94 
by the camp stove and he lies near me snoozing, I cant 
help but think of these things, and one by one I see the 
camps we have dwelt together in. One over at Witch 
Lake, Michigan, from which blessed spot we wandered 
by the hour day and week, has for some years been an 
oatfield. Our camp a mile below where I now sit, and 
in which we swapped lies only two years ago, is now 
cut in twain by a settler's wagon road, and the deer 
crossing hard by is a deer crossing only in memory. 
Verily time changes all things. To-day we are and to- 
morrow we are not, and thus ends my Sabbath reverie. 
Sunday night the clouds left us and the stars "twinkled 
up so high" just as they did in my old school reader, and 
I stood outside the tent and lived over a few boyhood 
thoughts. And then I heard the Doctor telling the _ boys 
in the tent that he just tried to see how much of this air 
he could draw into his lungs at one time. 
Monday morning was a frosty one. Hedrick took a 
couple of turns, looking at his watch by the light of a 
match, then dressed himself, started a fire first in the 
heating stove, then the cook-stove. By this time Charley 
was up, and Journay and Spahr followed in regular order. 
To Doc and I, who demurred, it seemed but a short time 
until there was a call from the other tent, and we had 
to hustle to get to the table. It was 4 o'clock when 
Hedrick got up, and I roasted him considerable for stir- 
ring us out to hunt deer just at the hour deer were going 
to bed. The day was a bright one, and Journay and 
Spahr each got a couple of snap shots, but failed to bring- 
in any game. I put some venison on to boil and prepared 
potatoes for frying, and whiled away the forenoon m 
camp; then after dinner went over the hill back of camp 
and added to the missing score by sending three bullets 
after a doe that got away in the brush. Tuesday even- 
ing Journay shot a doe at long range, but she turned and 
came toward him and he had to stop her with a second 
bullet. He was shooting a .30-30. We carried the doe 
in after dark and had three deer at the end of four days 
hunting, which wasn't bad, considering the dry weather 
and the number of deer sighted. Wednesday the i6th we 
drew a blank. Thursday the 17th Hedrick said he would 
keep camp, and all the rest were to take a hunt east of 
the big swamp just east from camp. The Doctor went 
around on the north of the swamp to a crossing on Lost 
Creek, while the four of us took the wagon road for 
Lost Lake, then divided up and circled the swamp toward 
where the Doctor was located. I went to the right near 
Big St. Germain Lake, then bore of¥ the Lost Lake road, 
where an old logging road much overgrown with under- 
brush went north through the heavy timber toward Lost 
Creek, There was a good bit of sign in this woods, but 
the brush was thick, the leaves very dry, and woods 
generally noisy. For these very reasons we were hunting 
in skirmish line, the other boys being scattered along be- 
tween me and the big swamp. I stood on a log for a 
time, then sat quite a while on a large pine stump on a 
hill, where I could see down through the hazel and other 
brush; then, thinking the boys had moved on, I got 
down, crossed a hollow, and was standing on a log on 
another and lower hill, when Journay got a shot over 
near the swamp, and, as it turned out, killed a fine large 
buck fawn. A moment later Spahr's big .42-80 roared, 
and soon after I heard the quick jumps of a deer, and to 
my chagrin got a glimpse only of a good sized doe going 
eastward along the hollow my last vacated perch enabled 
me to see perfectly. Why had I not stayed on that stump 
five minutes longer? My circle brought me to the creek 
below the boys, but I saw Bender and learned that 
Journay had killed one, so went up to where Doc was 
blowing his bike whistle. Hedrick had been there with 
an ax and felled a dead tree across the creek near the 
spot I bridged last year with my little tomahawk. The 
Doctor went out and met the boys, and we took turns 
carrying the deer to camp, and right there is where a 
hunter pays for the sport of hunting deer. You can't 
drag a deer on the dry ground and over logs, roots and 
brush without bruising it and raking the hair off, and 
exhausting your knees and lungs ; and if two men carry 
it on a pole they will have their shoulders grained and 
their backs yanked until they feel like laying up for re- 
pairs. Then there is the added risk of losing the coupon 
that the laws of Wisconsin say must be attached to the 
deer as soon as killed, and if this flimsy paper and 
cheap muslin coupon is not in good condition when the 
deer is presented to the transportation company for ship- 
ment, the agent may refuse to accept it, and there you 
are with a deer on your hands and no proof that it is 
yours or that you have complied with the law in regard 
to it. For these obvious reasons local game wardens 
are disposed to take the sensible view that if a non- 
resident hunter pays for and has a deer hunter's license 
it is the part of wisdom to so preserve his coupons that 
they may be in good condition when he turns his game 
over to the express company, and that it is not necessary 
that he tie a coupon on each deer "as soon as" it is killed. 
The State Game Warden likewise sees the point, and_ is 
disposed to be reasonable in the matter, the primary prin- 
ciple involved being the protection of game. But there 
are always some extremely wise people abroad in the 
land, and a couple of this class were awaiting us at camp, 
and thereby hangs a tale, but it does not belong to this 
story. We rested mostly until Friday morning; though 
I distinctly heard brush breaking in a swamp near our 
tent some time during the night, and though it might 
have been our callers of the preceding day, I most knew 
it was nothing but deer, so went ofif to sleep again. Fri- 
day morning Hedrick started us out in a bunch while he 
stayed at camp. I had forgotten about the noise I heard 
in the night, and was tagging along behind the other 
boys, not over 200 yards from camp, when those in front 
opened fire. Three or four shots rang out, and then I 
saw a large buck on a hill, but only for an instant. He 
was going northwest, and the Doctor and I, being on a 
ridge while the other three boys were over the ridge, w'e 
started to head him off. He had to go at a lively clip 
if I did not get a shot at him, but when I arrived at a 
point where I could see down into the wagon road, the 
buck was nowhere in sight. Then I saw the Doctor 
stalking, and I enjoyed the situation more than if I had 
been in his place. He took a step and fired, then ad- 
vanced toward a thicket with his rifle at "ready," fired 
once or twice more, a shot from Bender's gun mingling 
with the confusion. Poor buck! He was sorely pressed 
and mortally wounded it seems, for he ran down the hill 
the $0uthwe§t and fell dead at Ben4er's feet. He was 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
shot in front of the hamstring, twice in the shoulder, 
and once through the head. Journay said he saw a doe 
also, but she dodged off to the left around the swamp 
and got away. While this buck was not more than 400 
yards from camp where he lay dead in an old trail, it 
was necessary to drag him over several logs, over two 
ridges, and through a hollow or draw, the bottom of 
which was twenty-five feet lower than the top of the 
ridges, so broken was the land near camp. We took 
the buck back to camp, then scattered and hunted, but 
got no more game that day. G. W. Cunningham, 
[to be concluded.] 
Minnesota Game and Fish. 
From advance sheets kindly furnished by Sam. F. Ful- 
lerton. Executive Agent of the Minnesota Board of Game 
and Fish Commissioners, we quote the following para- 
graphs : 
Arrests and Convictions. 
During the year our wardens made 256 arrests and ob- 
tained 214 convictions. The amount of fines collected 
was $3,789.10—006 fine of $20,000 being still in litigation; 
and a 'jail sentence of 220 days having been served in lieu 
of paying another $20,000 fine. 
The fines, which go to the different connty treasuries, 
have ranged in amounts from $1 up to $20,000. The 
amount of jail sentences imposed by the different courts 
was 1,19s days, the sentences running from ten days up 
to 300 days. 
While our wardens at the railroad centers report less 
game and fish seized this year than last, still a great deal 
was smuggled into market. We have made several cora- 
mission men pay dearly for this traffic ; but still they will 
continue to take their chances to a limited extent, the 
profits being large enough to serve as a temptation. 
In this connection our Board wishes to call to your at- 
tention, and through yon to that of the Legislature, very 
serious miscarriages of justice. In at least two of the 
counties of our State, the county attorneys vvill not do 
anything to assist in enforcing the game laws if they can 
possibly avoid it. Also, in a great many cases, the justices 
of the peace will do nothing. If such a law could be 
passed, we would recommend that, where conditions of 
this kind exist, a change of venue may be taken by the 
State from one county to another. This is the only way 
that we can see to remedy this evil. We have had the 
clearest kinds of cases brought for violating the game 
laws — men who even wanted to plead guilty when 
arrested— but through the advice of the county attorney 
or justice, would stand trial and be acquitted. In one 
county we have withdrawn our wardens altogether, as 
there is no use in spending money to arrejt violators of 
the law when the authorities will under no circumstances 
convict. It is a terrible state of affairs to contemplate, 
when the best element of the county seems powerless at 
the hands of a class of men like this. The very action of 
these officials is demoralizing to any community, and will 
sooner or later reap its own reward in the disregard of 
all laws. 
We have destroyed over 50,000 feet of nets of different 
make and description, from a 600-foot seine to the small 
channel hotip net that catches every fish from a minnow 
up — all first-class agents of fish destruction. 
Fishways. 
We have caused to be constructed in the different dams 
during the year thirty fishways. There are still owners of 
dams who, for one cause and another, have not yet com- 
plied with the provision of our law; but the Board has 
served notice on all that the law must be obeyed, and the 
man who lives above the dam must have the same rights 
that the man below has. 
' Fish Distfibation, 
We are glad to report a very successful year at our 
fish hatchery in St. Paul. We spawned 5,000,000 trout 
eggs, 112,000,000 wall-eyed pike or pike-perch eggs. 
The bass and croppy we get from the sloughs of the Mis- 
sissippi River and Lake Pepin, where we employ men to 
seine for them. We distributed during the year 4,310,000 
trout fry, 1,866,000 bass and croppy fry, and 67,000,000 
wall-eyed pike fry. We placed these in the different lakes 
and streams where the most depletion from fishing had 
taken place. 
Restocking with Game. 
While artificial propagation of fish can re-stock our 
lakes, we cannot do the same with game birds and ani- 
mals. The only solution is suitable places as breeding 
grounds, and if those are furnished and proper protection 
given, there will be no question of the result in Minnesota. 
We are glad that not only the different States, but the 
Congress of the United States are taking up this matter 
and setting aside tracts of land, where in the mating 
season the birds and game animals will not be molested. 
Hon. George Shiras, of Pennsylvania, has introduced a 
bill to have the Federal authorities take charge of the pro- 
tection of ducks, geese and all aquatic fowl when in their 
flight in the spring to their breeding grounds in the north. 
Our Board believes that this is a happy solution of a very 
vexed question. While States like Minnesota have passed 
laws against spring shooting, other States still allow it, 
which nullifies, to a certain extent, our law ; but when we 
have a Federal law making it a crime to interfere in any 
way with these migratory birds, the practice of spring 
shooting will be a thing of the past, and men who have 
advocated this crime against nature will be ashamed to 
let it be known that they were ever in favor of anything 
like it, when they note the increase in flights in the fall 
months when shooting will be allowed. 
The Game Supply. 
Several friends of game protection have advanced the 
idea that we ought to have a close season on deer and 
moose for some time to come. That sentiment is not 
shared by the Commission, because we believe that under 
the present law our deer and moose, if saved for the citi- 
zens of the State, will increase, and we will have them for 
all , time to come in Minnesota. ■ - 
Our feathered game, such as prairie chickens, will 
naturally disappear as civiliziation advances. The C[u^ 
[Feb. 4, 1905. ! 
we will always have with us unless destroyed by seveil 
winters with sleet. They are increasing, and are now 2! 
far north as Brainerd, and it may not surprise the denj 
zens of Duluth to hear the ch&ery Bob White whistlini 
in their parks. 
Most States in the Union are looking to having ttlj 
game bag reduced. Minnesota allows three deer, or 
moose and one caribou in a season. They also allow oil 
hundred ducks, geese or brant, combined, and fiftj 
chickens, partridges or quail combined. We wou| 
urgently request that the Legislature pass a law reducir? 
that bag to two deer, one moose and one caribou ; twent;:; 
five chickens, grouse or quail, combined, and fifty duckl 
geese or brant, combined, and make it unlawful to ha-ij 
any more in possession at any one time. We believe th- 
that would do away, to a certain extent, with the "gan 
hog" and market-hunter, who, despite the fact that tli 
sale of game is prohibited in Minnesota, will go out ar: 
shoot for market. ; 
Hunting Accidents, j 
The public is becoming aroused because of the deati; 
from accidents by careless hunters. While Minnesota hj 
fared well compared with some of our sister States, Stj: 
the accidents are altogether too numerous ; and our Boai' 
is of the opinion that a law ought to be passed making , 
a penitentiary offense — manslaughter in the first degreej 
for one man to kill another in the woods, mistaking hij 
for a deer, and that the defense that such killing was :;| 
accident ought not to be considered in the trial. Whi 
we do not believe this would stop it altogether, it won 
help immensely ; but as long as we have with us the fq 
who will for fun (as he calls it) point a loaded gun at; 
man's head just to see him jump, just so long will 4 
have accidents in the woods when such fellows can d| 
mand a license from the County Auditor of his count] 
and until we do something to improve the human raci 
the placing of firearms in the hands of such men w' 
always be a mistake; but we do not know how to stop ^ 
We believe, however, that while a dift'erent law ought I 
be passed, the newspapers throughout the State can doi; 
great deal to keep up the agitation by warning men to j 
absolutely sure before they shoot that the object they 
shooting at is a wild animal. 
A Michigan Programme. 
Mr. W. B. Mershon, writing in the Saginaw Ne\' 
says: 
"The next comment is on the statement that t 
sportsmen themselves are the most interested; that t 
general public is not particularly interested in gai 
protection. 
"I believe the State of Maine by reason of its gai 
protection draws a bigger revenue from its game aj 
its fish and the tourists that these two things bring - 
their woods and streams than Michigan gets out of 
sugarbeet crop. The public is interested in game pi 
tection, first, because of its food value. It is stated, 
the papers that this fall 5,000 deer were killed in t 
upper peninsula. I do not know whether this is c< 
rect or not, but as a food product, are not S,ooo cj 
casses of venison of any value to the public' 
"Rabbits, partridges and ducks that are killed annua 
contribute tons to the food products of Michigan. 
"You cannot take the fishing interests away frd 
the game interests very well; there are game fish a 
commercial fish; the same sentiment that takes cf 
of one does the other, and as a food product Michig 
fisheries are not to be sneezed at. Thus is the put 
interested. 
Possibly the largest interest the public has is in th< 
natural resources that are so attractive to non-residel 
who come to Michigan to spend their money becav 
of the fishing, shooting, boating, sailing and outing 
forest and on stream. i 
"First, the railroads derive a benefit in bringing t 
strangers here; then the liverymen, hotel keepers, guid 
the grocerymen, marketmen, vegetable gardeners s 
farmers, all get their share of the hundreds of thoi 
ands of dollars that are annually brought to Michig 
by the non-residents. This, of course, is in additi 
to the large sum spent by the citizens of our d 
State for sport and pastime, ] 
"Now, suppose you exterminate the wild life of ci 
forests, destroy the fishing in the streams, how Ic 
do you suppose these patrons of our northern sumn 
resorts would continue to come here? So the put 
and the sportsmen should work hand in hand to p 
petuate and not exterminate the game, fish and fore;! 
"Our fish, under certain conditions, can be rep 
duced; fish hatcheries can supply depleted streams s\ 
cessfully, but no way yet has been found to increi 
artificially the supply of ruffed grouse and seve 
other kind of game; therefore, the killing of same m; 
be restricted so it does not exceed the natural sup* 
and increase, 
"/You cannot kill your cows and have calves in 
spring,' is an old farmer's saying, 
"What I should like to see done in the way of ga 
protection, briefly stated, is in line with the followi; 
"I am not technical on any of the fine points, bu 
should like to see, first, a proper means of enforc' 
the garne laws adopted; the present warden system 
too political; a non-partisan commission, honorary! 
character, composed of public spirted men, servi 
without a salary, should have the entire enforcement 
the game laws in their hands, engage and discha,' 
game wardens at will; pay these deputy wardens ab 
the same as policemen in the city are paid; the mo 
would go farther than it does now and 
could have more game wardens, men that wc; 
serve because of their ability and not becai 
of their political pull. First, I would stop all spr 
shooting. Next, I would limit the killing of deer 
one or two, and not allow deer to be killed unless ti 
wore horns. I wxiuld limit the bag of birds that ^ 
be taken in any one day, any one season, and any I 
hunting trip; I would not be niggardly about the lii 
make it large enough so the law can be enforced 
so that public sentiment will support it. Fifteen i 
tridge or quail ought to be enough for the most grq 
ing as a day's bag; twenty-fivp ducks also would b 
goo4 daily limit, etc. i 
