514 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



f July 7, 1887. 



little town called. Hazelton. Now, Buck's biscuits would 

 not drown a dog. 



On the following morning we found the thermometer 

 still low-spirited, and the wind still very buoyant. The 

 ground was frozen hard, and would have made bad run- 

 ning for the greyhounds, even had it been warm enough 

 to ride with any comfort in the open country. Ricker 

 took a pony and went after his deer, while Jack, who 

 was to get a load of wood, concluded to bring in his game 

 on the wagon. I started up the river through the sand 

 hills in the direction opposite to that of the preceding 

 day's hunt. Mr. Allison stayed at home with Red and 

 Buck, and studied history. 



A light snow had fallen during the night and trailing 

 was easy. Ordinarily it is almost impossible, in the dry 

 and sliding sand of these Mils, to tell whether a trail be 

 fresh or old. I crossed a fresh wildcat trail a mile west 

 of the camp, and saw several coyote trails; but though I 

 went up the river fully eight miles, I saw no sign^what- 

 ever of deer. The country was wild and rough looking, 

 covered with scattered bunches of timber (for which the 

 local name is always "mottes"), especially along the little 

 spring-fed streams which ran down toward the Cimarron. 

 The sandhills all looked exactly alike. It would be almost 

 impossible not to lose one's way among them, if one had 

 not a compass or was not sure of his course from the 

 direction of the wind. Indeed, at one time I found my- 

 self lost — the English language permits me so to speak — 

 and was so turned around that I came upon my own trail 

 when I thought I was going straight ahead on my old 

 course. I reflected how serious a matter it is, as Bill 

 Nye says, to be lost, while the whole country is left in 

 suspense during one's absence. But at last I climbed a 

 high sandhill and found I could see my own private land- 

 mark — a peculiar bluff on the other side of the Cimarron, 

 nearly opposite the camp. Then I tired of my fruitless 

 hunt and started back for the camp, getting out into the 

 level bottom land, where the walking was easier. I was 

 wearing a pah- of felt boots, with light rubber overshoes — 

 the very perfection of footgear for riding, but not good 

 for walking, especially if there be a wet snow. My boots 

 began to crawl down into my overshoes, and I found that 

 the softness and lack of support made the ankles and feet 

 very tired and sore. It seemed as if I never should close 

 up the gap between my landmark bluff and the long mesa 

 from which it jutted out. From the camp the bluff line 

 appeared to be unbroken. 



When about two miles above camp I heard a noise 

 wliich very soon made me forget all footsoreness and 

 drove every ache out of my body. It was the note of the 

 foxhounds, belling rich, clear and deep. They were run- 

 ning 1 The day had been clear, the weather had warmed 

 up, and the moist ground offered so good a chance for 

 trailing that the other boys at camp had taken the fox- 

 hounds out late after dinner to see if they could start a 

 wildcat out of the swamp which lay along the spring 

 branches above the camp. The voices of the hounds came 

 strong and clear, nearly in the same spot. Then 1 heard 

 them roaring in a changed note, which clearly said, "at 

 bay." Then came a shot. Then confused barking and 

 fighting. Then "Oo! Oo ! Oo-oo-oo-oo-ow ! Ow! Ow ! 

 Ow-oo-oo-oo-oo 1 " The an imal was off again. Four-legged 

 Persistence, wrinkle-headed Fate, black and tan Destiny 

 after him. Sure to catch him. 



I struck the earth occasionally I suppose, but I don't 

 remember anything about it. 



"Come ahead," called out Mr. Allison, as I smashed 

 through the tangled flags, "we've got a cat !" 



It seems that they had struck the trail soon after put- 

 ting the hounds into the swamp, and they could see by 

 the tracks in the snow that it was a wildcat. Red and 

 Mr. Allison were on horseback, and they kept as close to 

 the dogs as the tangled cover of the swamp would permit. 

 The swamp was not large, and as they sat then horses 

 at the edge, they several times saw the cat — a very big 

 fellow — slinking along in the reeds not 10ft. from them, 

 seemingly not in the least mindful of their presence, and 

 not very much concerned about the dogs. They could 

 have shot it easily, had they wished to end the sport in 

 that way. Closely crowded, the cat had taken to a tree 

 once, and Red had purposely cut the limb under it with a 

 ball from his six-shooter; whereat it sprang far out from 

 the tree, slid out from among the dogs, and was now off 

 again. 



The second run of the cat was along one. We followed 

 it fully two miles out into the sandhills, then back into a 

 second swamp. Here we took stations, and urged the 

 two shepherd dogs into the swamp also, keeping the grey- 

 hound puppies — for these were the hounds which had 

 been brought out— upon the outer edge of the reeds. 



Presently the shepherds gave tongue — a thing they 

 never did except when in sight — and at the same instant 

 the musical complaint of the foxhounds changed into an 

 angry roar. A spotted, sinuous figure sprang up from 

 among the rushes and struck the trunk of a small tree, 

 clung fast, and glided up among the branches. 



"Don't shoot, anybody!" went the word; "put in the 

 greyhounds!" 



The greyhounds put themselves in. Every dog in the 

 pack had his eye on the cat. The beautiful creature lay 

 flat, claws working, ears back, mouth wide open — a, per- 

 fect picture of feline beauty and feline venomousness. It 

 did not seem to be very much afraid. 



We threw a stick or two at the cat. It growled and 

 tried to lash its sides with its tail, but couldn't, because 

 its tail wasn't long enough. A wildcat isn't built that 

 way, or else he'd lash his sides. We threw some more 

 sticks. With a big scream the cat vaulted out into the 

 air and fell right among the dogs. 



Did you ever see a dog fight? One with nine dogs in 

 it? And did you ever see a cat fight with about fourteen 

 large-sized cats in it? Well, you combine these and shake 

 before using. It may give you some little idea. 



Not one of the greyhound puppies had ever seen a wild- 

 cat, but they all showed their breeding out of fighting- 

 stock. The cat had not struck the ground before it was 

 covered with dogs, and every dog stayed in the fight, too. 

 The puppies did not know much about fighting tactics, 

 but each laid hold wherever handy, catching by the foot, 

 back, neck, or anywhere else; one young enthusiast 

 seized the cat by the tail, and seemed to think he was do- 

 ing more than almost anybody toward paralyzing the foe. 

 A wildcat is a very strong and active animal, and his 

 natural weapons are something terrible in their way; and 

 although not very thick-skinned, its tenacity of life 

 makes a struggle of this kind a long one. The yelps 

 and howls of the dogs gave notice that they 



were being badly punished, and once in a while 

 one broke out of the ring with a split ear, a bloody face 

 or a lame foot, only to shake himself, and, with loud 

 clamors for revenge, to plunge again into the fight. Over 

 all the tumult sounded the roar of the foxhounds, both 

 busy as they could be. The growl of the cat was only 

 occasionally heard. The fight was going on in the mid- 

 dle of a bunch of flags, so dense that we could only see a 

 whhling mass of legs, tails and fur. We knew, however, 

 that the dogs had the cat strung out, so that it could not 

 use its hind feet in that terrible ripping stroke which 

 sometimes disembowels a dog outright. We, therefore, 

 concluded not to push in and kill the cat with the knife, 

 but to let the pack finish it. We stood around in the flags 

 and shouted and jumped and stood on one leg and urged 

 on the dogs. Presently there was a general movement 

 toward the open, and the whole pack pushed out, each 

 tugging at his hold, and all bearing the cat stretched out 

 clear above the ground, limp and dead. The gallant 

 fighter had made his fight and had yielded to the 

 majority. 



The dogs now felt very proud of themselves, and 

 wished constantly to kill 'the cat all over again. With 

 difficulty getting it away from them, we tied it behind a 

 saddle, and then, petting up the wounded dogs, and call- 

 ing them all "good dogs," we started home, the dogs 

 trotting behind in long file — Drum, the young foxhound, 

 occasionally lifting his nose up toward the fallen victim, 

 and giving vent to a loud boom of exultation, as if to 

 announce to all the country about, "We've got him, 

 sure !" 



We now had something to put on the game-rack ; and 

 we ate supper very cheerfully, feeling that the trip was 

 opening well. E. Hough. 



IOWA GAME AND FISH. 



THE tenth convention of the Iowa State Sportsman's 

 Association met at Sioux City, June. 22, and had a 

 very successful tournament. Des Monies was selected as 

 the place for next year. President J. G. Smith, of Algona, 

 was re-elected, and with him are the following officers: 

 President, J. G. Smith, of Algona: First Vice-President, 

 Charles Hinsdale, of Newton; Second Vice-President, F. 

 B. Gove, of Creston; Secretary, A. L. Zwort, Des Moines; 

 Treasurer, G. L. Easton, Des Moines. The president 

 appointed as directors C. W. Budd, Des Moines; L. Word- 

 ney, Waverley; J. B. Aldrich, Atlantic; C. A. Bryant, 

 Sioux City; W. Howard, Davenport. The Law Commit- 

 tee, also appointed by the president, is as follows: Geo. 

 E. Clark, A] igona; G. Parsons, Des Moines; A. L. Hudson, 

 Sioux City. 



Mr. Pierce offered a resolution prohibiting the shooting 

 of live birds or animal targets at future tournaments. 

 After a lively debate of the resolution it was lost by a vote 

 of 21 for and 22 against. A resolution was then carried 

 that the question be considered at the next annual meet- 

 ing, that the delegates present might be enabled to intel- 

 ligently represent the wishes of their clubs in the matter. 



PRESIDENT SMITH'S ADDRESS. 



In looking over an assembly of gentlemen like this I 

 feel myself hardly competent to speak to them as one 

 should do who presides over them. Yet as we have met 

 for an interchange of views I will express mine to you in 

 as short and concise a manner as possible. This is the 

 tenth annual meeting of our association, and being a 

 regular attendant at all the meetings I have found a great 

 deal of pleasure in the attendance. Here I meet old 

 friends and find many new ones, and when sportsmen 

 meet there is a kind of an affinity between them, one 

 knows that he has found friends, and friends that it is a 

 pleasure to meet. If we accomplish but little each year, 

 our meetings will do much good. We are at present the 

 largest State association, and there seems to be more 

 interest taken in the fish and game laws in the State of 

 Iowa than in any other State. And it is with us, gentle- 

 men of the State Association, to protect and preserve the 

 game and fish so that our children's children may know 

 what it is to have good shooting and fishing. We have 

 laws enough, and all there is for us to do is to see that 

 those laws are strictly enforced. During the last twenty 

 years there has been a large amount of game destroyed. 

 Game laws have been violated in almost every county. 

 But we can see a change within the last two or three 

 years. The formation of clubs so that sportsmen can 

 work together has produced a change. And there are 

 but few counties in the State at the present time where 

 it is not looked upon as a disgrace to violate the game 

 laws; and the day is not far distant when we shall scarce 

 hear of a violation of our game or fish laws. 



The prairie chicken must go. I do not see any help for 

 them in the State of Iowa. There is not waste land 

 enough in the State. -Almost every acre can be cultivated, 

 and that leaves no chance for them to nest. The fire, 

 plow and reaper will soon do their work. Already we 

 see large flocks of old male birds together, which shows 

 us that the female birds will soon be among the things 

 "that were." The wildfowl, the quail, the snipe and the 

 plover we can always have if we will take means to en- 

 force the game laws. 



The fishing in the lakes and streams may, with proper 

 care, be good as long as these lakes and streams last, and 

 it is with you, fellow sportsmen, to preserve and protect 

 these fish. See that we have a competent man for fish 

 commissioner, one who understands the work and whose 

 heart is in it. It was a direct insult to the sportsmen of 

 the State of Iowa when Gov. Larrabee appointed the 

 present fish commissioner. Nowhere in the State has 

 there been so much violation of the fish and game laws 

 as in Dickinson county. The present commissioner has 

 lived there some fifteen years, and who ever heard of his 

 trying to enforce the "game" or "fish law." Not a single 

 case has been prosecuted in Dickinson eounty. His mill 

 wheels have ground up thousands of fine fish. And yet 

 for all this he receives the office as fish commissioner for 

 the State of Iowa. 



I am no politician, but I could not speak to you to-night 

 without expressing to you my feelings in regard to such 

 an insult to the sportsmen" of Iowa by the present 

 governor. I had intended to say a few words on the 

 subject of spring shooting, but I fear I have already 

 taken up too much of your time. But I will say this, 

 that I am not in favor of passing any law that does not 

 stop the shooting of wildfowl the first day of December 

 of each year all over the United States. I do not believe 

 in a law that allowed men in the Southern States to shoot 

 till March 1 and then say stop when the birds leave for 



the North. Let the birds rest in the South December, 

 January and February, and then they will have as ranch 

 open season as we of the North. In most parts of Iowa 

 the spring shooting is better than the fall. Many of our 

 sportsmen would never have a chance to kill a wildfowl ex- 

 cept they did so in the spring. They have not the means to 

 go where the wildfowl are. And were it not for a few days' 

 shooting in the spring they might as well have no game. It 

 is less than ten years since any sportsmen could go to 

 Spirit Lake and have a good day's shooting. He did not 

 have to wait for a flight of birds from the north. It was 

 good shooting any time after the 20th of September till 

 the lake froze over. How is it now? I do not believe 

 there has been a good day's shooting there for the last 

 three years. And why? Not on account of the farmer 

 boys. Not on account of the "spring shooting," for there 

 is no "spring shooting" there of any account, as the lakes 

 seldom open till after the birds have gone north. The 

 trouble is in July and August the visitors to those lakes 

 go out over the country to every slough where the water- 

 fowl breed and destroy those birds before they can fly. 

 Ten years ago most of the ducks that bred in Dickinson 

 county as soon as they could fly went to the large lakes. 

 The northern clucks dropped down among them. The 

 wild celery tempted them to stay ; and I believe I have 

 seen twenty thousand ducks in East Okoboji Lake at one 

 time. 



There is one change I would like to see made in our 

 game laws, and that is in regard to the shooting of ducks, 

 geese, and brant, the 15th of August. I do not think the 

 season ought to open before the loth of September. We 

 should then have more decoys to decoy the flight birds 

 and many more would stop with us. As' it is at present, 

 many ducks that are bred here are killed as soon or be- 

 fore tbey can fly. It also gives men a great chance to vio- 

 late the law in regard to "prairie chickens." They can 

 go out after ducks and geese, but will kill more chickens 

 than ducks and geese. 



One word before I close, in regard to the careless liand- 

 ling of firearms. I wish there could be a law passed in 

 the State of Iowa making it a "criminal offense" for one 

 person to point any kind of a "firearm" (loaded or not 

 loaded) toward another. I would make the offense pun- 

 ishable by five years in the State's prison. Scarcely a 

 month passes by but that some one is made to suffer by 

 the careless handling of a gun or pistol, and it is the old 

 story, ' 'Did not know it was loaded." In my own county 

 over twenty persons have been killed within the last 

 twenty years by the careless handling of guns, and it 

 seems to me that it is time something was done to stop it. 



THE DIAMOND HITCH. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



"Naval Officer's" brief story of a "pilgrim packer's" 

 trials and tribulations, as detailed in your issue of June 23, 

 is interesting, and, may I confess it, just a little amusing. 

 It brings up again the subject of packing tent poles, to 

 which I had at first intended to allude in my remarks on 

 the diamond hitch, but which on second thought I 

 determined to omit. It is difficult enough to learn to 

 pack an animal with ordinary supplies, and I did not 

 wish to add to this difficulty by putting tent poles in the 

 pack. These, unless they are properly put on the load, 

 will rack it to pieces in a very short time. Besides, in 

 the Yellowstone Park, where timber is so abundant that 

 one can camp every night at the edge of a grove of trees, 

 tent poles are scarcely necessary. By means of a couple 

 of ropes tied to the corners of the ridge and drawn tight 

 about two trees, a tent can be spread very comfortably 

 and the labor of packing poles entirely avoided. Besides 

 this, there will perhaps not be more than two or three days 

 on the whole trip, when the party will care to put up 

 their tent. On this you cannot depend, however, and 

 when you do require your tent you will need it badly. 



The tent poles, like everything else in the load, must be 

 lashed together compactly, and the best method that I 

 know of for doing this is to put the loop of a lare rope 

 about one end of a bundle of from four to six pieces, and 

 draw it as tight as possible. Then pass the long end of 

 the rope — at the untied end of the bundle of poles — under 

 one pole and draw it smartly back as near the loop as 

 possible. Then take a half hitch about the bundle and 

 tighten; pass the rope under another pole and draw back 

 nearly to the half hitch; make another half hitch, tighten, 

 pass the rope under another pole, and repeat this until 

 you have either got to the end of the poles or made the 

 bundle so tight that you cannot pass the rope between 

 the remaining poles. Now fasten bv means of a couple 

 of half hitches and your bundle will not come undone. 

 This is essentially like a hammock hitch, except that the 

 rope is passed between the poles to tighten the lashing. 

 The bundles of poles, two bundles to a mule, should go 

 between the top and side packs, pretty well back, the 

 ends projecting very little, if at all, in front of the load. 

 As an additional security, they may be tied to the lash 

 rope after it has been tightened, but this should not be 

 necessary if the latter is properly arranged. A wall tent 

 can, of course, be packed well enough; but two small A 

 tents would be much more conveniently handled, and 

 one of these will furnish abundant tent room for two 

 persons. 



If I understand "Naval Officer" correctly he wrapped 

 his mule up in his tent, but if he did this he must have 

 made the tent meet under the animal's belly, or nearly 

 so, or else the ropes of the lashing must have galled the 

 poor creature. May I ask why the tent was not put on 

 over the load, or else under it, over the aparejo ? 



The spectacle of "Naval Officer" and his companion 

 marching through the Yellowstone Park armed with tent 

 poles must have been highly diverting to those who saw 

 them. Such or similar ridiculous experiences have, how- 

 ever, befallen most of us who prefer to depend on our- 

 selves, rather than on others, who can always be lured to 

 do the work, which is really an important part of the 

 pleasure of one's outing. 



A word more as to side packs. I have seen the Mexicans 

 use canvas sacks, about 18in. deep and from 2+ to 3ft , 

 long, from before backward, in place of side packs. These 

 are fitted near the top and on the side next to the animal 

 with stout leather loops to hook over the cross trees of a 

 pack saddle, and are provided with a flap which buckles 

 over on the outside to keep the contents from spilling out, 

 as well as to protect from rain. My friend, Capt. Ben- 

 dire, tells me of a long narrow sack, working somewhat 

 on the same principle, wliich the Mexican packers used 

 in the Gunnison country back in the '50s. This sack was 



