Foster tells ahout, and we are out 
after the ’chuck at every opportunity. 
There is one thing that was not 
mentioned by either Mr. Foster or Mr. 
Peacock, and if you can find space in 
'ForEST AND STREAM I would like to 
bring this subject up for discussion by 
the readers of this fine sporting maga- 
zine. The subject is rifles, what make, 
ealiber and sights are used to best ad- 
vantage on ’chucks. Everyone has his 
own idea as to the proper arm and 
load to use, but learning how the other 
fellow does it and what he uses is al- 
ways helpful and interesting. 
I started out a few years ago with 
a 22 Winchester rifle and soon found 
that even with the long rifle cartridges 
I lost nearly every one of the wood- 
chucks I shot. In some way or other 
they would get down their holes and 
the twenty-five cent bounty that the 
county pays for their scalps is lost. 
I tried digging them out after I had 
hit them, but found that in most cases 
they still had plenty of pep left to 
dig faster than I could. 
I then tried a 410 gauge shot gun 
and here I discovered that I could 
not get close enough to them to do 
any damage. The county around here 
is pretty well settled and between the 
picnic parties and the farmers’ dogs 
you will find that the woodchuck is a 
wily old chap and will duck out of 
sight at the least suspicion that all is 
not well. 
After the 410 I tried a 25-20 Win- 
chester rifle using soft nose bullets 
and smokeless powder. I did not alter 
the sights, but used it as it came from 
the factory. This gun worked all right 
for a while and I thought I had the 
right medicine for them. Several long 
shots were made with good success, but 
I still lost a lot of those hit. 
Last fall my pal and I decided to 
get guns that would stop a ’chuck cold 
and eliminate this thing of losing those 
we hit. He chose a 38-40 Winchester 
carbine, Model 1892, due to the fact 
that he had a 38-40 single action Colt 
revolver and could use the same car- 
tridges in either one. I bought a 32-20 
Winchester carbine of the same model, 
and we equipped both of them with 
Lyman peep rear and bead front 
‘sights. We use nothing but black pow- 
der and lead bullet cartridges. This 
combination gives good results and is 
far safer in a settled country than 
the H.V. cartridges. It is also easier 
to keep the gun perfectly clean. 
From June 14th to the 22nd, we 
camped out in the timber and devoted 
our entire time to woodchuck hunting. 
We were out ‘at all hours of. the day 
watching friend ’chuck go through his 
tricks, and he surely has plenty of 
them. 
» 
:. 
Those that have their holes in the 
open pasture are not so hard to get, 
as their reddish brown bodies offer a 
very good target at all ranges up to 
two hundred and fifty yards. Those 
that live in the timber and rock ledges 
are harder to see on account of their 
dark color and because they are usu- 
ally a good deal smaller than those in 
the open field. The largest ’chuck shot 
on this trip would weigh about seven- 
teen pounds. 
The counties around here are over- 
run with woodchucks and the farmers 
are mighty glad to have them killed. 
In one 40-acre clover field I counted 
Photo by Fadner 
A Wisconsin Muskie 
nineteen ’chucks, all out at practically 
the same time. This was about 5:30 
P.M. We got the scalps of five of 
them and lost one that fell down the 
hole. ‘Their holes were about a foot 
or more in diameter and went straight 
down for about eighteen inches and 
then turned sharply. 
Now is the ’chuck season and most 
of the chaps who like to shoot are out 
after them. Let us hear from these 
fellows as to what luck they are hav- 
ing and what they get ’em with. 
CHARLES T. HASKIN, 
Rockford, Illinois. 
Wyoming Game Conditions 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
HAVE just returned from Chey- 
enne, Wyo., from the July meeting, 
and while there the Commission cre- 


ated two reserves here as winter elk 
ranges and with the proviso that no 
hunting will be done on these. 
We also created other reserves that 
will prohibit those hunting with cars 
from killing the elk when they cross 
these open spaces on the way down to 
the winter feed grounds. 
In addition we took the stand that 
bears are game animals and placed a 
closed season on them from June 15th 
to September 1st with a limit of three 
bears only. 
We still have the power, under the 
law, not to issue any permits to hunt 
bears on all game preserves and Na- 
tional Forests, if we are unable to en- 
force the other, which is a question; 
we will refuse any more permits until 
the next Legislature meets and fight 
it out there. By that time we should 
be able to get support enough to pro- 
tect the bear as a game animal. 
I have been very busy, was out in 
the hills this spring 50 days. I saw, 
all told, 36 bears on the trip and the 
parties got five, in a legal and sport- 
ing manner, no traps but in the open. 
Conditions are ideal here this year 
for feed and the game is doing fine. 
We have 1,000 tons more hay this 
year to start on than last year. 
Under the present Commission I am 
representing the four western counties 
in the state and have a lot to do, just 
for love of the game. 
In the January meeting we will ap- 
preciate any suggestions that any one 
can make on the formation of new and 
good game laws, and anything you 
have to say will be gladly received. 
JAS. S. SIMPSON, 
Jackson, Wyoming. 
Wisconsin Mascalonge Plentiful 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
ASCALONGE aren’t so scarce in 
Lake Winnebago as they used to 
be. Fishermen every year are catch- 
ing an increasing number of the big 
fellows hereabouts, but it fell to the 
lot of Joseph Weishaupt, genial man- 
ager of the Valley Inn, president of 
the local chapter of the Izaak Walton 
League, and an ardent sportsman, to 
land the prize beauty of the season. 
This particular muskie tipped the 
seales at exactly 11 pounds. The fish 
was landed without the aid of gaff or 
net after a half hour’s battle near the 
old lighthouse reef. The light steel 
rod, ordinary reel and _ thirty-pound 
test-line (shown in the photograph) 
turned the trick. The bait used was 
a common spoon hook and live minnow. 
JOHN A. STUDLEY, 
Neenah, Wis. 
541 
