FOREST AND STREAM. 



318 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[From a Staff Con'^imirlenLI 

 CnicAao, 111., Oct. 8. —Dr. H. C. Buechner spent the 

 greater part of last wepk at Horicon Marsh, Wis,, and 

 when he got back Friday evening; he wasan excited man. 

 He bad met the ducks coming down ahead of the recent 

 great northern storm. On his first day he killed 20, on 

 the next 38, and on the tlurd day met the crowning 

 fortune of all his shooting experience, killing the mag- 

 nificent hag of 78 birds, nearly all mallards and pintails. 

 He could hardly talk as he tried to describe the flight, 

 "There were thousands and thousands of ducks! " he 

 Said, and set his arms waving to tell the rest. Presuming 

 that Dr. Buechner took out with him the regulation num- 

 ber, BOO sbelJs, it may be seen what the shooting was. He 

 ian out of shells ana had to quit. There were no teal in 

 the bag. The flight on Horicon this week was probably 

 the heaviest that has struck this country for years. 



The storm brought the ducks down "everywhere. At 

 this writing Lake Senachwine, Swan Lake and the whole 

 Illinois River country is full of ducks. Some snipe are 

 also witti the flight. Percy Stone killed 14 snipe with 

 his bag of 38 ducks a week ago, and 24 snipe were killed 

 yesterday in one bag on the Kankakee, Snipe are thought 

 to be due from now on. 



Mr. Abner Price is now down at English Lake Club, 

 where the shooting should now be good. A week ago, on 

 these grounds, Mr. Price killed the pretty bag of 18 black 

 mallards (dusky duck), a bird much prized by our shoot- 

 ers about fiere and not very abund- 

 ant, though sometimes shot along 

 the Kankakee. Last Thursday, at 

 Slnglish Lake Oiub, Mr. Ingall 

 killed 28 ducks. The shooting there 

 has been very fair. 



The membership of Mak-saw-ba 

 Club is changing very materially 



of late. Messrs. Dicks, Holden, 



Buechner, Baxter and others have, 



sold out, and still others speak of 



doing so, This is to be regretted, 



and I shall not like to hear less 



from this active organization, 



whose hospitality I have so often 



enjoyed,, and which has long held 



so strong a place among the field 



clubgi. The shooting along Mak» 



saw-ba is as good as may be found 



anywhere on the Kankakee now, 



and as I have so oiten stattd, the 



bass fishing in that stretch of water 



is wonderful. This last I say in 



spite of the fact that Mr. Mussey 



and I only caught sLx fish when 



we went out to make a record, 



about a week ago. It rained that 



day, but there was nothing strange 



in that, for it always rains every 



time Billy Mussey and I go any- 

 where together. 1 think we would 



be a good combination to play 



against the Great American Dpsert. 

 A new duck club is organizing 



at Peorta, or perhaps it ib lue rb- 



organizition of the old Beebee 



Like Club, whose grounds were 



down near Spring Lake, and in a 



magnificent duck country, too. 



For the new club only five mem- 



Oerships have been apportioned to 



Chicago. These are now in the 



hands of Mr. W. L. Shepard, and 



they will soon go. This marsh is 



the place where Mr. Fahnestock 



invited Mr. Abner Price and Mr. 



Shepard last fall, and where they 



had some heavy shooting. The 



grounds are all under fence, and 



the club privileges are exception- 

 ally valuable, 



Mr. D. ii. Crane, of this city, is 



intending to put in his spare time 



this winter building a light scow 



boat to run the Wisconsin River 



next summer, A very pleasant 



and sportsome trip. 

 As to that Wisconsin decoy law 



scare, i am assured that the law 



forbidding the use of decoys was repealed at the same 

 time that the spring shooting law was repealed, or rather 

 modified, 



D. W. Fernandez, Wisconsin State Warden, writes me 

 in regard to the Dr. Thomas deer case: '-The only way to 

 reach the reverend gentleman is to get out a requisition 

 and take him back to the spot where he committed the 

 act." I do not think the requisition business very flour- 

 ishing, but just supposing the crime did warrant it, 

 wouldn't it be much cneaper for Dr. Thomas to pay over 

 that much promised fine? 



How about that fine, Dr. Thomas? 



Query : Can a minisier understand a bluff? 



Answer: It do look like. 



Mr. Fernandez adds in his letter the following bear in- 

 cident: "Jule Teipner is one of the mighty hunters of 

 Antigo. The other day he heard a noise when out in the 

 woods and looking it up found a cub bear sitting up and 

 whining. Jule shot the animal and was congratulating 

 himself on his good luck when he heard a sound behind 

 him, and turning saw another cub, which with one shot 

 he at once sent to join its brother. While comtemplating 

 this work the motner of the cubs hove in sight, and sit- 

 ting up on her haunches smiled sweetly at Jule. The 

 latter fired one hasty shot and the old bear dropped, 

 Jule dropped his rifle also and ran for dear life. Meeting 

 a homesteader about a mile from the spot the two re- 

 turned together and found all three of the bears cold in 

 death." 



Thousands of Quail. 



Indiana is full of quail this fall, and the shooter can 

 hai'dly go amiss. North Judson, Ore,, Newton, Roches- 

 ter, Rensselaer, Union City, Frankfort — all of these 

 places will be found good for quail. At Rochester Phil. 

 Jenkins will take parties out. There are some ruffed 

 grouse about Rochester. The shooting around Rensel- 

 aer is good also. The birds are unusually abundant this 



yeax. At Indianapolis the bevies come right into the 

 city. Going down the main street I passed the market 

 run by J. Piatt & Co. (71. North Illinois street) and saw 

 there a live quail in a cage. Mr. Piatt told me the bird 

 had walked out of an alley near by a few days earlier, 

 and had hidden behind the box in front of the store, 

 where he caught it in bis hands. 



A White Black Squirrel. 



In the same cage with the quail, Mr. Piatt had two 

 squirrels, one a black f quirrel, and the other a pure white 

 one, apparently an albino of the black species. This 

 animal was a perfect specimen of albinism, and had pink 

 eyes. It was healthy and active and a very attractive 

 little creature. I went into the shop to inquire about 

 this animal, and Mr. Piatt told me that he had had the 

 squirrel for three years. He bought it for |7 of a man 

 who had it on exhibition at the Indianapolis poultry 

 show in 1889. "I would not take $100 for it now," said 

 he. "It has brought me more than that much trade. 

 Everybody that comes along notices it. This is the most 

 interesting albino I ever saw, unless that should be the 

 white deer of Chicago once mentioned in these columns. 

 175 Monroe Street, Chicago. E, HoUGH, 



DUCKING IN THE RIDEAU COUNTRY. 



Having hunted ducks in 1888, on the chain of lakes 

 between Kingston, Ca , and Ottawa, known as the 

 Rideau Canal, an account of which trip appeared in your 



BREAKFAST. 



rnOM A PHOTOORAfH BT MB. C. E. H. BrKLSFOBU. 

 (Forest and Stream Amateur Photograpliy Competition.) 



issue of March 10, 1887, I thought that a short review 

 of a hunt in the same locality, during this past Septem- 

 ber, might be of interest to brother sportsmen, and the 

 amount and quality of impedimenta to be brought with 

 us. We experienced considerable trouble from the ap- 

 parent lack of knowledge of the Canadian game authori- 

 ties. Some informed us that duck shooting was per- 

 mitted on and after September Ist, while others made 

 the opening day the loch. Finally, however, we decided 

 to go early and take the risk of finding ourselves unable 

 to shoot. Three young New Yew lawyers made up our 

 party, namely, Abou Ben Tusha, Charlie Coalhole and 

 F. St. Johns, all fond of outdoor life, and although only 

 average shots, devoted to the smooth bore. We started 

 from Alexandria Bay, and sailed up the St. Lawrence 

 to Kingston, where we got a fishing perhait for the 

 Rideau Lakes and canals, and where we made a deposit 

 of 20 per cent, of the value of our guns (subsequently 

 returned to us). From Kingston to Ottawa there runs, 

 twice a week, the steamer Rideau Belle. On her we pulled 

 our two boats and camping duffle and went as far as 

 Cranberry Lake, Here and at Sand Lake we spent four 

 nights, and then rowed to Benson Lake, forty-two miles 

 from Kingston, where we made our permanent camp. 

 From the 10th to the 25th of September, we remained at 

 this point, when a leaky tent, heavy winds and rains, 

 and the exceeding caution of the ducks decided us to 

 pull up stakes and go home. This we accomplished 

 in two days and a half of rowing, the actual working 

 time being 19 hours and 20 minutes for 75 miles. On 

 the lakes which we visited we found the ducks very 

 numerous, but so wild and so well protected by the 

 stump-filled bays and marshes, in which we had to hunt 

 them, that our bag was ridiculously small , and we felt 

 that it hardly paid to expend $75 for three men's shoot- 

 ing licenses under the circumstances. It makes me sad 

 even now to think of all that $75 could purchase here in 

 New York. One day when we had not seep a bird for 



24 hours, Charlie Coalhole suggested that we go on to 

 Ottawa (to which city the Rideau Canal leads), and swear 

 out a writ of habeas corpu-7 to compel the Government to 

 produce the body of one.duck. To this Abou Ben Tusha 

 replied that Charlie Coalhole had better demand a goose, 

 and go produce himself. However, we had no time to do 

 any swearing except at our continued bad luck, so we let 

 the habeas corpus go and lived on oatmeal and bread. 



We had a great; deal of company during the heavy 

 rains we experienced, all the snakes, frogs and spiders 

 on the shores of Benson making our tent their head- 

 quarterR, However, in spite of all these things we en- 

 joyed our four weeks' outing immensely. The Rideau 

 Lakts are exceedingly pretty, and even without fishing 

 and shooting amply repay one for a trip to their neighbor- 

 hood. Then too, we had divers thrilling adventures cal- 

 culated to drive away any melancholy reflections on our 

 pror luck and worse shooting. But these must not be 

 told. N ver could I be induced to relate how St, Johns, 

 l aving caught a snake 3ft, in length, stuffed him down 

 the left barrel of his gun intending to play a small joke 

 on Abou Ben Tusha, and having forgotten all about the 

 reptile, and having opened the gun, the creature rushed 

 forth and seized upon hira savagely, while the hero (who 

 had just taken a most refreshing pull at the black bottle) 

 fled, shrieking that he had "got 'em again." 



Biibes could not be oft'ered sufficient to tempt me to 

 unfold the glories of Charlie Coalhole's maiden attempts 

 at casting with a frog for bait. Could I reveal how at 

 the first trial he snapped the frog off and sent him 

 flying over the treetops on an ad- 

 jacent island at a pace that must 

 have landed him at Hudson's Bay 

 in a few hours; how subsequent 

 trials resulted in the scattering of 

 a peaceful frog family to various 

 parts of the North American con- 

 tinent? These things must not 

 even be whispered. Nor could 

 wild horses drag from me the tale 

 of the feats of that mighty hunter 

 Abou Ben Tusha, to whom North, 

 East, South and West were but as 

 names, unworthy the notice of a 

 commanding mind, and who 

 steered a boat in a manner consis- 

 tent with this idea. Abou Ben 

 lusna, wnose blooa-curu ling feats 

 with a loaded gun slowly but 

 surely whitened the hair of his 

 comrades. Abou Ben Tusha, of 

 whom our trusty and sturdy boat- 

 man remarked, "If you were to 

 shut him up in a tent with a duck, 

 the bird would have even chances 

 of escape." A deep pall of silence 

 must cover over these mighty 

 deeds, lest our fair fame be as- 

 sailed with the sneers of the envi- 

 ous. 



To come back to business, the 

 Rideau Lakes puzzle the duck 

 shooter. There are a great many 

 duciie on (.nem, out how to get at 

 the birds is a question that floored 

 me in 1886, as thoroughly as in 

 1»92. Black bass are plentiful,, 

 and casiing with a fly is the most 

 successful way of taking them. 

 The woods have a sufficient num- 

 ber of grouse in them to make one 

 wish for more. Provisions near 

 Benson were absurdly cheap, large 

 chickens costing fifteen cents 

 apiece, and eggs being twelve cents 

 a dozen. The scenery is very wild 

 and attractive, there being thou-, 

 sands of the most curious little 

 nooks and corners imaginable. 

 One needs a guide to show him 

 the best places and to prevent him 

 spending unnecetsary hours tan- 

 gled up in the stumps' or in follow- 

 ing up the wrong course in the 

 large bays that spring up on every 

 side to confuse one. 



Our guide, George Patterson, has 

 been Vi years in the service of St. 

 John's father, and is as much a 

 friend as a retainer. To his great strength and untiring, 

 unselfish effort we owed a great portion of the pleasure 

 our trip afforded us. But it is not easy always to secure 

 one like him. Now, I have occupied too much of your 

 time, and hope that you will pardon me for so doing. 

 The region that we visited only needs some one to call 

 attention to its beauties and to the ease with which it can 

 be reached to become a favorite haunt — yea, a paradise 

 for canoeists, campers and sportsmen generally. Health 

 and long life to all such and their great mouthpiece, 

 Forest and Stream, Frank Lawrence Donohue, 



SOME ADIRONDACK DEER. 



Number Four, Adirondacks, N. Y., Oct, 5.— Deer were 

 unusually plenty in this immediate vicinity before the 

 open season for hounding, and a good hunter had a good 

 chance of bagging one in the woods by stalking on a 

 favorable day. But for the past three weeks more than 

 fifty hounds and twice as many hunters have been con- 

 stantly on the ground within a radius of five miles, and 

 whether there will be any deer left after the tenth of 

 October remains to be seen. A doe reared two fawns 

 near my house and were seen often. The doe was killed 

 early in September. Since that time the faws appeared 

 often near the house and became quite tame and 1 came 

 to regard them as pets. But the hounds got after them 

 and they have gone the way of all the other deer. 



The bounders seem to have ill luck, not because they 

 do not kill plenty of deer. But their cruelty seems to 

 recoil on themselves. Two men have been drowned 

 while trying to murder deer in the water — one in the 

 lake here and the other in a little pond eight miles from 

 here. Also one man has been shot in the leg and one 

 through the hand, I shall be heartily glad when the 

 dogging season is over and the quiet Hove so well re- 

 stored to the forest and peace to the few deer there may 

 be left, MussET, 



