ktt. x6, 1899.1 
Its of inspection are very helpful when the tihoob'ng 
,son begins, as the hunter knows just where to_ go to 
a,in the best results. The information they pick up 
these observation trips is ordinarily reserved ex- 
sively for their own betiefit, unless, as is now aiid then 
; case, an intimation of what they learned is given to 
: or two bosom friends. It is altogether likely that 
ne of these hunters who have been looking over the 
mtry this summer knew that there were woodcock 
mt, but people who have been too much engrossed with 
ler matters to investigate for themselves might have 
nained in ignorance of the fact for some time longer 
i it not been for certain parties getting mixed in their 
es. On Aug. 16 a hunter appeared in the village of 
eida and offered several woodcock for sale. He said 
killed twenty-four of the birds the day previous. He 
S surprised to learn that the season for shooting wood- 
:k began on Sept. i, instead of the middle of August, 
1 there were many people^ who were surprised that so 
txy woodcock had been found in this part of the State, 
e State game officials have been notified. A few days 
) the proprietors of a restaurant in this city had a string 
woodcock hanging out in front of their place of 
iiness, but the birds quickly disappeared when the men 
re enlightened concerning the game laws. 
W. E. WOLCOTT. 
TICA, N. Y., Aug. 28. 
Vermont Grouse and Woodcock* 
^JORTHAMPTONj Mass., Sept. 7. — I have heard frequent 
pressions among New England sportsmen that "garne 
scarce" and "there are more hunters than birds." This 
■ms to me due to too much of the "stay-at-home" habits, 
i- the benefit of some of my fellow sportsmen who are 
d down by their business and professional duties in 
y life, I take pleasure in telling them of a beautiful 
lodcock and partridge section of New England, which, if 
ire generally known, would be more popular each fall 
m the trip South in winter for a few days' quail shoot- 
r, and then, too, at so much more convenient a distance, 
le quaint little country town of Townshend, in the 
ithern portion of the State of Vermont, on the V. C. 
R., is an ideal locality for the true sportsman who 
lues, two or three days' nice shooting more ihan any 
ler recreation of the calendar year. I have just en- 
ved two days' shooting there, and aside from the 
undance of game, it is a most picturesque locality, witli 
green mountains all about, secluding beautiful rugged 
[leys, the course of the West River in one and some 
)untain stream rolling along another. 
The coverts for both partridge and woodcock are ideal, 
irtridges are so well protected by the wooded moun- 
iis that they are inexterminable, and afford the sports- 
m abundant sport any September or October day he 
bis inclined to tramp their favorite feeding grounds, 
le alder bottoms up and down the valleys are extensive 
,d perfect woodcock ground. The birds are there, too, 
d if it were not for the excellent State game law pro- 
5ions of Vermont, which limit the bag to five birds of 
ch variety to the gun daily, a good brush shot could bag 
'ice the limit each day. Good woodcock shooting is 
.d through September and during October and Novem- 
r. Flight birds make very fast shooting. 
As city sportsmen are frequently at a loss to know where 
go, let all who are mterested to know of a spot where 
ey can count to a certainty on good woodcock and 
irtridge shooting make a memorandum of the jiame of 
vans Bros., at ToAvnshend, Vt., who are both practical 
lortsmen and having grown up with the country about 
.em, know every alder bottom in their county, and by 
stinct seem, to know just where to look for gam.e at all 
lies of the day or season. 
The shooting in September I have found to be good 
lOUgh to suit any true sportsman, and if j'ou can hold 
)Ur gun right on every bird located by the faithful 
£gs, it is an easy matter to reach the limit of a day's 
g. 
The Evans Bros, have a kennel of English setters, most- 
good working and shooting dogs of the best modern 
rains, so that if a man hasn't a dog of his own to en- 
>y working, one can see many pictures of gamy points 
ith their well-handled setters. 
I hope this letter will reach the eye of some sportsmen 
ho are longing for just this information, for there is 
D better game section North or South for both wood- 
3ck and partridge than is found in the vicinity of the 
eepv country town of Townshend. and when one knows 
1st where you can for a certainty find both woodcock and 
irtridge abundant, it is no common privilege to have 
'cess to it. R- M. Palmer. 
Bear Dogs. 
Pierce County, Wash., Sept, i.— I have been hunting 
lack bear during the last eight years with dogs of all 
-eeds. Some of the dogs were owned by m.yself, but most 
f them by other parties. 
The dogs I now have for bear hunting are a cross-bred 
3g, half foxhound and bull terrier. Full-blooded hounds 
0 not make the best bear dogs. They can be trained to 
an bear and even snap at them, but as a general rule they 
'ill do no more than bawl on the trail of bear. This will 
ever tree a bear, as bears only take to a tree when close 
ressed. When full-blooded hounds get a good cuffing 
rom a bear they seldom after that get close enough to get 
nother licking. The most essential requisite m a dog 
lat can tree a bear or put him at bay is a fast, vicious dog. 
t matters very little what breed dog he is. Of course, m 
reeding dogs to run game, we must get some "lumt" in 
lem. and there is nothing better to look to for this than 
le good, old, faithful foxhound. Bull terrier and fox- 
ound do not always make the best bear fighters. The 
icGtcli collie crossed with foxhound is about as good a 
ross as can be had for this purpose. They have endur- 
nce. grit and are fast. In this timber country we have 
□ have fast dogs for bear, as nothing but the fastest dog 
an stay close enough to a bear to worry him here, on 
ccount of so much fallen timber and underbrush. 
A great many people think that a bear dog takes hold of 
. bear and attempts to fight it. Any hunter, of course, 
mows better than this, as a bear can knock out a small 
tack of dogs in no time if they will only grapple mth him 
a few minutes. The dog we aim to raise for bear is one 
that is quick and clever enough to snap at a bear and 
dodge his blow whenever he makes a sweep at him with 
his powerful forepaw. If a dog is struck by such a blow 
he is generally ripped open wherever the claws 
strike. I have a half-hound and bull terrier now 
that was unfortunate enough to get a gash a foot long in 
his side from a bear, and now he will not get close to 
them, but will run them. I do not think a dozen such dogs 
would tree a bear, unless it be a cub or an excessively fat 
bear, that could not travel lortg. Before this dog was 
whipped, he was as good as any of them. A friend of 
mine in Oregon has a cross between a greyhound and fox- 
hound, and that dog is as good as anything I ever saw 
for working on bear. 
A staghound ought to make a good bear dog, especially 
if crossed with a foxhound, but I cannot speak from ex- 
perience with this dog. I would be pleased to hear what 
parties who have had experience with them can say_ in 
their favor as bear "treeing" dogs. The expression 
"treeing" when applied to bear, I use to denote either 
putting a bear up a tree, or holding him at bay. Some 
bears will not tree, but will stand off the dogs, moving on 
cveiy now and then and fighting back. Sometimes a 
hunter can catch up and get u few telling shots at such a 
bear. I killed one here about a month ago ahead of the 
dogs, with a .25-35 Winchester smokeless rifle. It was an 
old bear, and weighed about 5oolbs. I got lum down with 
one shot in the region of the heart, and finished him by a 
shot in the back of the head, ranging forward. I generally 
hunt with the .30-30 Winchester, and find it a good hunt- 
ing rifie for big game. 
I am having great sport here after black bear. Run one 
or two every week. They are down from the snow- 
capped Cascade Mountains" after the elder, buckle and 
other berries that ripen early in the foothills. The bears 
I have so far gotten this year all had exceptionally, good 
fur for the season of the year, and of course I am having 
them tanned for trophies of the chase. 
Ed. T. Fisk. 
Not All of Hunting to Hunt. 
In 1854 I, a beardless boy of twenty, with my young 
bride, came from Medina county, O., to Cass county, 
Mich., tlien a sparsely settled country. I bought eighty 
acres of heavily timbered land and built a log house; 
and we were soon settled down to housekeeping in regular 
pioneer style. We had a mud-and-stick chimney in one 
end of the house and a cooking stove in the other. I 
began a war against the sturdy forest trees surrounding 
our home. It was work in good earnest. 
Although I was able to provide food and warmth wc 
had no money with which to buy the dry goods demanded 
by an increasing family. There was no one in that vi- 
cinity who paid cash for work except Thomas Pound, 
who lived four miles from our home. He paid 50 cents 
a hundred for oak rails cut and split. It would be im- 
possible for mc to walk to and from his place and cut 
more than 100 rails a day; and I could not leave my timid 
wife alone at night. On the other hand, the agent at 
Three Rivers had offered to pay cash for deer at tlie rate 
of $10 for fawns, $I3 for does, or $15 for a nice buck 
for shipment. It Avas now about Nov. i, and I told iny 
wife I believed I could provide three or four deer in 
less time than I could earn half the price of one by cut- 
ting rails. It was not necessary for me to say which 
em_plovment I preferred. T had a good rifle, and was 
considered a "dead shot." She, like any other good 
woman, said she knew it was hard to split rails for 50 
cents a hundred: but it would not take more than a 
week or two to provide immediate needs, and while 
rail-splitting was hard, it was also sure. But I argued 
that deer were plenty, and I believed I could kill a deer 
in less than a week.' She replied that if I failed to kill 
the deer I would have to resort to rail-splitting at last, 
i agreed to it, and so the proposition stood, that if at the 
end of a week I had not killed a deer I was to split the 
rails. The hunt was to begm the next Monday morning. 
In the meantime I plied the axe vigorously preparing 
house wood to last during my hunt. 
Four o'clock on the Monday morning found us up; 
and my wife prepared breakfast while I was casting bul- 
lets for my muzzleloading rifle. Fortune seemed to 
favor me, for about 4in. of snow had fallen during the 
night. Putting a lunch of johnnkcake and salt pork in 
my pocket. I shouldered my rifle and started as soon 
as the first beams of light shot over the tree tops, the 
wish of my wife for "good luck" sounding in my ears. 
I had gone not more than 150 rods from the house when 
I saw a five-point buck coming bounding through the 
woods directly in front of me. He was coming toward 
me, and I stood with the blood tickling clear to my 
finger tips. When he was within Soyds. of me I called 
to him. At the sound of my voice he stopped, as if 
surprised to find any but hitaself out so early. 
A quick sight along the rifle barrel, a sharp report, and 
the deer bounded into the air, turned half round and 
fell dead. 
I was so elated that I started for home. As I came to 
the brow of a hill, and could plainly see the house through 
the leafless trees, there stood my wife in the doorway. 
She ran to meet me, and telling her of my marvelous 
luck I bade her return to the house and watch for my 
cousin Leonard, who was going that day to Three Rivers, 
while I would dress the deer and send it by him to the 
agent who wanted it. 
Soon he drove up with his sleek ox team and gun- 
boat. My wife hailed him. I had the deer ready soon, 
and my wife gave him a list of needed articles. I tried to 
continue the hunt so successfully begun, but before 3 
o'clock I was at home and telling my wife for the 
fiftieth time how elated I had felt when I saw that deer 
coming toward me. Early evening brought my cousin 
Leonard with the goods sent for and $12 in cash. He 
said he had been glad to do the errand, and that agent 
Morse would be very glad of all the deer I could send 
him. 
The happiness that came into our home with the ready 
money and the needed goods brought before my mind 
the words, "It is not all of hunting to hunt," and the 
story has since been told over and over to my brigh*-- 
eyeiS children. 
The following day I found a rain had made it imprac- 
ticable to hunt, and contentedly split wood for use in 
the house until about 10 o'clock. Then I started again 
with the gun for a continuous hunt. After a tramp of s. 
mile and a half I found a doe eating moss. My nfle 
brought her down, the ball going through the heart. _ I 
hung up the deer and had gone not more than half a mile 
when I saw across, a ravine three deer on the sidchUl. 
Aiming at the largest of the three, I fired, and almost 
instantly the deer started directly toward me, but before 
he got 'half the distance lay down and died. The other 
two came to within lOyds. of me before they espied mc. 
Both escaped. 
I returned liome and continued the hunt on the mor- 
row. By the end of the week I had killed five deer, 
'one red fox and a wild turkey. 
I think every one who reads this story of pioneer lite 
will be willing to admit, considering the value of the 
venison $15. besides our own meat, that it is not all of 
hunting to hunt. Sullivan Cook. 
RltCHlOAN. 
That Adirondack ''KidJ' 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The following self-explanatory letter came out of the 
woods of northern Herkimer county to-day, and it makes 
me want to take its back trail instanter : 
"Oh, say ! Whoop ! You know what I mean. I fixed 
him, and remembered about what you said of counting so 
not to get too excited and shooting around corners and 
places. I got my first deer all right and hit him where 
it belonged, too, right beside the head, with my .38, and 
you know what a slick gun that is for accurate shooting 
and hitting where it holds, so I knowed I just aimed right 
and didn't do any hitting-the-water-glance-uppy business 
like your little doe. [I killed a deer once by hitting the 
water on the nigh side. The bullet glanced up through 
the knee, heart and out the back at the top of the 
.shoulder.] . 
"My deer wan't much for size, and of course it s in the 
red, mighty pretty to look at and thick-skinned like sum- 
mer deer ahvays are. 
"You know how it is up to Little Black Creek Lake. 
There's a big swamp, a floe, a lot of ridges and gullies, 
some of them pretty broad across the back and clear along 
the top and edge, with bushes at the head, and old chop- 
pings where the spruce stood. 
"Well, the parson and I— he's the same one was in the 
boat with me and a porcupine last year when we shot a 
hole in the porky and the boat too, so it sunk — weftt to the 
Black Creek Lake and smiled on the woods so as to sort 
of charm the deer. We camped at the foot of the little 
lake. In the morning we looked all around and then we 
got up to the ash ridge, along one side of which I went and 
he loped along the other. I seen a flock of partridges, but 
I don't shoot them, and I see a porcupine, which I did 
shoot on general principles ; a big, red squirrel polkaed on 
a hemlock tree and then a big flock of bluejays had tan- 
trums just because I winks at the big one with a feather 
out of its tail. Every once in a while I'd see the parson 
sneaking through the woods like an elephant, and just as 
quietly as a red squirrel on dry leaves. It did seem foolish 
to still-hunt on dry leaves, but we done it, and there ain't 
anything goes in still-hunting half so much as trying. I 
remember one time how I got a big partridge 'cross the 
creek way out in the middle of the lot by just trying. I 
walked round and round him. stopping once in a while to 
stand on my head and to roll over, not looking that way 
at all. 
"Well, the parson walks on, with me opposite him, get- 
ting further apart all the while, till I couldn't hear a thing 
of him. The ridge broadened out there a good deal with 
a level top pretty underbrushy. I sits down for a minute 
where I could see every which way, and tries m.y sights. 
Then I didn't move for two minutes. I see a little sap- 
sucker on a tree going up and up just like a stripe on a 
barber's pole. Pretty soon it flew away, and there wasn't 
a sound nor nothing in sight nor hearing. The wind 
stopped blowing, so the leaves didn't rustle, and then a 
chick-a-dee-dee bird sounded just once 'way down in the 
swamp. I could feel the quiet settling down in big lumps 
on all sides. 
"All of a sudden my back begins to crawl, just as though 
somebody was about to dig his thumb and fingers into 
your back bone. Something was looking at me sure, and I 
knew better than to jerk my head around then. A couple 
of minutes, or weeks, after I slides my nose around, and 
just as I expected, ten rods off, was a deer, in the red. 
looking over the ridge where the parson ought to be. I 
hauled up and drew large pictures in the air with the 
muzzle of my rifle. I put it down and tried to imagine 
it was a rabbit. No go. So I recollected your scheme of 
counting ten, and I said one, two very slow, then four, 
five, six mighty fast, for the deer begun to wiggle away. 
With that I chuckled and then hauled up and bang ! 
"The doe jumped and I let fly again, and the deer ran in 
a circle. I fired some more, and when I was through the 
beast laid dead at my feet. Whoop ! 
"'Well, I dressed him, and I carried him to camp after 
the parson came up, and we danced (the parson gently 
like). We ate venison in all styles fit for woodsmen, and 
there you are. The hull story. 
"There are lots of deer hereabouts and many bears, too. 
I've seen lots of tracks of both. The boys say there never 
was so much game around the clearings. Hope you get up 
this fall— we'll try our luck together, eh?" Well, rather! 
The kid waited a long while to get his first deer, but 
now that he has the hang of it he very likely will do for 
them right along, especially as he is a first-rate small-game 
hunter, and one of the best shots at cans, bottles and othet" 
natural woods targets in Herkimer county. 
Raymond S. Spears. 
Ni.w York. City. 
In the Chicken Goantfy* 
Webstkr, S, D., Sept. 3.— Chickens are not thick enough" 
to bite you. Six and eight to a gun are the reports. But 
sportsmen are plenty. This Kttle town has taken $150 in 
fees alone. Some towns have barred the tourist out al- 
together. Lots of ducks, sloughs full, and prospects fine. 
I have a notion about this chicken business, and am going 
to prove it this week, Fms EsGS, 
