428 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[fcic. l•^ 1881. 



l^m^ ^ng md 0utj. 



Antdope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton. 

 Price $2.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Rifle, Rod and 

 Gun in OaKfornia, By T. 8. Van Dyke. Price .^^'LoO. 

 S?i.ore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By ''Ne.ss- 

 muh.' Price $1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents Wild Fowl Shooting; see advertisement. 



The pull texts of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are given in the Booli of the 

 Game Laws. 



A WEEK AMONG THE TOAD HILLS. 



DETROIT CITY, Minn.— "Uncle Amuel wants to see 

 you," so said Eddie Stephens one November morn- 

 ing, as I was putting on my coat to go down town. 



"All right," I replied, "I'll stop and see him as I go 

 down the street." I had a suspicion as to what I was 

 wanted for, and my suspicion proved correct, for the first 

 words Amuel said were, "Let's get ready and go up in the 

 Toad Lake country next week after deer." 1 thought a 

 moment before replying, and he continued, "Now don't 

 Bay no, but come along and we'll have a grand good week 

 out in the woods, if we do not get a single deer." 

 "I'll go," I replied. "You get all the camping outfit ready 

 and I'll see to the team," he said. It made a busy Satur- 

 day for me, but when evening came all was ready J or our 

 start Monday mornmg. A muel is the youngest brother 

 of my all-aroimd friend and chum Stepliens; we were oH 

 a year ago together after deer and had so pleasant a time 

 we were willing to try it again. Monday morning found 

 us started for the long drive to the Toad Lake region. 

 Our party consisted of three, aa Walter Hay den, a sur- 

 veyor and "cruiser," wanted to go with us for a couple of 

 days. How rough the road was. It liad frozen quite hard 

 during the night, and to drive faster than a walk was im- 

 possible in many places, sometimes for miles at a stretch. 

 None of us knew exactly where we were going. Ilayden 

 thought he had a pretty clear idea, and as one of his 

 hobbies is map making, he had drawn and given me a 

 couple, supposed to represent the most prominent features 

 of the country we were going to; but, as he was puzzled 

 to tell the bottom from the top of the best one he had 

 drawn, I did not trust too entirely to finding our way or 

 locating according to map. The first excitement came 

 when we had gone about eight miles on our way. Amuel 

 suddenly told the driver to stop, and the following dia- 

 logue took place bet weett him and Hayden: 

 "There's a deer over there." 

 "Where? I don't see it." 



"On that brush point that runs out into the marsh." 

 "Oh, that white thing! I don't think that's a deer." 

 "Yes, it is: look close now." 

 "I believe it is. There, see it move?" 

 "You go around that side, Hayden, and I'll go this, and 

 we'll get it." 



Away they went, and by this time the driver and I had 

 climbed up on top of the baggage and were trying to see 

 the deer. The driver was greatly excited, and exclaimed, 

 "I've never seen a deer yet, and if there is one there I 

 want to see it." I pointed out the white object to him, 

 and at the same time assured him that it was no deer, 

 for Amuel and Hayden were quite close now, and no deer 

 with ordinary deer sense would let itself be approached 

 in the open like that. "I saw it move," said the driver. 

 "Oh, why don't they shoot." The seeing it move was 

 certainly imaginary, for the hunters were now soberly 

 retracing their steps to the wagon, and the large white 

 rock was left in peace. It vs^as a tender subject with 

 them all the trip, and is still, and I had an effective 

 weapon to crush them with when they grew too hilari- 

 ous. But they repaid the account with interest before 

 we had been long in camp. On we went, enlivening the 

 way by anecdote and incident; on that bluff yonder to 

 the north of the pine slashing Stephens shot the big buck 

 that he and I had chased all the afternoon; just east of 

 that Amuel had shot his first deer of this season, and a 

 little beyond the Ottertail River, which we soon crossed, 

 was where Hayden helped a man kill a bear; and still 

 further along was a great pine hollow at the butt, which 

 hollow had furnished him a camping place all one long 

 winter night. 



About noon we left the main road and turned east 

 toward the Toad Lakes. On and on we went. The driver 

 was in despair at the roughness of the road. At length 

 we saw a lake on our right which Hayden declared was 

 Little Toad. We gave up trying to reach the junctiori of 

 the Toad rivers, where we had thought to camp, and con- 

 cluded to stop on the shore of Little Toad Lake. We 

 turned toward the lake, drove through a beautiful grove 

 of jack pines, crossed one marsh, came to another that 

 was impassable, concluded that we did not want to get to 

 the lake, turned about and made our camp in the gi-ove 

 of pines we had just passed through. A more beautiful 

 place I never camped in, We could think of no name 

 that just fitted it, so said, "Let it be Nameless," and 

 Nameless Camp it was. Dinner was soon ready and the 

 driver started back with the team. 



We made everything snug about the camp and then 

 started to explore the country. Deer signs there were 

 everywhere, runways like well beaten sheep paths. If 

 a light fall of snow would come we would be in for rare 

 sport. We went as far as the junction of Big and Little 

 Toad rivers, then returned to camp. Neither Hayden nor 

 myself saw a deer, but Amuel caught sight of one a long 

 way off, Soon after supper we went to bed, filled wirh 

 anticipations of the naorrow. 



At daylight we had our breakfast eaten and were off, 

 I was put on a runway while the othei's went on east. 

 For two bom-s I staid at my post. The first living thing 

 I saw, aside from the squirrels, Avas a hunter coming 

 stealthily through the woods. He Avas nearly on me be- 

 fore he saw me and was vastly astonished to find a 

 stranger away off there. He had killed four deer in one 

 day the week before and was now on- his way up into the 

 Toad Hills on a hunt. After he went on silence reigned 

 for a long time, till suddenly the sharp cracking of a 

 bi'eaking stick down the trail aroused me. At the first 

 glance I saw nothing, then I caught a glimpse of a gray 

 object in the brush, I stepped out on the trail to get a 

 better view, with my Marlin ready, for I never shoot at 

 anything in the brush until I know what it is. \ was 



sure a deer would be in sight in a few seconds, when to 

 my disgust an Indian appeared, and his large jjack, 

 covered with a gray blanket, was what had so fooled me. 

 Just as he appeared I heard Hayden just behind me say, 

 "Lookout, don't you shoot," and from that time on he 

 and Amuel insisted that I had better keep still about the 

 "white rock," for had not I mistaken an Indian for a 

 deoi? But I felt that I was justified in being ready just 

 as I was for what might ai^pear. 



We now went north to Twin Lakes. Here Amuel 

 started three deer, of which he badly wounded one, but 

 it got away, and although we tracked it a way by the 

 blood the trail was soon lost. Peeling somewhat dis- 

 couraged we went north of the lakes toward the lulls, 

 then concluding to go east to Big Toad Lake, which 

 Hayden said was only a mile or so away. We tramped 

 for more than an hour, and then finding ourseh^es in a 

 seemingly interminable thicket of poplars and brush, 

 and the lake apparently as far off as ever, we decided to 

 go back aiid make a drive at Twin Lakes and then to 

 camp, 



Wti separated, Hayden and I going one way and Amuel 

 the other. We had gone about a quarter of a mite, when 

 the crack of Amuel's Colts rang out. "He's shot a deer," 

 we both said, and paused a moment; but hearing nothing 

 further started on, when the rifle cracked again five 

 times in quick succession. "That's a signal for us to 

 come," said I. "No,'' said Hayden, "he's wounded a 

 deer and is shooting at it.'' "1 know better; that's 

 Amuel's signal for us, and you can do as you please, but 

 I'm going back!" "Well, if you insiiJt on going back I'm 

 going too." So back we went. We found Amuel stand- 

 ing by one of the largest bucks I had ever seen. He had 

 a standing shot over i^.oOyds. away, hit him full in the 

 neck, the ball going through into the spine, dropping 

 him where he stood. He was a magnificent creature, 

 and four days later weighed 2081 bs. dressed. The first 

 words Amuel said when I came to him were, "That head 

 is yours." The head is now in the taxidermist's hands, 

 and I expect will soon be placed on the walls of my 

 study. 



We soon had the deer lumg up and dressed, and then 

 we decided to carry out our original programme, only 

 Hayden and I were to stop at a house we had seen in the 

 woods on our way over and find out if they had a horse 

 team that we could get on the morrow to haul the deer 

 to camp for us. We found an old German at the house, 

 who said he had a horse team, but it was at Detroit City 

 then and Avould not be home until night, 



We made the drive as planned, but without success. 

 Amuel started a deer that ran toward Hayden and in 

 plain sight of him, but just before coming within range 

 turned from its course and disappeared behind a bluff, to 

 be seen no more. Hayden was grievously disappointed 

 at not getting a shot, and all the more so that he must go 

 home in the morning. "When I saw that deer coming, I 

 said 'you ai'e my meat,'" he lamented, "and now it looks 

 as though I've got to go back home like the ordinary 

 gang who go out every year and never bring in any- 

 thing." 



We were very gay, however, in camp that night, and 

 Hayden began a Chippewa war dance in the tent, from 

 which I promptly ejected him, and he finished his dance 

 out under the pine trees, emitting meanwhile a succession 

 of whoops that must have caused profound astonishment 

 to all the beasts and birds within five miles of Nameless 

 Camp. 



At daylight the next morning we were out, and a drive 

 was made at Twin Lakes, but without success. Hayden 

 now bid Amuel and I good-bye, and went back to camp 

 to get a lunch and start on his long walk to Detroit City. 

 He Avas obliged to go, as he was under contract to go north 

 with a party to survey and mark a lot of pine timber. 

 We told him to order a team to come out after us Satur- 

 day, and I agreed to hang a white handkerchief on a jack 

 pine at the place to turn off to get into where the camp 

 was. Reluctantly he left us. 



We at once started for the old German's to see about 

 getting the buck hauled to camp, for, as Amuel said, "I 

 can't hunt until I get that deer out of there." We reached 

 the house, and in response to our knock were told to 

 "come in." We entered, greeted by the savage barking 

 of a large dog. The one room of the house was small, 

 and in it we found five men, one woman, the dog, a bed, 

 six hundred-pound sacks of flour, sacks and barrels of 

 potatoes, feed for the pigs, the harness for the horses, and 

 in fact everything that belonged to the farm except the 

 live stock. Six rifles and one shotgun stood in the 

 corner, three beautifully ornamented German pipes hung 

 on the wall, but in all my experience of roughing it I 

 never saw as many different things in one small room as 

 there. We were most heartily welcomed, however, and 

 as soon as our errand was explained, in which explana- 

 tion all their limited English, my equallj^ limited German 

 and Amuel's Danish (which he speaks fluently) were 

 brought into use. They gladly hitched up the team and 

 went for the deer. Fortunately we had to cut a road 

 only a short distance, and at 11 o'clock had the deer bang- 

 ing up by om" tent. 



What course should we take for the afternoon? We 

 finally decided to try and reach Big Toad Lake. We put 

 in that whole afternoon tramping through the woods in 

 the direction we supposed the lake to be, but failed to 

 reach its shores. We had a very enjoyable afternoon, 

 however, passing through the big pine woods, groves of 

 jack pines and also hard wood, and once for a long 

 distance we skirted the edge of an immense spruce and 

 tamarac swamp. W.e also crossed the bed of what had 

 been quite a large lake, marked on the maps (not Hayden's) 

 as Mud Lake, but now entirely dry and the bottom a mass 

 of white sand. Not a deer did we catch sight of, although 

 tracks and runways were found everywhere. At length 

 we brought up at an uninhabited house on the Big Toad 

 River. I do not wonder that no one lived there, tor a 

 more dreary, desolate-looking place I never saw! The 

 body of the house was made of tamarac poles, the gables 

 shingled a la Queen Anne, and the steep roof thatched 

 with marsh grass. The board shutters were tightly closed 

 and the door secured by an immense padlock. Turning 

 owv back upon this deserted home, we went down the 

 river to the ford, and then separated for our four-mile 

 walk to camp, which I reached at dusk without having 

 seen a deer, and Amuel came in a few minutes later, 

 having had the same experience. 



We woke many times in the night to find the tent all 

 lighted up by the glory of the full moon. Toward morn- 

 ing Amuel awoke me to ask if I heard that thing crying 



out there. I listened and heard the same peculiar cry 

 that had waked us a year ago while we were in camp on 

 the Little Falls cut-off of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 

 Then the cry beginning far off finally came near the tent, 

 and the picture is still very vivid to me of Amuel scantily 

 attired, just as he crawled from bed, standing in front of 

 the tent, in the nipping November air, peering up into the 

 branches of a tall pine, trying to locate by the fitful light 

 of the waning moon, as it shone through the tops of the 

 waving pines, the beast or bird that had disturbed us. "I 

 see it," be said, "a great dark bunch up there; what it is 

 I can't tell, but I'll find out." Just as he raised his rifle 

 to find out, with a final cry the thing left the tree, and a 

 great owl flew noiselessly on into the woods, while 

 Amuel with many a shiver crawled back by my side to 

 get warm. 



As soon as light the next morning we were off, and at 

 10 o'clock found tis about a mile north of the Toad hills, 

 and neither of us had had a shot at a deer. I had caught 

 a glimpse of the tail of one in a dense poplar thicket, 

 but that was all. "Let's go up on one of the hiUs and 

 look at the country," said Amuel. We selected the one 

 that looked the highest, a perfect cone, rising sheer from 

 the level ground about 300ft., I judge, without a tree on 

 it. Short of breath we were when at last we stood on the 

 top: but what a superb view! North, east, south and 

 west, as far as eye could see, stretched the forest, the 

 dark green of pine and spruce, intermingled here and 

 there by the gray of the hard woods or tamarac, and 

 unbroken save by the lakes and here and there a pine 

 slashing. We could see Island Lake, Height of Land. 

 East and West Twins, Little Toad, the bed of Alud Lake 

 that we had crossed the afternoon before, and Big Toad. 

 Between us and Big Toad were the other Toad hills, one 

 of which we now found was a little higher than the one 

 we were on. "What shall we do?" said Amuel. "Let's go 

 to Big Toad if it takes all the rest of the day," I replied. 

 "All right,'' he responded. So taking the direction we 

 started in a direct line through the woods and across 

 marshes. After a two hours' tramp we stood at length 

 upon the shore of the lake. It is a large lake, with a 

 beautiful gravel beach, and we resolved to try its waters 

 next summer for bass. I felt rather discouraged that 

 night as we lay in bed, for we had only one day more 

 and I had not had a shot at a deer. 



The next morning we found that a very light snow had 

 fallen; not enough for tracking, however. We separated 

 to make a drive at the Twin Lakes. Soon I heard Amuel 

 shoot three times. When I found him I learned that he 

 had wounded a big buck, and had also started a doe and 

 fawn. 



We took the slight trail and followed those deer 

 until 1 o'clock, when in disgust Amuel said, "Let them 

 go. I'll go up through here and you go down across the 

 slashing, and we'll swing around toward camp." I started 

 off, but had gone only a short distance when I heard 

 Amuel shoot. I turned and saw him on arise of ground, 

 and just then he shot again and yet again, and then 

 whistled for me. I went up, and there lay a great favra. 

 nearly full grown, killed by the first shot, which severed 

 the spinal cord. 



"I think I've got another one down here." "We 

 went a few rods down the old trail and there lay as 

 fine a doe as I ever saw. They were the ones we had 

 been following so long. On leaving the trail and cutting 

 across had brought Amuel and the deer almost face to 

 face in the old logging trail. Oh, the perversity of thingsl 

 If Amuel had been a few rods further back he would not 

 have seen the deer, and they would have run right on to 

 me. But such was my lot, I was not to get a shot at a 

 deer on the trip. 



We hung the deer up and dressed them, then started 

 for the old German's again to get his team to haul them 

 out. We were about five miles from camp by the trail, 

 and it was dark by the time these deer were hung along- 

 side the buck at Nameless Camp. The old German and 

 his wife and sons were as much pleased at our success as 

 we were, and in every manner possible tried to express 

 their pleasure. After we had gone to bed, Amuel 

 straightened himself out, gave a big sigh of supreme con- 

 tent and said, "Well, we've had a good time, and I'm 

 satisfied." 



In the morning, as we went to make our last drive, I 

 bung the handkerchief on the pine at the place to leave 

 the road for camp. It was growing cold fast. We found 

 the Twin Lakes all frozen over, and on our return to 

 camp from an unsuccessful morning hunt, we found the 

 well which Amuel had dug in the edge of the marsh 

 frozen so that an ax was necessary to get to the water. 

 There were two buffalo birds at the tent, which Amuel 

 said was a certain sign of cold and snow. The birds were 

 about the size of bluejays, only instead of being blue, 

 white and black, had the dun, black and white color of 

 the chickadee. I had never seen any before, and was 

 surprised at their tameness, coming within three feet of 

 us again and again. Shortly after dinner the team arrived, 

 driven by one of the proprietors of the livery stable him- 

 self; the driver who brought us out having given up his 

 position rather than come in for us over the bad roads. 

 We broke camp, loaded up, and as we left the pine grove 

 to tm-n into the road homeward, I reached up and took 

 the handkerchief from the Umb of the jack pine and with 

 it waved a farewell to Nameless Camp. 



Myron Cooley. 



Detbott City, Minn., Dee. 'J. 



VIRGINIA LANDS POSTED. 



WASHINGTON, D. C, Nov. 2^.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: 1 have received so many letters of in- 

 quiry of late from Northern sportsmen, asking about the 

 shooting: in Virginia and North Carolina, that I fintl it 

 impossible to answer them as I would like to — individu- 

 ally. I will therefore respond thi'ough the columns of 

 the Forest and Stream, all the more readily from the 

 fact as that journal is publishing for its patrons all the 

 information it can obtain about the shooting status of the 

 Old Dominion and Tar Heel State. By writing a plain 

 statement I will at least save some sportsman a long 

 frttitless trip, to say nothing of loss of time, temper and 

 tin. 



I often meet in my travels during the shooting season 

 parties of disgrttntled Northerners who have left home 

 with glowing visions of glorious sport, and retracing' 

 their steps sadder and madder men. It is a safe and 

 sound rule for a stranger never to start for either of the 

 sister States withotit having an objective point and com- 

 pleted arrangementp with some reputable native. Many 



