April 5, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
267 
trajectory than the .30-40 at 300 yards, and a rifle that 
will drive a bullet through a five-eighth steel plate has 
some striking power. The recoil is about like a 12-gauge 
shotgun with _Ya drams of smokeless powder. That is 
what I call an ideal moose gun, but it si not on the 
market. 
There are many good big-game guns on the market, 
but none so good but that there might be better, and 
there will be better. All the manufacturers want to 
know is, that there will be a demand for a certain kind 
of rifle, and we get it. We have been made to believe 
that the bore could not be above .30 and retain the high 
velocity. I believe from my experience with Mr. Weed's 
rifle that the bore might be .40, with a bullet of 300 grains 
and yet have a velocity of 2,000 feet or more. That is 
what I have heard the Blake rifle is, but I can't seem to 
get one of them. 
The requirements of the hunting rifle for moose are: 
Fair accuracy, high velocity, 2,000 feet or more at muzzle ; 
fairly light weight, under 9 pounds; a repeater, with 
terrible striking power, and a bullet of about 300 grains, 
tempered so it will mushroom nicely without flying to 
pieces. A moose struck with such a bullet, and place 
where the bullet could use its power, must come down. 
I think I hear the big-bore men say, if the .30-40, or 
Mannlicher, is as good as you say it is, why do you want 
any better? I will answer by asking another. If the .45 
is so much better than the .30, why 4o they need Uncle 
Henry's .577? 
Mr. Irland in Forest and Stream of Feb. IS, asks if 
any man can show a straight score of a dozen moose 
and none lost. Mine exceeds that number. I have not 
killed them all myself; the small-bore has not been on the 
market long enough for that, but I have seen sportsmen 
that have been with me do it, and they are not all as good 
shots as Mr. Irland, either. I am not much of a shot 
myself, but any place where an ordinary shot can get a 
moose with a .45 I will get him with a .30-40, and get him 
quicker than the .45 can. The amount of mixing that one 
of these high-velocity bullets with a soft nose can do 
inside a moose is something wonderful, and would hardly 
be believed by any one who never saw it. 
But there are other requirements beside a rifle to get a 
moose. First, the sportsman must go to where the moose 
is, then he must find him, and after that he must hit him, 
for his chances of getting him will be much better if he 
is well hit by a despised .30-30, than they would be if he 
was missed by Uncle Henry's .577- 
There is another thing about moose shooting that cuts 
quite a figure, though I don't see it mentioned. Very 
much of the shooting is done from a canoe, and if the 
cance is a narrow and cranky bark or dug-out, or any 
other kind that is narrow or cranky, and there is some- 
times considerable excitement about the time a moose is 
being shot, it is hard to get the bullets where they will 
do most good ; and a wounded moose is apt to be the 
result. In fact, I think a steady canoe with a steady 
hand at the paddle cuts as much figure as the rifle. 
No doubt the big-bore men will jump on me, but please 
do it easy. I am neither a writer nor a lawyer, to be 
capable of defending myself. What I have .written are 
facts that have come under my .observation, and I have 
reasons for all I say. 
I wish the Winchester people would give us the striking 
power of all their different arms in the table with the 
velocity and trajectory. I have seen it in some of the 
English catalogues. 
This article is too long now, so I had better stop right 
here, yet I could easily go on and prove that the small- 
bores are not all as bad as some writers would have you 
believe. I am not "stuck on" any particular gun, but I 
like all guns, some better than others. 
Adam Moore. 
Scotch \a«ce, York Co., N. B. 
Maine Game Reports 
Boston, March 29. — The arrest of Peter Fontaine 
by Game Warden Templeton last week was a good deal 
of a tragedy, so far as particulars have been obtained. 
Fontaine has been the cause of the slaughter of a great 
many moose and deer in close time, and the wardens had 
been ordered to capture him at all hazards. The war- 
rant charged the illegal killing of moose and beaver. 
Wardens Templeton and Houston struck the trail west 
of Baker Lake, and came to Fontaine's camp about 4 
o'clock in the afternoon. They waited till nearly dark, 
hoping that he would come out. Fontaine had repeatedly 
stated that he would shoot any game warden at sight 
who attempted to arrest him. As he did not come out, 
they decided to go boldly in and arrest him. Temple- 
ton states that he went in ahead. On entering the door, 
Fontaine jumped for his rifle and drew it in the attitude 
of firing, the muzzle not more than six feet from the 
warden's body. Seeing that the aim was deadly, and 
knowing that there was no chance for parley, Temple- 
ton fired first, the bullet passing completely through the 
body of Fontaine, in the region of the heart, coming out 
near the shoulder blade. The wardens made the wounded 
man as comfortable as possible that night, and the next 
morning he was taken to the nearest lumber camp. 
There a team was procured, and Warden Houston pro- 
ceeded with him to Canada and the nearest doctor. At 
this writing Fontaine is alive, but with little or no chance 
of recover} 7 . The wardens are satisfied that he would have 
shot them, if he could have fired first. His rifle they 
picked up from the floor, fully loaded and cocked. Fon- 
taine had just returned from a trip to Canada, taking 
with him the hides of eleven moose that he had recently 
killed. Commissioner Carleton spates that Fontaine had 
been the means of great illegal killing of game, and that 
the wardens had been trying to catch him for several 
years. 
Game wardens Frank Perkins, of Bradley, and D. A. 
Cummings. of Houlton. are out ©f the woods from a 
snowshoe trio covering over 600 miles; the journey was 
made in the interest of game protection and for investiga- 
tion. They started from Patten. Aroostook county. Me., 
Jan. 24, and until they reached Fort Kent on the northern 
border, were on snowshoes continually. Thev visited 
Sourdnahunk Lake and surrounding territory, ex- 
plored the headwater? <A V-- 1 Alleguash and St. John 
in Maine; thence to the V? ^waters of the Aroostook. 
and down the- wafers of the St. John where thev came 
to civilization. Much of the time they passed the night 
in lumber camps, but when these could not be reached 
they built leantos of evergreen boughs, to break the wind, 
and with a roaring fire in front they slept on boughs laid 
on the snow. They investigated all the lumber camps for 
signs of illegal killing of moose and deer, but found al- 
most nothing in that direction. In the Big Black River 
region they found plenty of signs .where moose hide 
hunters had been at work, the hunters having evidently 
gone across the border with their booty, this country 
being right on the border line. Visiting 150 camps they 
report to the commissioners that they saw no signs of 
big game killed out of season. During the time that 
they were in the Sourdnahunk region they saw eight car- 
ibou, three of them at one time. Frequently they saw 
signs of caribou, and both wardens express the opinion 
that caribou are really coming back to Maine. Moose 
were found in good numbers at all points of the journey 
where they could reasonably be expected, while the num- 
ber of deer was something wonderful. 
For many years a sportsman living in the suburbs of 
Boston has watched the spring migration of wild geese 
and ducks. Their northward flight over his locality has 
been carefully noted. Thursday, March 27, a south wind 
prevailed, setting in late in the afternoon. At sundown 
the geese began to pass, and their honking was heard 
continually till past midnight. Where such a number of 
birds were congregated, awaiting a favorable wind and 
other conditions, is a matter of conjecture with him, as 
it hardly seems possible that the long journey from the 
South had been made in one day. It was a reminder 
of the wild pigeon flights of the 50's, and brings forward 
afresh the inquiry of Forest and Stream as to the 
probable distance game birds can and do fly continuously 
without resting. * . t u . 
The very latest reports from Peter Fontaine, the alleged 
poacher, shot by Game Warden Templeton, are to the 
effect that he is doing better than might be expected, and 
is very likely to live. _______ bPECIAL- 
Peter Fontaine. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I notice in your issue of this week that the game war- 
dens of northern Maine have at last taken Peter Fontaine. 
I am sorry they had to shoot him, but glad they have him. 
Hope they will put him where he wont kill any more 
"during the fall of 1899 I spent several weeks on the 
headwaters of the St. Johns River moose hunting, and 
while there met Fontaine. It came about m this way: 
For a time my camp was on a dead water on the upper 
Southwest. I was sitting out in front of the. camp one 
morning looking at some deer crossing the stream at the 
upper end of the dead water, when I noticed a man com- 
ing up from below in a small wooden canoe. I called 
my guide's— Dave Haines— attention to him. As he came 
opposite the camp, Dave hailed him and asked him to 
come ashore, which he did. We went down to the river 
bank and had a talk with him. He did not tell us his 
name or what he was after. When he left, Dave, and I 
decided he was Pete Fontaine. 
As it rained that forenoon, we did not go out, but 
remained in camp. About "noon Fontaine came back, and 
we asked "him to stop, as I wanted to have a talk with 
him and find out a good place to go for moose. He 
advised me to go to Baker Lake. Said there were big 
moose there; also told me he had a camp on the lake 
which I was welcome to use. While talking to him he 
told us his name, and much to my surprise called me 
by name and told me how long I had been in the woods, 
which showed that he kept himself advised as to who 
were around in the woods. f 
From the accounts I had had of him, I supposed he 
was a rough dirty Frenchman, but found such was not 
the case. He looked about thirty-five years old, clean 
cut, well built and clean in appearance, wore a suit of 
home-made clothes. 
When he left us we followed him down the river. I 
noticed he kept looking behind him all the time, as if fie 
was afraid some one was following him. We left him 
just above the mouth of the Little Southwest. He went 
on to Billy Jack Noble's depot camp, a mile below, where 
he spent the night. 
A day or two after our meeting I went to Baker Stream 
and tried to get to the lake, but could not, as the water 
was too low. On the way down the stream I shot a big 
bull moose that carried an extremely fine head of antlers 
— one of the most perfect sets I ever saw. 
If Pete Fontaine had not advised me to go to the 
Baker, I would not have got the moose. Poor Pete, I 
am sorry for him, but glad to know his moose-killing will 
be stopped. W. W. King. 
Norfolk, Va , March 28. 
Massachusetts Quail. 
Wakefeld, Mass., March 28.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I recently made inquiries from some of my 
sportsmen friends how the quail wintered, and inclose 
vou extracts from their letters to me. The reply from 
Topsfield is: "I think the quail are all right. There 
have been two flocks within a half-mile of home all win- 
ter. I see them often. I have seen the tracks of one of the 
flocks since the February blizzard, and there were seven- 
teen in it. I have counted them several times this winter, 
and they are all alive. A man from West Boxford tells 
me the quail have all wintered fine, so I think the pros- 
pect good for next season." 
The Danvers friend says : "Everybody I have talked 
with says that there are many quail left over. I do 
not think the blizzard hurt them any, as it takes a deep 
snow with a thick crust to kill them, and that is some- 
thing we have not had this winter if memroy serves me 
right." 
The Reading man writes : "There have been two flocks 
of quail in my fields all winter, and Uncle Fred has fed 
them well, so they are alive and all right." 
From West Peabody : "Saw six quail a week after the 
blizzard; think others are O. K." 
This information I can vouch for as correct. These 
towns are from twelve to twenty-five miles north of 
Boston. John W, Babbitt. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
— , :u 
New GamelLand io^Old Mexico. 
Chicago, 111., March '27.— Mr. F. M. Stephenson, of 
Menominee, Mich., holder of large lumber interests in 
different parts of the country, owner of coffee plantations, 
etc., in old Mexico, and eke a sportsman of renown and 
prowess, as well as of general reputation, starts this week 
in company with a couple of Chicago friends for an ex- 
tended and interesting trip in Old Mexico. Mr. Stephen- 
son, in conjunction with other capitalists, is looking into 
a large and valuable tract of timber land in the Sierra 
Madre Mountains, west of Chihuahua. What his eventual 
plans there may be is not yet fully determined, but 
whether he buys pine lands or not, he certainly is going 
hunting. As witnessing his general strenuousness of 
habit, it may be stated that Mr. Stephenson has only 
been back from Mexico about three weeks. In that time 
he has taken an architect up to the Coleman Club, of 
Wisconsin (the old Gaylord Club), of which he is presi- 
dent, has placed an order for the erection of a beauti- 
ful club house, has gone to New York and arranged for 
the building of about 100 miles of railroad in Mexico, 
has telegraphed to Colorado and secured the famous 
Colorado guide, Joe Goff, and his entire pack of bear 
dogs — the same which President Roosevelt had in his 
recent lion hunt in Colorado — has attended to a lot of 
details regarding outfitting here in Chicago, and will 
presently be speeding away toward the sunny Southwest, 
bound for what is one of the most interesting sporting 
expeditions of which one has received information for 
some moons. 
It is not altogether an experimental trip upon which 
this hardy Wisconsin young man is entering. He has 
been in the Sierra Madres before, and last year he and 
his party killed two grizzly bears, one cinnamon bear, a 
great number of deer and wild turkeys, and also a moun- 
tain lion or so. There are many lions in that country, 
and when Joe Goff gets down there with his bear dogs 
'hings will surely move a-plenty. 
There are no bear dogs anywhere near the Sierra 
Madres, and, in fact, there is not anything else near 
them except a lot of cattle on the plains this side of 
there, and a few apathetic Greasers or an occasional en- 
terprising Yaqui Indian, the letter actuated by the sole 
purpose in life of potting as many of the aforesaid 
Greasers as he may be able. Mr. Stephenson's guide last 
year was a sawed-off Yaqui Indian ohieftain by the name 
of Ernestachio. Mr. Stephenson was doing some good 
work with the .30-30, and Ernestachio sighed with envy 
a3 he noticed the powers of the little gun. "Had I had 
that rifle, senor," said he, "I might have killed fifty more 
Mexicans than I have in my life. It is sad that one must 
thus think of chances he has lost. Truly the Americanos 
are great people !" 
The Yaqui s are fair guides and good hunters. The 
Mexicans know nothing of the mountains, and are con- 
tinually afraid of venturing into them. They get lost on 
the slightest provocation, and are in general not much 
good as hunting companions. They have some license 
for being afraid of the Yaquis. In the recent little war in 
that country fifty-three Yaqui Indians killed over 400 
Mexicans (this at Santo Tomaso, if memory serves). 
Mr. Stephenson said he had no kick whatever on Ern- 
estachio, except that he was afraid all the time that he 
would get trail of a Mexican, and prefer to hunt the 
latter rather than the grizzly bear or the mountain lion. 
As to the grizzlies, they seem to be pretty much the 
same brand of critter we used to have in New Mexico, 
some hundreds of miles northeast of the Sierra Madres. 
Mr. Stephenson says the skins of the grizzlies killed by 
his party measured over seven feet, and the cinnamon 
was also a good chunk of a bear. He speaks with the 
greatest enthusiasm over the wild turkeys of that coun- 
try, which he says are- numerous and very beautiful. They 
usually kill them with rifles, and are taking some solid 
jacketed_ bullets with them on this trip for the purpose 
of shooting turkeys, the soft-nosed blowing the bird quite 
to pieces when struck fairly. To my own surprise, I 
learned that gray wolves are very abundant in the Sierra 
Madres or the foothills thereof, and coyotes are so numer- 
ous as to attract very little attention. This I infer to be 
near the presence of big cattle ranches. There is one 
good ranch in the State of Chihuahua, that of an old-time 
cattle king, which the past spring branded 54,000 calves. 
This would indicate a herd of something like 300,000 
head. The pasture ground for these cattle, all under 
one ownership and all in one tract, is more than 6,000,000 
acres in extent. There is another big ranch owned by a 
California estate which has a million acres in one body 
of land, and on this ranch there are 50,000 or 60,000 head 
of stock. It would seem they do things on rather a big 
scale, after all, in the sleepy land of Mexico. We may 
be sure that the hunt of these enterprising Northerners 
will also be^ on a big scale, and there is every likelihood 
that they will meet success in their new hunting ground. 
The Sierra Madres we heard of continually at the time 
I lived in New Mexico, twenty years ago. They were 
then the_ stamping ground of the Apaches, and not very 
much visited by white hunters or prospectors, though 
we always heard that they were full of game. We used 
to hear there of the "tigres," or "spotted lions," mean- 
ing, no doubt, the jaguar, as being fairly abundant in 
that country. Now and again skins of these animals 
would come up across the line, rarely in very good con- 
dition, as is invariably the case in a Mexican country, but 
showing an animal of very considerable size. It is pos- 
sible that in some parts of the Sierra Madres, Joe GofFs 
famous bear dogs may run across an animal very different 
and very much worse than the tawny, long-tailed cats of 
Colorado. I did not hear Mr. Stephenson mention this 
animal, and, in fact, did not think to ask him about it. 
There are big-horn sheep in the Sierra Madres near 
the Sonora line. There are turkeys, as above men- 
tioned, in good numbers, and very many deer. The lat- 
ter, although smaller than our Northern deer, make ex- 
cellent venison, and offer decidedly good sport. Last 
of all, and perhaps most wonderful of all, comes the 
report vouched for by Mr. John R. Davis, of Neenah. 
Wis., that the streams of that district contain the genuine 
speckled brook trout, as well as the mountain trout, the 
so-called brook trout showing the same spots and the 
same peculiarities of the Eastern fish. One would be dis- 
