Bec. 3, 1898.I 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
447 
making very good resolutions? You remember at such 
times how much your guide admired the knife with the 
long business-like blade, and you resolve on the spot that 
it shall be his; and you even think of the friends who 
would not come when you asked them, and assign to 
them mentally a fat brace of birds. 
To this benign influence the Doctor and his guest 
succumbed, The visitor said: "I'll paddle home, old 
man; you just stretch yourself out in the bottom of the 
punt and have a snooze." • And he asked the Doctor 
thoughtfully if his heel still pained where the rubber boot 
had blistered it, and complimented him upon his shoot- 
ing. 
While the Doctor said: "No, old man, I'll paddle 
you. You worked hardest coming down, and it is only 
right and fair and proper that I should do my share 
now." And he spoke so nicely about the other's shoot- 
ing, who replied, "Not at all." And in fact they were 
both just as polite and genial as it was possible for two 
men to be — not at all like the two who started out in 
the morning, cold and hungry, when the other told the 
Doctor that he really didn't know the first thing about 
paddling a punt quietly, and that he had chosen i he very 
w T orst place in the whole pond to set out decoys; and 
when the Doctor had reminded the other of his shooting 
of the night before, and had put it to him whether any 
one who could not hit a duck in two tries was likely to 
be an authority on placing decoys. 
On their way back the two in the green punt found a 
little creek fringed on both sides with rushes. They 
explored this. The visitor, having the place of courtesy, 
sat in the bow with his repeater (12-gauge) ready for 
action. A sharp turn revealed two ducks; one was killed 
and the other swam off with a broken wing. A shot 
from the third barrel of the repeater stopped proceedings. 
It is in cases of this kind that, it seems to me, the re- 
peater has an advantage over the double-barrel arm. 
Nothing more was seen, and the punt's nose was turn- 
ing to descend the creek, when the almost tangible still- 
ness of that lonely swamp was broken rudely, by the 
hoarse Monks and croaks of a flock of geese. They 
passed perhaps 20yds. high over the creek and about 
jooyds. ahead of the punt. How they wished, those two 
youths, that they had turned that boat a moment or two 
before. 
Still in the bow, a little later, as they rounded one of 
the sharp turns in the stream, the visitor caught sight of 
the geese coming back, following the creek and low over 
it. A motion to the Doctor, and the whispered word 
"geese," . and the punt backed quietly until hidden to 
the coming flock by the bend. The rushes were low. 
By peering through their tops, the two could see the 
grand, big birds, with their long necks straightened, 
flapping nearer and nearer. It was an exciting rhoment. 
Would they come as far as the bend, where the concealed 
hunters lay, or would they strike across country before 
they were within range? As a matter of fact, they did 
neither, for when within 70 or 80yds. of the bend they 
curved their wings and slid quietly into the water. 
The Doctor called himself something under his breath 
for forgetting to bring with him ( that morning the few 
cartridges that he had filled very full of black powder 
and AA shot. As it was, their shot was small, the birds 
were very large, and the two did not think that at such 
a distance they could do them much harm. §o they 
waited, and watched the geese drink their fill of the 
fresh water, then turn, alas! and swim slowly away. 
The two in the punt said things quietly to themselves 
as they saw the distance increase. The geese were going 
away. They had gone 100yds. when the disappointed 
two of the punt heard off in the distance the boom of 
Frank's gun. The geese heard xt too, for they rose, 
turned once more, and honking and howling like a pack 
of beagles approached rapidly the ambush. The main 
body struck across country before they were within 
range; they seemed to fear that turn of the creek, but 
four more venturesome followed the water and passed 
the shooters 60yds. away. 
The Doctor jumped to his feet with the pent-up energy 
and excitement of ten long minutes, singled out one 
goose and "let him have" both barrels. The visitor — 
the Doctor laughs yet at the recollection — jumping to his 
feet too in the glorious excitement of the moment, 
pumped the whole six shots of his "squirt gun" at an- 
other goose. Perhaps it was the distance, perhaps the 
shot was too small, perhaps the birds were too large, 
perhaps the shooting was poor. I know not which, but 
the geese, their necks a little longer, their speed a trifle 
faster, flew on, apparently unharmed. How envious the 
others would have been had they brought home the first 
two geese of the season! for it was the second day of 
the open season. How splendidly the two big geese 
would have set off the others. How — just here the 
Doctor and his friend ceased abruptly their vain regrets. 
The- wings of one goose 200yds. away closed, his neck 
drooped, and he fell to the ground with a thud which 
the two vowed afterward to their friends that they had 
heard. A moment later, and another left the flock and 
•scaled down rapidly into the woods. The first one was 
stone dead; the second one, though the two thrashed 
the woods for an hour or more, was never found. I 
fear some fox is still licking his narrow mask in fond 
recollection of that juicy bird. They were merry, those 
two in the green punt, as they paddled toward camo, 
their boat heavier for the presence of sixteen black 
ducks, two snipe and a Canada goose. 
They saw in a marshy meadow, as they returned, sev- 
eral small flocks of grass plover. The day only half- 
grown, so they landed and had half an hour with those 
gamy birds. Once disturbed, the flocks scattered out 
over the marsh, rising in singles and pairs as the shooters 
Walked them up. 
Now, "Enough is as good as a feast," to quote a very 
old proverb, and one which the good sportsman bears 
always in mind. So it came across the two friends, after 
shooting for some time, that they already had all the birds 
they and their friends at home could advisedly con- 
sume, and they left the grass plover alone again with 
their meadow. ... . _ 
That evening the three counted their slam. Frank had 
returned with more black-breasted plover, yellowlegs, 
turnstone plover and grass birds. 
Laid out, upon the floor of the smoking room for the 
express purpose of causing envy and jealousy in the 
hearts of those who would not come, and who two days 
before had scoffed at the rented barnyard fowl, was the 
following display — I take it from a list I made at the 
time: 1 goose, 20 black ducks, 1 green-wing teal, 31 
grass birds, 2 Wilson snipe, 11 yellowlegs, 3 gray plover, 
I turkey curlew, 6 turnstone plover, a marsh harrier and 
a grebe duck. J. K. Kennedy. 
Montreal. 
Lake Superior Deer Hunting. 
Tins was to be my first camp on Witch Lake. The 
M. & N. Ry., now a part of the C, M. & St. P. system, 
was being completed between Iron Mountain and Re- 
public, and opened up a new field for sportsmen, that 
heretofore could be reached only by canoeing on the 
Michegamme River, or by long trips through the forest. 
There were nine in our party — Messrs. White and Gil- 
mer, Winters, Bender, Proper, Lewis, Hearn, Baur 
and the writer. We went via Fort Wayne, Chicago and 
Milwaukee, our destination being 244 miles north of the 
last city. We came to our journey's end about 2 P. M., 
and jumped off and into about 4in. of snow. A company 
from Convoy, Ohio, got off also, and a few moments 
later we were all searching for a desirable place to 
camp. We finally chose a spot on the south side of a 
ridge, through which the road was graded, and some- 
thing like twenty steps from the railroad and fifty from 
the Lake. We did not have time to make permanent 
camp, as night was near; so set up our two tents, put 
the trunks in one, placed our sheet iron stove in the 
other, just as we meant it should remain, opened up 
our grub boxes and Baur got supper, while others of 
our party brought in wood, water and branches for 
bedding. 
Baur saw more game than anybody, and could hit 
a spot on a tree, but lie never touched a living thing. 
Bender, a quiet fellow, and as sly as an Indian, seldom 
missed. 
We made a bad night of it, for it was quite cold. The 
boys gave me the place of honor next the stove, and 
when I was not burning I was shivering. Four of the 
party slept in the other tent, and had to huddle like 
pigs. Our tents were neither large nor of good quality. 
The next day Gilmer, Hearn, Winters and I built a 
permanent camp by leveling a side of the hill and 
boarding it up with lumber off a stable built by the 
railroad graders, then lining one end of the shack with 
one of the tents. Lewis, who was our photographer 
and an experienced hunter as well, covered the sleeping 
apartment with a large section of oil cloth he had 
brought with him for the purpose of covering a pit in 
the ground when he should need a dark room. This 
effectually headed off any possible annoyance from a 
leaky roof. 
Those who hunted came back from different directions, 
some with rabbits or grouse, or both, except Bender, 
who brought in a deer that would weigh probably 
65IIJS. From that to the end of our three weeks' stay 
we had venison. That evening, as we who had stayed 
in overhauled our shooting irons, the boys took oc- 
casion to poke fun at me. There was one heavy double- 
barreled shotgun, one .45-90 Winchester, and one other 
large caliber, probably a .40-65. Five were .38-40, while 
my gun was a .32-20 Winchester, model '73. 
Baur gave us flapjacks and venison steak for breakfast, 
and just as the sun painted the tree tops with gold we 
started out. Bender went west, in the direction he had 
been the day before, and I crossed the railroad also 
and pulled off to the north of him. The morning was 
an ideal one, clear and quiet, the snow lying lightly on 
the leaves in the timber, while adhering to the ice 
on the marshes. A quarter of a mile from camp rabbit 
and grouse signs were abundant, while deer tracks led 
in every direction. A rifle shot off to my left caused me 
to look sharp, and a moment later a gray and white 
sireak passed across in front of me, broken by interven- 
ing timber, and quite out of range. It emphasized the 
fact, however, that I was again in a deer country, and 
made me more watchful and cautious. It was trying to 
walk past where a big northern rabbit had patted the 
snow down on a mossy knoll, and I frequently stopped 
and stood enjoying the scenery. The surroundings were 
not grand, but had the charm of being wild. No timber 
had been cut; there were no roads, paths nor other 
landmarks; while the air was laden with perfume 
from the fragrant evergreen trees, and I almost envied 
the wild creatures that inhabited that silent woods. 
About a mile from camp I saw blood in the fresh trail 
of a deer, and as it was circling to the left in the di- 
rection I was going I followed the trail. It used a 
deal of cunning in its efforts to conceal its trail. One 
place it came to a large birch tree top that had suc- 
cumbed to old time and consequent decay, and covered 
probably 50ft. square of earth. It walked the logs, 
jumping from one section of a broken limb to another 
like a goat. 
I left the trail after a time, and went south, but had 
gone but a short distance when I ran into a brood of 
grouse. I was sorely tempted to pot some of them, 
but pushed on, keeping a sharp lookout for a deer. I 
didn't know how far I was from camp, nor certainly in 
what direction, but that did not matter. I saw an open- 
ing in the timber ahead, and approaching found it was an 
extensive burned area, running south fully three miles. 
I stepped on to a log and swept my eye over the 
barren waste, instinctively raising and cocking the rifle 
as the trim outlines of a deer came to view off to the 
left. The thought flashed through me that the distance 
wag too great for the little gun, and I would better 
elevate the sights; but the same instant I was locating 
the shot I meant to hit; and bringing gun to eye 
I drew r a bead on the center of the shoulder, and as the 
gun cracked the deer whirled a half circle, took a couple 
of steps and stopped just as I fired again, this time 
at the other shoulder. As the gun cracked the second 
time the deer dropped, and was dead without a struggle. 
I found the distance to be quite 150yds., and also found 
that both balls had gone entirely through both shoul- 
ders near the center, the second one possibly 4m. fur- 
ther forward than the first. What I would have done 
with a large caliber gun is left to conjecture. 
I hung the deer to a bent bush out of reach of wolves, 
looked at my watch, saw that it was 3 o'clock, also 
noticed that the clouds hung low and threatening, and 
flakes of snow were filling the air, looked at my com- 
pass, took my tomahawk in one hand and began blazing 
in a due easterly direction, while opening a way through 
a willow thicket with my left 1i and. I knew that by go- 
ing east I would come to the railroad, and could follow 
that to camp, but I had a miserable climb over logs and 
through burned and seasoned thickets and tamarack 
swamps for a mile, where I struck heavy forest. 
It was getting gloomy now, and I pushed on, and 
was within half a mile of the railroad, when I heard men 
talking, and discovered Winters and Baur crossing my 
trail in a northwesterly direction. When I hailed them 
Winters swore by his compass in true hunter fashion, con- 
tending they were going to camp, and I was all wrong. 
I laughed at him. At the same time it would have been 
no laughing matter to make camp in the woods in a 
snowstorm, and without an evening meal. But Winters 
finally declared his compass was wrong, and dropping 
into- line, blazed the remainder of the way to the rail- 
road, which we struck about half a mile south of camp. 
The following day Gilmer and Hearn went with me to 
get the deer. A large lynx or some animal of the cat 
tribe had back-tracked my trail during the night, step- 
ping into my rubber shoe tracks, and leaving a footprint 
nearly 31m in diameter. We said nothing about follow- 
ing its trail, and I don't know why, unless the others 
thought as I did, that we would run across it again, but 
we didn't. 
My trail led over a high ridge between two lakes. 
This hill had been almost stripped of timber at some 
time years ago, by storm, or fire, or both, only a few 
large old pine trunks standing, while a heavy growth 
of black birch and other shrubs had sprung up, the 
largest reaching a diameter of probably 3in. This 
growth had been visited during the summer by a scorch- 
ing fire, and each individual shrub was seasoned and 
blackened. There was no way around it, so we clambered 
through as I had done the evening previous. We had 
come through one of those dense swamp thickets where 
a person gets a shower of little yellow spines or needles 
every time he touches a bush, and we yet hacl to coon 
logs over the marshy outlet to a lake, and- crawl through 
the willow thicket before we found the deer. When we 
reached the place Gilmer and Hearn sat down and 
emphatically declared that they would not shoot at a 
deer in such a place. I reasoned that if either of them 
had been in my shoes he would have made an effort 
to get that deer, for it was in line with human nature. 
But to lighten their burden I skinned out the fore- 
quarters, and we left them, since they were badly shot 
up. Some time after noon we got back to camp. 
The next day I went west again, but kept within the 
circle I had made two days previous. I must have 
gone close to two miles, and was skirting the border of a 
small lake, when a rabbit skipped away from my feet 
and did not stop until quite ninety paces distant. I 
was tempted to try my little gun on it, and when I 
stepped the distance to where the rabbit lay the game 
looked a good deal as if it had passed through a pulp 
mill. I then half circled the lake, which was only a 
pool, and stopped on the west bank to get a drink, The 
lake was very deep; the logs that lay in the water were 
at an angle of about 45 • degrees, and the water was 
so clear I could see them for quite a distance. The 
lake was surrounded by a heavy growth of large hem- 
locks, with scarcely any undergrowth, and this would 
be an ideal place to lose one's self for a time. I 
have tramped that territory over several times since, but 
never happened on to that pool a second time. 
Just west of it I was sitting on a sapling that had been 
uprooted and facing the west, when I saw a buck com- 
ing directly toward me from the north. He was- some 
200yds. when I first saw him, and there were many small 
trees and saplings intervening. He would come a few 
steps and stop to listen and look, then move on again. 
He came to within some 40yds. of me and stopped be- 
hind a clump of trees. I could see a part of his right 
horn, and sat there fully a quarter of an hour waiting 
for him to move. He evidently had scented me, and 
was afraid to come further, so I slowly rose to my feet, 
turning as I did so, pushed my gun out in front of me 
and leaned over to the left as far as I could, but could 
only see his right eye and a streak of his head.- I ., 
worked my feet over a couple of inches, leaned neai - ]y 
off my balance, and tried to hold a bead on his head,, 
but my position was so unnatural that I could not hold 
my gun steady, and missed. He bounded off, and 1 
took a snap shot through the timber and missed again. 
I did not care much, for we had plenty of venison in 
camp, and I knew we would get more if we needed 
it. When I returned to camp I passed near where 
Proper had killed a large doe, and had her hanging on 
the pole at camp. There were about twenty-five hunters 
camped at this place, and yet I seldom met any of them 
in the woods. 
If these random notes are readable, those who follow 
me will see that my aim, in part, is to relate personal 
experience and personal observation, touching some 
points that have been under discussion in these col- 
ums, and which I observe seem never fully settled. There 
are many by-plays, however, in hunting camps, and ,1 
both enjoy engaging in them and reading of them. 
The boys laughed a good deal at my hunting rabbits 
with a lantern. Before we had been in camp many" 
days, a big grizzly rabbit, nearly white with age and 
the cold season, came at dawn to nibble the apple and 
potato parings on our garbage pile, so one night I'« 
got a lantern and my single-barreled scatter gun, which 
I had taken along for no purpose in particular, and 
went down into the swamp in front of camp to look 
for him. I soon had him up and going, and the way 
he did kick the earth. It sounded like a horse trotting. 
Thump, thump, thump went his hind feet, as he van- 
ished into the gloom. I could walk him up, but when I 
tried to hold the lantern and shoot him on the jump I 
found I had bargained for too much. It was a new' 
experience for me, and probably was for the rabbit. If 
I had put the lantern on my head, or let the rabbit carry 
it, I might have gotten him. 
G. W. Cunningham, 
[to be continued.] j 
