Makch 37, 1897.] 
of rocks about 50f1t. higher than the rest of the country, 
and while my companion remained where he was I went 
up to take a look around. Peeping carefully over the top, 
I saw at not more than 100yds. from me five goats, three 
lying down and two standing; one of the two that was 
standing was an old "billy;" he was evidently on the 
watch. I quietly withdrew my head and motioned to the 
Colonel to come up quietly. After he had had a peep we 
held a consultation, with the result that I should shoot the 
old "billy" while he shot the other one that was standing. 
We were to shoot the first round concealed, and then 
stand up and cut down the rest if possible. 
The first part of our plan worked to perfection, for we 
shot the two standing dead the first shot, both bullets find- 
ing a heart. The remaining three goats quickly jumped up 
and started running, finst one way and then the other. 
My companion and I each crippled one, but the third goat 
made good his escape. We each took after a wounded 
goat; both of them were quickly out of sight, the country 
being so rough. Our dogs then came into use. My dog 
held the track well, and in about a quarter of a mile I 
jumped my goat and had the satisfaction of knocking him 
over while on the run. The Colonel was as successful as I, 
although he had to go farther before he could get a 
shot. 
It took us just an hour to take the heads and hides off. 
Thinking that was enough for one day, we struck back 
to camp. 
We camped there four days, and in tha,t time got thir- 
teen goats. We would liked to have stayed longer and 
had a shot at a grizzly bear; but it was" almost time for 
snow, and we were about 100 miles from home. We re- 
turned in six days by the old Moyra Trail. 
Hknky Chauncey Cryder. 
IN THE BIG THICKET. 
The Big Thicket is a dense forest, covering a territory 
about fifty miles long and from ten to twentj'- miles wide, 
situated about seventy-five miles east of Houston, Texas. It 
abounds in game of many kinds, from the gray squirrel to 
the black bear, and is regarded as among the best, if not the 
very best, hunting grounds in Dixie. 
This forest is sparsely settled, a large portion of it being 
so overgrown with brush and vines and semi-tropical plants 
as to be uninviting to the settler; while large portions 
of it at certain seasons are partly or wholly submerged, The 
few typical inhabitants within its borders give most of their 
time to bunting in general, and deer bunting in particular. 
These hunters have packs of hounds finely trained to hunt 
fither the deer or the bear, for the bear is not uncommon in 
this wilderness. 
Hunting the wild turkeys, or, as the natives invariably call 
them, the "gobblers," is a common employment of these 
stml-aboiiginal people. 
A more generous, hospitable folk never lived. Their ho£- 
pi4-ality does not partake of that characteristic at Delmonlco's 
and Sherry's, but is far more genuine and unselfish, though 
expressed in rough, imgrammatical speech and devoid of the 
superfluities of etiquette. These brusquely unique people 
have a special welcome for the stranger coming among them, 
bearing the rifle and the fishing rod. They are ready to 
ramp with him, and to pilot him through the semi-tropical 
jungle to the best camping grounds, and where the game 
abounds. 
To reach this Eldorado of the hunter and fisher you go via 
the Southern Pacific Railroad to the lumber city of Beau- 
mont, eighty miles east of the "magnolia" city— Houston, 
Texas. From Beaumont an hour's ride on the Sabine & 
East Texas Railroad brings you to the village of Kouutze. 
Here you can obtain all the necessities for a hunting trip, 
including guide, dogs and provisions. Within fifteen miles 
of Kouutze the promised land of the hunter is found. 
Though it may not be "a land flowing with milk and honey," 
it is one aboundmg with all that fills a hunter's soul with 
the keenest enjojment. To relate the adventures, the de- 
feats and the successes of a typical hunting party in the Big 
Thicket is the purpose of this article. 
Our party was made up of Capt. A. F. Wilson, of Hearne, 
and Col. A. M. Rhodes and myself, of Bryan. This trip 
proved to be "the hunt of our lives," as one of our party ex- 
pressed it. 
Our Captain and our Colonel— we give them in their rank- 
ing order— reached Kountze at 10:30 Sunday morning, while 
the high private of the expedition, your humble servant, 
went before to assist in clearing the way for the coming of 
mighty experts with rifle and shotgun. Our preparations 
for the plunge into the wilderness were soon completed, and 
after partaking of a splendid dinner at the Berber Hotel, 
wliich by the way would be a credit to a much larger town 
than Kountze, we were on the way full of enthusiasm and 
expectation. At Kountze J. K. Salter and D. H. Hart, old- 
lime residents of this region, joined us. We reached camp 
at late bedtime that night. Th .ugh we were weary with the 
journey, our eagerness for the fray on tlie morrow was as 
keen as ever. Oar camp was soon laid out on the hanks of 
a small stream known as Pine Isldnd Bayou, surrounded by 
an almost impenetrable wilderness. A cheerful fire soon 
hghted up the surrounding gloom. Our horses were cared 
for, the tent was spread, and soon we were renewing the 
inner man with a generous supply of bread, broiled bacon 
and strong coffee. 
Refreshed with supper, we discussed plans for the hunt, 
and finally agreed upon them. Guns were oiled and put to- 
gether, shells examined, hunting jackets put within easy 
reach, and we were prepared for a daylight start. 
Of course we swapped camp stories. The Captain and 
the Colonel tried to say witty things and the Colonel even 
tried to sing, while the High Private got behind a tree and 
laughed, which was echoed by the mournful owl, whose 
peace had been disturbed by the attempts at song, while the 
hoarse, regretful cry of the coyote filled the forest with 
what were to us sounds strange and weird. 
Our lungs expanded; our anticipations were rekindled, and 
we began to realize that sense of freedom which only comes 
to man when he is away from the pomp and power of 
crowded city and populous mart. We caught something of 
the thought that in camp "all fallacies are detected, all ranks 
leveled and all distinctions done away with." Around our 
camp-fire titles and worldly distinctions were as unreal and 
vague as the shadows cast athwart the tree branches by the 
ever-flickering flame. All were hunters, and good will and 
strong appetites predominated. 
"Well, boys," remarked Capt. Wilson, "I can tell you as 
soon as we make the first run to-morrow whether we will 
have good or bad luck on this hunt. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
"How's that?" asked several. 
"Well," replied the Captain, "if we kill the first deer we 
jump we will have good luck, but if it gets away from us we 
will have bad luck all the way through." 
"How do you make that out?" some one asked. 
"I have never seen it fail; I have been on a hundred hunts 
and it has always come out that way." 
Some were disposed to attribute the Captain's statement to 
a tinge of superstition, while others, more considerate, were 
inclined to give it consideration. Hunters, as a rule, are in- 
clined to believe the weird, strange and improbable. No one 
scarcely claims to be a successful hunter who is not to some 
extent superstitious. The man who would go deer hunting 
on the "change of the moon," or the fisherman who would 
fish on the "full of the moon," or either who does not believe 
in signs, omens and "rabbit feet," will never be called great 
anoong his fellows. But we had no chance to test the Cap- 
tain's statement, as the sequel will show. 
By the first streak of day all hands were up, breakfast was 
put out of sight, horses were saddled and the start was made 
for our first drive. By unanimous consent Mr. Hart, or 
Dennis, as he h called, was selected as leader. He seems in- 
stinctively to know every step of the pathway blind or clear 
through the wilderness. The compass, considered a neces- 
sity bv most hunters and travelers in the Big Thicket, is a 
superfluity to this true woodsman. Ask him, when and 
where you will, as to the location of camp, and Dennis will 
point his long finger with unerring accuracy in the direction 
of the grub box. He knows every crossing, or how to go 
around all the ''bad thickets," and where to cross all bay 
galls; but neither he nor any other living man can tell which 
way a deer will run when started by dogs. 
It was decided that we should not take stands, but would 
breast-hunt; that is, one man would take the dogs in the cen- 
ter and the other hunters would flank him on either side, 
stationing themselves about 100 to 200yds. apart. At a sig- 
nal from the driver, as the man with the dogs is called, each 
one moves slowly forward in line. The plan provides that 
if a start is made and the deer doubles or turns back some 
one is almost sure to get a shot. Moving out in this order, 
Dennis in charge of the dogs, we had gone but a short dis- 
tance from camp when the dogs struck trail. It was soon 
evident, however, that it was a cold trail. So eager were all 
for a run we began to wish the driver would blow off and 
try a fresher trail. But the dogs kept working it, and by 
the time they had gone half a mile 
"TJie antier'd monarch of tlie waste 
Sprung from his heathery couch in haste," 
and then the sport began. The deer led off directly from the 
drive, and according to previous instructions from the leader 
all hands followed. Before they had gone far, however, 
our crowd was in bad, bad shape, and about half of them 
did not know "straight up." 
The Big Thicket is what its name indicates. It is simply 
a big thicket, having the appearance of a dense swamp, 
though a large part of it is high land, which is dry except 
after'big rains There being but little fall to this land, the 
surface water is slow to run off. 
In places the undergrowth is so thick as to be difficult to 
travel either afoot or mounted. In many places tbere are 
what are called "openings," but thcj' are known only to 
those who are accustomed to hunting in this region. The 
stranger who attempts to make his way without a guide 
through these thickets finds his progress impeded by vines, 
briers, brush and palmettoes, which in some places grow 
10ft. high. But this description applies only to a portion of 
the thicket. In places one can lope a horse for miles with- 
out any obstructions; in others by picking bis way and with 
the liberal use of the hack knife, the mde meeum of the Big 
Thicket hunter, he can make fair headway. Such is the 
extent and density of these "bad thickets" that the compass 
is not always to be depended upon, and in some instances 
gets one into a mess, or rather into a thicket, out of which 
he must cut his way. Still I can advise no one not familiar 
with these woods to go into them without a compass, hack 
knife, and perhaps a balloon and a few days' rations may be 
necessary. 
In less than thirty minutes the dogs were out of hearing 
and our hunters were scattered in every direction, some try- 
ing to get out of unusually dense thickets, some trying to 
back track themselves to camp, while others, more venture- 
somo, were wandering around trying to ride up a fresh deer. 
After having been out of hearing more than an hour the faint 
cry of the hounds was heard. Tliey were evidently return- 
ing. We quieted down, as each man was on the alert. On 
come the dogs, each moment getting nearer and their bark- 
ing more distinct. Each man decided that the deer was 
coming directly to him; that he was in the right place. 
But all were mistaken except the scribe. I had stationed 
myself in an open glade near the edge of a thicket, and by 
the time the dogs were within half a mile of me I heard the 
deer coming. Strange as it may seem, the longer the dogs 
run a deer the further it will get from them. This fact is 
well known to aU old deer hunters. When he was within 
about 60yds. of my covert I gave him my first barrel, which 
only seemed to cause him to move more rapidly. My second 
shot did the work, and I then knew that if there was any- 
thing in Capt, Wilson's "sign" we had begun a lucky hunt, 
as the first deer started lay dead before me. The calls were 
then blown, and all the hounds were soon congregated about 
our first trophy. The condition of our stomachs. and the 
place of the sun indicating dinner, we decided to return to 
camp, where our deer was turned over to the cook. Our 
appetites intensified by the morning's work, added to by the 
cook's culinary skill, provided us with a dinner fit for the gods. 
Soon we started out again. This time the programme was 
changed. We took stands on an old road a short distance 
below our camp. Dennis with fresh pack of dogs went be- 
low us about a mile to drive back. T'hia time, as before, I 
was fortunate enough to be in the right place, I had hitched 
my horse and had just seated myself on a "horsing log" 
waiting events, when I saw three deer making a bee hue for 
me, 1 let them come to within about 40yds. when I fired. 
My first barrel brought down the deer nearest to me, and be- 
fore the others had made many jumps a second one sunk to 
rise no more. The third deer, after making a few bounds, 
stopped short in a small thicket. Hastily slipping a shell in 
each barrel, the only ones 1 had, I cautiously started in the 
direction of the halting monarch of the woods. Before I got 
within safe range of it it started . 
By this time the dogs hail started another deer, so I moved 
back to my stand. Luck was with me, I was again at the 
right place, and soon I saw another fine fellow bounding to- 
ward me. When within about 80yds. of me, and when the 
- ^ - - ^ — _ 
deer was near the edge of a dense thicket, I let drive at it 
with my remaining load, but missed. 
At the report of the gun the deer turned toward me, and 
ran up within 30ft. of me and suddenly stopped. There I 
stood with an empty gun, with the deer looking at me. At 
once I had an attack of what is known among hunters as 
the buck ague. Unless one has had such an attack, no de- 
scription could aid you to understand what it ia. After 
standing there full two minutes (it seemed hke a month to 
me) the deer started off. 
The dogs were soon there, but all my coaxing and scolding 
could not stop them. On they went, and our day's hunt 
was over. 
Taking the two deer to camp, we turned in for the night, 
each to recount his adventures of the day, and to tell how 
near he came to getting a shot and just how it happened that 
he burnt no powder. All were tired and hungry, but anx- 
ious for the next hunt. Our supper that night was enough 
to tempt the appetite of an epicure. We had venison cooked 
in several ways, with necessary accompaniments and condi- 
ments, besides a delicious stew of gray squirrels, some of 
our party having shot several that afternoon. 
The Big Thicket abounds with all manner of game— squir- 
rels, rabbits, coons, opossum, wildcats, turkeys, panthers 
and black bears — and it was decided that the bear should be 
our main object on the morrow. To this end Mr. John Jor- 
dan, the celebrated Big Thicket bear hunter, agreed to meet 
us with his bear pack the next morning. He was promptly 
on hand with a pack of the finest and most vicious looking 
dogs I ever saw. There were specimens of nearly every 
color, size and breed. I wish I could describe this man as 
he is. About oft. lOin. high, weighs about 2501bs., with 
dark, short-cut hair and blue eyes which "sparkle and 
dance" as he recounts his many hand-to-hand conflicts with 
bruin, he looks what he is, a dangerous adversary for man 
or beast, and a livid scar exttnding from his ear to the lower 
part of the chin shows that some biped has had the temerity 
to "tackle" him, hut 'twas no use; he is still hunting hear. 
The day he joined us he was dressed in a pair of ducking 
pants, leather leggings and a short jumper of the same ma- 
terial, and with a broad leather belt, to which hung a long 
hunting knife. On his head he wore a long cone shaped cap 
made of coarse cloth, around which near his head was a 
roll about 3in. in diameter, also made of cloth and tufted 
with wool — this in case while running a bear he runs against 
a tree or limb, to prevent injuring the tree or limb. He is 
entirely ilfiterate, that is to >-a.y, he doesn't "know a letter in 
the book," but, as the American lady said to the British 
colonel, "He can make his mark." He has made his mark 
on more black bears than perhaps any man living. In hunt- 
ing bears he uses a ,44cal. Winchester rifle, and, as he ex- 
presses it, "when near enough to his game he just pumps 
lead into him until he quits kicking." 
Before starting on tue bear hunt that day Capt. Wilson 
took me aside and inquired as to the percentage for and 
against bagging a hear on this hunt. He was told the 
cbances at this season of the year stood about one in four for 
a start and one chance in ten for a -shot if the bear is started. 
At this season of the year the bears are poor and can run as 
long and as fast as a deer, and they invariably keep in the 
worst thickets; consequently, to get a shot is the exception, 
not the rule. Later in the season, when they are fat, they 
will run but little, sometimes not at all; then they either tree 
or fight on the ground until they are killed. It is then royal 
sport to hunt them. The Captain at once decided to jump 
the bear hunt and go deer driving with several of us who, 
having had some experience in bear hunting and knowing 
how slim the (jhances to bag game were, had concluded not 
to accompany the bear hunting party. 
After the bear hunters were well out of sight we turned 
loose a few of the deer dogs and started in quest of more 
deer. W e had gone less than 200yds. from camp when the 
dogs struck a running trail, and before they had gone very 
far we knew that the game was afoot. We at once spread 
out and began pursuit. Capt Wilson turned to the left and 
had but just gotten out of sight when we heard his gun, and 
the welcome three blows of his horn were sounded which 
told us that the race was over. The deer, two in number, 
after running straight ahead for about half a mile, doubled 
back on Capt. Wilson, who downed them both in one, two 
order, so that they fell within 10ft. of each other, 'these 
were the best shots of the hunt, as we all declared. We were 
back to camp with two fine deer, a doe and yearhng, in less 
than an hour from the time we had started, bringing our 
score up to five. Some of the party continued the hunt for 
deer, others brought down a lot of squirrels, while some 
kept camp and indulged in a little draw, "just for fun, you 
know." , 
During the day several chances at deer were had, but no 
more were bagged. 
Our bear hunters returned about 3 o'clock in the after- 
noon. Tney were hot, tired and hungry and not very 
amiable, having only blank shots to their credit, and having, 
as Col. Rhodes, one of the party, expressed it, "not found a 
ball-headed thing." He further declared they had gone 
through placts so thick that he had to ' lift up the brusn to 
bat his eyes." This closed our second day's hunt. 
That night we welcomed to our parly J. R. Davenport 
and Berch Pedigo, of Kountze. They brought with them a 
few fresh anecdotes. 
Before sun up we were out. For hours every deer we 
started ran wrong, and it seemed that no one could get in 
the right place, until finally a fine buck • 'ran over" Mr. 
Davenport, who promptly prepared the game for transporta- 
tion to camp, making number six. Several of the party had 
shots during the day, but Mr, Davenport was the only suc- 
cessful man. 
That night Capt. Wilson and I tried om- luck fire-hunting, ' 
and by 12 o'clocK returned to camp with three fine deer, 
Capt. Wilson having killed two and his companion one. 
The next day only one deer was taken. Some of the 
party went fire-hunting at night, but retm-ned as they went, 
without any deer. Friday proved to be the typical bad day 
that it is always said to be, for nothing was killed larger 
than a gray squhrel. 
Saturday morning Capt. Wilson and I went prospecting, 
looking for a good place to hunt that night. As our dogs 
were all about run down, we decided that all hands should 
rest that day and be fresh for an all-night fire-hunt, which 
would close our hunt for this trip. Accordingly during the 
day we "looked out" our route for the night, and as soon as 
it was dark four lamps were lit. Capt. Wilson, Col. Rhodes, 
Dennis and myself each carried a lamp, and in order to keey 
from getting lost it was arranged that Dennis should take 
one side and I the other, while Capt. W. and Col. R. should 
