Dec. 28, 1895. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



568 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



Sportsmen Tourists in Texas. 



Chicago, HI,, Deo, 14.— In earlier issues of Forest and 

 Stream I mentioned the invitation of Col. A. B. Pickett, 

 editor of the Memphis Scimitar, to join a party of sports- 

 men in a special car party to Texas. The inability to join 

 this party meant the loss of one of the enjoyable experi- 

 ences one always regrets. The party was most fortunate 

 in every regard and the trip was a succession of happy 

 events. On his return from the voyage in Texas Col. 

 Pickett gave his paper an outline of the doings of the 

 party, and from that account I take the following: 



The party consisted of the Hon. Josiah Patterson, Gen. 

 Sam. T. Carnes, Col. Napoleon Hill, Mr. J. S. Dunscomb, 

 Mr. E. L. Boyle, Mr. Fred Schmidt, Mr. Robert Galloway 

 and Mr. A. B. Pickett, of Memphis; Mr. W. C. Gillette, of 

 Chicago; Mr. T. K. Riddick, Mr. Tom Wiliiamson and 

 Mr. John G. Hendon, of Somerville, Tenn., and Mr. John 

 R. Sloan, of Covington, Tenn. John Graham, of the 

 Seimitar, went along as purser, and Ben Stansberry, the 

 colored porter of the Scimitar, had charge of the baggage. 

 The Pullman company sent an experienced French cook, 

 an expert pantryman and one of its most efficient porters. 

 Harry, Floyd and Preston were three of the most impor- 

 tant members of the party. 



The car left MemphiB at 7 o'clock Thursday evening, Oct. 

 31, and dinner was announced when the Arkansas shore 

 was reached. Mr. Pickett was elected the manager for the 

 party, and his instructions were carried out without ob- 

 jection from any source from the day of departure until 

 the return home at 8:30 yesterday morning. 



The first stop was made Friday night at Waco, where 

 Col. Parrott and other distinguished citizens entertained 

 the party. A stop of a few moments was also made at 

 Corsicana. 



Saturday morning Mr. Warner, of the Cotton Belt, who 

 had joined the car at Tyler, piloted the excursionists to 

 San Antonio, via Kennedy and Yoakum, over the San 

 Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad. Mr. O. C. Guessaz and 

 Mr. Joe George, at the head of a distinguished party of 

 San Antonio gentlemen, met the car on its arrival, enter- 

 tained the visitors royally that evening, taking them to 

 the plaza, where they were served rare Mexican dishes by 

 the chile genus, to the fort and the famous Alamo, and 

 the following day accompanied them to Rockport. 



Leaving the car at Rockport, sail was set on Monday 

 morning for Aransas Pass, about fifteen miles away. The 

 weather was everything that could be desired, and several 

 of the party had strikes that afternoon, although no fish 

 were landed. The next morning the tarpon hunt was 

 resumed, and during the day three of the monsters were 

 captured, the smallest weighing 1021bs., caught by Mr. 

 Boyle; the largest weighing I401bs. and measuring 6ft. 

 3in., captured by Mr. Gillette; and the third, about the 

 same size, pulled in upon the sand by Mr. Schmidt, but 

 lost through the carelessness of the boatman, who cut the 

 line with his gaff in the act of hauling the fish in out of 

 the surf. Any quantity of sea bass and redfish were 

 caught, besides several sharks and stingarees. 



Several of the party remained at Aransas Pass the entire 

 week, the remainder returning to Rockport ahead of them 

 and going out to Sorenson's Camp for a duck hunt. Sev- 

 eral canvasbacks and redheads were bagged, and Mon- 

 day morning early the car left Rockport for Gregory, 

 where they were again met by Mr. Guessaz and Mr. 

 George, who arranged for the day the most novel duck 

 hunting expedition anybody ever saw or heard of before. 

 Wagons were secured, and at 10 o'clock in the morning 

 the entire party, with the exception of Mr. Galloway, who 

 returned home, were lined up in the willows on top of 

 the high levee, which dams the waters of the gulch and 

 separates the pond which they make from the waters of 

 Nueces Bay. Corpus Christi could be seen across the bay, 

 four or five miles distant. From time to time flocks of 

 from five to fifteen ducks would attempt to cross the 

 levee on their way from the sea to the fresh-water pond, 

 and at the right moment, when the command to fire was 

 given, fourteen guns would be turned loose almost at the 

 same moment. It was a rare thing for a duck to get over 

 the levee with his life. One wild goose, which came 

 honking down the valley just before sundown, fell with 

 a hatful of lead in his body. 



Leaving Gregory Tuesday morning the car made its 

 next stop at Tyler, where the party was joined by Mr. 

 Warner, Mr. John Durst (a leading capitalist of Tyler) and 

 Mr. J. J. Daglish, a prominent hardware dealer of that 

 place. Both of these gentlemen are experienced deer 

 hunters, and under their guidance tents were pitched the 

 following day eight miles below Lufkin, in the heart of 

 an immense forest of pine, oak, beech and magnolia, with 

 the Angelina River on one side and the Nueces River on 

 the other. A large pack of fine deerhounds was secured, 

 and in less than an hour a big doe was brought into the 

 camp and turned over to the tender mercies of Harry, the 

 cook. Eight deer were killed the next day and three 

 the following morning, all within less than a mile of the 

 camp. First honors fell to Mr. Riddick, second to Mr. 

 Schmidt and third to Mr. Williams. Mr. Hill and Col. 

 Patterson, who were mounted on Texas mustangs, rode 

 the woods from morning until night each day and slept 

 in the leaves with the balance of the boys. 



Saturday afternoon the bird dogs were taken out for 

 their first run, and half a dozen big coveys of quail were 

 found within an hour. 



Leaving Lufkin at 7 o'clock Sunday morning the party 

 came straight home. The last dinner was eaten on board 

 the car at 3:30 o'clock after leaving Tyler. When the 

 cloth was removed a business meeting was held, at which 

 Mr. Pickett presided. Resolutions were adopted thanking 

 the railroad officials and gentlemen of the Lone Star State 

 for the many courtesies lavished on the party. 



When seen at Memphis last week by the Forest and 

 Stream representative. Col. Pickett was full of enthusi- 

 asm over the delightful time he and his friends had had. 



E. Hough. 



909 Security Building, Chicago. 



Reasons for Sticking. 



First hunter — "I'm going to stick to black powder. I 

 kill as well as any of them and it is cheaper." 



Second hunter— "That's all right if you take the 

 chances. I won't. You see there are so many notices put 

 up all around, 'No shooting allowed,' that I concluded to 

 do no more shooting aloud, but in a whisper. Se§?" 



DEER HORNS AND VELVET. 



What Old Deer Hunters Say.— II. 



[Concluded from page 5*5.] 



Lansing, Mich. — Editor Forest and Stream: A spike- 

 horn buck is a one-horn or yearling buck, a prong-horn is 

 a two-spike or a 2-year-old buck. After 2 years old a 

 buck will add a single prong each year for two years, 

 which would indicate a 3-year-old with three prongs, and 

 a 4-year-old with four prongs. After 4 years old you can 

 tell very little of the age of a buck by the number of tines 

 on his antlers; after 4 years old the antlers often grow 

 irregularly, and the number of tines on each antler may 

 differ greatly in number and form. A 5-year-old buck 

 may have five, six or more tines on his antlers, but he 

 cannot be less than 5 years and have a greater number of 

 prongs than four. 



The tips of the antlers in deer up to 5 years old are 

 usually close together, say 4 to 6in. apart, and sometimes 

 the tips will meet almost. I have seen several antlers of 

 which the tips passed each other, and in two cases the 

 tips hit together in the center, and the terminal ends are 

 bent out of their natural course to get past each other. 

 After a deer is 5 or 6 years old the end of the antlers will 

 each year spread wider and wider apart till in old deer 

 the antlers are wide open, and oftentimes almost at right 

 angles to the frontal bone. In old deer the antlers are 

 usually whiter than in young deer, and the grooves 

 where the blood vessels run are smaller and not so well 

 marked. ' 



The antlers of the buck are shed, or thrown off, in the 

 latter part of winter or very early spring. Exceptionally 

 they are shed somewhat earlier or a little later, but as a 

 rule the antler is thrown off late in winter or ea.rly spring. 

 When the vital process begins which results in the casting 

 off of the antlers, the buck loses his strength and ambition 

 and vitality, and he hides away in some thick co ver where 

 he can be quiet and not disturbed. Whether one antler is 

 shed before the other, or they are both shed at the same 

 time, I am unable to say. What becomes of the antlers 

 after they are shed is something of a conundrum, but it is 

 supposed that they are eaten up by mice and porcupines. 

 At any rate, they all disappear quickly. A cast-off antler 

 is seldom found. 



A deer-hunting friend has often seen bucks with one 

 antler gone. He thinks that the antlers would drop off in 

 time, but they are nearly always broken off accidentally 

 before the time has come for them to drop off. He has 

 often found deer antlers in the North Woods years ago. 

 He doubts the truth of the statement that the antlers are 

 eaten by mice or porcupines. He states that all rodents 

 must carry out their nature and have something to gnaw. 

 This they must have to keep their teeth in proper condi- 

 tion. When they find an antler on the ground they gnaw 

 it, because it is handy to get at and serves their pur- 

 pose, and not because they like it or derive nourishment 

 from it. 



Previous to the horn-shedding period the buck has been 

 wild and crazy to get at the does, and he would chase 

 and run them all the time, for at this time of the year the 

 does are in season, and they remain in season for some 

 time during the months from September to January or a 

 little later, This is called the running time or rutting 

 time. 



During the horn-shedding period and during nearly the 

 entire time the antlers are growing and hardening the 

 buck does not molest the does. This seems to be nature's 

 way of protecting the does and their fawns during the 

 spring and summer, for if the bucks were as crazy during 

 this period as they were during the time when the antlers 

 were fully developed, they would kill the does and fawns 

 by their furious actions. 



A few weeks after the antlers are shed the frontal bone 

 becomes greatly loaded with blood and the parts are in- 

 tensely congested. A little later projections appear 

 where the antlers ha e come off. These projections grow 

 very rapidly and in about three months this soft growth, 

 which is to be converted into bone, has attained its full 

 growth. This new growth is soft like a link of sausage, 

 is intensely charged with blood, and if the parts are 

 touched they will bleed very freely, and if they are much 

 broken or bruised the buck may bleed to death. 



During this formative period the antlers are covered 

 with a velvet-like substance, or skin, and the buck is said 

 to then be in the velvet. During this period the buck has 

 shed his coat of hair and has passed the stages called the 

 red or the blue coat, later when the antlers are hard he 

 has his regular winter coat of gray. A singular fact is 

 that if a buck is shot and killed in the water in the gray 

 coat he will float, but if shot and killed in the water when 

 in the red or blue coat he will sink at once. 



When the antler is growing and the parts are injured 

 or broken they remain permanently so, and this accounts 

 for many blemishes to be found on the antlers. When 

 this new growth has reached its full size and form and 

 shape, the burr or ridge around the base of the antler be- 

 gins to harden and contract, and soon strangulates the 

 bone and cuts off the blood supply, and the new growth 

 begins to grow hard and in a very short time is converted 

 into bone substance. The grooves in the substance of the 

 bone and on the outside mark the course of the blood 

 vessels during the period of horn growth. When the 

 blood supply is cut off and the horns begin to harden the 

 velvet covering dies and loosens somewhat, and the buck 

 begins to rub his head and antlers against bushes and 

 stones to get the velvet off. A few days ago I sent a piece 

 of this velvet covering to Forest and Stream to show 

 how little nature had to do with shedding the velvet when 

 the buck could not get at it to rub it off. 



About the time that the horns are well hardened and 

 the velvet is off, the buck begins to feel the intense blood 

 flow to the head, which has 1 become a habit, and for lack 

 of its accustomed relief — horn-building — the head is 

 deeply congested and the neck begins to swell to often- 

 times a great size, and the buck gets full of life and vital- 

 ity. He is strong and crazy and furious to get at the 

 does. Nature has so arranged the whole matter that the 

 does come in season about the time the horns are well 

 hardened, and the bucks get in form to serve them, and 

 the rutting season begins. 



As the horns begin to harden the buck begins to roam, 

 hunting for the does, and for the next three or four 

 months he chases them all the time. He is crazy and 

 wild to find them. About the time the does are all served 

 and the bucks are no longer needed nature stepB in and 

 begins the process again, which results in horn-shedding, 



and again sends the buck to his yearly summer retreat, 

 where the horn-shedding goes on as before. 



When the buck is running after the does he smells 

 strong and musky, and an old buck will often be so 

 musky that his flesh is not fit to eat. 



A gentleman from Lake Superior was just in, and I 

 asked him what became of the deer antlers after they 

 were shed. His reply was, "Eaten up by mice and 

 porkies." The horns are soon covered up by leaves and 

 snow, and wherever a horn has dropped you will find 

 mice. Their runways will be all around and about 

 the antler, and they will winter there and eat up the 

 horns, every bit of them. Julian. 



Halifax, N. S., Dec. 10.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 have noticed considerable discussion in your columns re- 

 cently as to how deer get rid of the velvet on their horns. 

 That they do so by rubbing their horns on small trees, I 

 can furnish any one with ample proof of during the 

 proper season; but although they get rid of the velvet by 

 rubbing, they do not rub to get rid of the velvet. 



Some one asks, however, why do they rub? That I 

 cannot answer. That they begin to rub as soon as the 

 horns are ready and rub vigorously, I know; also that 

 they continue the rubbing until the horns are almost 

 ready to fall, although with much less frequency and 

 vigor. For example, a tree which in the early part of the 

 season would be almost stripped of branches may in the 

 late fall have only a few bruises on it; perhaps our deer 

 will only give it a friendly poke in the ribs while passing. 



After the velvet is gone a deer will stand and hook at a 

 small tree with every manifestation of fun and pleasure 

 in bo doing; or again, he will attack one as if it was a 

 mortal enemy to whom he could show no mercy. I have 

 in my mind's eye now a tree, a great pine rampike, whose 

 hardness any woodsman knows, 18in. in diameter at 6ft. 

 from the ground. It also had a big knotty growth as big 

 as one's head on it. This tree had been attacked by a 

 bull moose and the ground all around the tree was trod- 

 den over and over. The knotty growth was lying on the 

 ground. Several long splinters had been knocked off the 

 trunk, and as high as the moose could reach that old tree 

 was bruised and marked by his horns. I never before 

 saw a tree so marked, and I never expect to see another. 

 I would have given a good deal to have seen the actual con- 

 flict. What a sight it must have been — a mighty moose 

 hooking madly at a tree mightier even than the moose 

 himself. No other impulse than anger pure and simple 

 provoked the attack, and it was long after the velvet had 

 gone. 



I was in a great caribou country this year and had 

 splendid opportunities to look into the rubbing question. 

 Parts of the country, miles in extent, were covered 

 almost exclusively with small pine trees, 5 to 10ft. high, 

 and also contained hosts of caribou, owing to the abun- 

 dance of white moss, which forms their food. In that 

 section you scarcely can walk 20ft. in any direction with- 

 out finding some tree or bush marked by the caribou 

 horns; and mind you, I only speak of the rubbing done in 

 the current year. Let us look closely at a few of them. 

 What is this dry, stringy stuff sticking to the tree? It is 

 long strips of the velvet torn off and dried upon the 

 tree. 



I have been in caribou and moose country during the 

 season when the velvet comes off, and found the velvet 

 still with the blood undried adhering to the trees which 

 had been rubbed. I could go on and give instance after 

 instance to prove that the velvet is got rid of by rub- 

 bing. 



My experience is all with moose and caribou. I can- 

 not answer for any other deer; and the little I have 

 written may help the many writers ontheBubject toward 

 arriving at a conclusion. Tiam. 



Halifax, N. S. 



Oroville, Wash., Dec. 14.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 You are certainly correct in your editorial comments in 

 regard to the general belief, that all of the cervine quad- 

 rupeds rub the velvet off from their horns on bushes and 

 small trees. Have you ever killed a deer or an elk that 

 showed on the outside of the velvet green bark or leaveB? 

 Do you believe that after the horn has performed its 

 natural functions] the deer or elk has to knock the horn 

 off against a tree? Now I claim that the velvet dro ps off 

 after it has performed the duties for which nature has in- 

 tended it, just the same as they shed their hair, and should 

 I live until next fall I shall try to send you a pair of horns 

 that have shed their velvet before they have been rubbed 

 against any brush. Lew Wilmot. 



Grand View, Tenn. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 believe that Mr. Lew Wilmot claims that the buck deer 

 does not rub while shedding the velvet from the ripening 

 horns. 



The rubbing and rasping proclivities of the buck deer 

 are well known by all the old-time deer hunters. They 

 begin to rub when the velvet begins to peel; whether they 

 do it to clean their horns or satisfy their natural inclina- 

 tion to rub is immaterial. All the same they continue to 

 rub and rasp the young saplings occasionally until the 

 horns drop off in December and January. 



I once had a tame buck that carried his horns until 

 March. But I never knew any wild deer that cast their 

 horns later than the middle of January. As far as I have 

 known the elk shed their horns in March. 



I have heard it said and have seen it written that when 

 the buck deer drop their horns they chew them up and 

 eat them — rather a flinty morsel to chew, I should say ! 

 The hardest of all horns is the buck's horn, and it is grown 

 and perfected in five months. 



Rubbing bottoms was a familiar term among the old 

 Pennsylvania deer hunters. The Clarion River and its 

 tributaries drained some of the roughest country in the 

 State, where the mountain sides generally reached down 

 to the water's edge, excepting some very Bmall river or 

 creek bottoms, ranging in size from a half acre to two 

 acres, the surfaces of which were a little above high 

 water mark. These patches of level land were nearly 

 destitute of large trees, and were called rubbing bottoms 

 from the fact that the elk and deer had used these places 

 for rubbing and scraping since time immemorial, girdling 

 the saplings as fast as they grew up, which accounts for 

 the absence of large timber. Antler. 



Tlie Fobest and Stream is put to presa each wedc on Tuesday 

 Correspondence intended for publication should riach us at the 

 lateit by Monday and as much earlier as practicably, • - p 



