226 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 30, 1897. 
DECOY STORIES.-III. 
Gnii/POED, Conn., March 6. — Editor Forest and Stfeam: 
Yoar correspondent Melville Church, who writes in your 
issue of Feb. 20 in regard to an eagle trying to carry off one 
of his wooden decoy ducks on Thanksgiving Day, puts me 
in mind of aa iacident of a similar nature which occurred to 
me one afternoon in the latter part of October. I took a 
half dozen black duck decoys of wood, placed them ia a salt 
hole out in the meadow back of the beach, and as the wind 
was blowjng strong from the south, which would drive the 
ducks in from the Sound, I took my position back of a small 
bunch of beach plum bushes which I had stuck up in the 
meadow about six roods from the salt hole. The ducks did 
not come in as I had expected, but I watched until almost 
dark, when I saw quite a large bird coming over the beach 
straight for the salt hole; he hovered oyer the decoys for a 
moment, then down he came, grabbed one of the decoys and 
started off. Now I had no idea of losing my decoy in that 
way, and brought gun to shoulder in short order, and a half 
minute later I was hauling the decoy and bird ashore. It 
proved to be a large gray owl, what is called here the horned 
owl. I hope this will reach the eye of Mr. Church, for I 
think it will make him feel better. M. D. Stevens. 
LIFE AMONG THE LUMBERMEN.— I. 
AsHLAKD, Wis., Jan. 24. — "We haul no logs to-day. Dat 
snow come more like he spill out of the sky." 
So spoke Ernest as he stamped the snow from his feet 
in that little old camp in the wilderness just sixteen years 
ago to-day. On the deacon-seat by the old heater I was 
pulling on my shoe-packs, ready for a long day in the 
pines. The cook came down the row of bunks, calling in 
no gentle voice: "Koll out! roll out!" emphasizing the 
call by shaking or pulling the extended feet of said occu- 
pants, whereat said occupants slowly changed ends, and 
crawling put of their warm beds with eyes still heavy with 
sleep felt for their footgear. The extent of their talk was 
a smothered sacre from a Frenchman and a mavel from a 
Swede— swear words of the different nationalities being 
the only speech heard. 
The boss sat on the end of the seat next the cook's apart- 
ment quietly smoking. As I passed him on the way to the 
"wash sink" he caught me by the belt and pulled me to 
the seat beside him. "George," he said, "there's the devil 
to pay. The snow was too deep before to work the timber 
we are in, and now comes another snow of 18in. in a night. 
We'll have to quit that ridge, that's all; and go down near 
the river to some thick clumps, which I will cruise out as 
soon as I get time. But that isn't all. The cook tells me 
we are practically out of flour and meat. The tote train is 
due here to-morrow noon; but they'll never get here with- 
out help. We are the furthest camp up on the river, and I 
am going to take Jake with his four horses and narrow sled 
and start to meet them just as soon as we have breakfast. 
I'm going to leave you in charge. If it clears up, go out to 
the works with the loading team and bring in the tools. 
You won't starve; there is plenty of corn and oats ground 
together for horse feed, and the cook can keep you alive on 
that." 
As he finished speaking the low door opened, and the 
teamsters came in, Jake in the lead, Kronquish in the rear. 
With them came a breath from the outer world, a little 
whirlwind of snow. "Whew!" said Jake, "worst storm I 
ever seen;" and he continued in a low, grumbling tone: 
"hard three-trip road anyway; and now the skidways are 
all buried, the cross-hauls and go-devil roads all filled up, 
it's going to be tough the rest of the winter." 
Just then the cook called out, "Take it," and we all 
dropped into place around the table. With the exception 
of Ernest's chatter the meal was eaten in silence and 
quickly. The boss rising fii-st said quietly to Jake, "Jake, 
put your team on the tote sled." Half an hour later the 
gloom of the tote-road swallowed them up, while yet no 
sign of daylight appeared. The crew, with the exception 
of Ernest and myself, crept into their bunks again, and 
were instantly sound asleep. Slowly daylight peered 
through the single light of glass over the door. Slowly the 
candle on the end of the table burned into the socket, 
fluttered and went out, at which I was forced to close the 
book I was reading; noting that day was at hand, I stepped 
out to see about the weather. It was, as Ernest had said, 
as though the snow was literally spilled out of the sky. It 
came in chunks, compact and hard, and struck the face 
with suflicient force to make the skin tingle. 
"What will we do, Ernest? We are all but out of gnib, 
and time will move slowly until they get more supplies in 
here. If we only had some ammunition we could get deer 
and plenty of partridges and spruce hens, but the cook 
shot away all the powder and shot last fall, and all the 
shells for the Winchester." 
"Bien, we see. The cook he have a little powder left; 
I chew some tea lead and make some bullet, then we get a 
deer; we get him to-day, you see." 
An hour later we were dragging slowly along the log- 
ging road in the direction of the "works." Arriving at 
last where the last trees had been felled the night before, 
we found numerous deer signs, where they fed on the 
small maples and ironwood that had been broken down 
by the tops of the pines in their fall. "Now," said Ernest, 
*we chop down maple; de deer hear him when he fall; 
then we keep still; maybe leetle while, maybe long time; 
de deer come eat de top; then we shot him." 
We soon had a tree about lOin. in diameter smashing 
down among the alders at the edge of the swamp. Then 
we dug down beside and about midway the trunk, and 
spreading some pine boughs on the floor of our ambush 
settled down to wait. 
I was fairly paralyzed with the cold, Ernest having 
placed a strict embargo on any movement whatever; and 
we were fairly buried in fast falling snow when Ernest 
whispered, "Listen! now I hear stick crack! Deer come 
sure." 
A moment later out of the gloom of the swamp there ap- 
peared one, then two, deer, followed by two more. They 
came straight for the tree top, and almost before I had 
fairly noted the number the leader was within 20ft. 
Ernest poked the gun over the edge of the snow fort, there 
was a report, and I was scrambling along the tree trunk to 
where a stricken deer was floundering in the snow. It 
was a big doe and was dead before I reached her. "Ha, 
ha," said Ernest, "dem feller sleep in camp eat horse feed. 
We have meat for supper. We be plenty hungry too when 
we get camp." 
Already the early twilight was falling, and by the time 
we had wallowed out to the logging road, dragging our 
deer, night was fairly upon us. We were likely to be, as 
Ernest said, plenty hungry before we reached camp, and 
to say truth I had in imagination eaten almost the whole 
of that deer before we finally came within sight of the 
rough comfort of the interior and heard the steak sizzling 
in the frying pan, while the cook, delighted with our suc- 
cess, sang as he sliced the coarse bread for our supper and 
did a bit of a dance on one of the smoother planks of the 
floor. _ Then with a few deft movements he placed a 
steaming heap of steak before us and we did eat. How 
the memory of that meal comes back to me. Your dwellers 
in cities, buried in piles of stone and brick and steel, with 
tables spread with everything good for food, will never 
know the sweet pleasure of eating until they have earned 
the meal to be eaten by a hard day's hunt, even though 
the meal so earned be corn and oatmeal bread and veni- 
son steaks. After supper the pipe, then oblivion; and as 
the sense_ of perfect relaxation and rest swept over me, the 
cook's voice sounded low and sweet as he sang, while rat- 
tling the knives and forks in the dishpan: 
"Oh, remember the valley you're leaving, 
How lonely and dreary 'twill be; 
And remember the sad heart you're breaking, 
And be true to your promise to me." 
G. W. M. 
[to be CONTlNUEBf.] 
DAKOTA SCREENINGS. 
Stbictly speaking, among screenings some grain should 
be found. It is doubtful if there is any wheat in this. I 
have been watching several jack rabbits start off tiding- to 
determine which hindleg they were lame in, but until I used 
my horse judging rule for lameness I could not decide. To 
tell which foot a horse is lame in watch carefully and pick 
your foot; it is always the other foot that is hurt. This 
works great on jacks. 
Half-breeds as Hunters. 
The North Dakota half-breeds are good sneak hunters, a 
good deal like coyotes, great on finding other hunters' 
cripples and dead birds. As deer, moose, elk and antelope 
hunters they are undoubtedly a success, but as goose, duck 
and crane hunters they are poor. From what I have seen of 
them their favorite way is to sneak up and take a pot shot or 
to "ground sweat" their birds. They sneak on to a bunch of 
birds on or near shore and try to get birds, geese particular- 
ly, where these birds water and rest, instead of going back 
to stubble fields and digging pits where geese are feeding 
morning and iifternoon. The breeds walk the shores very 
much as the Sunday town boys do with their store clothes 
on, and shoot out over the open water at birds they cannot 
reach with BBs. 
They are successful in one way at least, and that is in 
frightening all birds away, particularly geese, changing 
their feeding grounds, habits, elevation when flying, and 
hours of coming to and leaving water for stubble. What 
few birds are left soon scatter and leave that section ; those 
remaining water at small, clear lakes and sloughs, and do 
not come in to big lakes until it is perfectly dark. The 
breeds kill one goose or other bird where a so-called city 
dude who knows his work kills a dozen; and they frighten 
away 100 where the city man would only drive away a few. 
Of couui', the cities turn out all manner of shooters and 
sportsmen, but I refer to city men of some experience with 
the rare gift in man or dog called bird sense. 
There is one point of similarity between the Sunday town 
shooter and the half-breed, and they are both consistent in 
it, and that is color; they are both great admirers of black as 
a color. They nearly all wear black hats, coats and trousers, 
and use powder of the same color. It is too bad that these 
black clothes people do not concentrate their forces for a 
purpose for the benefit of the farmer. At times rains are 
uncertain and much needad in the Dakotas; if these men 
would line up and fire altogether a number of rounds, as 
they do in a scattering way on a duck fly-way, the results 
would be marked. 1 believe the uncertainty of moisture 
would be over with; as rain makers they would be a success, 
and add greatly to the productiveness of the soil of the State. 
In Texas and Wyoming the rain makers found that a se- 
vere sudden shock would sometimes produce a fog; if these 
men could be handled scientifically they might produce a 
shower whenever needed. The shock is then all right, and 
if they would use less old felt boot and binder twine for wad- 
ding it might make sharper reports; but the good old-fash- 
ioned thrum- rum hang-fire explosion is what gives them real 
joy. It is a good deal like the old muzzleloader squirrel 
shotgun that used to kill 'em dead at twenty rods every shot. 
The breeds eat most anything. One day one of us shot a 
badger and left it on a plowing by the road, next day it was 
gone and doubtless furnished a meal for several. They will 
eat a badger poisoned by arsenic. They skin the animal and 
let it soak in water until all or most of the poison is out, and 
in a few days are apt to call around again to see if there are 
any more. This comes from a postmaster direct, who has 
given them more than one poisoned animal. Skunk is a 
warm favorite with them; they will eat any animal that gets 
drowned or stuck in a slough. Their food is limited when 
winter sets in and consumption kills many. Their clothing 
is poor and they have no buffalo robes, as in the past. 
Last year we had lost several white cranes, that is on our 
way out we had ijlanned to get some; on our way back we 
did not take any, and as the law says you must not, we did 
not. We were glad we did not get any. We had not 
marked four or five white sandhills with any bands like the 
carrier pigeons of to-daj, nor put any leg seals on such as 
they put on a $50 China cochin pullet at the New York 
show. We had no left double upper cut, nor a single right 
under cut, such as they sometimes try to put on a razor-back 
shote in the overflow lands of Arkansas or on a sucking calf 
on the Montana ranges. Our crane were slick-eared crane 
all right enough. We had seen but very few, probably 
less than ten all the fall; one day we saw four, two 
old, two young. As a general rule they go four in 
a bunch, and it is nearly always an old pair with two 
young. Although wild, we saw they lit within a 
mile beyond a hill, and decided to try for one; so going as 
near to the hill as we dared and lying down, we sent driver 
and team around to try to get them to fly over us. They 
rose wild and flew too far to one side, but by straining the 
guns we managed to down the nearest one, a y^oung bird 
showing light brown on body, wings, head and neck. 
About two weeks later, when together in a goose pit, with 
decoys out on burnt stubble, we heard cranes, and looking 
out through weeds without rising, we saw four white cranes 
watching closely before feeding. We could do nothing but 
wait. After about twenty-five minutes they began calling, 
showing that they had seen something and were on the look- 
out. It seems that our driver had seen them light and gave 
them time to rest, feed and look around before starting 
toward them to try and get them to fly within range of us. 
We could tell by their calls they were "getting nearer, but we 
dared not move; at last they rose and we were up and ready 
for them, and got the four — two old, two young. The lead- 
er was winged and ugly, and no one cared to pick him up 
for several reasons ; he could run 100yds. in about eleven 
seconds, and he could use his bill to advantage to himself. 
After chasing him on foot and with team we surrounded him 
and the drivei made a lasso out of the reins and got a body 
hold first throw ; the rest was easy. He weighed SOlbs, One 
young one weighed 17lbs. 
There is one curious thing about the so-called snowbird, 
which winters in North Dakota. It is a small bird, about the 
size of the English sparrow and not unlike the female sparrow 
in plumage in summer, in the winter it turns nearly white; 
whether the feathers fade to white or are shed I cannot say. 
Natives say they fade to white. I have often noticed that 
after a cold spell with a flurry of snow I would see quite a 
few birds partly white, particularly white on wings, where a 
few days before I had not seen a white bird. 'This would 
seem to indicate that perhaps the weather quickly affects the 
color of their plumage. They go in immense flocks, and 
when snow is on the ground feed on weed seeds where snow 
is blown away, also on roads and on weed seeds falling on 
top of snow. Milwaukee. 
THE ADIRONDACKS GAME LAW. 
Gloversville, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: In look- 
ing over the suggestions from the tish and game protectors as 
a result of their late meeting in Albany, 1 notice some of the 
following recommendations to our State Legislature: First, 
that deer shall not be hunted with a dog for five years from 
June 1, 1897; second, the making of a uniform law as re- 
gards the open season for partridge, woodcock, squirrels, 
hares and rabbits. 
In view of the fact that, according to the information of 
men that have given it considerable attention, deer are on 
the increase in most places in the Adirondaeks and its sur- 
roundings, and that nine out of ten of the citizens who hunt 
deer prefer to hunt them with dogs, it would seem unneces- 
sary to deprive a large majority of the sportsmen of the 
State of the privilege of their particular style of hunting, 
providing of course the deer are showing a healthy increase. 
According to the report of Superintendent of Forests 
William F,"Fox, and published in the Forest anh Stream 
of Jan. 16, 1897, there seems to be a general belief among 
guides and hunteis that a great many deer die from starva- 
tion, as the following paragraph, taken from his report, will 
show: "In the vicinity where the carcasses were found all 
the foliage of the evergreens and buds of the hardwoods 
within reach had been devoured, and the deer under the 
protection of the game law had increased so rapidly within 
the last few years that there was no longer a suflicient sup- 
ply of food for them all during the winter season." I have 
received the same information from some of the most prom- 
inent guides and hunters of Piseco, West Canada and Cedar 
lakes. 
Now, as TVe understand them, the game law's are made, 
first, to afford ample protection for a healthy increase of 
game; second, tbat the greatest good and enjoyment shall 
accrue to the greatest number. And if Mr. Fox's report is 
true (which it undoubtedly is), what is the need of a change 
in the present law to one that will simply increase the suffer- 
ing and mortality of the noblest game of our State Park. 
It is a fact that all game near the Adirondaeks is on the 
increase, unless it be perhaps in some place which is easy of 
access or near some thickly populated community. For in- 
stance, in our own particular county of Fulton deer are often 
seen where three or four years ago there were none. Any 
one taking the time and trouble will find that the decrease 
in some locaUties is largely influenced by being in the imme- 
diate neighborhood of some lumbering camp and when the 
deer are surreptitiously used to fill the capacious maw of 
some French-Canadian woodchopper. If hounding is so 
destructive, why is it that, according to the report of Mr. 
Fox, they are on the decrease in some localities of St. Law- 
rence and Lewis counties, where hounding is not allowed, 
and are Increasing in some localities where hounding is 
allowed? 
We mistrust that a great part of this agitation comes from 
people who never hunt deer, or more probably from the in- 
veterate floater. I wish to say a few words in regard to the 
favorite style of hunting of some sportsmen, namely floating, 
or j icking, as some call it. 
Assuredly there can be no more destructive and cruel way 
of hunting deer than for a man to paddle up to a deer whUe 
it is in the water and is fascinated with the light in the 
"jack," and shoot it down or perhaps wound it so that it 
crawls away into the woods and dies, and perhaps not only 
entail the death of that one, but of others that are depending 
on their mother for their sustenance, and consequently wan- 
der around and starve through the loss of that sustenance. 
But this is not the worst of this diabolical mode of hunting, 
for I have frequently been told while talking with men who 
prefer floating, that they have shot at as many as four differ- 
ent deer in the same night, and in one case a man told me he 
had killed three deer during the same floating. 
And this, if done when the jacker prefers, which is during 
his summer vacation, is when venison is in its poorest con- 
dition, especially so soon after breeding season, when the 
does are yet f-ucklmg the fawns. 
We would gladly recommend an amendment to the law (if 
it should be proven that the deer are decreasing) which would 
prevent any one person from killing more than one deer in a 
season; this would have a tendency to prevent the large 
parties who go to the woods for a general hunt, and after 
feeding on venison for from ten days to two weeks prevent 
them Irom having the privilege under the law of each bring- 
ing out a deer after the hunt is over, as can be done under 
the present law. 
If there is any necessity for a change, why would it not be 
a good plan, instead of abohshing hounding altogether, to 
amend the law so that deer could not be killed in water 
while swimming, as is done to such a lai'ge extent at present. 
But instead must be killed on streams or runways, where 
they would have a greater chance for escape. 
Now, in regard to the recommendation of a change in the 
existing laws on partiidges, woodcock, squirrels, hares and 
rabbits. Where is there a place throughout the whole Adi- 
rondack region where there has not been reported an increase 
in the number of partridges? And if it ia a fact that thej are 
