186 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 6, 1897. 
A PARRY SOUND DEER HUNT. 
Miif<or Forest and Stream: 
About a year ago I sent you an account of r deer hunting 
expedition to the Parry Sound distxict, and as the game laws 
of Ontario have been amended since then, the experiences of 
my party and myself under the changed conditions may in- 
terest some of your readers. 
The amendments are as follows: The killing of deer in the 
water or immediately after leaving it prohibited: each hunter 
to procure a license, in which he is described as far as age and 
color of hair and eyes are concerned, the license to cost $3; 
two coupons to be attached to each license and to remain so 
attached until the holder ships his deer after his huat, when 
they are to be detached and one used as a shipping tag (they 
being of a suitable shape) for each deer. The licenses are 
signed by the licensees when issued and the coupons signed 
when about to be used, so that the signatures can be com- 
pared. The, season remains as before, frorn Nov. 1 to 15, 
both days inclusive, and each hunter is limited to two deer, 
so questions being asked of a party as long as its total mmi- 
ber does not exceed two per man. The fund raised by the 
license fees, or at least a large proportion of it, was used for 
the payment of deputy wardens, a large number of whom 
were sent into tbe deer hunting districts. A close watch 
was kept on the hunters and a good many convictions of 
transgressors were secured, so many that the chief game 
warden at Toronto has quite an armory of confiscated rifles 
in his office. 
Though the law was violated here and there, decent hunt- 
ers, of course, respected it, and the amendments were fol- 
lowed by the desired effect, as the following, clipped from 
the Toronto Globe, the organ of the Pro-vincial Government, 
will show: 
"Chief Game Warden Tinsley says that judging by all the 
reports to hand the new regulation forbidding the shooting 
of deer in the water has resulted in the diminution of killing 
this year by more than one-half as compared with last sea- 
son. He does not think more than 1,500 to 2,000 deer have 
been killed, all told, while more than double that number of 
licenses were issued. From one station, Bracebridge, only 
forty-two carcasses were shipped out, while in 1895 there 
were more than 200." 
I may add to this that many a hunting party, the mem- 
bers of wbich had formerly killed most of their deer in the 
water and had been very successful season after season, went 
home with very few deer or none at all. I know of four 
parties of four men each or over who did not get a single 
deer among them. 
My party, as usual, was composed of six members, three 
of the original ones, jEd, John and myself, who had hunted 
together for seven seasons, and three new ones : Wales, who 
had had some experience, and two novices, Moore and my 
fifteen-year old son Kenneth, a very large and strong boy 
for his age. Moore was a good rifle shot and Kenneth a fair 
one. We had six dogs— four foxhounds and two beagles. 
Notwithstanding the changes in the game laws, we were 
as successful as usual, partly because we bad never made a 
specialty of canoe hunting and had nearly always killed as 
many deer by stil hunting as by the help of dogs, and partly 
because we went further into the woods tban most hunters, 
and deer were particularly plentiful in the neighborhood of 
our camp, which was twenty-three miles from ttie steamboat 
landing at AJunic Harbor 
We reached Alunic Harbor on Get. 29 at about IP M., 
had dinner at the tourists' hotel at that point, and about 2 
P. M. set out for our camp. Our outfit was conveyed io the 
wagon of a German si ttler, Charley Lorentz, who lived about 
six miles from our camp and who had come to meet us. We 
walked the roads being too rough for comfortable or expe- 
-ditious traveling in any kind of a vehicle, and walking was 
not particularly pleasant either, as it rained steadily all the 
afternoon. At about 6 P. M. we reached a small hotel, thir- 
teen miles from our starting point, and put up for the night. 
We were off again bright and early next morning, the 
weather having cleared up, and reached our camp of the 
previous year within a couple of hours. It was situated on 
a lumberman's "cadge" road, one aod one half miles to the 
west of ihe Governmeat road, by which we had traveled 
most of the way and which ran northward. The cadge 
road ran parallel with and about a mile to the south of Pick- 
erel River, but we found that some one had been kind enough 
to burn down our old shanty and 'also the bridge across the 
river on the Government road. 
Though we had with ua a tent large enough to accommo- 
date our party, we preferred a shanty, and struck for another 
deserted lumber camp two miles to the west on the cadge 
road. On reaching il we found that some of the buildings 
had been burned, but that one mhabiiable one had been left. 
We took possession of it, and went to work to prepare beds, 
set up our sheet iron stove, and make ourselves comfortable 
generally. 
By Monday morning, when the season opened, we were 
ready f(;r business, and went to work with the understand- 
ing that no fawns were to be killed except by Moore and 
Kenneth, who, having never killed deer might commence 
with a fawn each if they could do no better. As it was 
raining hard, we left our dogs in camp and went out for a 
still-hunt between the cadge road and the river. Within 
five minutes after we left the road Kenneth had a fairly good 
chance at a large buck, which he .-jumped out of the edge of 
a small swamp about 50yds. away, and at which he fired 
two shots without effect. He saw the flags of four more 
deer before noon, but had not time to fire at any of them. 
No one else saw as many and no one got a decent shot ex- 
cept Ed, who killed a spike-horned huck, 
A couple of fairly fine days followed and we were able to 
use our dogs — Kenneth and Moore each killing a fawn 
ahead of them, and Wales shootmg another while still-hunt- 
ing. Wales was put on trial when we reported at camp for 
breaking our rule re fawns, but he explained that when he 
fired he could see nothing but a head and neck, which he 
imagined were those of a doe. As he had shot the fawn 
through the neck close to the head, the verdict was "not 
proven" and he was let off with a caution. A very wet 
day following the fine spell, we crossed the river for a still- 
hunt la the burnt lands, or rather racks, on its north side. The 
' 'burn" was of some miles in extent and wa- a very rough piece 
of country. Here were alternate huge ridges of almost bare 
granite rocks and deep gullies. The timber in some of the 
latter had escaped the fire and was very thick. Moore 
jumped a large buck in one of the gullies and fired a. snap 
shot at him, but missed; and Ed saw the deer a long way 
off making for the top of one of the highest ridges. Just at 
this time I happened to be ascending the ridge from the op- 
posite side. I knew nothing about the whereabouts of the 
buck, but I was moving slowly and carefully, and keeping 
up a sharp lookout. When I got my head on a level with 
the top of the ridge I stood and watched for a few minutes, 
and finally saw something move behind an upturned root 
in a slight depression about 75yds. away. I was uncertain 
whether it was a deer or some dried ferns shaking in the 
wind, but I waited and was rewarded at last by seeing the 
head and shoulders of a large deer emerging from behind 
the root, but owing to the mist I could see no horns. I 
aimed behind the shoulders, fired, and then I could see 
nothing of the deer, but on going up to the root 1 found that 
I had dropped the buck in his tracks, my bullet having 
struck him close behind one shoulder and gone out through 
the other. He had a fine eight-point head and weighed 
ITOlbs., dressed. I called Wales and Ed to my assistance, 
and we dragged him down toward the road, which was only 
a few hundred yard8»away, and hung him up. 
We had no more luck that day, but on the following one, 
the weather having cleared, we put out our dogs and ran a 
large doe to Ed, who waited until she was quite close to him 
and then dropped her with a shot behind the shoulder. In 
the evening 1 went out still-hunting in the thick bush near 
the river. Finding a crossing where tracks were numerous, 
I sat down on a log to watchr After some time I saw a large 
doe approaching about 60yds away. When I attempted to 
raise my rifle she saw me and stopped. 1 stopped too* and 
we stared one another out of countenance for some t me. At 
last she seemed satisfied that she was looking at nothing 
more dangerous than a stump or a rock, and again began to 
advance She passf d behind a large tree, and I raised my 
rifle to my shoulder and waited for her. When she appeared 
on the other side I fired, but stupidly aimed behind her 
shoulder instead of at it, forgetting that owing to the angle 
at which she was approaching my bullet would range too 
far backward. When it struck her, she plunged through a 
thicket up the side of a ridge, and I fired a snap shot at her 
and missed. I went to her track and followed it up the 
ridge, finding that she was bleeding on both sides, my bullet 
having gone through her. Tracking was slow, as there was 
no snow, and I kept at it until dark without seeing her 
Next morning John and I resumed the tracking, but failed 
to find her; and just as we were making up our minds that 
she was lost, John saw from the top of a high ridge a spike- 
horned buck standing in a gully about l25yd^ away, and shot 
him throuah the shoulders. The buck dropped, but strug- 
gled a good deal, and John gave him another bullet through 
his headj which settled him. 
The buck made up for the loss of the doe, but I was 
greatly difgust* d with myself. The shot I had at her was an 
easy one, but I would have felt better if I had missed her 
clenn instead of wounding her fatally and losing her. 
A couple of days later we had the best luck of our hunt. 
A few inches of snow had fallen, and the weather was rather 
cold. John put out a pair of dogs and made for the high 
ridges near the river. Just as he reached the place where I 
wounded the doe he jumped a grand buck and paralyzed 
him by a neat shot through the neck. Ed was close by, and 
helped to hang up the deer. Kenneth and I were posted on 
crossings in a deep gully which ran from the road down to 
the river He was near the river and 1 some distance above 
it on a comparatively high point between two swamps. A 
log road ran through the gully to the river. I shivered at my 
po-t until alter 11 o'clock and was thinking of starting for 
camp, when a buck ran out about 5yds. from a thicket 50 or 
GOjds. away. He had apparently been scared by the d gs, 
but they were not running him, and he was keeping a better 
lookout ahead than he would have done if that had been thfe 
case. He saw meat once and turned back, and I had just 
time to fire a snap shot at his flag — evidently without t fleet. 
I stood where 1 was for a few minutes in a rather unpleas- 
ant state of mind, and happening to look down thegully wfcs 
astonished to see the buck standing on the log road 125yd8, 
away in the middle of the swamp. 1 could not see his Lead, 
but he appeared, from the way in which he stood, to be look- 
ing away Irom me and down the gully. I was shivering 
with cold, but managed to hold on him behind his shoulder, 
fired and he disappeared among the alders. From the wsiy 
in which he plunged I knew I had hit him and went down 
to lock for his track. Before I reached it Kenneth appeared, 
coming toward me. We struck the track almost together, 
found plenty of blood, and after following it about 40yds. 
came upon the buck, stone dead. My bullet had hit him 
about lOin. behind one shoulder and had gone out close be 
hind the other. Kenneth explained that he had been on his 
way out to the road to go to camp when he heard my firit 
shot, had stopped, but hearing nothing more had come on, 
and was about as near the buck when I shot it the second 
time as I was. The deer, being headed off on the runway, 
had evidently cut across the swamp rather than go back 
toward the dogs, had heard Kenneth just as he reached the 
log road, and was standing watching for him when shot. 
This was a rare piece of luck. Moore turned up just as we 
had got the insides out of the buck, and helped us to hang 
it up. While we were doing so tne dogs came quite close to 
us with another deer, but apparently it heard us at work and 
turned off. Both bucks had ten-point heads. John's 
weighed exactly 2001 bs. dressed and mine 185lbs. 
During the next couple of days we had no luck. The 
weather became mild and wet, £0 that we could not use our 
dogs, and the snow crunched so loudly under our feet that 
still-hunting was useless, though we stuck to it faithfully, 
the only result being that John wounded a buck which he 
declared was larger than the one he had killed. It was 
scared toward him by Bob Lorentz, a brother of the Ger- 
man settler, who came in to have a day's hunt with us, and 
he had a long shot at it running through some undergrowth. 
He did not know where he hit it, but found that it was 
bleeding. He and Bob tracked it for some time, but the 
bleeding appearing to have ceased, they made up their minds 
that the wound was slight and gave it up 
The weather clearing up, we got to work again with our 
dogs. Moore shot the largest doe of the hunt on a runway 
just in rear of an old camp. The dogs ran it within 50yds 
of him, and he made a neat running shot, boring it 
through the ribs from side to side. It fell when hit, but got 
up again and ran about 50yds. before it dropped, to rise 
no more. Wales killed a spike-horned buck, also on a run- 
way, and Kenneth wound up the hunt by shooting a large 
doe at his stand in the deep gully below the place in which I 
killed my second buck. He saw the deer running toward 
him, and waited until it was opposite, when he bleated at 
her and she stopped, but with her hindquarters toward him 
and her head turned to look in his direction. Fearing that 
he would spoil good meat if he shot her through her hams, 
he aimed at her neck and only grazed it across its top. 
Away she went and he fired at her body, putting a ball 
through one of her hams and breaking the bone. This 
stopped her about eOyds. away, and he put two balls 
close together through her ribs and another through her 
head. This was shooting her full of holes with a venge- 
ance, hut the only hit that damaged any meat to speak of 
was that in the ham, and the performance was not bad for a 
fifteen-year-old. 
It will be noticed that each member of our pirty killed 
the two deer allowed him by the game act, thus carrying 
out the letter of the law. As long as its spirit is respected 
and the members of a party kill no more than an average of 
two each no questions are 'asked, but whenever that aver.=ige 
is reached it may be considered almost certain that souie 
one has exceeded his limit and someone fallen short of it. 
We have reached the limit repeatedly in my party; but, 
though we have always tried to give the best stands to those 
who have been behind in the score of kills, we never suc- 
ceeded in making it anything like even until last season, nor 
do 1 know of any other party that has done it in any 
season. 
We had no time to spare to hunt anything but deer. 
There were bears in our neighborhood, but none were seen, 
except a smalllone that the dogs ran near Moore one day. He 
got only a glimpse of it and had not time to get his rifle off, 
and he did not think of following it to see whether the dogs . 
treed it, which it is possible that they did. 
Rufft d grouse were numerous and remarkably tame, but 
we did not get very many of tbem, as we shot at them only 
when we got chances to cut their heads off with rifle bullets. 
There would have been grand sport among them With a dog 
and a shotgun. We had a few of them hung up in one of 
the camp buildings in which we kept our provisions, and 
Wales, finding that something had meddled with them, got a 
mink trap, which Kenneth had brought with him, and set it 
below them. Next morning there was a mink in it and on 
the following one a skunk. It was an awkward customer to 
capture within a few feet of our grub. All except Wales \ 
were in favor of shooting it where it was, but he insisted thai; 
if not unduly hurried it could be led out of the building by 
the chain attached to the trap, and that it would do no dam- 
age. He persuaded us to let him try it, and he unfastened 
the chain and walked off, dragging his skunkship first outsf 
the shanty and then down to the creek which ran through . 
the gully. The skunk behaved beautifully until Wales put 
it into the creek and smote it on the head with a club, being 
careful the while to keep out of range of its business end, 
On being smitten the animal gave up the ghost, hut not un-= 
til it had given us proof that'^its perfume atomizer Was in i 
perfect working order, though it had forborne to put it into 
operation as long as it was handled quietly. We did not 
linger to admire it, but left it in the creek. Wales caught 
nothing more in the shanty, but Kenneth captured another 
mink by the creek, and besides them we killed nothing more 
except a couple of porcupines. 
Ravens were very numerous, but though our deer were 
generally hung up where they were shot and not collected 
until shortly before Charley Lorentz came for them with his 
team, none of them were damaged except the buck which I 
shot on the burnt rocks. After snow had fallen Kenneth 
and I crossed the river to drag it out along the Government 
road to the remains of the burnt bridge. On nearing it we 
saw ravens flying away and found that they had just com- 
menced operations on it and had eaten a small hole in one of 
its hams. Two or three of them followed us to the bridge, 
apparently to see what we did with the deer, but after get- 
ting it across the river and hanging it up with two others, 
which the balance of our party dragged to the same point, 
we fastened a handkerchief to a pole and set it above them. 
Though they Were left there for some days, the wary birds i 
did not meddle with them Charley Lorentz came to our camp 
a couple of days before we were ready to leave and took out i 
a wagon load of deer, which he left in a storehouse 
at Alunic Harbor, so that when we broke up camp he was i 
able to take the balance of our deer and our camp outfit m 
one load. 
We were favored with fine weather on our way out, and 
reached Alunic Harbor without accident, and found D pUty 
Game Warden Labrash, a most efficient ofiicer, on hand to 
stethat none of the returning hunters, of whom there were 
several parties besides ourselves, had exceeded the limit. He' 
examined aU haggage for smuggled venison. In a box be- 
longing to a party of three hunters he found a fawn, but 
they had only five other deer, nothing came of it except that 
the fawn was ordered to be taken out and expressed in the 
manner laid down in the game act, which I have explained 
above. , , i j 
Having passed inspection, we had our deer tagged and ex- 
pressed and started for home, all hopmg for another outing 
on the banks of the Pickerel Eiver. W. P. 
Milton, Ont. 
MAINE GUIDE LICENSE. 
Boston, Feb. 28.— The Maine guide license bill is meet- 
ing with still more opposition. It is now plain that the 
matter came very near to being "sprung" before the guides 
were generally aware of its nature. It came up again be- 
fore the Committee on Inland Fisheries the other day at 
the State House. At this hearing the Rangeley guides hac 
two able attorneys to represent them— John P. Swaaey ant 
J. F. Holman. Holman argued that the bill was not called 
for, and put the guides under unnecessary restrictions and 
degradation. He put upon the stand Capt. F. C. Barker, of 
Bemie; Mr. Fuller, of Eustis, and Mr. Richardson, of Ken- 
nebago. The testimony all went to show that the guides 
are all opposed to the law. A remonstrance of 150 guides' 
names was presented from Moosehead and Aroostook 
county. The claim was that the names were nearly all 
guides; but the Commissioners, on examining the petition, 
declared that the names were those of only twenty-six 
guides. This brought out some bad feeling, and may lead 
to more. Witnesses were also put on by Commissioner 
Carlton to show that the guides are not all opposed to the 
measure. Mr. Nichols, of Foxcroft, declared that the 
guides in his section are now in favor of the biU and will-; 
ing to have it passed. Altogether the chances of the bill 
being passed in its present form are growing less. Sonie 
new game protection measures have been proposed. Tbe 
moose season will undoubtedly be shortened one month- 
December. Caribou may be included, but the deer law 
will doubtless remain as it is. Fines for illegal hunting and 
killing will be increased and imprisonment added. There' 
are no propositions yet introduced to change the season oi; 
grouse, but it is proposed to increase the fine from .$5 to $10 
for each bird illegally killed or had in possession. 
Joshua G, Rich, the veteraa hunter and trapper, died al 
his home in Bethel, Feb. 17. His age was about seventy- 
seven years. In 1844 he went to Rangeley and made a 
home for his fiamily at Haines's Landingj on Mooselook-. 
