202 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Sept. 12, 1903. 
he gave him a lung shot, which soon brought him 
down, while I was further down the same creek. 
In the afternoon, and as I was coming up over a 
high bank I heard some brush crack. I looked, and 
soon a rack of horns came into sight; then a big buck 
bounded into sight with a sort of bawl, like the bawl of 
a calf, only shorter and not very loud. He did not see 
me, and came straight toward me. I put my gun on 
him as soon as his horns came into sight, and when 
he got to the top of the ridge, about two rods from me, 
I fired. The shot struck him in the breast. He gave a 
slight snort, wheeled around and took his back track, 
ran about one hundred yards, and fell. I followed him 
up and soon found him dead. I sized him up a little, 
then started to cut a gamble, when a big buck let out 
a snort and went tearing out of the brush only a few 
yards away. I grabbed my gun and ran out into an 
open, and just got a glimpse of him — did not get a 
shot. I mistrusted then that there had been a scrap, 
and upon examination I found a fresh horn mark on 
the right ham of my buck, which was still bleeding 
some. He was a fine,_ big fat fellow; only eight points, 
but he weighed within ten pounds of as much as the 
twelve-pointer. I now proceeded to dress and string 
him up clear of the ground, although he weighed 50 
■pounds more than I did, a thing that not all hunters 
know how to do. It was my turn to be happy now. 
I had my full quota and one a big buck. The Pro- 
fessor visited the place where he had killed the big 
buck, and routed a big doe only a few rods from where 
the buck hung. He took a running shot at her, but 
missed her. We all came in tired and hungry that 
night. The Professor and I cut the wood, brought in 
the water, and Whiskers did himself proud as chief 
cook, and was rewarded by having his traveling ex- 
penses paid in and out. 
No game on the igth. That night a nice snow came. 
Next morning I went out with the Professor, and we 
succeeded in successfully stalking a large doe. It 
snowed some during the day, and in the afternoon 
Whiskers had a standing shot at a nice buck, but gun 
missed fire. 'Snow and ice had got frozen in front of 
the hammer. He then conversed a little with himself, 
and came to camp. We all told our tales, while 
Wliiskers got supper, and sang "Eat. drink and be 
merry, for to-morrow we" get a buck! 
The morrow came, but the best he could do was to 
get a yearling doe. The Professor and I stalked an- 
other, and so we all came in happj% as we all had our 
'I nuota. We enjoyed a good supper and spent an 
hour or two telling stories of the hunt. On this day I 
lost my bearings and had to compass my way out of the 
woods, causing an extra walk of several miles. Also 
on this day the Professor ran on to a fresh moose 
track, and we learned from an old camp man that a bull 
moose had been in that vicinity all summer, and he 
had seen him once. 
On the 23d and 24th we packed our game into camp. 
We had arranged with the tote man to be there on the 
25th; so by good management and four good horses 
we were able to get into the station late in the evening. 
It had turned rather warm and melted the snow mostly 
ofif. making a lot of water, and the road was bad. We 
had to go slow, and it was pitch dark before we got 
in. About three miles from the station there Avas a 
corduroy bridge OA^er a 'creek with a wide, flat bottom. 
This bridge was about a foot under Avater. and you can 
imagine our feelings while we Avere going over that 
bridge in the pitch dark, Avith only the light of a lan- 
tern, and the water about 10 feet deep on each side of 
the bridge. It Avas only about four rods long, but 
it seemed about forty. We finally got to the station 
without a mishap and soon had our stuff off and into 
1' p b^gffage room. Then we were shoAvn a sickening 
sight. Up in the corner of the room was the body of 
a man with his head seA^ered clear from the body. He 
had become intoxicated the Sunday night before, and 
nn his Avay doAvn the track he had gone to sleep with 
'his head resting on one of the rails, and was caught by 
the night train. We had to lie OA'er a day on account 
of a wreck of a few miles south. We pulled out the 
followine night. We passed the wrecka.ge in the night, 
but could see it quite Avell by light of the train. They 
seemed to be paying more attention to a lot of hard 
coal than anything else. It Avas mighty scarce about 
that time, and they had men out Avith sacks gathering 
it up. 
We got into St. Paul in the early morning, Avhere Ave 
met the familiar face of Deputy Warden Boyd, Sam 
Fnllerton's right-hand man. who never fails to find tlic 
gnme when it comes to hunting around the Union 
Denot. You can generally see a long steel box opener 
sticking out of his OA'-ercoat pocket. 
We Avere soon at our houses, where our wives were 
anxiously waiting. E. D. SriCER. 
A Morning Among: the English 
Grouse. 
IwAGiPTE a highland glen buried in the purple and 
supreme silence of sunrise; an amphitheatre of mountains 
abont it rising from the darkness of night at their feet 
into an upper region where the molten fires of the ascend- 
ing sun burnt on their foreheads in diadems of refulgent 
gold. Imagine the clear metallic tinkle of a highland 
brook chattering softly over the pebbles by a shepherd's 
shelter on a hillock, and you have the surroundings of the 
scrilie AA-ho pens this modest narrative. But it was not the 
splendor of coming day above, or the burn's pleasant prat- 
tle singing the heather fairies to sleep that woke him, 
hut frying bacon ! — the comforting, soul-rousing scent of 
rashers in the pan — that brought him from a couch that 
tartans and dry fern had made a bed fit for a king. And 
there, beyond the open door, was Rob. most faithful of 
attcjidnnts, turning the aforesaid rashers methodically 
until all of a sudden he stops with one poised upon the 
fork-point, and down the A'alley comes that magic and 
unini'^tak.ihle sound, the crow of a cock grouse. An- 
other and another responds from different quarters, and 
Rob. all aglow Avith interest, hurriedly spreads the little 
menl he has prepared just as the master appears at the 
hut door. When was ever food more inviting or coffee 
more ambrosial than under such circumstances? Already 
^he shoot?r is re^ompensed[. for the waywnrdn«88 wtiteh 
has tempted him to sleep out on the moor for the sheer 
pleasure of sunrise, and a grouse or two thrown in before 
his cornpanions at the Lodge are down to breakfast. As 
he unties the couple of setters for a preliminary canter, 
while the man puts the things away into the hut, he feels 
to the full that joy of the morning which Christopher 
North called a benediction, and Scrope held to be worth 
a year of afternoons. 
And now he makes a start, beating, as a beginniiig, 
along the loAvcr ground and gradually working up into 
those hills from which the wind is blowing. Don and 
Spot are a bit timid at first, and a duck getting up directly 
under their noses scares them rather badly. But they soon 
thaw, settling doAvn to AA^ork beautifully until, a quarter 
of a mile from camp, one of them becomes interested, 
draws ahead a little, then suddenly becomes rigid before 
a heathery clump, its companion backing away on the 
right in a manner which brings a smile of pleasure even 
to the grim and AA'^eather-stained face of the old game- 
keeper. A few swift strides up into the quarter whence 
the dog has caught the tell-tale scent and six chestnut 
colored birds spring up with a resounding hustle and 
go doAvn the A'alley — four of them, to be accurate, for a 
right and left account for two — and the gillie fervently 
drinks to the omens as they are retrieved. 
Then on again, a fine confidence in himself and his 
woapon tingling in the shooter's veins, Avhile the light 
pours down through the corries and the dew, that magic 
vintage of the morning, falls soft as lawn and condenses 
at the first touch of rosy light into moisture,^ a soft haze 
in the distance and a glittering garden of living jewels 
close at hand, a Aveb that twinkles through the brief hour 
of its existence, every bead of it more beautiful than any 
fruit in Aladdin's garden, ripening from gray beginnings 
through soft lavenders and yelloAVS to fiery crimsons v/hen 
the sun is up ; and each bent and sprig on the moorside 
trembles then as it sheds those shifting, scintillating 
jcAvels of ruddy red and purple back into the grateful bosom 
of their mother earth; whirr! whirr! another covey of 
grouse gets up from the enchanted ground, and is away 
unharmed round a ferny hillock in an instant. 
"Perhaps ye were na thinking of grouse just then," says 
the old Scotchman, delicately blending reproach and "ex- 
cuse for an easy chance let slip, and the shooter shame- 
facedly has to acknoAvledge it aa'ES so, pulling himself 
together as he confesses and henceforth hardening his 
heart against the golden infatuation of sunrise. 
After this it is good hard tramping and keen shooting. 
The birds lie Avell, being probably afraid of soiling their 
feathers till things are a little drier, and the experienced 
hand Avho knoAvs a chirper from a full-grown bird when 
be sees it, and is not to be tempted by any stress of nerves 
. to fire into the brown of a family party may have as 
good and varied shots as he can wish for under such con- 
ditions. He Avill not get the old cock birds, they are 
taking remarkably good care of themselves on the higher 
ground, but half a dozen brace of well-grown grouse 
should easily be got, and the bag may contain one or two 
other items to lend a pleasant variety to it. There is 
always a chance of a hare between the heather and the 
ling, and the ducks which go to inaccessible tarns when 
shepherds begin to move about, are thus early scattered 
in all sorts of unlikely places. Teal, too, who whirl 
round overhead with the sunlight on those wonderful 
green wing feathers of theirs may be chanced upon, and 
thus Rob may have quite as much as he can carry con- 
veniently when the waiting dog-cart is reached on the 
confines of civilization. Later on the shooter may do 
greater things, but he has earned a glorious appetite for 
a second breakfast, and Avill not be likely to forget in 
the conventional successess of mid-day the delights of 
that stolen march through the morning mists, 
E. L. A. 
la the West. 
Game Warden Carter and his subordinates have been 
having lots of trouble with the unlawful chicken killers" 
up in Holt county. Deputy Hunger made several arrests 
up there one day last Aveek and had the day fixed for the 
offenders' preliminary hearing, but Avas informed that if 
he returned to prosecute he Avould be killed. The case 
has been deferred until tlic October term of court. 
Sportsmen throughout Nebraska and the neighboring 
States of South and North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, 
Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming are im- 
mensely pleased with the folder the ever popular sports- 
men's route, the Chicago and Northwestern, has just 
i.ssued. It contains a clear and comprehensive digest of 
the game and fish laws of these States, together with a 
vast amount of desirable information anent the hunting 
and fishing grounds along its numerous lines and tribu- 
taries. It can be had by addressing H. C. Cheyney, the 
company's general agent, 1401 Farman street, Omaha. 
.Sam Ricbmond, the best known wildfowler, oarsman 
and guide in Nebraska, and who presides over a hunters' 
camp spring and fall on the legendary Platte below 
Clarks, writes me that he was out out after plover with a 
couple of New York tourists last Tuesday and Wednes- 
day, and the three guns bagged 208 birds, among which 
Avere a number of golden plover. Sam says the uplands 
almost exclusively confined themselves this season to 
the newly plowed fields, and that but little shooting was 
enjoyed on the big hay fields. This, of course, is ac- 
counted for by the continued damp condition of the hay 
and pasture lands, the rains recently being_ the heaviest 
in the history of the State. The Bartramian sandpiper 
is a bird that seldom alights in a wet hay or grazing field. 
The birds are about all gone now, and what_ shooting 
the gunners are getting is on young doves-capital sport, 
en passant. 
Paul Hoagland is just back from the Red Squirrel's 
Nest at Lake Washington, where he made the biggest 
catch on big-mouth black bass that has been reported 
from these favorite old waters this season. Paul says 
that he found the fish principally on the overflowed hay 
and wheat fields bordering the south bay, and that he 
caught most of them in less than two feet of water. 
However, Paul inherits his angling skill from a worthy 
sire, and it is little wonder that he scored abundant suc- 
cess Avhere others, of late, have signally failed. He is 
the young son of George A. Hoagland, a millionaire 
many times over, an inveterate hunter and 6sher, and 
^he best Icnown sportsman in the whole West, 
ThcM i$ route, n% to P^ife Coas^ 
from this point that is so interesting and furnishes the 
attractions for the sportsman as the grand old Union 
Pacific. All along the route, while nature's panorama 
is an endless series of scenes that are both wild and 
beautiful, they constantly suggest to the sportsman's 
mind the worlds of exciting recreation and enjoyment 
that is to be had by a sojourn among them. While re- 
turning home from San Francisco a few days ago I saw 
many little pictures that awakened the most pleasing 
memories, made my blood flow quicker and warmed the 
cockles of my heart. Streaming low over the Suisun 
marshes I saw swarms of some species of the plover 
which I could not identify; a cloud of blue crane and a 
fcAV geese. A few miles this side of Winnemucco, on the 
plain, where a long slough like a fabulous serpent twists 
and contorts through the verdure, our train was brought 
to a standstill for nearly a quarter of an hour, and while 
standing there we saw from the Pullman windows an 
old hen blue-wing teal endeavoring to entice her newly 
hatched brood into the water. The tiny little fuzzy balls 
of yellow down were grouped in a little dry hollow on the 
muddy bank, which sloped to an abrupt fall of perhaps 
tAvo or three feet to the water, and was bordered behind 
with slough grass, flags and squaw cane. The mother 
duck was evidently in a great stew, the nearby train un- 
doubtedly adding much to her anxiety. She would put 
her black bill close down to the sticky mud, and, extend- 
ing and contracting her neck, utter a sort of a low, coax- 
ing musical clucit, then turn round and trot spryly to the 
verge of the bank, looking back and ducking forAvard 
until she was brought to a halt just above the water's 
edge. But the addleheaded balls of golden fuzz, several 
of whom had small particles of the egg shell still cling- 
ing to their backs, showing that they had just been 
hatched, only huddled more compactly together and re- 
fused to budge. Again and again the old hen made the 
trip to and fro between them and the verge of the bank, 
but in vain.- I was Avondering whether the train's delay 
Avould be extended long enough for us to see the end of 
this little nature lesson when suddenly down the tortuous 
slough, skimming close over the tops of the sunlit tules, 
came the male bird, the bright sky-blue patches on his 
wings glancing in the amber light and his dark head 
bobbing searchingly from side to side, uttering as he 
whizzed toward us that little low, plaintive and peculiar 
Avhistle of his. When opposite the shelving shore Avhere 
the old lady and her babies stood, papa blue-wing, Avith a 
quick move of his choppy wings, swerved in, and, drop- 
ping his orange legs, dove viciously, it seemed, down 
among the bunch of fuzzy infants, knocking them down 
and rolling them about him in the black loam like so many 
tenpins ! 
With an indescribable squaAvk or cry of rage, Mrs. 
Teal flew at her liege lord, and with her sturdy Avings 
knocked him back into the agglutinative soil upon his 
mottled back, whacking him right and left, until he finally 
recovered himself, and rising straight up into the air he 
tore off over the plain toward the distant and shadowy 
mountains. Then the mother, shaking herself so vigor- 
ously that a delicate little ticked feather or two were 
loosened from her dress, waddled quickly, with a low, 
soft clucking, to the nearest duckling, which was teeter- 
ing imcertainly and forlornly on a clot of mud, and, seiz- 
ing it in her black bill, dragged it speedily to the rim of 
the muddy bank and dropped it over into the water. Then 
she repeated this operation until the last one, and there 
were eleven of them, had been tossed over into the 
slough, and the next instant, as if they had been through 
the experience hundreds of times before, they were dart- 
ing and criss-crossing around over the smooth surface 
like so many golden water bugs. 
In the mountains, among the blood-painted rocks of 
Echo Canyon, we saw a big Coopers hawk rise from the 
hot sands with a three-foot black snake dangling from 
his talons. On the Laramie plains Ave saw four antelope 
Avatching the rushing train from a distant knoll, and all 
along through Utah and Nevada, amidst the skeleton 
undergroAVth and sage brush, jack rabbits, coyotes and 
cottontails Avere seen scurrying away from the flying cars 
every hundred yards or so; over Donner's Lake, the 
scene of a Avoeful tragedy in the days of the gold fever, 
three huge bald eagles Avound round and round in one 
grand aerial spiral over the lonely waters, while from 
a jutting peak in the Sierras we saw a splendid specimen 
of the golden eagle, and several more high in the air. 
There Avere ravens in the passes and magpies and butcher 
birds along every stream and arroyo, while always over 
the plains the ever-present buzzard soared. This side of 
the fabled Rockies, bordering the backwater from the 
rivers, and all the low wet places, were swarms of yellow- 
legs, sandpipers and killdeers, and a few miles east of 
Lexington, Nebraska, I saAV several flocks of golden 
plover, while tlie uplands rose on long, pointed, doAvn- 
curAred Avings from every pasture and every new ploAved 
field. Pintail grouse and prairie chicken dotted every 
cut-hay field and barren stretch through the State, or 
sailed away on stiffened pinions from the path of the 
rushing train. Turtle doves scarcely ever out of sight; 
across the plains, from the outskirts of Omaha, over the 
sandhills and through the mountains, they were to be 
seen everywhere in pairs, fours or dozens. Across the 
dreary, stifling alkaline desert of Utah and the sterile 
waters of Nevada, it was just the same, even on the Cali- 
fornia marshes aiad in the shadows of the coast range, it 
was doves, doves, doves, from early morn till gathering 
twilight. How prolific they must be; what breeders, and 
in these little slate-colored habitants of all lands can 
easily be foreseen, in the ages to come, our one plentiful 
game bird. . _ j 
Along the Truckee and the Laramie, storied streams,. | 
I saw many anglers casting for trout, and at Wadsworth | 
we saw a party of Shoshone Indians bring in on an old ] 
dilapidated Government wagon four black-tail deer, a 
badger, and dozens of willow withes of rainbow and 
speckled trout, the most of the latter finding their way 
into the ice box of our diner. All through Nebraska 
and Colorado prairie dog towns and cities are of frequent 
occurrence, and in one of these, just the other side of 
Ogallala, we saw, grouped around the entrance to one 
of their subterranean palaces, thirty of forty half-grown 
short-eared owls, with a big, fat, rufotis bellied dog, 
sitting erect on bis haunches, in the middle of them. 
Such are the s<?en€S in nature to be witnessed along the 
great Union Pacific every day at this time of the year. 
The Yellowstone Qun Club» %q tlxc mm^f oi thirty- 
