Nov. 9, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



399 



John Coleman with two or three turkeys tied to his horse 

 and had found one of his pens demolished he would have 

 gone gunning for Coleman. I guess I did wrong in de- 

 stroying the pens of both Uncles Taylor and Martin after 

 they treated me as cleverly as they did; but I could not 

 help it. It would make me so mad to come across one of 

 these traps in the woods that I would invariably tear it 

 to pieces and usually set tire to it. I was the cause of 

 Uncle Taylor building several new ones that fall; but in 

 spite of me or his imaginary enemy Coleman, Uncle 

 Taylor succeeded in trapping thirty-nine turkeys that fall 

 and winter. Uncle Martin caught more than that, as he 

 was a better hunter and a younger and more active man 

 than Uncle Taylor. 



I killed that fall and winter by actual record kept in my 

 diary thirty -two turkeys. I shot a great many of these 

 flying and also called quite a number up with a turkey 

 call. Jim Pyron, who lived with me at the Beaver 

 mansion, was an expert caller, and many is the old gobbler 

 that he has brought up in range of that deadly .44 Win- 

 chester of mine. It is a pretty sight to see an old blue- 

 necked gobbler come stalking and strutting up, spreading 

 his tail and dragging his wings and crow-hopping along 

 sideways — coming on proudly to meet his gentle hen, 

 as he supposes the "turk," "turk," "turk"of the seductive 

 call to be. Just one imperfect note in the call, however, 

 and there is a whir of wings and the old gobbler is gone. 



A. B. WlNGFIELD. 

 [TO BE CONCLUDED.] 



CAMPING ON THE CLEARWATER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your contributor Sancho's article in Forest and Stream 

 some time ago gave us a good pen picture of two egotistical 

 foreigners; but they must not all be placed in that kind of 

 a frame. Possibly some of our American sportsmen 

 abroad have acted quite as ridiculously in the eyes of the 

 residents of the country they visit. 



I will give your readers a sketch of two English sports- 

 men I met on Camas Prairie, in Idaho. They had come 

 out West to engage in the stock raising business, and had 

 brought along their dogs and guns. They became Ameri- 

 can citizens. For over a year they were very busy tend- 

 ing their sheep and improving their ranches. The fall of 

 1870 found me, like a great many prospectors and miners, 

 "broke." It was then that I went as guide with them on 

 a hunt. 



On the appointed day at 1 :30 P. M. we were off. We 

 had six miles to go and two very steep mountains to 

 climb. The brush was well loaded with snow, which gave 

 me a full benefit on the way up, for I was in the lead. I 

 shot three ruffed grouse. When we came out of the thicket 

 on top of our first mountain I stopped and fixed up our 

 packs and scraped the snow off. My comrades were 

 cheerful and did not care; they had come out to kill some 

 big game and intended to follow me. Here we saw quite 

 a number of fresh deer tracks, and while going through 

 some open timber I showed them seven whitetail deer. 

 They wanted to know what about their trying for a shot, 

 but I told them no, we would not have time to make 

 camp and fix up comfortably for the night. We were 

 soon climbing our last mountain, and before we reached 

 the top I had killed two more ruffed grouse. Soon we 

 rode out of the thicket on to the big meadow on Meadow 

 Creek. My friends remarked that it was a nice-looking 

 park, although it had a kind of a wintry look. I showed 

 them where we would camp for the night, near some 

 dead black pines that were still standing. These would 

 give us plenty of fuel, for I am very fond of having a 

 rousing fire after supper. 



When we reaohed the place I soon unpacked the mule 

 and then their horse, while they were securing their sad- 

 dle horses. My horse, being thoroughly trained, would 

 stand for hours where I left him. The boys were anxious 

 to help, so I put them to shoveling away the snow for our 

 tent and fireplace, while I cut some poles. The snow was 

 only about 1ft. deep, so it did not take long to clean it 

 away. As soon as we got the tent up I cut down a pine 

 about 1ft. in diameter, felling it across another so it 

 would break and splinter up. Then I took my horse, 

 crossed the stirrups, made a breast collar out of the pack 

 cinch, ran the ropes through the stirrups so the draft 

 would not be too low, hitched on to the log and snaked it 

 in and kept at it until I had plenty of wood for the night. 

 We soon had a good fire. I cut a white fir after knocking 

 it a number of times to knock the snow off from the 

 boughs. The boys carried the limbs in and laid them 

 where they would dry off. When I had all I wanted I 

 made down our bed and threw a mantle on top of it to sit 

 on, 



In the meantime one of the boys had skinned our grouse 

 and brought our camp kettles full of water. We then 

 cared for our horses. We took off our saddles and spread 

 the saddle blankets over the horses, then put the saddles 

 back on and cinched them but a little, as this would keep 

 them warm and keep the blankets on. Then we tied 

 them up near camp. I soon turned my attention to sup- 

 per, which I had ready in about two hours, as I stewed 

 the grouse; and when it was ready and we sat down to it, 

 my friends praised it very much, forgetting how hungry 

 they were and that exercise and hunger are the two best 

 sauces. 



A little after 10 we were ready to turn in. Mr. C. 

 said, "Lew, where are your blankets'?" "Well," said I, 

 "my bed is made. You told me all you wanted was me 

 with the dog and gun." The boys looked puzzled, and 

 soonB. said, "How do you manage it when you go out 

 in the mountains?" "We always sleep three in a bed." 



C. said, "That is all right; then we can do the same," but 

 that in the hurry at the ranch he had forgotten about the 

 extra blankets. 



C. being a very large man took the outside, and B. 

 being the smallest took the middle. Having a splendid 

 bed, and all being tired, we were soon sound asleep. 

 Some time in the night B. shook me and said, "Lew, I 

 heard some kind of an animal sniffing like." Soon I 

 heard it. "Oh, that is a deer; it has smelt our camp and 

 can't make out what it is." We waked C, up so that he 

 could hear it; then we soon went to sleep, or I did, and 

 when I waked up again I struck a match and looked at 

 my watch. It was half -past 4. I jumped up, put on my 

 clothes and soon had a good fire. The boys got up, but it 

 must have taken them nearly an hour to get their boots 

 warm enough to put on, 



I fed our horses the first thing, then prepared break- 

 fast, after which we did up our packs, saddled our horses, 



and by the time it was light enough to see to travel were 

 on the move. We had not gone 100yds. before we saw 

 where a small band of deer had been playing around in 

 the night, some of which we had heard whistling. Near 

 the lower end of the meadows is a large sarvis thicket. 

 In going through we saw nine deer. My friends wanted 

 to stop, but I told them not yet, that when we crossed the 

 mountain over on to the breaks of Clearwater, if we did 

 not see any elk tracks we would camp and hunt deer. 

 They agreed, yet I could see that they thought we were 

 throwing away our best chances. It took us about two 

 hours to cross the mountain, and as we did not see any 

 elk signs we camped. As soon as the loads were off we 

 hobbled the horses and turned them loose, as the snow 

 was not more than 2in. deep and there was plenty of 

 bunch grass sticking out. 



We were in a splendid deer range. I Bhowed B. where 

 to go, as he was the lightest and proved to be "as tough 

 as a b'iled owl." I showed C. where to go, and told him 

 he would be likely to see deer in less than a half mile from 

 camp; - while I would go down into the fir flats toward 

 the river. As B. had the furthest to go, he left about 

 fifteen minutes ahead of C. and me. After going a 

 couple of hundred yards we separated. I was poking 

 along in the open timber between the fir thicket. I had 

 crossed lots of fresh deer tracks, but had not seen any- 

 thing. I had stopped under an immense fir where the 

 snow had not reached and was looking over the ground 

 ahead, when I was startled by two shots in quick succes- 

 sion. It sounded to me like artillery, and reverberated 

 across the Clearwater Canon, then rolled away up against 

 the high rocky bluffs on Twenty-Mile Creek, and the echo 

 answered back. It had hardly died away when it was 

 again repeated. This was the first time I had ever heard 

 the report of an Express rifle, and I thought that if the 

 kick was as tremendous B. would never be able to get to 

 camp, for the shot came from his direction. It was prob- 

 ably ten minutes before he fired again. I was then sat- 

 isfied that he was not entirely disabled. I waited and 

 listened for more, and when they did not come I moved 

 on, and near the last ridge to the Clearwater saw a small 

 band of deer. Some were feeding and some lying down. 

 They were in nice range. I watched them quite a while. 

 My intention was to kill a small one for camp meat. 

 While I was watching them a buck stepped out from be- 

 hind a bunch of brush. It was different from any deer I 

 had ever seen — longer and a great deal larger. The body 

 was nearly red, while the neck was almost black; he had 

 an immense pair of horns. I raised my rifle and took a 

 good aim at his neck. At the crack of the rifle he fell; 

 and those that were lying down jumped up; but they 

 could not tell where to run. Not wanting to shoot any 

 more, although I knew the buck would be musty, I 

 thought I would trust to the boys to kill one fit to eat. I 

 went up to where my dead deer lay, and surely it had 

 been a monarch of the glen. His right ear had been split 

 in two places from the head to the tip; the left ear had 

 one split in it. His neck was covered with scars, which 

 showed that he was the champion; he had earned his 

 laurels. 



Off to my left came the booming of the Express cannon. 

 It was boom, boom so quickly that it made one long, roll- 

 ing echo, which was taken up and handed back and forth, 

 until a third single shot continued the sound. I stood 

 waiting, expecting to hear another, but that was the 

 last; everything was quiet. 



I went down on to the river to where some Chinamen 

 were working, and sold them the big buck for $5. Two 

 of them came up and carried down the meat. I took the 

 hide and head and hung them up, then returned to 

 camp. 



As the boys had not come in, I built a fire, and had din- 

 ner well under way when B. came in; and it was an easy 

 matter to tell that he had had lots of fun and had killed 

 his first big game. He brought the liver and heart in for 

 dinner. 



He reported that as he had got near the head of the 

 draw I had told him to go up, two large bucks had got up 

 out of some brush, and after a few bounds up the hill 

 stopped. He fired both barrels at the biggeBt one, and one 

 of the shots knocked it down. Then he loaded and tried 

 the other with two shots, and missed. He said he knew, 

 from the trouble he had in getting out the shells and re- 

 loading his rifle, that he was getting rattled. He then sat 

 down and took good pains and fired for the shoulder. At 

 the report of his rifle the deer bounded forward and fell. 

 After dressing his game, he went on up to the summit, 

 where he saw a band lying down, and thought he could 

 get very close to them by retracing his steps a short dis- 

 tance and crossing the divide lower down. When he got 

 to where he thought he would be within good range he 

 looked very carefully, but they had run. 



"What did you kill?" he asked, when he got through 

 telling me of his fun. 



"I got one, but it was a big buck; so I went down to 

 the China camp and sold it, but kept the head and hide." 



I remarked that C. had fired three times. "Oh yes, I 

 heard them; does it not make a tremendous rumbling 

 among the canons and those high bluffs beyond the Clear- 

 water, and is not that a grand sight, that old Buffalo 

 Hump Mountain so rugged and high. I can't see what so 

 many Americans want to go abroad for, when there are 

 such places right at their doors and with such quantities 

 of game." 



Our conversation was interupted by C. coming in with 

 success stamped on every feature. He had killed one two- 

 point buck and wounded one which he wanted to follow 

 very much ; but I had told him to follow a wounded deer 

 but a short distance and that I would help him. 



It was a great source of satisfaction for me to listen to 

 these two men as they repeated every little detail of their 

 hunt, and how well they were pleased with their Express 

 rifles and the beautiful mountain Bcenery and the music 

 of the echo of each other's rifle. C. said, "Lew, your rifle 

 sounded like a popgun in a cellar, but after all it did 

 better than ours." B. chipped in and said, "You must not 

 forget who was at the breech." 



While eating we decided on our next move. C. was 

 religious, and, while he did not want to force his opinions 

 on B. and me, yet he did not want to hunt or move camp 

 if it could be avoided on the next day, which was Sunday. 

 I told them we had better get our game in and then move 

 down on to the Clearwater, a couple of miles below our 

 old mining claim, where we would have an excellent 

 camp, with plenty of feed for our horses. 



I gave B. my saddle horse and put his pack saddle on 

 the mule, and he said that with that outfit he could bfing 



his deer into camp. I took his saddle horse and with C. 

 on his we went after his deer. We had not left camp 

 more than a quarter of a mile when we saw four deer 

 come out of a fir thicket and start up the mountain; they 

 were about 200yds. away. I told C. to take a shot at 

 them. He gave me a very credulous look and said, "I 

 know positively I could not hit one and I don't believe 

 you or John Eigby could either." The deer were stand- 

 ing in a draw and we could not see all of their bodies 

 while we were sitting on our horses. I jumped off from 

 the horse and raised my rear sight for 200yds. All I could 

 see was their heads and a few inches of the necks. I 

 drew a bead on the neck of a small one and fired. At the 

 crack of the rifle the deer dropped. The rest gave a few 

 jumps and stopped and looked at their fallen companion. 

 C. was much surprised and said, "You please lead my 

 horse; I want to pace the ground, for that was the best 

 shot T ever saw made." 



We got nearly half-way to the deer before the others 

 went off. I think we could have killed all the band. 

 When C. reached the deer he called out 179. It was a 

 yearling doe, and I had broken its neck about 4in. below 

 its under jaw. We hung it up and went up the mountain, 

 and soon reached the place where C. had done his shoot- 

 ing. 



He had killed a two-point buck. He showed me where 

 the other was standing; and upon examining the place, 

 I told him he had hit his deer a long way back. I fol- 

 lowed the tracks a short distance and found blood; but 

 when it was scattered on the snow it was like spray. 

 He had shot the tip of the tail off; and when the deer 

 would stop, it would throw the blood out more than ten 

 feet each way. I decided that there was no use of fol- 

 lowing it unless we wanted to kill it for a curio, it having 

 been shot with an Express rifle. C. said we better return 

 to camp. I told him to hold the pack horse while I put 

 the deer on. He was willing, but the horse had no notion 

 of carrying a dead deer to camp. I got my hands full of 

 blood and rubbed the horse's nose good, then put my coat 

 over his head and tied the sleeves under his throat; threw 

 the deer on and lashed it good and fast, and took the coat 

 off from his head. He looked at the deer; then smelt of 

 it, and did not buck, but walked right off. We soon got 

 back to my little deer, which I dragged into camp. We 

 saw B. coming, leading my horse, and the mule was fol- 

 lowing; he had a deer on each. It was but a few minutes' 

 work putting our packs on, and we were ready to start. 

 I told B. to ride my horse and keep the trail which crossed 

 Meadow Creek a mile from the Clearwater, while I 

 would take his horse and go and get my big deer skin and 

 horns and follow the river trail, which was too dangerous 

 to go with a pack; and would meet them at our old houses. 

 We made our intended point before dark and camped at 

 the mouth of Little Sheep Canon. 



The snow was all gone, the grass good and wood plenty. 

 The young deer furnished camp with plenty of good fat 

 venison; it was the only one we had killed that I con- 

 sidered fit to eat. I hobbled all the horses but the mule 

 and turned them loose. B. and C. thought I was taking 

 chances, but when I told them the nature of the range 

 they said, "We trust it all to you." We had a splendid sup- 

 per, and after lounging around on our bed of fir browse I 

 cut off a piece of venison and stuck it up before the fire to 

 roast. B. and C. wanted to know if I had not had supper 

 enough. "Oh yes, but I like a little roast venison before I 

 go to bed." I cut off a piece for each of them, to which 

 they remonstrated. I replied, "When you fellows see me 

 eating it will make you hungry." When the meat was 

 done enough I began on mine and soon the boys com- 

 menced on theirs and were loud in their praises of its ex- 

 cellence; they thought it was the best meat they had ever 

 eaten. 



It was broad daylight when I woke up. I got up and 

 had a good fire. B. soon got up, but C. was lazy and did 

 not turn out until we had breakfast ready. Our horses 

 were in sight of camp, which pleased the boys very much. 

 After breakfast C. said, "Boys, I shall remain in camp 

 to-day, but you two can do what you like." "Well," said 

 I, "so far as hunting is concerned I care nothing about 

 that, but I will do whatever B. wants to." B. said he 

 would l jke very much to go up to the head of Sheep 

 Canon and try for a sheep. So B. and I picked up our 

 rifles and started for the head of Little Sheep Canon. We 

 had a very high, steep and rocky mountain to climb. 



B. was good at walking; and when we reached the top 

 of one very high precipice I told him that sometimes 

 sheep lay at the foot of the cliff. B. walked out and took 

 a good look oyer the precipice, where I was afraid to ven- 

 ture. Not seeing any, we kept on, intending to strike the 

 cliffs near the head of the canon. In going down the 

 divide I saw a small band of deer. Some were lying 

 down, and some feeding on buck brush. I showed them 

 to B. ; he responded that we were not after deer to-day. I 

 asked him if he thought he could hit one. He raised his 

 rifle, and after sighting it a while took it down, and said 

 it would be doubtful. I handed him my rifle; he sighted 

 at the deer, then took the rifle down; took his, tried it; 

 then took mine again; then said, "I could hit one with 

 your rifle. , I had no idea there was such a difference in 

 the sights. My sight covers the deer completely, while 

 yours does not hide more than the size of my hand." We 

 showed ourselves to the deer, and they bounded away 

 into a fir thicket. We went down into the head of Sheep 

 Canon and found where a small band had been that night 

 or in the morning. We followed their trail down below 

 the snow line, where we lost it. 



We kept on around the point, and had gone about one 

 mile when I heard some magpies chattering around in a 

 Bmall gulch. I told B. they were with the sheep, as I had 

 often seen them Bitting on sheep picking ticks off; the 

 sheep seem to enjoy it. We went very cautiously and I 

 was ahead. I looked the ground over very carefully. 

 Soon I saw a very big ram standing on a log. He was 

 looking down toward the river. I motioned to B. to 

 move up, which he did, and took a good look at the first 

 mountain sheep he had ever seen. Soon the ram looked 

 square at us, but we never moved until he turned his 

 head; then we squatted down. The wind was blowing up 

 the river, so we were in danger of being detected by 

 scent. I soon peeped up, but the ram had got down. We 

 moved up a short distance, when I saw seven. They 

 were not more than 80yds., and I whispered to B. to try 

 and kill the ram. He raised his rifle and bang! bang I it 

 went, nearly deafening me. 



The sheep ran down around on to the point we, were 

 on — all except the ram, which ran up the gulch. By the 

 time the sheep got straight below us B. had two more 



