451 
October, 1922 
scattered and he picked out a white kid 
nearly half grown. “Now,” I said to my- 
self, "is the time to see the ‘over the 
shoulder’ trick,” but I was disappointed. 
He grabbed the kid by the back of the 
neck and pushing it along, made it carry 
itself. The kid must have made an out- 
cry for the boys came running and took 
after the coyote but he was making for 
the hills and I saw him outdistance his 
pursuers, and they came back crying. 
E. A. ViCKROY, Ohio. 
A DUCK AND A DUCKING 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
D ay had just broken over a large 
marsh which once formed a part of 
the bottom-lands of the Mississippi. A 
northwest wind blew coldly, and two 
duck hunters huddled in a boat hidden 
in the rushes slapped their hands to- 
gether in an effort to get warm. As 
soon as it was light enough to see the 
fun began. Ducks in bunches, pairs and 
singles came fast before the driving- 
wind. All thought of the discomforts of 
cold and early rising were forgotten in 
the fine sport. 
“Mark west,” suddenly whispered the 
man in the stern. A flock were cross 
flying over the boat. The other gunner 
rose quickly, aimed straight upward, and 
lost his balance. Over the side he went 
with mighty splash. The water w'as up 
to his arms with a couple of feet of soft 
mud for flooring. Tboroughly soaked 
and dirty, he scrambled to his feet and 
emptied the water from his gun barrels. 
To expel the remaining moisture, he 
carelessly pointed the gun up in the air 
and, without looking, fired both barrels. 
Then a strange thing happened. High 
up in the ether a big mallard drake was 
hurrying to keep an appointment in a 
cornfield. He had a head-on collision 
with that double charge of No. 4 shot, 
and his light went out. Unseen by 
either of the men he tumbled downw’ard, 
almost striking the boat. The water- 
soaked gunner grabbed him and scram- 
bled back into the boat. 
That was long ago. It is no longer 
possible to fire carelessly into the air 
and dislodge ducks or .anything else. 
Big Lake, the scene of the incident, has 
been filled in and is now a part of the 
public park system of Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. Charles J. Babbitt, Esq., a well- 
known lawyer of Washington, D. C., and 
the writer of some interesting sketches 
for Forest and Stream, was the hero of 
the diving act aforesaid. 
Walter K. Barton. 
CAPTURING TWO DEER 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
DECENTLY, while sojourning in 
Canada, I heard an unusual story 
of capturing two deer. The tale proved 
unique and the evidence produced (ac- 
tual photographs now in my possession) 
showed beyond a shadow' of doubt its 
authenticity. I am certain that readers 
of Forest and Stre.\m will enjoy hear- 
ing it, too. 
On June 24, my uncle, Mr. J. B. Leg- 
gatt, and his cousin, Mr. Alexander 
Brown, respectively superintendent and 
manager of Brown & Rutherford, a lum- 
ber company of Winnipeg, Manitoba, 
accompanied by their boatman, Mr. 
Dixon, started out from Riverton in a 
launch for the company’s sawmill at 
Bad Throat. To reach this meant about 
a forty-mile trip by water, the principal 
river traversed being the Manitgotagan, 
or Bad Throat river, as the Indians of 
bygone days called it. 
Between Black Island and the main- 
land, about a mile from shore on Lake 
Winnipeg, the men in the launch, which, 
by the way, bore no name and was trav- 
eling at a fair rate of speed, met two 
white-tailed deer, a male and his doe. 
The former appeared completely tired 
out, just about ready to give up the 
struggle against the heavy waves and to 
go down in defeat. The doe, on the 
other hand, cut through the water as 
easily as if it were paper. 
Taking the doe ashore 
Apparently, so the men believe, the 
two had been swimming for some time, 
in all probability having been chased 
into the w'ater hy timber wolves. The 
male, no doubt, had given battle on shore 
and worn himself out protecting the 
little doe. Whatever the cause of his 
fatigue, he was ready to sink, unable 
to make shore. Seeing the launch with 
the three men, he feebly swam toward 
it, looking up at them and mutely plead- 
ing for help. In response, Mr. Leggatt 
lifted the deer into the launch without 
much difficulty. 
In the meantime, the doe, seemingly 
desiring to help him all she could, had 
stayed close to her mate until he was 
placed in the launch. Then she evaded 
the men. Mr. Brown and Mr. Dixon 
put out in a canoe after her. When they 
attempted to pull her into the canoe, 
however, she put up a tremendous fight. 
Try as they would, she could not be 
lured into the boat. Then Mr. Brown, 
not wishing to separate the two deer, 
caught hold of her, tied her to the canoe 
and literally dragged her through the 
water to the launch, the doe fighting 
and struggling every rod of the way. 
Mr. Leggatt snapped the accompanying 
photograph of the doe by the side of the 
canoe. 
When they reached tlie boat, the deer 
were reunited and hog-tied together. 
All the way to the mainland of Bad 
Throat they lay on the floor of the 
launch. 
The three men, upon arriving at the 
shore, untied the ropes which bo.und the 
deer and set them free. Immediately, 
with a magnificently symmetrical and 
charmingly graceful leap, the doe was 
aw'ay into the bush like a shot. In her 
rapid flight she came into contact with 
a barbed wdre fence. Attempting to leap 
it at one bound, she instead struck it 
with terrific force. Despite the fact that 
it must have torn and stung her delicate 
flesh, she tried again, this time succeed- 
ing. Then aw'ay she went into the bush 
and out of sight. 
The male, seemingly dazed and not 
realizing that danger was past, stood 
motionless on the shore. Finally, after 
some time, he trembled all over, gave 
himself a shake and was away in search 
of his mate. 
F. J. Macdonald, 
Minnesota. 
A SUGGESTION TO THE 
A.C. A. 
"V/OUR readers might be interested in 
the following letter I sent to the 
chairman of the Racing Board of the 
Atlantic Division of the American 
Canoe Association : 
Dear Mr. Douglas ; 
I FULLY realize it is your ambition 
* as well as all good A. C. A. members 
to liven up the canoe racing game. 
I have talked with a good many of 
the boys to find out just what their real 
reason was for not competing in the 
races, and they seem to feel the way 
that I do, and that is they do not think 
that they are able to compete against 
some of the heavyweights that they are 
compelled to paddle against at present. 
The way the races are run now, of 
course, is perfectly fair for the heavy- 
weights, but how about the little fel- 
lows? Why not give them an equal 
chance to compete? Personally I do 
not believe that a crack paddler weigh- 
ing, say, 115 or 120 pounds, has a chance 
in the w'orld of beating a crack paddler 
who weighs 155 or 160 pounds; that is, 
if both paddlers use the same regulation 
cruising canoe, which they both would 
have to use according to the present 
rules. The big fellow would gain a 
couple of boat lengths on the little fel- 
low right after the crack of the gun. 
I believe that the fairest way to run 
canoe races would be to classify com- 
petitors according to weight, for illus- 
tration, divide them into four classes as 
follows : 
Class 1 — 110 to 125 pounds. 
Class 2—125 to 140 pounds. 
Class 3 — 140 to 155 pounds. 
Class 4 — Over 155 pounds. 
The same old question has been 
brought up time and time again in all 
branches of sport — can a good little man 
beat a good big man ? You know the 
answer — so why not give the lightweight 
canoeists a chance in the races? 
Regin.vld C. ICviLiEr. New York. 
