348 
friends, has just returned frbm a three days' hunt at 
Koutts, Ind. They killed two prairie chickens and that 
is all they got in the three days. The once famous Koutts 
snipe marsh is perfectly dry and nn snipes or ducks were 
to be seen. 
Mr. Frederick M. Otis, Harry Littleiield and Myron 
James, cow punchers from Buffalo, Wyo., arrived in the 
city this week after h thirty-three days' horseback ride. 
This is a good performance for their horses, for the dis- 
tance is about 1,200 miles, and they claim that their trav- 
eling tiine was less than thirty days, an average of over 
40 miles a day. 
Mr. _A. Hirth, of Spalding's gun and tackle department, 
with his young gfriend, Master Bert Heide, leaves to-day 
for a day's visit at Caiumet Heights Club, just south of 
this city, where the two will be guests of one of the club 
members. 
Mr. George Thorue, of Montgomery Ward & Co.. 
whom I mentioned earlier as absent in Wyoming on a 
big-game hunt, has returned, and I understand he is some- 
%vhat disappointed with his trip. He was lucky enough 
to kill one bear, but no deer or elk, the party being so 
unforunate as to get in behind a hunting party of Indians 
who had pretty much cleaned up all the game. 
Where Are the Ducks? 
Dr. Alfred Hiiide, of this city, came into my office to- 
day and asked me M-here he could go to get some duck 
shooting somewhere near Chicago. I had to tell him 
that I did not know where he could find what he wanted. 
Ten years ago it would have been pretty safe to say, at 
this time of the fall, that the Doctor could have safely 
risked a trip to any of the better known points on the 
Illinois or the Kankakee rivers, for though he might not 
have made a very big bag, he could have counted on see- 
ing a few birds, at least. To-day the Kankakee marshes 
are nearly dry, and I should not like to send any one 
there with the idea that he might get much shooting. 
The best of the Illinois River marshes are preserved. Fox 
Lake, Illinois, is shot out and has been for years. The 
best part of Lake Koshkonong is preserved and Dr. 
Hinde himself told me that on Lake Poygan and the 
Winneconne marshes of Wisconsin, where he formerly 
shot, there were very few birds this fall. I told him there 
were some birds on Horicon marsh, but that is a pre- 
served marsh. I mentioned the Preston Lake country, of 
South Dakota, where Dr. Hinde formerly shot, but that 
seemed a good way off, and a bit uncertain at that. So 
did Dawson and Devil's Lake, of North Dakota, thougli 
I hear there is good shooting there this fall. I had to 
admit to Dr. Hinde that duck shooting in this part of the 
West seems to be pretty much a minus quantity this fall. 
I advised him to wait and go to Texas in the winter. It 
may be that we will get a flight of Northern birds ahead 
of some storm this fall, but they have no place to stop in 
this region, and if they drop in for a day or two will prob- 
ably be gone before a shooter can get down to where they 
are. 
Dr. Hinde and I both concluded that shooting in these 
days was a matter of non-resident sport, and under a 
license at that. He does not approve of exacting a license 
of non-residents, but I can't see that the matter is vital, 
for the game is going fast enough, not only in Illinois, 
but in Dakota and Texas, and the harder it is to get the 
better chance it Avill have. Men nowadays travel any 
distance to get shooting, and even these long trips are 
disappointments, though made to the best grounds of 
the West. According to Dr. Hinde we are bound to 
come to the Old World system of game preserves before 
long, and this I think is no doulit true. The American 
pubUc will see fences erected around the game, and the 
greater part of the American public will be outside the 
fence, and it will be there because it belongs there. The 
shooters of America have squandered their resources, and 
it is ancint history that the .spendthrift eventually goes 
broke. If the citizens of this country wanted tlieir game 
they could always have it, and if we should begin now to 
enforce our game laws, or to respect our game laws, there 
is game enough left in this country to give abundance 
to all sportsmen for all time to come, so that they could 
alway have an open shooting country and not one of 
either barrenness or bars. Apparently we do not want an 
open shooting country, and so we will not have it. What 
we want is some philnsnpher who can explain to us- hpw 
we can both eal our cake and keep it. 
Toledo aad the Au Sable, 
The city of Toledo. O., sends a great niany men an- 
nually up to the famous Au Sable River, of "Michigan, 
where some of the anglers have established camps for 
regular occupancy each summer. The Au Sable is an 
old-time stream to some of the Toledans, as, for instance, 
Mr. J. W. Oswald., who first went in there twentv-two 
years ago. Dr, and Mrs. Barber are "regulars" on this 
grand trout stream, and they take their children in with 
them. Messrs. Tolm A. Waite, Chas. Reynolds, Joseph 
Spencer, Clarence Brown. A. L. Mills, A, W. Houston, 
F. L. Geddes, Harry Astley, T. C. .Stevens, Judge Tos. 
Cummings and Judge John M. Kenyon are others who 
are well acquainte<l with the Sable from the grayling 
days to those of trout. Judge Kenyon is a veteran rod 
maker, and Oswald has taken a professional photograph- 
er's pride in making pictures along this beautiful water- 
way of the pine woods. The Au Sable has this year been 
perhaps the best trout stream in Michigan, and if not 
everrun with inconsiderate fishing should keep up its rep- 
utation for many years to come. 
Would Go Agahi. 
Hon. Athelstcm •Gaston, Member of Congress from 
Meadville, Pa., who was one of the Congressional party 
who made the trip into Minnesota the first of this month, 
writes me that he notices in the Forest and Stream 
mention of an organization of those who made the trip, 
with a view to a later trip into that region next year or 
later. Mr. Gaston says he wants to be counted in on that 
proposition, and adds that he hopes t® be in better health 
next time. There is no question that there is plenty of 
sport (o be had in that reservation country if one had time 
to exploi) it fully, and I hope this may be done next year 
or soon thereaftei", and that within the confines of a na- 
tional park in Minnesota. 
E. Hough. 
180 Casetow "|lTni,»iN6, Ciueago, If 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
In theliNorthwest. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Bacon_ put it on record that I'eading raaketh a full 
man, writing an exact man and speaking a ready man. 
So far so good;_but he might have added travel a well- 
iniormed man. It is only by moving about that the truth 
regarding game distribution in North America to-day 
may be fully grasped. The widespread belief in the East 
that big game is becoming extinct did not tally at all 
with my own experience in wild Canada, and I was in- 
clined to doubt it, until I paid a visit some few days 
ago to northern Washington, where I found, alas ! that, so 
lar as parts of the United States are concerned, it is un- 
fortunately but too true. 
At the Colville Mission, in northern Washington, they 
Ijroved to me that within the last ten years great tracts 
of country have been absolutely cleaned out. Mule deer 
were once extraordinarily abundant, but to-day are few 
and far between in the neighborhood of the mission— 
m fact, all along the S. F. & N. below Marcus, Wash. 
Yet in British Columbia there are big stretches of 
mountain range where the game is but little interfered 
with, and I think it will be many a long year before our 
wonderful game resources are seriously depleted. The 
game laws are sensible, and moreover are actually en- 
forced, which is the vital point. 
The new Crow's Nest line through the Rockies opens 
oiit a country at present swarming with game, and con- 
taining a population so scanty and so very busy with 
other more engrossing concerns — mining, to wit — that 
there will be no very heavy toll taken of nature's cattle. 
In the Rockies are found moose, caribou, elk, sheep, 
goat, bear and mule deer. In the Columbia valley 
mainly deer, and in the Selkirks, goats, bear and cari- 
bou. The mallard shooting along the swamps of the 
Kootenay is as good as anything in the Northwest, and 
the same may be said of a few scattered lakes in other 
parts of the Kootenaj^s, but as a rule ducking grounds 
are rather limited. 
Possibly, however, the fishing is even better than the 
shooting. In most of the streams of southern British 
Columbia the rainbow (5". purpuratus) is to be found, 
and in his own waters he can give points and a beating 
to any other fishes, excepting always the sea sahnon of 
the Atlantic and his landlocked relative. I have never 
played such trout as we get here. Our old friend 
fontinflUs is not in it at all. One day last week I kept 
tabs on a 2lb. rainbow I had on. It took eight minutes 
to kill him on a powerful iioz. rod, and he jumped 
eleven times. They like a small fly, about No. 8 hook is 
right, and in ordinary fishing you lose at least one out 
of three fairly hooked. 
Then we have lake trout, and a landlocked salmon 
called, I believe, Oncorhynchus kamloops by Jordan, 
though the men who make a specialty of fin rays and 
vomerine teeth are yet squabbling over his exact status. 
Meanwhile fishermen are getting fine sport and can 
afford to wait patiently the outcome of the struggle. 
St. Choix. 
JfEtSO^, B, C., Oct, s. 
Arkansas and the South, 
St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 20. — ^Judging by the encouraging 
reports that come from all sections of the State this is 
going to be one of the very best game seasons we have 
had in quite a while. Deer and turkey are reported in 
increased numbers in all sections, Avhile our quail crop 
•should be unusually large, so that there is plenty of sport 
in store for the shooters of Arkansas and those who con- 
template a trip to this State. McCrory, on the Bald Knob 
branch of the Iron Mountain R. R.. should be a very good 
place for deer, turkey, duck and squirrel. Along Bayou 
DcView. which is a tributary of the White River, and its 
branches and a part of this famous river bottom there 
sliould be an abundance of mast, and as a natural conse- 
quence plenty of game. If any one wishes to try this sec- 
tion they should go to McCrory and from there by team 
to Bayou DeView, a distance of aboitt five miles. In addi- 
tion, to the Bayou there is a big cypress-brake nearby and 
here the duck shooting is frequently very good, while up 
toward the head of the Baj'ou there is a flat open coun- 
try that is grown up in switch cane which is always a fav- 
orite resort for deer and turkey. Ftirthcr down this line, 
on what is known as the valley route, in the vicinity of 
W^alnut Lake, is also a good point for big game. After 
one gets to the lake he should go up it about three or 
four miles and this will place him right in the game 
country. The only shooting to be had at this point con- 
sists of deer, turkey, squirrels and a few ducks. If one 
cares to go even a little further south, Htidspeth, Chico 
county, would be a good place, along Bayou Mason and 
the brakes that abound in this section. Deer and turkey 
are yet quite plentiful, which invariably the duck and squir- 
rel shooting is also good. Another good point is St. 
Charles on the White River, or DeWitt or Gillette. All 
of these points are in Arkansas County and to reach them 
one should go over the Cotton Belt R. R. to Stuttgart 
and then take a branch road that runs to both of the latter 
places, while in order to get to St. Charles one should go 
to DeW''itt and from there by team to .St. Charles, a dis- 
tance of about twelve miles. The be.st place in this coun- 
ty should be along Eses Bayou where it runs into Big 
Lagrue. This should Ijc one of the best points for big 
game in the State. The bass fishing should also be good 
in Big Lagrue. DeWitt and Gillette are located on the 
edge of Grand Prairie, and while they are within easy ac- 
cess of big kame country they are right in the very midst 
of the finest quail shooting to be found in any part of Ar- 
kansas. 
There are still some chickens in this neighborhood, but 
these are very scarce and have been practically extermi- 
nated by this time, so that they can net be considered a 
factor in making a tri^ to this country. All the above 
mentioned points ax-e in what is known as the bottom 
land. However, there are places among the hills where 
good shooting can be had. Mena, in Polk county, is a 
good place and this is right among the hills, and in one of 
the wildest sections of the State. Here one will find deer 
and turkey and an occasional bear. Mena is on the 
Pittsburg & Gulf R. R., in the northwestern part of the 
State, not very far from the Indian Territory line. 
[Oct. 28, T899; 
The best season of the year for a trip of this kin» 
about the loth of November until the middle of Decern' 
at which time we are usually favored with good weat! 
The shooter contemplating a trip of this kind and ^ 
is also fond of fishing, I would advise to bring his ; 
with him, as the bass which are very pletiful in our Is 
and bayous usually bite good during the month of 
vember, I have heard of some very large catches on'i 
Cache and St. Francis rivers. The weather during \ 
present month has been very warm, while during Septj 
ber it was unusually cool, so cold in fact that we had i 
first flight of northern ducks, and I know of a few nl 
ards that were killed in the vicinity of Little Rock, duj 
this period, while several good bags of teal were reco^ 
Paul R. Litzi 
A Letter of Frank Forester's} 
PiM)BABLY no man ever did ttiore for true sportsrr 
ship than Henry William Herbert, "Frank Forester.' 
inclose a letter which has been in my possession for sii 
time, which I value very highly, as it is thoroughly cll 
acteristic of the man. Col. Trumbull, to whom the le 
was written, was the artist who painted so many portr 
of the officers of the Revolutionary War. , 
H. N. MuNi! 
The letter sent by Mr. Munn has added interest' 
cause Col. Trumbull, to whom it was written, was 
famous painter of Revolutionary portraits, whose 
torical pictures are in the Rotunda of the Capitol 
Washington, New York City Hall, Yale College,' 
elsewhere. Born in 1750, Trumbull was by fifty-se 
years the senior of Herbert, who was born in 1807. I 
date is given in the letter; but the reference to .| 
Huddart, in whose school Herbert was a tutor, indie 
that it was written between 1830 and 1835. It reads : 
My dear Colonel: 
It is with the greatest regret that I am compellec 
write this apology to you; but the fact is that on Satur 
while out shooting a pliable bough lashed me with s 
violence in the eye that I am neither comfortable not 
to be seen, nor dare I venture to face the weather.' 
have_ avoided writing: this until the very last mom 
trusting that I should have been well in time to accf 
pany you; but sorry I am to find myself to-day far 
little well to venture on the journey, I will, howe 
exert myself to the utmost to come up to New Ha 
on Friday week, or (if anything should occur to preii 
that, which I do not foresee) I will undoubtedly be \ 
you on to-morrow fortnight. I must beg you to al 
me to postpone the settlement of my little debt to ; 
to the same time, as the same cause which hinders 
from going with you has precluded the possibility of 
seeing my paymaster, Mr. Huddart. Pray believe 
Ever your most sincere and obligsd 
HenKY Wm. H1£1«BER' 
T* Mbrcek Street. 
A Birthday. 
1 HAD a birthday lately. , I used to have such thi| 
once a year, when I was younger, but lately they ap^ 
to come every full of the moon. I started out to celeb; 
with Lpu G. for company. Lou is an old buffal6 hui 
— old in experience, but not in years. Given 87i 
acres in one piece of land in South Dakota, %vith di3 
and chickens squandered through it, one had a chanc< 
celebrate with freedom. 
A word as to the color of the clothing I wore: D 
green describes it. Did you ever notice that there 
no such color in nature as the popular dead grass chl 
ing sold in gun stores? Grass, even when the sr' 
falls on it, is somewhat green; some of it is dead 
brown, but not all. I have a suit of the dirty gri 
shade the market-hunter's duck boat is painted. | 
Dike a man in the "braw new claes" usually 
and if he won't show yellow why my eyes deceive 
But this shade cannot be seen readily, even by the i 
green head, as he goes rubber-necking along in 1 
middle of the day, 
We had a long spring wagon, in which we had pie 
of room for our feet, and our five dogs could lie dc 
on hay and not get underfoot. About two miles otit 
old mallard got top familiar, and Lou said, 'T knoc 
the snow out of him." There, boys, a new term is. 
vented. Knocked the tar. stuffing, and all that, does 
go any more. The dead-center shot makes the \ 
feathers fly like snow. It's clean, poetical and descr 
tive. 
Along toward noon we put up a bunch of chickens, . 
I sat in the rig with my gun ready. I had the pleas 
of seeing one drop on each side of me, as they flus'^ 
wild and split as they passed the team on hurtling wi 
to sail over the hill oitt of sight. Lunch behind 
v/heat stack, a whiff, a ten minutes' nap, and Lou sa 
"Better get your hook in the water if you want to ca 
anything-" — good advice, that, in many things, includ 
love, business and hunting. 
After noon !he sky was overcast, and the day beca 
ideal; the dogs did grand work, and we gathered tb 
ill as the man .swallowed the thermometer — by degp 
An Indian had put up his tepee near the lake, and j 
about set of sun we .struck great luck hard by it. I won 
if two things will not disappear together — the Indian i 
the game he hunted. To me the somber, prison-1 
stone castle of the town bears little of the lines of bea 
that the tepee does when seen from a distance. But 
men are not alike. I would rather, as did the Doug 
"hear the lark sing than the mouse squeak. 
Take this one day, for instance, and what could It; 
been more enjoyable? A good team, some good d<i 
and that fine bird, the chicken — in quantity enough' 
please, but not to satiate — a companion who co 
instruct even an old-timer like me; and nothing lacki 
What did I learn? Whv, just how to kill a cripp 
duck on the water the first crack when only fiis h( 
shows. How many, many shots I have fired at that h 
and neck, which is largei- than a teft-bore shell, and li 
missed; not missed, but failed to kill; splattered the 
all over hira too. "Now,'* says Lou, "see the whole di 
over the gun. You are not shooting at him, but uis 
him, Shot goes in a strsak a yard or so long. If the fri 
