Litchfield enquirer., 1877-10-04
Sporting is, ti,s West.
afr MICHIGAN PIER WooDs,
 9g Crprrrrr,Mu 1Q77 <

letter, our teamster was about to desert
 us. and leave our baggage at Rifle River.
 His team was jaded ont. and we did not wonder that he did not want to drive them
 any farther. over such a horrible road,
 but he finally agreed to go ahead. the
 scouting party keeping, in advance as usu-
 al The rest of us came struggling along, 1 stopping every now and then to pick
 blackberries which lay temptingly in our
 way. Our surveyor now left us, after first
 treating us to dried venison. We pushed on and reached Rocky Mountain Bills
 hut at little past noon. We found the
 old fellow and brother hunter named
 Hill, eatlng dinner, the hardest and wild
 est looking conple we ever set eyes on.
 Rocky Mountain Bill tor old Billy, we call
 hi~} waa hrnush. up, and lived hunter
 in the Rocky mountains until abont four
 years ago when he struck in here. He is
 a man about 50 or 55 years of age. His
 hair and whiskers are untrimmed and un-
 combed. and allowed to struggle about as
 they choose. When his hat is off, his
 head will just about fill a bushel basket.
 He seemed a very hospitable old chap,
 however, and insisted upon our taking
 cup of bog tea an.l some dried venison
 with him, which We were all very glad to
 do. Hill is an ordinary looking man, the
 woods not having been his home. He
 showed us the skins of IT deer which he
 had killed in the last three weeks. . | We went down to the old camp on the lake and found it to be just exactly what we wanted. It is a log house 22 by 50 feet, divided into two rooms. It has no
 floor, but good hard ground. It was used
 two years ago as. a lumberman's camp. At that time quite tract of timber was
 cut here and hauled to Rifle river and t hence rafted out to Lake Huron. We
 were delighted, assure you, to get to
 some place We conld call home, and VIC immediately set to work and built good hunks, filling them about six inches deep with light pine bonghs; with two heavy
 blankets top of that. and we had as good bed as you could ask for. Our cook built fire and got dinner. after which we walked about bit andstook view of our camp aud it's surroundings.
 The log house is on a bluff at the north end of, about 25 feet above, and eight rods back from, the shore of the lake. The lake is oblon., and about four miles | ID circumference It is very pretty | sheet of water, but the shores, most of l the way around, are marshy, (as they nec- essarily must be on afl the lakes in this | flat western country. J. It is entirely hem-
 med in by tall forest trees without a single l opening.
 We are abont 20 miles by the old iae or tSte road from the Branch.s Some ot the boys went ont after dinner and
 brought in some cartridges, but most of
 us. after our hard tramp of 20 miles, were quite willing to try tho ease of our
 newly made hunks Just then Hill came down saying. "Boys, If yoa fesl like it
 will take the dogs out and give you a
 chance at deer" Of course we felt like | it and went out about two miles where he
 stationed each of us on 8 runway (deer- path) and put ont his dogs Very soon
 they started two deer My station was m the top of an old stump about l2 feet from the ground. The baying of the dogs came nearer and nearer. and presently Julius
 whose station was next above mine saw the deer spring into fnli view not l5 rods | away. He snapped and his rife missed fire. The next moment the old fellow came bounding through the brush and over fallen timber about 30 rods distant l from me. He was magnificent looking | old buck and as he bounded over . log, some five feet from ground. he seetned to me as large as a good two year old heifer. Just as he skipped oyer the log I let drive at him-hadn't 8 distant idea I | should hit him-but, to my great joy, down he came plump upon his back. Wis., ions of being borne in triumph hack to l camp on the shoulders. of my. .oomrades- and other like pleasing thoughts began te float through my mind as slid like light. ming down that tree. but to my utter con sternation. by the time Twas half way | down the deer had risen to his feet and | had cleared a half dozen fallen trees and | was into the underbrush before I had l time to)say By thunderr' I felt like sit- l ting down and crying. It was no use, or Ishohld certainly have done it. I don't l knou ,yhothorT h;k h;,ro <. .-l.aa--., ball eame so near that he fell from fright David got splendid view of smother deer's l tail and another of the party Saw his head. | So putting all of oar views together, we were able on ou, way back to camp to de- scribe to each other just ezactly how a | wild deer looked. Of course we were all very much disappointed not to have. one l to take back with us, but on the whole we made up our minds that for the first 1 day in the woods. we had no reason to feel dissatisfied We made mp our minds to | one other thing. also. and that was that seeing . deer aud shooting deer were two entirely different things. F4sa sss
 We were completely surprised at the number of tracks and rnnways. The whole forest, wherever we go. is as com pletely tracked up as a ten acre lot would l be by 20 sheep chased all day by dogs. Nevertheless Old Billy told. us we might l travel through the woods from Lake Hu. ron to Lake Michigan and unless we un- derstood their ways and were particularly on the watch for them, we should never catcha glimpse of one. It got to be dark before we were half way home and three of ps lost our way. but luckily we took thei bearings as we went ont, or they might have had to sleep under log that l night. We arrived in camp very ready tor the supper which awaited na- Then WH had to sit uD an lsnur rg. md falk and