574 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 9, 1909 
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As the deer was evidently a big one, and as it 
was already getting late, we decided that the 
homesteader and myself would keep the track, 
while Louis, the other member of our party, 
would circle and try to head the buck. W e 
followed for about half an hour, proceeding 
carefully, but he kept on going. We lost all 
track of Louis and decided to push on fast. 
In the openings we trotted and ran, there being 
blood enough to make tracking very easy. 
Finally on striking some hardwood timber 
which was rather scattering, we now and then 
caught a glimpse of the quarry, just one jump 
at a time. I made several snapshots, but with¬ 
out result. 
The homesteader wanted to quit. It was late. 
He did not know where we were. We might 
have to lie out all night. We could not get the 
buck anyway. We had been working generally 
north, and I knew we must hit the logging rail¬ 
road soon, and so pushed on, my companion fol¬ 
lowing. In about five minutes or a little more 
we did hit the railroad. The deer had crossed 
without stopping and was still bleeding. It was 
now nearly dark. 
“Let’s give him up,” said the homesteader. 
“No,” said I, “he is traveling pretty slowly. 
Let’s keep after him as long as we can see to 
shoot. We are safe now, for we cannot get 
far from the railroad. Anyway, when the men 
quit and the train goes in we can hear it so 
we won’t get lost.” He would not do it. Put 
the dog after him,” said I. “He won’t chase 
a deer,” was his reply. “Try him,” I cried. 
All this time the little dog had been quietly 
following behind us. “Here, Sport,” I called, 
“sick him, sick him,” pointing with my finger 
to the tracks and blood. The little fellow came, 
snuffed the track and bounded away like a 
scared rabbit. Over a ridge he went and was 
hardly out of sight when he began to bark 
furiously. We started for him on the run and 
scrambled up the ridge just in time to see deer 
and dog disappear over another ridge further 
on. After them we ran, calling, “Sick hjm, 
Sport; sick him, Sport,” as loud as we could. 
Again we heard the dog yipping away ahead. 
As we scaled the next ridge we saw at its 
base on the other side a small round spruce 
swamp. The center was open, a small wild 
cranberry marsh. In the center were deer and 
dog, the former hooking and the latter dodging. 
Down the hillside we ran, falling over each 
other in our haste and together we broke 
through the head-high clumps of spruce into 
the open. 
Then the deer saw us. He did not run; he 
was through with that. He ruffled up the hair 
on his neck and along the entire length of his 
back like an angry dog, stuck his tail up straight 
and with head carried forward on a line with 
his back started at a quick trot for us, paying 
no attention to the little dog yelping at his heels. 
Boom, boom, went both barrels of the home¬ 
steader’s shotgun. “Look out, Charlie, look out, 
he’s coming!” he yelled; then in an instant he 
threw down his gun, jumped behind me and 
grabbed me around the body and one arm with 
both of his arms, all the time yelling, “Look 
out! look out!” 
“Let go of me,” I cried, and that not sufficing 
and the buck hardly fifty feet away, I kicked 
out hard behind, hit him in the abdomen and 
freed myself. At a distance of not more than 
twenty feet I shot and killed the big buck. The 
force of the .45-90 striking him just between the 
center of the breast and the point of the shoul¬ 
der almost keeled him end over end. Twenty 
days later and after he had hung dressed in 
the woods that length of time he weighed 217 
pounds. His horns had ten points. 
After I shot the deer I collapsed. I per¬ 
spired as if in a Turkish bath. I shook—not 
trembled, but shook—so I could not even hold 
my gun. I simply wilted down in the wet snow 
and moss and sat and panted for breath. For 
about ten minutes, as the boys say, I was simply 
“scared stiff.” An examination of the rifle 
showed both chamber and magazine empty. 
Without knowing it I had but one cartridge and 
had killed the buck with the “last shot in the 
locker.” 
When the deer was skinned out at home, one 
buckshot from the homesteader’s gun was found 
just under the skin near the base of the buck’s 
neck. It had broken the skin and followed just 
under it. My first shot had broken a hind leg 
just above the gambrel. When we reached the rail¬ 
road track on our way to camp it was pitch dark. 
I have hunted deer for thirty years and killed 
a great many of them under varying conditions, 
but this was the first and only one that attacked 
me or showed any disposition to do so. 
Carolus. 
Game in Asia Minor. 
A Great many American travelers passing 
through Smyrna make inquiries at the Consulate 
of the United States concerning the amount and 
variety of wild game still extant in Asia Minor. 
Upon inquiry from trustworthy sources Consul- 
General Ernest L. Harris states the following: 
In the immediate neighborhood of Smyrna— 
that is, about two hours’ hide on the Aidin rail- 
way _one gets into a district which abounds in 
wild boars. For the most part these animals 
have been spared in the past for the reason that 
the Turkish peasant people do not eat the meat 
of hogs, and when they resort to killing them 
it is more a matter of precautionary measures 
in order to save their gardens and fields from 
the depredations of wild boars, which roam in 
droves at night through some of the 'most fertile 
spots in the Maeander and Cayster plains, and 
then retreat to the swamps and low mountain 
ranges which skirt the coast. 
In Asia Minor it is not customary for the 
peasants to build fences around their fields, but 
in such regions where the wild boar is at home 
they are often forced to do so or run the risk 
of having their crops completely destroyed. 
Apart from the boar which inhabits southern 
Asia Minor, I am informed that the mountain 
ranges of Paphlagonia and the Taurus are also 
frequented by large numbers, which roam at 
will in those regions and form a menace to 
agriculture. I am further informed that in the 
vicinity of Samsoun some sportsmen have shot 
as many as 50 black wild boars in a single year, 
not so very far away from the city. 
The small brown bear is at home in the 
Paphlagonian Range. This animal, however, 
has been hunted to such an extent that compara¬ 
tively few remain. The fur has always been 
sought after by the people in the interior as an 
article of dress. There is a common belief 
among the peasants generally, especially in re¬ 
gions remote from the seacoast, that the thio 
the clothing worn at all seasons of the year 1 
better it is for the human body, protecting 
alike from the winter cold and the summer h i 
. 
It is not uncommon to see in many parts j 
Asia Minor and Caucasia people wearing hj 
bear-skin coats in the midst of summer with 1 
thermometer standing at 100 degrees of la 
Fahrenheit. 
Bears frequently appear on the head war 
of the Boli Su River, where there are a 1 :; 
number of primitive sawmills, and it is said ; 
they collect there to feed upon the refuse of h 
lumber camps. Bears have also been seer; 
different times along the route of the Anata 
railway, while it is also reported that many U 
been seen about Bafra. In the country am 
Smyrna there are few or none. 
In a recent article in a London period 
Sir William Whittall, of Constantinople, m ( 
some interesting comments upon the wild r 
mals which still exist in Asia Minor. He bli 
his knowledge upon sixty years of keen r 
continuous search for them. According to ii 
the most remarkable animal is the big pane 
which from ancient times has been renovr 
for its huge size and ferocity, being but t 
inferior to the tiger in this respect. It is 1 1 
found only in the inaccessible districts in 1 
south of Asia Minor. 
The animal which forms the greatest o'e 
of sport in Asia Minor is the red stag. Du 
the past twenty years, however, even this r 
mal has been persecuted so much for the 11 
of its horns that it is no longer abundant. 1 
districts in which the red stag is hunted ar<,tl 
Murad Dagh and Mount Olympus, but the'r 
mal exists in other parts which have never :< 
fully explored. There are regions in Asia M 
that are very little known and undoubtedly b 
tain much that would contribute to zoolcc 
knowledge. 
It is claimed that the fallow deer mayst 
be found in large numbers in the Taurus 11 
and in Mesopotamia. A few are still four 
the shores of the Marmora Sea. In the c 
ince of Koniah the moufflon is still fairly abura 
In the months of December and Januar t 
coast districts of the vilayet or proving 
Smyrna abound in woodcock, while duck® 
geese are frequent among the marshes. Iji 
month of September great flights of quail :t 
to rest in this part of the country before! 
continue their way to Africa. On the isla 1 
Mitylene, in a certain deep ravine nea ' 
coast, where they are in the habit of s<li 
for a few hours each year before their ij 
across the Mediterranean, many thousand, i 
caught alive in nets and sent to Smyrna foi?: 
Hares are abundant in every part of the 
try. As the Turkish people generally <4 
wild game as a food, hares have incread 
such numbers in some district a to becd< 
nuisance and threaten crops. At Angora c 
60.000 are killed annually for the sake c; 
fur, which is shipped to Marseilles and ud 
the manufacture of hats. 
The wolf is at home in the interior of^ 
tolia. I am informed that they are so nunr 
in the districts of Merden Aly and Kaik 
that it is dangerous to go out at night fo 1 
of being attacked by them. They consti t 
continual menace to the sheep and goat 
the only adequate protection which the pe ,: 
