46 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
I 
over the deadest deer in Arkansas, with his gun in hand, 
both triggers cocked. He asked if he had not better give 
him another pop. We thought someone would have to 
sit up with Henry that night. None of us ever forget our 
iii'st deer. 
The club has never had a better outing than that hunt; 
we never saw better duck shooting than we had on St. 
Francis Lake, and the fishing was fine. We killed all 
rhe game we wanted, but none to waste. 
But we have seen that sportsman's paradise fade away. 
Railroads, the axe, the market hunter have about fin- 
ished it. But we look back to those grand hunts with 
pleasure. Some of the dear comrades who were with us 
ihen have left vacant seats around our camp-fires. They 
are missed but not forgotten. C. L. Bradley. 
Clarksville, Tenii. 
Clarksville, Tenn., July 6.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The forty-ninth annual meeting of the Chris- 
tian County Hunting Club meets on July ii. We meet 
once a year, and spend the day together at some member's 
house, where we have a barbicue, and generally wind up 
with a pigeon shoot. This annual meeting of the club is 
looked forward to with great pleasure by the members. 
It is then we decide on the place of our next camp, and the 
date of going ; we talk over our past hunts and plot and 
plan for the future; and so we spend a most pleasant 
day. The families of the members attend, and the families 
of the departed members, and when you date that back, 
for over forty years you may imagine the number we 
have at our barbecues. C. L. Bradley. 
An Indiana Quail Hunt, 
Never having seen anything about the field sports of old 
Sullivan county, Indiana, I will relate some of the ex- 
periences of a party of us who hunted here a week last 
SCclSOU 
The party consisted of two Chicago sportsmen, F. and 
R., one of the neighbor boys answering to the name of 
Clay, and last, the writer; and from time to lime Qther 
neighbors joined us for a few hours. 
Nov. i8 was to be a big day with the Odd Fellows of the 
county, and I was getting ready to go to the county seat 
to attend the ceremony, when a hack drove up to the gate 
and the Chicago men tumbled out. As it was only 9 
o'clock, we started out for a little hunt before dmner. 
A cornfield was first tried aJ-d was drawn blank, the dogs 
covering the ground in fine style. F. had a liver and white 
setter. Queen ; R. a black pointer, Nig, and I a lemon and 
white pointer, Dewey. The nexc field was also a corn- 
field, and soon Nig was found on a point, staunchly 
backed by Queen. Only three birds were raised, and one 
fell to the gun of R; the other two went to some weeds 
along a ditch, and Queen was the lucky dog, this time 
pointing one in a bunch of grass. R.'s gun accounted for 
it also. Going down wind. Nig found a scattered bevy in 
a hollow, both other dogs backing ; results, four holes xn 
the atmosphere and three sheepish-looking men, R. not 
having been close enough to shoot. Gomg down the 
hollow, Dewey pointed a single, which fell to my gun. 
Clay and I went over on a posted farm to drive a gang 
that were in a patch of briers. Queen pointed and I 
got one on the flush, the birds going to a cornfield. Clay 
and R. followed them, scoring one apiece. 
It being noon, we called the dogs to heel and went to 
dinner. ..... 
After dinner, going up a hollow grown up with briers 
and weeds, Nig was seen trailing a bunch. The birds 
flushed wild soyds. in front of the d6gs, and took to the 
woods. Some good sport was had for the next ten min- 
utes; the scattered birds went to the corn; and while we 
were trying to raise them, another bunch was flushed. 
Everybody did some good shooting on these birds. 
The next move was to a weed field, and here Queen 
did as pretty a piece of work as I ever saw. F. raised a 
bevy and killed one that fell on the opposite side of a 
ten-rail fence. Queen went over the fence, found the 
bird and climbed the fence with the bird in her mouth, 
bringing it to F.'s feet (cash value of the dog in F.'s esti- 
mation at that moment, $528),. Following the birds, three 
more were killed. 
It was during this evening's hunt that F. met with an 
accident. Coming to a branch about iSin. deep. Clay laid 
a plank across and walked over all right. F. weighed 
22^1bs. ; he started across, and when he was about the 
center of the plank, it broke. It was getting so dark that 
we started for home, doing no more shooting. That night 
the count for the day showed forty-five birds; not a big 
bag, but enough to satisfy anybody of moderate desires. 
After supper we all went down to hear Old Wilse play 
the fiddle, and the way he scraped out "Old Dan Tucker" 
and "Arkansaw Traveler" was enough to make a wooden- 
legged man want to dance. 
Bright and early the next morning we started for 
Huff's Clearing. Dewey found a bevy along an old 
fence row, and of them we got four. One of the neigh- 
bors was with us this trip. Following this bunch six more 
were killed. Nig was seen making game in a bunch of 
weeds, and soon straightened out on a point, Dewey and 
Queen and Sport backing. Advancing, about twenty_ birds 
flushed, everybody scoring one each and R. making a 
double. The sport was good now for about an hour, and 
on going to the house for dinner the count footed up 
thirty-six. 
After dinner F. challenged me to a match at ten clay 
pigeons, and beat me, 9 to 4. We again took the field. 
Going across a weed field a fine bevy was raised that scat- 
tered in the weeds. F. and R. did the only shooting on 
this bunch, F. killing six straight and R. five. Several 
fields were drawn blank before any more brids were 
found. Going along the edge of a cornfield, the large.st 
bevy of the hunt was found, I got one on the flush, This 
bunch netted eight birds. Three more were killed on the 
road home, and the count for the day footed up fifty-eight. 
Supper over, the time till bed time was passed by telling 
how this one was missed' and what a pretty double that 
was, and in telling our experiences in former hunts. 
The next day being Sunday, no hunting was done, and 
the dogs got a much-needed rest. ' Monday morning 
^n.--ir.fi f-T-qr and cool, and this was the best day's hunt 
of the week. , 
W'e started out over the route that we had been on wnen 
F. fell in the creek. Just beyond the creek we located a 
bunch of birds. F. was trying some of my shells, aiid 
pronounced them the best shell for snap-shooting he had 
ever shot; they were loaded to scatter. We scored five 
out of this bunch, and soon had another bunch scattered 
in some weeds. I started to follow two birds that I saw 
'light, and before I got to them Dewey dropped to a point. 
Here was a chance for a grand-stand play. Quick- 
ly filling the magazine of my repeater full, I grasped if 
tightly, and in my mind's eye could see at least four of 
those birds falling before my aim. Advancing in front 
of the dog, the birds, fifteen or twenty in number, drove to 
the right of me, and made a circle around to my left and 
behind me. Here was my chance, and those four dead 
birds I anticipated increased to five, but as the old adage 
says, "Man proposes." ' At the first shot a plump Bob 
White hit the ground, and quickly yanking the lever, I 
jerked the head off the shell, leaving the body in the 
chamber and staved a fresh shell in on top of it. I saw 
one of the men that live on that farm a week after, and 
he said the cuss words had not quit falling up there yet. 
The count at noon showed forty-three birds, one squir- 
rel and two cottontails. F. said that he believed a man 
could kill seventy-five cottontail in a day here, they are 
so numerous. 
After dinner I challenged F. to another pigeon match. 
It was the worst day I ever tried to shoot on. The wind 
had risen to a gale, and caused the targets to bob and 
skip in every direction. He scored three to my six. 
We were only out about one hour in the evening, as it 
began to turn cold. Total score for the day, forty-eight. 
The next morning it had turned so cold that it was 
very disagreeable being out, but about 10 o'clock we 
started, being reinforced by two more shooters, R. and G. 
Only fifteen birds were bagged up to noon, when we pulled 
in to G.'s for dinner. 
The luck was better- ili the evening, several bevies 
being found, and F. doing the star shooting of- the day. 
The round-up at night showed thirty-six birds and eleven 
rabbits (Clay having instituted a rabbit hunt on the side). 
This day ended the hunt, and that night gun cleaning was 
the order of the evening. The next morning we started 
for ^he depot, seven miles aw'ay. 
V/ith many hand shakings and promises to come again 
next year, F. and R. pulled out for the Windy City, fol- 
lowed by my best wishes. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Hunting Knives and Old Times. 
ChicagOj 111., July 7. — I was glad to receive this week a 
call from Mr. H. A. Jackson, of Greene, N. Y., who was 
passing through on a business trip to Wisconsin. Mr. 
Jackson has been very much interested in the talk about 
hunting knives which came up a few months ago in the 
Forest and Stream. I don't know why it is that people 
keep on giving me things, but they do. Mr. Jackson's 
personal contribution to my armory came in the shape of 
yet another hunting knife, and this time another dandy. 
He gave it to me, he said, because he had no present use 
for it, and because he wanted to add it to my collection. 
This knife was made especially by an old English knife 
maker, a Mr. McMoran, who lives at Greene, and who 
has made perhaps a half-dozen of these knives to order. 
Mr. Jackson told me that the steel of this blade he had 
found quite equal to the task of cutting a tin can or any- 
thing else. The blade is Sin. long, without a ribbed 
back, the point being something after the old bowie lines, 
but with a good curve. There is a small guard to the 
handle, and the handle itself is a plain wooden one, built 
rather small, but large enough to give a good grasp. This 
knife would delight the heart of my friend Bobo, for 
with it he could both kill and cut up a bear. Mr. Jackson 
tells me that the chief beauty of this knife is the 
excellence of the steel, but he says the best tool of this sort 
was an old Cree knife made from an old steel file. 
Mr. Jackson, by the way, is a bit of an old-timer. He 
was an Indian trader in 1883 at Rocky Point, Mont., on 
the Missouri River, and he knew most of the wild charac- 
ters who made that region interesting, to say the least, in 
the early days. He tells me that in 1882 the Northern 
herd of buffalo was apparently still full, and nobody 
thought the end was so near. His firm handled about 
30,000 hides in 1882, and he thinks that 150,000 to 200,000 
were killed that year. He was on a steamboat which was 
stopped for four hours by a herd of buftalo which was 
swimming the Missouri. In 1883, as is well known, the 
buffalo were practically wiped out in that country. The 
deer and antelope were at that time too numerous to de- 
mand attention. 
Mr. Jackson carried in his pocket a big bear tusk, and 
he told me he had kept it all these years because it came 
from a very large bear. This bear he himself saw 
weighed on scales at Rocky Point. It was a silver-tip, 
and weighed i,ioolbs. It was killed in the Bear Paw 
Mountains by a hunter called Deaf George. The skin 
was bought by a trader named Marsh, who intended to 
send it to St. Paul for tanning. Marsh threw the skin 
over a pole out in the air, and two years later Mr. Jackson 
saw it still hanging there, forgotten. Thus a magnificent 
trophy was wasted, and one which might set at rest 
some of the questions regarding the size of the silver-tip 
bear, which many persons think never reaches the weight 
of more than 600 or 70olbs. 
I had quite a good time talking with Mr. Jackson, for 
it is with such men, who really knew something of the 
old West, that we get now and then a touch of the real 
flavor. "When I went out West," said he, "I stopped 
at Bismarck, and whisky was two bits a drink. Three 
years later when I came out from my Indian trading, I 
stopped again at Bismarck, and I saw an old-timer throw 
down a gold piece and ask the crowd up to drink. His 
eyes stuck out of his head, for he got back a hat full of 
change ! To his surprise, he learned that whisky was only 
ID cents a drink, and beer only 5 cents a glass," This 
was indeed the passing of the West. 
Another caller at my office this week was Mr. E. E. 
Van Dyke, of Re^ Lodge, Mont. Red Lodge is entitled 
to great distinction as being a sort of rendezvous of . old- 
timers, numbering among its citizens, for instance, my 
ancient friend, Liver-Eating Johnson, who is known to 
everybody who crosses the State of Montana. With Mr. 
Van Dyke himself I felt very well acquainted, for wheui 
was out in the Yellowstone Park the superintends 
Capt. Anderson, often used to tell me that Van Dy; 
was one of the worst poachers he had to deal with, and 
simply pined to get his hands on him again. I mention' 
these facts to Mr. Van Dyke to-day, and we had quitel 
talk over such matters. "I will admit," said Mr, V 
Dyke, "that I did at one time hunt in the Park a go\ 
deal, but I never did kill but seven buffalo, and^ that w' 
before the herd got cut down so low. At the time Caj 
Anderson caught me I wasn't doing anything at all b; 
just fishing and having a good time. He said he woul 
hold me on general principles, and he did. He kept v 
pretty near a month. He asked me if I had not be 
killing Park game, and I told him I had not at the time; 
was taken, A^ to the rest, he couldn't expect me to cc 
vict myself." 
Mr. Van Dyke told me that Ed. Howells, who was C£ 
tured in the Park in the winter of 1894, was a sort of j 
prentice of his own, and had been a market hunter arou 
Cooke City. He thought How-ells would have got abo 
$300 apiece for his heads if he had not been captured. ]\' 
V'an Dyke, says the main market for Park buffalo hea 
used to be at Bozeman, and -he says that the men sou 
and west of the Park killed most of the buffalo. \ 
says that he thinks there is very little poaching now 
the north and east side of the Park, and he puts the nu 
her of buffalo in the park at about sixty, saying that thi} 
are about forty head over east, toward the Hoodo 
where the troops have not known there were any buff; 
at all. Mr. Van Dyke now makes a living guiding hu 
ing parties, and I don't believe he will ever care to 
back to the old ways which at one time seemed to l^i 
.iustifiable. He is thoroughly acquainted with the coun 
east of the Park, and says he finds plenty of big game, 
eluding a good many bear. AVe had a nice visit togeth 
Mr. Van Dyke looking admiringly at the pair of ski wh 
I polished up in his countrv some years ago. How tin 
do change. Once Capt. Anderson and I were eager to 
the man who called on me to-day. Now Capt. Anders 
is away with his regiment, taking care of duties mi 
congenial than Park patrol ; and here w^as the man he 01 
was after, sitting in my office very comfortably and h, 
ing, I hope, as pleasant time as I did myself. 
More Wild Pigeons. 
The following letter from Mr. Joseph Irwin, of Li 
Rock, Ark., is brief, and I hope conclusive evidence t 
the wild pigeon is not a thing of the past, but may s 
be found in the realm of the Stars and Stripes. 
"Little Rock^ Ark,, July 5. — I have just received 
letter from Major Jas. A, Buchanan, of the Fifteenth 
fantry, an old shooting friend of mine, in which he S 
that great numbers of wild pigeons are flocking into 
country near San Juan, Porto Rico, coming from So; 
America. It has long been a question of what had 
come of the wild pigeon : so the lost is found." 
Singing Mouse Number J6. 
Mr. Ernest Setou Thompson, of New York city, is 
last of my friends at date to discover a singing mouse, ji 
this one I believe is No. 16 of my list. Mr. Thomp 
writes me : 
"I have another singing mouse for you. We havi 
good many mice about the house, and we hear morei 
less of them nearly every night. One day a month s 
the chambermaid reported that she had several tit 
lately heard a mouse singing like a canary; at least 
supposed it was a mouse, because she heard it in the d 
closet about midnight, and canaries do not occur there 
any time, also because some of the squeaks were v 
mousy. She further added that the sound was not' 
strong and loud as the canary's song, 
"I tried to overhear the furry songster for myself, 
did succeed in part. Although I did not get the benefit' 
a full rehearsal, I heard enough to justify the first m 
statement. 
"P. S. — In your opinion is murine vocalization of eri 
inception, or is it simply an expression of the exuberai 
coexistent with superabundant alimentation? Grant 
the prior thesis, would not this presuppose a bin! 
equinoctial or preautumnal periodicitj' which might 
considered of post-aestival incidence?" 
In the w^ords of the Swedis.h hired girl, "Ay tanki 
neider." 
Old Fort Pierre. 
In the early part of this century Pierre Choteau bf"* 
Old Fort Pierre, in what is now North Dakota, and v 
it as headquarters in his fur trading with the Indi;. 
It was thus in part that the basis of the Choteau fort 
of St. Louis was founded, and the Choteau family has 1 
prized among its possessions a picture of this old p 
Recently they gave away a copy to a friend, which c, 
has been seen by some of the vefy old-timers of the No: 
west, who say that it exactly resembles the old stock;' 
and carries them back into that ancient dav. 
Minnesota Forestry Reserve. f' 
A meeting of those interested in the Minnesota fore 
reserve plan will be held here this month; and the C 
gressional trip over the reserve territory is practic 
assured, 
Iowa Prairis Chickens. 
I spent a day this week at the beautiful little citj 
Waterloo, Iowa, on the Cedar River, in one of the ri 
thickly populated portions of that State, I had thei 
nice talk with Mr. J, C. Hartman, one of the 11 
posted and most intelligent of the local sportsmen. 1 
tells me that for a long time everybody thought the pra 
chickens gone forever from that part of Iowa. All 
hunting dogs were allowed to die off, and no one went 
after chickens at all. Within the last few years, howe< 
it was discovered that a few birds were left. The be 
class of sportsmen strove to have the law enforced, 
birds came back, and the bird dogs with_ them, as I h 
myself seen in Waterloo, Last year within a few mile- 
Waterloo, bags of a dozen birds or so were not unc> 
mon, and Mr. Hartman told me that if I would come' 
next fall he would take me out in his buggy and' 
would surely get a dozen birds or so. All of which g 
to prove that we can still have game if we really w 
game, even in so pld at country as Iowa. it 
tf 
