Sep*. 34, 1891.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



18 B 



HINTS FOR WOODS LIFE. 



Editor Foreiit and Stream: 



As hunters are too poor to caiTy a hotel with them I 

 propose to give some of <he ins and outs of woods life. 



If it rains in summer peel a piece of spruce bark, say 

 3ft. square, cut a liole in the middle for your head, stick 

 your head through and g'long. Likewise spruce bark 

 your shelter at night. 



If you are nervous about animals remember that fire is 

 their terror. Even a woman can easily drive any animal 

 from her path by a piece of birch bark lit with a match. 

 I believe any one could hold at bay a hundred wolves; if 

 he would place his birch bark in a split stick 4ft. long, 

 back up against a rock or tree and dexterously handle 

 his "terror." 



But in winter we have another foe to fight — Jack Frost. 

 This recpiires a knowledge of camping out. A very good 

 way (if you have no teut) is to select a large standing 

 tree (leaning somewhat to the leeward). Build your fire 

 on the windward side, standing your wood endwise short 

 at first, but finally about 4+ft. long. The heft of your 

 fire will be at the top of your wood. There will be a 

 little smoke, but what there is will eddy around the tree 

 and spiral upward nicely. Now get sometMng to your 

 back and you are all right. 



Another way is to select a sleeping chance on the lee- 

 ward side of a big log (the bigger the better). Build your 

 fire 4ft. in front, high up as possible, and provide several 

 log", one above the other, for back-log and chimney- 

 back. Now then, you want your fire so hot as to drive 

 your enemy Jack Frost weJl back. Then your friend, 

 the fu-e, tm-ns your enemy and drives you too. To 

 remedy this break half a dozen evergeen boughs and 

 stick them in front of you, thus grading the heat to a dot. 

 Then let the fire and Jack Frost charge and recharge 

 right over your heads, you're all right. Now you can 

 look the fire right in the face, go to sleep and dream. 



Another good way is to find a large tree turned up by 

 the roots and select'your sleeping apartment in the angle 

 formed by the body of the tree and its turned-up root. 

 But in winter when the snow lies 4ft, deep it is hai-d at 

 the best. I generally try to find a dry stump or tree and 

 pull it across something', if possible, to break it up and 

 save chopping. Then I bake it as best I can. in any way 

 I can invent at the time. There is not much sleep about 

 it, anyhow, till just before morning, when your tire has 

 melted the snow away, when you may pick your chance 

 and catch a little "nip-nap." We sometimes shovel down 

 to the ground, ushig one of our snowshoes for a shovel, 

 but it hardly pays for a single night's camping out. A 

 fatigued hunter will often start a fire, eat his supper, 

 then lay himself away for an hour or so, then chop wood 

 by fire-light, sometim'es by spells all night. Sportsmen 

 know bat little of this. I have often been sm-prised at 

 some of their writings, so topheavy with scholarship but 

 with so little b allast. B. 



STILL-HUNTING DEER WITH BIRD DOGS 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



"Aztec" requests information in regard to my method 

 I of training bird dogs to still-hunt deer: 



I have no special method of training them for that pur- 

 pose. Before using them in hunting deer they were 

 thoroughly trained for bhds: that is to say, thoroughly 

 broken according to my idea of training. When thus 

 broken they \\ ill take to hunting deer as readily as birds. 

 Get one deer down and the dog is fully broken thereafter. 

 He will show more hapi^iness over one deer than over a 

 hundred birds. 



Hunting deer in no wise injures the dog for bird hunt- 

 ing. In fact I believe it is a benefit, because you will be 

 more rigid in your discipline when after deer than when 

 after birds. 



I have no choice between the pointer and setter for deer. 



As for courage, the setter has enough. The only trouble 

 is a lack of discretion in attacking a wounded old buck, 

 sometimes. A single dog cannot manage an old buck as 

 a pack of foxhounds can, but soon learns to bring him to 

 bay and keep him there imtil you are within gunshot. 



ill a race of a mile or two after a wounded deer that 

 dog will outstrip any foxhound I ever saw, and I have 

 seen many such a race. 



I break my dogs when A^ery young as far as possible 

 before taking them into the field. I take them in walks 

 and discipline them to walk just in advance of me, and 

 do not allow them to leave that position without leave, by 

 a wave of the hand. When in the field, often in hunt- 

 ing up wounded or dead birds, I require them to maintain 

 the same position. Also to slow-trail in that position 

 birds that may be recovering, having only a broken wing. 



When chey are thus broken, you will have no trouble in 

 still-hunting deer. H. L. 



Kankakee, IlL 



PAKTKiDaES THAT ARE Geowino Wiser.— Bedford, 

 Quebec— Om: dogs are not fit for partridge. We use only 

 spaniels, and the birds are so wild they won't tree as they 

 did some few years ago, audit is my candid opinion if we 

 used a good pointer or setter there would be good bags of 

 partridge got in and aroiind this place. I have seen some 

 account in the Forest aot) Stream that a man that would 

 shoot a partridge on a tree was nothing but a pot-hunter. 

 Well, I would only be too glad to have some of those fine 

 shots up here for a week or two. You go in the woods, 

 hear a roar, and off goes your bird; perhaps you never 

 see a feather of her. Then talk about not taking your 

 chances on the ground or in a tree. — Hot. 



Hdnting and Fishing in thk iNokthwest. -Are you plan- 

 ning for an onting tuis summer? Have you ever looked up the 

 famous resorts of tlie Norchwest ? It is not an exaggeration to 

 say ihat rlie best hunting and fishing grounds in NortE America 

 are found in the territory tributary to the Northern Pacific Rail- 

 road. The lake park region in Minnesota affords iiickerel, pike, 

 bass and niascalonge; rock bass are found in numerous streams, 

 and deer, eJk and bear abound in the forest regions; antelope are 

 found in North Dakota. The Snowy. Bitter Root, Giazy, JRocky 

 and Cascade Moiiatains are the home of moose, elk, caribou, 

 cougarF, Rocky Mountain sheep and goat and other laige game, 

 while all of the Northwestern States abound in feathered game. 

 Rocky Mountain trout and grayling are caught in the Yellow- 

 stone, Granatin, Madison, Jefferson, Clark's Fork and Green 

 rivers, affording unrivalled sport. An interesting pamphlet, 

 "Game Preserves of North America," can be obtained free on 

 application to Chas. S. Feb, G. P. & T. A. of the Northern Pacific 

 R. R. at St. Paul, Minn. Descriptive publications concerning 

 Yellowstone Park, Pacific coast and AJasks will also be mailed on 

 receipt of application, referring to Forest and Stream. — Adv. 



A Book About Indians.— The Forest and Stream wlU mall 

 free on application a descriptive circular of Mr, Grinnell'e book, 

 "Pawuee Hero Stories and Folk-tales," g^iving a table of contentp, 

 aud Bpeoimea lUastrt^tloo^ from the Tolume.— ^civ. 



THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



EXTRACTS from the report to the Secretary of the 

 Interior, by Capt. Geo. J. Anderson, Acting Super- 

 intendent: 



protection of forests. 



Thus far the season has been extremely wet and we have 

 had very little trouble with forest fires; the few that have 

 apneared have been extinguished by the patrols without 

 calling out the troops for assistance. I sincerely trust the 

 same good fortune will attend us to the end of the season, 

 but it is scarcely probable. There are more camping parties 

 than usual in the Park this year, and it requires ceaseless 

 vigilance to compel them to thoroughly extinguish their 

 fires. Other sources of fires are carelessly thrown cigars aut! 

 cigarettes, lightuing, and probably even the rubbing together 

 of partially fallen dead trees as they are swayed by the wind. 



The serious consequences of a fire here can only be under- 

 stood by those who have observed the almost impenetrable 

 thickness of the pine forests with their dense masses of 

 fallen and decaying trees. 



OUTPOSTS .IX THE PARK. 

 Up to the present time there has never been an outpost 

 near the south line of the Park. As settlements are rapidly 

 springing up near .Jackson's and Henry's Lakes, and these 

 restions are becoming the famed resorts of hunters and 

 htmtiug parties, a permanent station somewhere near the 

 jtmctioh of the Lewis and Snake Rivers will become a 

 necessity. I hope to send a small party there to spend the 

 winter of lS91-'92, and render needed pi'otection to the im- 

 mense herds of game in that vicinity. 



TOURISTS. 



The most ceaseless vigilance is needed to prevent tourists 

 from mutilating the beautiful L'onnations in the Park. I do 

 not believe 10,0(50 men could entirely accomplish it. Ladies 

 are the greatest specimen hunters, and oUeu they do not 

 carry their trophies further than the hotels. By a careful 

 supervision of the guides I have managed to keep this form 

 of vandalism at a minimum. Another source of great an- 

 noyance is the persistence with which men will write their 

 unlovely names on everything that is beautiful within their 

 reach. "This form of barbarism is confined almost entirely 

 to men, and, if we may judge from the writing, to the boor- 

 ish and illiterate. 



About a week ago a stage coming into the Park from 

 BeaA^er Canon was held up and robbed about 20 miles beyond 

 Park limits. I gave immediate orders for a careful search 

 by all the patrols in that direction, but so far have got no 

 trace of th e thieves. 



There is an unusually large number of people entering the 

 Park with guns of variouslkinds. From those who are simply 

 making a tour of the Park, with the purpose of returning 

 this way, I take the arms and restore them to the owner on 

 their exit. A great many parties, however, come this way 

 with intention of going out by E,iver.side or Jackson's L,ake. 

 For such parties I can only seal the guns, with admonitions 

 not to break seals within Park limits. This is only a meas- 

 ure of security with such people as would not hunt inside 

 the Park in any event. If others get in unfrequented locali- 

 ties I fear temptation would prove too much for them. 



I am constrained to recommend that sufficient notice he 

 given that from a fixed date, say June 1, all carrying of guns 

 within the Park will he strictly prohibited. Exceptions 

 can then be made and special permits granted by the Super- 

 intendent to people of undoubted reliability. 



FISH. 



For the most part the lakes and rivers of the Park are 

 literally filled with trout; I have never seen so many fish 

 elsew'here as there are in the shoal waters near the borders 

 of the Yellowstone Lake. Two years ago the Fish Commis- 

 sion began stocking the streams that were destitute of fish 

 and the work was continued last year. At the present time 

 some members of the Commission are in the Park making 

 an examination of these plants. I hope they may yet stock 

 some of the smaller lakes with black bass and thtis^ afford a 

 variety of sport to the angler. 



POACHERS. 



So long as there is no law within the Park for the preven- 

 tion of hunting and trapping, it will be a most difficult mat- 

 ter to break them up. Cook City, just off the northeast 

 corner of the Park, is fed entirely on elk meat, and I doubt 

 not a large proportion of it has been killed within the Park 

 limits. 



On my arrival here I was told that one Van Dyck was the 

 principal hunter for that place, and that his hunting 

 grcundswere near Soda Butte. I sent out thi-ee separate 

 expeditions for him before he was finally taken, in his camp 

 near Lamar River, with beaver traps and other evidences of 

 his trade in his possession. I kept him in custody for over 

 a month awaiting the Secretary's orders, and then turned 

 him loose after confiscating all his property. He is now in 

 Cook City once more, but I hear that he is conducting his 

 expeditions outside the Park. As the killing of elk in 

 Montana is absolutely prohibited by law for a term of years, 

 it seems strange that this traffic at Cook cannot be broken 

 up. 



I am satisfied that both hunting and trapping are carried 

 on within the limits of the Park over the western border. 

 I shall make an endeavor to "encourage" the majority of 

 these trespassers by bringing a few of them to justice this 

 fall. 



Mr. Ed. M. Wilson, who has been a most invaluable man 

 as a scout, guide and hunter, mysteriously disappeared on 

 -July 27 and left no trace behind. It will be quite impossible 

 to replace him, for there is no man in the region who at 

 once has the intimate knowledge of the countrj^, and of the 

 hunters and their methods, that he had. 



1 learn of three or four buffalo heads that have been 

 mounted in Bozeman, Livingston, and other neighboring 

 towns within the past year. I doubt not all of these were 

 killed within the Park, or very close to the line without it. 

 Such specimens are become very rare, and fine ones are held 

 at .§400 to $1,000. Such prices tempt the cupidity of the 

 border pirates who live near, and with small equipment 

 they can enter the Park on foot and take their chances 

 of capture and the confiscation of their small .stock in 

 trade. 



The most effectual way to break up this business would 

 be the prosecution of the taxidermists who purchase the 

 specimens— possession of which is prohibited by the laws of 

 all the adjoining States. 1 have abundant e^ddence, how- 

 ever, that the buffalo are contented and quiet in the Park 

 and that they are on the increase. Some tourists who went 

 through the Park in May saw a herd of about tliirty, 

 vdth several small calves, near the Trout Creek lunch sta- 

 tion. About the same time some employees of the 1 ellow- 

 stone Park Association saw what was probably the same 

 herd, and I saw there an abundance of fresh signs the first 

 week in June. 



In July I sent Wilson out to observe the herd that ranges 

 near the" west line of the Park. He found two small bands 

 of about thirty each, one with twelve or fifteen calves; in 

 addition he saw several single ones and small bunches. I do 

 not think it is exaggeration to say there are 200 and probably 

 there are 400, within the Park, and that they are thriving 

 and increasing. 



The elk have increased enormou.ssy, and most conservative 

 estimates place their numbers at 35,000, and I have no doubts 

 of the presence of that many. Their continuance in the 

 Park is assured, and their overflow into adjoining territory 

 will furnish abundant sport for the hunter. 



Mountain sheep, deer, and antelope are tame, numerous, 

 and on the increase; as they are httnted but little, if at all, 

 they are certain to be preserved. There are a few moose in 

 the extreme .southern part of the Park, whose uuuibers I 

 shall eudcfivor to apiiroximate duriug a trip that I hope to 

 make to that country in ( October. 



1 presume trapping of the fnr-l)earinK animals i.s carried 

 on across the Park lines, but careful watching and one or 

 two arre.sts have reduced it to a Tuinimum. One or two 

 more examples like that of Van Dyck will put an end to it. 



CAPTURE OF ANIMALS. 



On my arrival here I found authority to capture animals 

 for the irrational Zoological CTardens,'at Washington, D. C. 

 Tlie appointment as hunter was given to Mr. ElwoodHofer, 

 the most competent man in the country. Owing to s ;arcity 

 of funds with which to pay him he resigned his appointment 

 after two months, but continued to collect specimens. He 

 has caught and turned over to me, and I hold awaiting 

 shipment, two black bear cubs, three young foxes, two elk, 

 and a black-tailed deer. 



I also had two antelope, but one night about two weeks 

 since some carnivorous animal broke into their inclosure 

 and killed and ate them. When the time for shipment 

 comes I can readily trap and add to the collection a number 

 of the smaller animals, like wolverines, wolves, lynxes, 

 martins, badgers, porcupines, beavers, etc. All can be 

 shipped in one car, Avhich should go under charge of an 

 attendant. 



Bears have become very troublesome at all the hotels, 

 camps, slaughter-houses, and other places in the Park 

 where there is anything f(n' them to eat. They have not 

 proved at all dangerous, but it is impossible to keep provi- 

 sions anywhere within tlieir reach. 



I authorized the capture of one at the Fountain Hotel, 

 but he died o£ a rupture of the heart in his struggle to 

 escape. I had another caught in a trap there and he is now 

 in the Washington gardens. 



I have had four .small bears caught; two I have still, one 

 broke his chain and escaped, and one was eaten up by an 

 old bear whWe he was chained in front of the house at Yan- 

 cej^'s. As winter approaches I may find it necessary to kill 

 an occasional one, especially if they Ijecome destructive of 

 the game, or beef and mutton herds. By another season I 

 hope to be able to supply specimens of all the animals native 

 to the Park; their retention here during the season has 

 proven very interesting to the tourists. 



LAW IN THE PARK. 

 It .seems hardly necessary to call your attention to the 

 need of laws for the government of the Park. Senate bill 

 401, first session Fifty-first Cougress, as amended and re- 

 ferred to the Hoitse Calendar, has much to commend it, and 

 with a few modifications would effect all that can be de- 

 sired. For convenience the jurisdiction of the court should 

 be on the Montana side and the railroad charter (section 11) 

 should by all means be omitted. Otherwise the bill is as 

 nearly perfect as may be, and I trust the passage of it, or 

 one similar to it, may be pressed and accomplished. 



The full texts of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British ProNunces are given in the Book of 

 the Game Laivs. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



MR. ALFRED C. HAND writes from Pequaming, 

 Michigan, that the season is now over for trout 

 fishing with them, and the anglers are regretfully putting 

 away their tackle for the winter. He says that it has 

 been a good season in that section for troitt. His best 

 average was 5 fish weighing Slbs. 3oz., and the largest 

 3lbs. loz. , but he landed one for a companion that weighed 

 4lbs. 4oz. This fish was taken on a No. 6 silver- doctor, 

 though as a rule he thinks that the old fashioned brown- 

 pahner is about the most killing fly in that country. 



Mr. Jas. L. Livingston recently caught a 31b, 2oz. 

 speckled trout in Preston Pond, the last fish of the season. 

 He had just told his guide "Here goes for the last cast!?' 

 and it was a lucky one. 



Mr. Chas. F. Imbrie has returned from his trip to the Adir- 

 ondack Club. He had very little fishing, but his son Andrew 

 kUled two fine bucks with his Winchester, not in the water, 

 but running. Professor A'ail chopped in to show some of 

 his photographs taken on a trip to Nova Scotia. They 

 are very beautiful, and some of the strings of trout are 

 enough to make an angler wish he could try that wonder- 

 ful country. Though rather late, yet there is time between 

 now and Oct. 1 to make the trip. 



One of the happiest of the army of anglers recently re- 

 turned is Dr. Hasbrouck of this city, who killed 6 salmon 

 and 16 grilse on the Miramichi. It was his first trip after 

 salmon and it is worth while to hear the Doctor describe 

 how he lost his two lu'st salmon the same day he arrived 

 at the camp, and how he covered himself with glory the 

 next day by landing two without gaff or guide. I never 

 have caught a salmon, but I know just how he felt. 

 The man that kills his first caribou after a successful 

 stalk feels just that way. 



In answer to inquiries as how to best preserve flies 

 through the winter, I would advise keeping them in an 

 entpty segar box, first seeing that there are no moth or 

 eggs among them. Wrap box up in paper, but there must 

 be no holes, and fasten securely. Moths will not eat 

 through paijer, but I think they rather enjoy camphor. 



Bluefish are running '"outside" of large size and fine 

 condition, but there do not seem to be many in the 

 bays. The best way is to go down to Patchogue the night 

 before and make an early start. Boats and bait are plenty 

 there. Striped bass are being taken in fair numbers, but 

 they require hard work and good fishing. The largest I 

 have heard of lately was taken at Woods HoU, weight 

 351b3. 



Somebody is trying to bootn Stamford and Crreenwich, 

 Conn., in one of the daily papers, but if the reports are 

 true, the fishing must have improved very suddenly. 



Scaelet-Ibis. 



The Gravel Counted. — Albany, Sept. 15.— Belle, nine 

 years old, caught two pickerel one day weighing 61bs. and 

 6lbs. lOoz. respectively ; but Geoi'ge beat her record last 

 week by taking a 7-pounder. Little Belle says if they had 

 brushed the gravel off him he wouldn't beat her record, — 

 Dextek. 



