312 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 14, 1894. 



have seen them out on the plains at 

 considerable distances from the moun- 

 tains. Until killed or driven off they 

 were abundant in rough bad land 

 country far from the mountains along 

 the Platte, Yellowstone and Missouri 

 rivers. We have known of an indi- 

 vidual of this species being seen on the 

 sand plains as far east as Birdwood 

 Creek in Nebraska, not very far north- 

 west of North Platte City. Moreover, 

 Indians and white hunters who trav- 

 eled the plains fifty years ago have 

 often told us that in those days sheep 

 were common on the plain — though 

 perhaps at no very great distance from 

 the mountains. The late Hugh Mon- 

 roe, who went to the foot of the Rocky 

 Mountains in 1813, has often described 

 to us the great abundance of sheep 

 on the rough buttes in the plains 

 country of northern Montana, and 

 the Indians' method of hunting them. 

 In those early days, when sheep skins 

 were needed, the Indians on horseback 

 would surround one of these buttes 

 where sheep were abundant, and after 

 the circle had been made complete. lifi^^g^g 

 one or two men would climb to the ' 2 



top of the butte and drive the sheep 

 off, when they were easily killed by 

 the mounted hunters below. Though 

 the settlement of the West, with the 

 activity of the hunter, is of comparatively recent date, 

 quite enough time has elapsed for these changes of habit 

 in the game. 



Size of Mountain Sheep Horns. 



Billings, Mont., April 2.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In reply io ' 'Mountaineer" in your last issue, I will say 

 that as a taxidermist I have mounted hundreds of moun- 

 tain sheep heads. The largest one I ever got hold of 

 measured 17^in. around base of horn. I do not call tbis a 

 world beater. Old hunters will look at a head and will 

 say they have one 2 or 3in. larger, but when they send it 

 in it generally measures about 15in. 



While I am on the subject of large heads I would like 

 to mention one I have in my possession. It is of a black- 

 tail buck, killed in Wyoming. It has seven perfect 

 points on each side, not counting the spike point. It 

 measures 33in. spread. I think this is a record breaker 

 for spread, and will so consider it until I hear of a larger 

 head. Geo. Sotjle. 



A Pennsylvania Cinnamon Bear. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



• A Mend writes me from Ralston, Lycoming county, 

 Pa.: "Two bears have been caught in traps and two 

 Bhot this winter. I had a choice piece of one and it was 

 very fine. Two of them were cinnamon bears, a very 

 rare thing in this country. I saw both of them and can 

 vouch for them being cinnamons." 



Please note what is said about the cinnamon bears. I 

 thought the cinnamon bear was not found east of^the 

 Rocky Mountain region. 



[The cinnamon bear— so-called — of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain hunters, is a brown color form of the grizzly (Ursus 

 horribilis), while the brown color form of the black bear 

 (Ursus amerieanus) is the cinnamon bear of the books 

 and of the East. It is not uncommon to find cubs of 

 both colors in a single fitter.] 



COON-BEAR, 



would come to grief before dark. He was the best still- 

 hunter I ever knew. He did the hunting, and I follow- 

 ing, did the rest. His position in the hunt was about 

 10ft. in my advance, and he was compass, chart and 

 director-in-chief. His judgment of the proper locality 

 in which to find game was almost infallible, and as soon 

 as he located deer his every movement announced the 

 fact. 



When the scent was warm his excitement would be 

 intense, but he rarely broke or uttered a sound other than 

 a low whine. Sometimes he broke at the crack of the 

 rifle, but not if I kept cool enough myself to check him. 



He found many deer forme, and f rpquently they would 



COON BEAK, 



Hindpaw. Porepaw. 



A Woodchuck in Distress. 



Benj. Bevier, of Highland, N. Y., in company with 

 others, one day heard a continuous chirping sound and he 

 concluded to ascertain whence it came. On approaching 

 it, great was their astonishment at seeing a young wood- 

 chuck wedged in the jaws of a snake— blacksnake I think 

 it was. The animal was about half engulfed, the head 

 protruding. The snake was killed, and on withdrawing 

 the chuck it was seen that its posterior parts were shrun- 

 ken to a pitiable degree, as if their dimension had been 

 reduced by compression and the extraction of the juices 

 of the body. N. D. Elting. 



HUNTING WITH A DOG. 



Shasta Mountains, Cal.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In your issue of March 3 I note "El Comancho's" disserta- 

 tion upon still-bunting without a dog. I differ with him 

 in his estimation of still-hunting, but in the one particu- 

 lar — that I prefer a dog. I have also known the Indian 

 hunter of admirable sagacity to use them. 



Whose soul "proud science never taught to stray 



Far as the solar walk or milky way; 



***** 

 But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 



His faithful doj shall bear him company." 



My dog, however, must be a good one, and he is not for 

 .he purpose of hounding deer into runways or lakes. In- 

 /eed, I use him much as poor "Lo" does — as a friend and 

 companion in the mountains and forests, and upon many 

 a lonely ramble into obscure and distant nooks. 



1 have done a great deal of deer hunting, and upon the 

 grounds I have hunted I have always considered a good 

 dog almost indispensable. In the mountains, heavy tim- 

 ber or dense brush, deer usually have their haunts, and if 

 "El Comancho" and "B." read this they may make excep- 

 tions in denouncing dogs for deer. 



In order to give my definition of a good dog I will 

 describe the best dog I ever had for deer. He was 

 named Johnny, because he was presented to our house 

 by a Chinaman when he was a very small puppy. He 

 grew and proved to be a yellow, short-haired dog, with- 

 out any known pedigree. I think he had some hound, 

 some shepherd and a great deal of ordinary kind of dog 

 in him. He was fond of hunting, and after a few trips 

 to the woods he proved easily trained and intelligent. 

 When in his prime, Johnny's companionship on a 

 'leer hunt was for me almost a guarantee that a deer 



be in the very last places I woidd have expected to find 

 them without his guidance. 



With him I usually had the advantage of being fully 

 prepared for the game, and was often able to select from 

 a number and avoid shooting does or animals out of con- 

 dition. Even with his aid snap shots were often neces- 

 sary, and snap shots, as deer hunters know, often result 

 in wounded deer. In case 1 wounded a deer, slightly or 

 seriously, Johnny knew it, and would follow a cripple or 

 bleeding deer as long as there Was a hope. It was seldom 

 indeed that he failed to stop one that was at all disabled. 

 After stopping a cripple his baying would always an- 

 nounce the state of affairs. Upon one occasion ht; took 

 me three miles on my back track where I foUnd a buck 

 dead that I thought Was but slightly wounded. A heavy 

 wind was blowing and I could not heat his Cry, and had 

 finally set off for home without him. When he overtook 

 me I was fully three miles from the deer, but his actions 

 "spoke louder than Words, - ' and following his lead I 

 found the buck lying dead one mile from where I shot 

 him. Upon another occasion I shot a deer just at dark, 

 It was a "snap shot," and broke the buck's foreleg be- 

 tween the foot and the knee. Johnny stopped and bayed 

 him no less than a dozen times in going two miles over a 

 brushy mountain, but when I approached he could not 

 hold the frantic animal, which proved to be a 2001bs. 

 "forked horn," and it had become so dark I could not see 

 dog or deer. Guided by the dog's baying I followed over 

 rocks, brush and mountain, and finally found myself in 

 the stage road but half a mile from town. It was pitch 

 dark and the dog and deer were fighting in the road not 

 10ft. from me. i could see neither of them, and could 

 only locate them by then pantings and stragglings. Of 

 course I could not shoot, and I lost my gun by laying it 

 down to help the dog. It was midnight when I at last 

 groped my way near enough to get the buck by ahindleg, 

 and by twisting him around a bush threw him to the 

 ground. The dog was so near exhausted he could not 

 bite the deer's throat, and I had a desperate time before I 

 could use my knife. 



There— I got started on that yarn, and had to finish it. 

 I have told it to a great many people, but never wrote it 

 out before. But it was a memorable struggle with an 

 almost uninjured and formidable animal upon his own 

 ground during a very dark night. I learned afterward 

 that a man drove up in a buggy while the struggle was 

 going on in the road, and he immediately turned back 

 and stayed over night in town. He predicted to the 

 sheriff that a desperate tragedy had taken place in the 

 road, but the morning light only revealed a "mighty big 

 buck" hanging in a bush. 



I have deviated. I intended to spread myself on 1 

 Johnny's good qualities in particular, and upon those of i 

 other dogs I have known. But I must add that the selfish 

 object of getting the game is not the only charm in fiav- 1 



ing a good, properly trained dog upon a still-hunt for 

 deer, as well as other game. I never enjoy a hunt of any 

 kind alone. Some companions are better to have along 

 than a dog — but none are more faithful — none can be 

 more silently sociable. 



In regard to the study of "little things in detail," as 

 "El Comancho" has it, study a good dog. Note his won- 

 derful instinct, his sensitive nose, his faithful zeal, his 

 anxious quest, his excitement when game is found, his 

 joy when it is secured, his unswerving fidelity in any 

 event! 



As I recall to mind many long and lonely tramps in all 

 sorts of wild thickets, dense timber, on mountain sides 

 and in deep ravines and canons, many a long and weari- 

 some chase, or short and sharp struggle with game, I 

 recall, as part of every mental picture, the faithful dumb 

 animal that was always ready to go and never failed to 

 do his best — always the same in storm ot saitfe, good luck 

 or bad. He never complained; he never grew weary or 

 discouraged. He never answered a dross Word with a 

 surly reply. To a kind Word he never failed to manifest 

 good fellowship With a wag of his tail and a brighter 

 gleam from his eyes. Besides the companionship of a 

 good dog, he is Often the means of giving alarm if danger 

 is met with in the wilderness, and many a beast of prey 

 would be now plying its vocation but for the alertness of 

 main's closest dumb friend. 



To sum up briefly, I prefer a dog for almost any sort of 

 hunting, and most of all in still-hunting or deer stalking. 

 I want a dog to find game, but not to chase it away; a 

 dog that will obey orders and not break; a dog well 

 enough bred to retrieve if there is occasion for him to 

 do so, or fight if necessary; above all, a good, mannerly, 

 sociable and amiable dog who will stay with me under 

 any and all circumstances upon an expedition. Such dogs 

 are by no means rare, either. 



With all deference to "El Comancho" and "B." I beg 

 to record my differing opinions, and believing I am one of 

 a majority I would suggest that they reconsider their 

 declarations and try a good dog once. Many a deer has 

 limped off to die in thicket or ravine, and was lost to the 

 sportsman who hunted without a dog. He is an excep- 

 tional hunter in the mountains, who does not lose two 

 out of five deer shot if he hunts without a dog. This may 

 seem surprising, but think it over. Ransacker. 



EVIL OF SPRING SHOOTING. 



Chicago, April 5— Editor Forest and Stream: tjtJofi 

 leaving home this morning, on my way to the office I 

 was accosted by a man Carrying a large bUnch of mal- 

 lard ducks; he offered to sell me a pair for twenty-five 

 cents, I asked him where he got them, and he said, "I 

 purchased them on South Water street." When asked if 

 that was all he had, he said no, and pointed to an expriss 

 wagon standing in the huddle of the street. Being a 

 sportsman and naturally interested in the preservation of 

 our game birds and fishes, I was anxiolis to find oUt what 

 was in this wagon, and so went to it. I found it contained 

 fully 250 to 300 wild ducks, among which were mallards; 

 bluebills, pintails, ringbills and a few widgeon, and a 

 number of smaller ducks, such as teal, butterball, etc. 

 And Upon further inquiry I foUnd that they Could be pur- 

 chased anywhere along our principal market thorough^ 

 fares, ranging in price from 75 cents to $1.50 per doaen, 

 being classified according to size. 



It seems to me that when our game birds are getting to 

 be such a common commodity that they arfe sold On the 

 streets of this cit^as any one would buy garden vegetables; 

 and at about a proportionate price, that it is about time 

 that we, as sportsmen, should use strenuous efforts to stop 

 this wholesale slaughter of ducks in the spring.'when they 

 are on their way to the breeding grounds of the Dakotas 

 and the British possessions. A large number of birds that 

 are shjpped to this market for sale cannot possibly find 

 buyers, as they come in such quantities that they only 

 spoil on the hands of the commission merchants, and are 

 thrown away when they become unfit to be placed on sale. 

 There has been a great deal written upon the subject of 

 game protection , and they pitch into the market-hunter and 

 lay allthe blame at his door. I do not, however, believe that 

 this much abused individual is the only source upon whom 

 we are to turn our attack ; he is not so much to be cen- 

 sured as the "gentlemanly" spring shooter; and I have 

 personal knowledge of several who have been shooting 

 along the Illinois and Kankakee rivers, and at Fox Lake 

 and other points, who have made bags averaging from 35 

 to 100 birds each day. If this will not exterminate game, 

 for gOodhess sake What will? And 1 think that out 

 National Association for the Protection of Came Birds 



OTTER-SHREW, " 



and Fishes would do well to turn their guns upon the 

 greatest of all evils found in this line of game extermina- 

 tion, namely, spring shooting. The experience that the 

 writer had this morning was enough to set any man 

 thinking who has the interest of game at heart, and if 

 he was ever inclined to do any spring shooting would, I 

 think, turn back from his purpose and see the folly of his 

 certainly evil intentions. 



On March 3 I wrote a letter to one of your esteemed 

 contemporaries upon the subject of an emblem for sports- 

 men, and I observe that Mr. A. M. Weinhart has taken 

 up my suggestion and submitted a long article, with illus- 

 tration, upon the subject, forgetting, however, to credit 

 the original idea to the writer. 1 am not particularly 

 anxious for "glory," but to use an old-time expression 



