April 8, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



209 



FROM A LUMBER CAMP. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Up to March 1 the winter here was exceptionally mild 

 for this part of the world. Since then it has made up 

 for lost time, and to day the snow is 3ft. deep, weather 

 cold and blustering. All lumbermen have broken camp 

 on account of the deep snow, and although the sleighing 

 is good in the main roads it is impossible to skid logs in 

 this deep snow to advantage. Quite a number of deer 

 have wintered near our camp, and I have seen from three 

 to eight every few days since the first of January. They 

 are quite tame now and begin to look thin. I have heard 

 of two or three being shot for wolf bait, but have not 

 heard of a wolf being caught this winter, although there 

 are quite a number about. We see their tracks and hear 

 them howl, but they are too cute to trap or take poisoned 

 meat. I have captured this winter one bald eagle, one 

 golden eagle alive, in a common mink trap. I sent 

 them to a friend in Grand Rapids, Mich. I have also 

 taken one wildcat, seven mink, two ravens and eight 

 rabbits. I am having two bear traps made, and expect 

 to get a bear as soon as the snow goes off. I got one last 

 spring by watching for him three nights in succession. I 

 hunt and trap just for amusement and to break the 

 monotony of camp life, and have enough of the sports- 

 man spirit in me as not to desire to exterminate all the 

 game in season and out of season. 



I see Mr. Loring speaks of fire or night shooting here. 

 T have been here four years, and know something of it. 

 I have tried it just for the novelty, but it is not practiced 

 now as much as usual, and there is not one deer killed now 

 where there were ten killed fo'ir years ago. The first 

 fall I came here, September 1885, there were over 500 

 deer shipped from this one station. I saw 67 carcasses in 

 one car, shipped by one hunting party. Last fall there 

 were less than 50 deer shipped from here. The deer have 

 been thinned out, and the Michigan game laws have 

 something to do with it. One man here showed me a .44 

 Winchester rifle, with which he claims to have a record 

 of G30 deer killed within the past eight years. He has 

 taken his R. R. velocipede, run down the road three 

 miles and return, and killed seven deer with headlight, 

 and got in before 12 o'clock at night. 



Ten or twelve years ago this was a wonderful place for 

 deer, brook trout and game of all kinds. Three years 

 ago I saw three men catch with hook and line 170 brook 

 trout in three-quarters of a day in a stream that had not 

 been fished much; but the saw logs, blasting ice with 

 dynamite, building dams, etc., have destroyed those fish- 

 ing grounds. B. B. 



MurHOPOniTAN, Mich. March 28. 



DUCKING TRIP IN MINNESOTA. 



IT was a damp October morning when we left Detroit 

 City, Minn., for a seventy-mile drive to Rice Lake, 

 in Beltrami county. Reports had reached us that ducks 

 were numerous there, especially mallards, hence our trip. 

 There were four of us and we had a boat, tent and camp- 

 ing outfit, including provisions and ourselves, all packed 

 on a platform spring express wagon. We reached Rich- 

 wood, on the Buffalo River, in time for dinner, and at 3 

 o'clock iu the afternoon arrived at White Earth Indian 

 Agency. The Professor here discovered that he had no 

 handkerchiof , so we halted while he procured a flaming 

 red one of vast size. 



Just opposite the agency buildings a group of about 

 twenty-five squaws were seated on the ground and new 

 arrivals were frequent — evidently a squaw party was in 

 progress— not a buck was in sight. The squaws were 

 very picturesque, their bright blankets and dresses being 

 brought out in full relief against the brown grass. 



About three miles beyond the agency we left the main 

 road and took to the "tote road" to Red Lake, a road that 

 was bad at the start and continually grew worse. As we 

 entered the timber the rougness of the way increased. 

 Hills were sharp and of frequent occurrence, strewn 

 with boulders and now and then a mud hole of unknown 

 depth. I found all my skill as a driver taxed to prevent 

 a smash up or a tip-over of our heavily loaded wagon. 

 On and on. every mile seemed five, darkness soon began 

 to settle down and we resolved to camp for the night, 

 although we were four or five miles from the place we 

 intended making; the roughness of the road deterred us 

 from attempting it in the dark. Stephens and I pitched 

 the tents for ourselves and horses, while Professor and 

 Bowling went to a small lake that was in sight, for some 

 water. There an adventure befell Bowling, which came 

 near being very serious. The lake was a sink hole of 

 black, treacherous mud; B. slipped from a piece of wood 

 on which he was standing, and all that prevented him 

 from disappearing forever in the slimy depths, was his 

 throwing one hand out as he fell and chancing to catch 

 hold of a small tamarac pole that was lying in the mud. 

 The Professor by great effort extricated him, and brought 

 him to camp to be stripped and reclad. It may be re- 

 marked that Bowling, with a genius that commanded 

 our admiration, fell into some pond, lake or river every 

 day while we were gone. 



With the morning light w T e went on our way over a 

 road that for badness cannot be described But we had 

 ample compensation in the superb scenery along the 

 route, now going through a fine hardwood timber, now 

 winding around some beautiful lake, then driving for a 

 long distance along a hog back, through magnificent 

 pine woods, one of nature's grand boulevards. Occa- 

 sionally we passed an Indian's house; sometimes it was a 

 tepee covered with birch bark and sometimes a log house, 

 in which case there Avas always a large tepee in the 

 yard, and by tepee and house alike there were birch 

 bark canoes and fish strung on poles hung up to dry. At 

 11 o'clock A. M. we passed between Twin Lakes, and 

 shortly after arrived at Tyler Warren's, one mile from 

 whose place is Sunken Lake, where last summer a party 

 of five from Detroit caught over 600 black bass— small- 

 mouthed— in a day and a half's fishing. We bought 

 some potatoes off Warren, and went on until 1 o'clock 

 P. M., when we left the tote road and took a slight trail 

 that led us through the pines for three miles and brought 

 us to the banks of Rice River, at the dam which the 

 Indians had built to raise the water so that they could 

 float their logs down to the sawmUl a few miles below. 

 The lake was a short distance up the river, but we set up 

 our camp at the dam, and here put in a few pleasant 

 days of camp life. 



These days were varied and made interesting by Bowl- 

 ing's getting dumped from a oanoe with a regularity that 

 was surprising, until at length he refused to go on th« 



water any more in any kind of craft; by the wonderful 

 shots made, and the ducks brought down from great dis- 

 tances that could never be found. I might relate in de- 

 tail how Stephens and I swam the team across the 

 river, and went miles through the woods and across 

 marshes to find a hay meadow of which we had heard to 

 get some hay for the horses, of the hay bridge we built, 

 and the facility with which we alighted from an over- 

 turning load of hay; of the two hunters going north after 

 deer, who camped near us a day and night and told won- 

 derful yarns; of the old Indian and his family, children 

 and grandchildren, who set up their tepee near us; of 

 the beautiful birch-bark canoe they had; of the dinner 

 Stephens and I took with the two Indians on the south 

 shore of Rice Lake ; of the fact that we did not get but 

 one solitary mallard but found lots of black duck — butter- 

 balls; of the great flock of these that Stephens and I came 

 upon as we were coming to camp late one afternoon, and 

 the shooting we had for a few minutes; all of these and 

 much more I might tell of if I had time. They are pleas- 

 ant memories these long winter months. 



All too soon came the breaking up of our camp and the 

 return— the stay over night at the Hindquarters Hotel 

 at White Earth Agency, where Stephens and I took the 

 office floor for our bed, while Professor and Bowling — 

 like the pampered red-plush fellows that they are — took 

 the only feather bed in the house. But home we came at 

 last, minus mallards or any great quantity of game, but 

 having had a royal good time. Myron Cooley. 



Detroit City, Minnesota. 



THE SUPERVISOR'S DEER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Two of the members of our board of county super - 

 visors are noted marksmen, both having a record to b e 

 proud of. The venerable chairman of the board is also 

 a capital angler, while the charming ex-chairman is par- 

 ticularly noted for his passion for ducks. The latter 

 gentleman is one of the proprietors of the Canvasback, a 

 pretty little pleasure steamer owned by the Sacramento 

 Gun Club, and it recpiires a serious condition of county 

 roads, wrecked bridges, etc., to keep him at his post 

 when this little boat makes a trip up the river to the lakes 

 rented by the club. 



But the sportsman of whom we are particularly proud 

 is our talented county clerk. This gentleman has an 

 almost world-wide reputation as a bear slayer. He has 

 been an extensive traveler both among the Andes and 

 Sierra Nevada, as well as Rocky Mountains, and where- 

 ever his footsteps have wandered an almost complete an- 

 nihilation of the bruin family is said to have followed in 

 his wake. 



Some two years since this noted gentleman, in com- 

 pany with our venerable chairman before mentioned, 

 made a tour of the Sierras in quest of deer. Now our 

 clerk, like Capt. Toby, of the "Court Rangers," is per- 

 fectly familiar with every mountain, gulch and trail of 

 the entire range, and our hunters were soon snugly domi- 

 ciled in Uncle Billy Vaughan's cabin, near Eleven Pines, 

 in El Dorado county, in close proximity to one of the 

 finest deer licks west of the Rockies. Not being built 

 exactly on the pedestrian plan, one being decidedly portly, 

 the other not portly enough, and painfully short of breath 

 as well, some means had to be resorted to by which they 

 could obviate the necessity of any great amount of travel- 

 ing, even if they had to take an unfair advantage of their 

 prey. Therefore, laying aside all conscientious scruples, 

 a large drygoods box was obtained and securely fastened 

 in the branches of a lofty pine tree some 30ft. from the 

 ground, where our brave hunters could perch secure from 

 the eyes of the timid deer, and at the same time obtain 

 a good view of the lick. The following night one of 

 them was to go aloft and watch for game, white the 

 other was to remain in the cabin with the host, in readi- 

 ness to appear upon the scene at sound of the watcher's 

 gun. The time came for the ascent, and the question 

 arose as to which gentleman should take the elevated 

 position ; and our clerk plead his cause with such a degree 

 of simplicity and eloquence that the chairman of course 

 gave way to him. Why not? He had youth, experience, 

 as well as beauty in his favor, while the senior member 

 was on the shady side of fifty, and, as I said before, out 

 of breath. Well, the ascent was soon made, and a rope 

 which had previously been made secure to the clerk's 

 waist was let down, and nis gun, ammunition, blankets, 

 etc., were hauled aloft, and the stalwart hunter with his 

 2101bs. avoirdupois was neatly stowed away inside the 

 box and gently swaying in the soft mountain breeze. 



Upon taking his departure, the chairman had cautioned 

 his youthful friend to "keep his eye on the lick and not 

 go to sleep." "Sleep! who could think of sleep in so 

 exalted a position! No indeed! I am here after venison," 

 replied that high-strung individual. 



It was a beautiful moonlight night, the lights and 

 shadows waving in the gulch below; the almost awful 

 stillness and the soothing "Rock a-bye baby in the tree- 

 top" movement, was simply enchanting. Our friend was 

 soon lost in the contemplation of nature. The sensation 

 was new and novel, how he wished he was a poet, that 

 he might in one grand poem portray the beauties he now 

 beheld, or an artist, that he might paint them. But alas! 

 of these accomplishments he could not boast! The breeze 

 continued to blow, the cradle to rock and the watcher 

 was soon asleep. His dreams taking a retrospective 

 flight, hastily carried him back to childhood. 



Clasped in his mother's loving arms, listening to her 

 low, sweet lullaby, he calmly, sweetly slumbered the 

 sleep of innocence. But earthly joys are fleeting, a sound 

 from the lower regions penetrated his elevated retreat 

 and he started from his dozing posture, almost precipitat- 

 ing his fairy form into the depths below. "Great Scott!" 

 What did he behold! An immense buck was quietly 

 licking the salt almost directly underneath his perch, in- 

 nocent of the proximity of his enemy. 



Admiration, vain wishes, childhood dreams, where 

 were they? Gone like all earthly happiness, vanished 

 with a puff of wind, and our watcher is a hunter again . 



Bang went the trusty rifle, down came the deer, as 

 well as the deer slayer. Iu his excitement the descent 

 was made without his usual precaution, yet he landed 

 with safety upon a projecting branch some ten or fifteen 

 feet from the ground. An unfortunate rent in his buckskin 

 nether garments had caught upon the cruel branch and 

 firmly held his fragile form suspended in midair. In 

 vain he struggled for freedom; it was no use, he was 

 there for good. But the inmates of the oabin, having 



heard the report of the gun, soon rushed upon the scene. 

 The moment was an exciting one, the wounded deer 

 must be dispatched to prevent his making his escape, for 

 the rescuing party took in the situation at a glance, and 

 had no fears of the other victim getting away, and he 

 was left to pine upon the tree until the venison was 

 secure. Then a ladder was brought from the cabin and 

 the hunter rescued from his perilous position, and — but 

 I'll not attempt to quote him here. 



The deer was hastily dissected and taken to the cabin, 

 where a sumptuous banquet was enjoyed by all parties 

 concerned. Marion. 



SACRAMEMTO, Cal. 



The Winter in Illinois.— Elsah.— Ducks and geese 

 have been very scarce this winter in this section of the 

 Mississippi Valley, and but few of our shooters have 

 made a creditable bag. "What has become of the game?" 

 is the question often heard in shooting circles; "it was so 

 plenty twenty-five years ago." Aye, that's the question. 

 The wildfowl are sharing the fate of the buffalo and other 

 game and are being gradually exterminated. They are 

 persecuted unto death. Spring shooting and hunting out 

 of season is getting in its work. We learn there have 

 been a few days of duck shooting in the vicinity of 

 Browning, on the Illinois River. One market-shooter is 

 reported to have killed 117 ducks in one day, shooting over 

 decoys, for the Chicago market. The principal line of 

 annual flight now seems to be far west of the Mississippi, 

 but we can remember when the Missouri and Mississippi 

 rivers, the great arteries of the continent, were literally 

 swarming with wildfowl in their passage to and from 

 their breeding grounds in the far north. Last February 

 a bald eagle was brought to bag in St, Charles county, 

 Mo., on the south branch of the Mississippi. It meas- 

 ured 5ft. 6in. from tip to tip, being the first one killed in 

 this vicinity for twenty years. Club house property and 

 stock is on the down "grade in this and other counties 

 along the rivers, that were favorite breeding grounds for 

 ducks and geese a few years ago. — Cameron. 



Game and Fish Protection in Central N. Y— On 

 the evening of March 18 a meeting of business men and 

 professors of Cornell University was held at the office of 

 C. C. Vankirk, in Ithaca, at which the Game and Fish 

 Protective Association of Tompkins County was organ- 

 ized. The following officers were elected: Dr. A. H. 

 Fowler, Pres.; C. C. Vankirk, Vice-Pres.; Prof, J. O, 

 Griffin, Sec. ; H. L. Haskin, Treas. By-laws were adopted 

 and subscribed by the 1 olio wing-named gentlemen: A. 

 H. Fowler, C. C. Vankirk, Prof. J. O. Griffin, H. L. Has- 

 kin, Levi Kenney, Wm. H. Willson, Sam'l Tisdell, Dr. E. 

 J. Morgan, Sr., Prof. Geo. P. Bristol, A. B. Stamp, J. E. 

 VanNatta, Dr. C. M. Sharp, H. H. Angell, C. B. Brown, 

 J. H. McCormick, E. H. Bostwick. The annual fees 

 were fixed at $1. All sportsmen, farmers and others 

 interested in the propagation and protection of fish and 

 game, resident of Tompkins county, were invited to send 

 their names to the secretary. Committees were appointed 

 to canvass the the woods and streams of this county and 

 to report to the association desirable locations for plant- 

 ing fish fry or game birds. The association hopes to in- 

 terest farmers and owners of woodlands and streams in 

 the objects sought for by this organization, one of the 

 most important of which is the total prohibition of un- 

 lawful fishing. The association now has about forty 

 members, and it is hoped to increase it to at least one 

 hunched. 



Three at A SHOT. — One Sunday morning in November 

 the old man, who always was up at the crack of the day, 

 saw four deer, a buck and three does, feeding side by 

 side not lOOyds. from his cabin. In a moment he had 

 his trusty rifle down from its pegs and was sighting 

 across its" glossy surface. A moment later and the trig- 

 ger was pulled. Great was the old man's astonishment 

 to see two of the animals, a buck and a doe, fall on the 

 spot, as well as another doe a few rods away. An exam- 

 ination showed that the bullet had passed through the 

 first one's head, through the spine of the second and had 

 severed the jugular vein of the third. The short distance 

 and the position of the deer combined with the shooting 

 qualities of the gun made such a shot possible. The 

 above can be vouched for by many old residents. — G. J. 

 (Smith's Mills, Pa.). 



Madison County, N. Y. — The season for birds, which 

 closed here Dec. 31, was the poorest in many years. 

 There were scarcely any flight woodcock last fall, and 

 grouse were very wild and scarce. More birds were 

 killed during December than any other month, and even 

 then four or five was a good bag in one day. Foxes were 

 plenty. Two of Earlville's best nimrods have gathered 

 in twelve. One man has killed about half that number 

 still-hunting them. Rabbits are not .plenty, although a 

 few remain in the largest swamps. We have had very 

 little snow here, and the tracking has been poor. I spoke 

 of still-hunting foxes; I would like to hear through the 

 columns of Forest and Stream from any one that knows 

 of its being successfully done. In trap-shooting the 

 county trophy stands a tie between Eaton and Oneida. — 

 G. F. B. 



Thank You. — Editor Forest and Stream: There is in 

 1890, as I suppose, a larger number than ever before of 

 young fellows who aspire to future distinction as sports- 

 men — sportsmen that is, in the true sense of the term, as 

 now understood by the foremost people of our land. To 

 such I would say, as an old woodsman, angler and busi- 

 ness man, that there is more condensed wisdom in the 

 editorial page of Forest and Stream of March 20 than 

 can be gathered from the reading of many books de- 

 voted to the enlightenment of the novice in woodcraft 

 and angling. It is no wonder that your paper is suc- 

 cessful.— Kelpie. 



Beaver, Pa., March 30. — Ducks are coming in, some 

 staying a day or so and then going on northwest. Some 

 six were persuaded to remain with us. Several flocks of 

 geese passed over last week; two hundred were counted 

 in one day. A friend while on a tramp last week within 

 a mile of town, put up a fine woodcock. — G. A. S. 



Correction.— By an error of the types we were made to 

 say in our la»t issue that a bill had been passed by the 

 Massachusetts Legislature establishing an open season 

 for grouse, woodcock and quail from Sept. 15 to Dec. 15. 

 This bill hag only been reported by the Committee on 

 Fish and Ganje, not passed by the Rouse, 



