Nov, 15, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



325 



AN INCIDENT ON THE STANISLAUS. 



T WILL try to give your readers an account of a little 

 JL experience I had one summer among the California 

 black bears. We had driven a band of cattle and horses 

 from the range on the upper Joaquin plains into the 

 Sierra Nevada's, keeping along just below the snow line. 

 The 4th of July found us in camp on the head of the 

 Stanislaus River, a wild rough mountain country, but 

 with many amper glades and grassy meadows, which 

 made it a paradise for cattle. Game was plenty, aud we 

 lived right royally on fat venison and grouse pie. Bears 

 were plenty but hard to hunt, as they put m the day 

 time down among the rocky bluffs of the Stanislaus, 

 coming up at night to prowl around and stampede our 

 horses; and in more than one case getting away with our 

 venison. One afternoon Hawkins and myself concluded 

 we would set a shotgun up the creek near where we had 

 killed a deer. The bear came there we knew by the 

 tracks. So there we put Ihe gun, staking it in and bait- 

 ing it with a deer liver. It was nearly half a mile from 

 camp, but along in the night we were awakened by the 

 noise of the guu. Hawkins could hardly wait until day- 

 light, and was up and had breakfast before we could see. 

 I had to ride over the mountain that day to see about 

 some cattle, so Hawkins went to investigate the bear. 

 So eager was he to be off, he forgot to take his cartridge 

 belt. His rifle was a Sharps .45-70, and this with one 

 shot and his six-shooter, with one round of six, were all 

 his stock of ammunition. 



About 4 o'clock in the evening I was returning over 

 the mountain and thought I would come round by the 

 gun. When about a quarter of a mile from the spot, I 

 heard some one hollowing. I soon came upon my " pard," 

 Mr. Hawkins, perched up in a tamarack tree, and about 

 twenty steps from him lay the bear. Now and then bruin 

 would raise his head and growl, while Hawkins would 

 swear like a trooper. When the bear saw me he tried to 

 come for me, but he was so badly crippled he coxdd not 

 get up. Seeing this " Hawk " came down the tree, keep- 

 ing a wary eye on bruin. I gave him my Winchester 

 and he soon finished his bearship. 



"What did you go up that tree for, Hawk?" I asked. 

 " Thunder, you ought to have seen that bear come for 

 me," he replied. "You see I came up here and found 

 hini about 200yds. further on, I supposed he was dead. 

 When I was within ten steps of him he got up and came 

 for me. I banged it to him with the rifle, but he did 

 not stop. Then I ran for this tree and went up. He 

 came to the tree, and I tried the six-shooter and hit him, 

 for after he went off that distance he lay down. I 

 emptied my gun, but didn't hit him right. Then every 

 time I started down he would rear up and growl, so I 

 just staid up there and yelled till you came. You bet 1 

 won't forget my ammunition next time. Let's go to 

 camp, I'm hungry." 



Picking up our guns and getting some bear steaks for 

 supper we went on. Hawk was a little sore for several 

 days when any one spoke to bim of being treed by a bear, 

 but I may tell you some time how he retrieved his honor 

 by killing a big grizzly with a six-shooter. 



J. J. Fulton. 



MAINE DEER. 



ing of deer this fall, he certainly has the name of doing 

 so. 



But there is one bad feature about this method of hunt- 

 ing deer by driving them out of the swamps. There is 

 more or less of danger from the rifles of the hunters. 

 They all take rifles, and some of the sportsmen, or would- 

 be sportsmen, know very little about a rifle, or any sort 

 of a gun. Hence a gun in their hands, especially when 

 there is a man driving a. deer out of a swamp, across an 

 open space, for the green hunter to shoot on the run, is 

 really a dangerous weapon. There is another feature 

 connected with this shooting of deer in the open "burn." 

 It does not give the deer a fan chance. He must be 

 shot at on the run, and hence more often badly hurt than 

 killed outright. If wounded, the chances are that he 

 crawls away, only to suffer and die a miserable death — 

 perhaps of starvation. 1 have two cases in mind of bad 

 shooting on these barrens this fall. One was where the 

 deer's under jaw was carried away, by a shot aimed at 

 the head. The other was where a wounded deer was 

 found and killed, with a ball embedded in the hipbone. 

 The rifle was not of sufficient caliber, it was not power- 

 ful enough for such shooting. In still-hunting, such as 

 is explained by Van Dyke in that admirable work, "The 

 Still- Hunter," I think there is opportunity for a good 

 shot, and hence the pleasures of deer hunting need not 

 be connected with cruelty to one of the most beautiful 

 creatures God has made. 



Still another feature connected with the hunting of 

 these barrens may yet work trouble. The barrens are 

 not natural, but arc the result of a severe forest fire three 

 or four years ago. The "burns" have sprung up to young 

 twigs, and grass in some spots, and here the deer delight 

 to feed. Hunting them has already rendered them so 

 wild that they come out to feed only at night. But to 

 the guide these "burns" are looked upon with a good deal 

 of favor. They are something that has come to them. 

 But how axe they to be kept up? It only takes four or 

 five years to render them, where there is any soil left, a 

 most impenetrable thicket: the worst place in which to 

 hunt a deer imaginable. Fire will again fix the matter, 

 and of these fires the forest owners of to-day are very 

 much afraid. It is always hinted by some of the less re- 

 sponsible guides that tlie "burns" can be kept up; that 

 fire will do it. Certain timberland owners are on record 

 as declaring that it would be better for the lumber inter- 

 est of Maine if there was not a deer in the State, and the 

 fear is that they may hinder any wholesome legislation 

 on the subject this winter. Special. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is a fact that dogging deer in Maine is not practiced, 

 except in extreme cases. In the Upper Narragaugus, 

 where the most of the hunting mentioned in my last was 

 done, dogs are not used, except that Jonathan DarUng is 

 still accused of tolerating dogs at Nickatous Lake. The 

 Boston hunters were at one time within a few miles of 

 that celebrated lake, and they heard hounds, and their 

 guides informed them that tlie dogs were being used for 

 running deer. The guides also explained that a certain 

 cook had lately killed a couple of dogs found hunting 

 deer, and the dogs belonged to the Nickatous camps. 

 Since that time this cook has not been in favor with the 

 guides in the employ of the projxrietors of the Nickatous 

 camps. But dogs are not being tolerated in the neighbor- 

 hood of Beddington, nor further up on the waters of the 

 Upper Narragaugus. At Collins's camp, some twenty-six 

 miles up into the forest from Beddington, dogs are not 

 allowed, but a curious method of hunting the deer is 

 being followed. The country is being thoroughly hunted. 

 Deer are plenty, but excessive hunting is making them 

 very wild. When a deer is started, even by the most 

 careful still-hunting they know how to practice there, he 

 immediately is thoroughly alarmed, and breaks from one. 

 swamp to another. These swamps, in the section where 

 the most deer hunting is being done, are divided by what 

 are termed "burns." By a series of forest fires the dry 

 ground between the swamps has been denuded of timber. 

 Across these "burns" from swamp to swamp the deer 

 have numerous runways. These runways or paths are 

 known to the guides. The hunter is posted beside of one 

 of them, and the guide enters the swamp and beats 

 around till the deer is driven out, and the sportsman may 

 be so fortunate as to get a shot. This is precisely the 

 plan that some of the hunters in this section would like 

 to follow with dogs. They would prefer a good hound 

 to beat the swamp to a man, but the law says no. Re- 

 spect for tlie law has been a good deal increased in that 

 section of late years; for be it remembered that it is not 

 far from the scene of the game warden slaughter, for the 

 crime of which one hunter is now serving out a life sen- 

 tence. And the trouble in this notorious case all grew 

 out of the attempt to use dogs in hunting deer. 



Among the guides there is a better sentiment prevail- 

 ing in that section. One of the best in the woods freely 

 expresses himself that he prefers to help a number of 

 sportsmen in trying to take a deer to helping one to get 

 one in a few hours with dogs. It pays better, and es- 

 pecially better since some of these guides have really 

 Become camp proprietors. The guides in some parts of 

 the country there wotdd be very glad to see the Nicka- 

 tous boldness in defying the law broken up. Even if no 

 dog hunting is being permitted there, these guides believe 

 that it is being done. They have not forgotten that Mr. 

 Darling has defied the law, or at least has explained the 

 law to suit himBelf . I think that I am right about this 

 feeling among the guides, for the Boston gentlemen, 

 mentioned above, heard such sentiments freely expressed 

 by them, and the gentlemen had never been into the 

 woods of Maine before the whole subject was news to 

 them, Nor did they know Jonathan Darling from any 

 Qther roan. If Mr, Darling has not tolerated the hound- 



ST. LOUIS DUCK SHOOTING. 



ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 9. — Editor Forest and Stream; 

 A drizzling rain has been falling without cessation 

 for two days and the Signal Service reports a cold wave 

 as due here by to-morrow. This is good news to the 

 patient duck shooters, because it will put animation into 

 the. ducks which have been making their stay up north 

 and start them on their southern migration tour. Duck 

 shooting in this section of the country so far this fall 

 has been very poor and unsatisfactory. But the pros- 

 pects are just now very promising for some good sport 

 on them iii the near future. That the web-feet have all 

 given this valley the go-by and taken their course fur- 

 ther west, can hardly be accepted by the Nimrods in 

 this city, consequently they are keeping up hopes and 

 expect some good shooting on them before the lakes in 

 this section are frozen over. 



Duck shooting such as your hunters of old times were 

 accustomed to when this section of the country was 

 thinly settled, has disappeared never to return again. 

 Many of the lakes about here which were at one time 

 famous for duck shooting are now of no value 

 whatever for this sport, and not visited by the 

 duck shooters at all. This is also the case with the 

 snipe grounds. Not so many years ago it was 

 a common thing for parties to visit what is known as 

 Wet Prairie, a few miles above here in Illinois, and make 

 good bags of the longbills. But now this is all changed, 

 and a bag of a dozen is considered big, whereas formerly 

 four, five or six dozen consituted an ordinary bag. In 

 those days the land was a good-for-nothing swamp, but 

 since then has been reclaimed by under-drainage and is 

 now mostly under cultivation, and the snipe have given 

 the local ty the go-by. To get good sport on ducks and 

 snipe it is necessary now to go quite a distance, or join 

 one of the various clubs which own game preserves in 

 this part of the country, and then the sport cannot be 

 compared to what it was in the days of the old muzzle- 

 loading shotgun. Breechloading shotguns are now so 

 cheap that nearly every farmer throughout the country 

 owns one. Game of all kinds is in season when the 

 farmer's work is the lightest, and he has plenty of spare 

 time to devote to the pursuit of it. The increase in the 

 sport of field shooting in the cities is also large. Taking 

 all these reasons into consideration, is there any wonder 

 that the game in tins section is rapidly decreasing? It 

 will be only a matter of a short time until duck and snipe 

 shooting will be almost entirely played out around here. 

 Nothing will be left for the nimrods to shoot but a few 

 quail and rabbits, and probably these will have been 

 reduced to such a small number that it will be very un- 

 satisfactory to spend any time in quest of them. 



Postmaster W. Hyde, James O. Broadhead, Col. J. G. 

 Prather, member of the National Democratic Committee 

 from this State, John A. Scudder and Dan Catlin are 

 down at Black River, Arkansas, enjoying the pleasures 

 of a camp hunt. The party expect to remain two weeks, 

 dividing their time between angling and shooting. Bear, 

 deer and turkeys are said to be quite plentiful in the 

 locality where they have cast their fortunes, and no 

 doubt some grand sport is in store for them. 



Fishing is reported to be excellent at Black River just 

 now, as is evidenced by the fact that several parties that 

 have recently returned from there have been most suc- 

 cessful. 



The Jumbo Fishing and Hunting Club broke camp at 

 Black River, near Peach Orchard, last Tuesday and 

 arrived in this city on Thursday, after being in camp 

 ten days. Their luck was something unusual, having 

 killed 5 deer, 340 squirrels, a number of ducks and con- 

 siderable other game, such as' rabbits, quail and turkeys. 

 The gentlemen report fishing fine, having succeeded in 

 catching a fine string of fish. Among the trophies was 

 a jack salmon, caught by a Mr. McClure, which weighed 

 lllbs. 4oz. Four of the deer which the party brought 

 home succumbed to the rifles of Mr, Peckington and Mr, 



Grille, who are most excellent shots with a rifle. Mr. 

 Thomas McMahon, one of the crack shots of the party, 

 shot at a wild turkey, and by mistake killed a hog, the 

 cost of which swelled the expense account of the Jumbo 

 Club. The usual luck of the club wall enable Messrs. 

 Peckington and Grille to serve squirrel potpie at their 

 headquarters for the next six weeks. 



Mr. Nic Dolese and Chas. Thoman spent ten days at 

 Harrisonville Landing, which is about twenty miles south 

 of this city, in Illinois, and enjoyed some excellent sport 

 on ducks'. They returned yesterday with eighty-five 

 ducks, the greater number of which were mallards. 



U nser Fritz. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



C CHICAGO, III., Nov. 6. — A telegram received to-day 

 J from Henry, 111., by a member of the Swan Lake 

 Club, reads: "Plenty of birds -killed 77 yesterday— mal- 

 lards. — Wood." The telegram is from Wood Bros., local 

 market shooters, who have the Hlinois River pretty well 

 "spotted." 



Mr. W. B. Chatfield, one of Chicago's wealthiest and 

 most enthusiastic sportsmen, has just returned from his 

 trip into British America, and is now active in the cam- 

 paign against the Illinois ducks. Mr. Chatfield reports 

 that two days ago there were thousands of ducks along 

 the big marshes to the south. English Lake marsh is be- 

 ginning to show a little more water. It has been very 

 low. Swan Lake country was looming, and not enough 

 shooters down to keep the ducks scared up and moving. 



Local hunters at Morgan Park, one of the city suburbs, 

 report fair bags of ducks and a few geese at the "Sag," 

 four miles west of that place. A large flock of Canada 

 geese passed over the town yesterday, beading for Calu- 

 met Lake, and flying not higher than the roofs of the 

 houses. 



Oct. 7,— Mr. A. W. Knox starts at the end of this week 

 for a full week's trip in the Fox Lake country, and will 

 probably meet with good shooting. 



The men about Spalding's, and also the knots of sports- 

 men who gather there, all report the flight coming in well 

 in the Fox Lake region. Everybody is outfitting, and 

 the present raw and cloudy thick weather is luring out a 

 great many shooters who rarely go until the right time 

 comes. I got John Gillespie to stop packing orders for 

 decoy ducks long enough to tell me that he had fair suc- 

 cess last week, and that he will go again this week, either 

 to Fox Lake or English Lake. 



South Water street begins to show great quantities of 

 game in market, and the dealers report the flight of large 

 flocks now well down into this country. There would 

 seem to be little doubt that the time has at last come to 

 get ready. 



Weatber prophets and others wise in weather lore pre- 

 dict a severe winter. The sign of the "goose bone," they 

 say, clearly indicates that. Doubtless all readers of 

 Forest and Stream understand the goose-bone pro- 

 phetic tokens. This year the bone is very dark at both 

 ends, much mottled and broken into dots, breves and 

 lines, which mingle along the keel, indicating change- 

 able weather. The downward bend of the curves indi- 

 cates heavy and falling weather. Thejbone further indi- 

 cates a late and cold spring. Farmers say the corn husks 

 are thick; and trappers declare that the squirrels and 

 muskrats predict a hard winter by their activity in stor- 

 ing and building. I don't know about the justice of the 

 predictions and can tell better in the spring, but it cer- 

 .tainly has been a wonderfully warm and pieasant fall, 

 all through the West. 



The Illinois State Sportsmen's Association is a quiet 

 but not by any means defunct institution. At the last 

 meeting a game warden for Chicago was appointed, with 

 a salary of $150 a year. His duties are to quietly watch 

 the markets of South Water street, and to report any 

 illegal shipments or selling of game. It was this associa- 

 tion, I believe, which once arrested that very good, gray 

 old man, Mr. A. Booth, of fish and oyster fame, and 

 thereby made that gentleman mighty angry. If I re- 

 member rightly, Mr. Booth was experimenting in the 

 preservation of meats, and had bought some quail ex- 

 posed for sale out of season, to pack away under his her- 

 metical process, and keep untouched for two or three 

 years. Nothing very serious came of the matter. A great 

 many worse offenders than Mr. Booth might well be 

 prosecuted. It is to be hoped that the association's war- 

 den will not meet the same fate in any attempted arrest 

 that State Warden Pipino and his colleagues experienced 

 at the hands of the doughty Peter Rodenbauer and his 

 shotgun. 



Considerable numbers of ruffed grouse are to be seen 

 among the other game now displayed at the stalls. 



During a recent trip in Kansas the report seemed gen- 

 eral that the prairie chickens were growing so scare in 

 that State as hardly to be valued in the estimates of a 

 shooter; to the contrary, quail will be very plentiful in 

 that State this fall, owing to the observance of the wise 

 protective law and to the closeness with which the farm- 

 ers have posted their lands and watched then local coveys. 



Tlie three-years' law in this State has resulted in marked 

 increase of prairie chickens. Next year they will be 

 abundant in localities not far from here. 



Oot. 9. — Mr. Chas. Carhart, of this city, with two 

 friends, Mr. Wm. Bunn, of Springfield, 111., and Dr. F. S. 

 Papin, of Colorado Springs, Col.; will next week start on 

 a novel and singularly interesting trip, making the last- 

 named place their point of departure. They will travel 

 by wagon and on horseback through southern Colorado, 

 across New Mexico and into Arizona, journeying leisurely 

 and taking such sport as each locality may afford. Dr. 

 Papin, who is the animating cause of the excursion, 

 writes in a letter of directions to his friends in regard to 

 outfit, which shows him to be thoroughly posted on the 

 requirements; and this, coupled with the fact that the 

 party will have a cook and two other men, would indi- 

 cate that they will be comfortable even if they meet what 

 they may well expect, some pretty cold experiences 

 among the big snowy peaks. No limit is put on the time 

 of this trip, which may last for six months or more. If 

 the travelers really do undertake to traverse by wagon 

 the country indicated, they will be likely to have some 

 unique experiences: and of these, together with the 

 record of deer and turkeys, Forest and Stream has the 

 promise of the news. 



The weather is very cold and wet. Rain has fallen 

 steadily for the past few days. Thousands of ducks are 

 reported on Fox Lake, and a rattling trade is doing in 

 guns and shells, E. Hough, 



