Nov. 2, igoiwl 
FOREST AND STREAM- 
349 
moose of the season in Bingham region. A party of 
Boston hunters left Friday night for a big-game hunt. In 
the party are S. L. Noyes, J. W. -Smart, E. A. Norton 
and Messrs. Mann,. Cobb, Currier and Mason, all mer- 
chants, several of them from the big markets. They go to 
Jackman, on the Canadian Pacific, and thence into the 
woods for Heald Pond camps and some camps beyond. 
They are well-fitted for a hunting trip, have four of the 
best guides in that part of the country and naturally 
they expect big game. Their guides have written that 
the ground has already been covered with snow, and that 
they may expect snow for tracking. One admonition of 
the leader of the guides is worth remembering by all 
hunters who are going into the Maine woods, "Remem- 
ber, gentlemen, before you get here, and all the time 
afterward, that you are to shoot moose and deer and 
not men. If you can come with that idea, do so ; other- 
wise, stay in Boston." More big game is being shot in 
the Rangeley region this year than last, but not a great 
deal of it has fallen to Boston hunters. C. P. Stevens and 
party have been at Camp Vive Vale, Narrows, Ricbard- 
son Lake, and secured their full quota of deer. 
It was a big week with Chatham gunners for coot and 
shore birds. Dudley Hall, of Boston, made a big record 
there. He returned on Wednesday with a bag of 140 
birds, including beatleheads, English snipe and a few 
black ducks. Added to these were 105 grass birds. Will 
Guild secured forty big shore birds on the Monomoy 
grounds last week. Dr. Robert Amory, J. Montgomery 
Sears and Willard T. Sears have been on a shooting 
trip to Chatham and vicinity, with good results. At Hy- 
anis Fred Henderson and John Nickerson have made a 
big day, securing fourteen black duck. These birds are 
reported more plenty than usual at this season all along 
shore. Monday was a great cooting day. At Chatham 
Henry Phillips shot 47; G. S. Joselyn and A. W. Phil- 
lips got 29; Fred Packard. 20; Charles Low, 18; Charles 
Newton, 23; Joe MacCosland, 23; Bill Frazier, 19, and 
many others smaller bags. About half a mile off 
shore at Brant Rock is the favorite location for coot 
shooting. Every morning a line of dories may be seen out 
there, the location being very near to the course of most, 
of the flights. Special. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Back from Colorado. 
Mr. D. J. Hotchkiss, of Fox Lake, 111., is in town to- 
day on hi 9 return from a deer-hunting trip in the White 
River country of Colorado. Mr. Hotchkiss was the 
guest of Mr. George A. Morrison, of Emma, Colo., who 
has an extensive ranch in that country and who lives 
in baronial style. This gentleman and Mr. Hotchkiss, 
with one or two of the ranch people, made up the hunt- 
ing party. They killed six deer without any trouble, Mr. 
Hotchkiss getting two very good bucks. He says that 
the bucks were just beginning to join the does, and that 
in the early days of their hunt they saw many bands of 
deer, composed mostly of does or spike bucks. Of the 
abundance of deer there was no question. On one day 
Mr. Hotchkiss counted eleven bucks, and on another day 
he saw more than a score of deer in different bands. 
He says that potatoes grow so big on Mr. Morrison's 
ranch that he could not check one home to show his 
friends without paying excess baggage. 
Any one in search of elk would do well to remember 
the tip which Mr. Hotchkiss gives. He says that Burro 
Mountain, near the White River, is good elk country 
and can occasionally show a bear. Frank Hays, a guide 
of Newcastle. Colo., says that he would guarantee to 
get an elk in two days. 
They Could Jost Touch Bottomt 
Four duck hunters of Des Moines, Iowa, went out 
this week to slay ducks at Twin Lakes, Iowa. Their 
names are Charles F. Fox, Frank L. French, Henry F. 
Gross and Carl C. Proper, all good men and true. Messrs. 
Gross and French were first to take boat for the enter- 
prise of duck hunting, and a little later their friends 
heard them calling and discovered that they were not 
in their boat, nor on shore; neither were they aware 
whether they were on foot or on horseback. Their boat 
had sunk and they were standing in the icy water up 
to their necks, their feet resting on the sunken boat. 
Now came tlie strangest part of the adventure. Messrs. 
Fox and Proper had a very poor boat of their own, one 
which would not safely carry four. It was agreed that 
Proper and Fox should take the half-drowned hunters 
ashore one at a time, or rather take Gross ashore first. 
Fox then to return for French. The first passenger, 
Mr. Gross, was taken aboard with some trouble, but it 
looked too dismal for French to be left out there in the 
middle of the lake all alone. He made a grab at the 
Ijoat as it passed him, and was lucky enough to land on 
the gunwale. The result was that he upset the boat; 
4nd then, instead of there being two men in the icy 
water up to their necks, there were four, and instead of 
being one passenger boat there was none. The hunters 
discovered several things of interest; first, that the water 
was very cold; second, that it was too deep to wade 
when they got off the hulls of the sunken boats; third, 
that there was no manner of refreshment. One of the 
party, it seems, had a bottle of something soothing in 
his boat, but it was at the bottom of the lake. Between 
shivers he kicked about in the mud, and at last was 
gratified to see the bottle of something soothing bob 
up to the surface of the water. This helped them out 
a little bit, but it did not solve the problem of trans- 
portation. They were in the water for four hours, and 
were at length rescued by a band of farmers, who 
thought evil spirits had taken possession of the neigh- 
borhood. It is stated that Twin Lakes are much deeper 
this year than ordinarily, owing to the extensive drain- 
age of portions of the neighborhood. It is very lucky, 
indeed, that these Des Moines gentlemen found the water 
no deeper than it was. Their experience, although some- 
what amusing to a man not in it himself, might easily 
have proved a fatal one. While it is supposed to be 
improper to refer to spiritous liquors in the columns 
of high class journals, the bottle of "something soothing 
referred to herein may perhaps come in under the head 
of "Queer Finds by Sportsmen." 
At It Agaki. 
My friend, the daily reporter, is getting busy again 
these bright days of autumn. This time he telegraphs 
to a St. Paul, Minn., paper from Metropolis, 111. It is 
all about a horrible panther fight in which one young 
man was killed and another seriously wounded; No 
names are given, it being stated that ;"at this hour it 
is impossible to learn the name of the victim." It seems 
that this young man, while out hunting near Glendale, 
was pounced upon by a panther which was crouching 
in the limbs of a tree above him. By the time the sec- 
ond young man had arrived the first young man was 
mostly dead and eaten. The second nameless hunter 
fought the savage beast for some moments, employing 
a butcher knife, ' At last the s. b., "with a savage growl, 
turned and fled into the woods." This animal is thought 
to be the same one which has been seen recently near 
Metropolis, and which has destroyed numerous hogs, 
dogs and cattle. On the whole this is quite a decent 
panther story. 
The Student and His Dog. 
My friend the Student has received his new hunting 
dog, and it would appear that this was the only thing 
lacking to make him perfectly happy. He regretted to 
state, however, in describing the arrival of his new ac- 
quisition, that Mr. Stephens, of Detroit, Minn., of whom 
he purchased the dog, had neglected to send either the 
pedigree or the dog whistle which he had promised. 
I asked the Student what sort of dog this was, being by 
this time very much interested in the matter, and he 
replied that the dog had wliite feet, white on the end 
of his tail, and was in respect to the rest of his body 
color a curly red. Hearing this T advised him not to 
bother about a pedigree, but to rather confine his efforts 
to securing the whistle, as I imagined it would be of more 
service to him. 
The Student, as I understand it, never owned a bird 
dog before, and he is having a good time. He says the 
dog is the most friendly thing he ever saw in his life, 
and would rather be licked than left alone. He cele- 
brated his advent into the Student's household by mak- 
ing a tour around the breakfast table, and neatly ex- 
tracting all the bread and butter from the plates around 
the table. He is doing a great many other things bfest 
known to bird dogs and their owners, and it seems sure 
the Student is going to have an interesting time with 
him this fall. We are going to take the pup out some- 
where this fall, and shoot a few quail over him, or under 
him; that is to say, if we can get the whistle. 
Ducks Meet in Mid Air. 
The following story' of a very unusual incident is 
told by Mr. George French, of Waterloo, Iowa, who 
last week was shooting ducks at Blue Lake, near Onawa, 
Iowa. I question if it has ever been duplicated in the 
experience of any sportsman, however possible and in- 
deed probable it may appear under certain circurnstances : 
Mr. French was in his duck blind one morning, and 
just at daybreak saw a good flock of mallards coming 
toward him. These birds were almost within range, 
when another flock of about fifty mallards came on 
from the opposite direction, going at a great pace and 
apparently intending to drop down into the lake. The 
two flocks of mallards smashed into each other in a head- 
on collision. Mr. French says that the "rattling and 
crunching" sound could be heard for quite a distance. 
He states that the ducks were all mixed up together. 
After the confusion was over he found two_ ducks upon 
the ground, one quite dead and the other with a broken 
wing. Yet others which flew away seemed to be dam- 
aged by the collision, but not sufficiently so to knock 
them down. Mr. French picked up the two victims of 
the collision. This storv is vouched for by Mr. J. C. 
Hartman. of Waterloo, who says that he has known 
Mr. French for many years and that the latter is not 
given to hunting yarns. 
The incident is something which might occur easily, 
especially in the semi-darkness of early morning. It is 
not altogether an unusual thing for wild birds to fly into 
stationary obstacles and stun or kill themselves. In 
Iowa in the early days, it was not unusual for us to 
pick up prairie ch'ckens which had flown against tele- 
graph wires. I once knew a quail to fly against a barn 
and kill itself stone dead, and In another case a quail 
flew through one of the hay loft windows of the same 
barn, on mv father's place, and found itself a cripple 
and a captive in the hay mow. I think it was from 
Michigan that I once reported a case of a flock of quail 
which" rose to the sound of a gun and flew headlonp- 
into the side of a farm binldmg, something like 100 yard 
away, several of the bevy being killed. It is one of the 
mysteries of nature how a ruffed grouse gets through 
the wood at the speed it attains and does not kill itself 
against the trees. Mr. French's duck story, therefore, 
although curious and wonderful, is not to be supposed 
beyond the realms of probability. 
Iowa Ducks. 
Duck shooting is better in Northwest Iowa this year 
than it has been for many years, Messrs. H. C. Luce, 
George Herr, Jesse Scott and Bert Richards, of West 
Liberty, Iowa, shot last week on Elbon Lake, seven 
miles northwest of Dickens, Iowa, and the daily average 
of the above gentlemen for six days was sixty-eight 
ducks per day to the narty. They also got some prairie 
chickens. Trumbull Lake and Elbon Lake are popular 
points this fall, as well as other waters in Clay, Dickin- 
son and Palo Alto counties. 
Illinois Game. 
As to the game of "Illinois, v/i are now beginning to 
say good-bye to our jack snipe and ducks, and are look- 
ing forward very Eagerly to the quail season, which by 
common consent will begin next week, November i. It 
is a curious fact that the peculiar lack in the Illinois 
law seems not to have- made any very great difference 
in the surviving quail. Thi^ all goes to prove the ex- 
cellence of Bob White as a game bird. When we have 
a duck flight it is a matter of a few days and then it is 
all over,' A little wisp of, "woodcock come up and are 
gone 'inside of forfv-eight hours, atid a body of jaek snipe 
lasts not more than a couple of days. The prairie 
chicken season lasts but a couple of days, for the birds 
are cut down as quickly as the law will allow. With 
Bob White the matter is different. The first day or the 
second week does not clean up the bevies, for the hardy 
creatures are able to take care of thernselves. Indeed 
they learn the art of self-defence with every day of the 
season, so that before the end of the season, before the 
middle of December, after a month of harrying, there 
may still be quail enough left to ofTer abundant oppor- 
tunity, and these .s-urvivors will be of such quality as to 
tax the best skill of the shooter. We might count upon 
very fine shooting at quail in the State of Illinois this 
fall. Indeed, if it were not for this quail shooting, what 
could we depend upon for our sport in this once pro- 
Hfic State? Our prairie chickens last for a couple of 
days; our ducks go somcAvhere else. If we go to 
Michigan we cannot bring a bird out with us legally, li 
we go to Wisconsin it costs us $10. If we go to Minne- 
sota it costs us $25. If we go to Missouri we are put in 
the penitentiary, and if we go to Arkansas we ate liable 
to get hanged. These be parlous times in sportsmanship 
in the Mississippi Valley. It recalls the old story of 
the ham and the mustard. If one does not like ham 
he can help himself to mustard. Fortunately the alter- 
native in this case leaves us intimately concerned with 
one of the finest game birds that ever offered sport in 
any cotintrv, and it is matter of congratulation 
to feel that," in spite of foolish game laws, we at least 
have plenty of quail. 
Lumber Jacks and Game Laws. 
There comes down from the pineries of Northern 
Minnesota this fall, the customary story of outrages 
against the game laws, committed by the lumber jacks 
employed in the wholesale timber operations of the wild- 
erness country. Moose and deer are being slaughtered 
without any regard whatever to the game laws. These 
depredations are committed in so remote a district that 
it is almost impossible to secure convictions. It would 
take an armv of wardens to thoroughly stamp out these 
violations of the game law, although now and again one 
hears of an arrest and fine. Most of the meat of this 
sort of slaughter is perhaps used about the lumber camps, 
but in many cases moose are killed and left to lie almost 
unutilized, as the hide and head_ are not brought out 
to serve later as incriminating evidence. 
North Dakota Game. 
Mr. J. B. Whitteniore. writing from Galesburg, N. 
D says: "You should have come up and visited me 
and Gorkey this vear. There were more ducks and 
chickens than for manv years and a much handsomer 
landscape, too. There are now a good many geese, 
ducks and snipe around." 
Lost and Found. 
Mr E. K Stedman, of Mt. Carroll, III., gives an inci- 
dent or two of his recent vacation trip in the Mississippi 
River bottoms. He found that he could get lost, and also 
found something which some one else had lost, describing 
the matter below: . , ^ t t. j 
"It was land I had hunted over since a boy, but 1 had 
not hunted it much the past few. years. Some unrespect- 
ing. dollar-worshiping son of Mammon cut the timber 
down and a dense shrubbery has grown up m its place. 
It was a mile due east from my starting point to the place 
I desired to reach. I walked half an hour and came to the 
starting point, having made a circle to the left. Hows 
that for a fellow who has hunted all his life, and Qver 
ground he was raised on? , , , , j 
"In the -matter of 'Sportsmen's Finds. I found a good- 
sized tackle box. It had evidently been lost a good while 
being quite rusty and weather-stained. It was full of 
tackle, hooks, line, leaders, trolls, floats, etc. I left it at 
the club house for the use of the boys. 
"Saw lots of quail in the timber; every scrubby brush 
pile seemed to harbor a bevy or two. The boys are not 
shooting them, but say they will shoot at them the weeks 
corresponding to the open season last year. 
"Do not look for many ducks down the old flywa/ ttns 
season, owing to the scarcity of water and feed. The 
boys are banking on getting a bluebill flight about the 
2Sth. Hope they do; they deserve its. . , « 
"They've got a great place, these boys— a large island 
in the middle of the Mississippi; a club house with gaso- 
lene and heating stove, bunks for eight people, four extra 
cots and full equipment to accommodate twenty at least. 
"The lower end of the island is fitted up for a bhnd, 
the willows growing there making an excellent place for 
one to exercise his artistic aliilities in the matter of blmds. 
In the blind is a large float or raft. They bring their 
chairs with them when the flight is on. The float can 
accommodate twelve shooters. They have a flock of about 
100 decoys. The ducks flying up and down the river can 
see them from anv direction, and 'tis safe to say that if 
ducks are trading-" at all, the boys can account for their 
end of the bag. When I arrived home I found my friend 
the fish warden had been having some more fun in this 
vicinity." 
Bidding for Cootrafcand Game. 
Oct* 24. — A friend living in North Dakota sends to 
me a circular letter, issiied on the letter head of C. F. 
Bumann & Co., general commission merchants, 
197 South Water street. It is presumable that these cir- 
culars are sent out to many persons in Western States. 
The naive and cold-blooded fashion in which C. F. 
Bumann & Co. take for granted violations of 
the game laws, and assist in such violations by means of 
definite instructions thereon, is proof enough of the char- 
acter of South Water street as a market for Western 
game. The matter is something which should be taken 
up at once bv State Warden Lovejoy, of Illinois. Per- 
haps the canny commission firm may not care to have 
quite so much promotion and publicity enlisted in their 
behalf, yet here is; a paragraph of the circular, and it 
surely speaks for itself: 
"-Game is bringing extremely high prices this year. 
Following are the prices we are returning to-day: Mal- 
-lard ducks, $5 per dozen; redheads, $4..';o; bluewings, 
$3; ?2.75 for greenwings, $a for mixed, $2.50 for Jack 
