forest and s t rea m 
543 
e 
Some Points About Deer Hunting 
Minnesota Offers Many Opportunities for Successful Results in 
the Right Season 
By C. H. Lockwood. 
I N THE selection of a hunting ground for 
deer, naturally one will look for the location 
where deer are sufficiently numerous to war¬ 
rant good hunting. The fact that the deer range 
well over the United States gives great latitude 
for this particularly interesting form of sport, and 
it might not be overstretching the mark to say 
that deer attract more hunters to the woods 
than any other of our hunted game animals. Just 
why this is so, is perhaps universally felt or un¬ 
derstood by those who anually hie for the depths 
of the autumn woods, to fill their lungs with 
fresh, invigorating air, to relieve the high strung 
nerves and bring the blood to a clean, normal 
condition. I have often noticed that even doctors 
seem to prefer this prescription, to the bottled 
and labeled kind which rests invitingly upon ihe 
shelves at the drug store. 
Where to go is not a difficult question for 
those of our northern states. Most anywhere in 
the northern woods of my native state of Min¬ 
nesota, we find the white-tail deer in fair abun¬ 
dance. Remains then to consider a few minor 
items, such as—convenience of access to the 
hunting grounds,—the particular character of 
country desired by the hunter, and,—the amount 
of the expenditure necessary for such a trip. 
In speaking of access to the hunting grounds 
it is generally well to select a location accessible 
to wagon route. In moose hunting one might 
advocate exactly the opposite, for moose seem 
little inclined to stay along beaten wagon trails. 
Deer, however, do not seem to seriously object 
to a certain number of settlers in their vicinity 
and for this reason the deer hunter can go well 
prepared for comfort, with plenty of provisions 
and outfitting, team to escort him to the happy- 
hunting grounds, and feel assured that, unless 
there is an excess of hunters immediately near 
by, the deer will stay as long as the season lasts. 
Of course in the hunting season the deer move 
from one patch of woods to another, and as they 
become wild from constant hunting they take to 
the thicker swamps and inaccessible places to lie 
through the day. only coming out to feed during 
the night. At this stage of the game the hunter 
can usually find plenty of fresh tracks in the 
more open choppings, but to find the deer he will 
be led back into hidden retreats where the deer 
will have the advantage. Thus do these wily 
animals defy all the ingenuity of hunters and per¬ 
petuate their kind within the very limits of civil¬ 
ized and well settled communities. 
An excess of hunters in- a certain locality can 
generally be avoided by preparing in advance to 
go back some little distance from the railroad 
or stopping points. The danger from flying bul¬ 
lets from the weapons of careless hunters is not 
the least reason why deer hunters should seek- 
elbow room. 
Speaking of the danger connected with deer 
hunting, I realize that this feature at the present 
time is keeping many hunters from the woods; 
but I fully believe that if the hunting party will 
prepare in advance to go back a little further 
into the woods they will have little difficulty in 
finding suitable locations free from “waving- 
Drush” shooters. Another good way to avoid 
accidents is for the hunting party to be made 
up of those who know each other’s reputation 
along this line. 
Character of hunting country has somewhat to 
do with the individuality of the hunter. While 
one man may choose a rough, rolling or moun¬ 
tainous country, where he can climb hills and 
look upon distant peaks, others will prefer ? 
more flat country even with a splattering of wet 
bog. In the writer’s opinion the ideal deer hunt¬ 
ing country is a slightly rolling country of hard¬ 
wood ridges and thickets where the footing is 
comparatively dry. In this connection, high top 
rubbers are a very valuable thing to take along; 
and I have found the best brands to be the 
cheapest in the long run. Boots are good for 
dry weather, also the shoe-pacs; but for snow, 
rain and swamp, give me the high top rubbers, 
dry feet being the first requisite of health in the 
woods. 
As a rule deer are found in the old cut over 
timber, and here also the hunter usually finds 
numerous logging roads. Many an amusing deer 
story has had its origin along one of these old 
trails, and as a practicable means of access 
through the woods, and as a means of calling the 
deer out, these old roads are invaluable to the 
hunter, do walk along an old logging road in 
the first gray tints of morn and come face to 
lace with a big buck, or to jump a deer and watch 
l.is flag go bobbing along the old road for a Uw 
jumps ere he departs into the bush—these and 
similar memories are the golden moments of the 
hunter s dreams. In our reveries it is safe to say 
that it is not the dead, inanimate carcass of the 
fallen game which brings us those bright mo¬ 
ments of joy to our reflections; but rather is it 
the remembrance of a white bushy flag bobbing 
swiftly out of sight. This amidst other mem¬ 
ories of “life in the woods,” constitute, in the 
writer s opinion, a large part of the real essence 
of deer hunting. 
In regard to the expense of a deer hunting 
trip, it might be said that “time” is about the 
only expense for the real hunter. Of course one 
can hire guides and buy expensive outfits, but 
this is not in any way necessary to a full enjoy¬ 
ment of all the pleasures of the hunt. Given a 
tent, a camp-stove, a cooking outfit and some 
provisions, together with the consideration of 
railroad fare and team haul, the ordinary huntci 
can take a two or three weeks’ vacation for, say, 
an average of from $1.00 per day up. I have 
even known it made for much less. 
As part of the outfit a good rifle, properly 
sighted,»is of course indispensable. I am not a 
gun crank and personally consider most all of 
the high power guns equally good if rightly 
handled. There is one important point about a 
gun, however, that cannot be too strongly im¬ 
pressed upon the general deer hunter, as well as 
the amateur. Before trying the gun on deer, 
target it so that you are confident it shoots ex¬ 
actly where you hold it. This means for a clean 
shot when the opportunity arrives where per¬ 
haps a miss, from this particular neglect, after 
having tramped the woods for many days, might 
cause one to think that the deer is indeed an 
illusive game animal. 
When the First Snows of Early Winter Come. 
