AvG. % 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
107 
Petersen and C, Gr. Reed, both of Ashland. Mr. Pitman got 
good pictures of most of the moose and part of the deer. 
The last party has just returned from a trip over a part of 
the same section, and saw in half a day fifty-two deer and 
ten moose. They saw in sis days nineteen moose, but did 
not keep a record of the deer seen. Both parties caught all 
the trout they wanted to eat, and Mr Pitman carried home 
35Ib8. of good ones. If anyone doubts this statement, they 
can write to Mr. C. A. Pitmau, Haverhill, Mass., or Mr. 
Pobert Bowne, 81 Beaver street. New York. We 
think that we have as good big game region as can be found 
in Maine. Chas. Q. Reed. 
Mr. H W". Van^Wagener recently made a trip through 
the Maine woods, from which he returned with accounts of 
great numbers of deer seen. We find this in the Kineo 
Mcjio: 
. "June 23 Mr. H, W. Van Wagener and wife, of Morris- 
'town, N, J,, arrived here for a camping out trip. Their 
guides, Clarence Morris and James Duff, were in readiness 
for them, and an immediate start was made for the upp' r 
waters of the Penobscot, Lake Caucomogmac, Round Pond, 
Daggett Pond, Poland Pond and other places being visited 
during their trip, which lasted twenty-three days. In this 
time they saw, by actual count, 485 deer and twenty-two 
moose. They approached very near to many of the animals, 
getting so close, in the water, to one moose, that .Mrs. Van 
Wagener tapped it several times with her fly rod as it swam 
ahead of the canoe. Several snap shots were taken, and it is 
hoped that when developed some good pictures may be had. 
In one herd of deer alone forty were counted." 
IN THE MAINE WOODS. 
Peobably the most of us in whom is born a love for the 
streams and woods, have had at some time among our 
friends, an authority on woodcraft, to whom we could turn 
tor information on every topic connected with hunting and 
fishing. At least we can all picture such an oracle to our- 
selves after reading those delightful papers of Col. Mather's, 
"Men T Have Fished With." Such a one is a certain Dr. R. 
to all of his tiiends who delight in the rod and gun; a 
blending of Port Tyler and Nessmuk, who seem to know 
by instinct just where the grouse and woodcock are on 
certain days, and about where the biggest landlocked 
salmon hide each season in the lake; a true sportsman, and 
genial, kindly, ideal camp companion. About The Doc, as 
he is familiarly called, has gradually formed a circle of 
kindred spirits, who dearly love to drop into his office of an 
evening to admire his trophies of deer, moose, bear, etc., 
and discuss- the points of a new dog, or the proposed 
changes of the Maine game laws, or some other topic of 
common interest to sportsmen. A chosen few, usually 
three, who have been found worthy, and well qualified as 
marksmen and campers out, are made supremely happy 
each year by an invitation to join the Doctor on his Novem- 
ber hunt in the Maine woods. 
The eighth annual hunt left the Doc's ofiice Nov. 19, '96. 
All preparations had been diligently made, and the party set 
out with light hearts, and not a care but to sustain the repu- 
tation for great, good luck tuat had been ours in previous 
years. This year there were the Doc, Johnnie, Ed, and the 
Medic. Since the first hunt in the river valley, which was 
to be our destination, no guide had been employed by this 
party. It has long been one of Doc's tenets, that for one 
fairly well versed m woodcraft, the sport is far keener to 
still hunt alone and to rely on one's-self in the woods, than 
to be personally conducted. 
The first day out was spent in railroad and buckboard 
travel, and the first night at a sporting ranch kept by one 
Jim. The nest morning Jim's stout horses took us out of 
sight of the last habitation of man, and later left us on the 
river bank. A large rowboat, that had been provided for 
our use, was soon loaded with our duffig and pushed off into 
the current, with one man at the oars. The remainder of 
the party set out along the river driver's tote road for the 
bead of Long Palls, six miles down. A brisk, cold wind 
was blowing up river, but the thin, hard snow under foot 
was too noisy for successful hunting. At the head of the 
falls, or more properly rapids, began our portage of a mile, 
and here we alt crossed to take advantage of the better path: 
Twd trips apiece; with a good heavy jack, transferred the 
outfit (though not so easily as it looks on paper) including 
Doc's large wooden-shod sled. The use of this sled we 
afterward found to be well worth its cost of transportation, 
and all agreed in blessing the wisdom of Doc's foresight in 
bringing it. 
We found Jim's boat at the foot of the fallig, a third full 
of ice, and ferried ourselves and goods over in it, though 
not without some hard poling in tne stiff current. There 
now remained about two hours of daylight in which to 
make ourselves comfortable in an old river driver's camp, 
known to us as "Dew Drop Inn." This camp is not to be 
seen from the river, but its location was well known to us, 
having been our headquarters on at least two trips in former 
years. It was a happy, though somewhat tired, party that 
sat down to hot coffee and a good meal that first night in 
camp. This yarn would be too long if it included the 
stories and jokes of that evening round the camp fire, or a 
description of the hardness of the river driver's bed, or the 
beauty of the wooded river banks next morning, when the 
fiun rose and transformed the white hoarfrost-'aden trees 
and branches into mounds and festoons of glistening gems. 
After melting the ice out of the boat over a small tire, the 
imptdimenta was piled into it, and the boat pushed off, to 
sink or swim, in care of the Medic. In order to pass above 
a distant rock, he pushed vigorously across a shallow, swift 
current in the river, and the bottom of the too-heavily laden 
craft grazed the bottom, while she was nearly broadside to 
the current. Luckily for the success of our expedition, the 
pebbles under her rolled, and she righted, having gained a 
couple of pails of water and sustained the loss of a paddle. 
The remainder of the trip down the quick water and over 
several' miles nf dead water, was made without incident, 
save a momentary glimpse that the Medic caught of some 
large animal crossing the river half a mile behind him. A 
landing was made, and all ran back up the river; but no 
trace could be found, and the general opinion seemed to be 
that the joke was on the Medic. 
The lumberman's camp, which was to be our permaoent 
camp, contained no stove, bat was ver)'- tight and comfort- 
able. Doc, the resourceful, however, knew of a stove at a 
camp that had been burned, three and a half miles away, 
and we at once set out with the sled down the tote road to 
get it. Our road took us two and a half miles over a good 
road (comparatively), but when we left the river it ran 
through bushes and "tea wood,' under fallen trees, and. 
worse than all. over the logs of a corduroy road that had 
been afloat, and had settled anywhere but in their original 
places. However, over this and back to camp the stove 
came, and many were the good times we had around it in 
the evenings that followed. 
Nest morning there was a light fall of snow, and we all 
set out for Birch-hill in high hope. Without going into 
details about the deer we jumped without seeing or shooting 
all failed to score but D.oc; he dropped a young buck in his 
tracks with a 38 bullet through the neck. 
Two days later, Johnnie and Doc set out down the river, 
and at about noon the former found himself not far from 
the foot of a steep, scantily-wooded ascent, about two miles 
from camp. He was slowly working his way througli a 
swamp toward the bluff, when he saw about 8in of a deer's 
back above a fallen tree-truuk. There was a quick report, 
followed by a slight struggle behind the blow down. The 
buck's spine was dislocated, but a second shot ended its 
suffering. Johnnie now found that he had left his hunting- 
knife at the camp; but making good use of his penknife lie 
soon had hia game cooling and was on his way again. He 
had ascended the bluff but a short distance when his quick 
eye caught the movement of what looked like a mule's ear, 
some distance above him. A. moment later a cow moose 
walked out, and stopped, but without seeing or smelling the 
hunter. Johnnie was just wishing his camera was at hand, 
when a second moose came into view. This was a big bull, 
and called for treatment with some instrument other than a 
camera. 
The first shot, a copper-jacketed bullet driven by smoke- 
less powder, struck the forest monarch just back of the 
shoulder and passed very near the heart, but produced no 
apparent effect. Five others followed in quick succession, 
every one taking effect, when the moose, for the first time, 
seemed to catch sight of the hunter. For an instant he 
stood bracing himself, then, with blazing eyes and bristling 
liair, he gave a hoarse grunt, and lowering his big head 
plunged down the hill. There was one more chance, and 
Johnnie took it. Just as the bull jumped he fired again, 
full at the broad chest, and the bull fell dead, with his great 
muzzle only 6ft. from the young hunter. Jobnni3 mechan- 
ically threw back the lever of his Marlin, but the magazine 
was empty. Here in a very few seconds his highest ambi- 
tion as a' hunter was realized, and his last shot had slain the 
moose in the last moment of time As he hurried back to 
camp for his knife, he began to realize this and the close- 
ness of his call. Then, for the first time, he began to get a 
little excited; but let it be said right here, in total denial of 
the statements made in the daily papers at the time, that he 
did not faint. What an absurdity I This young man has 
hunted ever since he could hold a gun, and has killed more 
than a dozen deer, and has camped and tramped all through 
the Spencer and Chain of Ponds regions of Maine, on several 
trips being alone. 'It is true it was his first moose, and shot 
under very trying circumstances, but there was no fainting. 
On reaching camp, our hunter found the Medic and Ed, 
and as we were setting out Djc came in; so all went back 
to the moose to take photos and help in the lifting. The 
moose lay in a little hollow, and the united strength of the 
whole party was required to turn the carcass round. His 
antlers were rather small, but were symmetrical, and carried 
five points on a side. 
Two days later. Gill and the Captain, members of Doc's 
party in former years, gave us a genuine and most agreea- 
ble surprise by coolly walking into camp, hanging up their 
rifles, and announcing their intention of spending Thanks- 
giving with us. Everybody did his best to get them a shot 
during their short stay, but the snow was too noisy. The 
nearest they came to it was when the Captain got a fleeting 
glimpse of a disappearing flag, but only had time to say, 
"There he goes!" 
The dinner served that Thanksgiving Day was unani- 
mously voted a big success. The writer only wishes the 
items of the following menu could bring to the mind of the 
reader a correct idea of the gastronomic pleasure we experi- 
enced in discussing them: 
MENU, 
Doe's Head Camp, Maine Vyoods. 
Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, 1896. 
DINNER. 
Fried Pickerel (in meal). Venison Steak (fat doe). 
(Jrouse Pot Pie (five birdsj. 
Mashed Potatoes. Stewed Tomatoes. 
Chow Chow. Green Corn. Worcestershire Sauce. 
Dead River Cordial. 
Buckwheat Cakes, Maple Syrup. 
Mince Pie. Apple Pie. Cneese. 
Vin Port. " Punch. 
Coffee. Cigars. 
Gill and the Captain twice deferred their return, stifling all 
thoughts of "business" and "what would be said" on reach- 
ing home. The last postponement was to help us cut a road 
and drag the moose out to the' tote road on the river, a dis- 
tance of two miles. And right well did we appreciate the 
lift they gave us. 
An invitation was sent out by our departing guests to 
Roger, who joined us a couple of days later. At about this 
time Leon shot a huge doe, and the Medic had the good luck 
to drop the finest buck of the trip in his tracks. After fol- 
loyving the buck for a couple of hours he was started, when 
the top of a small hill intervened between him and the 
hunter. Upan hearing thu buck's whistle the hunter held his 
.38-72 Wiochester on the top of the hill, and after a few sec- 
onds the outlines of the buck's ears moved silently up into 
sight amid the underbrush. The bullet took effect fairly 
between the eyes. The antlers, though only four-pronged, 
were unusually large and wide-spreading (20in ). 
Doc and Johnnie crossed the river on the ice and found the 
two-days' old tracks of a bear; but as the temperature had 
been more than low enough to make any bear seek winter 
quarters, he was not hunted. - 
A weasel afforded us much amusement on several occa- 
sions. One morning he boldly seized some scraps of meat 
frozen to a newspaper which was lying near the camp door. 
This he threw over his back, and holding one edge in his 
teeth proceeded to back oft". All went well till he reached 
the bushes, when the paper caught, and he showed his en- 
gineering skill by turning about and jerking the paper along 
by little backward jumps. At another time the boys tempted 
him with meat, to which a string was attached, and enticed 
him almost within reach; but no one manifested any disposi- 
tion to seize him, as his whole progress 1 oward us was punctu- 
ated and embellished with a marvelous and at the same time 
cunning exhibition of hisses, snarls and grimaces that might 
readily be taken for feline profanity. 
A more amiable visitor was a flying squirrel that glided 
softly in at a crevice one evening, and becoming confused by 
the light (they forage by night and are seldom seen during 
the day), was caught after a hot chase by Doc, and' impris- 
oned in an empty coffee can, in which we punched some 
holes. He was set at liberty, however, after twenty-four 
hours, as his activity at night kept up an annoying rattle of 
the coffee can. 
Ed did some phenomenal shooting, one morning getting 
his deer for the trip -in less than an hour. The score now 
stood at seven, the swamps and quiet brooks were frozen up 
for the winter and our stay had been prolonged from two 
weeks to three. One night when Doc came in from an 
unusually long tramp and announced that he had found 
plenty of fresh moose sign there was a general stir of excite- 
ment in camp. But the distance from camp was found to 
be too great for a successful one day's hunt and the end too 
near for a camping trip there; so, reluctantly, the moose 
were abandoned to their fate. 
All too soon for each of us the day came when we must 
send out for Jim and his horses to come for us .and the 
game, as the demands of business had become imperative. 
Doc volunteered to act as messenger, and set out at noon. 
Toward night it began to snow softly, and the mordaing of 
the day on which we must break camp saw the best hunting 
snow of our stay on the ground. Didn't we want to stay 
one day more? But it was out of the question now, and we 
must make haste to pack up and drag two deer out to the 
road for .Jim's team. 
Leaving Ed to finish packing up, Johnnie, Roger and the 
Medic set out for the deer, both being on the road to the set- 
tlement. Doc's buck was easily found, frozen stifl", of 
course, and was soon toted out to the road and left standing 
on his hind legs, apparently embracing a .small tree as high 
up as he could reach. A couple of miles further on the 
Medic's blazed trail was found, and followed up our old, 
hardly traceable logging road for at least a couple more, 
then through a half mile of the vilest sort of scrambling and 
crawling up through scrub spruce and cedars. No succes- 
sion of hard experiences or jolly hunting trips yet to come, 
will ever quite efface the remembrance of the struggle it cost 
to haul that buck out, through the thickets, drenching down 
snow, over logs and through the stiff bushes of the old road. 
All this took time, and Ed and Jim, after waiting awhile at 
the end of the blazed trail with the team, organized them- 
selves into a relief party, and met the out-coming trio in time 
to take a hand in the finish. 
There now remained the long, cold ride and walk to Jim's 
snug camp. This, however, at last came to an end, and a 
little after dark we drew up before the brightly lighted win- 
dows. The supper we stowed away that night would have 
astonished anyone unused to feeding lumbermen. Nest 
morning the game, seven deer and two moose, was grouped 
and photographed. The Medic had no such urgent reasons 
as the other members of the parly for terminating the hunt, 
and as he had shot biit one deer, decided to remain with Jim 
a few days. 
The following morning was bright and cold, but the track- 
ing in the recent light.snow was escellent. The Medic struck 
out up the mountain aide not far from the camp and found 
a fresh track at about 8 o'clock. An hour's careful work 
showed him a buck some fifteen rods off up the mountain, 
but in good open woods. The first shot, it seems, was a 
clean miss, but the second, though a little low, threw the 
buck after a few jumps. As the dragging was all down 
hill, the game was hung up at Jim's in lime for dinner. 
This rounded out the score to the full legal limit for deer — 
two each. 
At the next semi occasional meeting of the boys in Doc's 
office, which occurred very soon after all had returned, it 
was unanimously decided chat the trip was one of the jolliest 
and most successful in the history of the club. Gkapho. 
THE INVASION OF MINNESOTA. 
Philadelphia. — Editor Forest and Stream: At the risk of 
boring your reader.'^, I venture again on a subject which is 
but of trivial importance in its substance; yet such as it is, it. 
is better that it be correct. 
In your issue of July 24, Mr. Hough says: "Yet I believe 
that it was not merely the non-resident sportsman, hoggish or 
not hoggish, who destroyed much of Minnesota's heritage 
of game. Her prairie chickens went chiefly into the ice 
barrels of early market shooters." 
I am constrained to believe that Mr. Hough knows some- 
thing of market shooting as it is practiced at present, but his 
knowledge of Minnesota is wholly inadequate. First of all, 
the early market shooters did not use any ice barrels or any 
ice. 
No ice was to be had in the smaller towns, and there many 
of the necessities of life also Avere absent. Hardship, poverty 
and privation were everywhere, as is common in a new 
country. Things much more important than ice were pre- 
force beyond the means of the people. To attempt its 
transportation from St. Paul or Mmneapolis was not a 
business proposition to men who were so frequently changing 
their base of operations and who could, with a certain per- 
centage of loss, get along without it. As soon as the birds 
were shot, they were drawn as clean as possible, then stuffed 
with dry hay, a quantity of which was carried in the wagon 
for that purpose and it also served as a soft bed for the dogs. 
The market hunters always endeavored to be within twelve 
or fifteen miles of a railroad. At night, the birds killed 
during the day were recleaned and stuffed with fresh hay, 
then sent to the railway for shipment. There was almost 
invariably a more or less serious deduction from the proceeds 
for spoiled birds, the market shooter being forced to take the 
dealer's word as a matter of course. 
The day when Minnesota's chickens were destroyed by the 
car load was before the profession of market shooting had 
been so perfected with refrigerating adjuncts. 
Mr. Hough IS also in error on the qutsUon of the non- 
resident sportsman not destroying "Minnesota's neriiage of 
game," a property which, by the way, was not a heritage at 
all, but was her own in perpetuity from the first. At the 
time when Minnesota was such a fertile game field, the 
market shooters were mostly non-residents, and the number' 
of thousands of chickens they killed then seems now incred- 
ible. Strange as it may seem to Mr. Hough, wh3 makes a 
distinction between the sportsman and the market shooter 
as they relate to Minnesota, a distinction which appfies now, 
but only in an exceedingly limited way then, great numbers 
of the sportsmen then sold their birds as did the market 
shooter. It is true, "they did not stay at the business so 
steadUy and so long," but there were innumerable relays of 
them, so that when one left, or a party left, there were 
others to take the vacated places. The sportsmen and 
market shooter had the same purpose and the results of each 
were the same. The country was worked diligently withiin 
