126 
Forest and Stream 
WESTERN TROUT WATERS 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
H AVING long been a follower of 
fly fishing and also a student of fish 
life I am naturally much interested in 
all new developments in artificial lures. 
I probably was the first man to intro¬ 
duce the dry fly on Western waters and 
in the course of the past thirteen or four¬ 
teen years have produced many converts. 
However, our waters are quite different 
in all respects from the Eastern streams 
and absolutely opposite in nature from 
the streams on which Mr. Halford de¬ 
veloped the dry fly. 
Much could be written on the use of 
the dry fly as well as other lures in 
reference to their use on fast water. I 
have found that to successfully use them 
on fast water one must become educated 
in a new science, so different is the 
method which brings best results. To 
say the least I have demonstrated that 
even one unaccustomed to the use of the 
dry fly can procure larger fish with it 
under most conditions than can be taken 
under similar ones with the sunken fly. 
At one time there was a body of water 
that was undoubtedly one of the finest 
and best adapted places for the ideal use 
of the dry fly in America or probably 
in the world. This was located in what 
was known as the Big Meadows and 
was the headwaters of the North Fork 
of the Feather River, consisting of a 
series of large springs. The enormous 
volume of water that came from these 
springs ran off very slowly through 
rather deep sloughs. In 1911 I probably 
cast the first dry fly that had ever been 
dropped upon these waters. The net 
result was that during my stay at the 
meadows I killed larger fish than were 
known to exist there and much larger 
than I had ever before taken there 
myself. 
The year 1911 was the last year that 
fishing could be had in the Big Meadows 
as it was dammed up by the Great 
Western Power Co., and a lake formed. 
Last year I saw a rainbow taken with 
light tackle by a lady from Reno, Nev., 
that weighed 24j4 pounds. The fish, 
ho'wever, are not fit to eat unless they 
are taken up in the streams. 
Late last fall a friend and myself ob¬ 
served in one pool what we estimated 
as eight to ten tons of these rainbows 
from this lake, ranging in size from 6 
inches to 36 or 40 inches in length; 
probably some of these fish weigh as 
much as 40 or 50 pounds and even more. 
The largest that there is any record of 
was 36 pounds and this fish was taken 
out of a flume or ditch by a U. S. Forest 
Ranger and returned to the stream. 
LETT 
T1<DM 
Mr. Rhead’s recent article in Forest 
and Stream was of great interest to me 
especially at the mention of our friend 
and benefactor Chas. Orvis. I have a 
very interesting file of letters from Mr. 
Orvis which I hold in highest esteem. 
For years I used to send him all the 
feathers from the birds bagged on my 
trips afield. On receipt of a package of 
duck, snipe or curlew wings, would come 
in return a letter of heart-felt thanks 
and some interesting news. I would not 
part with these letters for anything. 
They breathe “goodfellowship, kindness, 
good-will and true sportsmanship” in 
every word and are a lesson worthy of 
being written in the creed of all true 
sportsmen. 
E. B. Humphrey, California. 
DEER HUNTING IN HAWAII 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
B ACK home in the States the deer 
hunting season is at a time when the 
frost is in the air, when the cold, snappy 
weather makes your ears, toes and 
fingers tingle, and warm, snug hunting 
jackets are in order. 
Out here in Hawaii frost is unknown, 
and most of the natives never heard of 
it. It’s warm all the year ’round and 
we often hunt in our undershirts—de¬ 
pending, of course, on the kind of game 
we’re after and the character of the 
country—but we always wear as few 
clothes as possible. 
The hunting on these islands is unsur¬ 
passed, game of all sorts is abundant, 
and Americans fresh from the States 
who are real sportsmen, lose little time 
in taking a trip and getting into camp. 
The wild boar and the chita (Japanese 
deer), afford the best sport. 
The chita is about the size of the 
American deer, perhaps a little heavier, 
is covered with white spots, and is ex¬ 
ceptionally speedy, extremely wild and 
very clever. They often fool the hunts¬ 
man by their wily tricks. Their sense of 
smell is exceptionally acute, even when 
the wind is blowing in the hunter’s 
favor, and they seem to be able to scent 
a man for a great distance. Therefore 
one must expect to get only long range 
shots at them. I have been hunting 
them for a number of years and always 
used a Savage .303, Featherweight (20" 
barrel)—it gives perfect satisfaction and 
others who use the same gun express 
the same opinion. 
Chita are to be found among the foot¬ 
hills of the higher mountains of the 
islands and they exist in abundant num¬ 
bers. It must be remembered that hunt¬ 
ers are few out here in Hawaii as com¬ 
pared with the great numbers who rush 
to the hunting grounds when the season 
opens in the United States. The season 
here is from September 1, to January 1 
—four months. The natives, having 
gone to the towns and cities, no longer 
do much hunting, so the white men 
(mostly Americans), have things pretty 
much to themselves. 
It’s a splendid country in which to 
hunt. The scenery is magnificent, the 
air at night is glorious; simply ideal for 
camping. Cool breezes and brilliant 
moonlight, such as one only sees in the 
tropics. Warm blankets are required at 
night and only during mid-day is it un¬ 
comfortably warm. We take that time 
to eat our dinner and then loaf for an 
hour or two with a good pipe or cigar 
to help pass the time. 
Chita steak, as it is called here, is fine 
-—good flavor and always tender, even 
the cuts from the oldest bucks being 
delicious. It is served quite generally 
in all Hawaiian lunch rooms and cafes. 
For several years, on every trip I’ve 
taken I have tried to get a close-up 
photograph of a live chita, but have 
failed to even come near accomplishing 
it. You simply can’t get close to them 
and there is no chance of their coming 
near you. 
Just as an example of the very acute 
sense of smell of these animals, I can 
cite one particular incident that occurred 
on our last year’s trip. 
We discovered, by hoofmarks, a new 
drinking or watering place for the chita, 
and knowing the hour when they drink, 
we decided to hide in a nearby thicket 
and wait for them. Our hiding place 
was about 60 yards from the spot where 
they drank. 
We had a wait of about an hour and a 
half, when in the distance we saw half 
a dozen chita approaching. They were 
moving very slowly, and, as is their 
custom, on the alert for any strange or 
unusual sight, smell or sound. They 
moved forward steadily till about 300 
yards distant, then all of them stopped 
suddenly, as if they had received some 
sort of a shock. We decided to take ^ 
hurried shots at them while they were 
motionless, but before we could raise 
our guns they bolted off in different 
directions, with the speed of lightning. 
Evidently they must have received a sud- 
