106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 1, 188*. 



PHASES OF SPORT IN TEXAS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The following accounts of such sports as we have to 

 amuse us down here may interest the readers of the For- 

 est and Stream. We have no game law in this county, 

 but the continued rains discourage from hunting. I 

 have to creep and crawl on deer, and when it is wet it is 

 most too disagreeable to derive any pleasure hunting. One 

 day last January I went out back of our house to look 

 for our mules, and as there were a good many geese on 

 the prairie I slung my rifle on the saddle, thinking that 

 I might kill one if it was not too much trouble. Here 

 there are always geese, ducks and sandhill cranes in the 

 greatest plenty. I could not find the mules, and I had not 

 bothered with any small game, when all of a sudden as I 

 was riding along, say a mile or so from home, my mule 

 came to a sudden stop. I knew in an instant that the 

 mule saw or smelt deer, so I slid right off without look- 

 ing to see. After getting down I looked around to learn 

 what it was, and after a little while saw a wolf four or 

 five hundred yards off running like a prairie fire. I took 

 out my opera glass and commenced to look more care- 

 fully around. After a little Avhile I saw an object that 

 looked like a deer standing in some very high grass. 

 While I was trying to make it out another got up and 

 then another until there were five of them, and they hav- 

 ing moved around a little I knew they were deer. They 

 were about 500yds. off. When I saw it was deer I slipped 

 my saddle off, took out my gun, looked around to get the 

 bearings so as to come b& : k for my saddle, and started 

 toward the deer which had not noticed me. 



We use here a pair of sticks called props, two pieces of 

 wood 30in. long and fastened together at the top 4in. 

 from the end with a nail or bolt as a rivet, so that it will 

 open and shut like a pair of scissors with the handle 

 broken off. We stick it up in the ground and lay the gun 

 in the fork, and so have a dead rest. I went on at an 

 angle with the deer, and they paid no attention to the 

 mule as they could not see me. I stopped once or twice 

 to rest and to fool the deer; they are used to associating 

 with the cattle and horses on the prairies, and if you 

 move toward them slowly you never excite their suspi- 

 cion. We keep the mule between us and the deer by 

 placing the forked end of the props in the bridle bit and 

 shoving the mule ahead, while we walk by her front legs. 

 It takes some practice on the part of the mule or horse 

 before it becomes accustomed to the work. My mule un- 

 derstands it as well as I do and watches the deer all the 

 time; should they run or move she comes to a halt at 

 once. 



I got up to within about a hundred yards of the deer, 

 and the grass being so high, having seen a mound or ant 

 hill, about a foot higher than the level of the land around, 

 I left the mule and crawled eight or ten steps off to it. 

 I was then 90 or 100yds. from the deer, which is very 

 close for prairie hunting, I stuck the props up and laid 

 the rifle in the fork before looking. The grass being high, 

 there was no danger of being seen, as my head was only 

 an inch or two above the grass (my sandy hair does not 

 make much of a show). I had left my hat tied to the 

 mule. I saw that the deer were feeding sideways from 

 me, and it came into my head to try and kill two at one 

 Shot, so I watched until I got two in the right position, 

 and taking good aim I fired. I heard the ball strike and 

 saw one running like the devil with his tail winding. He 

 ran some 200yds. and turned a somersault. I kept my 

 eye on the others which were following the wounded one. 

 As they passed one of them stopped and remained with 

 it. I kept my eye on the other three, thinking to see an- 

 other drop out. They stopped about half a mile off and 

 looked back. After watching them for some time and 

 none of them showing any signs of being wounded, I 

 turned my attention to the one that was down and the 

 one that had remained with it. I knew it was not hurt, 

 because if it had been it would have gone away from 

 around there. I crept up as near as I thought advisable 

 and then crawled right up to both of them. They were 

 not more than five feet apart, one was dead; the other 



fot up not more than ten steps from me and started off. 

 let it have a couple of balls and at the second shot it 

 tumbled over. I went to it and cut its throat. 



Then I went to see what had become of my first ball, 

 and, after examing, found that my first shot had failed 

 to pass through; and so, of course, had hurt but one deer. 

 The others were still in sight, having run away a little 

 way at my second shots, buo stopped again and remained 

 there looking at me until I left. Had I killed the first 

 deer on the spot, his mate, and most likely the whole 

 bunch, would have stopped and given me the second shot 

 without moving. I have seen a friend kill four out of a 

 bunch, with a Winchester rifle, before they moved, the 

 hunter lying low in the grass; in that way they never see 

 you, but become puzzled, and will only jump off a few 

 steps at each shot. 



Again, one day in this August, notwithstanding the 

 extreme heat I was out hunting. Leaving home about 

 three in the evening, I went as far as the last water, 

 about five miles from home, when I got water for myself 

 and mule and remained until half an hour before sun- 

 down, thinking that we could do without anything more 

 to drink until noon the next day. I went on seven miles 

 further, on the vast prairie, to where I thought the deer 

 ought to use at this time of the year. Having determined 

 my position by some gullies, it then being dark, I struck 

 camp. In my spring wagon I had blankets, corn for the 

 mule, gun, saddle, etc. I spread my blankets, staked the 

 mule so that she could eat grass, then lay down and went 

 to sleep. In going out, I had seen several wolves, plenty 

 of plover, prairie chickens, a skunk or two, jack-rabbits, 

 and several thousand head of cattle. 



I waked up about 3 A. M. , fed my mule and made a 

 little fire with some sticks I had brought along to warm 

 some coffee. Then, having finished my very simple 

 breakfast of coffee and bread, saddled the mule, slung 

 my rifle, rode about a mile, and waited for day to break. 

 I am not able to do justice to a sunrise on the prairie ; 

 and besides, all the beauties were obliterated by the fear 

 of the heat that is to follow, though our nights are always 

 pleasant in this latitude — I have slept under a blanket all 

 summer. When it got light enough to see anything, I 

 could see several bunches of grazing cattle. This was a 

 good Bign. 



After carefully scanning the ground I discovered a 

 number of smaller animals that I knew were deer, about 

 a half mile a way. While observing them through my 

 glass, I saw one and then another get up and go to graz- 



ing until there were eleven. This was a relief , as I did 

 not intend to kill anything but the bucks; they are very 

 fat at this time of the year. Our county is exempt from 

 any game laws ; we can kill anything whenever we 

 please; but it never gives me any pleasure to kill any 

 kind of game out of season. Had there been no bucks in 

 the bunch of deer first seen, I should not have fired a shot 

 at them, although I might not have seen any more until 

 evening. They he down all day and only get up once in 

 a while to km over. Well, as soon as I had taken a good 

 look and counted them and taken my bearings to know 

 when to come back, I commenced operations, as I was 

 close enough for preliminaries. First, unsaddling my 

 mule, I made a flagstaff of my ramrod and a flag of my 

 handkerchief, so as to come back to it quickly. I then 

 simply led my mule along by the bridle until about 

 400yds. from the deer, when I got back by the side of the 

 animal, placing the forked end of the sticks that I use for 

 a rest in the ring of the bridle bits, and shoved the mule 

 along, while I walked beside her, going in an oblique 

 direction, stopping once in a while to rest and to let the 

 mule graze, thereby keeping up appearances. The deer 

 were looking their prettiest. There were only two bucks 

 that had horns; one of them did not wish the other, one 

 to come near, and every now and then would chase him 

 off and then gallop back. When I was within 200yds,, I 

 hobbled my mule and crawled up to 100yds. of the deer. 

 Having set my rest, I chose the larger of the two bucks, 

 and taking careful sight, fired. At the crack of the rifle 

 my buck tumbled over. The others stood for an instant, 

 which gave me time to throw another cartridge in place, 

 when the other buck trotted off. Taking careful sight at 

 him I let fly a ball, which struck him low down in the 

 shoulders, breaking the one nearest to me and passing 

 out near the neck. But he did not give it up; rather he 

 led the band for several hundred yards, when he slackened 

 his pace, and after trailing along for a few yards, stopped 

 and lay down. 



Having two deer down, I chose to go to the nearest one 

 first. Laying my rest down so that they would point 

 toward the last one shot, I went to the first one and found 

 him struggling with his back broken, a dead shot, the 

 best place I could have hit him. Having cut his throat, 

 I stuck my rifle in a crack, so that it would stand up for 

 a sign to come back to, and then brought up my mule 

 and then went down after my saddle, put the deer' on the 

 mule and then went to my sticks, noting the direction 

 carefully, stuck them up and tied the handkerchief so 

 that in case I should miss my second deer I could come 

 back and take a fresh start. Well, for the life of me I 

 could not find my deer. After repeated fruitless trials I 

 had recourse to tracking him up by finding his trail by the 

 blood. It was a very slow process, as care had to be 

 taken lest he should move off and I should not see him in 

 time to fire again. Finally, after quite a while I looked 

 and saw him lying in the grass, much to my relief , for 

 by this time, the excitement having produced thirst, I 

 was beginning to get uneasy. Firing at his head I walked 

 up to him, put him up in front of saddle, then went back 

 after my stake and flag — a wise precaution, otherwise I 

 could never have found him, as one spot looks very much 

 like another. Got home about sundown and gladdened 

 the eyes of my friends with the two fat bucks. Tink. 



NEW ENGLAND GAME. 



T30STON, Mass., Aug. 29.— Before these fines have 

 -D caught the eye of the reader of the Forest and 

 Stream, the game bird season in Maine and New Hamp- 

 shire will have opened. The legal opening day in these 

 two States is Sept. 1, though the open season on ruffed 

 grouse in Massachusetts does not begin till one month 

 later. On woodcock the Massachusetts season opens on 

 Aug. 1. So far as Maine is concerned, the law is pretty 

 well obeyed. The boys in many part i of the State have 

 in a way taken the enforcement of the law into their own 

 hands, as far as partridges are concerned. They have 

 come to watching the flocks from the little chicks up to 

 the first day of September in the morning, and woe be 

 to the other boy who should presume to break in upon 

 a flock with shotgun in hand before that day. As to the 

 prospects for partridge shooting in Maine this year, 

 opinions and reports are rather conflicting. It is a fact 

 that the birds wintered well in most parts of the State, 

 but since that time the progress that they have made is 

 a little uncertain. In the western part of the State, 

 in the sections about the settlements, there are fewer 

 birds than last year, or at least fewer have been seen. 

 But at the same time blackberries have been and are 

 still very plenty, which condition is favorable to the 

 growth of the birds, and at the same time keeps them 

 from roving; and hence they are less likely to meet the 

 eye of the hunter. One thing is certain, and that is, that 

 the partridge is rapidly growing shy in the more settled 

 parts of Maine. In the old woods in the northern por- 

 tions of the State a good many broods have f alien under 

 the eye of the fisherman, the tourist and the guide this 

 season. One old guide in the region around Rangeley 

 Lake says there are four broods to one last year on the 

 grounds that he is familial' with. On the other hand, 

 very few broods have been seen in the vicinity of the 

 lower Androscoggin lakes. Fi*om the eastern part of the 

 State the report of broods is good. There is considerable 

 complaint of poaching from the Machias region. It is' 

 claimed that there are gunners in that section who shoot 

 either deer or partridge in utter disregard of the game 

 laws. They belong in settlements where all are breakers; 

 of the laws, and hence it is very hard to find evidence to> 

 convict. On the whole, it looks as though the grouse sea- 

 son in Maine would be fully up to the last. 



In New Hampshire protection seems to be doing a good, 

 work for the game birds, particularly the partridge. The 

 non-exportation law, passed two years ago, has stopped 

 the gunning for the Boston market, which had come to 

 be so great an evil as to threaten the utter destruction of 

 that best of game birds. The borders of the State are so' 

 extensive that doubtless a great many birds find their 

 way to the Boston market as killed in Massachusetts, but 

 the great traffic in them by way of the lines of travel is- 

 stopped. The reports from that State, so far as I have 

 been able to obtain them, indicate a good showing of 

 broods. In the old woods on the borders of the Statei 

 next to Maine, the birds have been observed to be abund- 

 ant — that is for these times of depleted game. 



In eastern Massachusetts the outlook for grouse shoot- 

 ing is very poor. The local gunners about Boston report 

 very few partridges seen, and those chiefly old birds an.tl 



very wild. It is a fact that too much hunting with dogs 

 is driving the ruffed grouse from the State, The hunting 

 of the birds with dogs in the open season is not so bad in 

 itself as the fact that the dogs are taken to the woods for 

 exercise and training, even in the months of June and 

 July, What chance is there for a brood of partridges 

 under such circumstances? Indeed there are numerous 

 cases of the destruction of the birds of this State from the 

 reason that the law permits the hunting of woodcock 

 after the first of August. It is a young partridge that the 

 dogs start, and what are the chances that he has to escape ? 

 How many woodcock shooters are honest enough to let 

 the partridge pass with its life when once the dog has 

 flushed it? 



Again the great wisdom (?) of Beacon Hill put on the 

 finishing touches when it changed the game laws last 

 winter to permit the snaring of partridges by the farmers' 

 boys. Such a law will be very likely, with the help of 

 dog hunting, to terminate the existence of ruffed grouse 

 in the State in a very few seasons. But one thing it is 

 curious to note. The increase of interest in shooting is 

 rapid, especially among merchants and business men in 

 our New England cities, and the question as to where the 

 game to shoot is to come from is a very important one. 

 Will the interest die away in a year or two, as the game 

 birds draw toward extinction, or will the interest beget a 

 more sensible love of the sport, and lead toward a con- 

 servation of the game by better respected game laws ? 



Special, 



SUCCESSFUL UNSUCCESSFULNESS. 



" T SHALL not let Rob Roy go off gunning with you 



X next fall," said his mistress, as we were "fixing" for 

 a day's shoot in Middleboro. "O, yes you will," we said, 

 "Roy will live to hunt for some years yet." We doubt it, 

 though, as he is twelve this spring. 



Having loaded shells encugh to kill all the quail we 

 were likely to see, at noon Charlie was harnessed to the 

 open wagon, and going over to the home of our youth we 

 took in Roy's son Mack, and then started on a twelve-mile 

 drive up to the home and farm of our genial friend Frank 

 S. Part of the way the dogs rode, and when we were 

 going through woods both were allowed to run behind 

 the wagon. On some parts of the road the woods were 

 so tempting to Mack that he would stray off a little way 

 and had to be called in with a whistle. While going 

 through Wareham village, we kept both dogs in the 

 wagon and had hard work to hold them in; Roy fell out 

 once, and Mack, who is only six months old, was deter- 

 mined to see ahead and could not be easily kept down. 

 He would run about so much more when on the ground 

 that he got tired much sooner than Roy, who followed 

 the wagon closely and did not mind either tempting 

 tracks or cover, but kept straight ahead. When Mack 

 was tired he would cry to get in, then we let Roy run 

 alone. When within a quarter of a mile of Frank's we 

 took both dogs in, and soon drove up to the door of our 

 kind and hospitable friend. 



After putting up the horse, our host's oldest son and I 

 took our guns and went down into the neck below the 

 mill hoping to find some grouse. Roy struck a scent and 

 Mack followed too fast, and we had to check him con- 

 tinually. Somehow this grouse eluded us among the 

 cedars and as it was sunset when we found him, it soon 

 grew too dark to shoot. We went back to the house and 

 put up our guns and shells, then took the dogs to the 

 barn, where I had a great time explaining to Roy the 

 reasons for tying and leaving him out there. Roy has 

 been much petted and humored at home, and has his 

 lounge with a pillow on it, both near the sitting-room 

 stove. His mistress takes a great deal of care of him, 

 which he repays at times with rather a surly manner, as 

 he unfortunately inherits a bad disposition with his pure 

 Irish blood. He soon understood that he was to sleep 

 with Mack, and we wrapped him in a blanket and left him 

 to his reflections. 



On reaching the house we found a bountiful supper 

 awaiting us, and were soon discussing its merits. The 

 honey was genuine, for it had been taken from the tree 

 by our host himself, who is a most successful bee hunter. 

 Many think that the wild bee and the Indian move 

 toward the setting sun together, a few of both are left, 

 however, in Massachusetts. Perhaps though neither are 

 full blooded, as the Indian is mixed with the negro and 

 the wild bee has his numbers kept good by escaping swarms 

 from the hives of the husbandman. 



After supper we discussed the prospects for a success- 

 ful hunt on the morrow, and Frank said that the quail 

 were not very plenty, but ruffed grouse were as numer- 

 ous as ever. He thought that we should have no trouble 

 in finding them if the weather, which threatened to be 

 cold, was not too severe and windy. He had started a 

 good covey of quail on the road which we had come, 

 about a mile back from the house. 



Taking our way to the barn, we found the dogs all 

 jight and ready for a run. We let them loose and then 

 started for the "river field," down a road which we were 

 familiar with and which brought back to mind many 

 fond recollections of years gone by, never to return, ex- 

 cept to memory. The sun was rising as we reached the 

 field, and leaping over the bars we crossed to where a 

 wood road led by a roundabout way to the meadows back 

 of our host's place. The air was chilly and the sky was 

 filled with dark gray clouds which a stiff northwest wind 

 was driving across it at a fearful rate; this looked dis- 

 couraging to begin with and the ground was dry and be- 

 ginning to crust. The dogs scampered around among 

 the leaves on either side of the road, but in vain, we did 

 not see a single bird during the time we were away from 

 the house. We found it real cold on coming out of the 

 woods into the open meadow back of our friend's house. 



Breakfast was ready when we got back, and that over, 

 we gathered up our arms, put bells on the dogs, and 

 started out down toward Harlow's, where Frank had seen 

 the quail the day before. We hunted all over the fields 

 and woods between the river and main road, but not a 

 bird could we start till we got down to Hobill's; there, in 

 a dense thicket, we struck a scent and soon got up three 

 quail — only three. I did not see any, but Frank and his 

 son Allie fired at them, he did not kill any though. We 

 marked and followed on. The noise of our guns brought 

 another hunter to the scene, John A., who joined in with 

 us, and we hunted on through the thickest growth of 

 briers and vines that the birds could select. We put up 

 two of them again, and after hunting around killed one 

 and left the rest. Then we began to tramp the woods 

 down between the river and main road, up hill and down 



