Trudeau Cup
Columnist Joe Hackett reported in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise on November 19, 2011, that the Trudeau Cup was first awarded in the fall of 1916, when Dr. Francis B. Trudeau presented it to a lucky hunter. The trophy was established to honor his father, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, who was an avid sportsman and a successful hunter. For many years, the trophy buck that earned the Trudeau Cup was proudly left hanging on display in the middle of Saranac Lake. The successful hunter's name was also etched on a silver Honor Roll and displayed in a store on Main Street, now the Post Office Pharmacy.
In the 1970s, deer were hung at the Waterhole.
The Adirondack News, November 5, 1921
Charles Farrell of Wilmington took first place in the Trudeau cup contest when he brought in a buck weighing 265 pounds and 210 pounds dressed. He brought down the buck with two shots. The winner of the cup last season killed a buck that dressed 225 pounds, and guides figure the Wilmington hunter stands an excellent chance of taking the cup this year.
Chateaugay Record, December 1929
Hunting Season Closes, Results Are Satisfactory
A Saranac Lake correspondent writes:
With the 1929 deer season closed a unique situation exists in the Trudeau cup contest for the largest buck killed during the season. Two hunters are tied, each having killed a buck weighing 212 pounds. The men are Ernest Gauthier, of Saranac Lake, who brought down a buck several weeks ago while hunting in the Loon Lake section, and A. G. Millbank, of Long Island, who brought down an animal weighing the same while hunting on the shores of Upper Saranac Lake.
Gauthier's buck had a 12-point head of an unusually wide spread, while Millbank's animal had an eight-point head.
Only seven other entries were listed in the contest. Mrs. Francis B. Trudeau, who for the past few years has been a runner-up in the contest and a winner one year, made a kill of a 177-pound buck. A. G. Moody, of this village, brought down a buck with a 14-point head, weighing 177 pounds.
While many hunters are complaining of a diminution in the deer herd, a similar number on the other hand have claimed that this year's kill as been as great as any previous year. However, according to William H. Gibney, whose market is the headquarters of ihe Trudeau big buck contest, the specimens of bucks brought in this year are not as large or heavy as those of the past seasons. It is difficult to know until the reports of Conservation Department are published just how many bucks have been killed or how many licenses have been granted. Many hunters report seeing more bucks in the woods than in the past several years. Some of the older hunters of the village say that both bucks and does are scarce and that a closed season is inevitable if the deer is to be preserved in the Adirondack forests.
One outstanding feature of the past season, which is packed by a preponderance of opinion from all sections of the Adirondacks, is that there were fewer hunters from down State in the woods this season. Since the advent of the good roads to the mountain area the deer season has been marked by a heavy influx of hunters from the southern part of the State. This year has been an exception. Game protectors, forest rangers, hotel men, guides and other men of the woods all noted the falling off in the number of hunters. Plenty of bucks have been killed. That is a certainty. Many were brought to Saranac Lake and hardly a day passed that cars were not seen passing through the village with bucks on their sides.
While no complete list of hunters killed or injured in the Adirondacks in connection with the deer hunting season has yet been issued, it appears unofficially that the record this season is far better than that of many other years. Last year was particularly hard on hunters. Many sad accidents resulting in death or severe wounds were reported. This has been advanced as a reason for the drop-off in the number of hunters going into the woods this year.
Another outstanding feature of the season was the high quality of sportsmanship shown by the great majority of hunters. Considering the number of men in the woods, game protectors found the violations relatively few. An interesting report of two death battles between bucks was given by a local hunter who, with a party, was scouring the woods near the St. Regis River in St. Lawrence County. In one battle a great buck was left lying dead on the snow, while in the other two hunters came upon the two bucks whose antlers had locked during the struggle. One buck was killed in the fight while the other was felled by the hunter.
Not a hunting accident has been reported in this vicinity, which is unusual.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 23, 1952
Our Town
By EDDIE VOGT
Eddie Vogt left town last night for his annual Christmas vacation, but he figured it won't be a long one. During his absence from town, various prominent residents of Saranac Lake will "pinch hit" for him. Today we offer the first guest column by ... .
When Eddie Vogt asked me if I would pinch hit for him and write one of his columns, which would enable him to have an extra day's vacation, I could not refuse. When I asked him what to write about he said, "Anything but religion or politics", and suggested sporting contests.
This naturally brought to mind the "Trudeau Big Buck Contest started the year following my father's death in 1915 as an annual reminder of how large a part hunting and fishing played in my father's life. The rules of the contest have always been; first that the deer be killed within the Adirondack Blue Line and, second — that it be put on display for at least 24 hours, the dressed weight of the deer being a recorded figure. For many years this contest was handled by Will Mullen, of the Saranac Lake Supply, until a few years ago when it was taken over by the Saranac Lake Hardware where it is under the auspices of the Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club.
The prizes have varied from trophies such as cups, pitchers, blankets, etc. to war bonds. In addition, the owner's name and weight of his deer is permanently recorded on a silver plaque which I keep in my care.
As the records have been kept continuously, without a break, for the post 36 years some interesting, instructive and humorous events have occurred which bear mentioning.
In the first place the largest buck ever to win weighed 270 pounds. It was killed in 1924 by the late Dr. Harvey Powers, director of Stony Wold Sanatorium, and was the first deer he had ever shot at! The smallest one weighed 180 pounds and was killed in 1943 by Mr. Carol Lempfert. The average weight of the winning deer over the past 36 years has been 222 pounds. Mrs. Oilie Wood, in 1923, killed a buck weighing 243 pounds which gave her the distinction of being the only woman to have ever won the contest. Incidentally, hers was the fifth largest buck ever entered.
One contest ended in a tie, one of the men being a local hunter and the other a preserve owner. The local man offered either to shoot off the tie at a target or even to flip a coin to determine the winner. In the discussion the question came up whether the preserve owner's deer was killed within the Blue Line. As this gentleman was a friend of mine I wrote him about this question. Since his care- taker was with him when he killed the deer, he asked him to go to the exact spot and take accurate measurements of the location. He then wrote me that his caretaker informed him that unfortunately he was a few hundred yards outside the Blue Line and therefore his deer could not be
I am glad to say that the trophy has never been won twice by the same person.
Three years ago I offered a small monetary prize to the oldest hunter entering a deer in the contest regardless of its weight. The first winner was Elvin Gibbs, 75 years old, and in 1951 the prize was won by John Marquer, who was 80 years of age. This year the winner was W. Donaldson, 77 . years old.
This seems to prove that the love of hunting does not diminish with age.
