410 
WILD-BOAR HUNTING IN THE HARTZ. 
It was in the Hartz Mountains, in Germany. The snow 
had been falling for a couple of days, and a slight frost 
had set in early in the morning, when word was brought 
to us by a Government keeper that he had located a 
large boar in one part of the forest near the "Silver Eel" 
— a silver and lead mine. As soon as this could be com- 
municated to the few of us entitled to shoot there by 
virtue of being Government officials and representative 
men of the villaee, we gathered at the chief forester's 
house and had to undergo an examination of rifles, car- 
tridges and hunting knife before we were allowed to start. 
Two large boar-hounds were lashed together and taken 
by a keeper, and a deer-hound was taken by another to 
follow the scent. 
After a hearty breakfast we started out, ei^ht hunters 
and twenty odd beaters, and after an hour's hard climb- 
ing reached the trail on which the scent had been found. 
The chief forester and one of his men soon located the 
piece of forest where the boar had gone in, and we were 
posted around three sides of it while the beaters went in 
with the dogs on the fourth one. Mr. W. , the bookkeeper 
of the Government mining store, was posted about 40yds. 
to the left of me on the off side of the trail (it is an old 
Germa,n custom to post the shooters that way), and hid 
behind a fir tree, just as I had done, after having let him 
know where I was located. 
After a short while we began to hear the hounds 
"hallohoo" and the forester's horn sounded the warning. 
My rifle began to shake in my hands and I knew I had 
the gun fever pretty bad. The underbrush began to 
creak and I said to myself. "I hope it won't be the boar, 
I would miss him surs." It was only a red fox, a fine 
fellow at that, whom I would have liked to bag any other 
time, but we were out for nobler game. 
Then all a sudden began a great cracking of twigs to 
the left ahead of me and suddenly a big black mass, 
that looked to me like an elephant, broke over the trail. 
I shot my right barrel, but at the same time Mr. W. shot 
and the boar went for him. He had only a single muzzle- 
loading rifle, so he threw it away and took his hunting 
knife out, singing out, "Huss, hups, sow!" The boar 
went straight for him and I could not shoot for fear of 
hurting the man. He had kneeled down and put the 
handle of his hunting knife to the right knee to steady 
the shock. The boar went at him blindly and received 
the knife between both forelegs right into the heart, but 
such was the shock that both tumbled over in a heap. 
When I came up, the boar was slashing still at the man 
and had hurt him somewhat, so I took my left barrel and 
gave it to him in the ear, which ended the job. 
We had a jolly supper that night, and the boar's head, 
presented to me by Mr. W., adorns my brother's house at 
home. Globe Trotter. 
nhiriil ^wtow. 
SKIING FOR LIVE ELK. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
For more than ten years I have been a devoted sup- 
porter of the principles set forth in Forest and Stream — 
long may it continue a champion of the cause of fair- 
ness for the game, and to offer wise counsel and joyous 
companionship among all true sportsmen. 
I have never before asked for space in your columns, 
but beg that you will let me Bhare with my fellow readers 
this letter, just received from a typical hunting ranch- 
man and genuine good fellow who lives in one of the 
most charming valleys along the great continental back- 
bone and near the last retreats of the disappearing big 
game. Although his methods in this case may be a little 
irregular — perhaps unlawful — his motives are all right. 
This is a region where game laws are almost unknown 
and entirely disregarded. The captured elk now have the 
run of a small but well fitted up park, and under the care 
of this enthusiastic and "gritty" game-preserver, or 
rather relic-preserver — for a fenced elk is no more game 
than a Jersey cow — they will, without doubt, prove the 
nucleus of a very interesting band. The letter, with a 
few omissions, is as follows: 
"March 31, 1895.— Dear Cousin Jae: Your letter of 
Feb. 26 came to hand in due time. I was in the mountains 
at the time, but it reached me early in March, and glad I 
was to hear from you. 
"I will begin at the beginning and give you a rough 
sketch of the past up to the present date. * * * That 
same month (October, 1892) Andy, Jack, George and I 
took a goat hunt up the Middle Fork. We were to get 
some specimens for Mr. Miller. He wanted some goat to 
mount to take to the World's Fair with his other speci- 
mens. Well, we got five goats; Andy, the tenderfoot of 
the party, got four of them. We went toNyaek by train, 
then took packs on our backs and went to the left of old 
St. Nicholas; was gone eight days; packed the heads, 
hides, etc., out on our backs, and then Miller did not want 
them; they made good floor cover in the cabin, though. 
I* "The winter of '93 and ! 94 I had Charley C. with me 
(Ernest C. wintered up South Fork trapping). Well, along 
in January Charley wanted to go trapping up the Middle 
Fork. He did not do very well at it and came down the 
last of March, and laid a Bcheme before me to catch some 
elk alive; said there was quite a number around there. 
I could not grab the idea at first, but as the only outlay 
(outside of the work) would be but $10, thought I would 
try it. The C. boys can handle Norwegian snowshoes, 
or 'skis' (some call them), to perfection. His idea was 
to run the elk down on slcis, rope them and then haul 
them out to the railroad on a toboggan. Now, I never 
had a pair of skis on my feet except them things John 
Riley Adams made. It has been a wonder to me lately 
that we did not improve on them and learn to use them; 
we could have had more fun than we have evpr had since. 
But to return, Charley made me a pair out of white birch 
(the best ski timber we have here), 8ft. long, 4iin. wide, 
fin. thick in the middle to fin. thick at the ends. Then 
we went to Essex and trouble commenced. The first 
week they nearly killed me; I got some awful falls and 
bangs against the trees, but 'staid with 'em,' and now I 
can run them down steep mountains and almost any- 
where through the timber without any trouble. 
"Well, we caught six yearling elk iu two weeks. We 
turned three of them loose and kept two heifers and one 
bull. J ust before we came down the bull got killed acoi- 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
dentally. It was too late to get another, so we put the 
other two in a car and came down. We led them from 
town down to the ranch (they will halter-break just like 
a cayuse) and put them on picket ropes. The fourth day 
one of them ran on the rope and broke its neck; the other 
we put in the big corral and have got it yet. 
"During the summer Charley went back to Wisconsin, 
but Ernest and his younger brother (one who just came 
out last fall) and I thought we would have to try the elk 
again, so we went up to Essex in February last. The 
snowfall was very light, 3ft. at the most, and everything 
was against us, weather included. But we stayed with it 
and after two weeks' hard rustling came to the conclusion 
that there was but one yearling in that part of the country. 
I think the hard spring of '94 must have killed all the 
calves. We got sort of riled up, so to speak, and made a 
break at the old ones, and before we got through we had 
four three-year-old cows, one three-year-old bull and one 
yearling heifer. We then hired a car and put them in 
with our effects and landed here two weeks ago. The 
yearling got its back hurt and died since. One of the 
cows has sore feet. Outside of that 'everything is lovely 
and the goose hangs high.' 
"April j?.— While the bread is baking I will try to give 
you some idea of how we worked it. We would strike 
out in the morning and go until we found some tracks, 
then follow them up the side of a mountain, and get above 
them if possible; if not, follow them to the top. Then 
they had to go down somewhere, and we could go down 
as fast as they could. If they tried to side-hill and tack 
back, we would cut the angles and naturally force them 
to the bottom. We could be there as soon as they, and 
aim to strike the bottom of the gulch above them, so they 
would not start up again. Then down the gulch we go, and 
if they don't get played out before they reach the railroad 
tracks, why make a spurt, overtake them, throw a rope on 
the one wanted and snub to a tree. Then trouble com- 
mences. They will fight like demons, and are awful sud- 
den with their feet— all four of them. The next thing is 
to throw another rope on the beast and get it down, then 
put a hackamore on and two ropes — one fore and the other 
aft; — so one man can keep the elk off of the other. Gen- 
erally in about two hours it will lead fairly well. If not, 
throw the elk, hog-tie it, put it on a toboggan, and haul 
out to the railroad track. There the footing is good, and 
the animal can be untied and worked along all right. 
"All this work required from one to four days according 
to luck, We did this in 3ft. of snow, in some places but 
2ft. This was harder on us because so many windfalls 
were sticking up above the snow, which made' the shoeing 
bad. In '94 there was from six to ten feet of snow in the 
same. It was packed so hard that the elk ran on the top, 
but everything was covered up, which made the shoeing 
better. 
"Well, I have given you all there is of interest about the 
elk. What I regret most is, we did not have a camera; 
for we could have taken some pictures worth looking at. 
"The old rifle is still bringing in meat when needed. I 
went to work and cut off the barrel (.38-55) so it is 22iin. 
long, and she gets there just the same. Then the gun- 
smith took 5in. of the piece he cut off, turned it down and 
put it in a Colt's six-shooter frame, put on a .41cal. 
cylinder, and say, mister! look out! she is a peach! 
"The white-tail are not so plentiful as of yore, but can 
get meat yet all right. 
"No, I don't take the Forest and Stream, but wish you 
would send me their address. We are working into the 
tourist trade and without the paper are too far behind the 
times. From indications I think this will be a good sea- 
son for the 'trade.' 
"We are now enclosing about eight acres for the elk, 
the fence is 8ift. high. That will hold them, I guess. Am 
going to put in twelve acres of grain for hay and lots of 
rutabagas and carrots for them. 
"I would like to take the trip South you proposed, but 
can't leave the ranch so far this year. But don't let that 
hinder your coming out whenever you get ready; we will 
manage to go somewhere. 
"I can take a solemn oath that this is the longest letter 
I ever wrote in my life. Now sit down, fill your pipe and 
read it over again and write me one on the same plan. 
Yours, Bert." 
Mr. Hough , of the charming Southern articles in Forest 
and Stream, will appreciate Bert's trials with the skia 
and elk hunting, for the noted winter trip of the venture- 
some newspaper man was almost identical with that de- 
scribed above, except that to the stalking by Hough's 
party was added (in Bert's case) the terrible work and ex- 
citement of the capture. And also, that the worst snow- 
hoeing encountered in Yellowstone Park was a fair 
ample of the best "up the Middle Fork," where the use 
of skis instead of the regular web-shoes has always been 
thought impossible. Jac. 
STARLINGS IN AMERICA. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I read with great interest the controversy, in regard to 
the European starlings, in your columns. Some of the 
writers use the term English starling; they fancy, I pre- 
sume, that everything of European origin must be Eng- 
lish. Hence we meet the term English sparrow instead 
of house or common sparrow, English pheasant instead 
of common or Bohemian pheasant, etc. 
The communication of Mrs. Kate R. Styer has some- 
what surprised and amused me. The lady is certainly 
not well versed on ornithological matters, or she would 
not say "our bird life is the most varied and fascinating 
of any country." This is only half true. We have a 
great variety of birds, but, compared With European birds, 
very few good singers. If the lady could be here just 
now and listen to the bird concert one can hear in a 
German forest, grove or field, she would probably change 
her opinion. 
I do not classify the starling very high as a singer, but 
it is an interesting bird all the same and one which, when 
kept in confinement, will afford its keeper a great deal of 
pleasure. They are very active and command great skill 
or talent in acquiring men's speech, and have in this 
respect much in common with the parrot. They feed 
principally on insects and are thus useful birds. Their 
love for sweet grapes is their only fault. Mrs. Styer need 
not fear that they will disturb any of her native feathered 
pets The starlings live in harmony with other birds. 
The absence of singing birds in American parks and 
gardens is not solely due to the European, sparrow. 
[May 25, 1895. 
While I admit that the sparrow displays a marked degree 
of rowdyism in America, and to some extent proves the 
correctness of the theory of the survival of the fittest and 
strongest, this naturalized feathered citizen is not the 
only and worst enemy of the American singing birds. 
The pot-hunter, our Young America, is the principal de- 
stroyer of birds. I had occasion last fall to witness the 
wholesale slaughter of robins on the hills in East New 
York during the migrating period of these birds. Such a 
sad spectacle ia impossible in Germany, where children 
are taught to love and protect birds instead of killing 
them, and where the laws passed for the protection of 
birds are enforced regardless of rank, race or color. 
C. B. gives Mr. James M. Morris good advice in regard 
to the proper food for young starlings. Young starlings 
are easily reared in captivity. In the absence of the white 
larvae of the common black ant, mill worms or other 
small worms can be substituted, but the former should 
be killed before being given to the bird, and preferably 
cut in small pieces. 
It is not unusual that young birds will not take their 
food voluntarily. In this case their beaks must be opened 
and the food forced down in their throats. In conclu- 
sion, I express my regret that Mrs. Styer cannot be with 
me just now to listen to the heavenly concert I enjoy 
from the nightingales, chaffinches and numerous other 
excellent singing birds inhabiting the Botanical Garden 
in close proximity of my home, and located in a densely 
populated part of Berlin. Armin Tenner. 
Where Quail Nest in Town. 
Windsor, N. C, May 13.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
While 1 was at dinner this afternoon a nice fat cock que il 
flew against my office window. It was picked up by a 
boy and was quite dead. There are several pair nesting 
in town this season. 
Had hoped to attend the Sportsman's Exposition in 
your city this week, but am "chained to business" and 
c an't get away. A. S. E. 
m[e §ag md §nn. 
WEST VIRGINIA DEER. 
Glady, Randolph County, W.Va. — Toward the close of 
the open season for deer I determined to make a few 
more efforts to secure some venison, so crossing the 
Glady Fork I ascended the Beech Mountain, crossed to 
the eastward of the top, and wending my way along 
under the top, I concluded to go out to several large briar 
thickets and fire-brakes which the deer use, particularly 
in stormy and bad weather. There had been an additional 
fall of snow, rendering travel both slow and laborious, as 
it lay about 18in. deep on a level. I had not proceeded 
far on this course till I struck the trail of two large bucks 
that had passed to my right, making toward the top of 
the main ridge. Now, on top of the ridge was an old 
fire-brake, mnst of the fire-killed timber blown down and 
the whole place grown with briars, bunches of scrub beech 
brush, interlacing the lap of the fallen hemlocks, spruces 
and other timber. The snow combined with this ground- 
work barricade, rendered the place nearly impenetrable 
and inaccessible to the hunter; as for the Virginia deer, I 
never saw a place so thick but what they would go 
through, and seem to enjoy it, too. The trail soon brought 
me to the edge of this thicket, into which they had gone 
with many a devious wind and turn, seemingly selecting 
the very worst spots in their browsing around. After 
some circling they took along under the steep top of the 
ridge right in the edge of the fire-brake, where the blown 
down timber lay cross-hobbled in all conceivable shapes. 
Crawling under barricades that I with great labor was 
obliged to climb over, I finally made up through a par- 
ticularly bad cluster of uprooted trees to the main top. Im- 
mediately at the edge of the top was a small cliff of rock 
with overhanging fallen tree tops. Heading through this 
both deer had lunged or crept, while I, suddenly arrested, 
was compelled to make a difficult climb and a short de- 
tour to surmount the same place. Reaching the top, 
however, I came upon two beds on the level space sur- 
rounding, but the game had left. No doubt they had 
discovered my approach by the breaking of the branches 
of some of that last tree top through which I was obliged 
to climb. They had stepped around a few steps in their 
beds and from the vantage ground they occupied could ob- 
serve me, and wind me, too, for that matter. I being 
completely hidden under the crest, could not possibly see 
them. With long leaps they had run out along the top, 
the snow being so deep every jump showed an impression 
larger than the entire bulk of their bodies. Soon tbey 
turned off to the left, leaving the main ridge and passing 
to the eastward. 
I concluded to go on out the main top to the further 
end of the thicket and look for other deer that I had 
trailed in there several days before; but not striking any 
sign I made my way out of the break to the open timber 
to the eastward. I had not proceeded far when I again 
struck the trail of the same two I had scared. Following 
on a short distance they had settled down to a walk, the 
trail leading down a small open we call the "salt place 
ridge," crossed a small branch of a run to the opposite 
open and passed up into a thicket of laurel abutting and 
joining another large fire break. I had jumped deer out 
of this place before, knew every foot of the ground with 
all its difficulties, so I determined to make a circuit of the 
laurel, it being a favorite spot for deer to hide and lie. 
Clambering cautiously on around I scanned every per- 
ceptible opening in this jungle of laurel and overhanging 
spruce, but no sight of the deer rewarded my anxious 
gaze. It began to be pretty evident they were still in 
there, for I had nearly completed the circle, only a few 
hundred yards further to go; had come to an anchor, as 
it were, in a particularly difficult spot, my whole atten- 
tion at that moment concentrated in forcing my passage 
through, when, whew! with a snort that almost made 
my hair stand on end, directly to my right, from the 
borders of the thickest of the jungle, came this sudden 
challenge. Hastily looking in that direction and grasping 
my gun with a firmer grip I pushed my way in that 
direction, but the buck after his one whiff of disgust had 
merely left a trail where he had loped back into the 
darkest recesses of the laurel. 
The sun had declined in the west and was then hidden 
