Not. 27, 189t.j 
42? 
PEDRO. 
We -were sitti-Dg out on the veranda in the cool of the 
evening, watcbing the moon come up over the tops of the 
trees; and my German friend was telling me, between puffs 
from his cigar, a story about a big jaguar that had killed 
several of his young calves some six months ago, I will try 
to tell the story to your readers, not as he told it, half Ger- 
man and half Eoglith, but in plain English. 
He wa"? boss, or manager if you choose, of a cattle ranch 
of about 400 lo 500 head of breeding stock. Several young 
calves and two young mules had been killed by jaguars. 
Twice the cowboys had come in with the report that they 
had seen a big jaguar sneaking away from the carcass of a 
dead calf. 
Something had to be done, so my fripnd offered a reward 
of $25 to any man who would kill the beast. Now $25 is not 
to be made every day in the year, and is big money to a Costa 
Rica cowboy; so the old muzzleloaders around the ranch 
were loaded up to the nczzle with powder and buckshot. 
Within a week's ticne another calf had been killed. This 
time it was a day-old calf; one blow from the beast's paw 
had done the work. Tae dlf was found in the morning 
with its skull crushed in. The meat had not been touched; 
the big cat would come back that night for his kill. So a 
hunt was arranaed, every one going, including all stray 
dogs; only the cook left in camp. 
Most of the men thought that the jaguar would return at 
dusk, so the start was made at about 5 that afternoon. 
Half an hour's nde brought, the hunters to where the dead 
calf bad been that morniDg, but the carcass was not there; it 
had been dragged a Utile way off to a clump of bushes. The 
scent was red-hot, and all the dogs were off at once; one old 
hound in particular baying at every jump, and the cowboys 
and the other men following as best they could. 
All at once the barking of the dogs broke out louder than 
ever. They had the jiguar treed, and when my friend 
reached the tree the old hound lay all in a heap dying from 
a blow from those terrible claws. The jaguar was high up 
in a big mountain quava tree and hugging a limb close, only 
showing hie little uely head. 
The boys blazed away with their old muzzleloaders, but 
the cat was so high up and the buckshot scattered so that it 
did not have much effect upon the brute. 
My friend was watching tbe j iguar pretty closely, expect- 
iiag a chanse of position, and when the brute did make a 
spring for a higher limb, let drive with his .44 Winchester. 
The result was startling, for down came the animal and 
Struck the ground Hbe a sack of salt. 
The ball had cut the spine, so that the hindlegs of the 
beast were paralyzed. 
My friend told me that the jaguar struck the ground about 
8ft. from where his youngest cowbow, Pddro, stood; the boy 
had no gun, but like a flash his machete was out and he 
sprang at the beast witoout tear. The jaguar, with open 
mouth, made a ViCious grab at his leg, but the boy ran his 
machete down the brute's throat with all" the strength that 
was in him, aud when he drew it out the jaguar was dead. 
Little Pedro got his .$25, all light, and something else that 
money could not buy — the respect of the whole ranch. 
MARYLAND QUAIL AND RABBITS. 
In spite of the raw and the sogey condition of the 
ground Baltimore county was covered Monday morning of 
the 8th with gunners. It was the first day of legalized 
rabbit and partridge shooting, and the reports of the 
"Klondike" condition of the game brought sportsmen from 
far and near. From daybreak until nightfall the reports 
of guns could be heard all over the counties where the law 
was out. Considering the thoroughness with which the 
country was covered, it must be either a very lucky or a 
very skillful rabbit that escapes with a whole skin, while 
the partridges also had their troubles. 
At the railroad stations Monday night many gunners 
arrived with bulging game bags, and all had stories of a 
good time, which was somewhat belied by their thoroughly 
draggled and muddy condition. Game within striking 
distance of J3Altimore hunters with a day off is certainly 
more plentifrl than heretofore. The Game and Fish Pro- 
tective Association is succeeding in its guarding of the 
game of the State, because it has struck a popular chord. 
Inhabitants of the nearby counties are alive to the neces- 
sity of protecting the game, and they accordingly are more 
and more co-operating with the Association. Dealers in 
guns and ammunition are experiencing quite a boom in 
their business, and when the stories of the deeds on the 
opening day get abroad the boom should increase. 
Beagle hounds have suddenly taken a rise in the mar- 
ket. Some of the more fastidious of the gunners refuse to 
use beagles, thinking it too prosaic to take a crack at bun- 
ny as he sits meditating after doubling on his trail. These 
sportsmen prefer to ''kick him up," and then take a snap 
shot as he flies over the brown field and through the weeds. 
As rabbits jump up in unexpected places and scamper off 
with the speed of a comet, it takes something of an expert 
to ''nip" them after this fashion. 
With the shooters of birds, the pointer and setter dogs 
are receiving a new value. When it seemed that the 
game of the State would be depleted, the training of these 
dogs showed signs of going backward; but the brighter light 
that has come over the local hunting world has brought 
them back to tbeir old-time importance. People in some 
of the counties of Maryland are now making a business of 
keeping pointers, setters and beagles, which they hire to 
the city gunners, together with their own services. 
Perhaps Anne Arundel offers the best field for the 
small-game hunter who "runs down for a day." Balti- 
more and Hasford counties are so well tilled that the 
tangle of briers and sedge coveted by Bob White and cot- 
ton-tail is comparatively rare. Of course, a good field may 
he found in a tramp of a mile or two, but in "Ann 
Randle" it is nearly all brier and sedge, and the birds and 
rabbits are in it. One of the places attractive to gunners 
from this city and Washington is Waterbury, about half- 
way between Annapolis Junction and Annapolis, on the 
old Elkridge railroad. There one may secure a guide. 
An old colored man named John, who can bag more rab- 
bits in one day than any ordinary mortal can In a week, 
will take tbe "city maree" in tow for a consideration. 
One does not need a guide, however. Steering clear of 
the places that are posted, a hunter can do without guide 
or dog, even, for the game is so plentiful that numerous' 
streaks of gray and white fur through the grass, many 
whirs of startled coveys and the occasional rattle of a 
pheasant will keep a snap shooter's hands full. 
A visitor to Anne Arundel will be rewarded for his trip, 
not only by a plethoric bag^ but more than likely by an 
interesting story or two while waiting for the homeward 
train. 
An idea is prevalent thertS that partridges and rabbits 
are fully aware when the day arrives that ushers in for 
them the perils and responsibility of another open season. 
In driving through the lonelv lanes of the country it is no 
uncommon sight to see partridges lining the low fences or 
strutting before one's horse, apparently bold in the knowl- 
edge of governmental protection. Rabbits will line up 
alongside and sit on their hindlegs with a suspicious move- 
ment of the front paws near the smelling organ as they 
watch you go by. This all happens during the summer 
months and early fall, but on Nov. 15 there is no more sit- 
ting out in the road. Before the first gun has been fired 
they have vanished, and the darkies believe that there are 
high doings on the midnight before the law's limit 
expires. 
The good prospects for rabbits and partridges are more 
than equaled hy those for ducks. Some gunners on the 
flats have had excellent luck. One party from here last 
week killed 151 in one day. These were mostly black- 
heads and redheads, but four canvasbacks were in the 
hunch. It is the belief of the more enthusiastic of the 
sportsmen that if the present stringent measures for the 
protection of game are continued this State will afford 
them sport for an indefinite time. John T. Higgins. 
GOKEY, OF DAWSON. 
PEEKSKiLL ON-UnDSON — Editor Forest and Stream: In a 
recent number of Forkst mo Steeam your Western cor- 
respondent, Mr, Hough, has ffiven an excellent description 
of his Honor J, J. Gokey, of Dawson, K D, 
While in Dakota this autumn with a party of gentlemen, 
I became fairly well acquainted with the Judge, and I must 
say that Mr. Hough has not at all overdrawn the estimate of 
the former's value. 1 spent several pleasant days in Mr. 
Gokey's company— one particular Sunday will ever remain 
green in memory. His Honor asked me to drive with him 
"over to his buckwheat stubble." This "over," I found out 
GOKEY, OP DAWSON, 
Photo by Dj-. P, H. Mason, 
later, meant a ride of twenty-five miles across the prairie, 
, incidentally keeping our eyes open for "goose flights," 
Although I am in the habit of riding several thousand 
miles in a buggy annually, I rrally enjoyed that trip with 
Gokey immenfely. The crisp morning air; the bright sun- 
shine; the steady pat, pat, of the ponies' ft et upon the beaten 
trail; the vastness of the unbounded prakie, together with 
the great expressed ability of my friend to entertain with 
soDg and story, made the ride, long as it was, altogether too 
short. 
With considerable persuasion on my part to overcome tbe 
Judge's natural modesty, he consented to pose for me with 
his faithful friend, on the porch of the Halls of Justice at 
Dawson, 
I have the pleasure of transmitting to you the result, and 
I have no doubt his many friends in the many States of this 
Union will unite with me in the cxf^lamation, "All hail 
Judge Gokey !" P. H, Mason, M,D, 
SHOOTING CASUALTIES. 
Bkiep mention of the accidental shooting of John Benson 
was made In last week's Forest and Stream. The details 
of the sorrowful tragedy are given below; not so much as 
an item of news as for a warning to others who might 
thoughtlessly put themselves in the way of being shot as 
poor .John Benson did 
On Friday, Oct 30, Wm. P. Cook, .John Benson, Mahlon 
T. Hampton and John Daly were in camp twenty miles 
from Grand Rapids, Minn., hunting deer. They were all 
old friends and experienced hunters, all of them over fifty 
years old. After they had gone to bed on the night of the 
30th, Cook asked each one of the others where he was going 
the next morning. Hampton aud Daly told where they 
would go, and Benson said he did not think he would go out, 
as his hip hurt him. 
Next morning Cook again asked the men where they would 
be located. Hampton and Daly said they would go south- 
west of the camp about a mile, while Bdnson again said his 
hip hurt so he would not go out that morning. Cook then 
told exactly where he was going; to a certain "small patch of 
very thick cover, where Benson had two shots at deer the 
previous day. Just as Cook was leaving the camp, he turned 
to Benson and again asked whether he would go out, and 
Benson said, "No." Soon after the others left camp, the 
colored cook says Benson starttd out. Mr, Cook went some- 
what beyond the particular spot where he expected to watch 
for deer, and walked slowly back over the same route. On 
reaching the place where he had felt confident that he would 
see a deer, he saw a slight movement in the bushes 100yds. 
away. Everything was covered with a heavy white frost, so 
Mr. Cook could see a portion of some brownish object, but not 
enough to determine what it was, and did not shoot. Pre- 
sently it moved again, about the distance a deer would take 
at one step. Again Mr, Cook waited, until after a few se- 
conds it took another step. Still nothing could be seen ex- 
cept what appeared a small portion of a deei'a body. After 
another wait, and thinking where Daly and Hampton were, 
and that Benson was in camp, he fired, the bullet passing 
through Benson's body just above the heart, Benson wore a 
corduroy cap and shooting jacket very near the color of a 
deer. 
The editor of oui paper has recently given us a most ex- 
cellent and timely article on criminal carelessness with fire- 
arms, and it is to be hoped it will be well and often remem- 
bered by all of ns, but he did not deal with the other side of 
the question, that of the man who carelessly and sometimes 
deliberately puts himself where he stands a good chance to 
be killed. Benson knew just where Cook expected to be, 
and knew that Cook believed Benson was in camp. Yet he 
went there, dressed in almost the exact color of a deer. If 
he had actually planned to get himself shot he could not have 
done it better. 
Perhaps the writer feels rather strongly pn this subject, as 
he has been shot three different times by hunting com- 
panions. Once it was altogether his own fault, coming to 
another shooter throtigh thick cover when he was known to 
be some distance away a few minutes before, and going in 
another direction. Next time it was the shooter's fault, as 
he knew where I was and shot at a snipe flying straight 
toward me. The third time "the cover wag too Ihiclr to see 
through and the shooter did not know my whereabouts. 
O. H. Hampton^. 
Kettle Falls, Washington, Nov. 10,— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Yesterday another name was added to the fearful 
list of unfortunates mistaken for deer. 
Some ten days since, Mr, .Jay W. Fuller, of Clean, N. T., 
accompanied by an old man named Vanderpool, went on a 
hunt for deer into the mountains to the southeast of this 
place, and yesterday, Nov. 9, while hunting on a mountain 
some four or five miles distant from the town of Kettle Falls 
they separated, agreeing to meet on a mountain spur a mile 
distant; and when after a time Mr. Vanderpool caughf, sight 
of his comrade standing under the drooping brancbes of a 
small fir tree he promptly mistook him for a deer and shot 
him through the heart with a .50jal, reedle gun. The un- 
fortunate man fell dead without a struggle. 
This occurred about 1 P, M. Horrified at the awful sight, 
the old man hurried back to town and reported the sad 
affair, and a party of four of us, guided by the sorrowing 
survivor, started about dark for the body. Driving to the 
foot of the mountain, we left the team and climbed up the 
steep mountain side through Gin. of soft snow about a mile 
and a half further up, and by the light of two lanterns im- 
provised a stretcher, and after an hour and a half of toil 
such as none of us could well repeat reached the wagon and 
regained the town at midnight. 
If the reading of this sad story will only check the hasty 
action of some one of the class of those most dangerous of 
creatures that roam the woods— those who jump at conclu- 
sions, and follow them instantly with bullets— t will be well 
repaid for the considerable effort it requires from my tired 
arm in penning it, Obin Belenap. 
DEER TRACKING IN THE SNOW. 
Boston, Nov, 20 — The snow has continued to cover the 
ground in nearly all the big game sections in Maine, and 
deer hunting has been remarbably good. The noon train 
over the Bangrr & Aroostook Railroad Saturday had forty- 
six deer on board. A Boston gentleman, who saw them, 
says that the lot was a fine one; nearly all bucks, with some 
fine sets of antlers. It is a curious fact that the deer killed 
in Maine early in the season are largely does, but later in the 
season, and especially after tracking snows, the bucks begin 
to predominate. Within a week a great many deer are to^be 
seen in the Boston markets, evidently from Maine. Game 
Commissimer Carleton himself is reported to have been 
hunting big game in .the Katahdin region this week, and to 
have obtained one deer. 
Deer hunting in New Hampshire has also been good for a 
week past, the ground generally being covered with snow, 
in the deer country. A dispatch to the daily papers, from 
Littleton, says that E. Bailey, Everett West and Charles 
Henry, have just returned from a hunting trip in the neigh- 
borhood of Lincoln, each with a deer. Frank Ranlett also 
shot one, though the rest of his party returned empty-handed. 
John Renfrew and W. Nute have just returned from the 
same section, but their success is not reported. Edward 
Haynes, of Twin Mountain, has killed a deer there that 
weighf d 200!bs. and had a fine set of antlers. Will Haynes 
and Will Burrows have been on a hunting trip in the vicin- 
ity of Willev Pond, and have secured a deer. F. W. Bent 
and Carles Taylor, of Bethlehfm, have recently taken a deer 
in the neighborhood of the Franconia Notch. A deer was 
recently shot in the churchyard at Benton. Fred Brown 
has lately killed a large deer near Gorham. Several deer 
have been lately secured in the vicinity of Parkman. So 
much for a couple of weeks' deer hunting in New Hampshire. 
It looks likely that, under the partial prevention of deer 
hounding in the Granite State, the famous White Mountain 
region is to become noted as the home of deer. Special. 
Good Keports from Maine. 
Jackman, Me., Nov. 19.— The hunting season has proven 
as good, and if such a thing were possible, better in the whole 
Moose River region than the most sanguine anticipated. 
A much larger number of sportsmen have registered at the 
hotels and sporting camps than ever before. 
Oa Oct. 7 I noticed on the registry at the Newton House 
the following entry: "John Wooldridge, Wakefield, Mass., 
one deer, weight 145lbs ; call at 3 o'clock A. M." 
Three o'clock in the morning is quite a backwoodsy season 
for arising from a comfortable hotel couch, but the truism 
that "the early bird catches the worm" is equally true of a 
moose or deer. Sportsmen will not have the month of 
December for hunting this year as formerly, J. F. 8, 
Lake Onawa, Me , Nov. 17 —Sportsmen have had un- 
usually good luck here and in the whole EUiottsville and 
Long Pond region since Oct, 1. Twenty-five deer have 
already been taken to their homes from the Onawa station 
on the C. P. Railway. 
Some of the large game taken by sportsmen has gone from 
here via Monson and other stations of the C. P. Railway. 
