FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 22, 1906. 
45 ** 
the rest, furnished with a tin horn nearly 
as long as myself. I blew such a blast as would, 
I suppose, have shaken down the walls of Jericho, 
if they had been there, and blew until 1 had 
no strength to blow any more. As we drew near 
the center, where there v\as a running brook and 
a cave in the rocks, the excitement increased. 
Soon wild animals of different sorts were seen 
darting about. There were deer in considerable 
numbers, though in poor condition, as I remem¬ 
ber, and a great many were killed. In their 
fright and eagerness to escape, they ran directly 
at the lines of hunters. I saw some of them leap 
clear over the heads of the men. Foxes were 
numerous too, and a great many were 
killed, with smaller game of different sorts. 
But we were af.er wolves; and after all 
our marching and hallooing, and beating of 
bushes, my recollection is that not a single wolf 
was captured or killed—or if any, only one or 
two—land the whole affair was a failure so far 
as the wolf part was concerned." 
While John McCurie was out a-hunting with 
a strange gun, he came unexpectedly upon a bear; 
he tried to shoot it, but the gun would not go 
off—but the bear did—he went off after McCune, 
and McCune went after safety. The race for 
awhile was a draw, McCune was ahead, but the 
bear was coming in a close second. Every few 
rods McCune would whirl around and try to fire 
the gun, but the tarnal thing would not go off; 
it was a complete fizzle, and the man found his 
legs the better gun of the two. After a half 
mile of woodland had been covered, his cries 
brought to his assistance some dogs, and be¬ 
tween his profanity, his canine friends, and the 
gun which made a good club, if not a firearm, 
bruin was driven away. 
McCune’s wife was, however, more successful. 
She saw something pass her door in the dusk 
of the evening that she thought was a strange 
dog. Rushing out of the cabin she set her own 
dog upon it. It was then she discovered it to 
be a large black wolf, the most bloodthirsty and 
ferocious of the wolf tribe in her “neck of 
woods." No gun being at hand, the fearless 
woman armed herself with a pitchfork, and set 
out in nursuit. Her dog kept up a running fight 
with the wolf, allowing her to get in a vicious 
jab now and then. After a long running fight 
in the dark, and between the woman, the dog, 
and the pitchfork, the wolf was finally slain. 
On another occasion, while McCune was on 
a hunting expedition, in company with John 
Boyles, they came upon a female bear and her 
two cubs. Boyles fired at and wounded the old 
bear, and then, desiring to see some fun, and at 
the same time train his dog, laid down his gun 
and set the dog on one of the cubs. The old 
bear and the other cub beat a hasty retreat. 
Boyles was so interested with the fracas ,between 
the dog and the cub that he did not notice that 
the old bear had returned, until she had placed 
herself between him and his glut He danced 
around in his misery and kept shouting for help 
as loud as he could, at the same time drawing 
his hunting knife, resolved to put up as good a 
fight as lie could, for he was 110 coward. McCune 
hearing his partner's cries came on the double 
Quick, and just in time. He at once wheeled in 
position, and sent an ounce of lead crashing 
through the old bear’s brain. 
It was not the men only in those days who 
were brave and fearless. The women of the 
frontier were nursed in danger, cradled in peril, 
fed on the horrors of field and chase and in¬ 
herited with every breath of life, courage and in¬ 
dependence of character, fearlessness and love of 
dangerous pursuits. 
On one occasion, a Mrs. Armstrong saw the 
dogs pursue a deer on the ice in the creek, near 
the house. She needed that venison; she must 
have it, but there being no man about the house, 
the task of procuring it devolved upon her. 
Seizing the only tools at hand, an ax, and butcher 
knife, she hastened after her quarry. The deer 
was helpless on the ice, every one • of his feet 
were performing a separate journey. She suc¬ 
ceeded in getting scmarely in front of it and 
knocked it down with the ax and cut its throat 
with her butcher knife. 
Jeremiah Clements and Israel Bobo, noted hun¬ 
ters in their locality, killed in one season, and 
in one neighborhood, sixty-five bears. Joseph 
Bobo, son of Israel, speaking of his father, and 
his father’s days, said: 
“So far as meat was concerned, we had plenty 
by killing if in the woods. Deer, bears and tur¬ 
keys were plenty, and 1 have seen a good many 
elk when I was a boy, and some buffalo. My 
father was considerable of a hunter and killed 
a great many deer and bears. 1 remember an 
adventure he had with a bear when I was about 
fifteen. In the forepart of the winter the fat 
bears would go into a hollow tree, or cave, and 
stay there until spring. They • were always 
fat when they came out. Frequently they 
went into pretty rough caves or holes in the 
rocks. Father would go in with a pine torch in 
'one hand and his gun in the other, and crawl 
as close as he could, and then shoot. George 
Shidler found a hole in the rocks they had never 
been in before, so father lighted his torch and 
started in to explore as usual. He had gone 
about twenty-five feet, and looking all the time 
to see if there was anything, when suddenly the 
bear struck the torch with his paw r , putting out 
the light. Father got out of that as quickly as 
possible, and told Shidler what had happened, 
and that the bear was lying in a very difficult 
place to shoot, as it was around the corner of 
a rock which he could not pass, the hole being- 
very small. But father determined to go in 
again, and told George to stand at the mouth of 
the hole, and if the bear came out to shoot it. 
With lighted torch in hand he crawled as close 
to the bear as he could, fired, but only wounded 
him. The bear then started for the mouth of the 
hole, right toward father, who had just time to 
lie flat on his stomach, when the bear rushed over 
him, tearing his clothes pretty badly, and leav¬ 
ing marks of his claws on his back that he 
carried to his grave. Shidler was ready at the 
mouth of the hole, and when the bear came out, 
gave him an ounce of lead that settled him. They 
dressed the bear and he weighed 390 pounds. My 
father killed as many as seven deer in a single 
day, and that for many days at a time. My 
father killed an elk and a few buffaloes after 
we came here. When I was a young man • I 
have stood in one spot, behind a large tree, and 
killed three deer as fast as I' could load and shoot. 
My brother Thomas killed twelve deer the year 
he became twelve years old.” 
At irregular intervals one of those strange 
migrations of squirrels would .occur for which 
no satisfactory cause has been given by natural¬ 
ists. Starting from the remote norihwest, they 
would come in countless numbers, and nothing 
would turn them in their course. If a house or 
a barn stood in their way they would not go 
around it. but up it, over and down on the other 
side. Streams and rivers were no impediment to 
them. Seizing a chip, or a branch of wood, they 
would boldly enter the water, raise their bushy 
tails for a sail and trust themselves to the mercy 
of the. waves. In places the ground wotdd liter¬ 
ally be alive with them. Here could be seen the 
burly fox, the common gray, the glossy black, 
and the nimble red squirrel, all mixed together 
and all bent on a common purpose. Woe to the 
farmer’s corn field that stood in the way. Many 
thousands of these little creatures were slaugh¬ 
tered by boys who stood on the banks of some 
stream armed with a club, and as the little 
travelers, bedraggled, with their fur heavv with 
water, came up the bank, they would _ fall an 
easy prey to the youthful hunters. 
Stopping one night with a farmer who was in 
line of one of these migrations, he had hauled his 
corn around the house for better protection. The 
next morning we were aroused by a great noise. 
The farmer and his do?s were endeavoring to 
scare the squirrels from off his corn-shocks, 
which they completely covered. After he had 
succeeded in chasing them away, seventy-five of 
these nests were counted on his well-sweep. „ 
While Chris Stevens, and a Dutchman by the 
name of Heck — a character, by the way—were out 
hunting, they succeeded in treeing a bear on a 
large white-wood tree. The tree was one of 
the highest in the wo°ds. and the bear climbed 
into its extreme top. The two men had but one 
gun between them; it was in the hands of 
Stevens, but he being a very tender-hearted man, 
did not appear very anxious to shoot. He would 
raise the gun, glance along the tube, then lower 
it. After repeating this movement three or four 
times, Heck who stod a little ways off boiling 
with impatience, not being able to hold in his 
indignation any longer, blurted out: 
“Why don’t you shoot?” 
Stevens, who was rather chicken hearted, hesi¬ 
tated, and then deliberately lowering his gun, 
drawded out: 
"Heck, I can’t bear to see the poor thing fall 
so far.” 
"Gott im Himmel !” cried the Dutchman, “gif 
me de gun den—I shoots him if he falls mit de 
ground 'til a t’ousand feet.” 
A change in the marksman soon brought bruin 
with a thundering thump to the ground. 
Minnesota Game. 
Balsam, Minn., Sept. 12 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The hunting season opened up the 
1st, with the guns out in full force. A good 
many had poor luck on grouse, but I have heard 
n 6 - complaints about the scarcity of ducks. I 
have seen several bags of mallards and wood 
ducks that ought to satisfy any one. There is 
an unusual number of native ducks along Sandy 
River and Wessel’s Lake. Bear are commenc¬ 
ing on the oak, three having been seen in the 
last week, one swimming Sandy River and get¬ 
ting away from four or five guns. Moose are 
appearing along the edge of the settlements. 
Deer seem to be very plenty in certain localities, 
being seen every day along the roads. Par¬ 
tridges are well grown, and the broods seem to 
be of good size. If the Indians can be kept 
from shooting them for the market this fall, as 
they have slaughtered them by the hundreds 
the last two years, next year will see them as 
plenty as they were four years ago. Some of 
the worst offenders have gone to White Earth, 
so that is a good many birds saved for another 
year. 
We ought to have good fall duck shooting, as 
rice is plenty in most of the lakes, the last flight 
usually being the best and the ducks in better 
condition. 
Last November I saw in Upper Twin Lake a 
flock of mallards that covered a good forty 
acres of water, and on a dead stub a big eagle 
waiting to pick up an occasional straggler. 
Sandy Lake. 
Virginia Quail. 
Norfolk, Va., Sept. 15 —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Judging from the reports of my far¬ 
mer customers in regard to the quail supply in 
this immediate section, would say that we have 
fewer birds this year than last, and last season 
there were very few. We had a fair stock of 
old birds left last season for breeding purposes, 
but the excessive rains this spring and summer 
have destroyed the young ones to a large extent. 
Reports from North Carolina and the upper por¬ 
tion of this State would indicate that they would 
have a fine supply of birds. E. C. Gunther. 
Caribou in Newfoundland. 
St. Johns. N. F , Sept. 8 . —The caribou season 
is now in full swing. Large numbers of hunters 
are in the woods, and many American hunters 
are arriving by each incoming steamer. The 
biggest caribou killed for some time was shot 
by Mr. I. March, of Bockwoodville. It tipped 
the scales at 312 pounds, and is considered a 
large animal. W. I. C. 
Last fall a gentleman from Auburn, N. Y., was 
visiting a brother here. They went out for a 
•night hunt. Eyes were seen. One of the 
shooters “let go” at them. Then there was a. 
good deal of racket in the brush. Venturing up 
a li'tle nearer, they- saw a large black object, 
which suggested bear. But whoever saw a bear 
have horns ? The farmer has an odd ox now, 
and forty dollars for the other one. 
One more. A young Nimrod went about three 
miles along the railroad track, when he saw an 
eye, at which he made a fine double shot, but 
failed to dim it in the least. It proved to be a 
headlight on an engine—some five miles away. 
Blank. 
