gEFt. 16, I89g.] 



229 



have told me many times since that it was the wise course 

 for me to taLe, for if I had failed in a dead shot the first 

 time, the cliances are ten to one I would have left my 

 bones to bleach about there. 



It was hard to leave this camp, but after a two weeks' 

 stay we had to go. We could have supplied a city mar- 

 ket with game and fish from that neighborhood. Our 

 time was getting short and we had determined on our re- 

 turn to go across country where there was nothing but 

 old Indian trails to follow, instead of going back the 

 way we came. After the Worat climb I ever had we got 

 Up on the White River Plateau and wandered east with- 

 Oilt mUch care about where we wete going. The country 

 Was f uU of game, and when vve tired of venison we lived 

 dn grouse. One day as We were tram^ping lazily tlirough a 

 jmall grove of spruce we came suddeiily on d b'arid Of 

 &lk, the first we had seen. They saw us first and were orf 

 on a swinging trot, but not before we had a shot at them, 

 which, if it did nothing more, frightened them out of the 

 50untry, for we hunted several days for them without 

 sighting them again. 



We camped one night on the bank of a small stream 

 ind turned our jacks loose as usual. They wandered 

 liround until they had filled themselves with , grass and 

 i;hen lay down a little way from us. I was awakened about 

 ^ o'clock the next morning by a noise I could not explain, 

 in<\ arousing Irv we put on our shoes (we were otherwise 

 1 rested) and taking our guns went out to see what was 

 ho matter. We wei'e not long in doubt. It was moon- 

 iglit and nearly as light as day, and we could see that 

 iDinething Was at the jacks, When we got close enough 

 saw that there Was a mountain lion on each of thenl. 

 \fhe one nearest raised his head and growled at us threat- 

 i?jlingly, aiicl We both fired 0n llinl a,t otlcej killing him. 

 The otlier ran and wis helped him aldng with lead just as 

 ong as he was within shooting distance, bdt he gdt Awsif; 

 ■ iiough badly wounded, as the blood on his trad showed 

 |in the morning. We had followed him a good mile before 

 ve lost him, and when we got back to camp we found one 



'1 dead and the other in such a condition that we were 

 Led to kill it. 



iw we were in a fix. We had no knowledge of our 

 iirreabouts, except that we were somewhere between 

 ;ie White Fiver and the Grande, and so we struck south, 

 aiowirig tliat that must bring us to the Grande River 

 I '.nd the stage route to our liearest railwd,y station. I calr- 

 ( ied the skin of the lion we killed and the tent and 

 ' ilankets, while Irv carried a large satchel containing 

 • ,mmunition, clothing and some provisions. The rest of 

 lur outfit we left on the ground to bother some future 

 ^xplorer, who running across it will wonder greatly what 

 kiecame of the owner. We found our packs heavy enough 

 before the close of the first day and I dropped the lion's 

 I kin for good. We were two days and a half steadily 

 I ramping before we struck the trad, and the last day and 

 •I half was filled up with some of the hardest down climb- 

 •ng I ever want to see. We had been following what 

 lurned out to be the wast bank of Dark Cailon, and came 

 io a point where we could look down through and see 

 irrigated fields, and we made the mistake of going down 

 into that canon as oiu- nearest and best way. It could 

 'lot have been more than ten miles to them from where 

 jve got a blrdseye view of them and did not look 

 vwo; and yet we were a day and a half making it, 

 camping one night in the cailon. The bottom was an 

 lilmost impassable thicket, and the sides were covered 

 l^\ith slide rock, huge boulders and fallen trees, and we 

 ila.mbered over and under and around and through, and 

 vaded in the rushing torrent and let ourselves down pre- 

 lipices until with scratched faces and hands and torn 

 ilothes we finally struck a log road and our troubles were 

 tver. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when we finally. 

 Iropped our packs at the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad 

 lepot in Glenwood Springs, and turning to look at each 

 tfcher in silpi-eme Content that that part of the fun was 

 i\^er, burst simultaneously into a fit of uncontrollable 

 aughter. Two worse looking beggars Were never seen 

 jUtside of a ragman's fair. Our shoes were played out, 

 ;he crown of toy hat just hung on, my hair Was sticking 

 ht'oUgh.the top bravely. We were all "broke up" gener- 

 tlly. We counted Up our funds and found that we had 

 list money enough to pay our railroad fare to Buena 

 /'ista and leave Us two cents. After getting om- tickets 

 ,nd finding out that no train would leave imtil late in 

 he evening, we discovered that we were very hungry, 

 ,nd went up town to see if we couldn't raise some money. 

 ^ e had a fifty dollar certificate of deposit on a Pueblo 

 lank, but as we had no one to identify us we failed to get 

 t Cashed. We went back to the depot and I asked the 

 kgent to take one of oUr guns and lend us two dollars on 

 t and then express it to Buena Vista CO. D. for that 

 mount and charges, telling him our difficulty, and that 

 s we were acquainted at Buena Vista we could get our 

 laper cashed there. He asked to see the certificate, in- 

 loi-sed it for us himself and told us to go to the bank 

 Vbere he did his business, and they cashed it for us. It 

 v us taking some chances and was an imusually clever act 

 liicji we shall never forget. 

 I rer this all was plain sailing. We had walked over 

 iiiles without counting our tramps into the moun- 

 Mis, hunting and fishing; and had seen country that 

 c(3uld not not have got at in any other way. I bad 

 \ ovked myself down from 2051bs. to ISOlbs. weight. It 

 ^ ]iot had that effect on Irv, for he was slender to 

 with, but we were both as tough as whalebone, and 

 I satis Med that such a trip taken once everj' twelve 

 ! ! l bs would add years of enjoyment to the lives of most 

 of sedentary habits and employment. 



John M. Roe. 



Connecticut Game Birds. 



I AHDAM, Conn., Sept. 2.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 < are more than ordinarily plenty in this locality, the 

 ^ getting from five to a dozen at one tide without a 

 I never saw the rice so plenty and fine as it is this 

 I , caused perhaps by the extended freshet in the spring. 

 1 and partridge, notwithstanding the closeness in 

 ■h they were shot last fall and deep snows and sever- 

 t the winter, bid fair to be about as plenty as usual. 



A. 



Nebraska Grouse and Quail. 



1 ATRlcE, Neb., Aug. bO. — Prairie chicken and grouse 

 ting is good throughout the western part of the State 

 vear; and quail are more numerous all over Nebraska 

 1 ever before, on accoimt pf dry weather, good feed 

 .V I good shelter, I think, W, S. P. 



cHieAQd ANS THE WEST. 



[J^-om a Staff Carrespotid&niij 

 Out on Bail. 



Chicago, HI. , Sept. 5.— On next Friday Mr. Percy Stone, 

 of Chicago, will go up to Waupun. Wis. He will be glad 

 to go. He vf^ill go cheerfully. You couldn't hire him to 

 stay here. If he doesn't go he wfil be attached for con- 

 tempt and his bail bond forfeited, and a lot of unpleasant 

 things will happen. In fact, Percy is only out on bail, 

 and his case comes up at Waupun next Friday. 



A good many of us have thought for a long time that 

 Percy had been out of jail long enough, but no one was 

 expecting him to be arrested just when he was. You see. 

 Percy is manager of both the Diana and the Horicon 

 Shooting clubs, which control the entire Horicon Marsh, 

 at the dprJer eild df which the village of Waupun is situ- 

 ated. No othef niaii coUld have done what Percy Stone 

 has done by way of organizing tile |Wo Clubs and putting 

 them in practical running order. We caii ra^te that short 

 by saying that both clubs are now controlled by the Chi- 

 cago vote. The marsh is the best in this part of the 

 country. Everything is in good order, and the price of 

 the shares in either club is steadily advancing. 



The upper part of the marsh, that is controlled by the 

 upper club (Horicon Shooting Club) has always been 

 much overrun with local poaching shooters, who liave dis- 

 regarded the rights of tiie club, and have felt themselves 

 injured by^ being deprived of the free use of the entire 

 groimds. Before Mr, Stone reorganized the club, the club 

 sold shooting permits at $5 each. This injurious feature 

 was at once cut off. Hence war. 



On Friday morning last, Sept. 1, opening day of the 

 dUck-season, the entire upper end of the marsh was alive 

 with these trespassing shooters, who flocked in from 

 WaupUU and began a danonading at 4 o'clock in the 

 morning, bfefote it Was daWa, and an hour and a quarter 

 before the time set for the club members to begin shoot- 

 ing. During the day, KUeforth, {he Warden, and Cum- 

 mings, the club watchman, arrested a couple of the tres- 

 passers. One of them had his gun taken away aftet 

 refusing to give it up, but was not struck or hurt at all. 

 He handed over the gun himself when he saw Klieforth 

 meant business. 



Of Rourse, this "outrage" on the part of the club men 

 raised a hoWl at Waupun. Revenge must be had. Ac- 

 cordingly the rtext day the aggrieved Waupunite sent 

 down officers to the clUb hoUseg, and arrested Klieforth 

 and Cummings at the upper club aUd Mr. Percy Stone at 

 the lower club. They caught Rercy just iiS he was taking 

 the train to come home. He was taken as manager of 

 the clubs. The charge was assault and battery, depriva-- 

 tion of property, maybe highway robbery and arson, it 

 makes no difference. Anyhow, this is how Percy Stone 

 got in jail, and why he is cheerfully going back to Wau- 

 pun next Friday. We all hope he will not get over seven 

 years in the penitentiary, for with care and self restraint 

 he could stUl be made a useful member oC society. We 

 hope for the best. 



The fight is now on between the new way and the old 

 way. Either the club men own this marsh or the tres- 

 passers own it. The old destructive way must make room 

 for more intelligent methods. There will be only one end 

 to this fight. The Waupun contingent will get 'mo re law 

 than they want. Arrests will go on, the cases will be 

 taken up, and they will be beaten and harassed until they 

 are sick of it. They would better lay down their arms 

 now. At the close of this justice suit (which may natu- 

 rally be expected to go against the clubmen), appeal will 

 be taken, the belligerent Waupun man will be arrested 

 for malicious prosecution, sued in civil damages by Mr. 

 Stone, aud haled fore and aft and crosswise, until he 

 would rather he had never thought of night shooting on 

 another owner's grounds. Waupun men will also be 

 arrested under the State law forbidding night shooting. 

 The club will win in the end, and it will fight all the way. 

 The old, reckless, selfish, destructive way will not do. 

 Other times must be set on. Leave the clubmen alone, 

 and they will tread on local shooters' toes of course, but 

 they will preserve the wildfowl of this great natural 

 breeding ground. Leave the local men alone and they 

 would exterminate the birds to the last feather, for they 

 would shoot in spring, summer and fall, day and night. 

 This last fact is the main one, when it comes to the ethics. 



Opening Day on Horicon. 



Sept. 1, the opening day on Horicon Marsh, has come to 

 be what is probably the most notable sporting event of the 

 year in Chicago. The excellence of the shooting on this 

 marsh, and the scarcity of shooting elsewhere, have made 

 these two clubs very popular. The sport on opening day 

 is usually the best of the season, as the birds are bred on 

 the marsh, are young and not so wily as they become 

 later. It is therefore usually a goodly crowd which goes 

 north from this city to meet the Wisconsin members on 

 the marsh on the first day of fall. This year there were 

 thirty guns registex-ed for the upper club and sixteen for 

 the lower, a total larger than most tournaments would 

 show, and in view a sport more interesting than that of 

 any tournament. 



Broke the Rules. 



It is a rale of the two clubs that there must be no shoot- 

 ing before sunrise or after sunset. Thiswise rule ought to 

 be observed strictly and to the letter of the specifications. 

 Cards were distributed setting the hour of sunrise at 5:15 

 for Sept- 1, and all the members knew this, yet I am sorry 

 to say that on the upper marsh not one but many mem- 

 bers followed the example of the poachers, and began 

 shooting as soon as they could see a moving shadow. This 

 is all wrong. The birds if left alone would not fly much 

 before sun-up anyhow. Greediness of this sort should not 

 be tolerated for a moment. Moreover, the members 

 should show more comity and courtesy among themselves, 

 and not aU crowd in on one another at the start because 

 they hear a little shooting. The marsh is big enough for 

 all. The time has come for gentlemanly usages in sport, 

 and we must say good-bye to the old free-for-all scrambling 

 ways. In a little while the members of the newly organ- 

 ized club will realize this, and things will gradually 

 straighten themselves around. 



Heavy Shooting. 



IThe shooting last Friday was very heavy, the best for 

 some time. The record shows what the duck preserve 

 may be even to-day. There were over 1,100 ducks brought 

 in on the one da/, Sept. J. The lower club, with 16 guns 



out, had a trifle the better total, and indeed a most phe- 

 nomenal average, but the shooting anywhere waa good 

 enough, the flight going by luck as much as anything,. a& 

 it always does on opening day. 



The following is the record of the upper club: H, S. El- 

 dred 15 ducks, J, W. Bums 13, M. A. Cornell 14, A. H. 

 Lewis 10. J. H. Burns 13, Q. J. Clark 33, R. E. Munchow 

 20. L. J. Zincke 11, F. M. Fish 19, W. E. Warren 21, B.H. 

 Sanford 13, E. A. Galoway 16, H. F. Bosworth 35, E. W. 

 Chubb 63, C. W. Lamoreaus 30, R. Buchholz 18, F. A. Han- 

 son 19, L. R. Brown 12, Geo. Holden 30, E. Hough 10. A. 

 J. Baxter 6, C. H. Kaetel 12, M. I^hner 7, R. G. Richter 

 34, R. Rom 23, P. F. Stone 11, Wm. Klieforth 14, J. L. 

 Gault 24, W. J. Hamilton 13, A. R. Keating 24; total 576. 



The D iana or lower club record is as follows: Hall 

 ducks, Hamline 25. Mussev 75, Wilcox 61, Dupe^ 40, 

 Parker 9, Buechner 19, Peabody 19, Hunter 6, Petit W,- 

 Dicks 44, Leidersdorf 9, Widdicomb 55, Clement 6, Yov 

 gey 31, Kretschmar 66, Melcher 62; total 590. 



High bag on the upper club, 63 birds, was made by Mr. 

 E. W. Chubb, of Milwaukee, who shot in the upper part 

 of the "burned holes." Center Point, usually good, yielded 

 only Ig birds, and the race of Mr. Kaetel for it at 3 o'clock 

 in the morning was not worth the pains. 



High bag on the lower club, 75 birds, was made by 

 that happy and lucky shooter Mr. W. P. Mussey, of 

 Chicago. They do say there was no living in the house 

 with Billy after that, he became so offensive. Mr. Mus- 

 sey shot in the West Bay. Mr. Wilcox, 61 birds, says hi& 

 share is not for sale for a wagon load of gold. Every- 

 body had a good time and everybody was elated to the 

 point of excitement when the returns came in. 



Mr. Holden, Mr. Brown and myself, all of Chicago',- 

 staid over to try it another day or so, as we had no shoot- 

 ing to amount to anything the first day. The other gen- 

 tlemen got a dozen birds a day or so each, and their total 

 made a magnificent lot of game. The ducks bagged 

 were teal, mallard, redhead, pintail, woodduck and scat- 

 tering varieties for the rest. 



Abundance of Jacksnipe. 



In all I bagged 40 ducks, but I found something better 

 than that. On a little meadow just back of the club 

 house I discovered a lot of jacksnipe and put in an hour 

 or so there on two afternoons. The sport at the long 

 bills was as pretty as anything I ever had, and I bagged 

 50 jacks as quickly and pleasantly as aay one every did, 

 thovrgh I lost nearly a dozen and a half more that fell ia 

 the flags. Running out of No. 9 shells I begged every- 

 body for No. 7 shells, and finished up my bag with No^ 

 7s and No. 6s. I found that one can kill jacksnipe sk 

 good deal better with No. 6s than he would at first think; 

 indeed, can do very respectable shooting with them when 

 the birds lie close as they did here. 



A Useful Remedy. 



But for one incident of Saturday's duck hunt I might 

 have had a lot more snipe shells for the jacks. It hap- 

 pened this way. I was located on a little bog, just big 

 enough to make a blind on, in the center of the watei-way 

 that runs through the burned holes. The birds kept out 

 pretty well in the middle, and I got an occasional shot* 

 This attracted the attention of another shooter, another 

 club member, too, by the way, who should have known 

 more of the courtesies among sportsmen, and leaving his 

 blind on a point at the edge of the water he puUed in a 

 couple of hundred yards below me on my flight and built 

 a blind, which naturally meant an end to my shooting. 

 Protesting mildly, I was informed that the country was 

 free, a proposition to which I could find no adequate 

 answer. Soon after this, however, I got very tired, and 

 had to stand up in my bUnd a good deal. Also, I suddenly 

 concluded thaf I would like a mess of yellowlegs. So I 

 called my pusher over from his cover, gave him my gun 

 and a lot of snipe shells, and sent him out with the boat 

 on the flats to shoot yellowlegs, ot" which there were 

 700,000,000 around. My pusher must have misunderstood 

 me, for somehow, he did most of his shooting out on the 

 open water right around the other fellow's blind. Be- 

 tween my tired streak and my pusher's activity in the 

 yellowleg matter, I regret to say that the other fellow 

 didn't get another shot the rest of the morning, and he 

 went home mad. I don't see what made him mad, it 

 being a free country. Nothing to get warm over if a fel- 

 low wants a few yellowlegs to keep the wolf from the 

 door. Anyhow, I can recommend the yellowleg scheme 

 as a good way to serve a man who pulls in close on your 

 flight deliberately and without courtesy. The only bad 

 thing I know about this was that Ferdinand, my pusher, 

 grew so interested in making double shots on flying yel- 

 lowlegs that he got a deck load of birds, and meantime 

 used up about all my fine-shot loads. Stfll, as it was, I 

 got all the jacksnipe anybody ought to have, and this I 

 found to be the nicest part of my hunt on the marsh. No 

 one else seemed to be after the snipe. 



There seems to be great abundance of ducks on the 

 marsh this fall, and the phenomenal shooting of this first 

 day of the season may be repeated in part later on. There 

 are great quantities of mallards, and later in the fall these 

 should make grand sport. 



The Other Clubs. 



It is too early yet for the flight on our lower clubs. The 

 Horicon lairds were aU bred on the marsh. ' At Mak-saw- 

 ba Club, on the Kankakee, there was some little shooting 

 at local ducks, but high bag was about a dozen this year. 

 The bass fishing at that point has, however, been most ex- 

 traordinary aU the season. Mr. Organ tells me that on 

 opening day he got a nice little bunch of ducks, and then 

 went to fishing. Everybody got heavy strings of bass. 

 Mr John Matter has had exceptionally good fortune there 

 with the bass this summer. 



Homeless. 



There have been a good many unemployed and idle 

 meii around Chicago for the past week, owing to the fact 

 that Mussey's billiard haU has been closed. It is a wonder 

 that the authorities have not closed the place before, so 

 many trap-shooting robberies of aliens have been perpe- 

 trated there. But it is closed now for repairs, and will be 

 for a week. It wUl be thoroughly disinfected, fumigated 

 and whitewashed, and its walls wiU then be ready for 

 another year's incrustation of blufl:s, challenges and lies. 

 Until then, many sportsmen of this city wiU be home- 

 less E. Sough, 



909 Sbocbity Bdilding, Chicago, 



