Oct. io, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
575 
A Good Hunting Country. 
Montreal, Can., Oct. 1 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The month of November is one looked 
forward to by many as the great month of the 
year, the Ontario hunting month, and the follow¬ 
ing words have been penned in the hope that 
they may lead some brother sportsman to try his 
luck in a territory at present little known to the 
big game man, and one, moreover, that has been 
little hunted, except by local sportsmen. The 
country between Fort William and Kenora is, 
and will for years to come be, reserved to sport, 
the land being unsuitable for agricultural pur¬ 
poses. It is literally alive with moose, caribou, 
red deer and black bear; moreover, smaller game 
and birds are more than plentiful, ducks in par¬ 
ticular being found in great quantities on nearly 
all the innumerable lakes of this district. 
Of late years the sharp-tailed grouse, or prairie 
chicken, has increased in numbers, the reason be¬ 
ing given that it has been attracted by the grain 
scattered from cars along the railway track. This 
may or may not be the true reason, but it is quite 
probable, as pheasants in England are attracted 
from miles distant by spreading raisins in woods, 
and if pheasants come to raisins, why not chick¬ 
ens to grain? Be the cause of this sporting bird’s 
arrival in these parts what it may, it is very wel¬ 
come, and will take the place of the partridge, 
which a variety of causes has practically exter¬ 
minated. It is an easy country to hunt, and it is 
not necessary to go more than four or five miles 
from the railway to get all the game allowed by 
law. 
Where all the country is good it is almost un¬ 
necessary to make mention of individual places, 
but (going west from Fort William) the follow¬ 
ing places are worthy of special mention: Sa- 
vanne, Niblock, English, Martin’s Siding, Ignace, 
Dinorwic, and Wabigoon. It would be a very 
singular experience for any hunting party with a 
good guide not to get the legal limit. If I had 
to name one place as his choice it would be 
Wabigoon. Moose, caribou, deer, bears, wolves, 
lynx, foxes, partridges, ducks, snipe and plover 
can all be got within four miles of the town. 
Fifty miles south from this town lies a lake in 
the Manitou country known as Bass Lake, which 
teems with bass. There is steamboat connection 
from Wabigoon through to the lake via Gold 
Rock. The scenery is beautiful and the climate 
grand. Can any reader name another town that 
offers the same sporting advantages close at 
hand? If so, I would like to know where it is. 
Starting out from English there is one splen¬ 
did camping ground, which can be reached by 
canoe. It is a ten-mile paddle to Loon Lake, 
which is studded with islands and forms one of 
a chain, so that travelling about is easy. This is 
an exceptionally good spot for moose, and as yet 
they have not been disturbed by the summer 
camper. The invasion of the summer tourist 
cannot long be delayed, however, when the 
natural beauties of this lake are better known. 
From Ignace a party of six who started out 
last year killed their six moose in four days, also 
getting their limit of deer. This particular party 
did not see any caribou, but the weather condi¬ 
tions may have been the reason, as numbers had 
been seen on this ground earlier in the year; 
and, as everyone knows, caribou migrate from 
one locality to another according to the weather. 
The south side of the Canadian Pacific railway 
seems to be the favorite hunting ground, but 
there is any quantity of game to the north, and 
by hunting both sides of the track one can enjoy 
an open season extending from October 16th to 
November 15th for moose and caribou, and from 
the 1st to the 15th of November for deer. The 
deer are most plentiful on the high grounds to 
the south of the railroad. The red deer is not a 
native of this country, but has become very abun¬ 
dant during the last three or four years, having 
probably been driven up from the South by 
wolves, which are present in large numbers, and 
the traces of the damage they are doing to the 
deer are everywhere evident. Guides, tents, 
canoes and provisions can be obtained at various 
points. Rates vary a little, but are about $2.50 
per day for a man and his canoe. 
Taking everything into consideration, it would 
be hard to name a part of Canada that, as a 
game center, can equal this section, let alone sur¬ 
pass it. C. F. Lane. 
Hunting in California. 
San Francisco, Cal., Oct 2. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The open season for ducks began 
on the first of the month, and the quail season is 
fifteen days later. During the past month the 
members of the various gun clubs have visited 
their respective preserves and now have their 
boats and blinds and decoys in readinesss for the 
opening day. From all sections of the State 
come the reports of indications of a splendid 
season. The broadbills are more plentiful than 
they have been for a number of years, and un¬ 
less something unforeseen happens there seems 
to be no reason why satisfactory bags should not 
be the rule during the early part of the season. 
About the only thing that could happen to spoil 
the opening of the duck season would be a heavy 
rainstorm that would cause the birds to journey 
further south to feed on the new grass that 
would spring up there. The Field and Tule Club, 
which has always had its preserve at Cordelia 
on the Suisun marshes, has decided to abandon 
its old shooting ground, and has just taken a 
lease on nine sections of land along the San 
Joaquin River in the vicinity of Los Banos. An 
elegant new bungalow has been erected for the 
comfort of members, and those who have seen 
the new place are loud in their praise of it and 
consider the move a very wise one. 
From Tulare Lake comes the news that the 
ducks there are more plentiful than they have 
been for a number of years, but that they are 
dying off for some unknown reasons, and that 
the dead birds are to be found by thousands. A 
peculiar feature of it is the fact that the smaller 
birds, teals especially, are the ones most affected. 
The State Game Commissioners have been in¬ 
formed of the matter and are now making an 
investigation, but so far are not in a position to 
make any statement. Farmers in the vicinity 
have been putting out poisoned wheat for black¬ 
birds, but it is not thought possible that so many 
ducks could have had access to this, and besides 
the dead birds show no outward signs of having 
been killed by strychnine. Cases have been 
known before where game has died in certain 
districts without apparent cause. 
Lieutenant Bert T. Demmitt and G. Sturgeon 
have just returned to Los Angeles from a ten 
days’ camping trip in San Gabriel Canon, where, 
in company with Leo Weber of Santa Paula, 
they passed their vacation, and succeeded in 
securing three fine bucks. In one respect their 
hunt approaches a record—that of killing every 
deer sighted. They state that the cool weather 
has brought the deer out of the mountain fast¬ 
nesses and that tracks are now to be found far 
down in the foothills, where the deer come in 
search of water, which is getting scarce in some 
places. Young Weber made the most sensa¬ 
tional kill of the trip, securing a fine blacktail 
buck within 200 yards of camp while on camp 
duty. This was the first deer he had ever seen, 
and naturally he was greatly pleased. 
R. D. Tucker, the veteran Plumas County 
hunter, states that the operations of the Western 
Pacific railroad in that section of the country is 
driving the deer away from many of their old 
haunts, but that in the vicinity of Spanish Ranch 
and the North Fork of the Feather River there 
is still plenty of sport and deer are very plentiful 
this season. The early hunting will be best, in 
his estimation, as the extremely dry weather and 
lack of water in the foothill country has driven 
the deer back where feed is more plentiful. Sev¬ 
eral large flocks of sheep have been herded in 
this territory on the Government reservation this 
season, and as a result more bear and wild game 
such as mountain lions and lynxes are to be 
found. 
Severe forest fires are now raging all along 
the coast in the vicinity of Eureka, and game is 
being driven toward the Klamath Lake district. 
This section is well supplied with game and is 
becoming quite well known by sportsmen. The 
success attained there by the Harriman party this 
season has .been the means of inducing President 
Roosevelt to consider a trip there as soon as his 
term of office is over, and he is preparing to send 
his guide there to look over the prospect. 
Three policemen of the San Francisco force 
have been spending their vacation in the moun¬ 
tains north of Ukiah and have just returned with 
several fine pairs of antlers to show for their 
trip. Three deer were bagged by them in two 
days, and although others were seen after this, 
no attempts were made to kill more, as they had 
no use for them. During the trip policeman 
Charles E. Munn became lost and for two days 
subsisted on a can of ancient salmon that he 
found in an abandoned cabin. He wandered for 
a long way before he finally found a human 
habitation and was piloted back to his camp. 
With the trophies of the chase to reward him for 
his experiences the policeman now looks back 
upon those two days in the woods as something 
in the nature of a lark. A. P. B. 
A Big Elk. 
One of the largest elk ever known to have 
been killed in Clackamas County, Ore., was 
brought to Portland, Ore., by F. A. Rosenkrans, 
according to the Journal of that city. The ani¬ 
mal weighed 1,200 pounds and his antlers meas¬ 
ure four and a half feet and contain fifteen large 
prongs. The measurement from tip to tip of the 
prongs is three and a half feet. 
Rosenkrans killed the animal on the head¬ 
waters of the Clackamas River, near Mount Jef¬ 
ferson, September 15. He has preserved the pelt 
and antlers, and will have them mounted by one 
of Portland’s best taxidermiste. 
