1§8 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 18, iBdv. 



ing to the outfit, and baked a supply of bread in the 

 Dutch oven. My last act just before the sun went down 

 was to sit astride a log which lay across Split Creek, and 

 wash my handkerchiefs. Although only four feet wide 

 and from twelve to fifteen inches deep, while thus en- 

 gaged I counted eighteen trout flitting by, and not one of 

 them was less than ten inches in length. We have trout 

 baked, broiled, boiled and fried, and strange to say, we 

 never tire of them. This evening we enjoy the camp 

 fire, as the nights are cold and frosty. Rea's reconnoitre 

 during the day satisfies him to a certainty that the game 

 has gone south, and the order was given the packers to 

 be up before day light in readiness for an early start. 



As we have had five days' experience on the ma.rch, I 

 must be pardoned for devoting a few words in relation 

 to our faithful animals, the Rocky Mountain " cay uses." 

 No beasts of burden coidd be better adapted to the wants 

 of the plainsman, prospector, hunter or ranchman. They 

 can live wherever a goat can manage to subsist, by paw- 

 ing away eighteen inches of snow, if necessary, in order 

 to crop the bufi'alo grass which abounds in most of the 

 region through which we traveled. " Warrior," the 

 horse which I ride, is strong, gentle, sure-footed and un- 

 derstands his business. I have ridden him both up and 

 down mountain sides as steep as the roof of a house, and 

 I never knew him to stumble or make a mis-step. He 

 will pick his way through a windfall, stepping from one 

 log to another, and intelligently trying each one to ascer- 

 tain how strong it is before putting his whole weight 

 upon it — leaping over the high ones, and breaking as few 

 sticks as many men who think themselves still-hunters. 

 I ride up to a flock of ducks or geese, and as they rise 

 shoot from the saddle, and I am positively sure that 

 while I take aim or have the arm. in position to fire, he 

 holds his breath. It is not necessary, most of the time, 

 to use the reins to 

 guide our animals ; all g> 

 that is necessary is to 

 sway the body slightly 

 to the right or left as 

 the case may be, and 

 they obey. When left 

 to themselves on the 

 march, they follow in 

 single file, and the one 

 in front usually picks 

 out the best footing in 

 the most difficult and 

 uneven ground. What 

 has been said of " War- 

 rior" can well be appli- 

 ed to "Wardrobe" and 

 " Buckskin," ridden by 

 Bush and Weber re- 

 spectively. 



During our stay in 

 this cam]p we scoured 

 the country in all direc- 

 tions, and on many oc- 

 casions found game- 

 yards and water-holes 

 at the foot of canons 

 tramped up like sheep- 

 pens, and all signs not 

 later than ten days or 

 two weeks; the trails all 

 going south in the di- 

 rection of the Teton 

 range and Jackson's 

 Hole country. 



Camp Misery, Oct. U. — This camp was named from 

 the fact that it is located on a divide between a meadow 

 and lava bed. We arrived here about 3 P. M., after hav- 

 ing marched about ten miles over very rough, poorly- 

 wartered country, and but little feed for our stock ; in 

 fact, our present camp site afforded the first opportunity 

 to graze our horses during all the day's march. About 

 half a mile east of camp, on a small branch of Warm 

 River, we found a beaver dam inhabited by one family 

 of that interesting rodent. We set three traps along the 

 breast of the dam, but as it was dark before we were 

 done they were smart enough not to repair so recent a 

 break in the dam, and the consequence was that when 

 we came to look them up this morning they were as we 

 left them. Had we remained another night, we would 

 have caught one or two of the cunning dam-builders 

 without doubt. The signs of moose were very abundant, 

 as evidenced by the fact that the tops of all the willows 

 which line the banks of the stream were clipped off, and 

 the tracks of the ungainly game could be seen every- 

 where in the soft soil. 



Warm River, Wednesday Morning, Oct. 15. — Yester- 

 day we made about twelve miles through a country com- 

 posed of lava beds, scrub pine wind-falls, and here and 

 there small patches of prairie. All the streams were 

 dried up, and our animals suffered for water. We ar- 

 rived here about 3:30 P. M. and were obliged to go into 

 camp on account of not being able to make the next 

 water before dark. We are near the head of the stream, 

 and on the right bank. The water is so warm that there 

 are few, if any, fish in it at this point, and it was never 

 known to freeze over. It is about fifty feet in width, 

 and the water in some localities is quite deep. During 

 most of the day's march yesterday, especially when we 

 were on high ground, we could see the Teton Mountains 

 in Wyoming, looming up to the south of us, and about 

 fifty miles distant. The "Old Man" of the range, over 

 13,000 feet above sea level, especially appeared like a 

 cloud ; and when the sun shone upon its snow-covered 

 top, it resembled the fabled cloud said to have a "silver 

 lining," but on the outside. 



After a hearty lunch we were off in different directions 

 in search of fresh meat, and by sun-down when all had 

 reported we had seven grouse, five hares, twelve ducks 

 and seven squirrels. Yesterday evening after the tents 

 were pitched, beds made and the stock attended to, the 

 packers made a bean-hole, and the consequence was we 

 had some very fine beans for breakfast this morning. 



By the way, it might be interesting to some were I to 

 describe the method of producing Boston baked beans in 

 the wilderness. The trick is simple enough if you know 

 how, and are in possession of the following ingredients, 

 viz.; The beans, salt pork, salt, two or three tablespoon- 

 fuls of molasses, a metal stewing pot, with a good close- 

 ly-fitting cover, and a spade or other instrument with 

 which a hole two feet deep by eighteen inches in diam- 

 eter can be made in the earth. Fut the beans in the pot, 



' COME TO BREAKFAST. 



interspersed with layers of thin slices of pork, add water 

 sufficient to cover them and no more ; then dig the hole, 

 in which kindle a fire first with dry wood and keep it 

 well filled with green bard wood if it is to be had. The 

 fire should be kept up from early evening until bed time, 

 if two or three hours all the better, which afl'ords a good 

 chance for any of the party whose turn it is to tell a 

 whopper. When it is time to retire the coals are shovel- 

 ed out of the hole, the molasses and pepper are added to 

 the contents of the pot; and it is set in the bottom of the 

 pit. The live coals are filled in around it and over the 

 lid, and the whole covered to the depth of five or six 

 inches with the earth which was taken out in making 

 the excavation ; the burning faggots and those of the 

 regular camp fire are placed over the grave, and there 

 you leave it until morning. When breakfast is nearly 

 ready, the pot is unearthed, and you will be sure to have 

 JSo. 1 baked beans — tender, rich and finely flavored, and 

 an agreeable change while on the march. ShonGO. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[From a Staff Corresvondent.'] 



OmcAao, 111., Aug. 11. — Mr. C. H. Waning, of Amster- 

 dam, N. Y.. writes me as follows; "I am very desirous 

 of ha.ving some first-class chicken shooting. I want to 

 go to some place where I can get good accommodations 

 and where I can hire a man with good dogs. I noticed 

 your letter in the Forest and Stream, and if you could 

 put me on any good shooting I would, be very much 

 obliged to you." 



I gave Mr. Warring the address of my game pocket, 

 which latter has proved to be a mighty convenient thing 

 to have in the family. I do not know of any good chicken 

 country on this sinful world where a man can get good 

 accommodations and also be able to get good dogs. Sin- 

 gularly enough, in these days of advanced kennel inter- 

 ests, there are fewer good doffs in the Western country 

 than there were twenty years ago. As the chickens dis- 

 appeared the chicken dogs disappeared also. They have 

 lots of fine dogs nowadays, they tell me, but of just plain 

 chicken dogs, with no frills on them, but with kind hearts 

 and hard feet, there is a large smallness. 



Time was when you could go into almost any town, 

 say in northwestern Iowa, or in Minnesota or Nebraska, 

 and find a sort of stock dog that would hunt chickeos for 

 anybody. This dog usually belonged to the barber, and 

 if the barber was too busy to go hunting with you, he 

 would, j)rovided you had your hair cut at his shop, let 

 you take the dog and hunt him all the week. Of course 

 on Sundays the owner of the dog would expect to do a 

 little hunting with him himself. As for the dog, he 

 enjoyed himself as well one way as the other, and just so 

 he was hunting, he didn't care with whom. As for 

 needing a special code of signals, or a regular handler, 

 the poor, ignorant brute probably never dreamed of such 

 a thing. He thought it was his business to find chickens, 

 and not to chase them; to poiat, keep steady and retrieve 

 the dead birds when the covey was all up. He did all 

 this in a plain, straightforward way, and thought nothing 

 of it. He liked it. He did it for one man j ast the same 

 as for another. This dog, however, which I presume I 

 may as well call the borrowing dog, failed to perpetuate 

 himself. Like all immortal snaps, he was mortal and 

 evanescent, and he is no more. 



I recall such a dog which used to live on top the bill at 

 the north end of Mud Lake, in Hamilton county, Iowa. 

 He belonged to some one, the son of the man who owned 

 the farm ihere. The dog's name was Don. I forgot the 

 name of his master. Those were chicken days, and Don 

 was a chicken dog, a big, orange and white fellow, of 

 that sturdy strain which, in the 'fiOs and '10s, was spread 

 all over central Iowa, and known under the very vague 

 name of "the Milwaukee dogs." This strain was said to 

 be traceable to a pair of setters imported by a Milwaukee 

 man, but when that happened, or who the man was none 

 of us ever knew. Anyhow, we called Don one of the 

 Milwaukee dogs, and in our camp we had another, a still 

 better specimen of the same strain, which we called Rex. 

 We came fropi a hundred miles below Mud Lake, but 

 Rex and Don were only brothers whose paths bad taken 

 them apart. They affiliated at once, and how they did 

 like to hunt chickens. It never occurred to Don's young 

 owner but what it was all right for us to borrow Don 

 whenever we wanted him, and we mostly wanted him; 

 in fact, you had to tie Don up or he was bound to be out 

 with the guns. And what a dog he was! Careful, 

 methodical, business like, thoroughly master of his trade. 

 I wish I had him now. He never wasted any time in a 

 field. He just went right to where the birds were, be- 

 cause he knew their habits, and knew where the birds 

 ought to be. I believe they call that bird sense now, or 

 something of that sort. We didn't call it anything then. 

 We just would rather hunt with that sort of a dog. 



I can see old Don now, in the mind's eye, as he stood, 

 head high up, solid as a rock, pointing a covey which we 

 found on the hillside more than 200 yards away. And 

 I can remember, too, there being some rivalry that day 

 between Don's young master and myself, how we both 

 shot into a bird just as it topped the grass out of that 

 covey, and blew it out of semblance to a feathered fowl, 

 much to Don's disgust. I wish I could think of that 

 boy's name. He shot one of those old, side-bar Fox guns. 

 I know there is a sore spot on my shoulder yet from car- 

 rying the lO^lbs. Bonehill gun 1 shot that day. At that 

 time the Bonehill gun was in our country thought to be 

 the ne ultra of the shotgun kind. "They ain't no 

 better gun except the Bonehill," said the small dealer 

 who sold it to us. 



Don and Rex, and the Bonehill, and Don's master are 

 mostly memories now. If our inquirer had been on 

 Mud Lake in those days and had oft'ered Don and his 

 master $'i a day to go shooting with him, he would have 

 been regarded as an object of suspicion. But Don is 

 dead now, and for his counterpart one must inquire else- 

 where than here. Can any one help out? 



CHICKEN COUNTRY. 



If any one wishes to go to North Dakota for shooting, 

 he will probably do well to go to Dakota, where within 

 driving distance he will get good sharpie shooting. 

 There is a Mr. Alexander at Lakota who takes parties 

 out. Larimore, N. D , is another good point, if one 

 wishes sharptails. Dakota is near the Devil's Lake 

 country, famous for wild fowl, For a fall trip this 

 should be a good point to bead for. There is also" good 

 9}iQ0ting on ^harptaUs in eastern Monta^ia now, The 



above information is given me by Mr, G. T. Sidway, o 

 Monett, Mo., who spends most of his time in Chicag 

 and shoots much over the country, Mr, Sidway saystda 

 between the Seneca and Verdigris rivers in the Indian . 

 tions, on the line of the 'Frisco road, there are still a ec 

 many chickens, though the shooting is unsatisfactory '■<- 

 cause contrary to the military regulations and liable to 

 stopped with a very round turn. 



Mr. L. F. Loeb, of this city, will at the close of th 

 month join a party of friends at Beatrice, Neb., for 

 chicken hunt over pastures about twenty-five miles froi 

 there, where plenty of birds are reported this week. 



WlTuX) PiaEONS. 



My Missouri friend, Mr. Sidway, tells me that the wil 

 pigeons visit southeastern fllissouri every other year rc^ 

 ularly, and that he often sees large flocks of them. TB 

 roost is west of the Ozarks, in the Indian territory. Lai 

 year a man about thirty miles west of Fayetteville, i 

 northern Arkansas, fed and shipped to Boston 2,000 wil 

 pigeons he had netted. The netting is no longer regii 

 larly profitable, but the bird is not extinct. 



For quail and wild turkey, and very good sport, saj 

 this same informant, one is perfectly safe to go to Ha 

 rison, Boone county, Ark., going in via Eureka Spring 

 The residents will furnish guides and the shooting is vej 

 good. For fly-fishing the E k, St. Francis, Grisconad 

 Current and others of these Southern streams would proi 

 ably open the eyes of maoy a Northern angler. J 

 any one wanting a wild, romantic trip after big gaii 

 with a good working chance of getting shot by a nati'V 

 a trip to the Ozark Mountains would probably be al^ 

 gether satisfactory. I think the time is not far distal 

 when Northern sportsmen will turn more and mor 

 Missouri and Arkansas for sport, either with rod or g 



Our friend Italian Joe killed 19 woodcocks one day tS 

 week near Willow Springs, right in the edge of Chica.!; 



EARLY JACKSNIPB. 



A most singular thing is the appearance of great ii 

 bers of jack snipe all over northern Illinois and Indi 

 in this tirst week of August. There are numbers al 

 the Kankakee marsh. "Tolleston club on the Little 

 lumet reports that a good flight has come in there 

 have already mentioned them as abundant around Li 

 mond, Ind. About Summit, and below there on 

 De Plaines they are also in, and indeed there are do : 

 of points which have reported them. The impression 

 common that these are local bred birds, but this is hai : 

 possible. They have not appeared here so early in sii 

 numbers at any time, within my recollection, at least, a 

 the fact attracts comment from old shooters. 



E, HoiruH, 



175 Monroe Street, Chicago. 



THE HUNTING RIFLE AGAIN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I sf e in your paper of June 23, that there is a renev 

 by "Aztec" of the old controversy about large and sm 

 charges for killing game. Doubtless there will alvvs 

 be differences of opinion as to what is really the b 

 change for this purpose, but it is evident that a lai 

 bullet with a proportionate charge of powder, will 1 

 on the average of shots, more quickly and certainly tl 

 a small bullet Mtting in the same place, bfcause it' 

 eludes in its course through the body a larger numbei 

 blood vessels and nerves, and often strikes a bone or laJ 

 vessel which the narrower diameter of the small bu] 

 would avoid. 



The only question then remaining to be decided is : 

 weight of rifle necessary to counteract the recoil of 1 

 larger charge. As this weight should never be more tl 

 can be carried without discomfort, it and consequefc 

 the amount of powder and lead should vary in accff 

 ance with the physical power, the endurance and " 

 nervous sensibility of the hunter. A powerful man * 

 can go through great fatigue must necessarily have 

 advantage in being able to carry a heavy and powei 

 weapon. A weak man, or one who is very sensitive 

 recoil, will bag more game with a lighter gun and sma 

 charges, but should not delude himself with the idea t 

 such charges are in themselves as effective as large, ' 



Experience proves that men of average strength i 

 endurance cannot, especially under a hot sun, carry ri 

 of more than about 91bs. weight without being fatig' 

 and thus losing chancps of killing game when very qu 

 shots are necessary. Every ounce of weight tells uj 

 even the strongest man in a long tramp, on the princ 

 admitted by trainers of race horses, that 71ba. extr$ 

 the back of a horse is equivalent to a length in a t 

 race. Hence the weight of each man's rifle shoull 

 reduced as much as possible provided the increase of 

 coil does not cause inaccuracy of shooting. 



"Aztec" says that with heavy charges (apparently ref 

 ing to those between 70 and 120 grains) the recoil is 

 pleasant unless the gun weigh about 121bs. I used, 

 many years, rifles of .45-gauge weighing from 8^ to 8|1 

 and carrying from 110 to l24grs. of powder and 280 to 

 of lead. They did not kick severely at target prae 

 and were unfelt when firing at game. Here is a poin(*^ 

 which beginners in the use of hunting rifles are liabf 

 err. They try a weapon at a mark, and rinding the ' 

 rather unpleasant, immediately conclude that the 

 is not enough for the charge. If they fired at an 

 the recoil would not be noticed at all. This is prol 

 owing to the attention being concentrated on the oi 

 aimed at and the rifle being held more firmly than us 



Before express rifles were invented I owned a . 45 brei 

 loading carbine weighing only (HIba,, the charge 

 which was 55gr8. of powder and 390grB. of lead. Ow 

 to the stock being very short and straight, the rifle' 

 only kicked terribly but jumped upward so as to 

 my cheek swell when at target practice, yet when fij k 

 at game, or even vermin, there was not only an aba« Is 

 of perceptible recoil, but my cheek was never hurt in 

 least degree. 



I have for years been convinced that the chief res 

 why rifles in America are made much heavier tha^ 

 this country is that the stocks are shorter and smalie 

 the base, a peculiarity which originated in old til 

 when barrels were very thick and rifles were held n 

 their crescent-shaped but^s against the upper arm ina 

 of the shoulder. The Winchester ,40 62 210 and the ■ 

 .40 60 260 are each of lOlbs. weight, while the British 

 85 330 has hardly any noticeable recoil at 7^ to Bibs, 

 is due to the stock being long and ;fitted with a shot 

 butt, having a much larger bearing stirf ace than thet 



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