186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 27, 1888. 



GUN-SHY DAN AND THE CHICKENS, 



WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept. 5.— Yesterday was a 

 cool — decidedly cool — bracing day here, with a 

 slight breeze, just the kind of a day for a chicken hunt 

 over the prairie; and when a friend proposed a drive out 

 in the afternoon after chickens, I gladly accepted tho 

 invitation. We were away shortly after noon. My 

 friend, Mr. Wm. Hine, a resident of this pity, is a gen- 

 tlemen well known to many of your readers, a crack 

 wing shot, and a thorough sportsman and naturalist. A 

 young brother of Mr. Hine's, whom we dubbed "Young- 

 ster,'' was taken along to drive the horse. He drove 

 with one hand and held fast to a 12-bore Greener with 

 the other. Our dogs were Hine's well-broken Gordon 

 setter Vine, a beautiful animal, and a young English 

 setter Dan, the property of a Toronto sportsman. 



Oh, George, what a setter your Dan is, to be sure. He 

 reminds me of an old school-day friend, Charley S., now 

 of Hatfield. Mass., who, when a youth up in the north- 

 west part of Vermont, was ever ready for a lark, except- 

 ing when a gun was around. He had a decided aversion 

 to a gun, and if one was fired in his vicinity he would 

 hunt his hole in double quick time. He has, however, 

 g^ot over this, and is now engaged in the manufacture of 

 firearms. I must not omit mentioning the horse Rob, 

 who takes a lively interest in chicken shooting. When 

 Vine struck a scent Rob would stop and look interested; 

 in fact, Hine says that Rob sometimes tries to point a 

 bird himself. 



A few miles out from the city the dogs were cast loose, 

 and soon the youngster shouted, '"Dan has a point." 

 Sure enough a short distance to the left Dan stood stiff- 

 ened out, head slightly raised, with a curved tail elevated 

 at an angle of 45 J . A few feet in front of his nose stood 

 a low, dead bush, on it was a ground sparrow with 

 feathers ruffled up, curiously watching the pup. Dan 

 stood staunch for about tvvo minutes, then made a sudden 

 jump into the air and came down with a thud into his 

 former position. This caused the sparrow to fly, then 

 there was a chase. If George could have been there how 

 he would have admired his Dan, and how he would have 

 sa d so. 



Soon Vine struck a scent, the pony stopped and we 

 tumbled out and prepared for action. Dan precipitated 

 matters by swinging around some distance ahead of Vine 

 and flushed the game, an old sharp-tailed grouse. He 

 immediately gave chase. As the bird came down past 

 like a bullet, a long shot off, my Greener uttered its pro- 

 test, which caused the bird to turn a double sommersault 

 into the grass. Hi, Vine, seek dead bird; and proudly 

 and daintily he brought in our first bird of the day, a fine 

 cock grouse. But where is Dan? There stands Rob 

 Bhaking his head and champing his bit, expressing in a 

 horsey way his pleasure. At our feet stands Vine wag- 

 ging his tail and waiting for a caress as reward for re- 

 trieving the bird so promptly. A little distance away 

 the youngster stands with an' expression that betokens 

 mischief later on. Hine and myself are surely here. 

 But Dan is absent. After some moments of calling and 

 whistling the top of a dark head adorned with a pair of 

 glistening eyes, appear above the grass near the spot 

 wheie Dan was last seen. As we drive away that head 

 grows larger and takes the form and body of the lost 

 Dan, who lollows along behind the rig with a demeanor 

 that plainly said, ''That was a mean trick to play on a 

 fellow who was doing his best to catch that bird." But 

 he soon recovered his spirits and was coursing about as 

 lively as ever, though if a gun was pointed he would 

 "set" out of sight as quickly as possible. 



We cross a dry slough to a ridge, where there are a 

 few scattering scrub oaks, a most likely spot for chick- 

 ens. We turn up the ridge and Vine works across the 

 ridge in front of us. He is a rapid worker, going at a 

 swinging gallop. Suddenly he stops and "stiffens"' a 

 moment, then turning his head slowly he sniffs the faint 

 scent-laden air on each side, then slowly moves onward, 

 working up the trail. We extend out our line and await 

 developments. Dan makes a rush ahead of the other 

 dog. We shout "Give the rascal a peppering;" he bursts 

 in among the covey, which gets up with a whir-r-r some 

 50yds. from Hine. Crack, goes one barrel of his gun, 

 and the nearest bird is doubled up and comes down a 

 limp mass of flesh and feathers, and Dan, true to his in- 

 stinct as a blue-blooded setter, "sets" as close to mother 

 earth as possible. The covey is composed of well-grown 

 birds, and as they scatter out over the prairie they are 

 well marked down. Dan is disposed of for the time 

 being and will not interfere with Vine, who soon comes 

 to a point. They are pinnated grouse and the bird runs. 

 Vine follows it up silently and carefully, and stiffens 

 again within a few feet of the writer, when whir-r-r up 

 goes the bird behind me. A quick turn and at 30yds. 

 away I knock it cold. Vine, who drops to shot, is told 

 to "Hi on, dead bird." In another moment the bird is in 

 my pocket; and within another two minutes Vine has 

 found another bird near Hine, who walks it up and 

 downs it. Vine is soon again at a staunch point, with 

 nose into a thick clump of brush. We take our positions 

 and order the youngster to enter the brush and flush. 

 He walks into the thicket with a dangerous look in his 

 eyes. As the birds starts he snaps it before it is out of 

 the brush. We exchange looks of disgust as the young'un 

 makes a clucking sound with his tongue as he picks up 

 the riddled bird. "Now look here, youngster," says Hine, 

 "No more such snap shots again to-day; do you hear?" 

 The youngster makes in reply a thumb and finger move- 

 ment. Soon Vine is tracing up another grouse. We 

 spread out in a line, Hine to the extreme left, the young- 

 ster in the middle and the writer at the right. Rob, who 

 has found a tender bit of grass to nibble, is busily engaged 

 in the rear. Vine comes to a point fifty yards in front of 

 Hine, the bird is shy and flushes, and is hardly up in the 

 air when bang and it is down. I look at Hine, he is look- 

 ing at me, with his gun down. The young-ter coolly ex- 

 tracts an empty shell from his gun and blows the smoke 

 from the barrel. He has made a clean kill at seventy 

 yards if it is a foot. "I say, youngster'' — another thumb 

 and finger movement cuts short the sentence. We first 

 feel like wilting and keeping Dan company. A second 

 thought prompts us to brace up, fully determined to 

 make age and experience tell and assert their supremacy 

 before the day closes. The next bird is doubly killed, as 

 Hine and I each cover it. The youngster was a trifle late. 



We soon exhausted that covey, and further on other 

 coveys are found and worked with varied success. Dan 

 gets interested and actually stands a grouse, but "sets" 



when the gun comes up. The sport goes on until it is too 

 dark to shoot. We are then ten miles from the city, but 

 Rob knows the route back and we have a pleasant ride 

 into town. 



'Regarding the number of birds bagged I overheard the 

 youngster tell a hunting party we passed near the city that 

 we had killed twenty-seven, but Hine says that accord- 

 ing to his arithmetic nine and twenty-one are thirty. They 

 were nearly all pinnated grouse, which are newcomers 

 in this vicinity. The native sharptail grouse have nearly 

 all disappeared, which is perhaps owing to the fact that 

 they lie better to the dog and are easier killed. The pin- 

 nated grouse scatter, run and hide when a dog comes 

 among them. 



A word more about Dan. This was the second time 

 that he had been out in the field. It is Hine's idea to first 

 get him interested and familiar with the game, and then 

 try to break him of his gunshyness. When this is done 

 he will no doubt become a valuable dog. though to 

 become a prize winner he must be taught to lower that 

 curved tail several degrees. It may, however, of its own 

 accord straighten and drop with age. He is young yet. 

 His present useftdness is confined to defending Vine from 

 the attacks of the halfbreeds' curs. Dan goes into a fight 

 with a dash and vim that enables him to thrash an Indian 

 dog quicker than you can say Jack Robinson (of Mate- 

 pedia). Stanstead. 



ADIRONDACK DEER AND HOUNDS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some time since I hail the pleasure of placing before 

 you the story of the two hounds and the deer. Let me 

 give you an instance of the instinct of the deer in know- 

 ing that a particular hound is on his track. An old guide 

 with whom I have had many a cosy chat over a camp 

 fire, told me that when deer were plenty in that region, 

 he had often seen a small herd of eight or ten feeding in 

 some grassy meadow. Once he saw a number feeding, 

 and in the distance he heard the baying of a hound. He 

 had been trying to draw near enough to get a shot at 

 one of those he saw, but the voice of the hound had 

 made a stir among them, as if they were taking note of 

 that music, so pleasant to the hunter, and so ominous to 

 them. As the voice of the hound drew nearer, one of the 

 deer raised his head and seemed to be listening very in- 

 tently, when he quickly drew off from the others, and 

 slowly increased his distance from his companions, from 

 time to time throwing back his head in order to catch 

 every sound of the nearer approach of the hound. 

 Presently he trotted away, and drew out of sight, when 

 soon came the unerring animal on his trail, passing almost 

 in sight of the other deer, but causing very little excite- 

 ment and no hurry. The deer on whose track he had 

 started led him almost through the drove. 



There can be no doubt of the fact, as there is abund- 

 ant testimony to corroborate the statement, and I really 

 think it more remarkable than the faculty in the hound, 

 which enables him to claim his deer. I promised to 

 place before you some facts which occurred under my 

 own observation, to demonstrate beyond a doubt the 

 truth of this wonderful instinct. One of my favorite 

 camping grounds, when I was a little more supple in the 

 joints, was Ampersan Pond, which is beyond the top of 

 Ampersan Mountain, over the roughest and the steepest 

 carry of five miles it has ever been my pleasure to en- 

 counter. The grand old mountain overlooks the Lower 

 Saranac and Round Lake. I have visited that enchant- 

 ing lake four or five times, and camped near the ruins of 

 Prof. Agassiz's old hunting lodge, and the hours spent 

 around that silent lake, only awakened by the weird cry 

 of the loon, have given me more rest than any other part 

 of the wilderness. It is au undertaking to reach it, but 

 when once settled you feel certain that no one will dis- 

 turb your repose. Part of the ascent is so near perpen- 

 dicular that you are obliged to go in a slanting direction, 

 and even then take hold of a line, if your burden is heavy, 

 to pull up the steepest part. 



I was watching on Burnt Island, about the center of 

 the lake, where a fine run comes down the mountain by 

 the side of a rousing brook, full of deep, dark holes, just 

 the places the deer love to sulk in and worry the dogs; 

 this ended at the mouth of the stream in a long, shallow 

 sandbar, where the deer can run out a hundred yards or 

 more before he is compelled to swim. The cunning 

 creature had baffled several dogs nearly all day; fust one 

 could be heard, and then two or three; and again all was 

 silent. It was late in the day when at last they suc- 

 ceeded in routing him out of all of the hiding places, and 

 they were heard coming in no amiable temper, three of 

 them. As I sat, rifle in hand, out came a magnificent 

 buck, and seemingly in no great haste, leisurely walked 

 out on the shallow bar, and drew nearer to me with every 

 step. Just before the waters deepened, I fired and put 

 the ball behind his ear. Electricity could not have 

 been quicker. Very soon, in fact before my guide 

 could draw the deer to the island, an old dog, 

 Tyler, came into the water and swam over, regal- 

 ing himself on a dainty meal. Close at his heels an- 

 other dog, belonging to me, came in'. He is a small 

 but musical little fellow of the old Virginia stock 

 of black and tan. He swam right up to the deer and in 

 language not to be mistaken claimed it as his. Old Tyler 

 reluctantly and sullenly walked up the bank; and Ned 

 after his meal lay down by the buck; and just then came 

 in the third dog, swam to the shore, noticed the deer and 

 also walked up the bank. Now either of these animals 

 could have thrashed Ned; and old Tyler could have eaten 

 the little fellow up; he was a powerful animal, noted for 

 his strength and pluck, a cross between greyhound and 

 foxhound, and always came in first with a rush, giving 

 the game little time to rest. The old fellow was out of 

 sorts all the rest of the day, in fact when about to seek 

 camp we thought it best not to take either of the dogs in 

 the boat, as they were dissatisfied, and I am sure if it had 

 not been a law that these creatures obey, it would have 

 been a bad business for Ned. Though the little fellow 

 had a splendid nose and a beautiful voice, yet he was no 

 match for the others in a battle. 



This little hound was cruelly shot by some inhuman 

 hand, the ball tearing open a great seam in the back of 

 his neck, which I stiched up under ether. By the way, 

 let me say for the benefit of our friends that dogs gener- 

 ally take anaesthetics badly, and have to be handled very 

 carefully under its use. 



I think I need not trouble you with any further 

 instances to prove the point under discussion, I should 



be glad to hear from any of your friends on tho subject* 

 as all such matters of natural history interest me. 



HORACE CARUTHERS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As each year has its biggest buck ever seen in the Adi- 

 rondacks,! have to tell you of the one for 1888, killed by 

 the Hon. L. E. Chittenden. Mr. Chittenden had taken 

 post at the mouth of the outlet, and says he would not 

 have missed the sight of the buck coming in for any- 

 thing. He did not come in as if sea ed, but came with 

 an easy bound, as if he knew his power to whip the dogs 

 or escape them by running a short distance in the water. 

 His head was turned, listening to the dogs. Two young 

 ladies, rowing for pleasure, had just come up the outlet 

 and stopped just where the buck wanted to go. When 

 he saw the yellow boat and the two New York girls he 

 stopped to take a look at them. The rifles of Mi' . Chitten- 

 denden and his guide, DeBar, took him on the fly as he 

 turned to run when about 200yds. away, each shot striking 

 him, one in the neck and one* through the bxly. His hair 

 had just changed from the red coat to the short blue coat, 

 which makes the finest kind of a rug. The huge antlers 

 have eleven prongs. All hands are satisfied it will be the 

 best head sent from the Adirondacks for 1888. We cer- 

 tainly have seen none as fine since the famous Star Moun- 

 tain buck was killed by Mr. Kneeland. The hunting has 

 been unusually good since August 15. Thirteen deer 

 have been killed about the lake since that date. 



Meacham Lake. N. Y\, Sept. 11. F. 



A report from Blue Mountain Lake, Sept. 18, says that 

 Mr. S. Fairchild, of New York city, killed one of the 

 finest bucks ever seen hi that region. Its antlers were 

 five-pronged and very symmetrical. It weighed 2581bs. 

 net on hotel scales; width across antlers, 20in.; length of 

 antlers, 29in. 



NOTES FROM CHICAGO. 



C CHICAGO, 111., Sept. 17.— Mr. Gillespie, long so famil- 

 > iar in the gun end at Spalding's, is just recovering 

 from an illness which leaves him unable to enjoy life 

 with his accustomed vigor. He has his eye on the ducks, 

 however, and says if he don't go after them this fall, he 

 will next time, sure. 



One of the wealthiest and most prominent shooting 

 clubs of this city— or rather of this country, for it has 

 members in New York, Boston, Grand Rapids, Mich., and 

 other cities — is the one commonly called the De Golyer 

 Club, because of the prominence therein of the Messrs. 

 DeGolyer. There are only twelve members, and these 

 twelve do their best to beat each other down to the 

 grounds, when a special wire announces that the ducks 

 are coming in. The grounds of the club are near Rose- 

 lawn, Ind., and comprise over 5,000 acres of shooting 

 country. They have nineteen miles of river front on 

 the Kankakee to rattle around in. 



Mr. Bond, of Bond's Commercial Agency, and Mr. F. 

 R. Smith, of Pardridge's Western house, receive word 

 from their intended shooting ground near Liverpool, Ind., 

 that one gun has bagged five dozen snipe to a day's shooting, 

 and another has had 50 ducks. They wish to get away 

 by Sept. 25, if possible, as by that time game should be 

 coming in well. Mr. Smith's red Iri-di dog Don, as fine a 

 specimen of his kind as tnere is in the city, has had a bad \ 

 round with distemper, but will be well enough to work 

 this fall. 



Mr. Alex. Harvey, well known in the sporting goods 

 department of Montgomery Ward & Co., has been sick, 

 and will miss his regular annual trip to Senachwina 

 Lake after the ducks. 



I learn from the town of Henry, 111., that market hunt- 

 ers are getting a few ducks on Senachwina and adjacent 

 waters. This is the home of the great North American 

 market hunter. 



$ept. SO.— The boys are mostly back from their first 

 fall outing, and there is a temporary lull along the line. 

 The local ducks, teal and woodducks, have now mostly 

 been shot off, and the flight of the migrators has not yet 

 well set in. Snipe are being shot in good bags along the 

 Kankakee. 



The plentiful fall rains have filled up the marshes and 

 bayous well, and shoorers along the Kankakee and in the 

 Fox Lake system anticipate a good flight of ducks this 

 fall. 



A few ducks are being picked by the juveniles along 

 the Cal«met, almost on the edge* of this city. These 

 young shooters, however, say, "'Taint cold enuf up 

 North yit." ' E. H. 



TOMPKINS COUNTY GAME. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Under the above heading "M. C. H." says in the For- 

 est and Stream for Sept. 20, "The big b gs at first re- 

 ported dwindled down terribly when the truth was scat- 

 tered abroad. In one instance that came to my knowledge 

 a well known local sport accompanied by a 'more or less 

 conspicuous member of the medical profession of Gotham 

 town, was reported as bagging thirteen woodcock on 

 Aug, 1. The hard cold facts of the matter, as related by 

 the farmer, at whose place the gunners found shelter, 

 were in effect that the day's work resulted in the shoot- 

 ing of three woodcock, two robins and one partridge 

 (shot out of season by professed sportsmen)." 



Dr. J. S. Kirkendall, of Ithaca, and the subscriber, are 

 the parties referred to, and the writer of the above 

 slander is evidently not acquainted with us. We man- 

 age to get in a good many days in the field together 

 during the season every year, and our bags of birds are 

 usually able to stand on their merits without any varnish- 

 ing, when the weather and other conditions are favorable. 

 We reported twelve woodcock kilieel, and that was the 

 number of woodcock killed by us on that morning, and 

 there were no robins nor jiartridges nor other birds of any 

 kind mixed with them. If I did not profess in public to 

 be an upholder of the game laws "M. E. H.'s" letter 

 would not disturb me any. but it will be read by a good 

 many who will think it is time for them to shoot part- 

 ridges out of season, if the letter states facts. It so hap- 

 pens that we did not show any birds to any farmer on 

 the morning in question, and that while our bag of wood- 

 cock numbered a dozen of those birds, we were disap- 

 pointed at not being able to make a really, large bag of 

 them. 



Partridges, by the way, are always plentiful in Tomp- 



