160 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AuCr. 25, 1892. 



dark. Each of us strapped a hindquarter of elk behind 

 his saddle for our hungry companions. Our new helper 

 went with us, and after many detours over a terrible 

 country, we at 10:30 reached the snow line, when the 

 darkness of the night and the roughness of the route pre- 

 vented further progress. We could do no better than 

 build a fire and bivouac for the rest of the night, and 

 without water for ourselves or horses. 



In the morning, as soon as it was light enough for us to 

 see our way, we started for camp, being obliged to follow 

 the bottom of a gorge and in many places cut logs in 

 order to make it possible to get through. Arriving at 

 9:30 A. M., we soon gladdened the hearts of our com- 

 panions with the tale of our hunt, and at once set about 

 organizing the pack train and getting it off to the scene 

 of the killing. 



Fortunately, within a mile of our camp the only other 

 inhabitants of the section for many miles were in the 

 trapper's camp, Joe and his companion. A day or two 

 before our arrival two men with a wagon had brought in 

 their supplies for the winter, and were waiting to get 

 meat and hides for a back load to Ricksburg, Wyo., as 

 near as I can tell, about 105 miles from where we are 

 located. 



At 1 P, M. I had the satisfaction of seeing the whole 

 outfit off for the top of the mountain, consisting of 9 men 

 and 17 horses— 5 of the horses ridden by our party, and 

 12 to be used for packing the hides, horns and meat. 

 Some one had to remain in camp, and the writer pre- 

 ferred to fill that position, and that accounts for my being 

 alone. 



Sunday Morning, Oct. &7. — The skinning out and pack- 

 ing in the meat, heads, horns and hides of fourteen elk 

 proved to be more of a task than was first supposed, and 

 our people did not get back to camp until Saturday at 

 2 P. M. The hides we kept and as much of the meat as 

 we could make use of on our march home, and the rest 

 we gave to our trapper friends, who were glad for so 

 valuable a back-load. During my lonely vigil in camp I 

 had full satisfaction with the rod and line, fishing in the 

 Snake, and was not obliged to go more than a few hund- 

 red yards from the magnificent pool just in front of our 

 quarters. The largest specimen weighed 311 bs., caught 

 with a small spoon bait. He made a good fight, and be- 

 came the subject of a photograph, also of the process of 

 skinning. 



While up the mountain the outfit came in sight of an- 

 other herd of twenty-six elk, most of which could have 

 been killed, but we had all that could be taken care of, 

 and there was no object in pursuit except wanton de- 

 struction, and that ingredient did not enter into our com- 

 position. 



The antlers of the bull elk proved to be of unusual size 

 and perfect in every particular. It took me two hours 

 yesterday to prepare the head for transportation on the 

 animals, as it had to be sawed through its center and the 

 flesh carefully trimmed off, our German artist making a 

 good picture of the operation dm-ing its progress. 



Yesterday evening we bviilt a fire on the point of a 

 small peninsula in the river, and tried the experiment of 

 fishing by firelight. In three-quarters of an hour we 

 caught 26 very fihe trout by castmg the line down stream 

 as far as we could and then reeling up, when scarcely a 

 single cast failed to get a strike, and mostly a fine trout. 



To-morrow morning (Monday) the trappers' team will 

 start for their destination, and if the snows do not come 

 they will get through inside of a week. This will afford 

 us the first opportunity of sending out mail since leaving 

 the ranch, and by arrangement we are to deposit the 

 letters in a Royal Baking Powder can at the end of a log 

 two rods north of the trappers' camp, they being up the 

 mountain bringing down tbe balance of the meat which 

 they were unable to transiaort yesterday. 



Bea's Ranch on the Shotgun, Idaho, Nov. S.—We ar- 

 rived here yesterday at 4:30 P. M., after a continuous 

 march of six days. We did no hunting or fishing, except 

 the catching of a few fish as we needed them, and pick- 

 ing up a few ducks and an occasional wild goose while 

 on the march. 



The only incident worthy of note occurred one morn- 

 ing as we were nearly ready to take up our line of march. 

 Three swans came flying along; Bush, who happened to 

 have his gun in his hand, made the remark that he would 

 have swan steak broiled for his supper, and as he made 

 the remark he stepped a few feet from the fire, took aim 

 and fired— and to the utter astonishment of all present 

 the last swan in the row toppled and fell dead to tbe 

 ground just 210 steps from where he stood. Swan invar- 

 iably fly in single file and he averred that he aimed about 

 4ft. in front and 3ft. above the first swan. Upon exam- 

 ination it was found that the ball had passed through the 

 neck 3in. behind the head. This was one of the most re- 

 markable chance shots on record, at least in my 'experi- 

 ence, as thg ball did its work not less than 16ft. further 

 back than where it was aimed. 



All hands were now busy attending to the bides, pho- 

 tographing the horses and their riders and arranging for 

 the departure of Bush and Weber, who started for home 

 next day. I remained a few days until the hides were in 

 a condition to ship, when Rea and I took up our line of 

 march to Beaver Canon, where they were crated and 

 shipped by freight East. As I write the sightless glass 

 eyes of the bull, two cow elk and a black-tail buck appear 

 to be looking down upon me from the walls of my office, 

 and continually remind me of my most remarkable out- 

 ing in the Rockies. Shongo. 



liANCASTER, Pa. 



AN AROOSTOOK REMINISCENCE. 



Thf, first time I ever went deer hunting, 1 was success- 

 ful. I admit at the start, however, that luck was a more 

 potent factor than skill in bringing about the result. 



Ever since 1 was first able to lug around a gun, it has 

 been my practice to spend at least a few days, generally 

 a couple of weeks, in the fall hunting. 



For some time I made my uncle's farm, not far from 

 Portland, my headquarters, where I got a fair number 

 of partridges and gray squirrels with an occasional duck 

 in the river, and at the same time had the pleasure of re- 

 visiting old friends and relatives. But a business boom 

 struck the town and it settled up rapidly, and finally one 

 fall some years ago, after hunting several days without 

 capturing either fur or feathers, I realized with regret 

 that the hunting ground of my boyhood days was played 

 out. 



Well, I laid my gun aside and made my stay somewhat 

 shorter than usual that fall, and next year when the 

 hunting season drew near, I began to look around for a 

 new field of operation. ' 



The result of my search was that I brought up in a 

 little hamlet of some half dozen houses in southern 

 Aroostook the first day of October. The ruffed grouse 

 was the main object of my quest, and I found him in 

 greater numbers than had ever before been my fortune 

 to encounter, getting from three or four to as high as a 

 dozen in a day's hunt. After my arrival there I found 

 what I had not known before that this was quite a 

 noted locality for deer. 



I had never hunted any for large game, but was con- 

 sidered a fair shot with a rifie, and the first few days of 

 my stay the new report of several deer being killed within 

 a radius of a few miles stimulated me to make the at- 

 tempt myself. Just at this time a party of three sports- 

 men from Massachusetts came to the house. They were 

 very fly young men, and were going to kill all the game 

 in the region. They procured the best guides to be found, 

 hunted two days, saw several deer, but failed to secure 

 any, and at the end of the second day gave it up and re- 

 turned home disgusted. 



The second day was Friday, and that evening one of 

 the guides dropped into my hostelry, and conversing with 

 us on the result of the late expedition, said that there 

 were plenty of deer over the route they had traveled, if 

 anybody was smart enough to get them, and that he 

 meant to try it again to-morrow. Another young man 

 who was present offered to accompany him. I had had 

 a pretty good session with the partridges, and being in- 

 vited to go also, concluded to make the third member of 

 the party. 



We did not get a very early start, leaving the house 

 about half an hour after sunrise. I had a Winchester .34, 

 belonging to the house, which I had used some, Ernest, 

 the guide, had a Kennedy .44, and Arthur, the other 

 man, had my double shotgun. We walked up the main 

 road about a mile, then by a crossroad through the woods 

 half a mile, to an arm of the lake. Here we took a 

 batteau, our route for some two miles and a half being 

 by water. One rowed and another paddled, the third 

 man by turns relieving the others. The wind was dead 

 against us and it was no slight job to make any head way 

 with the batteau, as any one who has used one of these 

 craft can testify. They are sharp at both ends, the bow 

 and stern overhanging, about twice as large as a common 

 dory, and weigh something less than four tons each. 



The arm was half a mile long and reaching the end, I 

 got my first view of the lake. Good judges have pro- 

 nounced it one of the loveliest in the country, and I could 

 but admit, not without reason. It was of oblong shape, 

 some three miles long and a half mile wide at the widest 

 point, surrounded on all sides by ridges heavily wooded 

 with a birch, beech and maple growth, which had akeady 

 begun to put on its autumn regalia of brilliant colors. No 

 sign of previous human occupancy was to be seen from 

 our point of view, and we could easily imagine ourselves 

 a hundred miles from the nearest habitation of civilized 

 beings. The smart breeze blowing had rufiled up the 

 surface of the water into waves of quite respectable size, 

 but by perseverance we finally reached our landing place, 

 in the lee of a point putting out into the lake, and where 

 an old logging road ran back into the woods. 



We hauled the batteau up a little on the shore, took our 

 guns and started up the logging road, following it in a 

 westerly direction about quarter of a mUe, when it turned 

 to the north and ran up over a ridge. Here the hunt 

 proper began. I kept the road, Ernest took a position 

 about 100yds. to my left, and Arthur the same distance 

 to my right, and we moved slowly up over the ridge, oc- 

 casionally catching sight of each other to direct our 

 movements, the programme being to keep somewhere 

 near in line, and if either jumped a deer somebody would 

 stand a chance of a shot. 



We walked along slowly and cautiously, I keeping the 

 road, and after proceeding a quarter of a mile I dis- 

 covered that I had lost both companions, but I had taken 

 the lay of the land and knew I could easily get back to 

 the boat, and pushed on. A few hundred yards more 

 ibrought me to the edge of a little clearing some sixty 

 yards square, which was evidently the end of the road. 

 I could see some distance through the forest in all direc- 

 tions, and thinking it probable that by reason of better 

 walking in the road I had get ahead of my companions, 

 I sat down on a log and waited for them to show up. I 

 had not sat there more than two or three minutes, when 

 I heard a shout and then a rifle shot to my left, apparently 

 a couple of hundred yards away. 1 cocked my rifle and 

 waited. Presently, in the direction of the shot, I saw a 

 small white object bobbing through the woods, coming 

 straight toward me. I did not know that it was a deer's 

 tail, and thought at first that it was an extra large robin. 

 Then I saw that it was too high in the air, and the idea 

 struck me that it might be a deer, I put the rifle to my 

 shoulder and sighted it on the object as near as possible. 

 In a few seconds a deer jumped over a fallen spruce about 

 forty yards away, into the clearing in plain sight, I 

 covered him, and the instant he struck the ground I fired. 

 The only effect it apparentlj^ had was to increase his 

 speed, and he went by me like a streak, I getting two 

 more shots at him before he got out of sight. I was just 

 about to follow him when I heard a call from Ernest; I 

 answered, and presently he came up and said he had 

 jumped a bunch of three or four deer, but failed to get a 

 shot, and knowing that one had gone in my direction had 

 shouted and fired to warn me. 



I told him my experience, and we went to the place 



where the deer was when I first fired, and followed his 

 track to where he reentered the woods. We found no 

 blood or hair, and I could see that he thought I had missed 

 him clean. But I knew that I had not lost my nerve, 

 and felt sure that I had not missed the bigness of a deer 

 at 40yds. So we entered the woods, he taking the lead 

 and 1 following close behind. The deer showed no signs 

 of giving up, and after tracking him nearly 200yd8., 

 Ernest stopped and said, "It's no use, I guess you didn't 

 touch him." 



I was about to acquiesce, when looking ahead I saw 

 about 50yds. away just one of his ears sticking up be- 

 hind a little hillocK. I exclaimed, "There he is!" and 

 instantly aiming in the direction of the ear, fired two 

 shots in quick succession, I admit that I was a little ex- 

 cited then, and was about to let go a third time, when the 

 guide said, "Don't shoot, partner, don't shoot; he's down," 

 And so it proved. 



He was dead when we reached him, having bled in- 

 wardly. It was a yearling buck and weighed, we esti- 

 mated, 1251bs. Having bled him we looked for the shots, 

 and found but one hole in him and no place where the 

 ball came out. We afterward found that the ball had 

 struck his right shoulder, breaking it, traversed him 

 lengthwise and lodged in one of his hips. 



So it was my first shot, as he was nearly head on when 

 that was fired. My second and third shots were missed 

 as he skipped by, which somewhat lowered my pride as 

 a marksman. The two last could not be expected to reach 

 him, as he was all out of sight behind the hillock except 

 the ear. The fact that he had traveled 300yds. with such 

 a wound, spoke wonders for their vitality. 



We tied his legs together, cut a sapling and ran through 

 and each took an end on his shoulder and started for the 

 boat. 



It was a pretty severe job getting him along that rough 

 old road and over fallen trees, but I was not in a mood to 

 complain; and Ernest was a powerful fellow, used to 

 such work, and made no bones of it. We reached the 

 boat in due season and found it was only 11 o'clock. We 

 rested a while, ate a lunch, and then struck out again. 

 Arthur was quite deaf; he had evidently heard nothing 

 of the scrimmage, and it was useless to try and call him 

 back. We hunted several hours, but found no more deer 

 and returned to the boat to find Arthur not yet arrived. 



We interviewed the grub basket again; and after an- 

 other rest went back into the woods a little way, where 

 we had seen a flock of partridges in the morning. In a 

 short time we got three, shooting their heads off with 

 rifle baUs. Two of them came my way and Ernest shook 

 hands with the other. Then finding no more we returned 

 to the lake shore and waited, occasionally making a trip 

 to the grub basket, and glancing into the batteau, where 

 the deer lay in state with the partridges, minus heads, 

 arrayed on either side, giving us the comforting reflec- 

 tion that the day had not been spent in vain. It was 

 nearly sundown when Arthur showed up. He had not 

 heard the shots and had spent nearly the whole day try- 

 ing to find us We set out at once, Ernest and I rowing,! 

 and Arthur taking his turn at the basket. 



The wind was with us this time and we made pretty 

 good progress to our landing place, put up the batteau, 

 lugged our game out to the main road, hung the deer up 

 in a tree, and reached the house soon after dark. We 

 harnessed a horse, went back and brought him home in 

 triumph. 



So 1 got my deer after all, and even now the recollec- 

 tion of that day forms perhaps the most pleasing remin- 

 iscence of my hunting career. E. W. L, 



HUNTING *RIFLES AND BULLETS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Regarding hunting rifles for large game, I have read 

 statements of sportsmen who have had some experience; 

 in hunting, advocating the use of rifles from .38 to ,40cal. 

 and in some instances single shots in ijreference to re- ' 

 peaters, saying that the single shot can be made much 

 lighter and therefore easier to carry, also that such a rifle: 

 shooting a fair charge of powder and a solid bullet will 

 kill any game liable to be found in such localities asi 

 Maine,, northern New York and the Provinces, if the bul- 

 let is put in the right place. 



Now in my opinion this if is a good deal larger than it' 

 may generally appear. Suppose you are still-hunting 

 deer on the first snow, and find the track of a buck and 

 follow, sometimes directly on the track, if you are a still-i 

 hunter keeping some distance to leeward if you have 

 reason to think you are getting handy to your game. 

 Often the deer is lying down in some fallen treetop or 

 similar place. It is ten to one you will not see him until 

 he gets up, and if he gets up it is usually because he has 

 heard you or has reason to suspect some danger. He may 

 be in such position that you can put your bullet right in 

 the center of his shoulder, or you may be flurried and. 

 shoot high and break his spine. In either case you won*t^ 

 have any more trouble with him. Suppose, however, he; 

 is in such position (and the chances are more than eveni 

 that he will be), that you only see a patch of gray. You 

 ought to shoot at what you see (that is if you know it 

 is the game you are after); it is not safe to move so as toJ 

 get a better chance. You ehoot and put your solid .38 or 

 .40 bullet through hia body. If it goes through anywhere; 

 between the shoulders and hips and does not touch thel 

 heart or spine, you are likely to have a long tramp be- 

 fore you get him, and the chances are good you will not 

 get him at all. I can give a number of instances occur- 

 ring in locations where I have been hunting when deer 

 were lost in this way when shot through the body withj 

 .38, .40, .44 and .45 solid bullets. Some were followed all, 

 day and some were left until the next day in hopes that' 

 they would either die or get stiff' during the night. 



When I am hunting I prefer to get my game as quickly 

 as possible after shooting at it, and I therefore believe ia 

 a rifle which may be considered heavy, but which shoots! 

 a charge of powder and a bullet which 1 have found by* 

 practical experience to do its work effectively. A veryi 

 light rifle and small bullet will do it occasionally. I saw 

 a handsome buck which was killed with a single shot' 

 from a 13in. .22 Stevens pocket rifle. The buck was run- 

 ning fast through hard- wood timber, and was dropped at 

 once at 70yds. with a ,23 short cartridge. It was a pure 

 case of luck. The man who did the shooting couldn't hit 

 one deer in ten under similar conditions, and wouldn't 

 get one in twenty if he did hit them. 



Last winter I spent a night in the camp of a friend, a 

 young man who is as good a woodsman and still-hunter 



