45fi 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Oct. ii, 1913. 
Deer Hunting in Louisiana 
By L. W. MITCHELL 
H AVING never seen an article from any of 
the sporting fraternity on deer hunting in 
this "neck-o'-the-woods,” I thought possi¬ 
bly it might interest some of those who are fond 
of the chase, and enjoy the “sweet music” of 
the pack, to know how we hunt this fleet-footed 
quadruped in the lowlands of the Gulf coast 
country. 
Those who are familiar with the geography 
of this section know that bordering on the Gulf 
of Mexico, in some of the Southern States, 
there lie vast stretches of prairie. Back from 
the coast the country is high, or above tide water, 
the soil fertile, and adapted to agriculture and 
stock raising, while that bordering on the gulf 
is low and level, with little lagoons here and 
there, and thousands of slug¬ 
gish little bayous that wind 
their crooked course out to 
sea. Here in these boggy flats 
are found the “fur and feath¬ 
ered race” in abundance. Not 
as plentiful of course as in 
days gone by, but sufficiently 
numerous to afford the hunter 
all the sport he could ask for, 
and the trapper the means of 
a livelihood. As the small fur¬ 
bearing animals, such as the 
’coon, ’possum, mink and 
muskrat seem to thrive here 
better than back on the ridges 
and hills, the latter (muskrat) 
is the greatest nuisance the 
hunter has to contend with, 
as they burrow down in the 
soft ground, and in places 
completely honeycombing the 
earth, which, when covered 
by tide water, makes walk¬ 
ing difficult and disagreeable, 
especially on a cold morning when a fellow hap¬ 
pens to "go down” in one of these holes up to 
his waist. And for this reason the experienced 
marsh hunter wears a light shoe in preference 
to heavy boots, as he finds the shoe more com¬ 
fortable and easier to “carry” than a pair of 
high top boots filled with water. 
On a cool frosty morning the deer are some¬ 
times found out in the high marsh grass, or 
reed cane, where they lie basking in the sun¬ 
shine, but are more often hid in the little myrtle 
thickets during the day, coming out at night to 
feed on the wild pea, which in appearance re¬ 
sembles the common cow pea, but having a much 
smaller leaf and pod than the domestic variety. 
It would be impossible to hunt deer here with¬ 
out dogs, as the grass and reeds grow to such 
height and so rank that one might almost stum¬ 
ble over a deer without getting more than a 
glimpse of a white “flag” as he made the first 
high leap, for when he “levels down to business” 
you lose sight of him completely, and can only 
hear the loud cracking of the reed cane as he 
“boots it” for some distant thicket, as here and 
there in these boundless stretches of sea marsh 
are little clumps of wild myrtle looking like an 
oasis in the midst of the desert. The willow 
shades the tanks of the crooked little bayous, 
and comfortably seated in the forks of a con¬ 
venient tree the hunter waits for the dogs to 
drive the deer out in the open. And what a 
glorious sight as the big buck—to take the hunt¬ 
er's word for it, they are all big—with head 
thrown back, antlers glistening in the morning 
sun and white “flag'’ spread comes “riding” the 
high grass like a thoroughbred going over the 
hurdles! It is useless to say that under such 
conditions it requires considerable skill to bag 
your game at any great distance. As you have 
got to get in your "work” when the deer ‘ clears” 
the top of the high grass, and with a yelping 
pack close on his heels, there is very little time 
lost in doing the “clearing act.” The sportsmen 
AS HE MADE THE FIRST HIGH LEAP. 
who likes his rifle will find the marsh lands the 
ideal hunting grounds. 
Greenhouses. 
The greenhouse industry of Massachusetts 
is one of the highly important branches of its 
agriculture. The Experiment Station has just 
issued a bulletin which should prove of great 
value to all those engaged in it, and especially 
to such as are contemplating putting up new 
houses. This bulletin is No. 144, “The Relation 
of Light to Greenhouse Culture,” by George E. 
Stone. 
It shows the highly important relation of 
light to the development of greenhouse crops, 
and to the prevention of disease in such crops, 
and it shows how different types of construc¬ 
tion affect the light. All growers of lettuce, 
cucumbers, roses, carnations, or other forced 
crops should find suggestions of value. 
The bulletin will be sent at once on applica¬ 
tion. Address, Massachusetts Agricultural Ex¬ 
periment Station, Amherst, Mass. 
Washington stands first in lumber produc¬ 
tion, with Louisiana second. 
An Unsuccessful Moose Hunt. 
BY W. P. 
I had not arranged for any hunting last 
year, but hearing that four moose had been killed 
close to Ruel Station shortly after the opening 
of the season on Oct. 15, I went there from 
Toronto with a friend. We arrived on Nov. 2 
and stayed till the 22d. Ruel is far up in North¬ 
ern Ontario, 327 miles north of Toronto, and 
when we were there it was the northern terminus 
for passenger trains of the Canadian Northern 
Railway, though construction trains went further. 
Though we killed no moose, our experiences 
may be of some interest to sportsmen, as the 
country is little known to them. 
When we arrived we found that two titled 
Englishmen, with Canadian friends, including 
two ladies, had arrived with us, having had a 
special Pullman and dining car, that they had 
engaged six guides, all that were available, and 
several launches and canoes, owned by Thos. 
Clemow, storekeeper and outfitter of Ruel, that 
they were going by water to a lake where moose 
were said to be plentiful, and that some of the 
guides had gone ahead to prepare a camp for 
them. Mr. Clemow could do nothing for us, 
but was kind enough to post us about the coun¬ 
try. He told us that the west side of the rail¬ 
way was very rough and advised us to hunt to 
the east where all of the four moose had been 
killed by hunters who had put up with him and 
walked into the bush daily till each got his 
moose, one of which had a 57-inch head. We 
took his advice, hunted from Ruel, and found 
that two other men from the South were doing 
the same thing. 
We found the country rolling, with little 
rock showing anywhere, and that except near 
water, where there were a few white birch trees, 
the timber was all soft jack pine, spruce and 
hemlock. There had been big forest fires and 
a bride, or burnt district, extended three miles 
to the east to a group of three small lakes at 
which the fire had stopped. There were not 
many moose tracks near the railway, but they 
were so plentiful, large and small, near the lakes 
that it would have been hard to find a spot in 
which they were not visible, showing plainly on 
the burnt ground, but being nearly all old. We 
saw where two of the four moose shot had 
fallen, and where the ravens had been busy on 
the entrails. The four, by the way, had been 
brought out of the woods on a jumper. There 
had been no difficulty about this. An easy trail 
had been found, sloping downward to Ruel. 
We found that we were too late. The 
moose, except a few stray ones, had ail left 
for the thick bush at the end of the rutting 
season, to stay there for the winter. My com¬ 
panion did not see a moose, neither did one of 
the other two hunters, but the other reported 
having seen a cow and I saw one myself. 
Here and there, near the water, we saw 
deer tracks, and my companion caught sight of 
a doe, which vanished before he could shoot. 
Deer were said to be getting more numerous 
yearly, being hounded out, it was supposed, of the 
country to the south, in which hunters swarmed. 
Ruffed grouse were scarce near the rail¬ 
way, having been nearly exterminated by the 
Italians who had worked in the construction 
gangs. They were said to be numerous further 
into the bush. 
