Jan. 3, igo^.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
11 
The Antelope's Tenacity of Life* 
Ix the Nov. 22 number of the Forest and Stream 
is an interesting article on the time the pronghorn 
antelope sheds its horn sheaths. My observations are 
that the antelope sheds its horn sheaths almost uni- 
versally in November, except some of the ybtmger 
members, which, in my experience, shed a little later, 
i.e., about the first week in December. Another inter- 
esting fact is the enormous amount of vitality a prong- 
horn possesses, mn.ch more than a deer, and equal to 
an elk or moose, though I admit the last three named 
are shot at a much closer range than the antelope, and 
this would make some difference in the striking power 
of a bullet. 
The following incident Avill tell of the tenacious hold 
ou life the antelope has: 
When I was guiding Sir Arthur W — y in his hunt- 
ing trips through Montana, with saddled horses and 
pack animals, we started for the Crazy Mountains to 
hunt silvertips. Aftef we left Judith Gap for the Mtis- 
sclshill River, we came to a big coulee, near Hopley's 
Hole, and as the wind was sharp and cold, I proposed 
we should ride along the bottom of the draw as far as 
we could go, as we would be protected from the wind. 
On ascending the side I saw a small band of antelope 
feeding about a mile away. As they had evidently not 
seen us and there seemed no waj' for us to stalk them 
where they were, I told Sir Arthur to remain where 
he was and I would ride down the draw far below 
them, and then go at right angles until they saw oi* 
winded me, when they would run in his direction, and 
he could get his shot. My plan worked to a- charm; 
they ran quite near him, when he dropped their leader, 
and this caused them to turn and try to run across me, 
I saw the smoke as he emptied the magazine of his 
rifle, and noticed through my field glass that one of 
the antelope was trailing behind. As they passed me 
I refrained from shooting, as we now had all the an- 
teJope meat we could use. As the hind pronghorn 
passed, I tliought I could see a dark line trailing be- 
hind him, and in a few minutes I saw him collapse in 
a heap. As I rode toward him I saw something on 
the ground. They were his entrails, strung out their 
full length. One of the shois, I found on examina- 
tipn, had disemboweled him, and he had run over a 
half-mile dragging them, as subsequent examination 
showed, for I found bits of them now and then on the 
sage brush for the whole distance. 
The antelope with his large, gentle eyes and grace- 
ful linilDS, hke the old landmarks, is passing away. 
Let us try and save them both. E. A. M. 
Game of British Colwmbia. 
CiiMUEKLAND, B. C, Dec. i6. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: ^ The deer season closed on the 15th, and it 
seemed as if they turned out en masse for the bene- 
fit of the hunters on the last open day, as the number 
brought to town verified the reports that it was no 
trouble to get deer that day; the number killed was 
somewhat in the neighborhood of forty. 
I have never tasted nicer venison nor seen deer in 
better condition than they have been this season. Sev- 
eral fine heads have been fetched in, and our local 
taxidermist, Mr. O. H. Fechner, is doing ^ood work 
on them. 
Ducks are hete iti large numbers, but unfortunately, 
the majority of them are not edible, owing to their dis- 
gusting habit of feeding on the decaying salmon lying 
along the banks of the rivers. I think if we had some 
wild rice sown around the marshes and swamps here 
we might possibly induce the mallards and other fish 
caters to leave the putrid salmon alone, as I firmly be- 
lieve they only resort to this diet for the want of 
something better. 
The quail (Bob White), which were introduced here 
two years ago, are rapidly spreading, some have been 
seen twenty miles from where the Kansas birds were 
released, Frank Ramsay. 
ged mid giv^r S^¥^^3* 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream, 
The St. Maurice. 
PromiStent among the rnany Canadian sportsmen's as- 
sociations is the St. Maurice Fish and Game Club, of 
Montreal, which numbers among its hundred and odd 
members many well known New Yorkers and a score or 
more of residents of other cities of the United States. 
The club was organized about six years ago by Dr. 
W. H. Drummond, of Montreal, Avhose beautiful descrip- 
tions in prose and poetry of his observations in the Cana- 
dian wilds have tempted many travelers and sportsmen 
the world over to A'isit the scenes which inspired his 
literary labors. Thi-ough the efforts of Dr. Drummond 
the club secured a twenty-year grant, with fishing and 
shooting privileges of two hundred square miles of ter- 
ritory located in about the central part of the Province 
of Quebec, about the headwaters of the St. Maurice 
River. 
This immense and almost primeval tract of forest, 
v.-ooded mostly with pine, birch and spruce, and watered, 
besides the St. Maurice, by the upper and lower Boston- 
nais and JNIiddle rivers, abounds in lakes, among them the 
Big and Little Wjagamack, the Bostonuais, St. Thomas, 
Allen, Travers, tire Brunnelles and Little River lakes, 
all of which fairly teem with trout, muscallonge and other 
varieties of fish. The region furnishes excellent moose 
and caribou hunting; partridges are plentiful, and in the 
fall months the lakes and rivers swarm with ducks. The 
majorilj^ of the memliers of the club, however, are de- 
voted fishermen, rather than hunters, and visit the region 
in the spring- when extraorcUnary catches of fish are 
inade. 
Besides the comfbrtahle clubhouse on the St. Maurice 
River, the club has built a fine log camp on the Little 
Wyagamack and a similar one on the northwest shore 
of the Big Wyagamack on the way to the Bostonnais 
lakes. Portages have been cut and cleared for many 
miles around the lakes in which fishing is best, and it is 
the club's intention to build additional canips as the 
requirements arise. 
Mr. Edward A. Richard, one of the New York mem- 
bers, tells an interesting story of his recent visit to the 
club reservation. "Starting from Grandcs Picks," said 
Mr. Richard, "and accompanied by j\lr. C. F. Shallcross, 
also of New York, we paddled up the St. Maurice River, 
which we found almost as smooth as a mill pond, to the 
falls of Mattewan, where there are six miles of rapids, 
two nn'ies of which are exceedingly rough and dangerous.^ 
We passed over this stretch without mishap, however, 
and reached Thehaud's, where we ]mt up for the night, 
Thebaud's is a station for lumbermen bound to spend the 
winter in the great woods near La Toque, the first port 
in that region of the Hvidson Bay Company. 
"The horrors of that night 1 don't think we Shjtll ever 
forget, l^he lumbermen made Ihc hours hideous with 
quarreling, fighting and bawling out songs, and sleep 
was impossible. Having had scarcely any rest, we re- 
sumed our canoeing the next morning and twenty-six 
miles further up the river reached Rat River, a settlement 
owned by Adams, a genial Scotchman, known, there- 
about as the father of that region, Avho offered us the 
greatest hospitality. 
"I^eaving this spot, not without regret, we proceeded 
twenty-eight miles further up tliis Ijeaiitiftil and pictur- 
slarted northward through the almost impenetrable woods 
until we again struck the St Maurice River. Two days 
more of such journeying brought us to another post of 
ilie TTudson Bay Cotnpany, it being virtually on top of 
the Hudson Bay divide, and about one hundred and fifty 
nn'lc.s from Jamestown at the foot of Hudson Bay. 
"GalTie tracks getting scarce we struck off to the soUth- 
easl, encountering numerous lakes and ponds on our way, 
the game tracks, however, increasing as Ave proceeded. 
Peaching Lake Travers, a small spike moose was shot, 
p.s fresh meat was much needed. We found no fish in the 
lake except chubs, which resemble little suckers. The 
next da}', after arduous and fatiguing journey, we came to 
Middle River, whicli Pelang, the lumberman made fam- 
ous by Dr. Drummond in liis works, guided us to from a 
map on_ birch bark. 
"We had deemed the fishing we had enjoyed hitherto 
most extraordinary, but the trout fishing in Middle River 
is simply beyond belief, and I hesitate to tell of it as my 
reputation for veracity may be called in question by 
many. As a matter of fact it was no uncommon thing 
t<:) catch three trout on a leader at the same time. The 
trout caught by the members of our party averaged four 
pounds each, and one was caught which weighed nine 
pounds and a half I Before leaving New York a mutual 
friend had made a wager with my companion, Mr. Shall- 
cross, that he would be unable to catch ten pounds of fish 
in twelve casts. In the language of horsemen, he won 
his wager in a canter, Mr^ Shallcross landing nine and 
THE ST. MAtTRICE CLUB HOUSE. 
esque river when we came in sight of La Toque Moun- 
tain, and encountered the grand falls of the St. Maurice. 
These are a series of cascades or shooting rapids, passing 
through a deep cafion, and at the settlement of La Toque 
emptying into a large pool where muscallonge and white- 
fish are to be caught in astonishing numbers. 
"In an hour's fishing 1 landed eleven muscallonge, the 
largest weighing twenty-two pounds. 1 felt somewhat 
elated over the catch of my largest fish until shown one 
AA'eighing thirtj'-two pounds, which had been caught the 
day before our arrival by 'Old Man' AIcGregor, 86 years 
of age, and the oldest emploj'ee of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany. That night we slept in the comfortable cabin on 
the banks of the pool owned by the St. Maurice Club, 
and which marks the entrance to the club grounds. 
"The next morning a pleasant walk of "about throe 
miles brought us to the Bostonnais River, where, embark- 
ing in our canoes, Ave paddled up the stream until we 
reached Bonton Pond, Avhere Ave found fishing extra- 
ordinary. The pond is literally ahvc with large trout and 
muscallonge, the former of the brook variety, speckled 
and Avith square tail. As mu.scallonge are known to be 
a fierce enemy of trout, Ave thought it exceedingly odd 
that both should be found in the same pond, until the 
fact Avas accounted for by John Allen, the guardian of the 
St. JMaurice Club, Avho explained that the trotit catne 
doAAui the Bostonnais RiA'er over very rough falls into 
the pond, and that only the larger ones survived ihe 
journey, and these were able to hold their own Avitli the 
niuscallonge. The trout we caught Avere all of a large 
size, Aveighing from four to six pounds. 
"We then fished tip the Bostonnais, enjoying the best 
of sport until Ave came to the loAver dam of the Wyaga- 
mack, Avhere Allen met us with canoes, and in half "an 
hour Ave Avere inside the cozy clubhouse located on Big 
Wyagamack Lake, which also abounds in trout. After 
resting three day.s, Ave proceeded to the falls of the upper 
Bostonnais, Avhere we fished the pool with great success, 
trout rising at every cast, the largest one weighing, four 
and a half pounds. 
"While fishing the pool one of the guides called out, 
'A moose, a moose!' W'e got to shore in a jiffy and 
above a dam about a hundred yards distant, wjts a fine 
three-year-old moose swimming acro.ss the river. As 
soon as he reached land our Mausers began to bark, and 
he was doAvn Avith three shots. Tents were pitched and 
we passed the first night of our journey under canvas. 
"With the help of Allen, who knows "the country thor- 
oughly, Ave Avere led to the Bostonnais Lakes where many 
tracks of moose and caribou were seen, and a fine speci- 
iuen of the latter animal was shot. A few days later we 
one-half pounds of trout in four casts, the rest being 
easA'. And it is proper to say that Mr. Shallcross does 
not consider himself by any means an expert fisherman. 
"After enjoying this alinost unparalleled fishing to the 
full, we again took up our journey, and six days later 
slept on Lake Travers. The next day we crossed the big 
swamp which adjoins that lake and reached Little Wyaga- 
mack, Avhere we found a good comfortable camp had been 
prepared for us by our guides, Mon. Xavier and Fontain, 
and where we met Edward Mercier, son of old Mercier, 
known throughout that region as a great character who 
fought in the Egyptian campaign of '54, and whom Dr. 
Drummond has pictured so entertainingly in "The 
Habitant." 
"If, by the Avay, there ever were a Gaston and Al- 
phonse in real life, they were our guides, Xavier and 
I'ontain. Although comrades for years in the wilderness 
the}^ always observed the strictest formality addressing- 
each other. It was always Monsieur Gaston and Mon- 
sieur Alphonse with them, and the sight of their con- 
tinual bowing and touching of hats, accompanied by the 
asking of each other's pardon over the slightest matter 
or incident, kept the party ever in good humor. They 
Avere indeed a most extraordinary pair, 
"Here again, we found the fishing as fine as one 
could fairly wish, and Ave simply rcA^eled in the sport 
of shooting saAvbills and blackduck, which were found! 
in the lake in great numbers. So easy Avere they tO' 
get that shotguns Avere put aside for the nonce and 
only rifles used in shooting them. A few days later 
we made our Avay back, passing doAvn the upper Bos- 
tonnais to the Big Wyagamack, reaching the St. Maur- 
ice clubhouse completely tuckered out, but Avith fit 
appetites to do justice to one of Mrs. Allen's famous 
suppers of trout and caribou meat. 
"We had passed the Aveeks, from Sept. 12 to Oct. 
15, in the woods and found the weather, as a Avhole, de- 
lightful, there having been but little rain and no snoAV 
whatever. 
"I heard from Allen the other day, and he reports 
zero Aveather in Canada, and in addition tells of shoot- 
ing at an unsusually large moose with fine bird shot. 
It seems that he regularly uses shot cartridges in his 
.44 rifle for killing partridges, and in coming upon a 
hike unexpectedly, ran into two large moose imme- 
diately ahead of him, and in the surprise forgot how his 
gun was loaded. To quote his OAvn graphic language, 
'i Avalked up to a lake and there stood two large 
moose, and I forgot that it Avas shot that Avas in the 
rifle, and I shot at that huge moose standing looking 
at me so dose th^t the fine shpt hit him and maeie him 
