Sept. 24, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
269 
team to take out Will and his moose head, as his time 
was about up. Daniel and Will went for a few fish for 
dinner. While they were on a raft fishing, a bull with a 
good set of antlers came down to the water about fifty 
yards from them. They watched him for a few minutes, 
when he turned and went back to the woods. 
September 23. Went to Bamford Lake. When I was 
coming back, heard something break a stick only a few 
rods away, followed by an inquiring grunt from a bull. I 
could not see him, but listened for four or five minutes 
to the low grunting, then decided to try and sneak up to 
him. Went toward him a little way and stopped; not 
hearing anything, gave a low call, which started him 
right in front and not over three rods from me. But I 
was too slow and lost the chance. That evening Archie 
came back with William and his team. Said that he had 
seen two bulls and a cow on his way out. He had to climb a 
tree, as they came by him in the road, and he did not have 
a rifle. He said that one had a fine set of antlers, and he 
had a good chance to examine them, as they went by 
within ten or twelve feet of him. Will proposed to start 
for home in the morning. Daniel had been troubled with 
a sore ankle- for four days. It was paining him a good 
deal and was becoming worse, so advised him to go out 
to the settlement and have a doctor attend to it. I agreed 
to wait at least two weeks for his return, hoping that he 
would get back in time for the calling season, which evi- 
dently, owing to the very warm weather, was extremely 
late. 
September 24. Will got an early start for home, having 
had a very pleasant time. From this time until October 
2, Archie and I hunted faithfully every day all the sur- 
rounding country within a radius of fifteen or twenty 
miles, seeing some moose, but nothing that equaled our 
expectations. Late one afternoon as we were coming to- 
ward camp, Archie said : "Look at those two porcupines." 
Looking in the direction he pointed, T. saw one of them, 
but not the other, so I went into the bushes, and just as 
I came in sight of him, he was going across a small open 
space. Then I noticed it was a small bear cub instead of 
a porcupine. I did not suppose that a bear and a porcu- 
pine would be together. 
October 2 -we selected a new route to a distant pond, 
and from a point of observation on its shore Archie saw 
two moose some 200 yards away, standing in the bushes 
near the edge of the water. They were cows. It seemed 
as if they wanted to go into the water; but for some 
reason each one evidently was waiting for the other to 
go. One would go in a few steps, then the other would 
start the other way, and the first one would come back. 
This was repeated several times, and led us to mistrust 
that perhaps they had other company near, and were 
showing signs of much jealousy. It was not long before 
we heard the grunt of a bull. Then the cows soon waded 
out, and evidently enjoyed themselves drinking and swim- 
ming around, biting off the lily-pads now and then. 
Our interest centered in the direction the bull was com- 
ing, as we could tell by his frequent grunts; but half an 
hour elapsed before the old fellow broke through the 
bushes and stepped out in full view. He had enormous 
antlers. 
For full five minutes he stood facing us with head erect, 
taking in his surroundings, and making a grand scene for 
a camera. Then he lowered his head and drank so long 
that we looked to see if the pond was lower. Raising his 
head he looked for a moment or so toward the cows, 
then turned to go back. This was the opportunity I was 
looking for; I was on my knee with rifle ready, and as 
he turned and exposed his shoulder, I fired, and missed. 
Turning back again to. see where all the noise came from, 
he again faced us. Getting on to my feet I looked for a 
place where I could see him through the bushes (we were 
about five rods from the water), and finding one waited 
for him to turn again. For nearly ten minutes he stood 
without moving, then slowing swung his great antlers 
round and took one step backward. As his shoulder came 
again in view, the express rang out, and down he went as 
if struck by lightning. The rifle was a .50 caliber, 130-440 
charge. Going to the edge of the water we watched to 
see if he would -attempt to get up, but he did .not ; so we 
started to go around the pond to where he lay. We had 
got nearly to the upper end when we heard another bull 
grunt several times, calling the cows which were still in 
the water. When we got nearly abreast of them they de- 
cided to leave their dead mate and away they went in a 
hurry. A few steps more and we came in sight of our 
game. One of the big antlers with its 14 points was out 
of sight in the mud and. water. Here our troubles com- 
menced. First we took a snap with the camera just as 
he fell, showing both the game and the point 200 yards 
away where we stood when I shot him. Then we scoured 
the woods for logs to place in the water so we could get 
out to him. After working two hours we found that we 
could not move him at all, but had to give it up and go 
back to camp, intending to bring an ax in the morning. 
I suggested that we use our compass and blaze a way over 
the ridges in an almost direct line toward camp. It was 
hard work with our knives, but we managed to save about 
three miles, and in due time reached the supper that was 
waiting. Daniel came in that night. This was the second 
time we had been in luck to-day. He had a story to tell. 
Starting before light that morning, he had made about 
six miles from home when he heard some moose. With 
his birch horn he called' a few times, the bull coming so 
close that he backed out of the logging road a few steps, 
so as to be handy to a tree in case it charged. Soon it 
came in sight about two rods from him ; placing the sights 
on the shoulder he fired, then again and again, as rapidly 
as he could work the lever of the .38 Winchester. _ At the 
fifth shot, down the bull went, and another one finished it. 
After having shot six times, and as he was admiring the 
pretty set of antlers, spreading 42 inches, he heard an- 
other bull. Once more taking up the horn, he gave a low 
call, then another as the game came in sight with two 
cows. This ;one had a fine big set of antlers, large in every 
way, but Daniel had his quota and was obliged to wait for 
the one with the big head to leave, so that he could attend 
to the one he had. All three stayed there ten- minutes, 
the bull standing within ten feet of the dead one all this 
time, before leaving. Daniel quickly dressed the game 
and went back to the settlement for help to get him home. 
Then giving directions for taking care of it when it 
reached his house, he shouldered his pack once more and 
started for camp. He was pretty tired after his long walk, 
for if: was twenty-six miles from fcjs' Jiotne to camp, and 
he was in four miles when he killed the moose, and went 
back to the edge of the settlement, four miles, and back 
again, making thirty-four miles he footed it that day. 
By day-break Thomas called us to breakfast, and soon 
we were off. Crossing the river on some logs we had 
arranged there the evening before, they started in to brush 
out a trail to get the big head through. When we reached 
the pond, a little after 10, Daniel admired the big antler 
slicking up out of the water, but incidentally remarked 
that it was a small moose even if it did have big antlers. 
I thought he would be very apt to change his mind be- 
fore we got it out of that bole. For the next two hours 
we put in some of the hardest work I ever did on my 
hunting trips. Finally, with the aid of the rope by means 
of a lever pulley, as the pointer noted the noon hour we 
got the carcass on to solid ground, only eight feet from 
where it had lain. Not until then did we have a chance 
to see the huge proportions and examine the very long, 
widespreading antlers (over 5 feet), with their extremely 
even points, 14 points on each side. At last Daniel broke 
the silence: "What a big moose! What awful Targe 
antlers ! Never saw one that would begin to compare 
with it." A friend with me in the same region in 1902 
got. the largest one secured in New Brunswick that year, 
and had it set up free of expense by Emack Bros., of 
Fredericton, who had advertised that they would mount 
free the largest head got in New Brunswick that 
season. Although the head secured by my friend was an 
extremely large one, this was much larger and much more 
symmetrical, the first five brow points on each side being 
almost as near alike as two peas. We were all very will- 
ing to rest a while as the kettle boiled again for dinner. 
Hanging up all the meat but one hindquarter, we at last 
started for camp. Daniel went first with the head with 
its weight of about 95 pounds. It afterward weighed, 
when thoroughly cleaned and the bone, etc., inside chopped 
READY TO SLED IT OUT.' 
out, leaving only the shell, 64 pounds. Then came Archie 
with a leg of meat, and I with a whole load in the scalp. 
We were a tired though happy lot when we struck camp 
that Saturday night. After breakfast the next day, 
Daniel and Archie started for a load of the meat, while 
I stayed to salt the scalp. Two young men from a near-by 
lumber camp appeared on the scene. Their surprise was 
great when they saw the antlers, which they greatly ad- 
mired. Just before they started back one of them said 
that Mr. Rice, the genial photographer of Boiestown, was 
at their camp. Being acquainted with him and Mr. Pond, 
the foreman in charge, I sent an invitation to them to 
come down to our camp to see the head, and at three 
o'clock they came. 
The next day we went together to a barren ten miles 
away; I in hope of meeting one of those "woodland 
tramps," he looking for a moose to equal mine. When we 
got there we found a large beaver dam nearly twenty rods 
long and two empty houses. We saw where the beaver 
had been caught the spring before, and noticed the stakes 
used to slip the chain ring over, also where the trappers 
had cut the dam twice to set their traps, the last time 
almost to the very bottom to catch the last one left. It 
is a pity, but it seems that, in spite of the law, the'last one 
will soon be caught, and it will not be long before the 
beaver will be numbered with the buffalo. We drew a 
blank as to moose, and the following day, too. Daniel 
called a bull up very close, but the fickle wind spoiled 
their chance before he came in sight. Mr. Rice stayed 
a few days longer, and while the moose were plenty, still 
he was unable to find what he was looking for. We 
greatly enjoyed his company. I afterward saw him at 
Boiestown, and he told me that as he was passing Mc- 
Connell Brook barren on his way out he had called out a 
big bull, but could not get near enough for a shot, and did 
not see any more. 
The next day we went to the region where Will got his 
moose, and found that a bear had nearly finished what 
was left there of the carcass. The track, deeply indented 
in the hard ground, showed that he was very large and 
heavy, so we decided to build a deadfall for him. It 
took us all day to build it, for we wanted to make it 
heavy and strong enough to hold him sure, if he got 
into it. 
I decided that while looking for caribou I would try to 
get a photo of a bull moose, Daniel, who is the best caller 
I ever heard, proposing to give me a chance. One day 
on a ridge in the burnt woods near the deadfall, Daniel 
called for half an hour or more without getting an answer, 
finally remarking that most callers did not call long 
enough, for oftentimes moose would start from a long 
way and might not answer at first, or might be so far 
away that he could not be heard if he did. He said that 
he was going to call for an hour or more, At last we 
heard a bull grunting, apparently coming toward us and 
then going back. This he kept up for quite a while. As 
lie came nearer we could hear him strike the trees with 
his antlers, and as he came over a low ridge through the 
burnt rampikes we had an exhibition such as I never 
heard ©r saw before. The. dead trees were very thick to- 
gether, and from two to six inches or more in diameter ; 
when Daniel called, the bull would start with a rush, 
swinging his antlers right and left, making a racket as 
loud as a dozen men would make striking the trees with 
sledge hammers. For two or three rods he would clear a 
path like grass before a mowing machine, then stop and 
shake his head and call the cows along nearly to him, 
By this time Daniel would call again. This would appar- 
ently arouse his ire, for he would start with another rush, 
breaking down everything before him for a short distance, 
stopping again to rest, only to repeat at the next call. 
This he did several times right in sight of us, but when 
he had cleared a path almost to the edge of a bog, he 
stopped and we could not call him any nearer. 
We were on an open ridge about 100 yards away, and 
decided to try and work our way nearer. After a few 
steps we lost sight of him, but went on, and as we neared 
the place where we had seen him we heard something 
start and go over the ridge. Daniel hurried to the top in 
time to see the two cows going off. I had stopped where 
I had last seen the bull, for I -was sure he would not run- 
he was too ugly. As Daniel came back, I noticed the bull 
standing behind some bushes not over thirty or forty, feet 
from us, but SO' screened by them that I could not get a 
picture, and of course could not shoot, as we both had our 
game limit. Daniel tried to get a better view, but stepped 
on a branch, which cracked and started him. Instead of 
following the cows and going back the way he had come — 
he was near the edge of the burnt strip — he turned and 
went right out into the opening we had come through. 
1 hurried after him, but when I get in sight, , he was nearly 
twenty-five rods away, too far for an exposure. 
How I wished that Mr. Rice had been with us. He 
could have got a prize that many never saw the equal of. 
The blades were entirely different from my big sToot 
set, being very wide, at least 20 inches, spreading very 
wide at the tips, and with a great many points, one of. the 
largest and handsomest set of antlers I ever saw. Al- 
though I had not got a snapshot. I had had an experience 
of perhaps a lifetime. The one thing lacking, besides pos- 
session and a photo, was a phonograph that would have 
recorded the terrible racket as the dead trees went down 
like a whirlwind before his powerful head-gear. We fol- 
lowed him some two or three miles, thinking that as good 
a direction to go as any, and started him again. Daniel 
called and got ah answer several times, the bull once 
more coming nearly to us, but the fickle wind started him 
in a hurry, and we went back to camp. 
We waited a few days longer,' hoping that, the. bear 
would come back,' but as he had eaten the meat about all 
up before we discovered it, we came to the conclusion that 
he had left it for good, and as the caribou seemed to have 
left this region, too, Archie went out to the settlement for 
the team to take us back. A few days later William came 
for us, and in two days we were back again at Mr. Holt's. 
Here the next morning I bade adieu to our, guides, and 
with the big head carefully loaded with our other things, 
started for Boiestown. I supposed that I was then out of 
the game country, but it proved not so, for as we were 
driving through some woods a lynx ran across the road 
some five or six rods ahead of us. 
I would like to speak a good word for our guides, and 
helpers, one and all. I. can heartily recommend them 
in every way, and their hunting grounds, in which a sum- 
mary of the game seen foots up as follows : 30 moose, 
21 bulls, 9 cows, three of the bulls as large as any outside 
of Alaska; 9 deer, 1 bear, 1 lynx, 2 foxes, lots of ducks, 
and more partridges than I ever saw on a trip before. 
Although it, had taken twenty-eight years to secure the 
prize, I certainly was satisfied with my "success at last." 
Chas. D. Butler. 
The Oid Hunter's Bean Story. 
The Old Hunter and I were eating supper by our 
camp-fire after a hard but successful day's hunt. 
"Colonel, please pass the beans," says he. I passed 
them. 
We finished supper and filled our pipes. "Colonel, 
them are beans sorter remind me of a bean deal that I 
made once." I scented a story and asked for it, and 
finally got him started. 
"It was this way," he began. "I and a pard were out 
on a hunting and prospecting trip in the foothills. We 
had a pack horse and took grub a-plenty, but when we 
was about to our stopping place the darned horse fell 
in fording a stream and rolled over a few times, and 
all our flour and meal was spoiled. About all he had 
left was bacon and tobacco. We was upset ..like but 
went to hunting and prospecting and waited to see what 
would happen; but we knew that one of us would sure 
have to go in soon for flour, and it were about ninety 
miles — and a hundred and eighty miles was no joke. 
Well, one morning pard he took the horse and started 
on to the fork to get an elk, as they was scarce around 
our camp. Way long toward night I seed the smoke 
about half a mile below, and I thought it might be 
Injuns. Bymby I heard a shot and I couldn't stand 
it no longer, so I sneaks down that way and, coming 
near the smoke, I hears men talking, and I knewed 
that it was Injuns, so I just nozed along and, coming in 
sight, I seed four wagons and a lot of pilgrims. I 
walks up and hails them, and the gang flocked around 
me like buzzards round a carcass. They was the 
darndest outfit that you ever seed. One pilgrim was 
from Old Missouri, another lank cuss was from Ver- 
mont and one little dude was from Boston, and the 
rest was from nowhere in particular. They had got 
together somewhere and had struck out to find what 
they wanted. The man from Old Missouri wanted to 
find a place to start a cattle ranch; the Green Mountain 
man was after a farm. The Boston man wanted air, 
and the balance was after anything that was loose. I 
sorter looked them over and squinted into the wagons 
and seed dead loads of grub and thinks to myself, now 
is our chance to get flour and such. After a spell I 
got kinder tired answering their darned fool questions 
and sorter hinted round that I'd like to buy. some 
flour, but, darn their fool hides, they wouldn't sell a 
pound for gold dollars. Then I asked for beans; yes, 
they had two sacks, but wouldn't sell a bean. The fact 
was they had everything that we needed, but they 
wouldn't sell a thing for my gold coin. They was frying 
bacon and it sorter struck me that they didn't have any 
fresh meat,, so I sorter drifted round and began to talk 
hunt, and their ears: stuck up at once. Then I found out 
that they had a few old scatterguns, and the dude had a 
good Winchester the same size as mine, but . the only 
time he had shot it off it kicked him over and come close 
to killing a horse. He hadn't let any one else shoot it, 
and they were hungry for fresh meat and was eating 
bacon. Well, J felt sure that I had them, and told -thtW 
