Feb. 9, 1895. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
105 
Nevertheless the bird's sudden departure had evidently 
taken his nerve, for the space was open and the bird was 
flying almost straight away, yet he failed to shoot. 
We coursed the bird, and followed him down through 
the woods to a, small draw where I noticed Dave acting 
very strangely. Right out in an open spot that had been 
cleared he made a half-point, crept forward six or eight 
f^et, and made a sort of a point but seemed uncertain. 
We soon learned the cause of his difficulty. Eight at the 
dog's nose was a slight rift in the snow, as if a stone had 
fallen into it. "The pheasant's in that hole," whispered 
Dave. This I was inclined to doubt, thinking the bird on 
a tree across the fence, but as I never had hunted the 
birch pheasant, or grouse in deep snow I was willing to 
investigate. I walked up to the hole, took a step in the 
direction he seemed to have gone, when up came the 
pheasant right at my feet, and took a left quarter. I was 
a magnificent shot, and I lost no time in covering my 
bird. I fired bringing him down at about seventy-five 
yards distance. The others of the covey we failed to 
find. 
We ci"ossed a large hollow and skirted along the brow 
of the hills. I halted to examine my gun to see whether 
the plungers would still work, the tired dog lay at my 
feet, Dave walked on. 
I saw a pleasant, leisurely walk out in front of him 
from a ledge of rocks under the roots of a pme-tree, and 
patiently waited till Dave shot it. 
We hunted on down the valley but succeeded in bag- 
ging only a rabbit. On the homeward march I saw Dave 
cautiously creep up to a white oak-tree, peep out from 
behind, and dodge back again and finally take deliberate 
aim and fire. I had raised cain with him for shooting bis 
first pheasant sitting, and hardly thought he would" dis- 
regard my wishes so soon. I was amazed to see him run 
to the spot and .triumphantly hold up his second pheas- 
ant, shouting lustily: "Hammer! ess guns are no good, 
muzzle loaders are the thing!" Thinking there might be 
more birds around I hunted out a thicket to my left, but 
the dog was by this time so tired that he stayed at my 
heels and refused to hunt. His persistence in hanging at 
our heels on account of being tired, suggested to our 
minds the "ward heeler," an individual born tired, so we 
dubbed the dog "The Third Ward Heeler." 
When we got home I heard Dave telling the folks at 
the house of his good fortune. He was showing his two 
plump pheasants, when I noticed that one's feathers 
were very much ruffled and it was frozen stiff. When I 
asked: "What's the matter with your pheasant?" He 
then told me. Said he: 'T saw the pheasant lying dead 
in the snow, and to play a joke on you I pretended to 
shoot it, so as to have as many pheasants as you." The 
poor bird had been wounded, and had flown under the 
snow, and finally crawled out in the open air to die. We 
had hardly got done laughing about the joke when who 
should drop in but Jack Williams, the crack shot of the 
whole country side. We told Williams where we put 
the birds up, how often we flushed them, and where, 
adding that Ave had found a bird that had been wounded 
lying dead in the snow. "Did you find it at the lower 
end of Snyder's point near that brush fence?" said Wil- 
liams. Yes, that was where Dave had found it. "Well," 
said Williams, "I shot that pheasant last night just at 
dark. I knew it was badly wounded; I hunted for it, 
but couldn't find it." Thus the noble bird had died in 
its heroic efforts to escape its most dreaded enemy, the 
hunter. 
Feeling that the tramp over the hills of my father's 
farm had made me ten years younger in spirits, I re- 
turned to the city to take up the tread mill of daily toil, 
with the bright hope in my heart that some sweet day I 
may again hie away to the woods of the old homestead 
and hunt the wiliest of all game birds, the American 
grouse. JAMES M. MORRIS. 
OMAHA MEN AND WOMEN. 
Omaha, Jan. 26. — At last Nebraska has had a good old- 
fashioned snowstorm, and the beautiful snow covers the 
earth all over the State from six inches to a foot in 
depth. This, with what is certainly yet to come in fut- 
ure storms of snow or rain, will certainly once more fill 
up our lakes and marshes. Anyway, the wild fowl en- 
thusiasts are counting on this, and are correspondingly 
happy, for plenty of water means plenty of shooting in 
the spring. The rabbit hunters all over the State have 
been industriously at work since the snow fell, judging 
from the piles of jacks and cottontails that adorn the side- 
walk along commission house row. On Friday one firm 
received a consignment of 500 jacks and 202 cottontails. 
Nebraska is a great State for rabbits, but wdiat becomes 
of all that are shipped into this market is a mystery. 
They are certainly not consumed here, however, I know 
that stewed and baked jack rabbit is a common dish 
among the poor. Jack's retail at from 10 to 12 1-2 cents, 
and cottontails as low as 5 cents. A good-sized jack will 
provide a good, substantial meal for five or six persons, 
and I know of no other meat as cheap in the market. 
Still, if everybody in the town subsisted on jack rabbit I 
don't believe they could get away with the car loads that 
come in here with every cold snap. 
Previous to the present wintry spell, Ave enjoyed a 
two weeks interval of unprecedentedly mild weather. 
House and store doors were kept wide open through the 
day, the trees and shrubbery buds began to SAvell, honey 
bees and flies emerged from hibernation, and the general 
condition of things was like the opening of a very warm 
spring. Some good bags of geese Avere made along the 
Platte, and a few mallards were received in the market. 
I saAv jay birds on my way doAvn town every morning, 
and last Thursday, the day before the storm, I heard a 
robin chirping petulently in the big trees in Senator 
Thurston's yard. Blue jays, I think, remain here more 
or less all winter, for it must be remembered Ave have had 
three very cold snaps out here, in one of Avhich the mer- 
cury fell eighteen degrees below. 
By the Avav, ovu- neAvly-elected United States Senator, 
John M. Thurston, is an ardent sportsman, and is well 
up in the lore of mountain, woods, and stream. Of late 
years he has done but little shooting aside from an an- 
nual trip to the Rockies for big game, but has been de- 
voted more to the pleasures of the line and rod. At the 
gentle art he is an adept, and so is Mrs, Thurston, She 
handles a' rod 'and "reelwith the dexterity of a master, 
and for that matter'is quite a shot with 'shot-gun or rifle. 
She accompanies Mr. Thurston on all his outings, md is 
a great lover of outdoor sports and pastinies. She is a 
splendid horsewoman, and rows a boat like a champion. 
In fact, Mrs. Thurston is a A'ery charming and a very 
superior woman, and will be an accession, indeed, to 
the social circle at the capital. We haA r e still another 
lady here who is famous for her capabilities in the field 
or on the stream — Mrs. E. S. Dundy. Jr.. daughter-in- 
law of Judge E. S. Dundy of the United States Court. 
She can do abont as good work over one of her husband's 
fine dogs on chicken or quail as the average sportsman, , 
and last Avinter at Sutherland, Fla., in a team target 
shoot, in which were a number of expert gentlemen wing 
shots, carried off the palm by killing 23 "out of 25 birds. 
For this feat her husband shipped her a high grade 16 Le- 
fever, with instructions to challenge the best shot at that 
resort. Mrs. Dundy is a magnificent rider, rower, and 
swimmer, and these accomplish n i en ts , together with her 
rare beauty and intellectual attainments, makes her a 
popular person indeed. Mr. and Mrs. Dundy and Miss 
May Dundy sail from 'Frisco for Japan Feb. 9. 
Speaking of Mrs Dundy r-eminds me that Judge Dun- 
dy himself is worthy of a line or tAvo. He is known out 
here as one of the greatest bear hunters in the whole 
West. Notwithstanding his age — he is in the sixties — he 
makes annual late summer trips to the mountains in 
quest of his favorite game He goes alone, with guide, 
dogs, and arsenic, and spends from four to eight Aveeks 
in the lonely fastnesses of the Big Horn range, and has 
yet to score his first failure on bear. Last September he 
killed two big grizzlies, two cinnamon,. and a silver-tip. 
Sandy G bis wold. 
BOSTON AND MAINE. 
Boston and Maine. — Mr. J. E. Hutchinson, President of 
the Boston Fruit and Produce Exchange, is a lover of 
quail shooting, and A\dth his friend, N. L. Chaffin, makes 
a trip South for this pastime almost every season. The 
party left Boston, Jan. 25, for North Carolina, and will 
be absent some three or four AA r eeks. The company is 
composed of A. M. Tucker, N. L. Chaffin, Captain Harri- 
son Aldrich. Mark E. Tucker, wife, and daughter, John 
P. Tucker, G. A. Abbott, and Mr. Hutchinson. They are 
to visit a particularly good hunting ground, and good ac- 
counts of sport may be expected. 
Fish Commissions Henry O. Stanley has been in Bos- 
ton the past Aveek. He came fresh from the legislate 
halls at Augusta, Me. He is strongly in hopes that no 
"very foolish" game and fish laws Aviil be suffered to pass 
and receive the signature of the Governor, though the air 
is full of them, and every session is thronged with pe- 
titions for peculiar and special laws. With some slight 
changes in the present code of game and fish laAvs, and a 
sufficient appropriation for their enforcement, he believes 
that the game and fish in Maine can be well taken care 
of, in the most reasonable manner for all concerned. He 
is liberal in his ideas; believing that Maine is the best 
supplied of any State in the Union with big game, and 
can soon be equally supplied with fish, since she has al- 
ready the best trout and landlocked salmon in the world. 
The proposed law preventing the killing of cow and calf 
moose at any time he has little doubt of the friends of the 
moose being able to pass. About the success of any laAA r 
closing September, or a part of it, to partridge shooting, 
he has grave doubts. A good and liberal appropriation 
for the better protection and propagation of fish and 
game he thoroughly expects. He has strong hopes that 
a measure putting special and minor laws, affecting the 
fish and game interests into the hands of a commission 
Avill be passed. 
A resolve was introduced into the Massachusetts Legis- 
lature the other day making an appropriation of $5,000 
for the introduction of Mongolian pheasants into the 
State. The measure has not yet met Avith any special 
opposition. It is understood that the market interest 
agrees not to oppose the appropriation, provided that the 
friends of fish and game protection aauII not attempt 
further legislation against their business; that of selling 
game in the markets. Special. 
SOUTH DAKOTA GROUSE FIELDS. 
The Wakpa Shicka or Baa River, in South Dakota, is 
fed along its entire course by countless creeks, which 
empty into it on either side. These creeks are fringed 
with a dense growth of buffalo berry bushes, diamond 
willows, and wild roses. These often reach back from 
twelve to thirty miles from the river, through the draws, 
and then expand. Here is the natural haunt of the 
ruffed grouse. The Missouri River into which Bad River 
empties directly opposite the beautiful little city of 
Pierre, the growing and busy capital of South Dakota, is 
the dividing line between the pinnated grouse or prairie 
chicken and the sharptail. Seldom, indeed, does the 
sportsman find a pinnated grouse on the west side of the 
Missouri, while on the east side, along the rugged bluffs 
Avhich mark its tortuous course, a day's shooting will re- 
sult in bagging probably an equal number of each; and 
going ten or twenty miles east you Avill find nothing but 
the pinnated birds. On rare occasions I have bagged a 
bird bearing the distinctive marks of both — viz. , feath- 
ered legs and sharp tail and an apparent intermixture of 
color, in fact a sort of " what-is-it. " I have always con- 
sidered them a hybrid from cross matings. 
But I hear some impatient one say: "That's enough 
about the birds; let's go after them." All right; go 
down toAvn and tell L. and Mc to be ready to start at five 
o'clock to-morrow morning as the close season is over to- 
day. We will get a livery team and canopy top spring 
Avagon. cross on the pontoon bridge, drive up Bad River 
to Willow Creek by six o'clock or quarter-past, and hunt 
until ten, then lay up in the shade until perhaps four, 
then after the evening's shoot Ave can drive home. 
As per programme we start at half-past four, a little 
ahead of schedule time, but all the better as it bids fair 
to be a hot day, Avith not a sign of a cloud in sight. Our 
shells are loaded with 8's, and both dogs are in good shape 
for hunting. That little shower in the night has cooled 
off the ground, the dogs will work well. Our "impatient 
sportsman" handles the ribbons nicely, and the six miles 
are soon covered, L. and Mc having had their usual wow- 
wow with each other, occasioned by L. asking Mc if he 
were sure that he "had them located," an old gag dating 
back to the previous fall when Mc rounded us up one 
October afternoon to go after geese ten miles north of 
toAvn, assuring us that he kueAv "just where they Avere 
lighting by the thousand." Our business was laid aside 
for the" day, shells Avere hurriedly loaded, and we made 
the trip only to find on enquiring of farmers that 
not a goose had been seen that season. 
On reaching the mouth of Willow, we turned up an old 
trail leading along the Avest side, and half a mile travel 
brought us to the first "likely" place. Our guns were 
quickly gotten out of the cases, and telling our driver the 
route Ave were soon at work. The black dog struck a 
scent, and following it up came to a stand, backed by his 
mate, on a covey of at least tAA-elve grouse, eight of which 
were bagged. By ten o'clock we were nicely ensconced 
in a shady nook, with thirty-eight birds in the ice-box, 
which is an absolute necessity in hot weather hunting. 
The dogs were suffering from the intolerable heat, and 
did not have much sIioav for good work. Our driver was 
very enthusiastic over our success, which we assured 
him was only moderate, and I arranged that he should 
take my gun for the evening's shoot, while I drove for 
the rest of the day. This suited him exactly, and the 
start Avas made about 430 P. M., it having clouded over 
in fine shape in the meantime. The dogs worked well, 
the birds lay close, and the boys had sixty-six grouse by 
seven o'clock — one hundred and four for the day's shoot. 
This is an actual clay's experience, and has been "laid 
in the shade" several times by other parties, who stood 
the sun and kept at it all day long. My memory also re- 
calls trij s when twelve birds were all that were bagged. 
In fact, in '08 the grouse were never so numerous here- 
abouts, while in '94 Ave could not account for their 
scarcity. No severe storms occurred during the hatch- 
ing season, nor could any early prairie fires have been 
the cause. Yet a bag of twenty for a day's shoot was 
good, and one of thirty-five or forty very unusual. Can 
any one say Avhy this was so? 
Camp Fire. 
Pierre, South Dakota. 
KEEPING WARM. 
Not all of the ardent sportsmen of this country are 
hardy, robust men,' inured to privation, exposure, and 
fatigue In fact, I believe most hunters Avill agree that a 
large proportion of their ilk are men of sedentary habits 
and indoor occupations, men who enjoy more keenly 
their occasional outings because they are depriA r ed of 
daily contact with Dame Nature. For such men, espe- 
cially those AA-ho are within reaching distance of the 
plains, I beg to suggest a few points. 
Every one knows that to reach good shooting, as a 
rule, long wagon or stage rides are required and that 
after hours of exposure to intense cold he is apt to arrive 
on the grounds so benumbed that he has lost all interest 
in the sport (if that be possible), and is apt to SAvear that 
he AA r ill never again go out. in a storm — only to forget 
("just at the moment he should not") his resolves the 
first time an opportunity arises to try the trip again. 
Experience of eight years traversing the plains, long 
before the railroads laid their iconoclastic hands on the 
beauties of that section, resulted in five years of misery 
whenever Avinter came. After that three years of abso- 
lute immunity from suffering Avith cold. To tell the 
truth, most of the time, even during the severest Aveather, 
I Avas, when in my buggy, too warm. My method Avas 
inexpensiA^e, and required but few "ingredients." 
In the first place procure a thin board two feet long and 
eight inches wide. Get a common railroad lantern, such 
as switchmen use, and some sperm oil to fill it. With 
Avire firmly attach the base of the lantern to the board. 
Around and above the lantern make a cage "wick-up" 
shape about three inches larger than the lantern. Your 
wires will be sufficient for this, and alloAv ready access to 
light, or fill, or remove globe for cleaning. 
When you get into the buggy arrange blankets so that 
cold cannot get in from under the seat, light lantern, 
turn it doAvn low — don't forget that or you Avill have 
some new blankets to buy — pull blankets up over your 
knees and tuck in the sides. In five minutes you Avill 
feel as if you were, sitting with your feet upon a chair by 
a country hotel stoA*e. 
Of course, the object of the board is to enable you and 
your partner to each put one foot on it, and thus prevent 
the lamp from overturning in case of sudden fall, or 
movement, as you can always tell by the "feel" just 
where the lantern is. 
Don't use kerosene — it's too dangerous. I knew four 
persons to be killed by an explosion, avIio were using a 
lantern, Avhich upset through not being secured as above 
described. 
If starting out, as I assume, in mid-winter, and you 
expect snoAv, the warmest a ad most comfortable foot- 
gear is a pair of thick felt stockings, worn over a light 
pair of socks — reaching to the knees. Over these Avear a 
common pair of buckle arctics — your feet can't get cold 
thus equipped. 
Underneath your common w inter under av ear put on a 
suit of cheap cotton gauze underAvear. You Avill under- 
stand why if you ever try it. Any cloth turban cap that 
pulls down. oVer your ears will do. Don't use a cap with 
a vizor.. The wind Avhistles under it in a storm, and 
speedily gives you a bad headache. If you can't stand 
the glare of the sun use a pair of colored goggles, Avith 
rims leather coA-ered. These are especially useful in a 
blizzard, as they protect your eyes from the ice crystals 
in the air. They should be used, summer or winter, the 
.first few days on the prairie until one gets accustomed to 
the strong light. 
For the neck use a moderate sized silk handkerchief, 
and carefully fasten it in place with a strong safety pin. 
For the wrists, a good long pah' of wristlets must be 
worn. 
Now, one of the most important points. To protect the 
hands properly a pair of cotton, or lisle thread, or very 
thin buckslcin gloves; close-fitting but perfectly flexible. 
Over these place a pair of extra long sheep mitteng, 
Avoolly side inside, skin side outside, rather loose, and 
with gauntlet laps reaching half*way to the elbws=over 
your overcoat cuffs. 
Frequently during the day game may spring up along 
