DEER STALKLVG IX THE [ADIROXDACKS. 
BY SYLVAXrS. 
[COSCLYDED.] 
It drifts slowly off to the right. Verj'well, to the 
right I swing, well knowing that a pair of eyes on that 
distant hillside are looking intently in my direction; a 
pair of ears are drinking in every sound, however 
slight, and delicate nostrils are wide spread to catch the 
slightest taint in the pure air that shall warn of the 
approaching foe. 
And I must keep my nerve, for it will never do to miss 
a good shot after working so hard to obtain it. IVay 
oat from the trail I swing cautiously; step by step I 
advance, with my eyes roving constantly on all sides, 
until I have the hill between me and the point where I 
left the trail. Xow, for the tug of war, which will de- 
cide the fortunes of the day. Guarding against every 
unnecessary motion, avoiding every twig either above 
or under the snow, with my double shot gun and rifle 
thrown well forward, I move slowly and directly 
toward and up the hill, pausing often to scan everything 
within range of my vision. Hist, a small twig naps 
lightly under my foot and I lean quietly against a tree 
for a minute or two. All right, but softly now for I am 
at the summit. Ha, what’s that, just above the snow 
line? It looks very much like the dead limbs on some 
fallen tree. It moves; silently I sink to the ground, a 
few yards to the left, a few more straight ahead, and I 
am covered by a giant spruce. Silently I rise to my 
feet again, press the triggers, draw back the hammers, 
carry the stock to my shoulder, fetoii the barrels on a 
level with my eyes, and slowly lean over to the right. 
The tip of one antler comes in view through the sight 
on the rifle, the whole antler and one ear, the whole 
head, one ear thrown forward, the other back, the eyes 
gazing steadily down the back track. I press the front 
trigger, a sharp report follows and the pride of the 
forest with a mighty bound forward, falls dead. 
Te city exquisites, ye devotees of fashionable society, 
with its glittering accompaniments, and prescribed for- 
malities, I envy' ye not your boasted pleasures, as I 
spring forward and pass the knife across the throat of 
the fallen monarch, and then stand back and view with 
all the pleasure and pride of the successful hunter, the 
delicate and beautiful outlines of the form before me. 
There is a charm and beauty, lent by associations and 
the surroundings, in the picture presented, that the skill 
of a Landseer or Bonheur fails to reproduce. , And such 
is deer stalking in the Adirondacks, the sport par ex- 
cellence of the deer hunter. 
Others may with silent oar and gleaming light, shine 
them at night, or may emulate the example of the owl, 
sage bird of night that stupidly sits upon the branches 
of some tree patiently waiting for its prej', or may adopt 
the most disgusting method of all, a method that is 
adopted by most of the would-be deer slayers who visit 
the wilderness during the summer months, which is to 
be carried on flowery beds of ease, in a boat, with an 
umbrella held carefully' over them to protect their deli- 
cate complexions from the glare of . the sun, to within 
arms length of the swimming game, when the brawny 
arms of the boatman are very serviceable in holding the 
deer by the tail while the gallant modern Ximrod with 
powder and lead makes him dead. 
But give me the fresh track in the snow, the free range 
of the forest, and the pleasure resulting from a victory 
that is won by a sharp and hard struggle. I ask no more. 
By the time I got the deer dressed and hung up, it was 
time to return to the house. 
“What luck Pete?” 1 asked, as be came in from his 
tramp. “Sighted the game, tliat’s all. How is it with 
yourself.” “Tally one for me. I’ve got a noble old 
seven prong buck hung.up at the foot of old Panther.” 
It was a complete travesty on the conversation of the 
previous evening. Several days passed before either of 
us bagged another deer, although we were on the war 
path each day. Coming in from the tramp one day I 
heard the flute like voice of a hound in ful’ chase. 
Although the laws of the state have tabooed deer cours- 
ing, yet still the dogs will occasionally take matters in 
their own hands and get up a lively' race for ‘ Old Lang 
Syne.” 
Leaning on my rifle, I listen to the music of the chase 
as mountain and valley echoes with Ihe soul stirring 
melody. Alternately approaching and receding, now 
nearly lost while passing through some ravine, again 
bursting with redoubled clamor upon the ear, then grad- 
ually growing fainter and fainter in the distance, wholly 
lost at times, but the sweet strains mellowed by distance 
again reaches the ear as the chase leads over some hill, 
then they are lost in the distance and unbroken silence 
ensues. 
Arousing myself 1 co'tinue on my way and at length 
reach the house where Si is giving an elaborate descrip- 
tion of how he “just almost killed a big buck.” The 
hound I had been listening to belonged to Indian Pete, 
a relic of that once powerful tribe of Indians whose 
prowess and noble character is 'placed upon history’s 
page by the pen of Cooper, “The Mohicans.” It seemed 
that his hound had driven tiie deer through Brown’s 
clearing and Si being the only' man at home had given 
him a broadside from one of the shot guns. 
“I jest tell you what now, he was an ole slapper, and 
I bet I hit him like blazes too,” said Si excit-dly. 
“What gun did you shoot?” asked AVill, who had just 
come in. “Fred’s shot-gun.” “How far off was the 
deer when you shot?” ‘‘O, not over twenty rods, I 
guess.” “Well, you must have given him a blazing hit, 
for Fred’s gun was loaded with No. 9 shot to shoot 
ruffed grouse with, and they are formidable mi: siles to 
fire at a deer that is twenty' rods distant.” “0, yes, 
laugh now, but I don’t care. I’ll kill the next deer I 
shoot at, you bet,” said Si, with determination and 
burnt powder in every lineament of his face. 
The evenings were pleasantly passed by' the cheerful 
fireside in narrating exploits, etc. The description of 
one will serve for all. It is just after our good substan- 
tial supper, and we gather in the south room, guns, 
traps, and all the et eeUra of the backwoodsman’s home 
standing and hanging around. “Now,” says Will “let’s 
have a song from Joe.” “And a chapterof acting from 
Pete,” (who by the way is a great mimic, and who 
caused us to laugh until our sides ached at his rendering 
of the speech and peculiarities of some noted characterl 
put in Si. ‘‘And a story' from Brown,” I added. 
All of this programme was duly carried out, but I 
will only give the story from Brown. 
“Well, boys,” he began, ‘H don’t know but what I've 
told all the stories about myself that would inurest you; 
however, I guess I never told y'ou how old S. and tw<i 
others came up in here once to learn me how to still 
hunt deer. They c.ampcd down there by the Sprague 
Brook. Olds, claimed to be the best deer stalker in 
all the country at that time. AVell, at it they went with 
spirit (which they carried in black bottles) sullicient to 
ensure succe.ss I will confess that a spirit of rivalry 
prompted me to do my' best. Somehow or other for- 
tune turned her back upon them from the first, while 
she smiled upon me, for when they had killed five I 
had scored twelve. It may be that their bad luck was 
owing to too frequent observations through their “black 
telescopes.” I wound up that hunt with one of the 
best day’s works I ever did. There came on quite a 
heavy fall of snow one night, and I started out early in 
the morning w ith my rifle, taking the precaution before 
starting of tying old Spot, (his dog) for he had a habit 
of following me wherever I went. I tramped until af- 
ternoon without coming upon any signs of game when 
all at once I heard something panting behind me. 1 
first thought it was wolves, for they were quite plenty, 
and I had had a brush with them only a short time be- 
fore, but in a moment old Spot c-ame up to me with a 
piece of rope aiound hi-< neck. He had broken loose 
and followed me through all my zigzag course during 
the day. Alukiug him “come to heel,” I proceeded on 
my' way'. A short time after that as 1 came up on top 
of a little knoll and glanced into the valley' beyond, 1 
saw five deer feeding in the tops of some fallen trees. 
Instantly placing my foot upon Spot I he'd him down, 
and while doing this two more deer walked out from 
their coverts and commenced f<‘e<ling with the rest. 
Hastily selecting a fine one I sighted close and brought 
him down dead. The rest did not appear to notice the 
report of the rifle, but went on feeding as before. I 
loaded and fired as rapidly as possible, and had brought 
down five in succession, but when charging my gun the 
fifth time the bud t stuck in tiie barnrl, and in my ef- 
forts to drive it home I unconsciously released Spot and 
rushing in he stampeded the oilier two. Had it not 
been for this mishap I think I might have killed the en- 
tire drove. This ended the hunt for the snow crusted 
and spoiled the still-Lunling for thegestof the season. 
The scores now stood five to seventeen. I never heard 
of their bragging over their success as teachers of the 
science of deer-stalking after that.” 
The next day, I think, after the recital of the above 
story, Pete came in in high spirits saying hehad matched 
me, and j<ut out the track of a fine buck just bar-k 
of Roundtop Mountain. Our,“bag” was now oecoming 
quite satisfactory to us, for in addition to the deer we 
had a nice lot of ruffed grouse and fur; yet a spirit of ri- 
valry made me long for just one more crack at the wary' 
game. I was destined to wait, however, until the day 
before the one set for our return before my hopes were 
realized. On that day Pete and myself went down the 
river and crossed at a point known as the Burnt Spruce. 
Here we separated, and soon'; after I was following the 
fresh track of a deer which led up the river. Gingerly, 
but firmly, I move forward on the trail, repeating al- 
most in detail the maneuvers which placed me within 
range of the big buck. In this way I reach the Sprague 
Brook across w'hich I pick my way, drawing myself up 
the steep bluff that rises abruptly' on the south side of the 
river at this point, by the saplings which come in my 
way. Here I stop to rest and search with keen glance 
the valley before me for the game which I feel confident 
■is not far ahead. AVhile standing thus, I hear twigs 
lightly snapping, and with both hammers up strain my' 
eyes to discover the cause. Ila! the game is there, and 
scents danger, as is proven by that snuffing that I can 
hear. The next instant with a crash it breaks cover, 
and two or three bounds brings into full view a fine doe 
ihat is coming directly toward me. Now to make my- 
self as much of a stump as possible, for a single motion 
will send her off into the thick cover on either side 
when she will be lost to me. A few more rapid bounds 
brings her abreast and not four rods distant from me. 
She catches sight of me as I bleat to stop her. I had 
heard a great deal about the speed of the red deer, but 
never had I witnessed such an exhibition of it as I then 
and there beheld. AVith neck outstretched and every 
muscle strained to the utmost she fairly flies over the 
ground. Instinctively the gun is raised, and as the 
butt strikes my' shoulder the buck shot from the left bar- 
rel goes crashing through hers. Still she continues to 
plunge forward with both forelegs broken at the shoul- 
der, and as she comes to a halt with her head under a 
log, she diops at the crack of the rifle with a hullet 
through her heart, a faint quivering of the muscles is 
seen, and all is over. It was quite late when I reached 
the house, on the way to which I tasked my philosophy 
to find the cause that made that deer run straight into 
the jaws of death after being warned of the danger that 
threatened her. On reaching the house the solution of 
the problem was not difficult at all. 
“Pete, did you hear my' gun at sundown to-day?” I 
asked. “Yes, both barrels.” “AA’here were you at the 
time.” “1 was on a hill just opp’j.-ite Sprague Brook, 
back about eighty rods from the river, picking some 
gum from a spruce tree.” “Ha, ha! do you know that 
you frightened a fine doe almost to the muzzle of my' 
gun?” “No, I didn’t imagine anything of the kind. 
I thought you were shooting at some grouse that flew 
from over my head in that direction. Did you kill 
her?” ‘‘Yes.” “AYell, that just completes our bag. 
AA'hat a glorious show' those deer will make iu Saratoga, 
and what glorious sport we have had iu killing them; 
may the next season furnish as good sport, and may 
continued health enable us to enjoy it together.” 
The next day'dawi;ed bright and beautiful. A few 
fleecy clouds bung lightly here and there in the horizon, 
the grand old mountains reared themselves aloft like 
monarchs decked in rare gems, and the river in its never 
ceasing inurmurings seemed inviting us to a longer 
stay. But it could not be: so after a hearty leave- 
taking of our host and hostess and each member of the 
family', we turn our faces homeward. And now, kind 
reader, when another season rolls round if you would 
enjoy good sport coupled with all the comforts of home, 
go as we did, to J. P. Brown’s and try “Deer Stalking 
iu the Adirondacks.” 
BASS FISHIXG AT KELLI’S ISLAM), 
LAKE ERIE. 
BY G. B. E. 
Island House — The bass fishing at this point has been 
exceptionally' good this spring in respect to numbers,' 
but the fish have not run so large as last year. The 
largest fish taken fell to the rod of Air. Simon of Cin- 
cinnati, and weighed (byr my “chum,” which ends dis- 
cU'Sion) lbs. 1 oz. — something to trylackle, skill and 
nerve. Air. S. of the Times, and his partner, killed 138 
fish the first day on the reef off Long Point, and aver- 
ageA 100 per day for three days. Other takes nparly 
equalled this, but did not quite come up to it. There 
is no comparison between the fishing at Kelly’s Island 
and f ut-in-Bay; the latter is attractive as a watering 
place, and no doubt fair baskets of fish are occasionally 
