The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-02-05

stayed there till morning, and nine
O'Clock brought me out to lumber
camp. A green-horn would probably
have frozen to death. Not many get lost
in the Maine woods, but sometimes a
lumberlnan does and often has great
pelils''
Glow are deer compared with moose
for hunting? Is it so easy to get themH'
Deer are no easier than moose to get
in fact not so easy. On a still hunt deer
are the worst animals we have. They
are all the time on the lookout and their
ewes and their ears are a great protection
as well as their noses. | have seen a
deer start and in a moment get scent of
me even when | was half mile from
him. [ have watched one several times
when knew he could not see me, and
seen them start merely from the scent
| sometimes run q deer down. You can
do it on less snow than moose. If you
are not on the right side of the wind
when you see deer, he is going to know
it. He scents you before you can see
him. Always in hunting deer we try to
travel against the wind. On a still day
when there is not much wind going, you
have got to take your chances. Like
enough he won't smell you at all.
1t would depend on the draft of air. In
the woods, after fall of snow, when the
trees are all loaded, is the best time to
hunt deer. They. can't hear or see or
smell SO quickly"
''Are there any wild animals in Maine,
such as wolves, catamounts, etc., OF
which a hunter need be afraid?'
Il have never been troubled in my
hunting by a catamount or Indian devil.
have seen men who said they have seen
them, but did not believe them. The
Indian devil is q sort of catamount. They
have all animal in the northern part OF
New York they call panther, but the
hunters do not consider him very dam
gerous. / do not know of any animal in
the Maine woods now which will follow
man. We have quite
A Lot of Bears.
and get more OF less every year, but l
do not fear them. | have been up
through the country in canoe, and
camped right down where moose and
deer and bears were travelling without
any harm. There are wild cats
but there is no danger from them
that I know of although some
hunters tell pretty hard stories of
them sometimes. The biggest wild cats
weigh 20 pounds or more each. They
climb trees, but never knew one of
them to light on man. But | have
heard of lynx attacking man. Some
claim that a loupcervier and the lynx
are the same, but they are not The
wild cat and loupcervier are entirely diff,
ferent animals from the lynx. The loup-
cerviel's fur is more valuable. | do not
think there are any wolves in the state. "
s'How does the number of game ami
mails in Maine now compare with that in
years past?'
Deer never were so plenty for the
last fifty years as they are now. There
is belt of country all the way from the
eastern coast of Maine.into Canada that
is well stocked with them. 1t is about
as wide on the coast as from Calais
around to Bangor, and clear up along the
European & North American r. r.
through into Canada, and clear across
from the coast to the Quebec line. All
through the northern part of Aroostook
county also deer are plentiful. There
are also moose and caribou in Aroostook
although there are none of either in Han
cock county. The moose and caribou
are abundant in Washington, Penobscot,
Franklin and Northern Oxford counties.
There are great many more moose than
there were ten years ago. | remember
the state of hunting in Maine for fifty
years. 1t was better then in the eastern
part of Maine than now, but in the whole
state there never were as many game ami
mails as there are now. [ have been up
to the northern part this winter, to Pat
ten, and then went on 40 miles between
the east and west branch and got two
moose. could have killed more had [
wanted to. The law does not allow me
to kill great many. II | should kill
more than my number | shouldn't want
to say anything about it. have made
81, 900 in one season by hunting alone.
That was in 1861 or 1862. This was made
largely by sending venison to the Boston
market. There is considerable trapping
through our woods now of fishers, beav
able many beaver dams in the eastern
part of the state. The otter and mink or
muskrat are all over the state.
II suppose the city sportsmen make
quite change in your business, Cap
tain, said the PRESS reporter.
Eyes, they do. For the last AZ years |
have been making practice of hunting
big game. When | began there were no
hunters that came from out of the state.
just hunted for skins and meat. There
have been no foreign sportsmen here to
amount to anything until the last twenty
years, but they are coming fast now.
There are not many hunters in Maine
now who make living out of hunting
without guiding parties. Almost all of
the old hunters of this day are guides in
the summer season. In the winter they
go back hunting fur, &c. Most of the
deer that are killed by sportsmen now in
the state of Maine, are in through the
eastern countries, Penobscot, Hancock
and Washington. They can be secured
there easier than farther north. / have
no idea how many men there are in the
state who have camps and take out par
ties. Down through Rangely and Moose
head and all that country have not been
for long time, and they are getting in
lots of them. The open time of deer,
moose and caribou is from the first of
October till the first of January. The
city sportsmen commence to come in
June, and kill lots of game and leave it
right on the grounds. The wardens
ought to punish them for it. Not many
city sportsmen come in the winter. 1t is
rather pleasant to go up where there is a
warm camn but SnOW-ShOeino is hard