4 9 4 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[June 20, 1896. 
said also to have made $300,000 in cotton deals, so that it 
would seem that he could manage to worry through the 
year if he is economical. 
There is no doubt that a very fine canvasbacb preserve 
iB thus kept closed against the shooting public. So far as 
the birds are concerned, however, I am disposed to be- 
lieve, from personal acquaintance with the locality men- 
tioned, that they are better off the way it is. If those 
waters were thrown open, they would soon be shot out. 
To be sure, a great many of us would have a great deal of 
fun while the process was going on, and to be sure also 
the shooting would be in the name of sport and not of 
the market; but the end would be the same, and it would 
only be reached more quickly. My friend Mr. Guessaz 
can tell us something of the size of the bags made by 
Northern shooters on the Texas coast when the flight is 
good, and can reason out what 100 such shooters would 
do on Lake Surprise in the course of a season. I think he 
will agree with me that a limited bag is better to-day for 
sportsmanship than the addition of ducking grounds, no 
matter how good or abundantly supplied they may be. 
I have seen the game go from so many apparently inex- 
haustible localities that I begin to be afraid for the game 
supply of Texas, to which the tide of shooting travel has 
of late turned so strongly. It is going to be Dakota over 
again. I should like to see Lake Surprise in the hands of 
a club of sportsmen who would limit the bags to not more 
than fifty birds a day, which I personally believe is 
enough for a snortsman to kill at this stage of the game 
supply in the United States. That so much game is sent 
to the markets, to be eaten as food by men who are not 
sportsmen, is the great cause of the scarcity, as I am per- 
suaded all must believe who understand the facts. When 
the millennium comes we shall have no game market, 
and the sportsmen will stand around Lake Surprise, each 
contented with a bag of twenty-five birds — when the mil- 
lennium comes. 
In It. 
Mr. H. A. Newkirk, of the Chambers Glass Company, 
writes to state that he believed it might be gratifying to 
the publishers of Forest and Stream to know that in 
writing to seven different sporting goods manufacturers 
he- had occasion to state that he saw the advertisement of 
each in Forest and Stream. The leading sporting goods 
houses of the United States are in Forest and Stream, 
and those who are not in it are out of it so far as compe- 
tition in the trade is concerned. E. Hough. 
1206 Boyck Building, Chicago. 
IN JACKSON'S HOLE. 
In Four Parts— Part Two. 
Jackson's Hole ©omprises a territory about sixty miles 
long and twenty miles wide, It is completely shut in by 
tall and rugged mountains, and seems to be an amphithe- 
ater especially created by the great and just God for the 
habitation of his creatures. 
Here upon the rolling prairie and in the dense fir for- 
ests the moose, elk, deer, and antelope roam in solitude, 
being disturbed only by an occasional visit of some hunter 
or wandering band of Indians. The basin is well 
watered. Jackson's Lake, a body of water twenty miles 
long and five miles wide, lies in the extreme northern 
end, and the South Fork of the Snake Eiver takes its 
origin in this lake. Snake Eiver runs the full length of 
the basin and is fed by dozens of smaller streams, which 
are the outlets of numerous small lakes. Thus the entire 
Hole or basin is interspersed by a network of small lakes 
and creeks, which all empty into Snake Eiver. We were 
charmed with the prospect. 
We had obtained a good view of the basin from the side 
of the mountain as we descended, and one and all de- 
clared that if we did not find game here there was no use 
looking for it in America. Old Ed declared that every 
man in the party should have the opportunity of killing 
more than one elk, and then if he did not take advantage 
of it the fault was his. Ed said that two years ago he 
guided a couple of Chicago railroad magnates to Jack- 
son's Hole. (I will not give their names, as one of them 
might read this and come back at me.) They came out 
to Yellowstone Park in a private coach, left their families 
at one of the hotels in the Park, and came to Ed's house 
to be guided to Jackson's Hole on a hunt. They bought a 
whole drove of pack horses and had champagne and cog- 
nac, and two cooks and valets and numerous superfluities. 
Ed said that he hunted with them faithfully, and jumped 
elk and deer and antelope by the drove for them, but 
they could not hit the side of a house with their rifles 
They were both strangers to the use of a rifle. So the 
hunt was without success— excepting what he killed for 
them. We assured Ed that if he would show us the game 
we would get it, and so the bargain was made. 
The mountains on all sides are split up with immense 
canons or gorges. Out of each one of these canons rushes 
a mountain torrent that rushes and tumbles to the river 
below. Up m these cafions, many of which run far back 
into the mountain range, live bear, elk, moose and black- 
tail deer. Moose, elk and deer also inhabit the dense fir 
forests that border the lakes. They very rarely go out 
on the open prairie. J B 
A °£ m T ° x rn i n g °. f Sep*- 9 ™e were all in the saddle by 
daylight. Up to this time we had got only the two elk 
that we bagged m the Bitter Eoot Mountains; so a more 
ardent lot of fellows would be hard to find. Ed told us 
to go^ in pairs and we would be more apt to find game 
than for all to go together. Ed and Dr. McEeynolds were 
together, Cooke McKamy and F. Gardenhire formed 
another set and S. Wester and I were to hunt together. 
We all took different routes. Sam and I rode for feveral 
hours across the prairie, passing through numerous belts 
of timber that bordered the creeks. We saw several large 
droves of antelope, but could not get in rifle range of any 
of them. Finally about noon I rode out of the bed of a 
creek, and as I mounted the other bank I got into the 
middle of a drove of antelope. I threw the reins over 
my horse's head, jumped to the ground, and firing as 
they scampered off I got a large stag. About this time 
Sam came up and we skinned the antelope, andtaki™ 
his hindquarters with us went on. We hunted the rest 
of the day without success, and returned to camp at dark. 
.Before long all the boys were back, and Dr. McEeynolds 
came riding m w lt h the hindquarters of a big moose tied 
behind him, while Old Ed had the hide roUed up and a 
side of moose ribs tied behind his saddle 
We gathered to hear the Doctor give an account of his 
adventure, and Old Ed said he never saw a man slide off 
of a horse and pump a Winchester any faster than the 
Doctor did. They had gone up one of the old canons to a 
favorite hunting place that Old Ed knew, and he had 
found the game for the Doctor. Ed sighted the moose as 
she was browsing on the bushes, and the Doctor sprang 
from the saddle and shot her before she ran. As she ran 
off he gave her another bullet from his .50-95 Winchester 
express rifle, and that stopped her. We were certainly a 
happy crowd. A moose the first day. Think of it! 
We all set to work now to help the cook, and before 
long were seated to a grand repast of moose steak, hot 
biscuit, vegetable soup, fried trout and broiled prairie 
chicken. Our camp was on a creek and Will Johnson 
had caught a waterpail full of trout as fine as I ever laid 
eyes on. We dreamed of hunting that night, and the 
goddess Diana seemed to be smiling upon each member 
of the party and whispering in his ear, "You can hunt 
now to your heart's content." 
Next morning, the 10 th, by daylight, we had breakfast 
over and camp knocked down and packed in wagon to 
move. We were to move up the valley about twenty 
miles, so as to get better grass for our horses and equally 
as good hunting. Ed directed our course toward Jack- 
son's Lake, and about noon we drove into a shady nook 
near the base of Big Teton Mountain and about six miles 
distant from Jackson's Lake. This nook was a small val- 
ley hemmed in on one side by a large foaming creek bor- 
dered by magnificent trees. The valley comprised about 
200 acres, shut in at the rear by the foothills of the Big 
Teton Mountain and on the front by the creek. So our 
camp was entirely hidden from any passing band of 
Indians or trappers. The bunch grass was waist high, so 
the horses had plenty of forage. We camped on the bank 
of _ the creek and erected the tents in a fine grove. Ed 
said that this would be our main camping place, so we 
could spend the rest of the day in making ourselves com- 
fortable. We followed his example and soon had benches 
made and shelves nailed against the trees for wash basins 
and water ,pails, with a rough table to eat upon. Then 
every man cut a good supply of the tall grass, or rather 
hay, aa it was cured at this season, and made a good soft 
bed in his tent. We also erected a good strong fork on 
each side of our camp-fire, and by laying a heavy pole in 
this fork could roast or spit sidea of ribs or quarters of 
game. After we had erected and arranged the cooking 
tent and put up the small sheet iron stove we were com- 
fortable. 
That afternoon we fished for a couple of hours and 
found that the stream was literally alive with trout. We 
were glad of this, as it would be the means of passing 
away many a pleasant hour when not engaged in the 
chase. We were surprised to find the trout so large ; Wester 
and Cooke caught several salmon trout that weighed 
over 51bs. each. I tell ypu if you land a 51b. trout out of 
one of those tumbling, boiling mountain streams, and 
keep him from sawing the line in two against the rocks, 
you are an expert. It is not so easy as it is to draw one 
in from the placid surface of a lake or sluggish stream. 
I have seen Sam Wester get so excited that he would for- 
get everything on earth except that trout on his hook, and 
if he could not get his fish any other way he would go 
into the water with his clothes on after it. There is noth- 
ing like this in the way of sport unless it is to bring down 
a big elk or moose as it leaps through the forest. 
All the boys were in the saddle by daylight eager for 
the chase. They divided up in pairs, and each pair took 
a different route. I remained in camp on this day, so as 
to allow Will Johnson a day to hunt. I busied myself 
during the day arranging small details of the camp to my 
own satisfaction, and in the afternoon took Sam's shotgun 
and walked out a short distance on the prairie to shoot 
chickens. I had all the shooting I wanted, and brought 
back as many birds as I could conveniently carry. I also 
caught a nice string of trout, and at 5 P. M. put dinner on. 
I spitted the side of moose ribs, and with baked trout and 
broiled chicken, and antelope steak and a goodly variety of 
canned vegetables, had an elegant repast waiting for the 
hungry hunters. All the boys were in by 7 o'clock, and 
one and all declared that I had done my duty as cook. I 
have lived in camp a good many years in following the 
civil engineer's profession, and learned something of 
camp cooking. The bag this day was light. Will 
McKamy killed an antelope and brought it in whole. 
All of the boys had seen numerous fresh signs of elk and 
bears, but had sighted nothing, not even a deer. 
We slept soundly that night and all hands were in the 
saddle at daylight. A more energetic and enthusiastic 
party was never in the woods. Ed, Dr. McEeynolds, 
S. Wester and B. Cooke were formed into one party, and 
McKamy, Frank and I formed the other. Traf ton was 
to guide his party to another of "his favorite places," as 
he called them. Old Ed grinned and said, "Boys, if I 
don't show you game to-day you need not pay me my 
week's wages." That reassured us, as we knew Ed would 
not make such a rash proposal as that unless he was san- 
guine of success. Will, Frank and I hunted hard all 
day. We traversed forest and cafion, foothills and the 
open plains. We got a scratch shot at a big black-tail 
buck, but failed to stop him. We followed one elk trail 
eight or ten miles back into the wilderness, but failed to 
come up with them. 
We returned to camp empty-handed. About dark the 
other party got in, and old Ed was true to his promise; he 
bad found game for them. They had killed a bear and 
two black-tail bucks. Dr. McEeynolds killed the bear 
and Sam and Bob killed a buck each. The boys brought 
in the bear skin, his hindquarters, and old Ed Baved all of 
his fat. Sam brought in his buck, but Bob left his in the 
woods. When he shot the buck it tumbled over a preci- 
pice, and as it was getting late they did not go after it. 
Sam says they could see the deer stretched out dead on 
the rocks below them; but it was too late to get it out of 
the gulch; so they left it. Bob said he would go back 
some time and get the horns, as it had a magnificent 
head. We were all very much elated, and declared old 
Ed to be a jewel. In a party like ours it was as much 
pleasure to see our companions successful as to be the 
lucky man. We were all warm friends, and there was 
no rancour nor petty jealousy to disturb the equanimity 
of any one. 
We feasted that night, sang songs and helped old Ed 
scrape the bear hide and render up the fat into oil. Ed 
was in for saving his winter supply of grease or substi- 
tute for lard. He said every gallon of bear oil and every 
pound of elk tallow that he took home with him would 
save him money the coming winter, and as we did not 
want the stuff we were glad to see him utilize it. 
The 13 th was an unsuccessful day. We only killed a 
small antelope and some prairie chickens. We waged 
unremitting war against the porcupines, because they 
would come to our camp while we were asleep and gnaw 
our saddles and harness. The porcupine is death and de- 
struction to leather, and. I would advise anyone going 
into this country to take a good watch dog with them. 
Ed had a good one at home, but had left it with his wife 
for her protection. 
Sunday we all remained in camp and rested. We had 
our usual morning exercises and a short sermon from Dr. 
McEeynolds, which we en joyed very much. 
On the morning of the lath Bob Cooke said he wanted 
to hunt on foot and alone that day, so he shouldered his 
rifle and departed in the gray dawn. Ed, McKamy, 
Frank and Johnson went together, mounted, and Wester 
and I hunted together, also mounted. Dr. McEeynolds 
remained in camp. Sam and I hunted until noon, and as 
we did not start anything returned to camp and put in 
the balance of .the day shooting chickens and fishing. 
We had great sport at this, and when night came had a 
goodly supply of both. 
Bob Cooke had an unsuccessful day; although he 
emptied his magazine at an old cow moose, he could not 
stop her. Bob says the timber was so thick that his 
bullets buried themselves in the trees instead of 
striking the moose. He fired nine times at her and 
did not draw blood. When Bob Cooke shoots nine times 
at an animal and does not kill it there was not much 
chance. The other party reached camp about 7 o'clock 
and had the hindquarters of a large cow elk and one side 
of ribs, and Old Ed had his usual supply of about 401bs. of 
tallow. We could all tell that Frank had something to 
do with the killing, for he came in whooping. It seems 
that the party had very unexpectedly started a large band 
of elk, some thirty or more, and the only fair shot ob- 
tained was the cow that they killed, as she was separated 
some distance from the others. Will McKamy and 
Frank were in advance of the other two men and both 
fired twice at the cow. They brought her down and she 
had three bullet holes in her, so both had hit her. Frank 
says two of the bullets that struck her were his, and so 
that he killed the elk. But as both Frank and Will used 
the same caliber rifle we decided that it was a draw and 
both were entitled to the glory. We finally let up on 
Frank and peace and good will were established again. 
We had a good dinner that night and made an extra 
spread, as this was the last dinner Dr. McEeynolds was to 
take with us. We all wrote long letters home to our 
wives and dear ones and gave them graphic descriptions 
of our hunt. 
On the morning of the 16th, long before day, Dr. Mc- 
Eeynolds was on the trail leading back to Ed Traf ton's 
house. He had eighty miles to travel that day, as there 
was no place he could stop until he reached Ed'B house. 
He made it, however, that night about 10 o'clock. What 
Eastern horse would carry a man eighty miles in one 
day? 
The morning of the 17th Ed said he would take us to 
Jackson's Lake, as he had often killed elk in the thick fir 
forests that border the lake. Bob Cooke took his rifle 
and hunted alone. The other members of the party fol- 
lowed Ed. We took a circuitous route to avoid the dead 
timber, which is very difficult to get through, and arrived 
at the lake about 9 o'clock. We hunted in the tall and 
stately fir timber for about an hour, riding along slowly 
and keeping a sharp lookout. All at once, Old Ed, who 
was in the lead, stopped and pointed his finger. We 
looked, and not more than 75yds. from us stood the finest 
specimen of an elk I ever saw. Several of the boys saw 
him at the same time, but before any of us could dismount 
and take aim he was gone. About three of his tremen- 
dous leaps put him out of sight, as the timber was very 
thick. This bull was the finest one we saw on the trip, 
and had a magnificent set of horns. Many were the re- 
grets that some of us had not been a little quicker in ac- 
tion. We started several more elk that day, but had bad 
luck in obtaining shots. Not a single man got the chance 
to shoot. In returning home we followed the beach of 
the lake for some distance and came upon a trapper's hut. 
There was a large black-tail buck hanging to a tree close 
by, and all the trapper's outfit in the hut. We stopped 
long enough to fry some venison from his deer and make 
some coffee out of his supply, then continued our journey. 
We noticed a large number of very fine fish heads on the 
ground near the hut; so it proved that there was fine fish- 
ing there as well as hunting. The fish heads were much 
larger than any we had caught. Ed said that the lake 
was noted for its fine trout, and that he had seen trout 
caught out of it that weighed as much as lolbs. 
We reached camp that night empty handed, as we had 
not killed as much as an antelope. We had seen a mag- 
nificent body of water, however, and the sandy beach and 
boggy spots along the lake were full of tracks of every 
variety of game, from deer to bear. We knew they were 
there; all that was required of u*s was to find them. 
A. B. WlNGFIELD. 
[to be continued.] 
FROM THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 
Last March two Livingston, Mont., poachers named 
Sheffield and Vance were arrested by the authorities in 
the Yellowstone National Park for killing elk in the strip 
north of the forty-fifth parallel. They were tried before 
Commissioner Meldrum at the Mammoth Hot Springs 
week before last, and on Thursday, June 4, were con- 
victed and fined $75 each and costs. The two men made 
a strong plea that they were unable to pay this fine, so 
the Commissioner reduced it to $50 each, which they 
managed to raise and to pay. This makes elk meat come 
pretty high. 
The season in the Park is very backward, and there is 
still a good deal of snow. The crew who are at work on 
the roadB only reached the Lake Hotel June 5, and it will 
take them some time longer to get over the divide. 
The country is full of game, and great numbers of 
young animals are seen every day. Elwood Hofer, the 
Smithsonian hunter, is at Yancey's catching young ani- 
mals for the National Zoological Park at Washington. 
He has taken four antelope and five elk, and could get a 
great many more of these last if he wanted them. 
Usually travel begins in the Yellowstone Park soon 
after June 1, but the indications are that thiB year the 
season will open late, 
