J aim. 14, 1803.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



AN ARKANSAS BEAR HUNT. 



IT was early in last December when E. H. B. Dupuy, H. 

 B. Derrick, Dewitt Anderson, J. H. Hill, W. R. 

 Hampton, F. B. Maton, Dr. C. W. Taylor and Longfield 

 .Lofton, left Maiianna, Ark., for a bear hunt in the cane 

 brakes of White and Cache river bottoms. This section 

 is said to be the best hunting grounds in the State for 

 large game, such as bear, deer, wolves, panthers, etc. It 

 requires men of courage and endurance to undertake a 

 hunting campaign in such a wilderness, hemmed in on 

 all sides by maseive cane brakes and primitive forests, 

 wherein abound these vicious wild animals. The party 

 pushed bravely on through the dense wilderness to the 

 bank of Clear Lake, a email sheet of water a few miles 

 east of White River. It was here they struck camp. 

 The paraphernalia consisted of the usual camp equip- 

 ments, Winchesters, cane knives, and a pack of twenty- 

 8ix dogs of many designs. 



Long before the sun had lifted his head from his 

 Atlantic pillow, Col. Dupuy, the commander-in-chief, 

 sounded the signal to move, and accordingly the party 

 gathered around him for orders. "Take a northern 

 course and move slowly," was the order. Proceeding 

 about a mile as di- 

 rected, the welcome 

 notes of old Cham- 

 pion rang forth on 

 the still morning air, 

 and in a twinkling the 

 entire pack chimed 

 in melodiously. All 

 knew a trail was 

 struck, and " tones of 

 rapturous joy" came 

 from the boys. It 

 was not long, how- 

 ever, until his bear- 

 ship was at bay by 

 the side of a large 

 gum tree which served 

 as a barricade to ward 

 off an attack from 

 the rear. When seen 

 bruin was sitting up 

 in all his majesty, 

 slapping at the dogs 

 with terrific force. A 

 rifle shot had a tend- 

 ency to stimulate him 

 to greater activity 

 until hard pressed by 

 the pack, when he 

 again stood at bay 

 with a huge log to his 

 back. The cane was 

 exceedingly thick and 

 heavy here, but it fell 

 before his strong paw 

 like grain before a 

 a reaper. Fortunately 

 the dogs were gradu- 

 ates of the school of 

 beardom, but for this 

 many of the dogs 

 would certainly have 

 been without a 

 head, a shoulder, or 



probably an existence. While entertaining the pack with 

 his sledge-hammer blows, another ball pierced his thick 

 woolly skin, and he plunged into the cane, making it 

 crack and snap like a volley of musketry. A long and 

 exciting chase followed. Coming to a temporary stand 

 he was welcomed by a stinging ball from one of the boys 

 who happened to be in his way. Tbe final retreat was 

 in the shales of a cane cavern, under which was scarcely 

 twilight. The cane was tall, and over its tops was a 

 network of vines which served to bend the canetops 

 within a few feet of the ground. It was beneath this 

 dark retreat that bruin took his last refuge. While he 

 was fighting the dogs with all his mad fury the hunter 

 crept cautiously within a few rods of his game and fired 

 the fatal shot. It is unnecessary to mention the hero 

 lest it make him vain, but it may be added that each of 

 the previous shots were very effectual in causing death. 

 It was decided to call her the old she bear of White River 

 bottoms. She weighed 6051bs. undressed, and4821bs. net. 

 A pretty good bear to say the least. 



Fourteen bears and two deer were killed. The bears 

 weighed from 605 to 200lbs. each. After spending ten 

 days on our bear hunt the party returned to their homes 

 brimful of a ten days' outing on Clear Lake, with firm 

 resolves for a future return. Walter D. Childress. 



Cotton Plant, Ark. 



A NOVEMBER AFTERNOON. 



EVERY season as it passes away leaves behind it in the 

 minds of many sportsmen the remembrance of one 

 day, or one afternoon, in particular as more enjoyable 

 than any of his other outings during the same season, not 

 so much for the number of game bagged as for the ease 

 in which the game was got and good shooting made, the 

 weather having been just so. Such an afternoon was the 

 27th of November last to me. I left home on the after- 

 noon of that day a few minutes before 2 o'clock, accom- 

 panied by my black spaniel, and drove three miles to the 

 covert, which was composed of poplar, red and white 

 birch and cedar, with numerous narrowroads cut through 

 it. The day was a lovely still day, with a few flakes of 

 snow falling. Having tied my horse to a fence and 

 thrown over her two heavy warm blankets, I started into 

 the covert, and had proceeded but a short distance when 

 the bitch gave a yelp, and up got a partridge with a roar, 

 as only a partridge can. It rose straight up. I missed 

 with the right barrel, shooting under the bird. It 

 straightened out and made for a hardwood bush a quar- 

 ter of a mile away; but when about sixty yards on his 

 journey, the left barrel plucked a handful of feathers out 

 of the bird and down it came. Gathering it in, I pro- 

 ceeded gently along tbe same path. 



It was only a few minutes until the spaniel gave tongue 

 again. I guessed from her eager, quick, sharp bark that 

 she had a bird in a tree. Moving a few steps forward I 

 saw a fine partridge sitting on the limb of a small birch 

 alongside of an old fence, and only a few feet up over the 

 dog, watching with head down and topknot erect the 



small black animal that was making such a noise. I had 

 not stood half a minute befoi'e the bird left the tree and 

 flew straight up the path toward me, presenting a beauti- 

 ful shot, which I was not Blow to take advantage of, 

 dropping the bird almost at my feot. 



Proceeding a short distance further, the dog started a 

 hare (what a pity it is that spaniels will chase bares; it is 

 the only bad habit my dogs have, and I cannot break 

 them of it, they all do so). I decided to kill the hare, 

 for the days being short, I did not care to wait half an 

 hour or more on the spaniel; so taking up a position 

 where the hare crossed the path, upon her return I shot 

 her. 



I now went over to the north of the concession, into a 

 covert similar to the one I had been shooting in. On my 

 stepping over a log a partridge flushed right from under 

 my feet, I !lrod after the bird, when it turned around 

 and flew a short way toward where I was standing, fall- 

 ing to the grouud with wings extended, and when on the 

 ground drumming at a great rate. This bird drummed 

 as loud as any partridge I have heard drum; it was a 

 large old hen and had received but one grain of shot, and 

 that through its head, I would be of opinion after hear- 

 iug and seeing this bird drum that a partridge can drum 



AMONG THE WILDFOWL. -XVI. 



An Fatitino; Moment. 



in any place and on anything, be it a log. rock or earth. 

 This partridge, although dead to sensation, was as strong 

 if not stronger than any living bird in the nerves of mo- 

 tion from reflect action. 



A short distance further on the dog flushed another 

 partridge out of a pile of brush; the bird flew across me. 

 giving me a very pretty shot; I bagged him, and another 

 immediately afterward, making five partridges for five 

 seen, and all killed on the wing. I have killed numbers 

 of partridge in my day, but do not remember ever to have 

 killed five in succession on the wing, without a miss. It 

 is seldom this bird affords to the sportsman a clear, open 

 shot, generally managing to place a tree, bush or some- 

 thing between itself and the shooter. 



The dog now started another hare; she had run it but a 

 few minutes before it came and squatted under some 

 brush not fifty yards from me; I fired and as the hare did 

 not stir I knew that it must be wounded badly; the dog 

 coming on the scent caught and killed her. 



Immediately after killing the hare the dog flushed a 

 partridge some distance away; I watched the bird fly 

 into a small cluster of standing trees and heard it light. 

 I am the worst hand living for seeing a partridge in a 

 tree, but I knew this one could hardly escape, as I had 

 but a few trees to look into. After looking over and 

 over again into each tree, I saw the bird sitting close up 

 against the trunk in a red birch within 30yds. of where I 

 was standing, I shot it without the slightest compunction. 

 The most of the partridges I kill I kill on the wing, but 

 am not above shooting a partridge on a tree or on the 

 ground. These birds are, in this neighborhood, much 

 hunted, and are therefore pretty wild. 



This season has been, in this locality, an exceptionally 

 good one for partridge. There Avas a good crop of but- 

 ternuts. Why is it that in a year when there is a good 

 crop of butternuts there is also a good crop of partridges? 

 What butternuts should have to do with this bird I do 

 not know, but I have noticed that a fall when butternuts 

 are plentiful, partridges are also plentiful. 



I had now six partridges and two hares, about as 

 much as I cared to carry. Being about one mile and a 

 half from where I had left the horse and buggy, with 

 evening fast approaching, I retraced my steps. The dog, 

 on our way to the horse, put two partridges into a pop- 

 lar, but they did not let me get near enough for a shot. 

 Coming on dusk, and just as I got to the concession road, 

 the spaniel flushed another bird, a nice shot, but I made 

 a clean miss. However, I did not care to get any more; 

 I had plenty, and had had a very pleasant afternoon; the 

 weather was perfect, the walking good, and I never had 

 gone from the roads. Getting to where I had left the 

 horse and buggy, it was but a few minutes until I was at 

 home. Saw the dog fed and horse attended to, and en- 

 joyed a good tea, as I generally can after a tramp in the 

 bush with gun and dog. H. B. N. 



Cookstown, Can. 



The Velvet Train of the Monon Route between Chicago and 

 Cincinnati offers the best and most luxurious service obtainable 

 between tbose points.— Adn, 



THE FOX LAKE REGION. 



FOX LAKE, Wis., Dec. 13.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The shooting and fishing, although good in this 

 locality, is not what might be called great, and we have 

 disliked to call attention to it as there have always been 

 hunters enough for the amount of game; but "the jig's 

 up" now. The real estate dealer in lots, the summer 

 girl, the boy with the target rifle, and the "hog," whose 

 only glory is in the size of the bag he makes, have nearly 

 ruined the sport. If I were going to formulate a set of 

 rules for sportsmen, I would be tempted to bunch them 

 all in this one, "Don't be a hog." 



The able pen of your Chicago correspondent has left 

 little to be told of Horicon Marsh. About eight miles 

 west of Horicon Marsh is Beaver Dam Lake, a fine 

 sheet of water eight miles long, but nothing extra for 

 ducks, as there is comparatively little of marsh and feed- 

 ing ground. Two miles north of Beaver Dam Lake lies 

 Fox Lake, which is about three miles by one and a half, 

 and has plenty of marsh and feeding ground, and for the 

 size of the lake has always been a good one for ducks. 

 It is cut over half in two by three islands, now dotted by 

 cottages; and as I intimated before, the shooting here 



will soon be a thing 

 of the past. 



Northwest of Fox 

 Lake about four miles 

 is the beautiful little 

 Lake Emily, north- 

 west of that another 

 fine little sheet of 

 water called Lake 

 Maria, and still north- 

 west of that a mud 

 hole, formerly called 

 Lake Marietta — an 

 early French settler 

 had three daughters, 

 IHH named Emily, Maria, 



and Marietta. A 

 little fishing and 

 shooting may be had 

 on these lakes, but 

 none of them equal to 

 Fox Lake. About ten 

 or twelve miles north- 

 west of these lakes are 

 the wonderful Puca- 

 wa lakes and marshes, 

 but this place is fa- 

 miliar to many of 

 your readers and I 

 will not attempt a 

 descript ion. The 

 shooting here on Fox 

 Lake, owing to low 

 . . - - water, would have 



been the best in years 

 the past season, but 

 as soon as the blue- 

 bills came, the sports- 

 men of Milwaukee 

 flocked out, and by 

 continual chasing in 

 small skiffs by part of 

 them and shooting by 

 others in blinds built 

 in the open water, the ducks were soon driven off. It's 

 a small lake, and with steady cannonading fifteen hours 

 a day Lhe poor ducks had to leave. After a day or two, 

 when they began to work back in, 'they found so many 

 gunners awaiting them that they soon left. After the 

 bluebills were gone that idiot among ducks, the rhoda or 

 bulluecks, had to take it, and they were chased till so 

 wild that nothing short of a cannon could reach them. 

 We have a beautiful little lake, and might have more or 

 less shooting every fall, if any reason were shown by the 

 sportsmen, but seven fifteen-hour days of cannonading a 

 week are more than most any kind of game will stand. 



Our lake froze over very suddenly about the 15th of 

 November, and the boys had great sport catching crippled 

 ducks on the ice. Georgie Morrison, of Fox Lake, cap- 

 tured forty-six in one day. This is better than to leave 

 them starve or to be caught by foxes. Wm. Williams, a 

 big Welshman, living north of the lake, skated across 

 the next day to do some trading. On his way over he 

 caught a crippled duck, and leaving it on tiie island 

 came into town. Starting back about 4 P. M., he got his 

 duck, and had only gone about 50yds. when he skated 

 into an air hole and was drowned. He was an im- 

 mensely strong man, but did not or could not struggle a 

 particle for life, for when he was found the duck was 

 still under his arm. 



We are having a little sport with rabbits and anxiously 

 waited for a good tracking snow, when fun with the 

 foxes will commence. We have no regular club, but 

 every one who owns a hound joins in, and we manage to 

 get not a little sport out of it. I have a big greyhound 

 that is affording us some little sport when rabbit hunt- 

 ing; he will folio vv my old foxhound Duster till she starts 

 a rabbit; then he takes the lead, and when he has any 

 show at all picks up the game. We are hoping he will 

 do the same trick on foxes, and if .he will we'll gather in 

 the brushes in great shape. W. E. W. 



Aluminum.— Charlestown, N. H.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: "I want a match box, no uncommon want;" to 

 parody the opening lines of Don Juan, and make it an 

 excuse to ask through your columns why some of the 

 manufacturers of, and dealers in, sportsmen's appurte- 

 nances do not advertise sundry articles, such as match 

 boxes, dog collars, drinking cups, whistles, etc., made of 

 the new metal, aluminum. All my mechanical papers 

 are full of notices of it and its various alloys, and from 

 the reports of their lightness and strength I should think 

 them admirably adapted for all such purposes; if not the 

 pure aluminum, at least the aluminum bronze, which is 

 said to be of a beautiful gold color. And why, if its 

 toughness and incorrodibility be what is claimed for it, 

 would not the bronze be a superior article for gun bar- 

 rels, provided always that it can be oxidized, or dulled 

 externally, so as not to glisten, for no man would want 

 to go into the woods with a pair of golden barrels. I ask 

 these questions, hoping to hear from some of your adver- 

 tisers that such wants can be supplied. — Von W, 



