BBS 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 21, 1895. 



THE BEAUTIFUL ST. JOHNS. 



Many localities of the country in which we live are 

 justly famed for the beauties which one may see and the 

 sport which one may experience while in that district, 

 but none more justly than that far-famed hunting ground, 

 the Upper St. Johns Eiver, Florida. Many of these same 

 famed resorts are famous not owing to the quantity or 

 quality of their game, but to the vivid imagination and 

 ready pen of a fluent writer, who exercises his talents for 

 so much per column. As to the St. Johns, let me add my 

 testimony (valueless though it may be), which was gained 

 by actual experience during ^a week's stay upon its waters, 

 in company with some of the best wing shots to be found 

 North or South. 



On Saturday, Jan. 27, 1894, the prosperous town of St. 

 Francis, Florida, was the scene of busy preparations for 

 the departure of the steam yacht Lolliboy with a lighter 

 in tow, which was to be the home of a party of nine for a 

 week. 



The yacht was in charge of Capt. John E, Harris, who 

 was ready, as all good captains are, at all times for any 

 emergency; while Mr. Chas. Knickerbocker took the 

 wheel and shoved the spokes from port to starboard as 

 necessity demanded with the skill of an old timer. Mr. J. 

 E. Dreggors took charge of the culinary department, and 

 the good spirits which the party maintained was sufficient 

 ' evidence that everything which went to feed the inner 

 man was well prepared, and the quantity devoured also 

 bore testimony to the same fact. Mr. C. K. Harris and 

 myself, who were upon our winter vacation from college, 

 completed that portion of the party which went aboard 

 from St. Francis. All day provisions, cooking utensils, 

 fishing tackle, guns, ammunition, etc. , were being carried 

 aboard; at 6 o'clock all the preparations were complete, 

 and at 6:50 the party were well started amidst the shouts 

 and good-byes of our many friends. 



An all-night trip took us to Sanford and Lake Monroe. 

 The landing waB made at 5:45, and after breakfast the 

 party was completed by the addition of four (all Pitts- 

 burgers), who had just returned from a week's trip on 

 Lake Walken Water, where they had been guided by 

 George Tallahassee and Laton Wilson. This contingent 

 consisted of Dr. Joseph Dickson, otherwise known as 

 Tom Tiger, which title he won by his skill in slaying 

 alligators while with the Indians; Dr. James Dickson, 

 who is better known among Northern shooters as Jim 

 Crow, and who has made his record in many contests at 

 clay as well as feathered birds; Dr. Thos. McCann, who 

 holds a line and reel as well as pulls a trigger, and who 

 has made somewhat of a reputation as a swimmer; and 

 Joseph W. Graff, who although young has learned the 

 art of handling a gun, and whose string of ducks and 

 curlew holds its own with any of the party. These four 

 having settled themselves and their varied paraphernalia 

 on board, the real start of the trip was made from San- 

 ford at-l:20 P. M., Sunday, Jan. 28, 



Soon after starting the heavy rain which set in from 

 the west kept the party indoors, and the time was well 

 spent listening to the tales of the old hunters, who, al- 

 though they spoke with great gravity, refused to swear 

 to an affidavit vouching the truth of their statements. 



The lake was soon left behind and a successful run 

 made to Lake Harney, during which great quantities of 

 game birds, large and small, could be seen winging their 

 flight in a southern direction. The reputation of Lake 

 Harney for beauty gs well as game was well established, 

 except as regards squirrels, which did not appear in and 

 about Geneva Landing. This, however, was our only dis- 

 appointment of the whole trip. 



Geneva was left at about 4:30 in the afternoon, and be- 

 fore we could reach the river darkness had settled and a 

 high wind had arisen, which prevented us from making 

 sufficient headway to cross the bay; pulling and hauling 

 on ropes and pushing with poles failed to float the boat 

 from where she had grounded within a skiff length of the 

 channel, so we all turned in and refreshed tired nature 

 with that blessed remedy, sleep. 



Bright and early we were at work again endeavoring to 

 get afloat, but all our efforts were vain till Jim Crow 

 ran short of his supply of equilibrium and falling over- 

 board raised the water sufficiently for us to glide peace- 

 fully on our way. 



After proceeding a short way up the river we anchored 

 for our first duck shoot. The country was level and 

 marshy, really an ideal place for ducks; two boats, after 

 having stationed the several men, kept stirring up the 

 game, and the rapid and almost constant reports of the 

 guns assured us that the feathered tribe were" being well 

 received, and not a few bowed to the report of a gun. 

 Our string, when we had reassembled after a few hours' 

 hunt, set all doubts at rest as regards the character or 

 quantity of the birds in that section. Tom Tiger and Joe 

 Graff topped the crowd by bringing in six curlew and a 

 heron besides mallard and teal. 



Dinner over we proceeded up the river and Dr. Tom 

 bethought himself of the lines, and ere long, with but 

 little assistance from the rest of the party, had a string of 

 seventeen fine bass which aggregated 221bs. Night fell 

 and all were well satisfied with the day's sport, and 

 resolved to tempt the finny tribe on the morrow. 



Early, while the Lolliboy steamed up river, the lines 

 were prepared, and soon six white streaks in the water 

 brought consternation to Fishtown and joy to the hearts 

 of the fishers. A small pound bass was the first catch, and 

 soon the merry dance was on to the full extent. Double 

 catches were frequent, and each fisherman vied with 

 each to surpass in number and size the catch of the others. 

 Jim Crow had a fine bite, and pulling him in landed 

 about a four-pounder in the galley; but he was game, and 

 making a flop soon had left that unfriendly place, only to 

 be again put back by the alert Jim. Again the fish led, 

 and this time with one tremendous leap cleared galley 

 door and end of boat. Landing in the water, he turned 

 and putting his head above the surface smiled sarcasti- 

 cally at the astonished Jim. All day the sport went on 

 until Dr. Tom thought the water was being depopulated, 

 and having lost his hold added one more to the number 

 of the inhabitants. After prospecting for a short while 

 near the bottom he evidently saw his mistake, and ap- 

 peared at the top, the picture of surprise and determina- 

 tion. He soon clambered aboard, but in the meantime an 

 obliging bass, while endeavoring to lend a fin, became 

 entangled upon the line and was ruthlessly landed; poorly 

 paid for his attempt to assist his enemy, man. Our string 

 for the day amounted to twenty -five fish, weighing some- 

 what over 451bs. 



That night we tied up for the night in Snake Creek 

 after passing lakes Ruth and Luff man, a party of three 

 taking a row boat went to place the ducks which we in- 

 tended to meet the next morning. Their return brought 

 a favorable report and we rose bright and early next day 

 and soon were away upon the day's expedition. 



Dr. Tom, Jim Crow and Joe Graff, with Enoch, were 

 the first to leave, and Tom Tiger, with Capt, John Knick, 

 and myself soon followed them. Graff was soon stationed 

 from one boat, while Captain John and Tom Tiger were 

 put out from the other, all in advantageous positions, and 

 the rest of the party kept the game on the wing. A strong 

 wind soon necessitated a change in the position of the 

 stations and we picked them up and followed on to Shad 

 and Salt lakes, where the rest of the party were con- 

 stantly shooting, which assured us of the fact that they 

 had found the proper place for sport. Having reached 

 the field we placed Joe Graff on a good stand and soon 

 saw him drop his first duck of the day before getting out 

 of sight of his stand, when placing Tom Tiger on his 

 stand we were surprised to hear the report of his trusty 

 weapon and turning I saw a large moccasin spring in his 

 death agonies. The Doctor says the reptile had plenty of 

 running room, but had deliberately turned to attack him. 

 Game soon began to rise from all quarters and soon a 

 large osprey fell a victim to the same gun as the moccasin. 



The morning's sport was intense, and when we returned 

 to the boat we found that every gun had scored at least 

 one bird, and many of them five or six. Jim Crow car- 

 ried off the honors of the day, while two were a close 

 second. The boat looked much like a well-stocked game 

 stand, and the table was well supplied with the fruits of 

 the chase. 



The return trip was as pleasant as the forward one, and 

 the fish were deluded to such an extent that the table was 

 well supplied even to the last meal. While lying at the 

 dock at Geneva, with only Dr. Dickson and C. K. Harris 

 aboard, the lake was violently disturbed by a high wind 

 which threatened for a time to tear the tow from the 

 Lolliboy. After much trouble they were separated and the 

 yacht anchored out in the lake, where she rode the waves 

 in peace during the night. 



Altogether the trip was one of great enjoyment and 

 productive of much game. Mallards, bluebills, blue and 

 green-winged teal, jacksnipe, several ospreys, about 

 twenty curlew, heron, moccasins and about 1201bs. of 

 bass, the largest of which weighed 61bs., makes up the 

 list of the week's game. 



The scenery from the start to the finish of the trip was 

 of the finest, and Dr. Dickson has preserved several 

 photographic views of the party as well as of the country. 

 A hope for another such trip by the whole party testifies 

 to the enjoyment experienced, and the report of Florida's 

 wonderful game resources will be spread far and wide by 

 those who enjoyed the trip on the Upper St. Johns. 



Russell K. Smith. 



St. Francis, Fla. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



Desperate Days in Wisconsin. 

 Chicago, 111., Dec. 12.— Does the sportsman public 

 know how limited the game regions of the United States 

 have now become, and how intense is the scramble of all 

 sorts of hunters to get at them? Let us take the State of 

 Wisconsin, which has been advertised to its death in 

 these matters, treating it more especially in regard to the 

 deer shooting season. 



I have already spoken of large parties of deer hunters 

 from other States who went into Wisconsin the first week 

 of the deer season. A gentleman of Fox Lake, Dodge 

 county, Wis., writes me that he and his friends intended 

 to go to Star Lake (on the new spur of the C, M. & St. P. 

 from Woodruff), but learned that there were 250 hunters 

 at that point. He says the hunting began Oct. 20, with 

 set guns, hounding, jacking and platform shooting at 

 night. The deer had no chance at all. The law was 

 defied by the non-resident shooters. 



The local men have at last awakened to the situation, 

 and have been trying to do what they can to stop the ex- 

 termination of their deer. A secret committee of Eagle 

 River citizens was formed to aid in arresting illegal pot 

 hunters. The local paper there speaks thus of the plague 

 of non-resident invasion: 



"Never has the northern part of Wisconsin been 

 swarmed with foreign hunters as at the present writing. 

 Every incoming train brings in scores of them, some of 

 them arriving ten days before the opening of the season. 



"Vilas county is receiving a little more than its just 

 proportion; by actual count nearly 100 hunters, chiefly the 

 pot hunters, hailing from Ohio and Indiana, have arrived 

 in this village and are now scattered about in every direc- 

 tion. They never fail to bring all the necessary articles 

 of 'grub,' ammunition, etc.; they come to slaughter deer, 

 but it will be a miracle if this is all that falls before their 

 carelessness; generally they are a class of hunters that 

 would not hesitate to pull the trigger at any object mov- 

 ing in the brush. This is the reason our local hunters are 

 timid about going out when the woods are full of this 

 class of hunters. This is no dream. Already two hunt- 

 ers in Michigan have fallen under the aim of just such 

 hunters as are swarming in this locality. » 



"The Michigan Legislature at their last session grabbed 

 'time by the fore-lock' and compel non-residents of the 

 State to pay a license fee of $25 for the privilege of hunting 

 deer within the State bounds. The Ohio and Indiana 

 pot hunters are too penurious a set to pay this lieense fee 

 and in consequence poor Wisconsin is getting within its 

 commonwealth every pot hunter west of the Alleghanies." 



The Marinette North Star has the following to say on 

 this: "There are two kinds of animals that Marinette and 

 Florence counties are pestered with this fall, wolves and 

 pot hunters. The former destroy everything in sight, 

 but they are not nearly so destructive as the bullets of the 

 Ohio and Indiana deer hunters. If by some dispensation 

 of providence the wolves and pot hunters should wage 

 merciless war on one another and the wolves should wTn 

 it would not cause bitter tears up this way and the deer 

 slaughter would also be greatly curtailed. To save the 

 complete extermination of the deer in this State there is 

 butane thing for Wisconsin to do, and that is at the next 

 session of the Legislature to enact a stringent license law 

 and see to its strict enforcement." 



The Milwaukee Sentinel covers the same situation thus: 

 "According to deer hunters who have returned from 

 the northern part of the State during the past few days, 



the game laws in northern Wisconsin and the upper 

 Michigan peninsula were being violated openly and in de- 

 fiance of the large number of deputy game wardens who 

 are scouring the woods. Dr. J. W. Coon, registrar of the 

 Health Department, returned yesterday morning after a 

 week's hunt near Tomahawk. He reports that though 

 the State laws prohibit the use of dogs for hunting deer 

 scarcely a hunter is found in the woods who is not accom- 

 panied by one or more hounds. 



"Dr. Coon went to Tomahawk, where he joined a party 

 of hunters who were in the woods before he arrived. The 

 party included Col. Wagner,of Madison; Register of Deeds 

 Schultz, of Monroe county; S. C. Basse, of Madison; 

 Charles and Clarence Macomber, of Tomahawk; and Fred 

 Withey, who lives near Tomahawk. The party had al- 

 ready killed thirteen deer, but during the time that Dr. 

 Coon was with them not a single deer was shot. Of the 

 thirteen deer killed, Withey shot six, which is the largest 

 record made by any one hunter this year. 



"Dr. Coon says that the woods are swarming with hun- 

 ters, and every deer trail is followed for miles. Deer are 

 numerous along the Wisconsin River, but there are also 

 plenty of hunters in the field. Among them there was a 

 Chicago party of sportsmen who came to Tomahawk in a 

 special car. The party brought six deer hounds with 

 them and established a camp several miles up the river. 

 Last Sunday it was rumored that game wardens had been 

 dispatched from Madison to make a raid on the illegal 

 hunters in the vicinity of Tomahawk. This report caused 

 a stampede among the hunters, who scattered in all direc- 

 tions. Monday night, while coming home on the train 

 from Grand Rapids, where the Doctor went on Sunday to 

 visit friends, the trainmen reported that the game war- 

 dens had made a raid that day and captured a number cf 

 hunters who were chasing deer with dogs. It was stated 

 that the Chicago sportsmen were among those arrested. 

 Their names could not be learned." 



A Result. 



Marshfield, Wis.— George Gray, at wqrk in one of the 

 Lowry lumber camps north of Medford, while out hunt- 

 ing last Saturday was mistaken for a deer by Robert Mc- 

 Adams, of Neilleville, who was also out hunting, and ter- 

 ribly shot. Gray was in a stooping position when the 

 shot was fired, the ball entering his body just above the 

 right hip, tearing away three ribs, passing through the 

 right lung and coming out near the neck. His father, 

 Albert Gray, of this city, was sent for and was with him 

 until yesterday, when he returned home with the sad 

 news that his son's life hangs on the merest thread, and 

 he expects at any moment to hear of his death. Mr. 

 Gray is a young man of good habits and has a wife and 

 one child, 



A Result. 



Marshfield, Wis,— Edwin Stockly was shot and killed 

 by his brother-in-law, Jesse Morgan, of Ironwood, Mich., 

 on Tuesday. Morgan mistook Stockly for a deer and shot 

 him dead. The shooting was pronounced accidental. 

 Stockly was a track maker, from Chicago. The accident 

 occurred at Lone Rock, Wis., about ten miles from Hur- 

 ley. 



A Result. 



Maeshfield, Wis.— Jacob Hochwart, of Morse, was 

 shot by George Bidgood last Wednesday, near Morse. 

 The latter was hunting, and lying near a deer runway 

 waiting for game. He mistook Hochwart, who was on 

 his way home from work, for a deer. Hochwart is in the 

 hospital at Ashland in a precarious condition. 



A Result. 



Ashland, Wis.— This afternoon Mr. Brayton, of the 

 Geneva Optical Company, of New York, who was hunt- 

 ing deer near Sanborn with two Chicago men, drove into 

 Ashland after a doctor, announcing that he had shot a 17- 

 year-old boy, supposed to be named Hallock. The party 

 hurried back with physicians. This is the third acci- 

 dental shooting case of the kind during the week. One 

 man was killed near Hurley and one is now at Rinehart's 

 hospital. Officer MacDonald announced late this after- 

 noon that he and Under Sheriff Firth would leave for 

 Saxon and arrest Brayton. 



Net Results. 



I have heard of eleven cases this fall, including those 

 mentioned above, of men shot for deer in the State of 

 Wisconsin. I presume over 1,000 rifles were out in a 

 region sixty-five by fifty miles in extent. 



What does the sportsman public think of the scramble? 



Wait till I have told about the scramble in Mississippi, 

 from which country I have just returned. 



What will the sportsman public do when it wakes up, 

 sudden and sharp, and finds that the game is gone in Wis- 

 consin, in Mississippi, in Texas, everywhere? That day is 

 coming, very, very fast. True, we may sleep and dream 

 yet a little while. It is very pleasant to sleep. 



Locked Horns. 



A good specimen of locked deer antlers was on exhibi- 

 tion this week at a local taxidermist's. 



The two bucks were engaged in combat when the hun- 

 ter, W. L. Brown, of Albion, Mich., came upon them, 

 near Bismarck, N. D., Nov. 15 last. It became evident 

 they could not separate, even if they tried, so Mr. Brown 

 ended the fight by killing them. Their antlers were found 

 to be perfectly locked. The head and neck of each were 

 then separated and sent to Chicago to be preserved and 

 mounted. The owner has refused $300 for the trophy. 



Another White Deer. 

 Mr. W. E. Warren, of Wisconsin, writes of having seen 

 the white deer which was killed near Eagle River, Wis., 

 last August. This animal was beautiful in life, but is gro- 

 tesque as mounted. Some of the local hunters thought 

 the animal was "not a mule deer, but a species of ante- 

 lope," which is certainly a trifle startling. The effigy 

 as shown in a photograph determines nothing, but leads 

 one to guess the albino was an albino spike buck of the 

 white-tail. The mate of this deer was "spotted red and 

 white," so the report goes, though its age is not stated; so 

 that we suppose it to have been a fawn. The albino was, of 

 course, killed illegally. 



It is Related. 



It is related that State Treasurer Peterson and.Railroad 

 Commissioner McKenzie, of Madison, Wis., while out 

 deer hunting in that State recently came upon a track, 



