They ran confusedly over the 

 marsh beyond our range, all excepting two. The six guns 

 fired at these without discrimination, but only one fell. 

 In this, however, there were four bidlet holes. 



I need not draw at too great length what remains to be 

 told. On the following day we got five others, although 

 nearly a hundred head must have passed txs; but, as we 

 discovered afterward, a couple of parties were "to win- 

 'ard" of us, as my companions said, and frightened the herds 

 with firing into them. The day following was more pro- 

 pitious, and the number that fell was twelve, which for 

 the three days of the "spm-t" made twenty -two. On this 

 day several hundred must have passed us. One of the 

 party said there were nearly a tliousand, but the flocks 

 were so large that a couple of hundred got by, and you 

 had the chance only with a slow single-barrel of getting 

 one shot. Fancy a half dozen sportsmen there with re- 

 peaters, or even with the ordinary breechloader. After 

 the only stragglers put in an appearance, and when I 

 asked the trader if tliis probable ten or eleven hundred 

 deer were all tliat inhabited Avalon in the winter, he told 

 me that you had no way of determining the numbers. "It 

 is my befief ,"' he said, "that large numbers of them passed 

 here during the night; at any rate it is rather early yet, 

 and it may be tlu-ee weeks before those remaining will 

 start." We stayed three or fom* days longer, and got 

 about one deer per day, after which' I with the ti-ader 

 and the original party returned. The rest remained, and, 

 I learned afterward, got some sixteen or seventeen deer 

 about ten days later. J. E. Collins. 



TOBONTO, 



ADmONDAOK Notes.— Mr. Phelps Smith and party from 

 Bridport, Vt., while spending a f ew days in the Adfi-on- 

 dacks near the Borens I?iver, one evening caught in two 

 hom-s 256 bullheads, one weighing tlu-ee and a half 

 pounds. During then* sojom'n they also succeeded in 

 shooting tlu'ee deer and one bear, the latter tipping the 

 beam at oOOlbs. Mr. Smith has returned to his home on 

 Lake Champlain, and as he is one of the crack duck sliots 

 on the lake, we hope he will succeed in winging a few of 

 our boodle aldermen dming their flight to Her Majesty's 

 Dominion.— W. H, R, (New York.) 



NESSMUK'S POEMS. 



WE have already announced a forthco min g book of 

 poems by "Nessmuk." Last week we gave a list 

 of the poems and printed some of the shorter ones. The 

 book wiU be published by subscription. The price has 

 been fixed at $1 for copies ordered prior to Nov. 15, the 

 publishers reserving the right to advance the price after 

 tha,t date. Subscription should be sent in on the order 

 blardc found on page 258; and intending subscribers are 

 requested to retitrn their orders as early as practicable. 

 The book will contain besides the poems an autobiographi- 

 cal sketch and a portrait of "Nessmuk." 



WHERE ARE THE WOODCOCK? 



THE opening of the shooting season in northeastern 

 Cojmecticrrt was auspicious. The leaves on the 

 maples and alders were perhaps too thick for good shoot- 

 ing, but, blushing so delightfully, their laziness in falling 

 was easily forgiven, and the air, far from being cold, was 

 of that crisp, bracing natm-e typical of October days in 

 New England. Quail have been abimdant in the fields 

 the past summer, but as they had not been molested much 

 by snooting — for wo are law-abiding here pretty generally 

 —nor by cold, rainy weather, they had not yet centered 

 in the runs. So the day was to be spent in search of the 

 gi-ouse, noblest of his race, and woodcock. Up here we 

 do not count our bags by hundreds, nor by tens. A half 

 dozen birds, shot after hard work on the part of men and 

 dogs, the bracing air and the excitement incident of the 

 surroundings, the horn- spent at limch during which each 

 one tells of the birds he has missed in the morning and 

 why, and of the bu'ds he is to shoot in the afternoon, and 

 why not? The moments' chat with the farmers (there are 

 no "boards"' for us, luckily) about the condition of the 

 corn, potato and apple crop — ^this last reference, accom- 

 panied by a sidelong glance toward the cellar, generally 

 producing the desired effect — and the brisk drive home in 

 the still, frosty t%vilight. 



This is what makes Octocer so dear to me, so long to be 

 dreamed of, never to be forgotten. Seven grouse were 

 bagged and plenty were left for other days; but high and 

 low" though we liunted, not a single woodcock did we 

 start, thoxrgh we took one home. Bang, pointing in a 

 thick bunch of alders, was told to "rout 'ini out." He 

 took a step forward and then picked a bird from the 

 ground, brought it to me alive. Upon examination, I 

 found that one shot had broken his wing and that he had 

 lived in this condition he alone knows how long. This is 

 the only woodcock we flushed (?) all day long, himting in 

 all those moist, black-earthed spots so dear to them, yes, 

 and so frequented by them but a year or two ago. 



Where are they all? What is your answer, you who go 

 to make up that noble battalion of sportsmen (?) stretching 

 out in long lines from Maine to Florida, and with smok- 

 ing guns from one year's end to another? WiU we high- 

 pressure Americans never learn anything, even from ex- 

 peiience, that best of teachers? Cannot we go fishing, 

 yachting, riding, canoeing, enjoy a hundred and one 

 things during the summer months, lettmgthe poor, gasp- 

 ing birds increase, grow and fatten for a short season at 

 least, and then when October comes, with gun and dog 

 we can step out over the crisp fields for a day's shooting, 

 not butchery? F'lin. 



HUNTING IN THE ROCKIES. 



CORBET, Wyoming Territory.— Cabin on the Stinking 

 Water River. — It is so easy to porti-ay a hunt when 

 five or six happy voices are all sounding 'in one's ear at 

 the same time. " The old log cabin on the bank of this 

 beautiful stream, from whose inviting fireplace, 6ft. long, 

 Avith two or three large logs all aglow with fire and 

 flame, can be heard the dash and splash (I was going to 

 say of the trout but certainly) of the water, one can 

 scarcely realize that he is in the midst of sights and 

 sounds too grand and sublime to be aj)preciated from a 

 pen description. One must come and see for himself. Not 

 being able to write wliile we were seated around the fire, 

 roasting elk, bear and deer meat, I put paper in my 

 pocket, and after a walk of ten miles, here I am in one of 

 the many grand canons. I was up here the other daj^, 

 and, seeing signs of elk and bear, concluded to try and 

 get my specimens to mount. There are many tracks, but 

 as they travel by night, and hide during the day in 

 places I do not care to go, I find it slow work. This 

 stream is alive with trout and I find it great sport to pull 

 them out. The Stinking Water is named from hot 

 sulphur springs, which, you know, have a tendency to 

 smell a little. Its pure green water is ice cold the year 

 round. 



I only wish that all true sportsmen could enjoy what I 

 liave in the last four months, and what I expect in the 

 next month. We have killed all the game we could use, 

 but it has been too warm to keep. Last week Mr. Fi-ost 

 was standing in the cabin door; on looking up the mount- 

 am side, he saw two elk standing, so grand and proud, 

 gazing dovra on the scene below. He called in a most 

 emiDhatic way to his son Jessie, a lad seventeen years old, 

 the thrilling "word, "Elk!" Jessie had his gun" in a mo- 

 ment, and was bormding away to see if he could not get 

 near enough to shoot. He did; and need I say there 

 never was a prouder boy when in a little time he had two 

 immense bull elk lying "at his feet. I could spend much 

 time writing the details of this, but I will tell of my own 

 hunts simply. 



After a walk of a few miles one bright, clear morning, 

 I saw a band of seven antelope. I spent most of the day 

 in trjdng to get near them; but they keep one on guard 

 all the time; while the others rest the guard will stand 

 and look in all directions, and if he gets the least scent of 

 you off they go. There were two bucks, three does a.nd 

 two kids. Toward evening, after I had seen the beauti- 

 ful, graceful things play and gambol, I got near enough 

 to kill one of the does; then a buck. Then I followed 

 over hill and valley till I got another shot, killing the 

 second buck, and then a doe. The rest stood still and I 

 shot the third doe, and was about to shoot the kids when 

 I thought of what I was doing and let my gxm drop, for I 

 was ashamed to think 1 had killed five of the seven. Mi-. 

 Frost had killed a fine deer. The next thing was to get 

 OUT game to camp. We went for the ponies and soon had 

 it all hung up. This is only one of the many hunts, for 

 they occur each day, but I mention this for the reason of 



having killed five out of a band of seven, and I could have 

 killed all. 



Early on the morning of Sept. 14 Mr. Frost and I 

 started up tlie river to be gone two or three days. We 

 found a fine beaver in the ti-aps set a day before. After 

 supper we started out to watch for elk. We had seen 

 souie signs along tlie river and it encouraged us enough 

 to try watching for them. Following uj) the river, my 

 companion had gone half a mile from camp when I heard 

 four reports of his rifle hi quick succession, and I thought 

 he had missed his game from having fired so often and so 

 fast. As I sat on a high knoll overlooking a small creek 

 running into the river, pining over my bad luck in not 

 seeing any game, I concluded to go over and see what 

 Mr. Frost had been doing. As I started up a little ridge I 

 discovered a fresh elk track. I followed it a short way, 

 saw that he was going down to the creek, and thought 

 that by getting down and following up slowly I might 

 have the good luck of seeing him. When I got into the 

 creek bed it vvaa so dark I could not see the sights of my 

 rifle. After going five or six hundred yards I cauglit 

 sight of liim. Oh, how big he looked. I raised my gun, 

 but it was too dark to see to shoot at that distance. 

 He seemed to be aware that something was wrong, for 

 he started up the opposite bank on a trot and disappeared 

 over the ridge. As it was getting darker all the time, I 

 had a notion not to follow, but thinkmg it was now or 

 never, I sat down, pulled off my shoes and started up the 

 stony ridge in my stocking feet in a keen jump. I got ui> 

 there all out of wind. I saw my elk or the outline of 

 him just about the same distance away. It was too dark 

 to shoot, but I looked over the barrel of my gun and 

 pulled tlie trigger. I knew I hit him by his action, for he 

 wheeled and came like the wind down the hill broadside 

 to me; but a Winchester is always ready, and as he passed 

 me I gave him another shot. Down he came; I could 

 hear him plow up the earth as he fell. I congratulated 

 myself in getting him, when up he sprang and off he 

 went. I had to load my gun but got another shot before 

 he was out of sight and hit him. I could hear the brush 

 crack and stones rolling do^vx\ the hill as he pm-sued his 

 wild charge high up on the mountain. It was too dark 

 to follow a track, so I had to turn my face toward boots 

 and camp; but the boots were not to be found, for the 

 darkness made all the stones look like boots, and as I ran 

 about from one to another, I concluded they had petri- 

 fied and that I should have a fine specimen after all if I 

 did not find the elk. I was just about to give it up when 

 I heard something coming toward me tln-ough the brush 

 like a race horse. I jumped into a clearing just in time 

 to see my wounded elk as he passed about fifty yards 

 away. My rifle spoke, he stopped in liis mad career, and 

 I got another standing shot which brought him down on 

 his knees. I would not risk anytliing, for I did not know 

 where I was hitting him, so I gave him another and 

 another, which laid liim low. I ran up and cut his throat. 

 Tlien I began to believe he was dead, but I would not 

 trust Mm till I got his head cut off for mounting; then I 

 did not care so much if he did run off. Just then I heard 

 IVIi-. Frost shoot and yell. I answered and in a short time 

 he came up, hunting for me. He thought I was lost be- 

 cause I had been shooting so much. He took it to mean 

 a signal. When he saw the elk he told me he had killed 

 a lai-ge one too. The next morning we returned for the 

 elk and killed a bear. And so it goes — the finest sport a 

 man ever enjoyed. My elk weighed eight hundred 

 pounds. ^ Elliott. 



GOATS, SWIFTS AND BEARS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



While among the north spurs of the Coeur D'Alene 

 Mountains, this September, I shot three white goats, and 

 as they are rather rare game for Eastern sportsmen the 

 fact may be worth recording. Where I was the nioun- 

 tains were timber-clad to the tops, the goats kept in very 

 rough country, sometimes in the woods, sometimes on the 

 bare shoulders. The climbing was terrible, the mountain 

 sides being extremely steep and covered with roimd 

 stones, loose slates and rotten logs; but the goats seemed 

 to rely largely for protection upon the inaccessible nature 

 of their haunts, not being particularly shy themselves. 



This season I killed near my ranch two elk and a num- 

 ber of blacktail and white tail deer; and in the siDring a 

 good many buck antelope for food. 



Where did the myth about the little swift fox being so 

 fast arise! It is always known on the plains as the swift, 

 only the larger red prairie fox being called fox; but it is 

 the slowest animal that we course with greyhounds. The 

 swiftest is the antelope, the whitetail deer coming next, 

 the jack rabbit stands almost on a par with the latter; the 

 coyote comes next, then the red fox, and last of all the 

 swift. Yet both swift and coyote have great reputations 

 for speed. A good greyhound, or even a Scotch deer- 

 hound, will overtake either very soon. 



I would like through yom- columns to protest against 

 one form of "sjiort" which stands about on a par with the 

 old Adirondack method of running a deer into the water 

 and then knocking it on the head with a paddle. It is 

 said that certain Eastern sportsmen going to the Rockies 

 to kill bears catch the latter in traps and then shoot them. 

 Now if a man wishes to destroy bears for the bounty, or 

 because they are hiu-tful to his stock, he is perfectly justi- 

 fied in trapping or poisoning them, or killing them in any 

 other way; but there is not a particle of sport in shooting 

 them while in traps. I understand that it has been 

 claimed to be a "dangerous" amusement to Idll tliem in 

 this way; but on what theory it is impossible to imagine. 

 One of 'my men trapped eleven black bear once, and he 

 killed som'e with a hatchet and the rest with a .22-caliber 

 pistol. Another hunter that I knew broke his rifle while 

 trapping big bears — the so-called "silver tips" and "cinna- 

 mons" — after which he nevertheless caught five and killed 

 them with an axe, Theodore Roosevelt. 



SAGAMOEE BlTL U Oct. 12 . 



New Mexico. — Rioville, Sept. 26.— Quail and rabbits 

 are quite abimdant here; they are not sliy at all; are 

 mainly cottontails. Geese and ducks have not begam to 

 come around much; the latter are always few, the former 

 feed on young grain during winter and migrate in the 

 spring. I saw a small flock of cranes this morning, about 

 sixteen, which is a rare thing here. — ^B. F. B. 



Washington Territory,- A Whatcom correspondent, 

 "J. G. C," suggests that when the new road from What- 

 com to the summit of the Cascade Mountains is completed 

 mountain goat hunters will find quick and easy access to 

 the vicinity of good hunting grounds, 



