The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-19
DEER SEASON IS
IN FULL SWING
Many Michigan Hunters Have
Queer Experiences in Bag
ging the Game.
Special to The Journal.

Marquette, Mich, Nov. 19.-The deer seasoH
is in full swing. There arc, however, con-
ficting reports in regard to it, according as the
iidiyitiuaE hunter has been fortunate unsuc.
cessful In bringing down buck or doe The MINI
rod wha has used both his license tags says
that deer are plentiful as in former years, and
that the hunter who fails of success proves by
that fact that he isn't much OF hunter after
all. The unsuccessful nimrod, the other
hand, is inclined to espatiate on the. disap-
pearance of the game.
The consensus of opinion Is that the season
is average" that Is, great many deer are
being killed, but not many as might be
expected, considering the snow and the hungry
horde of hunters. This horde has never been
greater. The demand for licenses has been known
-14GO permits have been issued In Marquette
. county alone-but the tally of licenses by ne
means tells the whole tale. There are numer-
Gus thrifty nimrods afeld who have not been
at the fofmality Of getting the legal permit.
and who trust in their luck to avoid the deputy
game wardens or to befool them should they bs
encountered
The snow is as usual factor in favor Of the
hunter, but from some parts of the territory
it is reported that there is rather too much OF 1t.
However, the woods are full of armed men, and
there is constant fusiIlade in even remote re-
gions. All the old hunting grounds are largely
trequented, and it is the common report that
parties are pushing out to fields that in other
seasons were considered remote, being impelled
! to do this by comparatively poor hunting in tbs
more accessible regions AS rule the hunters
| Hall of IEia and Bert Cook Of Newberry being
! a Lesson of the dangers that has not been over.
! looked To date serious accident has oc-
cured in the territory out from Marquette.
| Deer aren't ordinarily credited with being very
| knowing animals Indeed. On occasions they
behave with impressive stupidity, and their aV-
eraga of Intelligence is by no means as high as
that of numerous other denizens Of the woods,
but there are exceptions to the rule, of course,
and one of these is knowing old buck who has
! just returned to Pressure Isle, Marquette's nat
| ura1 park at the outskirts of the city after
"a several months absence, presumably because
| the hunters have been making the woods too
| hot for him. :.
The straegler put in his belated appearance
wien tic deer came to the feeding place yester-
day. He was recognized at once by the care
| taker as a member of the herd who had been
missing since early summer and investigation
/ showed that he had returned to Pressure Isle tia
previous night His tracks could be traced all
along the outside Of the fence to the waters
ledge. There the buck evidently entered the
lake and walked in tie water until point at
which he could get around the fence was reached
Another straggler returned to Presque Isle the
same night. 1t is presumed that the hunters
got the animals on the run and that they natur-
ally returned to their old haunts, possibly re.
membering from experience that there were no
rifle cracks to disturb their peace on Presque
Isle, and bullets to dodge.
Is AS sample Of quick hunting with good re-
suits might be mentioned the recent accom-
woods near Mount Mesnard at the edge OF town
at / O'Clock in the afternoon, and returned at
t6 in the evening with deer.
/ Another instance Of the bagging of big game
with but little effort is recorded in Dickinson
county. En- route by, wagon to his camp cut
from Iron Mountain, Roadmaster John Dunn of
the Chicago. Milwaukee & st. Paul railway halt
ed at the foot of cliff for the purpose of rest
ing his horse. He had been there but a minute
or two when he espied a fine buck at the edge
of the bluff overhead. Dunn reached for his gun,
took careful aim and fired The bullet sped
true, the deer toppled over and then came rolling
down the cliff ending its journey by falling &C.
commodatingly into Dunn's wagon. The hunter
was satisfied for the time being and he put back
with his game to town, arriving there after hay
ing been absent from home only two hours.
+ Down in Florence county, in the Wisconsin
portion of the Menonlinee iron range there is In
the field an Ohio man by the name of Townsend.
his nimrod is IS years Of age and this is the
ffty-fourth year he has hunted in the north.
Last year he hunted moose in British Columbia
and in 1904 he chased the elusive deer in the
v'ilds of Florence county. His operahouse at
Button was destroyed by fire a fortnight ago
with loss of $35,G00. and only s11 900 insu,.
ance. but this misfortune didn't prevent the
veteran from enjoying his annual hunt. Mr..
Townsend has only leg, but he manages to
navigate the woods with an artificial limb With
out much inconvenience.