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VOL.3 #AAJ\CH*I93I

NO. 10

c/vifflsm^

(s>awipfire's JLight

By H. II ". hum, Whitefish, Montana

ivm

HEN you light your pipe, by the campfire's light,

At the end of a day on the trail —
Your bed's made doivn on the softest ground,

Where your tent looms up like a sail.
The noise of the creek as it tumbles along.

The croon of the wind in the trees,
While stars shine bright on a perfect night.

If mosquitoes are lulled by the breeze.
You have stood a test and earned this rest,

For the trail toas hard and long,
And the weight of the pack that hung on your back

Was lightened by your song.
The thin veneer you wore at home

To show you were one of the mode
Has been washed away by the siveat of the day

As you carried your share of the load
You settle doivn and forget the pack,

The heat and the toil of the day;
As the shadotvs of night steal soft about,

Only stopped by the fire's ray.
Then tales are told of a different mould

Than those one hears at home,
As you picture there by the fire's glare

The trails you have longed to roam.
The cares of life, the struggle and strife

Are lost in the fire's gloiv,
And dreams seem more true, as the smoke curls blue

And the sound of your voice is low.
The fire burns loiv and your pipe goes out.

It's time to hit the hay;
So you look at the sky and pretend to try

To forecast the weather next day.
And as years roll by you will often try

To remember this night of ease,
When cares rolled away with the end of day.

The fire, the stars and the trees.

_

Page Two

MONTANA WILD LIFE

The Official Publication of The State Fish and Game Commission

VOL. Ill

HELENA, MONTANA, MARCH, 1931

No. 10

PORTSMEN'S funds in
the State Fish and Game
Department are at such
a low mark that activi-
ties for the next five
months must be crippled,
handicapped or carried
on in such manner as
will permit existence rather than activ-
ity, and Montana's State Fish and Game
Commission voted at the meeting of
Feb. 11 at Helena to suspend seven
deputy game wardens and four fish cul-
turists, reduce the expense allowance
of every deputy to $50 per month, and
curtail every contemplated project until
more adequate funds are made avail-
able. The reduction of the number of
deputies throughout the state means
that 20 men will be required to patrol
more than 145,000 square miles within
the state until next June, at least, or
an average of 7,025 square miles per
deputy. This action was taken, as
emphasized by the commissioners, be-
cause of the emergency existing and
the necessity for keeping the depart-
ment in some sort of running order un-
til normalcy in funds is restored. Leg-
islation is now before members of both
houses intended to relieve this situation.

Announcement was made by the com-
mission that a hearing will be held
on the suspension of M. L. Matzick,
superintendent of the hatchery at Som-
ers, the decision to be as to whether
the suspension will be made permanent
or Matzick restored to the service.

The request from the Anaconda
Anglers' Club, asking the commission
to open Storm lake, in Deer Lodge coun-
ty, to ice fishing, inasmuch as the lake
is infested with bull trout, was ap-
proved during the regular open season,
until further order of the commission.

A request from Representative Sylvan
Pauly and residents of the Ovando dis-
trict was presented for the opening of
Cooper's lake in Powell county to ice
fishing, and the commission ruled that
the lake be opened to fishing through
the ice during the regular open season
until further order of the commission.

Secretary Hill read a request from
J. R. Van Horn, of Devon, for the open-
ing of the Great Northern reservoir at
Devon to ice fishing. He also read
protests and in view of the protests
the request was denied.

The secretary read a request from
Charles Chapel, of Troy, for the open-
ing of Flathead lake to commercial fish-
ing for whitefish, but it was denied,
in view of the fact that past experi-
ments have proven unsatisfactory.

Rearing Cost of
Pheasant, $1.27

WHAT is the cost of rearing a
Chinese pheasant at the state
game farm at Warm Springs?
For months, this matter has been
the subject of much debate where
sportsmen gather. Eastern publica-
tions have placed the figure as high
as $7 — and with three male birds as
the Montana limit, that would mean
$21 per bag.

J. L. Kelly of Anaconda, member
of the State Fish and Game Commis-
sion, in whose territory the state
game farm is located, has brought
matters down to a fine point, how-

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ever, and declares that the average
cost of rearing a Chinese pheasant
in Montana was $1.27 4 5 in 1930.
The State Fish and Game Commis-
sion liberated 6,146 Chinese and Mon-
golians in 55 counties of Montana last
year. These birds were hatched
with 781 domestic setting hens. Six
acres is completely under wire at
the state game farm and there are
now 392 pens, each of which will
accommodate 25 birds. Enlargement
and improvements are contemplated
because of the increasing demand.
Joe F. Hendricks is superintendent.

Mr. Hill presented a petition from
residents of Liberty county, asking that
the Marias river be opened to fishing
during the entire year. It was denied.

Mr. Hill read letters from the Conrad
and Valier Rod and Gun clubs, asking
that Dupuyer, Sheep, Scoffin, Birch and
Big Badger creeks, in that vicinity, be
closed to fishing until the beginning of
the regular open season, May 21, in
view of the fact that it is impossible
to enforce the law with reference to
fishing through the ice in these streams.
Because of the late date and the fact
that the regular closed season begins
March 14, and the order would have to
be published for 15 days before it
would be effective, the sercretary was
authorized to advise these clubs that
this order would be of no particular
benefit.

R. W. Spangler, representative from
Mineral county, presented a request
from citizens of Mineral county for the
opening of the Missoula river to ice
fishing for whitefish. Mr. Marlowe pre-
sented a similar petition from citizens
of Alberton. On motion of Mr. Kelly
the Missoula river, also called the
Clarks Fork of the Columbia, in Mineral
and Sanders counties, was opened to
ice fishing for whitefish, and the reg-
ular closed season on this river in
these two counties was suspended un-
til further notice of the commission.

Insurance was ordered carried on the
motion picture films of wild life made
by Mr. Fair.

An elk head confiscated by Deputy
Holmes some years ago, mounted by
Mr. Noyes, taxidermist, was loaned to
the Billings Rod and Gun Club until
further action of the commission.

The Choteau Rod and Gun Club asked
that a fish ladder be installed in the
Bynum canal which leads to the Bynum-
Teton reservoir. It has one fall of
approximately 20 feet, a menace to the
fish, and K. F. MacDonald and Commis-
sioner Boyd were instructed to investi-
gate.

A request was read from the Hill
County Rod and Gun Club for the con-
struction of two rearing ponds in Hill
county, two rearing ponds in Chinook
county, and the creation of an artificial
lake west of Havre. On motion of Mr.
Kelly all requests for rearing ponds,
artificial lakes, and construction work
of a similar nature were tabled until
a later date, due to lack of finances in
the department.

C. S. Seahrook of Richmond, Calif.,
who is doing interesting and valuable
research work in the breeding of mi-
gratory waterfowl, asked the commis-
sion for permission to collect a few
eggs in this state, and Secretary Hill
was instructed to write to Harry Cos-
ner, deputy at Malta, to get a few duck
eggs for Mr. Seabrook.

Stanley Thurston of Poison, Mont.,
asked permission to set a net in Skidoo
bay to take whitefish eggs for the com-
mission and the mat-
ter was referred to Mr.
MacDonald with full
authority to act.

The report of Dr. J.
W. Howard was sub-
mitted on his analysis
of the Yellowstone
river, and its source
of contamination near
Billings. Mr. Moore
advised that this re-
port had made a fav-
orable impression.

Mr. Hill re-
ported that
state senators
from Sheridan
and Daniels
counties had
conferred with
him with ref-
erence to the
protest of the
c o m m i s s ion
against the
creation of a

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Federal refuge in Medicine Lake. It
was the opinion of those senators that if
the government did take over this lake,
they would do extensive building, flood
a large area of land, and do some bene-
ficial work. Mr. Marlowe stated that the
state has such a few natural places for
the hunting of ducks that he is not in
favor of the Federal government taking-
over natural bodies of water for Federal
refuges, but that there are many places
in the state where the Federal govern-
ment could do construction work and
make artificial bodies of water, which
would prove more beneficial.

Warden Hill advised that on Feb. 1,
1931, there was $20,544.24 in the Fish
and Game fund. The income of the
department will be negligible until the
new licenses are sent out, the income
of the department during February,
March, April and May, of 1930, being
only about $50,000, while the disburse-
ments during these months were $71,-
493.62. Using the year 1930 as a basis
of comparison, Mr. Hill suggested that
there will be a deficiency of $20,000
before the new revenue comes in.
Methods of curbing expenditures were
discussed, and the matter was contin-
ued until later in the meeting.

Mr. Marlowe read a letter from Dr.
E. D. Peck of Missoula, asking that
Clear creek, a tributary to Prospect
creek, in Sanders county, be closed to
fishing for two more years, and the re-
quest was granted.

Mr. Marlowe presented a letter from
the Flathead Game Protective Associa-
tion, asking that the Flathead river in
Flathead and Lake counties be open to
ice fishing this winter, due to the fact
that there are many needy families who
could secure food for their families if
it were open. There are few trout in
the river, and many whitefish. The re-
quest was granted.

Chairman Marlowe advised that there
are many pot holes in Lake county
which have been stocked by the com-
mission with warm water fishes, and
suggested opening them to fishing. The
plan was adopted.

K. F. MacDonald, superintendent of
fisheries, recommended that the salary
of Dr. Treece be fixed at $150 per
month, with expenses when on field
work, and the commission approved.

Mr. Kelly reported that he had fig-
ured the cost of the birds at the State
Game farm at $1.27 8/10 per bird, before
liberation.

Mr. Marlowe read a letter from the
Bureau of Fisheries, wherein they ex-
pressed a desire to co-operate with the
State Department as much as their
funds would permit, in installing fish
screens in this state.

Mr. Marlowe advised that he had
had correspondence with the Cascade
County Trade and Labor Assembly, and
with O. S. Warden of the GREAT
FALLS TRIBUNE, relative to the pro-
posed increase in license fees, and that
Mr. Warden had been fair in dissem-
inating the information in Mr. Marlowe's
letter through his paper. Mr. Warden,
in his reply to Mr. Marlowe's letter,

Champion Tree Sitter

This business of competing for the
championship of tree sitters among
boys of the nation is old stuff in Mon-
tana's forests, according to Bre'r B'ar
and his associates. This black boy is
roosting on a comfortable limb permit-
ting the rest of the world to go by.

stated that the Cascade county sports-
men feel that they are entitled to some
aquariums at the Great Falls hatchery
and rearing ponds in the Dearborn river.
He also requested that, if the depart-
ment has an exhibit this fall, it be
shown at the Great Falls fair. Mr.
Boyd advised that he and Mr. Stubble-
field had been inspecting sites for rear-
ing ponds on the Dearborn, but due to
the nature of the soil in that vicinity,
rearing pond sites were difficult to find.
On motion of Mr. Marlowe, Mr. Mac-
Donald, Mr. Boyd and Mr. Warden of
the GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE, and any
other interested party, will inspect and
look into the advisability of construct-
ing rearing ponds on the Dearborn river
when funds permit. Mr. Marlowe also
proposed that, at the same time or
whenever possible, this same committee
investigate the feasibility of putting in
aquariums at the Great Falls hatchery,
ascertain the cost and report to the
commission the cost, and the results
of their findings.

Mr. Wilson presented requests from
sportsmen in his vicinity, asking the
commission to permit the sale of white-
fish taken from the Yellowstone river,
because of conditions at the present
time. The motion was laid on the ta-
ble.

Mr. Wilson advised that if the com-
mission so desired, he would negotiate
for land adjacent to the park, owned
by the Northern Pacific Railway com-

pany, for grazing of game animals. At
the present time, these lands are leased
for sheep grazing. Mr. Hill advised
that the Northern Pacific had written
him that they did not care to change
leases on this land, but Mr. Wilson ex-
plained that he would like to negotiate
for the land. There are 3% sections
in this particular area, for which the
Northern Pacific is now receiving $175
rental annually. Mr. Wilson was au-
thorized to take up this matter with
railway officials, and if it is possible
to secure this lease for the depart-
ment at the figures mentioned by him,
that he be authorized to make negotia-
tions for the commission to enter into
such a lease.

The question of the finances of the
department was again discussed during
the afternoon and the following order
was made on motion of Commissioner
J. L. Kelly:

"Because of the lack of funds in the
Fish and Game Department, and because
a retrenchment is absolutely necessary,
I move that the services of the follow-
ing wardens: Frank Beller, William C.
Gird, John E. Plank, J. J. Meany, Frank
M. Snider, Harry Cosner and Frank
Marshall be dispensed with, effective
March 1, 1931, until June 1, 1931, or
until such time as the revenue of the
department is sufficient to continue
their services; and that in the fisheries
department, the services of Elmer
Young, watchman at Station Creek
hatchery; T. E. Day, W. D. Dedrich, at
Libby, and A. M. Adkins, at Emigrant,
be discontinued, effective March 1; and
that all salaried deputy game wardens
be limited to $50 per month expenses
during the months of February. March,
April and May."

BIRDS IN WAR CAMPS

Camps where millions of men trained
for war may soon furnish peace and
protection to game birds and animals.
The first step in this direction, taken
recently when Major General Dennis
Nolan created a game sanctuary of
13,000 acres at Camp Knox, near Louis-
ville, Ky, has been followed by con-
certed appeals from nearly every state
game commission and many sportsmen's
organizations for similar measures at
all the other military reservations ex-
isting in numerous states.

A meeting of leading conservationists
to prepare a plan to submit to Presi-
dent Hoover and the War department
has been urged by Judge R. W. Bing-
ham, publisher of the Louisville Cour-
ier-Journal and the Louisville Times,
whose editorial campaign for the move-
ment has attracted nationwide endorse-
ment of the idea from game experts.

"If all military reservations were
made permanent game sanctuaries by
a general order from the secretary of
war, the whole country would reap
benefit at no cost to the government,"
said Seth Gordon, president of the
American Game Association.

Rastus: "Ain't 'at hoss eber done
kicked yuh?"

Kingfish: "Naw, chile, not yit, but
he frequently kicks at the place whar
Ah recently wuz."

Page Four

MONTANA

WHM) TLITm

HE coyote, known to
many Montana resi-
dents as Senor Yip
Yap, is considered a
predatory animal and
is killed on sight by
members of the rang-
ers force, according to
an interesting article in the current
number of Yellowstone Nature Notes,
written by Joseph Joffe, assistant
to the superintendent.

"There is no intention whatever of
exterminating this cunning mammal,"
writes Mr. Joffe, "which would prob-
ably be impossible anyway, but the
park policy permits of reducing its
numbers to a point where it will not
be a menace to the young of the elk,
deer and antelope.

"On Dec. 30, Mrs. Joffe and I were
en route to the buffalo ranch by auto-
mobile. This road is usually closed
long ere this date but this year, on
account of the shipping of buffalo, a
grader was used to clear out the snow.
There has been only one snowstorm in
the park since the road was first
cleared out, which added about three
inches to the already 13 or 14 inches
which covered the ground in this vicin-
ity. The trucking of the buffalo and
other travel to the buffalo ranch had
made a well-worn road in the snow
and it was possible to attain consider-
able speed.

"Upon rounding a curve near Lake
LaCombe between Tower Falls and the
buffalo ranch we suddenly came upon
two coyotes talking over what Santa
had brought them and what the New
Year held in store, for the holiday sea-
son was on. Immediately upon seeing
our car they split, as always seems to
be their custom, one going to the left,
following a _ game trail, and the other
to the right, following the well-worn
road. I immediately picked up speed
and followed the one in the road.

"Mrs. Joffe watched the speedometer
and at no time did it record less than
25 miles per hour. The maximum was
35 and I kept the car in between these
speeds. There are a number of curves
in the road and Mr. Coyote had plenty
of opportunity to get out into the deep-
er snow and let me go by him. How-
ever, he persisted in staying in the
road and he afforded us a thrill that
we will probably never experience
again. He looked like a big police
dog racing in front of the car and his
running was indeed beautiful.

"When I would 'step on the gas' he
would let out a little more steam and
his feet must have been hot from the
number of times they came down on
the hard snow. On two occasions I
felt as if I could have run over him.
but I admired his endurance and beauty
and thought of John Colter running
'for his life' from the pursuing In-
dians.'

"At one time, when I was almost
upon him, I blew the horn — he sud-
denly reeled, made a dash at the

Review of Laws
In Next Edition

THE April edition of MONTANA
WILD LIFE wil include as one
of its features, a complete re-
view of fish and game legislation
acted upon by the 22nd Montana as-
sembly now in session at Helena.
At the close of the fiftieth day. Feb.
23, when the bars were put up
against transmitting any further leg-
islation from the house to the sen-
ate, 10 measures intended to revise
the fish and game laws had been
killed. Sixteen fish and game meas-
ures of merit remain on the total
list of 26. Of these, two have been
signed by Governor Erickson. The
two bills signed are those creating
the Little St. Joe game preserve in
Mineral county and the measure cor-
recting the existant law relating to
unlawful possession of fish and game.
Watch for the April number of MON-
TANA WILD LIFE for the legisla-
tive review.

car, but quickly turned and continued
his running. The last time I blew my
horn he jumped out of the road and
his danger was over. He immediately
reversed his direction and sped back
over the road he had just traveled but
shortly took to the snow, over a knoll
and out of sight.

"On our return from the buffalo ranch
later in the day we recorded the dis-
tance on the speedometer and found
that we had traveled 1.6 miles in pur-
suit of this animal.

"Ernest Thompson Seton, in his book,
'Life Histories of Northern Animals,'
gives a table showing the best speed
for a mile for some members of the
animal kingdom, which I am stating
below:

Race Horse 34

Pronghorn Antelope 32

Greyhound 30

Texas Jackrabbit 28

Common Fox 26

Northern Coyote 24

Foxhound 22

American Grey Wolf 20

"Mr. Seton has gathered his infor-
mation from various sources but I am
convinced that the coyote should be
placed higher in the list and 'my hat
is off to him' — 1.6 miles at a speed of
from 25 to 35 miles an hour!"

WITH AM) WITHOUT

"Give me a glass of plain soda water
without flavor."

"Without what flavor?"

"Oh, I'll take it without vanilla."

"You'll have to take it without choc-
olate. We ain't got vanilla."

Big Timber Club Kills Predatory Animals

MONTANA sportsmen interested in
the conservation and propagation
of the wild life heritage of the
state are equally interested in the de-
struction of predatory birds and animals
which act as a menace to game. Few
clubs of sportsmen have accomplished
such results in predatory animal drives
as the Big Timber Rod and Gun club.
In the picture shown above, members
of the club are seen with the catch
made in November alone. During that
month the total kill was 114 coyotes,
4 bobcats, 39 weasels, 194 magpies, 4
hawks, and 5 owls. In December the
catch included 34 coyotes, 1 bobcat,

24 weasels, 8 owls, 1 hawk, and 90
magpies. The work was accomplished
in co-operation with the Smith-Hughes
class of the Big Timber high school.
The picture is submitted by E. R. Pat-
terson, secretary of the Big Timber
club.

According to affidavits of leaders of
the club, the total catch for the year
totals 2,923 magpies, 2,3S9 magpie eggs,
1,499 crows, 1,761 crow eggs, 129 owls,
14 owl eggs, 316 hawks, 67 hawk eggs,
622 coyotes. 32 bobcats, 8 lynx, 3
wolves, S12 weasels, 1,568 woodchucks
and groundhogs, 15.294 gophers, 16
kingfishers, and 15 kingfisher eggs.

Page Five

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CIENTIFIC investigation
sponsored by Montana's
State Fish and Game
Department, tending to
seek ways and means
by which all classes of
fishermen may be bene-
fitted in all parts of the
state, have been spread over a diversi-
fied territory, but none of which so
little is known as the conservation and
transplanting of bass, sunfish, crappies,
bullheads and other warm water fishes
which prove a continual attraction for
boys who will be the sportsmen of to-
morrow. Work is constantly being car-
ried on in the trout and grayling divi-
sion. Research work is likewise being
conducted from the great pond cultural
station for warm water fish at Fort
Keogh, near Miles City. But there's an
outdoor laboratory in the western por-
tion of the state which has passed the
experimental stage and is now provid-
ing sport for hundreds in lakes and pot-
holes where bass and sunfish were
transplanted by the State Fish and Game
Commission.

During the last summer 1,650 adult
bass ranging from iy2 pounds to 3%
pounds were taken out of the Nine Pipe
Reservoir — named for old John Nine
Pipe, of the Flathead tribe — and trans-
planted ill the chain of Clearwater lakes
in the Blackfoot country.

About six years ago 20 cans of large
mouth black bass fingeiiings were res-
cued in the upper Flathead country and
transplanted in Nine Pipe and Kicking
Horse reservoirs in Lake county near
Ronan, as an experiment. Two years
ago fishermen angling for bullheads in
Nine Pipe reservoir, apparently by ac-
cident, caught some of these bass on a
small Colorado spinner.

Since that time, and every spring un-
til the reservoir is closed by the com-
mission, thousands of these fighting
fish have been taken from the reservoir.
At one time at the peak of the season
in 1929, Deputy Game Warden Jack
Goldsby counted 297 cars parked around
the reservoir. In the spring of 1930
more than 1,500 bass were taken.

The Clearwater lakes, where the
bass were lately transplanted and saved
from destruction when shallow waters
began to evaporate, have been stocked
with trout of many varieties for some
15 or 20 years but because of the large
number of squawfish and suckers in
these lakes and the further fact that
the water grows quite warm in the
summer months, little success was at-
tained with trout and it was decided to
experiment with bass.

Last spring a crew of State Fish and
Game Department men seined up the
bass from the reservoir and they were
brought to the rearing ponds in Mis-
soula where they were kept in colder
water until they hardened before put-
ting them in the colder waters of the

She's My Baby

Mamma Bear intends that no harm
shall befall Baby Bruin and rises on
her haunches to get an eyefull of what's
going on. Bill Rush, the photographer,
tried in vain to sneak up on the family,
but Mother Bear sniffed his presence.

Blackfoot country- In this way, 1,650
adult bass were transplanted in these
lakes.

Some of the pictures published here-
with show the new oxygen tank truck
used in transporting fish. The tank is
filled with water and oxygen is supplied
to the water from the oxygen tanks
mounted just behind the cab of the
truck. This outfit is the last word in
transporting fish of all kinds. Last
spring 60,000 salmon fry were taken in
one load from the Daly hatchery five
miles above Hamilton, to Browns lake,
Powell county, 125 miles, without the
loss of a single fish.

Another of the pictures shows two
bass, both caught at one cast as both
fish struck the wooden minnow plug at
the same time and both were so firmly
hooked that they were landed. The net
weight of both fish was something over
10 pounds.

One of the pictures shows four farmer
boys living in the vicinity of Nine Pipe
reservoir with two strings of bullheads.
At about the same time the bass were
put in Nine Pipe reservoir, six years

ago, the commission sent near Malta
where a reservoir was being drained,
and captured a few hundred bullheads
and put them in this reservoir. They
have done exceedingly well and there
are thousands of them in the lake at
this time. Some of them are of pretty
good size and to the fellow who likes
still fishing they afford much sport.

Hundreds of farmers and other fisher-
men gather around this lake in the
spring and summer time and have no
difficulty in catching fish. There are
also thousands of sunfish in the lake
and during the last two years the pot-
holes in the vicinity of it have been
stocked with perch.

Last year the commission secured
from the Warm Water Cultural Station
which the commission, in co-operation
with the Bureau of Fisheries, is operat-
ing near Miles City, a number of real
Mississippi catfish and these fish were
liberated in the reservoir. It will not
be long before anglers will be able to
catch good-sized catfish.

HOME FOR ANTELOPE

With the fast disappearing prong-
horned antelope apparently in need of
a "little home in the West," the New
York Zoological Society has appealed to
the United States government by reso-
lution for a million-acre antelope pre-
serve— equivalent to 40 acres apiece in
which these last members of once great
herds can increase.

"The antelope has been reduced by
thoughtless slaughter and increasingly
unnatural conditions to a few thousand
specimens, and will be the next large
American animal to disappear outside
of sanctuaries," declared Dr. W. Reid
Blair, director of the Bronx Zoo. "At
the present their numbers are estimated
from 16,000 to 26,000, and I am inclined
to think the lower figure is more nearly
correct. Now is our last chance to
establish a suitable home for this most
characteristic of American mammals."

NO SUCH ANDHLE

The drunk halted in front of an
enormous stuffed tarpon in a glass
case. He stared at it for a minute or
two in silence. Then he said:

"The fella who caught — hie — that fish
is a — hie — liar!"

The Boss: I'm afraid you are not
qualified for the position; you don't
know anything about my business.

Applicant: Don't I, though? I'm en-
gaged to your stenographer.

Young Wife: "Is the food nice, Her-
bert?"

Herbert: "Er — yes, my dear, the
gravy is very tender."

Page Six

.M.OMTANA C3i WIS*© 3LIF3S

Throwing a Life Line
to Montana Bass

Page Seven

Moottaima F5§h siimd &

G. T. Boyd, Great Falls.. Commissioner
Jos. L. Kelly, Anaconda.. Commissioner

Geoie Cominmissioe

W. K. Moore, Billings... .Commissioner
E. A.Wilson, Livingston. .Commissioner

Thomas N. Marlowe, Missoula, Chairman
Robert H. Hill, Helena, State Fish and Game Warden, Secretary

The Official Publication of the State

Fish and Game Department.

Published Monthly at Helena, Montana.

FLOYD L. SMITH, Editor

Subscription Rate $1 per Year — 15 Cents per Copy
Advertising Rates on Application

Copy for advertisements subject to approval of State
Commission and must be in the hands of the editor at the
State Capitol building, Helena, on the 15th of the month
preceding publication date.

VOL. Ill

MARCH, 1931

NO. 10

WHAT I THINK OF FISHING

Herbert Hoover — I personally, perhaps, lend more im-
portance to fishing than some people although I sympa-
thize with all those who want to get anywhere away from
the work shop and a desk. I am for fishing for fun as
a contribution to constructive joy because it gives an ex-
cuse and an impulse to take to the woods and to the
water. Moreover, fishing has democratic values because
the same privilege of joy is open to the country boy as to
the city lad.

Theodore Roosevelt — Dame Juliana Berners says: "Fys-
shinge is goode for the bodye as well as the soule," and
I thoroughly agree with her. I know of nothing more de-
lightful than fishing. Fishing is the most democratic of
all sports.

Support all work against pollution of streams and re-
storation and protection of fish that we may have better
fishing.

Knute Kockne — To a man engaged in sedentary, high-
pressure work, involving much use of nervous energy but
with little physical outlet, there is no finer sport and rec-
reation than fishing.

One becomes wrapped up in the quiet and nerve rest-
ing sport of extracting the fish from his native waters,
which sends him back home full of renewed vigor and
energy.

James Oliver Curwood — The world loves the man who
loves to fish. You don't find him in jail. You don't find
him in the hospital. You don't find him dying young. He
is the man, who, without flaunting his religion from the
housetops, sees God forever in the blue skies, in the for-
ests, in the glimmer of the stars and the rising of the
union — in everything that is a part of his beloved streams
and lakes. Fishing is not only a pastime which man has
created for himself. It is the greatest character-building
activity under the sun for human hearts and souls. It is
the man who loves to fish who helps to keep the world at
its best, who is the greatest fighter for its beauties and its
ideals, and all because he has come to realize and under-
stand the glorious thrill of that intimate contact with na-
ture which one finds when he has a rod in hand.

"What a great blessing is a friend with a heart so trusty
that you may safely bury all your secrets in it, whose conscience
you may fear less than your own, who can relieve your cares by
his conversation, your doubts by his counsels, your sadness by
his good humor, and whose very looks give you comfort." — Seneca.

CRISIS THREATENS GAME

THE drought of 1930 affected more than human beings
and their domestic stock. Word from Arkansas, Ten-
nessee, Mississippi,, and other neighboring states, are
to the effect that the game crop last year was far below
normal. To make matters worse archaic laws tied the
hands of game officials who would otherwise have closed
the hunting season to save the seed stock.

That in itself was bad enough. But to top it off the
stricken people of that region during the past winter were
compelled to kill off every edible bird, animal and fish
within their reach to eke out an existence.

Even the lowly rabbit almost suffered annihilation in
certain areas. Ordinarily this lively little fellow, "the
bread of the forest" for the winged end four-footed ene-
mies of our beneficial wild life, is not considered worthy of
pursuit by white men in certain southern and western
states. This time he filled an important role in saving hu-
man lives.

A final evaluation of the situation will not be possible
until the breeding season is well advanced this coming
spring, but it is a foregone conclusion that much of the
conservation work of years has been all for naught. Now
heroic measures only will bring back the denizens of for-
est, field and stream in the drought-ridden areas.

You better live your best and act your best and think your
best today; for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and
all the other tomorrows that follow. — Harriet Martineau.

SPORTSMEN SPEND MILLIONS

MICHIGAN'S 400,000 small game and deer hunters
spent about $12,000,000 while in the field during
the hunting season, according to the department
of conservation of that state. They have approximately
$10,000,000 invested in guns and other more or less durable
hunting equipment. This equipment has an annual depre-
ciation volume of about $1,000,000 and an interest charge
of $500,000 if it is considered as invested capital. An ad-
ditional $5,000,000 is spent each year for sundries, if the
computation of the department of conservation is accurate.

Included in the $12,000,000 spent while in the field is
a gasoline hill of $500,000, one hundred thousand of which
is gas tax paid into state and county highway funds.

Michigan's army of hunters also pays the state a total
of $600,000 in license fees. The ratio of license fees to
the other costs of hunting is $1 to $18.50.

The license fees paid the state become a part of the
Game Protection Fund which is administered by the con-
servation department for the protection and propagation
of game.

The men whom I have seen succeed best in life have always
been cheerful and hopeful men, who went about their business
with a smile on their faces, and took the changes and chances
of this mortal life like men, facing rough and smooth alike as
it came.. — Charles Kingsley.

THE VALUES OF WILD LIFE

THE common symbol of value is the dollar mark. The
dollar value of wild life can readily be seen in food
furnished, in attractions to tourists, and as a stimu-
lant to certain forms of business or trade. There are other
values that the dollar mark cannot express. Among such
values are the pleasure and recreation afforded mankind
and the better citizens made by an intimate contact with
nature.

Page Eight

MONTANA

"WSILB ILlTm

MONTANA MILD LIFE

(From the Helena Independent)

MANY attempts have been made by individuals, many
of them well equipped for the job and some of them
with adequate financial resources to publish a west-
ern magazine in Montana which would every month reflect
the attractive things about the natural scenery, the high-
ways and wild life in that part of the Rockies known as
the "Land of Shining Mountains," but one by one these
magazines have dropped out of sight.

The same thing has happened in other states. The one
magazine which has made a conspicuous success is "Sun-
set," originally the property of the railroads. It won a
place for itself as a travel magazine, then added its fiction
department and gets away with something like 150,000
copies monthly published in San Francisco. But the Inter-
mountain country has never succeeded in supporting a
magazine which would graphically reflect life in this "last,
best west." The editors seem to run out of material and
the publishers out of money.

These remarks are occasioned by the appearance of the
January number of MONTANA WILD LIFE, published by
the Montana State Fish and Game Department. It is num-
ber eight of its third year, which shows the magazine is
not a youngster as such publications go. Every number of
this magazine which has come to the attention of The In-
dependent has been an excellent piece of work, with at-
tractive illustrations made from photographs of actual life
in the mountains. No magazine of the west has been better
illustrated. From a literary standpoint, under the editor-
ship of Floyd L. Smith, it is fully up to any publication
ever issued in the west, and while devoted to fish and
game propagation and preservation, it touches on many
other subjects such as forest and stream, mountain resorts,
biological subjects and discussions. It encourages every-
thing having to do with outdoors from prevention of forest
fires to the guarding of streams against pollution. Un-
consciously it is a health magazine; it encourages dude
ranching, camping, mountain climbing, boating, amateur
photography of landscape and game; it is a tonic for the
tired business man; gives the women ideas as to the
enjoyment of fishing and hunting and every youngster
who sees it will want to be a Daniel Boone, a Kit Carson
or a Jim Bridger.

The magazine says its subscription price is $1 per year.
It should be worth $3 to anyone who lives in Montana or
contemplates visiting this recreation ground. Montana
should be proud of this publication — it is one of the best
advertising mediums we have ever seen. It should go to
the home of every person taking out a fishing or hunting
license. It should be an influence for preventing violation
of the game laws as it encourages a proper attitude toward
our wild life and the value of our forests, fields and
streams.

The state fish and game commissioners, and the game
warden, Bob Hill, may be justly proud of MONTANA WILD
LIFE.

Elimination of pollution in a stream does not necessarily
bring back aquatic life. Remember — "Our Creator has never re-
painted a masterpiece once marred by mortals."

EDUCATION AND CONSERVATION

EDUCATION rather than force is the key to successful
solution of the conservation question in the opinion
of Seth E. Gordon, recently elected president of the
American Game Protective Association. Every person in-
terested in these things should pay particular heed to
these words of Mr. Gordon, the nation's outstanding figure
in practical conservation:

"The success of conservation lies wholly in a more
extensive educational program which will mould public
sentiment and which will arouse the people of the country
to the need of such work. . . . The restoration of
America's wild life resources is one of the most important
problems confronting the American people today. We
are essentially a pioneer, outdoor 'people. Much of our
outstanding progress as a nation is due to the character
and virility we have developed through close association
with nature. 'We must continue the opportunities to de-
velop these essential qualities."

LET YOUR BOY OUTDOORS

IT is said that a good sermon needs no application. The
following excerpt from an article by Harry Emerson
Fosdick, appearing in a recent issue of The American
Magazine, would seem to fall in that category:

"Some of us look back upon a glorious youth. I, for
one, can bear witness that not one boy of my old
gang went permanently wrong. Our play was right —
we roamed the woods, fished the streams, built our
shanties by the brookside, and played our games. To-
day I walk the streets of New York to watch the boys
and girls. It is estimated that out of every 100 boys
on Manhattan Island, SO spend their leisure time on
the streets and that of all the things that they can do
there, 50 per cent are inimical to character, 20 per
cent are downright illegal. Of course, we have a
crime wave, largely made up of juveniles. We are
making criminals in our great cities faster than we
can put them in jail."

Wholesome recreation is a large factor in character
building. The great outdoors affords many of the best
opportunities for such recreation. The conservation of the
native wild life of Montana will go far towards providing
for the youth of this and of coming generations wholesome
recreation that is needed, and to place it within access of
rich and poor alike. Such a work should enlist the in-
terest of the entire citizenship.

Fish hatcheries do not mean more fish and planting- of up-
land game birds does not mean better hunting unless we have
clean streams and wooded covers.

SPORTSMANSHIP

HUNTING and fishing rank as the greatest of out-door
sports. The taking of game and fish has ceased to
be a mere food-getting activity. In most sports,
poor sportsmanship is punished in many ways. The boxer
who hits below the belt loses the decision; the ball player
who fraudulently throws a game is barred from organized
baseball; the golfer who does not comply with all the rules
is disqualified. But in the greatest of out-door sports,
hunting and fishing, unsportsmanlike acts do not meet
with such unanimous disapproval. Many who would never
think of cheating at a game of cards, or in a game, of
golf, do not hesitate to take unfair advantage of their
fellow hunter or fisherman in taking game out of season,
or in an unlawful manner or quantity, and even boast of
their unsportsmanlike deeds. Poor sportsmanship is poor
sportsmanship whether displayed in golf, baseball, football,
or in hunting or fishing.

Miniature golf is solving the unemployment problem. It
takes half of the unemployed to build them and the other half
to play on them.

The trout, "that spangled aristocrat of the hurrying stream
-Dr. George Parker Holden.

RINGNECKS MEAN "GREENBACKS"

THE goose that laid the golden egg had nothing on the
South Dakota ringneck pheasant. Nor had the Pied
Piper of fabled depopulating powers, nor even Midas
of the goldmint fingers, in the estimation of two chambers
of commerce of the Coyote state. For the ringneck's death
only multiplies golden nest-eggs in South Dakota pockets,
the ringneck's piping only swells the South Dakota popu-
lation, and the ringneck's nimble touch upon any country-
side decorates the scene with loose currency, according to
the impression given by letters circulated by the chambers
of commerce of Redfield and Huron. Its native game de-
pleted, South Dakota some years ago imported Chinese
pheasants and transplanted them with many misgivings
near Redfield. Under careful supervision the birds in-
creased so enormously that now the state permits long
open seasons and liberal bag limits to sportsmen, and many
towns vie for glory, trade, tourists and residents on the
strength of pheasant hunting. The "pleasant city" of Red-
field became famous as "pheasant city," and Huron boosters
laud that city's location "in the heart of hunters' paradise."

Page Nine

History of the Mootamia Grayling

By Professor Morton J. Elrod of Missoula, Montana State University

E

M.

Elrod

IXQLHSITELY
colored, grace-
ful in action,
shapely in form,
Sgamey to the last,
[the Montana gray-
lling is the delight
lot sportsmen. It is
[the "ultima thule"
|of fresh water
i fishes, living only in
clear, cold and
rushing water, feed-
ing mainly on in-
i sects and their lar-
vae. It is even bet-
ter than trout as
food. and is in
every way desir-
able. For food or
for fly fishing sport
it is sought eagerly by fishermen. Its
propagation and distribution by states
in the Rocky Mountain region and by
the Bureau of Fisheries of the federal
government has been fostered assidu-
ously in recent years. All eggs that
can possibly be secured are carefully
nurtured and rather widely distributed.

So selective is the grayling in its
habitat that it frequently does not
thrive well when planted in a new en-
vironment. It prefers clear, cool, swift
streams with gravelly beds. Rock
strewn and bouldery streams are not
to its liking, although it will enter
them in search of food. It is said that
it will travel long distances in search
of food. But it has now been estab-
lished in many sections of the North-
ern Rockies, and its success in other
places seems assured if its demands for
food and spawning places are met.

The name Thymallus goes back to
1S29, established by the famous French
zoologist Cuvier. It comes from the
Greek word, referring to the odor of
thyme which is supposed to be evident
whin the fish is first taken from the
water. This may or may not be appar-
ent. Izaak Walton says of it, "some
think he feeds on water thyme for he
smells of it when first taken from the
water." There seems to be disagree-
ment about the odor. Henshall says of
the grayling that "however it may have
been in dajs of old, it is not so now,
though an odor of cucumbers is some-
times perceptible when it is first out of
the water." It may be possible that
the European grayling, which Cuvier
knew, has a slightly different odor from
the American species. Since thyme is
not native to the Rocky Mountains it
can in no way affect the odor of the
fish of the region.

The graylings belong to the family
Thymallidae, proposed by Gill in 1894.
They agree closely in external struc-
ture and habits with the family Sal-
monidae, which includes various species
of trout and salmon. There are struc-
tural differences which the ordinary

Grayling Feeding
Problem Unsolved

PERFECTION of food and feeding
system for the Montana gray-
ling, classified by Izaak Walton
as "the flower of fishes," is a prob-
lem that is commanding the atten-
tion of fish culturists throughout the
nation. Alvin Seale, superintendent
of the great Steinhart Aquarium at
San Francisco, has taken a keen in-
terest in the problem. The Steinhart
Aquarium was founded in 1917 by
Ignatz Steinhart and is under the
management of the California Acad-
emy of Sciences. Golden Gate Park.

In a letter to Kenneth F. Mac-
Donald, superintendent of Montana
fisheries, Mr. Seale writes: "As you
are aware, I have been working on
the plan to find some food that the
baby grayling would take as soon as
the food sac is absorbed. This work
has covered some four years. In
the first season's trial I used hard
boiled egg pressed through a cloth,
and also beef heart and liver in
equal parts ground fine. None of
these proved of any great value as
the young fish died of starvation
within a few months.

"The next year I tried the prepar-
ing of live food for the baby fish
and had several tanks of infusoria
grown and ready for them when they
were free swimming, but this did
not prove any more satisfactory. Al-
though a number of other foods
were tried on these young fish none
of them were successful. I believe
that the problem is absolutely un-
solved insofar as our experiments
have gone."

person would not observe. The dorsal
fin is high, rather long, composed of
19 to 24 rays, the anterior half of sim-
ple rays, the posterior half of bifurcate
or little branched rays, colored with
orange, red or purplish spots. Behind
the dorsal fin is a small adipose fin,
present also in the Salmonidae. The
air bladder is very large. In the lateral
line are about 90 small scales. The
caudal fin is forked. The small anal
fin has 12 to 15 rays.

The distribution of the graylings is
interesting. They are confined to the
cold water, clear rivers and streams of
cold or Arctic regions. They are the
most specialized of fresh water fishes,
very select in their food, and adapted
to only cold water. About five existing
species are reported, three of which
are in North America.

The European species, Thymallus
thymallus, is found in Siberia, Russia,
Germany, France, Switzerland, and
England.

The Arctic grayling, Thymallus signi-
l'er, is found from the Mackenzie river
westward through Alaska, north to the
Arctic ocean. The Michigan grayling,
Thymallus ontariensis, was formerly
found in certain streams of Michigan.

The Montana grayling, Thymallus Mon-
tana, originally inhabited the streams
flowing into the Missouri river above
Great Falls, and is now being exten-
sively propagated and widely distrib-
uted.

The Arctic grayling is called blue-
fish and Back's grayling in Chamber's
"The Unexploited West," the latter
name in honor of Lieutenant, afterward
Captain Sir George Black, who accom-
panied Sir John Franklin on his ex-
ploring expeditions. Captain Beach de-
scended the Great Fish river to its
mouth in 1834. The river name was
changed to Bach river, in recognition
of this exploration. In July, 1834,
Captain Bach mentions having observed
grayling rising to flies at the outlet
of Pelly lake on Bach's river.

The following quotations from "The
Unexplored West," (295, 296) will be
of interest:

"Before the Senate committee of
1888, Dr. G. M. Dawson stated that in
all the waters tributary to the Macken-
zie, the Arctic grayling, or Back's
grayling, which is an excellent fish,
was to be found. It is a fish re-
sembling the trout in appearance and
size, but has a very large back fin.
It is a very game fish, much like
the trout, takes the fly, and is ex-
cellent eating. . . . It is a purely
fresh water fish, and a two-pounder
would be a fair-sized one."

E. A. Preble is quoted in the
same publication as follows: "The
Arctic grayling, usually called blue-
fish in the north, has a very exten-
sive range. It occurs throughout the
region from Peace river and Athabasca
lake northward and northwestward to
the Arctic ocean. . . . As it pre-
fers clear streams it is somewhat local
in distribution, occurring but seldom in
the main rivers, which are usually
muddy, but being abundant in many
of the clear tributaries and the lakes
which they drain. ... It was
common in Great Bear lake near Fort
Franklin, where many were being taken
in whitefish nets.

"I am not aware that the grayling
has been recorded from any stream
tributary to Hudson Bay, except in one
instance. Dr. Bell mentions that it
was taken in tributaries of the lower
Churchill and that a specimen was
identified by Professor Gill as Thymal-
lus signifer. A possible explanation
of the occurrence of this fish in the
Churchill is suggested by the fact
that there is a direct water communi-
cation between Churchill river and
Athabasca lake. The grayling occurs
in Black or Stone river, which flows
from Wollaston lake into Athabasca
lake. The waters of another outlet
of Wollaston lake, Cochrane river, flow
by way of Reindeer lake into the

Page Ten

MONTANA

■wit© ilef:

Churchill, thus affording to a torrent-
loving species like the Arctic grayling
a ready means of communication."

Professor John Maconn is quoted as
saying before the Senate committee in
1SSS that "he had caught Back's gray-
ling in the tributaries of Peace river,
in the Rocky Mountains. It is both
an Arctic and a mountain fish, and de-
lights in clear water. It is very game-
some, and takes all kinds of bait. When
it took the bait it would jump clear
out of the water, many times a couple
of feet or so, and of course, the beau-
tiful colors (more beautiful than those
of the mackerel even), glistening in
the sun, made the anglers thrill with
excitement. They are a white-fleshed
fish, and not anything like as hard as
the trout."

It seems, therefore, from reading the
reports, that the Arctic grayling, Back's
grayling, or Bluefish, is very abundant
in many streams of the north draining
into the Arctic ocean, and that it will
continue in abundance for a long time,
owing to the scarcity of population, in-
accessibility by sportsmen and fisher-
men, and lack of transportation facil-
ities.

The Michigan grayling, Thymallus
ontariensis, was originally described
by Cuvier and Valenciennes. The speci-
men was received from Milbert's New
York collection, recorded as coming
from Lake Ontario. The authors report
it as very near to that of the lake of
Geneva. The specimens were said to
be a foot long. Jordan and Evermann
sum up the evidence as follows: "It
is wholly uncertain where Valenciennes
got the specimen which he called Thy-
mallus ontariensis. It is probably the
ordinary grayling, Thymallus thymallus,
of Europe, erroneously attributed to
Milbert's New York collection. In any
case, its identity with the Michigan
grayling is more than doubtful, as the
rivers in which the latter occurs were
then unexplored."

The Michigan grayling was described
by Cope in 1S65 as Thymallus tricolor,
which name Jordan and Evermann re-
tain. However, Thymallus ontariensis
is used by the Bureau of Fisheries in
their recent publication. This name
will doubtless be used hereafter in sci-
entific literature wherein references to
the Michigan grayling are made.

The Michigan grayling has a dorsal
fin of moderate height, with 19 to 21
rays; the Arctic grayling has a very
high dorsal fin 22 to 24 rays; the
Michigan grayling, found formerly in
the streams of northern Michigan, for-
merly abundant in Au Sable river, Jor-
dan river, and other streams in the
southern peninsula, are considered to
represent only a detached colony of
Thymallus signifer, left from the for-
mer or post-Glacial extension of the
range of that species, of which it was
once a variety. While is still remains
in Otter river and possibly in other
streams in northern Michigan, it has
entirely disappeared from the waters
of the southern peninsula. Leech says
"the opinion is expressed by observers
that the introduction of the non-
indigenous brook trout and rainbow

trout has been a factor of importance
in their disappearance." The Michigan
grayling averages probably not more
than one-half pound, and rarely exceeds
one and one-half pounds in weight."

Grayling were first artificially pro-
pagated in Michigan in 1S74. Recently
Michigan fish authorities have under-
taken with energy their propagation.

The Montana grayling was first de-
scribed by Milner (Rept. U. S. Fish
Comm. 11, 1872-73, printed 1S74) from
specimens taken from a tributary of
the Missouri river at Camp Baker.
While it has been known for more than
50 years, and anglers have traveled
long distances to take the handsome
specimens from the cold water of their
native streams, its propagation and dis-
tribution to other streams has been un-
dertaken during the past 20 years. Per-
haps 10 years will include the time
during which eggs in numbers suffi-
cient to propagate and establish the
species in other places than their na-
tive habitat.

The species is said by Jordan and
Evermann to be an isolated colony of
the Arctic, grayling. It originally ex-
isted only in the tributaries of the
Missouri river above Great Falls, prin-
cipally in Smith or Deep river and its
tributaries, and the three forks of the
Missouri, the Madison. Gallatin, and
Jefferson rivers, and their tributaries.
It has also been reported from Sun
river at Fort Shaw by Dr. J. C. Merrill.

The fololwing general description of
the Montana grayling will be of value,
as given by Leach, condensed:

"Body elongated, compressed, the
depth contained four and one-half times
in the length; head subconic, of mod-
erate size, its length one-fifth that of
the body; dorsal outline a uniform gen-
tle curve, highest at the beginning of
the dorsal fin; mouth oblique, terminal,
of moderate size; teeth rather feeble,
of uniform size, on jaws, palatines, and
vomer; gill rakers short and stiff, 17
in number; eye large, exceeding the
length of the snout, contained three and
one-half times in length of head; scales,
82 to 85 along lateral line, eight rows
above and 10 rows below the line; dor-
sal fin long and high, 18 to 21 rays,
length and height both equalling depth
of body; tail strongly forked; color,
gray back with purplish reflections,
sides of head and body lighter, with
purplish and silvery irridescence; bell
pure white; anterior part of body with
a few V-shaped black spots; dark heavy
line, more distinct in males, along up-
per border of belly from ventral to

pectoral fins; dorsal fin richly vari-
egated with rosy border, four to six
rows of roundish rosy spots in whitish
areas, dark lines forming blotches be-
tween the spots; ventral fins with
three rose-colored branching stripes
along the rays; anal and pectoral fins
plain, with dark border."

The colors of the Montana grayling
are gorgeous, the flesh is firm and
flaky, very white, and of delicate flavor
(Smith and Kendall); and the fish is
active and gamey, even excelling the
native trout. It rises eagerly to the
artificial fly. and if it misses will rise
again and again. It will take various
baits, as caddis-fly larvae, grasshoppers,
and worms. It stays in the bottom of
pools in plain sight, and often in
large numbers. It is reported to be
an excellent fish for the aquarium and.
of course, its beauty will attract atten-
tion. The artificial flies recommended
are professor, Lord Baltimore, queen
of the water, grizzly king, Henshall,
coachman, various gauze-winged flies,
using No. 10 and No. 12 hooks. Fish
from Georgetown lake average from one
and one-half to two pounds, from the
South Fork of Madison river, two
pounds, often weighing as much as
three pounds.

The grayling does not seem to be
easy to cultivate. In Montana the per-
centage of fry produced from grayling-
eggs seldom exceeds 75. The yolk
sac of the eggs is small, and is ab-
sorbed within a week. The young fish
are then about a half inch long. They
move about in search of food, but are
less active than trout or salmon fry.
Leach says: "It is customary to dis-
tribute the fry within two or three
days after incubation is completed,
since attempts made to rear them have
not given good results. The fry do
not take readily to artificial feeding,
and when moved from hatching troughs
to rearing ponds they usually refuse
food entirely for several days. However,
the outcome of experiments along this
line gives ground for the belief that
with proper facilities this difficulty in
rearing may be overcome."

The eggs are about one-eighth inch
in diameter, pale yellow when first
taken, semi-buoyant. The average egg
production is about 3,000 per pound
weight of parent fish. The eye spot,
small gilt specks with a tiny black
spot, appear in from 7 to 10 days.
The eggs hatch in from 20 to 21 days,
in water temperature of about 50 de-
grees F.

Eyed grayling eggs may be trans-
ported when properly packed. Both

The Montana Grayling

Page Eleven

.M.0NTANA

WXJUB MF

eyed eggs of grayling and other species
have been planted in the hitherto al-
most inaccessible lakes of Glacier Na-
tional Park by transportation on a
ranger's back. He is free to use his
hands, and can traverse dense brush
and thickets, wade streams, and place
the eggs safely in barren water.

Minute water animals live in all
lakes in this region. Hence the little
fish, when hatched from eggs, are able
to find food, and have no enemies, or
few enemies, in the water. When thus
planted in a lake whose outlet has a
high waterfall in its course, other
species of fish are unable to ascend.
Thus the planted fish will be able to
live and thrive, unless the number of
fish is too great for the size of the
lake, and food becomes scarce. Fisher-
men and tourists reaching high moun-
tain lakes in Glacier National Park may
take grayling from perhaps a dozen
small mountain lakes, and from many
of the streams. Practically every lake
of any size where tourists go is now
stocked with one or more species of
trout.

The propagation of Montana grayling
in Montana began in 1908, but was
carried on by the United States Bureau
of Fisheries for many years previous.
At the present time, Georgetown lake sup-
plies the largest number of eggs. Mil-
lions are taken each year. The fact
that this is a made lake, and that the
fish therein have been planted by man,
tells the story of what can be done in
propagating this handsome and desir-
able species.

The native waters of the fish are
east of the Rocky Mountains; George-
town lake is in the Pacific ocean drain-
age, lying at an elevation of almost
a mile above sea level, with clear,
cold water for the lake supply. Not
only does this fish furnish the large
number of eggs used by the state
hatcheries, but large exchanges are
made with the Bureau of Fisheries. In
1927 the United States Bureau of Fish-
eries received from this source 3,221,050
grayling eggs for the Bozeman hatchery
for co-operative planting in waters in
which both the bureau and the state
were interested. In 1929 the state com-
mission furnished the Bozeman hatch-
ery 1,335,000 grayling eggs for develop-
ment in its Meadow Creek auxiliary,
and more than a million eggs for the
Glacier Park substation.

The Montana grayling is artificially
propagated by the United States Bureau
of Fisheries and by the Montana State
Fish and Game Commission. It is
practically confined to the Montana
State Game and Fish Commission, and
nearly all of the eggs reared at the
present time are taken in Montana by
the state commission. For this excel-
lent work in cultivating and developing
a most beautiful and desirable food
and game fish the Montana State Fish
and Game Commission deserve much
praise. The Bureau of Fisheries, in
the bulletin, "Artificial Propagation of
Whitefish, Grayling, and Lake Trout,"
give and recommend the methods pur-
sued and recommended by the Montana
State Fish and Game Commission.

Grayling has been introduced into
many lakes and streams in the state

through the work of the Montana. State
Fish and Game Commission, and the
distribution is being extended and en-
larged yearly. It has been introduced
in Colorado on both sides of the Con-
tinental divide by the United States
Bureau of Fisheries, the Colorado State
Fish Commission, and by local clubs.
One hundred thousand fingerlings were
liberated in 1901, and the work has
been more or less continuous since.

The work of introducing grayling into
other Rocky Mountain states is begun.
It has been planted in the headwaters
of the Salmon river in Idaho, and in
Utah. Although it is difficult to es-
tablish in a new home, when once it
becomes adapted it thrives and mul-
tiplies.

In its native home the grayling is
still abundant. It is the principal fish
in the South Fork of the Madison, and
occurs in the backwater of the Madi-
son at the dam. It occurs in Grayling
creek, Fan creek, and the Firehole
river as far as the Firehole falls. It
is in Redrock river, Beaverhead river,
and the Gibbon to its junction with the
Firehole.

It is being propagated and distrib-
uted in the waters of Yellowstone Na-
tional Park by the United States Bu-
reau of Fisheries, co-operating with
the Montana State Fish and Game Com-
mission. Success in establishing it in
so many places has stimulated the

work of propagation. It is attractive
in color, gamey to the last, is clean
in habits, lives in the swift streams in
the rugged places of the great out-
doors, is excellent for food, and is in
every way desirable.

1. Evermann, Barton W., A Reconnois-
sance of the Streams and Lakes of West-
ern Montana and Northwestern Wyoming.
Bui. U. S. Fish Com., Vol I, for 1S91, pp.
3 to 60.

2. Gill, Theodore, Thymallidae, Proc.
TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1894.

3. Jordan, David S., and Evermann, Bar-
ton W., Fishes of North and Middle Amer-
ica. 3 Vols. Bui. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 47,
1896.

4. Jordan, David Starr, A Reconnois-
sance of the Streams and Lakes of the
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming', in
the Interest of the United States Fish Com-
mission. Bui. U. S. Fish Com., Vol. I ,
for 1899, pp. 41-63.

5. Henshall, James A., A List of the
Fishes of Montana. Bui Univ. Mont. No.
34, Biol. Series No. 11, 1906.

6. Ellis, Max M., Fishes of Colorado.
Univ. Colo. Studies, Vol. I, No. 1. 1914.

7. Chambers, Maj. Ernest J., The Un-
exploited West. Ottawa, 1914.

S. Smith, Hugh H., and Kendall, Wm.
C, Fishes of the Yellowstone National
Park. Bur. Fish. Doc. No. 904. 1921.

9. Leach, Glen C, Artificial Propagation
of Whitefish, Grayling, and Lake Trout.
Bur. Fish. Doc. No. 949, 1922.

10. Dock, S. B., Whitefish, Grayling,
Trout and Salmon of the Intermountaln
Region. United States Bureau of Fisheries
Document No. 1062. 1929.

11. Jordan, David Starr, Evermann, Bar-
ton Warren, and Clark, Howard Walton,
Check List of the Fishes and Fishlike
Vertebrates of North and Middle America
North of the Northern Boundary of Vene-
zuela and Colombia. Rep. U. S. Fish Com.,
192S, Pt. 2, 1930.

Can't Yuh Smell 'Em Sizzlin' In the Pan?

HERE'S a trio of speckled beauties of the Loch Leven variety taken from a
Montana stream where they were planted as fingerlings by the Montana State
Fish and Game Department. Much of the money supplied by sportsmen in
the purchase of licenses is devoted to the maintenance and operation of the 14
state hatcheries and the five spawning stations which make possible the eventual
hooking of these piscatorial beauties.

Page Twelve

Fish and Game Asset to Montana

By I. H. Larom, Valley, Wye, President Dude Ranchers' Association

I

I. H. Larom

"T is a recognized
fact throughout
the n o r t hwest
that the Dude Ranch-
ers' Association is
probably the one
organization which
co-operates 100 per
cent with all fed-
era 1 organizations
such as the forest
service, national
park service, and
Biological Survey,
in the preservation
and the propagation
of game and fish.
The same co-opera-
tion is given to fish
and game depart-
ments of Montana
and Wyoming, with increasingly satis-
factory results, and the Dude Ranchers'
Association believes in the sensible and
porper administration of all game and
fish matters with the promulgation of
proper laws, game preservation and
open hunting according to the peculiar-
ities of conditions in each district.

Through our system of having 12
regional directors we are able to
learn and to discuss, if no more, the
conditions existing in each of these
widespread districts, and as a result we
are able to make recommendation to our
state game departments as to what
might be the best method of handling
these situations.

As the Association is also interested
in the administration of grazing and
timber resources, we try to work out
a sensible way of handling problems
in districts where game propagation
and grazing may be in conflict, and
in many instances have been quite suc-
cessful in settling these questions to
mutual satisfaction. We believe that a
spirit of give and take should be used
in localities where such conflict exists
and take the recognition of the rights
and merits of both game protection and
livestock interests.

The membership of this Association
is largely made up of men who not
only have livestock — horses, cattle or
sheep — but also who are engaged in
either the hunting business or the
photography of wild game and have
a natural interest in such. Every
right-minded Dude Rancher operating
today realizes that the game and fish
of the West are one of our assets. It
is the opinion of many of us that the
very fact that even though it may be
closed season — or closed territory —
game around our regions and fish in
our streams is a more important asset
to us in the long run than the fact
that these animals may be hunted or
the fish caught. People coming from
other parts of the country to these
Dude ranches expect to see wild game
and to find trout in the streams. As
the bulk of the guests are in the west

The kindest thing God ever made
His hand of very healing laid
Upon a fevered world is shade.
Green temples closed against the heat
Of noon time's burning glare and beat
Open to any Pilgrim's feet.
This is God's hospitality,
And who so rests beneath a tree
Has cause to thank Him gratefully.

during the summer season, they know
before-hand that they can not kill
game, nor do they expect to. The pleas-
ure they derive from seeing wild game
far exceeds, in my opinion, their desire
to kill.

According to my information, more
than 7,000 dudes visited Montana and
Wyoming last year. Out of this num-
ber, I will venture to say, there were
not a total of 200 non-resident hunters.

A very important branch of the
Dude Ranch business is the operation
of summer pack outfits. These pack
outfits travel in all directions and
through rough mountain country. I
would say that the object of these
people is to see game and to obtain
good fishing with the fact that they
are in beautiful surroundings and away
from civilization. Should the game of
our districts disappear or become scarce
a large part of the attraction for these
pack trips would be eliminated.

It is, therefore, obvious that the
Dude Rancher of today must realize
the importance of, and be interested
in, the handling of game and fish re-
sources. Whether he be a hunter or
not, it is generally conceded that in
Montana and Wyoming the Dude
Rancher is the friend and ally of the
game warden. Of course, exceptions
are bound to occur, but I think they
are becoming less and less. Such ex-
ceptions are usually individuals who
have but recently gone into the Dude
ranch business on a small scale and
think that in order to build up busi-
ness they must produce the goods for
patrons without respect for the game
laws.

He soon finds his error. Many of
the men who come west to hunt are
members of great conservation societies
of the east. There is no doubt but
what these conservation societies over
the United States are becoming stronger
every year and that they exercise a
powerful hold upon public sentiment.

It has been my good fortune to have
been a member of the American Game
Protective Association, the Izaak Wal-
ton League, and the Camp Fire Group
of America, for many years. The com-

mittees of these organizations are com-
posed of able men, willing to give their
time and energy towards proper legis-
lation for the continuance of our wild
life. Such non-political departments
for the conservation of our game and
fish as those of the states of New York
and Pennsylvania, which I takes as
models, are the result of the endeavor
of these men. It is my fond hope
that some day those of us who are
interested in game matters will be
able to have the fish and game depart-
ments of our western states organized
along lines of these two.

In Wyoming we have made progress
in the efficiency of our game laws by
the appointment of a non-political com-
mission. This commission is being
rapidly given more and more power to
open and close seasons during the
hunting season.

The revenues of our game depart-
ment come direct from' the receipts of
that department, although in order to
get started it has been necessary for
the department to borrow from the
state an amount approximate to what
revenues will be over the biennial
period.

The next great object to my mind
is the taking of State Game Depart-
ments out of politics, the employment
of men qualified to handle jobs from
every standpoint regardless of whether
they are residents of the state or not,
and the elimination of political respon-
sibility to whatever party may be in
power.

PIPE DOW>

She: "You remind me of the wild
sea waves."

He: "Oh, because I am so reckless
and conquered?"

She: "No. Because you are all wet
and you make me sick."

Vigilantes of Montana

A CHRONICLE OF

THE OLD

WEST

How Trny Disposed of

BAD MEN

In ihc Sixties'

and execution ol

HENRY PLUMMER'S
ROAD AGENTS

By PROF. THOS. J. DIMSDALE
(Illustrated)

286 pages of frontier adventure, with historical reference lo
Virginia City and other western communities.

PRICE 91.00 POSTPAID

°'bys'"F. J. FALBAUM, JR.CM=

Page Thirteen

^n MONTANA ivl WIJUB LIFE

The Wlhy of Game Laws

By Glen A. Smith, Missoula, Chairman Montana Sports men's Association

G

Glen A. Smith

| AME laws are
not designed to
deprive people
of their right to
hunt and fish. They
are merely common-
sense rules which
long experience has
taught are necessary
to maintain the wild
life supply, so that
hunting and fishing
may continue to be
worth while. Any
stockman would at
once realize the fol-
ly of butchering
cows with new-born
calves, of disposing
of all his cows, or
all his bulls, or of
reducing his herd for immediate gain to
the point where it was unprofitable to
operate the business. He does not need
laws to prevent him from doing these
things — he refrains from doing them
through self-interest.

If the wild life resource is worth any-
thing to the public — and it is assumed
to be worth several millions of dollars
— it is worth managing properly. Every
citizen of the state is part owner of
this resource, and as such must share
the responsibility for proper manage-
ment.

The game laws are a guide to the
citizen in this respect and if he ignores
them the assumption is that his interest
lies solely in grabbing everything pos-
sible at the moment, regardless of what
effect it may have upon the future. It
is from this assumption that has arisen
the term "Game Hog."

The following clipping taken from
the Western News, published at Libby,
Mont, illustrates that there are "game
hogs" and what's more appalling is that
public sentiment is against such das-
tardly deeds is lacking when a public
official sworn to enforce the laws of
the land will pass out such light sen-
tences as these and then have the nerve
to suspend them:

You Will Always Cherish a Pride
In Well-Mounted Trophies

FI1SS

FURS

FEATHERS

Lentfer Bros.

TAXIDERMISTS
Successors to
Jonas Bros.

215 W. Park St.

Livingston, Mont.

Phone 337-W

"Three Men Arrested for Illeg-al
Hilling' of Game

"Game Warden Dorrington, ac-
companied by Ranger C. E. Pow-
ell, arrested Jim Roberts, Jack
Young and Sid Workman of the
Pinkham Creek district the first of
the week, charged with illegal kill-
ing of game. They were taken
before Justice of the Peace Mc-
Govern at Eureka, and Roberts and
Young were given a 60-day sus-
pended sentence, while Workman
was fined $25, which he is serving
out in the county jail.

"The officers found a large quan-
tity of deer meat on the Robertt
place. A number of deer had been
quartered and piled one on the
other, in a building. These had
frozen and later thawed and much
of it had begun to spoil. From 30 to
40 deer hides were also found on
the place, but not all of them
killed recently."

From this neck of the woods comes
the cry that the deer will be extinct
in a short time if the outsider, induced
by improved highways, is permitted to
come in and partake of the wholesome
sport that the region offers and it is
from this region loud wails are heard
about providing the Fish and Game
Commission more money to protect our

wild life. I for one would like to see
the Game Commission's hands strength-
ened by more money and active moral
support so that such conditions as
these will be banished from our fair
state.

LICENSES FOR GIRLS

All feminine anglers over 14 years
of age will be required to purchase li-
censes to fish in New Jersey, if a bill
presented to the legislature by the New
Jersey Fish and Game Commission be-
comes law. The proposed law is said
to be another reflection of a growing
interest of modern "Dianas" in outdoor
sports. Reports from many states have
disclosed a constant increase in the
number of women nimrods, and last
year Pennsylvania alone licensed more
than 3,000 feminine hunters.

FQODf ATTRACT DUC

ME^ BIROS- FIS

Plant water plants

— w i I d grain s — b e r -

ry- bearing shrubs —

99 kinds. DUCK

POTATO, WILD

RICE, etc. We t*j'^

show you how. 35 yfife __
years successful experience. Planting hefps
— folder free. Ask about our personal inves-
tigation and planting service.

TERRELL'S NURSERIES

1075 W. Blk. OSHKOSH, WIS.

for Spring Bear Hunting

BLACK, BROWN AND GRIZZLY
GOOD HORSES AND HONEST MEN

Write for particulars

IRA C. TESTER

LIBBY, MONTANA

SPORTSMEN-

Recognize this as Headquarters for All
Hunting, Fishing and Camping Equipment

THE MONTANA HARDWARE

Department of Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte, Montana

Page Fourteen

The Duck Hunter's Return

The Old Unrest

"W

' ELL, here I am back. When do
we eat? I've got an appetite
like a horse and I'm hungry
as a bear with two stomachs. Certainly
tones a man up to get out into the
open. Rough it for two days, fill the
old lungs full of pure ozone and take
10 years off your age. I feel like a
16-year-old kid.

"Dinner's ready? Well that's good.
What yo' got? Steak? Well, that's better
than nothing. Rather have pork chops,
though. Get me some clean cloths and
I'll hop into the tub. Be with you in
five minutes.

"Ducks? Sure we shot ducks. I know
I knocked one down, but he fell in a
swamp and we couldn't find him. Bill
and I looked for it until dark and then
we couldn't find our way back to camp.
Stayed there on the lake shore all
night in our wet clothes. I was going
to start a fire, but my matches were
damp. Got kind of cold before morn-
ing, but it's all in a lifetime. Does a
man good to eat out and rough it that
way. Well, get me those dry clothes.
Don't keep me waiting. I'm hungry.

(Curtain lowered for a moment to
denote the elapse of one hour.)

"That bath water was stone cold, al-
most. How do you expect a fellow to

BATHS FOR FISHES

Baths for little fishes have come into
vogue in state fish hatcheries, as the
result of a discovery by the Maine De-
partment of Inland Fisheries and
Game. For years the worst cause of
loss at the hatcheries, where many mil-
lions of fish are raised annually to re-
stock state waters, has been a fungus
growth which killed the young fish.
Through its experiments the Maine de-
partment has found that this growth
can be destroyed if the fish are given
acetic acid baths, Commissioner George
J. Stobie has informed the American
Game Association. So now each hatch-
ery's troublesome family of millions of
fish youngsters have to wash their
"necks and ears" regularly, with
acetic acid for soap.

MY WORD

An Englishman was visiting this
country for the first time, and as he
was driving along the highway saw a
sign: "Drive slow. This means YOU."

The Englishman stopped in surprise
and exclaimed: "My word, how did they
know I was here?"

Better DUCK Shooting

V Order Wild Rice Seed For
Spring Planting Now.
Thousands of ducks will
come to an established rice
field. We also have wild
celery, Sago Pond plant,
Wapato duck potato and
other attractions for waterfowl and fur
bearers. Also parched wild rice for table use.
GEO. D. HAMILTON'S AQUATIC FARMS
Box 16 Detroit, Minnesota

take a bath and shave with no hot wa-
ter? I'm chilled through from it. Close
that window. This house feels like a
barn. Haven't you any regard for a
man's health?

"Gosh, I'm hungry. All we had out
there was burnt bacon and black cof-
fee. Tasted pretty good, at that. Does
a man good —

"What's the matter with this steak?
You know I like my steak rare. This is
cooked to death. Well, I can't help it if
it has been cooked an hour. You could
have had some hot water ready for my
bath.

"Bet I'll have a cold in the morning,
the way this house is. And this meat is
enough to ruin a man's digestion. Hand
me that fly swatter. I can't eat with
the house full of insects. Darn that
fly. My aim was all right, but he
moved too quick. Bad as those ducks.

"Going again? Sure we're going again.
We know where the ducks are now and
we'll get 'em next time. We're leaving
at 4 o'clock next Sunday morning —
that is, if I don't get pneumonia or
something from the way this house is."
— American Field.

SUBSCRIPTION COMBINATION

American Game Protective

Association,

2273 Woolworth Building.

New York City, N. T.

Herewith find remittance of $2.00
for membership in the Association
Including subscription to "AMERI-
CAN GAME" and "MONTANA WILD
LIFE."

Combination
Price
Membership In American "\

Game Protective Assn.

Subscription to "American 1 $2.00
Game" I ^

MONTANA WILD LIFE J

If you are already a subscriber to
"MONTANA WILD LIFE" and wish
to renew for one year from the ex-
piration of your subscription please
mention that fact.

Add 50 cents for Canadian postage;
$1.00 for foreign postage.

Name

Address

Date _

Why do we still remain restless
When we no longer pursue

Illusions that ever run tangent
To horizons that ever are blue?

Why do we still find no quiet

In the gardens of repose
When only the soft-moving hours

Breathe lightly above the rose?

Why are the dim lines of yearning

Reflected in our eyes?
Are we no longer children

Under the mellowing skies?

It's just the way of an old world

In which we cannot learn
How near the song is ended

When the careless candles burn.

For all our unrest is a wishing
For an infinite vale set apart;

A place to catch up with the rapture
We couldn't quite hold to our heart.

"COLLY" Strain
Silver Black Foxes

Large, Healthy, Prolific Foxes Born and
Raised in Montana for Many Generations

Our Booklet, "Silver Fox Farming,"
Will Be Mailed to You on Request

Write for It
Beartooth Silver Fox & Fur Farms

Breeders of Better Fur
Red Lodge, Mont.

SERVING-

118 Montana Cities and Towns

THE MONTANA POWER CO.

Page Fifteen

Sec. 435%, P. L. & R.
U. S. POSTAGE

PAID

Helena, Montana
Permit No. 27

MONTANA

WEIL*© 3L1F

1931 MEMBERSHIPS

THE Anaconda Anglers' Club, Bil-
lings Rod and Gun Club and Red
Lodge Rod and Gun Club have sent
in their 1931 memberships. From pres-
ent indications there will be about 40
clubs affiliated with the association this
year. More clubs are realizing that or-
ganization and co-operation are becom-
ing more necessary each year. The
future of the wild life of Montana un-
doubtedly depends upon the co-opera-
tion of the sportsmen. It is hoped that
when carrying on their membership
drives the clubs will make every at-
tempt to secure other memberships
shown on the schedule printed below.
During the past 30 days A. C. Baum-
gartner of Great Falls has taken out
an individual yearly membership of
$1 and S. G. Tonkin, president of the
Billings Rod and Gun Club, has taken
out an individual life membership of
$25. Many business firms will be glad
to support the association in helping to
perpetuate the wild life of Montana.

First Sight of the West

SCHEDULE OF MEMBERSHIP DUES

Clubs with 300 members or more, $50.00
Clubs with 250 to 299 members, $45.00
Clubs with 200 to 249 members, $40.00
Clubs with 150 to 199 members, $35.00
Clubs with 100 to 149 members, $30.00
Clubs with 75 to 99 members, $25.00
Clubs with 50 to 74 members, $20.00
Clubs with 25 to 49 members, $15.00
Clubs with less than 25 members, $10.00
Individual memberships (not in-
cluded in clubs) $ 1-00

Life membership $25.00

Assisting membership (indivdual) $ 5.00
Associate membership I individual

or firm) $10.00

Sustaining membership, (individ-
ual or firm) $25.00

Contributing membership (indi-
vidual or firm) $50.00

Promoting membership l individ-
ual or firm) J100.00

Club memberships are due and pay-
able not later than June 1 of the cur-
rent year.

Club memberships are to be based
upon the number of paid in members
as of June 1 or the membership of the
previous year. If the dues paid on or
before June 1 do not cover the mem-
bership of any club as of Dec. 1. then
such clubs shall remit the proper
amount to cover all additional mem-
bers not included in their previous
remittance.

NEW CLUB AT CUT BANK

SECRETARY B. F. Gerry will be in
Cut Bank Feb. IS helping to or-
ganize a new club. A great deal
of enthusiasm has already been dis-
played by the sportsmen in that terri-
tory and it is expected that Cut Bank
will have a live organization.

I'M OUT in the West, where the sun
shines down
?rom a Maxwell Parish sky
That strikes the canyon crimson

As it piles the distance high.
Where the twisted pines on the moun-
tain top
Bow down to the northern gale,
And the rugged rocks mount purple
guard
Over the wooded vale.

Where the rivers start from their beds
of ice
As pale as a fog at sea,
And clear as the bowl of a crystal
cup,
And cold as eternity.
Where the shadows play through the
netted trees
Like the tones of a Paisley shawl,
And the odor of sage on the open
plain
Creeps up to the mountain wall.

I'm out in the West, with a horse to
ride

Where the trails are calling me
To claim the beauty and the wealth

Of sun and sky and tree!
At home I live with the works of man,

Where the pavement spurns the sod,
But here for a month I'm a pioneer

In quest of the works of God!

SECRETARY'S COLUMN

DUE to an unusual amount of inter-
est being displayed by the sports-
men and clubs over the entire
state the association has been called
upon to do an unusual amount of work
for this time of year. For this reason
it is very necessary that membership
dues be paid as soon as possible or it
will not be possible to carry on the
work already scheduled for the next few
months.

It will be greatly appreciated if clubs
wishing the wild life pictures and other
assistance will notify the secretary at
an early date, so that arrangements
can be made with other clubs in the
territory, as much time can be saved
as well as considerable expense.

Minutes of the annual meeting held
at Helena on January 9 and 10 will be
mailed to affiliated clubs in the near
future.

Many people throughout the state do
not fully realize the tremendous amount
of work necessary in propagating fish
and game until they have seen the mo-
tion pictures of wild life of Montana.
They are not only enjoyed by the
school pupils and general public but
have considerable educational value.

MANY SEE PICTURES

SINCE January 1 the motion pictures
of wild life of Montana have been
shown as follows: Helena, annual
meeting of the association, legislators,
Eagles lodge; Harlowton, school pupils
and Musselshell Valley Sportsmen's As-
sociation; Lewistown, schools and gen-
eral public ; Stanford, schools and Stan-
ford Rod and Gun Club; Choteau,
schools and general public; Great
Falls, schools and general public; Big
Timber, schools and Big Timber Rod
and Gun Club; Belgrade, schools and
general public. Many meetings are al-
ready planned for the next two months
and many requests are being received
from the schools throughout the state
to have these pictures shown. Arrange-
ments can be made by writing B. F.
Gerry, secretary of the Montana Sports-
men's Association, Box -477, Missoula,
Mont.

ACTIVITY IX EASTERN MONTANA

A GREAT deal of enthusiasm is be-
ing displayed by the sportsmen
of eastern Montana and it is ex-
pected that several new clubs will be
organized in that territory during the
next, few months.

MANY FAVOR LICENSE INCREASE

FIFTY rod and gun clubs throug-
out the state are in favor of an
increase in fishing and hunting
license fees. These clubs represent
over 80 per cent of the organized sports-
men of Montana.

MEETING DATES

Feb. 16 — Toole County Sportsmen's
Association, Shelby.

Feb. 17 — Sweetgrass.

Feb. 18— New club at Cut Bank.

Feb. 19 — Browning Rod and Gun Club,
Browning.

Feb. 20— Valier Rod and Gun Club,
Valier.

April 10 — Bozeman Rod and Gun
Club, Bozeman.

April 27 — Livingston.

THAT MIRROR INCIDENT

A backwoods mountaineer one day
found a mirror which a tourist had
lost.

"Well, if it isn't my old dad," he
said as he looked in the mirror. "I
never knew he had his pitcher took."

He took the mirror home, stole into
the attic to hide it, but his actions did
not escape his suspicious wife. That
night while he slept she slipped up to
the attic and found the mirror.

"Mm-m," she said, looking into it,
"so that's the old hag he's been
chasin'." — Beartooth Skyline.

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