Feb. i, 1908.1 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
177 
its and we could use them. Like ghosts 
trough the fog we wended our way across the 
osty stubble. Just on the brink of a canon 
re halted and our guide pointed to several pits 
rotected by small heaps of wheat straw. Into 
lese we tumbled and got ready for the coming 
f the birds. 
When it had become half light we heard 
trough the murk a honk, followed by another, 
len a whole chorus of them, and before we 
ere aware almost, "the air was filled with 
irk forms winging inland, just over our heads, 
did not have time to watch my companions; 
was busy on my own account. The first old 
anker that swung in range got a load of BB’s 
ght in his epigastrical repository, and he 
me tumbling to earth dead as a mackerel. To 
ring on another and let him have it was the 
ork of only a second. Until nine o’clock the 
mds passed at the rate of one every five 
inutes. Some of them were out of range, but 
•,ough came our wa£ to furnish lively sport for 
I hands. There were many wild shots and 
ounded birds escaped to furnish food for the 
i,yotes and badgers, but there were enough 
len we came to gather them up to satisfy us 
’ th the morning’s work. 
Two days were passed thus, and when we 
irted back toward the railroad station, it was 
wth enough birds to prove to our friends that 
1 r trip had not been in vain, but at the same 
me not enough for the most rabid game pro- 
:;tionist to say that we had overkilled the limit 
■; by decency. Chas. S. Moody, M.D. 
not know, went on the C. N. R. east of Winni¬ 
peg, got off at Woodridge station. He fetched 
home one moose head, but not a very good pair 
of antlers. 
As we had no snow the tracking of either 
moose or elk was difficult the past season. 
W. H. R. 
1 
Manitoba Big Game. 
Carmon, Man., Jan. 8. —Editor Forest and 
'cam: All the hunters from around this point 
ve returned from their moose and elk hunt- 
r, trips which lasted from the 1st to the 15th 
December just passed. 
Messrs. R. Rutherford, M. De Mill, H. E. 
binson and his younger brother left here 
>ut the 20th to go up to their cabin situated 
out seven miles southeast of Conan, a small 
tion on the C. N. R., some 210 miles north- 
*5t of here. Mr. De Mill got one moose, the 
t none. They attributed their bad luck to, 
oand of Indians who had been there before 
ly arrived at the camp. As they were hunt- 
through the bush looking for moose, they 
leral times came across places where the In¬ 
ns had camped just where a moose had fallen. 
■ a rule the Indians seemed to stop and camp 
iit there until they had eaten up the whole of 
carcass. 
-harley Ryall and Alex Aimo went out to 
ip some twenty miles north of here. Charlej' 
; a three-year-old elk with three prongs. He 
etting the head mounted as a trophy. Charley 
nrmed me there were nine females with the 
which he shot, but the law this last season 
that each hunter had to procure a license 
>re starting; then they were only permitted 
hoot one moose or elk or male deer of any 
an ^ >n no case to shoot any females, 
lex McIntosh, twelve miles west of here, shot 
jumper, or mule deer. 
If De Mill and Bert Lytle went twenty miles 
for a deer shoot, but after two weeks they 
rned without any deer, but Lytle shot a very 
wild cat and De Mill shot a large coyote, 
ther hunter from here, whose name I do 
An Unfavorable Season. 
Nilwood, Ill., Jan. 23.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Business matters of importance pre¬ 
vented me making my annual pilgrimage to the 
big woods last November, and I missed taking 
part in a very unsuccessful hunt participated in 
by three of the party of which I usually made 
one. 
The three who made the trip went to the camp 
at Skibo where they put in the time hunting from 
the # ilth until the 16th, getting only one small 
deer. The absence of snow made hunting very 
unsatisfactory work. During the six days they 
were there they saw but two deer. On the 16th 
AN EAST AFRICAN ORYX. 
Photographed by Dr. Ad. David. 
they broke camp and went home to wait for 
snow’ with the intention of going to the old camp 
at Hornby when the snow did come. 
On the 20th, no snow having fallen, they con¬ 
cluded to try again, and went to Bassett Lake 
where they had learned there were plenty of 
deer. They hunted without success until the 
28th. On, the 27th a little snow fell which would 
have helped them out, but their time was up 
and they had to quit and get back to business. 
On the morning of the 28th they took a run 
out to see if they could find any signs of the 
long looked for deer. They saw signs in plenty 
but no deer. While they were out they saw so 
many wolf signs that they came to the conclus¬ 
ion that the deer had been so harrassed by 
wolves that they were more timid than usual, 
which made them harder to approach during 
the noisy weather that preceded the snow. 
During their stay at Skibo they hunted the big 
swamp lying between the two branches of the 
Partridge River. Here they saw a great num¬ 
ber of moose signs, but they were unable to do 
any hunting on account of their inability to walk 
without making so much noise that any game 
within a half mile of them could hear them. 
Salmon informs me that he saw more moose 
signs on this trip than he ever saw at one time, 
which goes to show that the moose are not get¬ 
ting scarce in that part of the north. 
He does not mention any scarcity of partridge, 
but says nothing of having killed any, and this 
makes me.think that they were not very plenti¬ 
ful, as we always made it a point to kill a few 
when we were unable to get deer on the first 
pait of the hunt. He tells me that none of the 
hunting parties that went from their neighbor¬ 
hood were any more successful than his party, 
and that very few deer and but one moose came 
m with the hunters who went out from Biwabik. 
He does not complain that there was any scar¬ 
city of either kind of game, but that the absence 
of snow was the cause of their not getting more 
game. J. p B 
Death of Old Tom. 
Sea Grove, N. C., Jan. 20 .— Editor Forest and 
Sh cam. Old Tom is dead, but we mourn him 
not. In fact, we rather rejoice, for he had led 
us many a weary tramp through sedge and pine 
with nothing to show for our labor lost. 
Old 1 om was a wily old gobbler near six feet 
from tip to tip, and with an avoirdupois of twenty- 
fi\e pounds. He was armed with vicious look¬ 
ing spurs that no doubt had vanquished many a 
1 iva 1, and had a Rip Van Winkle beard more 
than twelve inches in length. 
I had been promised a turkey for Thanksgiv¬ 
ing, and another for Christmas, but Thanksgiving 
and Christmas had come and gone, and I was 
growing weary with waiting and hope deferred. 
My friend had seen the old patriarch Christ¬ 
mas morning, but although we scouted for him 
in the evening our search was vain. 
The following morning we started out to try 
a young pointer, and incidentally to bag a bunch 
of quail which are very plentiful in the Pied¬ 
mont region of North Carolina. A couple of 
neighbors joined us who against our protest in¬ 
sisted on shooting rabbits, and as this gave me 
an excuse for putting up the young dog I re¬ 
turned him to the kennel, and we started alone 
with a seventeen months’ Irish setter and a 
two-year-old English setter bitch. 
As we started out again my friend remarked, 
"Vou lay the course as you know the grounds.” 
I answered, “I will do so and will show you 
lots of birds and perhaps Old Tom.” 
We had gone only about a mile, bagging some 
birds and admiring the work of the dogs, and 
were following up a big bevy just flushed from 
the tall sedge among the pines, when in glanc¬ 
ing to my left and back, I called my friend’s 
attention to the Irish dog which was pointing 
in an attitude more intense and thrilling than 
I ever before had seen. At the sound of rny 
voice there was a roar of wings, such as never 
before had thrilled me, and up through the pines, 
quartering to the right, about twenty-five yards 
away, and as many feet high, I caught my first 
glimpse of the noblest game bird in America. 
I he 16-gauge 6, r 4-pound spoke quickly and there 
was an indistinct view of a huge body, falling 
helplessly earthward. I rushed madly through 
sedge and tangle, and there in all the brilliancy 
of his winter plumage with the Irishman stand¬ 
ing proudly by him, lay the fallen giant. I had 
got my first turkey. W. W. McCain 
