SB. 25, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
IBB 
A BARK CAMP. 
eans that it is within short range (excepting around 
e lakes), by reason of the rise and fall of the ground 
d the thick timber; but being within short range does 
)t mean you have a good shot at it, for quick work 
rough a narrow lane of trees is often necessary. 
When visiting the bear traps on the second day we 
w a cow moose, and jumped two more with calves, 
gain, the next day, we found empty traps, although 
one instance Bruin had plowed up the leaves all 
ound it. Evidently meat was not what he wanted 
ost. On this day's journey we noticed the black out- 
le of a moose among the gray tree trunks, and while 
scovering that his horns were mere spikes, had our 
tentiori attracted to another bull of about the same 
je, and presently still another with probably five 
)ints. This latter, being broadside toward us, of- 
red a tempting target as he toyed with the under- 
owth surrounding him. While we watched this trio 
e crash of opposing horns was heard over a nearby 
se of ground, and hoping to see a contest, we at- 
mpted a flank movement; but, unluckily, crossed the 
nd and saw nothing but one vanishing moose. Going 
the scene of the set-to, proved to us that there had 
en four moose in addition to the three we saw, mak- 
g up quite a herd. When camp was reached after this 
teresting experience, we saw convincing evidence that 
bull moose and family had passed within 25 yards of it 
nee our departure. 
At a conference now held across the kettle, which 
5iled in the fireplace improvised from the large trunk 
_ a standing tree, it was decided that the bears would 
pt bait so long as they could get the abundant beech 
ats. and furthermore, while there were a great many 
loose near at hand, they were young, and probably 
fose with broad, spreading horns were deeper in the 
oods. So our thoughts and dreams of the bear orna- 
ents for our hallway, and the hair-raising story we 
ished to tell in connection with it, were foresworn, 
id in the morning we shouldered our packs, deserted 
le traps, and forced our way through the contentious 
ndergrowth further into the forest. There were no 
ails of any kind, and this fact, coupled with the undu- 
.tions of the land, do not admit of a pack-laden trav- 
er covering much more than two miles an hour. To 
e told toward the end of a day's tramp that camp is 
nly two miles away, is very comforting, but by the 
me the point is reached a visitor to these woods will 
robably be willing to wager his hunting outfit that 
Dmebody has willfully lied. We headed for a bark 
amp eighteen miles away, where we would find a 
CLINGING TO EVERY BOW AND TWIG. 
anoe in which to eventually float by a circuitous route 
om the woods to the settlement, whence we started. 
Vhen part way to the destination, we concluded to 
lake camp for "a couple of days on the shore of an at- 
ractive lake, which was seemingly popular with ducks, 
nd visit the adjacent ridges. Rain fell freely at night 
nd promised to improve the hunting by soaking the 
'■aves and twigs, thereby deadening sound and reveal- 
le impressions of the animals' feet. During the three 
ays of our visit here we saw a number of deer, a spike- 
orn bull, two cows &nd had a m^^^ glance at a very 
ne b"uir Thfe spikfe-liorn and c^v wfere in g, small 
pond, and another invisible companion was in the 
bordering bushes. Possibly this was our bull, and we 
waited his appearance with great expectations, until the 
treacherous wind, which had pursued and plagued us 
since the rain of several nights previous, swerved 
around, and the critters took flight. Continuing our 
journey on the day following, laden with packs, we 
came to the right branch of the Tobique, which was 
so swelled by the fall of rain that we were compelled 
to bridge it by felling trees. Signs of moose were fresh 
and plentiful along the banks, and it would seem only 
necessary to sit down to await their coming; but we 
preferred carrying war into the enemy's country. A 
little later a huge buck deer crossed our course and, 
when too late, we wished we had risked scaring moose 
and taken a shot at him. The more hunting one does 
after any and all kinds of game, the more impressed he 
becomes by the self-sufficiency of the ever alert deer. 
The legs and bellies of two moose were also seen as 
they passed along a wooded rise of ground some dis- 
tance ahead. 
When darkness began to close in upon us and rain 
to fall, we reached camp bedraggled, tired, wet, hungry; 
but so soon as our clothing began to steam before the 
cordial fire, and the odor of stew and the music of the 
boiling kettle filled the shack, we felt the delightful sen- 
sation of "don't care" languor which belongs to the 
woods, where mental fatigue never complicates the situ- 
ation by interfering with the prompt action of nature's 
restoratives. 
. Our fireplace opened to the sky, and while relieving 
the pangs of hunger, flakes of snow began substituting 
themselves for raindrops and floated down into the fire. 
Here was the fulfillment of our fondest hope, for with 
a good tracking snow, a big set of horns was a sure 
thing within the two remaining days of the hunt. In 
THE OMNIPRESENT COW. 
the morning the landscape was white to an unusual de- 
gree, for the snow was five inches deep on the ground 
and clinging to every bough and twig till they bent to 
the breaking point under the weight. What an oppor- 
tunity is here, we thought, to pry into the affairs and 
movements of all our neighbors, and we set off for the 
hills across the lake with great expectation. Upon en- 
tering the woods, we found it a great white lattice, 
wonderfully beautiful, but curtailing the view to a dis- 
tance of from 10 to 20 yards, according to the thickness 
of the undergrowth, and deluging us with the snow at 
frequent intervals. Not a creature had stirred from its 
bed; ours were the only footprints upon the earth's 
white covering till the morning was well advanced, 
when a rabbit's track partly suaged our feeling of lone- 
liness. The silence, however, was unbroken and ab- 
solute. Presently the red squirrels began showing 
signs of activity by nibbling cones in sheltered spots, 
but were too subdued to make the customary cutting 
remarks to us; and then the feeling of emptiness im- 
pelled the fox, marten and fisher to go a-hunting, but 
the larger animals showed such a pronounced dislike 
for this new environment that they chose hunger as a 
lesser discomfort. We disturbed a cow in the early 
afternoon, and toward evening, when endeavoring to 
locate the canoe by aid of the compass, came close upon 
a spikehorn and a cow, which pair we made a dash 
toward and sent them careening pell-mell through the 
forest in spite of their former reluctance. 
Our last day was at hand, and the same untoward 
conditions remained as on the preceding day; the 
boughs dropped the snow upon us, and not a moose 
track was to be seen. Toward noon we stumbled upon 
a young bull, and soon afterward a cow with calf. 
Their beds and surroundings proved that they had not 
stirred since the fall of snow. We boiled the kettle, 
dried our clothing, and then started campward, by no 
means in low spirits, for our happiness was not depend- 
ent upon a bear or a big moose, and the varied snow 
effects were a constant source of entertainment and 
admiration to an amateur photographer and denizens 
of a warmer clime. 
We had jumped a young bull with curiously deformed 
horns, and soon afterward saw a cow standing on the 
edge of a declivity not more than fifteen yards away, 
peering at us through the snow-bedecked undergrowth. 
Evidently she had just arisen, and had not gotten our 
scent. We resolved to wait until she began to run and 
then follow her as rapidly as possible, hoping to see 
an accompanying bull on the slope beyond her. She 
was deliberate, but presently started, so did Guide Bar- 
ker, and I followed behind, half-blinded by the flying 
snow and rebounding branches. There was a bull, sure 
enbtigh, and a large dn'e at that— the Very one we 
UNREASONABLE FRIGHT AND FLIGHT.; 
wanted. When he attempted to follow the cow, his 
immense horns caught in a whitewood bush, bringing 
him to a momentary halt not twenty yards away, and 
as Barker stopped running and stepped to one side, 
awaiting the tragedy, my foot caught in a twig and I 
plunged headforemost, rifle and all, into the snow. 
Our return to civilization was via the swift-flowing 
Tobique and its tributaries, and while floating the forty 
intervening miles over various valuable salmoon pools, 
Barker,, whose hunter never before failed to bring out 
a large head, reasoned as follows: "Hunting at this 
season of the year is a gamble; one walks through the 
woods and may promptly come face to face with his 
quarry without much effort, or may wear out his shoe- 
packs in attempts to be at the right place at the right 
time. Game is plentiful; but still, the matter of luck 
must be reckoned with. I have never in my experience 
worked so hard for a big moose head as on this occa- 
sion, you having been disappointed about the bear. 
We have walked throughout each of twelve days, trav- 
ersed probably 200 hard miles, seen more than twenty 
moose, in spite of disadvantages, and when we finally 
•found one which would have been a good substitute for 
the coveted bear, luck turned her back upon you. Now, 
on the other hand, a man came to me this autumn who 
had never been in the woods before, and wanted a 
moose. Before the settlement was out of sight I saw 
a standing deer, and suggested that he shoot it. He 
never touched a hair of it. We almost walked on a 
partridge, and again I asked him to try his rifle. As 
the bird flew away I advanced the supposition that he 
had aimed at the head. 'No,' he blandly remarked, T 
aimed at the whole bird.' So I decided to keep my 
rifle near at hand and take another guide along for an 
emergency. This nimrod was a very stout man, and 
we two guides gasped for breath when he appeared on 
the first morning of the hunt clad in a scarlet sweater 
and yellow trousers. Noting our speechlessness, he 
said he had read of accidental shooting of hunters, and 
feared that any stray lead in his vicinity couldn't pass 
him, and would be sure to select him as a resting place. 
Our explanation that there were no rifles within many 
miles of us made no impression. Well, sir he actually 
cast a sunset glow over the landscape, and the trees 
seemed to cast shadows as he passed them. 
"We took him into the woods and put him in a 
blind, as we politely termed it, covering him with boughs 
to keep him in the dark, while we went off to locate the 
game and confer as to how to deaden the sound of those 
THERE ARE NO TRAILSi, -i; 
clothes. We discovered the haunts of some moose, and 
stopping on our way back to camp,'dug him out and 
toted him along. The next morning we plead for a 
change of apparel, but without avail, and sauntered 
forth with a feeling of hopelessness. 
"Ere long we saw two cow moose, and as you know, 
these animals cannot depend upon their eyesight; but 
they saw this red hayrick with yellow props coming 
their way, all right, and instead of waiting for the scent 
to reach them, with eyes protruding and jaws dropped, 
or so it seemed, they fled as though possessed of devils. 
W§ stoppisti riglit \\\pn and there, explained the useless- 
