April 20, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STH^Alvl 
307 
tliem live in the embankment under a railroad track, and 
they show their discrimination between a real though 
innocent looking danger and a harmless though threaten- 
ing disturbance, by skipping, when the hunter appears, into 
their burrows, where every passing train must make a 
tremendous roar and jar. 
Other things being equal, the ablest walker will get the 
most woodchucks. Yet this is a kind of hunting which a 
ntian can continue when too old or otherwise infirm for 
long tramps. In favorable grounds he may scat himself 
in a shady spot commanding a number of burrows, and 
the occasional appearance of a Avoodchuck, or even the 
chance of it, will sustain his interest for hours. Or he 
may drive slowly along the country roads, looking out 
fo] the crawling speck in the hillside pasture or the little 
brown pillar that suddenly rears itself amid the meadow 
grass. When this is spied there come the stalk, the shot 
and the return to the carriage, elate or disgusted, as the 
case may be. Hunters of this game have the same pro- 
pensity as fishermen to forget the number of their victims, 
and it has been found necessary to lay down the rule 
that, in determining the results of a hunt, it is the tail, 
not the tale, that counts. 
The woodchuck hunter from town has the satisfaction 
of being welcome on the farms where he operates, so 
long as he respects the crops and fences and minds where 
his bullets are going. The farmer does not care to 
preserve his woodchucks unless for his own Inmting, and 
he is not usually a hunter. He begrudges the gai'den 
"sass" which the sassy chuck sometimes appropriates. 
He has better uses for grass than to pave woodchucks' 
runways with it or line their insides. He does not like 
to have four or five bushels of gravel thrown up here and 
there in a smooth meadow, necessitating a "balk" in 
mowing, or to have a horse step into a wOodchuck hole, 
with the chance of a broken leg. So he speaks the gentle- 
manly hunter fairly, and merely asks him if the minister 
is coming. The hunter feels, or should feel, himself the 
more justified in killing woodchucks on account of their 
being troublesome vermin. 
It is hardly necessary to say that they should be hunted 
only with the rifle. If they can be brought within range 
of a shotgun, the hitting with such a weapon is too easy 
for a man's sport, while the killing is too uncertain for the 
humane sportsman to attempt it. Much of the time the 
animal is only Avounded, and often it can hardly be reached 
at all with the scatter gun when within fair rifle range. 
Shooting woodchucks with shot is the next thing to 
pinching their legs all night in a steel trap and pounding 
their heads with a club in the morning. They can be 
killed with any rifle, but the .22-caliber bullet has not the 
size to make sure work unless placed just right, which 
cannot be done infallibljr. The .25 is usually quick death 
to them, but the larger calibers are still more certain, 
especially at the longer ranges. Many sportsmen find 
that their rifles throw round bullets, patched with linen or 
muslin, with great accuracy at woodchuck distances, and 
this style of loading avoids the bother of lubricating. The 
round bullet of .30 or larger is very killing as well as 
accurate Avithin its range, and is all the better for use in 
settled places for having a comparatively light weight and 
short flight. 
Almost any one who has lived or hunted on an Eastern 
farm can write, or at least tell, reminiscences under some 
such head as "Woodchucks I Have Met." There Avas the 
one that I saw feeding in cloA^er scA^eral inches high and 
undertook to approach as nearly as possible in plain sight. 
While down on all fours, he could not see about him, and 
in those moments I Avalked straight tOAvard him. When 
he had snipped off a mouthful of clover he would stand 
on his hind feet Avhile chcAving it, staring at me where I 
stood motionless, having stopped the instant he rose. This 
maneuver Avas repeated until. Avhen he at last bolted for 
his hole, it was but fourteen steps to Avhere he had stood. 
He showed no alarm at the mere sight of me, enlarged as 
I must have seemed after each advance. Perhaps he 
finally scented me. Some hunters think woodchuclcs 
haA'e this power, and it certainly is likely enough. That 
would account for the failure of my first demonstrations 
against them. Near my home, Avhen I was a boy, there 
were in a pasture some huge stone heaps, under which 
woodchucks lived. Seeing one now and then at some dis- 
tance from his castle, I fancied I could steal quietly up 
at such a time on the opposite side of the stone pile and 
rush around quickly enough to cut him off from his burrow. 
But, no matter how slyly I approached, or how smartly 1 
charged at last, Avhen I got to where the woodchuck 
Avas, he never Avas there. If he did not see or hear me 
he may have scented me. I have carefully gone with the 
Avind to the top of a knoll and found one missing, which 
was feeding but a moment before on the other side. Most 
wild animals are protected by their scenting power, and 
it Avould be only natural that woodchucks should have this 
gift. So far as I Icnow, however, little or no attention is 
paid to it in hunting them. 
The first of these animals that I killed Avere trapped, 
after the barbarous manner of boys. One of them was 
entirely black, and I afterAvard saw a black one with a 
brown face. The combination hoodooed me so that I 
missed him beautifully at close range White ones are 
more rare, but two or three have been killed in my neigh- 
borhood. I remember well the first chuck I Avent for Avith 
my rifle on the home farm. He Avas dozing on a big 
stump fifty or sixty yards out in a meadow. The first 
shot did not even wake him up. At the next he went 
sailing off the stump, and I had no doubt of finding him 
dead where he landed. To my surprise, he Avas nowhere 
to be seen ; but in due time the horse rake gathered in a 
dried-up woodchuck skin and skeleton just about there, 
and I credited myself with a hit. In the same meadoAV 
there liA'ed one Avhich I missed so many times in ray early 
days of marksmanship that we called him the Invulner- 
able. In an evil day I boAvled him over, at the eleventh 
shot, and had to look elscAvhere for practice. In that 
field there Avas a smooth-topped stump that bore a V- 
shaped mark made by tAVO bullets fired from different 
directions at a woodchuck that used to pose there. Close 
by Avas one of those stump fences Avhich may still be seen 
in regions that have been timbered Avith pine. The stumps 
of these trees are so fortified against decay by their filling 
of turpentine that they outlast the farmers who dig them 
up. A row of them, somewhat trimmed and stood on 
edge> makes a formidable fence. It takes room, however, 
and harbors briers, weeds and vfermin, Jt makes a 
veritable citadel for hunted woodchucks. Peering out 
among roots and briers they can see without being seen, 
and they find cover at any point of such a fence when 
scared out of the neighboring grass ground. I plotted in 
vain against the woodchucks that stuck to the stump 
fence. The present owner has burnt it up, reclaimed the 
ground from the brambles, and left the woodchucks to 
such shelter as they can find. Thus does life become a 
harder and harder grind for the more "feeble folk" that 
inhabit this world. 
It was years after I began observing woodchucks that I 
first heard one use its voice, if it may be so called. At 
the edge of a bit of woods a shrill staccato whistle chal- 
lenged me. It is a queer sound to come from a quadruped, 
but from descriptions I suspected what it was, and looked 
about upon the ground for the whistler. Under the edge 
of a big log sat an old and a young woodchuck, at the 
mouth of their burrow. The whistle seemed intended for 
the young one's benefit, as at each repetition it dodged 
down into the "hole, only to reappear immediately and get 
another Avarning. It was a pretty glimpse of wild life, and 
I should not have felt like shooting if my rifle had been 
in hand. 
In shooting at woodchucks the misses are disgusting at 
the time, but rather amusing to think of afterward. I 
remember crawling scientifically to the top of a knoll with 
one of my few remaining cartridges devoted to the certain 
death of a chuck known to be out on the other side. 
With a good elbow rest, that should have insured a perfect 
shot, I missed the intended victim, and Avas so rattled 
that with the other cartridges I could not so much as 
drive him into his burrow. He seemed tO' know my 
ammunition was gone, and took a very deliberate header 
only when I had walked up close to him. This recalls 
another time when the elbow rest failed me. Climbing 
part way up a railroad embankment, I saw a woodchuck 
in the field beyond. Not hoping to shoot well off-hand 
hanging on my my toenails, I planted my elbows in the 
ballast at the end of the ties and aimed just over the 
further rail. In the moment of pulling trigger one elboAV 
settled a bit in its soft resting place, the barrel sagged a 
trifle, the bullet spread itself on the rail a fcAv inches 
from the muzzle and the iron-clad Avoodchuck hunted his 
hole. With some such experiences, and having .scratched 
my rifle barrel by resting it across a perfectly smooth- 
looking boulder, I concluded one season to shoot strictly 
off-hand, no matter Avhat happened. This is a good rule 
if one Avants to improve his marksmanship ; but it takes 
considerable virtue to live up to it, and the entertainers of 
the traditional minister might remain "out of meat" if it 
depended on accurate shooting in this style. My resolu- 
tion was sorely tried by a rapid series of five or six 
shots at a rather distant Avoodchuck, Avhich only pro- 
duced some frolicsome capers like those of a tenderfoot 
with a hilarious cowboy shooting at his toes. 
But along with such reminiscences of failure the hunter 
of the meadows and pastures can usually recall shots to 
be proud of, to which the luckless animal could only re- 
spond with that languid motion of the tail with Avhich a 
woodchuck waves a farcAvell to life. When the sportsman 
intends taking to the woods for a deer hunt, he will hardly 
find better practice in tramping, stalking or shooting than 
is afforded by woodchuck hunting, and the rifleman who 
cannot get beyond the farms has in this sport the best 
aA'ailable substitute for an expedition after big game. 
Bristoi, Hill. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
"Western Snipe. 
Chicago, III., April 13. — Six days ago, or on April 7, the 
first jacksnipe of the season were killed. Dr. C. W, Car- 
son, of this city, got four birds, but they Avere extremely 
thin and very Avild. There has been no word received 
from the better shooting grounds below here to the effect 
that any considerable amount of birds has appeared, but 
there is little doubt that during the coming week we shall 
hear of them in good numbers, for spring seems at last 
to haA^e come to this region, and the appearance of the 
green grassland the breaking of the buds On the trees 
gives proof that winter is at last leaAdng us. The jack- 
snipe come in here just about the time the grass begins to 
spring up and shoAV green across the marshes and 
meadows. 
The name of Indiana causes every shooter in this 
vicinity this spring to thrill as with threat of sudden death. 
While the restrictions of the new In(Mana law seem not to 
apply to jacksnipe as to ducks, there are very few who 
are including Indiana in their snipe shooting for the com- 
ing week, and nearly everybody is looking out for Illinois 
snipe shooting ground. Of the latter there seems to be a 
fair supply this spring, for the high Avater has left a 
good deal of wet ground all to the west and southAvest of 
this city, which is just now drying out sufficiently to 
make good feeding grounds for the birds. I heard of 
some gentlemen Avho Avent in near Mineral, 111., last 
spring and had very good luck Avith the jacksnipe. There 
is quite a bit of marsh of the spring bog sort on the 
high prairies back of that point, and some very good bags 
Avere made there last year. This Avould seem a good place 
to keep in mind for this spring. 
Italian Joe says that he can put somebody on to some 
good jacksnipe shooting, and as he rarely hunts very far 
away from Summit, it is reasonable to suppose that his 
grounds are not very far from that point. In this time 
of very high Avater the big marshes are very apt to remain 
sour for some time, and I should rather suggest that one 
try the smaller sloughs and dryer uplands back in the 
hills aAvay from the big marshes. This at least for the 
earlier part of the snipe shooting. 
Italian Joe aviII hardly be able to do much at his favor- 
ite sport of plover shooting before the close of the sea- 
son He says that he has not heard of any birds yet, but 
thev mav come up with a rush if we get settled Avarm 
Aveather. It is all a guess at this writing. 
Indiana Fish Law. 
The Indiana fish law. whether through intent or through 
lack of wisdom, remains about as lax as the game law 
.is strict. Jt is legal to go fishing in the lakes of Indiana 
as early as April I, and a good many Ghicago anglers are 
taking advantage of this fact this wmc. Mr, W. H. Eng- 
lish leaves to-day for a trial trip to Cedar Lake, Ind., and 
he will be followed a Aveek from to-day by several mem- 
bers of the Chicago Fly-Casting Club, who are in the 
habit of opening the season on that water, the earliest bass 
water situated anywhere near Chicago. 
The Indiana fish law limits the daily catch of bass to 
twenty for each rod, or thirty-two to one boat, if there 
be two rods in the boat. This provision does not cut 
much figure one way or the other, as it is rarely that one 
crowds that limit very close nowadays. 
I am afraid that Roll Organ and I may not be able to 
go boAv and arroAv shooting for carp this spring as we 
had intended. The new Indiana fish law says that one 
may not shoot at any sort of fish. It also forbids spear- 
ing, and I suppose that between the clauses forbidding 
spearing and shooting the bow and arrow would be in- 
cluded. It looks like a poor man has no chance in these 
times out here. 
Wisconsin Law. 
Our trout law begins April 15 in Wisconsin. The same 
provision which prohibits taking out of the State more 
than 20 pounds of game fish obtains under the new Wis- 
consin law. Wisconsin also retains her law prohibiting 
spring shooting of ducks, though goose shooting is still 
allowed in the spring. The deer season in Wisconsin will 
be Nov. ID to Nov. 30, and each deer must be tagged as 
soon as shot. The daily bag on ducks is set at fifty, and 
only tAventy-five partridges may be killed in a single day 
by any one man. The closed season on quail will be made 
to end at 1903, and not set for five years, as was originally 
embodied in the n^easure. I ought to say that these facts 
are a little in advance of the actual records of the Wis- 
consin Legislature, but they are taken from the bill which 
Avas reported for passage this Aveek and which is con- 
sidered sure to pass and to be signed by the Governor. 
In these days of rapidly shifting game laws, th.e only safe 
■ thing to do is to buy a copy of the Woodcraft Magazine 
and Game Laws in Brief. ^ 
In Minnesota. 
The friends of the Minnesota National Park have scored 
what seems to be at least a good move in the passage 
by both houses of the Legislature of Minnesota of a 
legislative memorial to Congress asking that all the lands 
in the several Indian reservations of Minnesota which are 
unfit for agriculture be set apart for park, sanitarium 
and forest reservation purposes. The success of this 
memorial is due largely to the able efforts of Mrs. W. E. 
Brarnhall, of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. 
Originally there was considerable opposition in the Min- 
nesota Legislature to the idea of a national park, hence 
the passage of the memorial,, as above indicated, would 
indicate a certain change of sentiment. The measure is 
made conditional on the favorable result of the investiga- 
tion Avhich has been ordered by Congress, and it will 
perhaps hasten or make surer the appointment by Con- 
gress of the proper commission. It was always the idea 
of all the earnest friends of the Minnesota park that if an 
unbiased committee from Congress could be gotten Up 
into that country and could see the actual conditions which 
obtained, there would be little doubt of speedy action on 
the lines desired. At least it was decided that, if such a 
commission did not agree with the original proposition 
for the park, nothing more would ever be said of it. 
There was never any desire to dictate to Congress or urge 
any selfish claims, but only to have Congress learn the 
actual and unbiased facts. 
Sand Hill Cranes on the Calumet. 
Among the lucky bags made by Chicago shooters this 
spring may be classified that of Mr. R. C. Head, Avho at 
the Calumet Heights Club tAvo weeks ago succeeded in 
killing an entire flock of three sand hill cranes which came 
in over his blind while he Avas out duck shooting. Mr. 
Head had drawn what is known as the Second Bend 
blind, the one behind the big black stump. He was sitting 
behind the stump when he heard a hoarse croaking sound 
and looking up saw the cranes coming to him. They 
passed his blind at long range, and he succeeded in break- 
ing the wing of the leader. The other birds were con- 
fused, and as Mr, " Head did his best to imitate their 
calls, one came close to him and he dropped it at 20 yards 
from the blind. The third bird seemed still more con 
fused, and circled over the timber, coming to Mr. Head 
as he resumed his calling. He dropped this one on the 
hard ground back of the blind. The three birds Avhen 
taken to the club house and stretched out on the piazza, 
end to end, measured a little over 16 feet. Another 
shooter at the same club was lucky enough to kill two 
Canada geese on one day, and several other decent bags 
of ducks have been made. 
This spring has shoAvn an unusual abundance of deep- 
water ducks in Lake Michigan, and the fly up from the 
big lake to the marshes southwest of Calumet Heights 
has been sometimes a very heavy one. On one CA ening 
the flight of birds coming in to Lake Michigan was almost 
continuous past a given point near the club house for an 
hour and a half. Every one is commenting on the unusual 
number of ducks which have come to this vicinity this 
spring. 
Lake Michigan is not so slow as a sporting resort in 
Itself these days, and there has been quite a lot of shooting 
done off the piers. A gentleman living in Evanston says 
that this Aveek he saAV a splendid flight of ducks off the 
Dempster street pier, and he believed that a bunch of 
decoys at that point would have been good for a hundred 
birds to the gun in a few hours. There was a tremen- 
dous body of birds, mostly bluebills, in the lake not very 
far off shore. The same is true all along the city front. 
Off .Sixty-fourth street water works there has been pretty 
good shooting at different times this week, and as far 
south as Chicago. The numbers of ducks haA^e been 
enough to attract the serious attention of all shooters. 
Fox Lake Dacfcs. 
A stiff flight of bluebills and redheads still contimies 
at Fox Lake, but the birds are highly educated now and 
decline to work satisfactorily. In two more days the 
season will end for the spring shooting. It has been 
altogether the most remarkable spring for . wildfowl seen 
here for the last ten or fifteen years. There have baen 
thousands of ducks killed ovzr the shooting grounds of 
Illinois and Indiana, just how many tho-HSaiids no om 
