FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept, 27, 1902. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Chicago, 111., Sept. 20. — For the past week the duck 
shooting has been magnificent on the Tolleston Club pre- 
serves right at the southern edge of Chicago. These 
closely protected and well-baited grounds have always at- 
tracted good numbers of wildfowl, and this fall seem to 
be especially well patronized by the early flight. The 
teal have been in on Tolleston marsh for several days 
row in very good numbers. Here comes in the bene- 
ficence of the Indiana law, which allows only twenty-four 
ducks to the gun per day. There have been days on 
Tolleston marsh when a good shot could have killed 100 
or more teal. As it is, a good manj' gunners come in at 
9 o'clock in the morning with their limit. One unfortu- 
nate gentleman made a shot into a flock of teal and killed 
thirteen at the two barrels. It did not take him long to 
finish his twenty-four after that, and he returned to the 
club house a sadder and wiser man, wishing that he had 
not been so lucky early in the game. Something of the 
same sort of luck happened to Mr. Hempstead Washburne 
yesterday at Tolleston. He came up to a little pond 
hole which was chuck full of teal, and his first two bar- 
rels laid low eight bluewings. We will give Mr. Wash- 
burne the full benefit of the doubt, and allow that he shot 
them all on the wing. None the less, this left him only 
sixteen more ducks to kill and a whole day on his hands. 
He, too, was sorry he was so lucky at first. Mr. C. S. 
Dennis is another Tolleston member who has been down 
this week and who had no difficulty in making his limit. 
It is probable that this teal shooting, varied by better 
sport at bigger ducks, will continue throughout this 
month, as this marsh naturally catches the flight which 
passes out at the lower end of Lake Michigan. 
At Swan Lake Club there was a little flight six or seven 
days ago, but it seems to have vanished into thin air. 
Tim Wood, the keeper at Swan Lake Club house, writes 
to-day that the ducks are not there. 
Mr. Robert Stites, manager of Rector's, this city, goes 
to Grass Lake Saturday evening for a try after teal, but 
the chances are rather against him. This early teal flurry 
does not ordinarily last very long, and the best chance 
for shooting would be on well-fed and little gunned 
marshes such as that of the Tolleston Club. 
A great many Chicago shooters are getting ready for 
their fall ducking trips, and one regrets to state that 
nearly all the parties are planning to go outside of the 
State' limits. Illinois as a sporting region is a bit behind 
the times this fall. Most of the shooters plan for journeys 
into Minnesota or the Dakotas. 
Mr. Spencer Aldrich, of New York citj^, writes as be- 
low regarding a trip to the Northwest : 
"I am thinking of visiting Minnesota and North Dakota 
in a short time for a trip after chickens and ducks, and 
write to ask you if a resident of this State (New York), 
which State requires no non-resident license for hunting, 
will have toi pay any license at all should he shoot in 
Minnesota? 
"According to Game Laws in Brief, July, 1902, page 52, 
I don't think I will have to pay any license in Minnesota, 
but I have seen in several articles lately that some non- 
residents were charged $25 in Minnesota and some were 
charged $10. and I am rather at sea in reference to this 
license tax in Minnesota. Can you, therefore, please en- 
lighten me on the subject?* 
"I have heard that Detroit, Minn., is a very good place 
for chickens and ducks, and write to ask if a person visit- 
ing there would not now have to go some distance away 
from the town to secure good shooting, and I also write 
to ask if, in your opinion, you think at this time of the 
vear I would get better shooting at Detroit, Minn., than 
at Dawson, N. D.?" 
As was stated in last week's Forest and Stream, the 
Game Laws in Brief make a non-resident license of $25 
obligatory in Minnesota upon all who come from States 
having non-resident licenses. I have already stated that 
the game wardens of Minnesota have a way of putting the 
burden of proof upon the other fellow. I think if Mr. 
Aldrich will get into communication with the State Game 
Warden, he wnll have no difficulty. As to his finding good 
chicken shooting so late, the chances are all against it. 
He would probably find more chickens near Gary than at 
Detroit at this time. I do not think he would find very 
many ducks down yet, outside of the local birds. He 
would not find many chickens at Dawson, but would find 
more hunters there than at almost any other one point in 
North Dakota. There are good duck lakes out of Daw- 
son, and these should, as usual, furnish good duck shoot- 
ing, possibly more of it than would be found in the aver- 
age' Minnesota country, and certainly more than at De- 
troit. I hear a good deal of Elbow Lake, Minnesota, as 
a good place for both prairie chickens and ducks, offering 
.some good pass shooting at ducks. This latter place,, 
however, ought to be better later in the season. 
I have advice from a friend at St. Paul under date of 
Sept. IS, wro writes: "I was out at Gary last Monday 
morning, but had only two hours in the morning. A 
friend took me out in his rig. , We had an old dog that 
was verv slow, but sure, and I killed fifteen chickens in 
less than two hours all by myself. There were none of 
them got away, and if you had seen me and my Smith 
gun then, you would not have had a poor opinion of my 
shooting." 
Gary was the point of which I heard a great deal when 
I was out in Minnesota on my chicken hunt the first of 
the month. Friend Stephens, the deputy warden at De- 
troit, said that he wanted us to go up to Gary as he 
thought there were many more birds there than at his 
own town. 
I hear that some newspaper friend out in St. Paul is 
quoting me to the effect that we had bad luck with our 
dogs on our hunt. I do not know the gentleman, and he 
does not know his facts. I have never seen a better 
chicken dog than Mr. Fullerton's white treasure. By the 
way, I must add that I have heard something more of the 
latter canine. Mr, Fullerton says : 'T had my new dog 
out yesterday, in company with four others, and he held 
his own in a very creditable manner. I have raised the 
price on him, not only for his hunting prowess, but be- 
cause he has so beautifully thrashed my neighbor's two 
*The Game Laws in Brisf follows a ruling of the Minnesota 
Attorney-General that the law still holds exactin|;^ the $25 fron? 
pgjdente Qf States whicb fio?»-re»i4?n^ l»ws,— Ep. anb S, 
dogs, of which I wrote you. In the future any man who 
goes past my neighbor's house with his string of hunting 
d()gs can do so with the certainty that he will not be 
molested by these two nuisances. My meat dog has done 
the business, and it would have done you good to see him 
lick both of them. He is getting now so that he is good 
about the house, not nearly so cross as I thought he would 
be. He has not eaten any of the family yet." 
The Game Laws and the Travelers- 
Apropos of these questions regarding what may pos- 
.'ibly happen to a man in Minnesota, I may state that I 
have learned from other sources that three Oshkosh, Wis., 
men ran against the game wardens in the Union Depot 
out at St. Paul. They were very cocky at first, and told 
the wardens what they would do, but they finally sepa- 
rated from $75 and departed well content at that. 
Yet another case was that of Dr. Pollman and his son, 
of St. Louis. Being from Missouri they had to be shown. 
Hiey were. It cost them $50. 
I hear of yet another gentleman, this time from Mil- 
waukee, Wis., who was watched in his shooting near 
Alexandria, and asked if he could show his license. He 
did so, though the story is that he started in to shoot 
w'ithout any license, but thought better of it and went to 
town and got it in time. I would suggest to any non- 
resident sportsman going into Minnesota that the best 
thing he can do is to settle this license question before he 
goes out to do any shooting. These people out there don't 
compromise, and cannot be fooled with, and a little trovt- 
ble in time may save nine kinds of trouble later on. 
The DonDelly Case. 
The case of the State of Minnesota vs. Stanislaus Don- 
nelly, mentioned in last week's Forest and Stream, came 
up for trial on the afternoon of Sept. 15. Mr. Donnelly, 
under bad advice, has started in to make a fight on this 
case. As it happened, Warden Fullerton had taken the 
precaution to go up into the territory where Donnelly did 
his shooting. He got the man who it is alleged drove 
Donnelly, and who it is alleged saw him kill the birds and 
put them in his wagon. I have already stated that I 
heard Mr. Donnelly himself admit ownersh p of these 
birds as they hung in the sleeping car, and saw Mr. Ful- 
lerton take them out of the string in Mr. Donnelly's pres- 
ence. It would appear that it would have been better for 
Mr. Donnelly to settle up and resolve to do better in the 
future. On the contrary, he elected to make a fight. The 
case was postponed until Sept. 30. This will allow the 
i.itroduction of the evidence secured out in the country. 
Strange Accidents, 
On last Monday Mrs. W. F. Barnes, of Rockford, 111., 
\\as walking in the woods not far from the camp of her 
phTty near Manitowish, Wis. Her hat was trimmed with 
the plumage of a bird. A hunter passing by saw the 
feathers upon the hat, took it for a bird, and, fool-like, 
fired. The greater part of the charge of shot itruck Mrs. 
Barnes in the right side of the face and head. One pellet 
of shot passed entirely through the ball of the eye. The 
name of the hunter is not divulged. The physicians tliink 
that Mrs. Barnes may perhaps not lose the sight oi^ the 
eye. 
On Thursday of this week one Phillip Bromhaugh, a 
member of a camping party in the Creek Nation, near 
Gushing, Okla., thought that it would be sport to frighten 
the women of his party by posing as a wildcat. He 
painted two eyes upon his head by means of phosphorus 
and, coming up to the camp in the dark, undertook to do 
liis w'ildcat stunt, uttering cries which seemed to him 
suitable to the occasion. One James Fletcher had not 
been advised of this merry plan of Mr. Brombaugh. Mr. 
Fletcher seized a shotgun and fired both barrels at the 
supposed wildcat. Brombaugh will recover. 
Near Brandon, Manitoba, on Sept. 19, Thomas Law, of 
the milling firm of Alexander & Law Bros., and Miss 
Sherwin, shot two prairie chickens on the farm of L. 
Rowe. This so enraged Rowe that he fired twice at the 
hunters, shooting Miss Sherwin in the stomach and Law 
in the knee. Rowe ran home and swallowed the contents 
of a bottle of gopher poison, dying in a few minutes. Miss 
Sherwin is not likely to recover. 
After Wood Bison- 
Buffalo Jones. Government game warden of the Yel- 
lowstone Park, is the best man who could have been 
selected for the conservation and increase of the little 
Park herd of buffalo. Last spring Mr. Jones planned a 
trip with Harry Lee, of this city, it being the intention 
to go up into the Peace River country after the herd of 
Avood bison with the purpose of securing some calves. 
Jones had a permit from the Canadian Government by 
which he was to give four calves to the Government, re- 
taining six for importation to this country. Just before 
the time of starting Jones was taken ill with inflammatory 
rheumatism. It is hardly likely that this veteran sports- 
man is enjoying so good health now as was originally his 
portion. He may at a later time go up after the wood 
bison, but it is not at all certain according to the report of 
^^Ir. Lee, who was seen in Chicago to-day. 
Forget It. 
A press dispatch says: "The Navajo tribe of Indians 
in Arizona, numbering 20,000 men, women, and children, 
is rapidly approaching starvation, according to a state- 
ment made by Frederick I. Monsor, of San Francisco, the 
.scientist and 'lecturer, Avho has just returned with a party 
from a six weeks' exploration among the Navajo, Moqui 
and Pueblo tribes." 
Habits of the Dusfey Grouse, 
Mr. F. R. Atkins, of Seattle, Wash., writes interest- 
ingly regarding the habits of the dusky grouse or blue 
grouse, a bird not very well known to most Eastern 
sportsmen. He says: "I note in a recent article that 
you speak of this bird as seen in the heavily timbered 
regions of Washington during the month of January. 
It is at home in the Puget Sound country of this far 
northwest State, and furnishes capital sport in the early 
fall months as well as later on until they begin to bunch, 
which is well along in December. They then take to the 
heavily timbered regions, and stay there until the near 
?ippro&ch of spring, their mating p?nqd, From personal 
observation and from what I have gathered, I have come 
to the conclusion that the birds during the winter months 
take to the tall firs, and there spend their time until the 
approach of warmer weather, living principally on the 
buds of the fir as well as other evergreen trees which 
we have here. To bear me out in this I remember meet- 
ing a yo.ung man on one of my hunting trips, who had 
a dog that was looked upon to be one of the family. 
It seems that whenever the lad wanted a grouse he 
would take the dog and go to the tall timber, and in a 
very short time the dog would begin barking at the 
foot of the tree, which, upon closer observation would 
disclose the droppings of the bird. In this the dog 
never failed. His master would then withdraw a short 
distance to better his view of the tree and its branches, 
and it would be but a few minutes before the bird would 
be brought to bag. 
"I hardly think the blue grouse can be called a migra- 
tory bird, in fact, would say that on the many islands 
which we have here in Puget Sound (some of them 
over a mile from the mainland), they couldn't leave if 
they wanted to, unless they take the long flight neces- 
sary to cross the water, and, beside, I have never heard 
of a grouse being seen on the wing crossing to the 
mainland, 
"At the present time we are having- excellent shooting 
at this bird, and yesterday I killed the limit, 15 birds, in 
less than two hours' shooting. The coveys this year 
are unusually large, and they lie nicely to the dog, but 
it's the hardest kind of hunting, I can assure you. The 
excitement of the hunt and the pleasure watching your 
dog work is all that keeps one going. As a table fowl 
these birds are excellent, especially at this season when 
they have had a steady diet on our berries for ,two 
months past. 
"I enclose you a couple of pictures of my dog on 
point in 'good grouse country,' which will, perhaps, give 
you some idea of our hunting here. Should you at any 
time contemplate coming to this muchly written-about 
section of the globe, you will find the latch string on 
the outside of my wigwam and a warm w^elcome and in- 
vitation to spend a day afield in one of the grandest 
hunting sections of the United States." 
I could testify to Mr. Atkins' accuracy in calling this 
bird good upon the table. I think I have never tasted 
any of the grouse family which is quite so toothsome. 
As to the picture of the dog, I must say to Mr. Atkins 
that it almost caused me to jump out of my chair. The 
photograph might be one of my own old dog. Rex, 
dead and gone these twenty odd years. I wonder where 
Mr. Atkins got that dog, and how he happened to be 
marked so nearly like my old boyhood companion? I 
vender if there can be such a thing as the reincarnation 
of a dog, deep feather, good ears, orange and white 
irarkings, and all? I've almost a mind to make a 
pilgr mage to Washington to see Mr. Atkins and his 
dog! E. Hough. 
li.MiTFOKD BurLDiNG, Chicago, 111. 
Iowa Chicken Grounds. 
T\iE chicken shooting in Iowa this year is not a 
ri.>ality; it is a complete failure (with the exception of the 
first two days of poor shooting). No sportsmen of sane 
mind has been out in pursuit of these birds since Sept. 
3, for by this time it was only too plain that practically 
no chickens existed. Of the hundreds of sportsmen who 
went out on the opening day, the greater percentage 
returned empty-handed or with several ducks. The best 
kill I have heard of in this section of the country for 
the opening day was nine birds for three men. Many 
ailer hunting field after field without even getting a 
glimpse at a bird returned home disgusted with such 
sport as chicken hunting, or others tried their hand with 
the countless numbers of wild ducks which were scared 
up from every little slough. 
The chickens that were killed were generally old 
birds, or yoimg birds which had been hatched very early 
in the season. All that were saved from the floods were 
the strongest of course, and were not easy to hit. They 
were the strongest, hardiest and oldest lot of birds seen 
in Iowa for years— good size and fine eating. All the 
weaklings had been drowned weeks before. Farmers 
have even seen the dead birds floating on the sloughs 
during the summer, where they were drowned before 
they could fly. A dog was an absolute necessity to those 
who hunted, and good rubber boots — even hip — another. 
But I will stop giving facts and tell a few "lies" con- 
cerning my duck hunts since the open season began. 
It was with a good-sized quantity of doubt over the 
•outcome of our chicken hunt on the opening day that 
my hunting partner, Lou Shockley and myself prepared 
lor our campaign on the night before Sept. 1. We had 
questioned many farmer acquaintances as to the number 
of chickens seen on their premises, and all had nearly 
the same reply to give as was given to me by a fire- 
nian on a threshing machine, who had ample means for 
observation, "Few and far between," was his reply. 
Notwithstanding all the bad reports, we decided to 
try our luck just once, and see for ourselves. So long 
before the sun was up the next morning, we were start- 
ing for a six-mile buggy ride to a place we expected to 
find birds, if there were any to be found. Not a great 
way from our destination we passed a little slough, and 
somewhat to our surprise eight ducks arose and flew 
away. "Well, if we can't hunt chickens, we will have 
some fun with those ducks, anyway," was my friend's 
words when the ducks were nearly out of sight, and I 
seconded the motion immediately, but was sorry we 
hadn't come prepared for ducks. Upon arriving at the 
farmhouse, and as we were just about to greet our 
farmer friend, who had stepped out of the barn where he 
had been doing his morning chores, a good-sized flock 
of mallards flew directly over us, which made our eyes 
open, and when the farmer told us that there wasn't a 
chicken on his place, and he hadn't seen any for a long 
time, but that he had killed nine ducks the day before, 
made our thoughts wander from shooting chickens that 
morning. 
After putting up our horse aiiyl ^leceiving a few direc- 
tions from our host, we sprted posf-liaste for the slougli, 
"which hel4 hundipe^s of diicks.'' On our way there we 
pass<^(J thrpu|rli considerable stubble, so we were on the 
