Jan. 9, tgo^t 1j 
FOREST. AND 6TRfiAMr 
27 
We air Tiad our amount of game, and in consequence 
were happy. : : 
Moose signs were more numerous this year than on 
any of our previous trips. We saw a cow moose and 
her calf at different times, but failed to get a peep at 
the bull. Young and I also heard a cow moose while 
we were in the woods near Schoodic, but failed to get 
a vieAV of her. As the time draws nigh for us to pack 
up for home, a sensation of loneliness steals over us, 
but with an effort we shake it off. and after saying our 
farewells to Aunt Augustie and dear old Seth. we pile 
into the wagon as of yore and vow to return again 
next year. 
"When autumn frosts have clothed the woods 
In hues of gold and crimson red, 
Again I'll seek these solitudes, 
The moss-grown spring and forest bed. 
Again I'll breathe the mountain air. 
Then give me but my forest home, 
My rifle, rod and buoyant health, 
Wilh freedom where I please to roam; 
- And take who will the banker's wealth. 
His sleepless nights of anxious care." 
jyi"frr?i"T^ i'n i i, — Nessmuk. 
|pTrTpr^ina"!rsrri,|j^|— : ■ -;5/- • J^y PEE. 
Massachusetts. 
Capercailz'e Shooting in the Snow. 
They who only know the Scotch _ shooting lodge in 
August when the purple of heather is on the hills and 
valleys are yellow with barley or rye, when guests come 
and go incessantly, and posts and papers abound to the 
heart's content of the summer tourists, can hardly im- 
agine those same lodges with a northern winter upon 
thiem. Then, when a white screen of snow shuts off 
all the outer world, when the mountain streams fun be- 
tween icy barriers of their own making, and the lonely 
mountain roads are as formidable in places as Alpine 
passes, he who chances to find himself in such a house 
may taste all the joys of a desolation tile nlore impf^s- 
sive by reason of the gaiety associated with it in the 
pest, 
The wtitef lately happened to be alone in an outlying 
lodgfe attaehed to A highland shooting when winter 
descended with dramatit suddeneSS, and a visit intended 
tor a couple of days was prolonged to a week by the 
sheer impossibility of leaving. The fare, too, grew 
monotonous after the first few days, and the imprison- 
ment worse still, thus casting round for amusement and 
scanning the immensities of snow-covered landscapes 
from the billiard room windows I noticed that a good 
deal of fofest about, a mile away was clear; in fact, there 
was an almost continuous strif) of several rrilles rutinitlg 
up one side of a deep glen over which the storrn seenied 
to have passed to wreak its spite on the ofiposite slope. 
Could I and Tarn, most faithful of dogs, reach that oasis 
surely we might* find something to vary the eternal mut- 
ton of the evening meal. Even if we died on the way it 
would be more hetgic, I felt, than a lingering demise 
ffbiti ennui between foui- walls, aiid as Tarrl was obviously 
all for the adventure "fall fair, fall foul,'* and with a 
loader was got out, the cartridge bag filled, and with a 
modest luncheon safely packed we started soon after 
breakfast in a glint of sunshine which made the snow- 
fields perfectly dazzling to look upon. 
The day more than fulfilled our expectations in the 
way of hard work and sport. We began by tumbling into 
sn did pit just outside "the policy," which snow had filled 
tc the very brim, and Tam had there and then perished 
had I not hauled him out by the tail, a wiser and more 
careful dog. This made us both cautious, and we 
eschewed patches of unbroken snow henceforth with 
amusing care. By going along the crests wherever a few 
blades of grass showed through we found we could get 
on safely enough, and soon became expert in snow craft, 
while the glorious crispness of the air made the hard 
walking a pleasure. 
The first shot was at a mountain hare. He had been 
lying among some weather-stained rocks, and when I 
stepped him among some ground of the same kind it was 
marvelous to see how his blue winter fur assimilated with 
, the surroundings. Even though knowing exactly where 
the hare lay it was difficult to identify him among the 
lichens and blue snow shadows; his winter suit, in fact, 
was as good a protection in that frost-swept region as his 
russet summer clothing in a pleasanter equinox. 
Then on again into the glen, over the frozen brook at 
bottom, where the ice crackling musically under foot 
but just upheld us, and so into the pine barren beyond. 
Here, as I had expected, the storm had swept over the 
near ridge to spend its strength upon the further; on 
that side it was like a well iced Twelfth cake with five 
or six feet of snow everywhere; on this it was compara- 
tively clear. All game still faithful to the hills had come 
into this sanctuary, and it was not long before Tam was 
working vigorously ahead upon a trail which ended _ in 
a dense mass of fallen timber, and as I came up and hied 
him in, four capercailzie got out on the further side. As 
big as brush turkeys, the gunner who can hear unmoved 
a family of these dusky giants rise from his feet in the 
silence of a frozen forest may boast of nerves not to be 
lightly shaken. My own were pretty sound, and I 
brought down a cock, who sent the dry white powder 
smoking into the air as he fell like a rock through the 
pine trees. For half a mile there was nothing more but 
a blue wood pigeon, who was fairly killed far overhead, 
but unhappily fell on the opposite side of the glen and 
disappeared from sight in a ten-foot snow drift. Four 
■more pigeons and a couple of rabbits, almost as gray, by 
the way, as the mountain hare, made the game-bag un- 
comfortably heavy, so about mid-day we turned to the 
crags -above, and had our sandwiches and a cigar--the 
Jatter joy, of course, being confined to the biped section of 
*the company— under a rock in the full glare of the Sun. 
. A- prettier Httle parlor there could not have been, and a 
light breeze blowing over the frozen ripples of the snow- 
fields drew the most varied and elfin music from them. 
Afterwards we plunged back into the shadows, and 
: almost immediately a startling incident occurred. . Tam 
. and I bad lunched as described, wisely but not too well, 
.:|lTi3 were beatjng along iti th? gloorn of the dfeiisfe pine- 
covered hillside a long way from home, the dog, as usual, 
in .advance and out of sight for the moment over a litile 
crest, when a most luiearthly outcry arose frotn the direc- 
tion taken by that sagacious beast, accompanied by a 
dreadful screaming very awesome in the surrounding 
silence. As it chanced I had just been recalling the fact 
that this glen was said to be haunted by a ghoul in female 
form with an uncomfortable partiality for raw flesh of 
any kind, and here was a most blood-curdling row, a per- 
fect medley of shrieks, barks, and howls going on behind 
the larches. Had Tam dropped in unexpectedly on thi-5 
winsome but unholy female as the noise suggested ? He 
was not a dog to be lightly perturbed by ordinary game, 
and I blush to own I hesitated for a moment, until a su 1- 
den and piercing yell, unmistakably from the poor brme, 
settled the matter; ghoul or no ghoul I must take his 
part; so running forward I burst through the screen of 
trees and came suddenly out into a little snow-covered 
clearing. 
The scene which met my view was both tragic and 
funny. In the middle of the arena was no banshee, but 
a fine golden eagle, such as occasionally haunt our forests 
in. the winter, caught by one foot in a strong iron trai) 
some misguided keeper had set against the standing 
orders of the forest for ravens. But that was not all A 
second trap had been placed close by the other, and into 
this poor Tam had blundered in the first enthusiasm of 
his "find.'* There they were, dog and bird, gladiators 
tethered by one leg each, tugging, howling, and screech- 
ing; the eagle flapping his enormous wings over the 
blood-stained snow, and waltzing round and round, the 
v/hile he snapped his beak with a noise like pistol shot--, 
and screamed till the forest rang, and the retriever tug- 
ging and howling with equal energy between rage and 
pain, while he kept at a respectful distance from liis 
enemy with laughable care. 
Him I released first, of course, finding to my satisfac- 
tion no great harm was done, and then came the question 
of the bird. 1 had no mind to shoot a prisoner, while on 
the other hand 1 had no means of assuring him of my 
pacific intentions. He was in a fine frenzy, and fearing 
he would break his leg — which he had not done so far — 
unless prompt measures were taken, I put down gun 
and ganie-bag. and taking off my strong shooting coat, 
advanced on trie Captive, and after a minute's waiting ran 
in. The struggle which ensued was Homeric, and a very 
charming lady now Wears the feathers which Tam gal- 
lantly pulled out of the eagle's tail while I was getting 
his great wings safely down to his side. I got hold of the 
cruel trap presently, however, released the spring, and 
then Very promptly got out of the way of those terrible 
talons! When the splendid bird found himself free he 
cast my coat from him as though it were a rag. Never 
shall I forget the haughty stare that came from those 
fietce black eyes as he looked for a moment with supreme 
contempt on us. Well they chose who made him the im- 
perial bird, the arbiter of battles, the emblem of pride and 
mastery; then suddenly he turned away, took two steps 
down the slope, and, unfurling those steel-gray pennons 
again, rose in a bold curve round the amphitheatre, and 
with a parting screech went away to join his mate under 
the snow clouds overhead. 
It was some little time before Tam and I could settle 
down to work again, so contemptible did all game seem 
after that great bird, but a few shots put us in mood 
again. We beat northward until the pines thinned out in 
the deep snow where the valley ended in a mountain 
pass. Then we turned back, picking up a brace of black 
game on the way, a duck or two, and a couple of wood- 
cock from a holly thicket. We recovered the capercail- 
zies and hare — the latter, by the way, frozen as stiff as a 
board — which we had cairned on the way out, and arrived 
home just as the sun was setting in crimson splendor be- 
hind the hills, tired out but nevertheless well content 
with our rough day's sport in the snow. E. L. A. 
London, England. 
Deer Hunting in Wisconsin. 
I have seen the "blackened timber," 
I have campel beside the stream, 
Rested on a couch of "feathers," 
Listened to the, wild, weird scream 
Of the night bird. Vi'atched the eagle 
, Soaring over lake and heath, 
Walked the "log-jam at right angles 
To the current" far beneath. 
But no rhyme can paint the picture, 
Neither can the learned in art; 
It must be transferred from Nature 
By the soul unto the heart. 
On Nov. 5 Dr. C. W. Mackey, J. E. Spahr and George 
Hedrick started with our camp outfit for Vilas county, 
Wisconsin, with the understanding that I was to join 
them on or about the roth. The faith within me was 
so strong that I permitted them to carry off my trunk 
with its camp wardrobe, gun. etc., and also my good 
$25 — which is the price of admission to deer hunting 
sportsmen in that State. 
During the summer we had talked about a camp site 
and virtually selected one some three miles out from 
Gayner Station, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
Paul Railroad, which runs through a fine hunting range 
and terminates at Star Lake, near the Wisconsin and 
U. P. Michigan State line. Deer hunting is good all 
along this railroad north of Heafford Junction, also 
for quite a distance south of that point, except, of 
course, in the immediate vicinity of the cities and towns. 
Much has been said in these columns about hunting 
anu fishing in Wisconsin, but nothing has been exag- 
gerated that I have read, judging from personal obser- 
vations and experience. The Chicago, Milwaukee & 
St. Paul Railroad has three divisions passing through 
this comparatively wild country; the Wisconsin Valley 
arid the North Star especially offering the finest of 
deer, grouse, rabbit and pine squirrel shooting, also a 
possible chance at varmints, like the bear, wolf, lynx, 
wildcat, fox, etc. The fishing and possible camp sites 
and hotel accommodations are everywhere and of the 
best. Knowing all this, it was no difficult matter to 
write Mr. Sayner, who owns the Plumb Lake summer 
resort, to reserve for us the territory between Lost 
Lake. and Big St. Gerrnaiti Lake; practically the ground 
* 
we hunted over last year. Mr. Sayner was m a posi- 
tion to grant our request, for he is postmaster and 
mail carrier, has two good teams and being in attend- 
ance on the arrival of trains, is usually engaged to haul 
partieij out to camping grounds.' 
We found out a couple of days before our boys left 
that a daily mail had been discontinued above Minoc- 
qua. and we were unable to advise Mr. Sayner of the 
date of our arrival. So when the boys got off at the 
station at 1:06 P. M. they had to wait for Mr. Sayner 
to make certain arrangements to handle their camp 
duffle, and by the time they had selected a spot for the 
tent it was almost dark. They finished setting thtir 
house in order by lantern, and when I walked in on 
tiiem the following Tuesday evening I found the Doc- 
tor busy with the kitchen work, and Spahr reading 
the Sunday school lesson. Hedrick, of course, was 
rambling. Hedrick is always rambling or doing some- 
thing. We have camped together nine seasons, and I 
never saw the man when one could say he was doing 
nothing. Presently I detected his step coming around 
the tent, and rushed out, caught his hand, and incident- 
ally cut a few fantastics, like some school boy. As 
for Hedrick. he was happy as a lark. 
Though I had, while walking out, noticed but few 
tracks, I knew by intuition that game had been sighted 
and settled myself down to rest, await supper, and talk 
of the outlook for the following day. which was to be 
the first of the open season. The boys told me ot iheir 
doings, and in return I related my observations at the 
Sportsman's Show at Chicago on Monday, and all ra 
all it was a pleasant evening — that first one of the sea- 
son — as it usually is. ; ■ 
The boys, in making our feathery bed, had aimed at 
economizing space, and the night was rather uncom- 
fortably warm for me, but aside from this it was much 
preferable to a berth on a sleeper, and I woke all too 
soon, chargeable to Hedrick's propensity for being up 
and doing. But as it was the first morning of the oi)en 
season. I could scarcely expect to be allowed to lie 
abed; however inviting the springy boughs and warm 
blankets. We were not a little delighted to find a 
tracking snow on the ground, though the cutting west- 
ern wind filled with particles of icy snow, made hunt- 
ing in the teeth of the wind rather unjileasant. 
The boys had set our tent on an old timber railroad 
a few steps from where the Eagle River and Sayner 
wagon road crosses Lost creek, with the back of the 
tent to the west and had protected it from winds by 
setting a quantity of evergreens against a pole on two 
forks driven in the ground. The evergreens almost 
hid the tent from view to any person or animal ap- 
proaching from the west; especially in the day time 
when there was no light inside. But deer came near 
at night, and rabbits hopped among the brush in every 
direction. There was a heavy growth of cedar and 
tamarack northwest of the tent, with brush intervening, 
and in this patch of swamp timber a small stream 
formed, which the timber company had bridged for a 
distance of perhaps 100 feet. West of that was a tim- 
bered hill through which a deep cut had been made, 
the hill and cut extending near one-eighth of a mile 
and ending at the edge of a marsh bordering a small 
lake. Feeling much like a boy out of school. I went 
bacK through this cut, then south and explored the 
ground where I got my two bucks last year. I crossed 
the elevated flat, looked down on Big St. Germain 
Lake, turned to the left and visited, from the opposite 
side of the creek, our last year's camp; scared a buck, 
but saw no game, and had come back to the bridge, 
when I was tempted to draw my little Smith & Wesson 
from my hip pocket and take a shot at a pine squirrel 
sitting, on the end of a tie at the west end of the bridge. 
There was a streak of squirrel; some flying rotten wood 
and a crash in the brush back of me, and I turned to see 
three deer going up the hill as fast as they could 
scramble. They had come into the swamp in the night 
before the snow fell and remained there within hearing 
and sight of our camp, and were as near as we could 
estimate the distance over the tops of the swamp 
brush, 2C0 yards distant, when I opened fire on them. 
They were near the top of the hill when my second 
shot caught one through the head, and it was down 
and up a couple of times before the other two were 
out of. sight. 
Not knowing but that the deer was only creased or 
temporarily disabled, for the distance had been hard 
to estimate, besides the wind and driving, icy snow had 
been hitting me in the eyes, 1 hallooed to camp for 
some one to come and watch it while I went up through 
the cut and over the hill to it. The Doctor came out 
of the tent bareheaded and coatless. asked me if I had 
run out of ammunition, and went back. I am yet un- 
decided as to whether the Doctor meant to poke fun 
at me or was actually rattled over his failure to make 
his .38 Winchester manipulate some revolver car- 
tridges, with which he had filled the magazine by mis- 
take. It did. no doubt, cause the Doctor to think of 
ammunition, but shooting against a driving sleet that 
struck me square in the eyes, and across a brushy 
swamp, full 200 yards at three small deer running up a 
steep hill, was about as hard a proposition as I have 
ever met in deer hunting, and though under more fav- 
orable weather conditions I might have done better, I 
was satisfied with one deer nicely shot in return for the 
eight shots fired. 
The air was filled with fine dry snow all night, and on 
Wednesday , morning I started down the wagon road 
which passed our last year's camp and Brown's cabin. 
Poor Misory! What had become of her? The cabin 
door was open, and the place deserted. The wind blew 
a gale from across old St. Germain, making the waves 
lassh the eastern shore and pile up a iDreakwater of snow, 
ice, and sand. Climbing a hill to the left, I struck into 
the timber-sheltered hazelbrush, and was soon lost, to all 
intents and purposes, except the stalking of two large 
deer that had left their trail fresh in the snow. But 
these particular deer seemed to be moving faster than 
I cared to, and I soon left their trail and circled toward 
camp, arriving there at 10 A. M. 
Snow continued to fall, and by morning of the thirteetitli 
the brush was bending with damp snow that clung to 
each branch to the depth of an . inch Or ipiore. The Doc- 
