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The OREGON
SPORTSMAN

JANUARY, 1915

I

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2

The Marten, a Valuable Fur-bearing Animal of Oregon.

PUBL SHE Di MONT ALY UN DER THE. DIREC ELON: OR, THE

PbSH AND: GAME: COMMISSION

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 1

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_ CONTENTS

Copyright 1914, by William L. Finley

Page
PNG Ew aU ede) spenl ee yt} 6) OER G bee PI EXOIE | RIPLEIIL GMM ne BOY ni by 4 4! Owe sy eb ake d cloak in
Arthur Saebliu bar dizer isis feet <0 sateen eee arte ae en 2
Maikinos Game ia Resources: s2s))earg) aya ae mee seal eee ae 3
The Fur-bearing Animals of Oregon, |
By Stal yar Gi eeweut te ee. bint mae yee eae anit eee nae 5)
SUNN Oe Cains Lrouecinoia ImiMl . - 2, s see eae. Be 7
Chinese or Ring-necked Pheasants Liberated..........-. 10
<The Warden’s ST ye WS C COMIC Sie ei Chia Peruana eee ries 13
Hungarians Panuiidees aul erate da i erie eel aren are te 14
Calrtornias @uanilealenlo erate deen. ar ys ee hie ein eae teatime 16
ihe INe wes: Honest wenncl eS ike ania ies po eee ee JG I
Bobwhite @ waniligeliniy enairedese si.) tatoo wae eee nye aene denn i meas 18
Silver APheasamitsiy so. tc ach ame soil: na Comey a Mame e we ee cnmuey cae 18
Reeves Pheasant iar mii ica iv er Seay were ne cake ie eT ei re eae ig)
Golden Phe a sam Gowa ys ois; oe iets coi tee Ne RA Were lem Since rae aS 19
Pheasants: talsedi airs bates tO Sliic lami yiey a anaet ease mee acerier 20
V“Paek-amd-Sa ddl in okt 27. cy nce in 0 channel eee g ea ee ee 20
Been: witht bem Challd)s (tee seeks tse de ime Rie 21

This issue contains a detailed statement of dis-
bursements of the Game Protection Fund and other
statistics of the game department for 1914. A de-
tailed report of game licenses issued, bounties paid,
violations and other records for 1914 will be pub-
lished in The Oregon Sportsman for February.

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III JANUARY, 1915 Number 1

SUUIINIUINNUIAUNUONUEDUUEOAA AT

HNUUAUNUUANUTUUUUTAUUUTAUUU LUAU

Arthur S. Hubbard

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SalI

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

\A SSUINNIAIUTIAUUONDATUTTETU TUT

ARTHUR S. HUBBARD.

Deputy Game Warden Arthur S. Hubbard of Ash-
land was killed in the performance of his duty as a
state officer on December 17, 1914. He was sent to

the upper Trail Creek country to arrest a game law

ITALIA LLL LLL LIL LLL =

violator by the name of Loris Martin. Mr. Hubbard

had secured evidence to prove that Martin was killing
deer out of season. Soon after, he came upon Martin
in the mountains, jumped from his Eee and walked
quietly toward him to place him under arrest. Hub-
bard made no effort whatever to draw a gun. Yet
when within a few feet, Martin fired with his rifle at
his hip, killing Mr. Hubbard instantly.

Arthur 8. Hubbard was born near Redding, Cali-
fornia, February 14, 1877. He lived in northern Cali-

fornia until 1902 when he moved to Ashland. He was
married in 1904. In July, 1911, he entered the service
of the state as deputy game warden. He was a member
of the Order of Macabees and also of the Ashland
Lodge of Elks. He leaves a wife, Dora L. Hubbard,

and two small children.

NINN

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IIL LUNA

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 2

MAKING GAME A RESOURCE,

In the state of Oregon from the Columbia river to the Cali-
fornia border, is a great public domain that will never be opened
to settlement. This area comprises the Federal forest reserva-
tions. Here are 13,000,000 acres of forest land not subject to
state tax, although the state derives thirty-five per cent of reve-
nues from grazing, timber and other sources collected by the
Federal Government. Approximately 25,000,000 acres more is
covered with heavy timber and is not used for agricultural pur-
poses. In eastern Oregon are other vast areas of land of no value
from an agricultural standpoint. Much of it is unclaimed and
unsettled and bears no taxes to the state.

How can the state of Oregon ever profit by this extensive
territory within her borders? What are the resources of this
great domain?

Our 38,000,000 acres of forests contain the finest mountain
streams and our most beautiful lakes. To make them valuable
to the state, they must be stocked with fish. Practically all our
big game animals live in our forests. Our forest areas are the
recreation grounds for our people. This is the area that will
always be open to the poor man as well as the rich man. As
population increases, this is the only area in the state where we
can guarantee hunting and fishing to the poor man as well as
the rich man.

Our splendid streams and lakes, our snow-capped mountains,
our magnificent forests are attracting tourists from all parts of
the world who come to fish, hunt and enjoy outdoor life in
Oregon. Maine estimates her game resources are worth $20,000,000
annually. California values her game resources nearly as high.
Neither of these states has better opportunity than Oregon to
become famous for fishing and hunting. Angling for Chinook
salmon in the Willamette and fishing for rainbows in the Rogue,
McKenzie, Deschutes and our other streams are attracting people
from all over the United States. Every year tourists come from
New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other states to take
their outings in Oregon.

= THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Of what profit is this to Oregon? Tourists spend a large
amount of money in railroad and stage fares, at hotels and farm
houses, in the employment of guides, hiring horses, purchasing
equipment, supplies and numerous other items. This money goes
directly into the pockets of our citizens. Fishing and hunting
thus becomes a business proposition to the farmer, the fruit-
grower, the timberman and every other land owner in the state
by attracting the class of travelers who have money to spend and
money to invest.

The records, which are not quite complete for 1914, show
that 58,813 of our residents angled in our streams and lakes
during the past year. The number of our people who actually
engage in this outdoor sport rapidly increases each year. During
the past year, there was an increase of 6443 anglers over the
previous year. Out of the total population in Oregon at the
present time of 790,000 people, from 85,000 to 90,000 of these
residents take an active part in either hunting or fishing some
time during the year. This shows we are an outdoor people and
it is the duty of the state to furnish this recreation. |

From an economic and business standpoint, the game and
other wild creatures of the state are worth $5,000,000 annually.
This is not placing a high estimate on these resources.
During the past year, the Fish and Game Commission has ex-
pended $130,000 to protect and develop our game resources. This
is an expenditure of two per cent a year on the investment. The
expenditure is necessary if we are to increase the value of the

resources. The money spent is paid in entirely by those who
hunt and angle. Every effort has been made to spend this money
economically and to get value received for each dollar. It can
only be spent on duly authorized warrants, signed by three of
the Commissioners, passed upon by the Secretary of, State, and
checks drawn by the Secretary of State and paid by the State
Treasurer. 7

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

oO

THE FUR-BEARING ANIMALS OF OREGON.
By Stanley G. Jewett.

The dense forests of the Cascade mountains and coast regions
of Oregon, and the high, arid interior counties east of the Cascade
range present ideal conditions for harboring a great number of
valuable fur-bearing animals. It is the intention of this paper to
show the reader the importance of intelligent legislation to con-
serve, this asset to the state and the coming generation.

In Oregon about seventeen hundred men and boys took out
trappers’ licenses during the winter of 1913-1914, this license
oiving them authority to take all fur-bearers except the beaver,
which is protected at all times. There is a closed season on mink,
marten, muskrat, otter and fisher from March 1 to October 31 of
each year, and each trapper holding a trapper’s license is required
by law to furnish the State Board of Fish nd Game Commis-
sioners a verified report in writing at the termination of the
trapping season, of the number and kinds of fur-bearing animals
eaught and killed, where sold and amount derived from sale of
same. These reports give the members of the State Fish and
Game Commission accurate data on the numbers and kinds of
protected fur-bearers taken each year.

There is no denying the fact that all our fur-producing mam-
mals are rapidly decreasing and some are on the verge of extinc-
tion, but by keeping records of each year’s catch protection can
be given those that are diminishing most rapidly, thereby giving
these species a chance to re-establish themselves. The value of
protection on a certain species is well illustrated in the case of
beaver. - Under protection they have increased wonderfully all
over the state of Oregon. It is clearly apparent that more atten-
tion must be paid to the conservation of certain species in Oregon
unless we want them to disappear from the face of the earth, like
the Labrador duck, passenger pigeon and great auk. In Oregon
the grizzly bear and sea otter are gone, or nearly so; the fisher,
one of our finest fur-bearers, is rapidly disappearing, and, unless
protection is afforded it, soon will disappear forever from our
forests.

The same pitiful story will be told of others of our beautiful

6 - THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

and valuable animals unless protection is given them from the
careless hunter and greedy trapper. The time has arrived when
we are confronted with two facts first, Oregon’s fur crop is
economically profitable, and, second, the mammals which produce
this fur are fast diminishing in numbers. We may either use
these animals at once without thought of further supply, or we
may wisely conserve them for the future and thereby bring a
large revenue to the state in the years to come. It is true that
those drafting laws for the protection of our fur-bearers may
meet difficulties; some species are charged with various offenses
against the farmer and the stock raiser. It is evident that these
charges are exaggerated and not so serious as some would have us
believe. The lack of definite information emphasizes the necessity
of further study of the habits and numbers of these species.

The following data shows the economic importance of
our fur: during the season of 1913-1914, 18,685 muskrat skins
were sold for the sum of $4062.16; 2466 mink brought
$7824.58 to the trappers of this state. Other protected species
brought about $4000, to say nothing of the large sums
received from such species as skunks, coon, coyotes and’ bobeats,
and less abundant species as the bear, wolf, cougar, ring-tailed
cat and badger. Between October 1, 1913, and May 10, 1914, the
state paid out $21,267 bounty on such predatory species as the
cougar, bobeat and wolf, and the skins of these brought the
hunters an additional $13,000. From the reports of hunters and
trappers throughout the state, we find that from the sale of furs
taken in this state last winter the people received a revenue of
about $100,000. The money paid for bounties, in most cases, goes
to homesteaders and settlers who can use it to good advantage
while developing their property, and killing off these predatory
animals tends to increase the numbers of deer and other game,
thereby bringing outside hunters to the state, who in turn leave
a good sum! of money by hiring guides and buying hunting out-
fits to take into the woods. The conservation of our fur as well
as our game is a business proposition and should have as much
consideration as the preservation of our ‘forests and our water

supply.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 7

STATEMENT OF GAME PROTECTION FUND.

Showing Moneys Received by State Treasurer and Disbursements
Made on Warrants Drawn by Secretary of State.

From January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914.

Total

Receipts by State Treasurer to date Balance
Balance on hand; January 1, 1914.../.............. teveas. $ 42,428.66
Licenses, Game OS Seer ae ert” 9.15
eRe ARI ge alee no as wns ebm we x 489 1,061.00
Mere ry ra TER el sda, stil a6, 4 Pere. tense vied ves a 135.00
ME MERA TUIV Piet Pcie oe yoa eoo a y diard oldie «plant 200.00
dngenses, Private Trout Hatchery... 2.0.0)... 6.05) 4.00
Licenses, Collect Scientific Purposes............... 1.00
mere OF Metal tiame Tags... 24% wo srtai sh dink ue denen ied 167.49
Pe Ee LCA We Ra Ea Oo. c cise Acree ei yew win Ot cule Ae 9 Schoey Me 199.50
Redeemed Confiscated Property. .... 0 6.0. bec emiet « 133.75
RR EO LOU. Cenc ine fares. ste sak ds ae Os wag Waste 2,639.04
Lin TESS fhe Soa Gl se leek le 2 serail tadialll iit Mrmr ge Br 80.02
"Uregon Sportsman’? Subscriptions... ..6 sees ca ws 218.25
erate Game Barm Remittances. 05.6.0. aul e us aes 382.89

TES gt RMN a er a a ee PRR Ney 2 $115,681.09 $115,681.09

$158,109.75

Summary of Disbursements Made on Warrants Drawn by
Secretary of State.

~Game and (‘rout Protection: 5-14-4202. .s re eae $ 58,579.63
THLOlOsICal amd (Paucational oo 0s. ie ee le tt 15,942.29
*Game Propagation and Distribution.............. 12,891.16
*Trout Propagation and Distribution.............. * 29,449.10
ascellaneti tel Apenses. 5... dye. > oo ye es REA 13,146.04
EE RMR cere lo Gg ihe bad o » Bao seca a pane hatond SN la $130,008.22 $130,008.22
Balance, January 1, 1915..... 0... Ook eee eee eee $ 28,101.53

*Note:—The above items are more fully itemized on the following pages.

8 : THE Oc EGON SPORTSMAN

Items of Disbursements on Warrants Drawn by the Secretary of State.

State Game Warden (salative. “p05. ie oe
State Game Warden Expenses.............
Office Hniployees Salaries sor eee. wes. see
Office Expenses and Supplies, .v.... 9.000.
And ibis CRECORUS eee ten ey ke ae
Deputy Game Warden Salaries............
Deputy Game Warden Expenses...........
Special Deputy Warden Salaries...........
Special Deputy Warden Expenses
Rewards) to) Informants'..). os ..0. nose
Court and Legal Expense
Game Refuge Expenses
Sundry Expenses

ee ee ee ew ew eee we ww
a, 8 8B) Bs) 6 eye) © we) ew) ee, ee,

Ce 2 Ty

Biological and Educational Salaries
B. and E. Expenses and Supplies
B, and’ B. Office Mxpensere ieee s sees
Reed Inst. Experimental Station

Me) Jes) (o! 0) she] os)

State Game Farm Salary and Labor.......
State Game Farm Expenses and Supplies. .
Game Farm Improvement and Construction
Animals and Birds Purchased ei y.. . 2.0.
Animal Propagation and Exhibition

AY suve) \eulele

*Trout Work, Operation
*Trout Work, Construction

Commissioners’ Salaries
Commissioners’ Expenses
Printing Licenses
Additional Bounties
Opening and Closing Seasons..............
Mouth of Hood River Project
Fishways and Irrigation Screens
Trapping Beaver Doing Damage

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a) um ee: 0) 0. 9; Ofer m (ay wine,

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$ 2,291.66
600.99

183.97
31,786.15
14,373.62

1,216.50

5,279.50

$58,579.63

$15,942.29

$12,891.16

$29,449.10

$13,146.04

*Note:—The above items are more fully itemized on the following page.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

9

TROUT PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION—GAME PROTECTION

FUND.

Disbursements from January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914 on Warrants

Drawn by Secretary of State.

Superintendent Hatcheries Salary ...................8 600.00
Superintendent Hatcheries Expenses ...............-. 266.70
Superimtendent Hatcheries Office 12. ..6......5.2-05- 677.98
Fish Caiierisce -ab Juarge. ins. . PRTG 0. fF se os 211.65
EDUC WEG. cy whet 0 en eave ay 1 NRO FER OFS, ora oe 5,900.04
RiGhemme Biver, so PRET e eh. BE Tee aR SH 1,292.43
Cresceke. Odell. and: Davib RABE weer REIN obk ME. oss 1,331.98
Cy CPOGIE re ctcea ihit ERAN, EAA os Oe whe Bice ee 1,202.84
AVG UPA ARIAT Fah ce sFanepre yeh xs shen ar hal feos] Pa aA CRA SON Sorat PE PIR Mt cw 250.57
Siar Meee OEW 5 oyu «AEs ukeAsthl £05 UMC RD EL . 477.48
RAEN ees cg a Fae, hss dunt nota tinceyies Od Siebuete wae oe 299.51
JONG se Ls oat ae Oe ae ee ee ee 306.27
Sia Wa. roo LIL): ae eee Pe Ree rere A Se 487.28
CON ASR SoA oh re ae ET Sc LS ree 89.70
DUTMs KOU CHIDORALY,) . ccss eats a diakorred ow satan @p Sid. + 4- 103.52
Eatkewrewi C8 eniporany ) cic sie sgt. Ak ees af ls ae anh a oe» 151.84
Bie prea err iacinakt «cies G2 = daa Pei OE craters iz Pina ie by. Mae sees 157.73
Upper teeue (CU. 8S. Government), ..25.o) 265 ei ng oye es 946.59
Glackamasy(Uins. Government ) fo cubes hieittd's jeksecye os.0 » 88.52
River Mat GuUaiS. Government) sch) oko ibs wees s 354.61
AORPDTTUD Go aCe pe cn der aA Se Sone AOI Oe on a Sic AD al fo 434.49
SiMe al. cia eee ag a Pow de aon een y Re oh 285.62
JN 102 | Ce, ie ete a Meith aboindr aus nae Reine) nda fe ty Sai 332.50
BaneyrGreeictand Gales Creek. soothe? Aree ee ce 278.58
SSISER LT UU 2S CH Sans al ih ete chs de thee Ae 2 816.30
Bish Gor ioalary avd Mxpenses: (Pir COT is ee ee. 3,752.28
np ee strrintsemncs 22. Pe PR ye en 1,053.12
Traut aeeouwt, (PreVvidUs, d-T=V2) UPON Oe ees oe 625.41
EDOM Me esr rarehasete tls held che Ao rate es te eee oie 1,394.06
' Construction.
ERVPRI ELC MMLC Bae ak es can ate Soh ela wea oie ee! bas ache 4 2 Wl Sew oe o $ 1,338.03
Wie Meme: HIVOE jr eke taka cay wht gAle Vie os aifsahh as 5 © 1,824.29
PIGENOGRE ERG Re vat 5 cess ae Sie Sn BG SAE Yah eGR septs. « 1,141.12
Crescene Odell: ane Da visi a... v.cpch «cone ol edhe a Healey sw 21.50
RN ARUN neha ge SNS ANNE <b ahi cvs cry by 4 Bhs" < ile Ades aie to BTo Ora > 9.81
STIR) Coa EL) One ae AR mec ORE le oe Ae a 51.97
TEE. LPL ea ane ONES Ds real art Ae ag aca ee i ee ee IE 565.07
EES three Fan Wht Ores de ee TA sn ah sven pee gice were 242.15
Mebaaeaae shack OG 5 eee a ie! ant ecsbaly apne 2 do pies were ah Des 13.50
OE eA nN 8 hg TI i a RAD eR gk nn pS 40.00
ME Wat AE SOUT eS fie) k ala also Seale Dieldbe a Seite we wee 32.06

$24,169.60

10 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CHINESE OR RING-NECKED PHEASANTS LIBERATED.

The following is a report by counties of the Chinese pheas-
ants raised at the State Game Farm and liberated from January 1,
1914, to December 31, 1914:

BAKER COUNTY
March 22
August 17
August 18
August 18
August 18
August 18
August 18

CLATSOP COUNTY
August 4
August 31
September 9
September 18
October 5
October 5
October 6
October 7
October 23

COOS COUNTY
January 19
September 14
September 14
September 14
September 14
September 29
September 29
September 29
November 23

CROOK COUNTY
Mareh 1
March 12
August 28
November 8
October 6

DOUGLAS COUNTY
February 3
December 5

Liberated by
DoW. Ayers, Durkee, 2) aes
WD. Beck: ames) eu. oe
Rod and Gun Club, Newbridge
S. D. Garlinghouse, Halfway. .
Dr. I. N. Sanders, Richland...
John Wi. Blick, Homes j isc.)

Cr

e) ©) =») 8 wl ‘» Ye hei = ©

CY

OOP OOF OG Oo OF

James Cunningham, Huntington..........

Kh. 8. Poole, Warrenton... ae.
O}.Dy atton, Seastder 5.7
WelGe Brown, Clittonee o.esie
W. F. McGregor, Astoria.....

Himer A. Coe, Svensens ie:

Woe) ee wien eile ye: cm 1@

John Gertulla, Blind Slough...
George Lindstrom, Fernhill...
Victor Olsont Mielville te.

A. J. Sherwood, Coquille......
Lester Dement, Myrtle Point.
James Landrith, Marshfield...
RR. Hy Mast, Coquitle: nicer
J. W. Bennett, Marshfield....
James Thomas, Coquille.......
Dr. George E. Dix, Marshfield
William Bowron, Templeton. .
Dr. E. E. Straw, Marshfield. .

Baldwin Sheep Company, Hay
Farry Skuse) Bend.) 4.90.74.
Clyde McKay, Bend.........
R. L. Schee, Redmond........
R. L. Schee, Redmond........

S. L. Bigelow, Canyonville....
J. K. Howard, Glendale......

2 pe See: le) a6. -16) 18 0) cae

“iylwin ve} \e: (wine, fal is) (9) (9) le:

Oe tht Or Se yorony

Ufa) Bye) pin) elie) ie oie
oe ee ee ee eee
eee ee we we ew ew

a aerGh are ip liste ene

ao, 2) Au, euler’ ah (ewtednaie
opal) 'o\ int wy cee a) Sie
eC oy
o) to)/iay es, wv) ieee einem e
ee
P fevke Neue: use) el fates
eee ee ew we ee
sie «)\e ek rie.) seh @

Ce

Creek.....

ee ee we we ee ew ee

ee ee ee we te we

eter e's) bie bv) ae Supe

168

150

130

32

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

DOUGLAS COUNTY
August 14
September 24

GRANT COUNTY
July 31
August 19
November 20
November 21

HARNEY COUNTY
March 10
November 5

Ay Fi GGT OM OCU pc eee teens os 24
B Esy BOBPOV POMOC cheek einer eee revs» 12
S. Ay Lduranee? Prairie *Crby.... 5... .04.. 96
Cy: Ji Bingham); Prairie City. . 2... ee. 96
Cyd > eimphem, Jolin Daye. giuesese es +4 60
Ay Palas Sms Canyon, Ci yer. oa tg vey» 8
oD Pagel RR SS Eni) 0 107 fs AA 3 yh ee 12
By EE ASG IN ATTOWS 5 ficsm nine eee on ee 36

HOOD RIVER COUNTY

August 26
August 29
August 29
September
September
September
September
September
September 13
October 5

October 17

October 28

November 12

or or ew & eH

JACKSON COUNTY
August 11
August 11
August 20
November 12

JOSEPHINE COUNTY

September 6
November 17

KLAMATH COUNTY
March 9
August 24
October 18

Be. Scobie OOM: WAVCRusr o)..s. sree ss = 12
C. Mi Eniripurt, Hood River. . 8. 207... 12
WM. Stewart, Hood River. 220000: % 24
BranzvAhnens) (Parkdale)... si. ARS 12
Wik. Wines Det aan. co tek cada 12
Oe Vanderbilt,” Hood Wiver igi yg ons een 12
Je Warhalntor. ELOOd. EV GRE P'as-a'eadia ein aus 12
POW Reset Te EL OOO Lut Ok ray coer ci8 tn yare mies es 12
E.'S: Butteriield) Hood River. it + an ns 12
Wm. L. Hodges, Jr., Hood River........ 12
D. MeDonald: Hood Rivers. 0. sce. x 12
Warren M. Cooper, Mount Hood.......... 12
E. Shelley Morgan, Hood River........... 12
EH. D. Stevenson, Medford; .<:. 20.2... <.. 12
Ae, De ie Wee, NECH TO LM rie xiao -la'sAy = asic «8 12
Roderick Macleay, Rogue River.......... 24
Pe vOp My UOry «isan ih, dr ct ue has 24

Joe Schmitt, Grants, Pages sae ees 12
Joe Sehmitt, Grants Passwuwee sive cc ss wns 24
C. M. Ramsby, Klamath Falls............ 24
WU. mith, MlamathuWallgy sci ee asi « 192
WO, smith Klamath Malis.c yin fo oa. we 192

1]

36

260

48

168

72

36

408

12 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

LAKE COUNTY

August 31 B, -T. MeKimens, Lakeview 5. 5c 2.
LINCOLN COUNTY

May 14 J. Margson, Winant......:..>. eae eee

July 29 Henry. Rhoades, Tolédo. .2...0.....: 88.

November 9 Henry Bhoades;.Toledo..°)....... BE. tou

October 7
November

MALHEUn COUNTY

8

November 10

August 26

November 8
MULTNOMAH COUNTY

October 7

July 29
October 5

MORROW COUNTY

SHERMAN COUNTY

C, Ee Boyer, Ontario. . (cane se 2 eee
CEL BoyerpOntariowe: 2s) eee eee ee
James Hiiett, (Knappase= soe ses noes Sees

Dr. F. N. Christensen, Heppner. .... 2... 5.
Dr, F. N. Christensen, Heppner... 4° soon

Chris Minsinger,, Portland). o.. 0.) pac:

Li; Barnum, (Grass Valleys <r. Gee
George N. Crosfield, Waseo.............

TILLAMOOK COUNTY

August 2 George HE. Leach, Tillamook... 2... .25
August 12 George Ei. Leach, Wlamooke.. o .6. 2 one
September 3 S. (Gz deed, Nehalemis Gi. oe i). sabae eres
September 29 George: bh. each; “Uailtamook., 52.225. ece

UMATILLA COUNTY

March 8 Ey F., Averill, Pendleton... .. + CPR ww ced eh
August 8 Sy Bi Oldaker, Wermistonaeins: es eee
August 8 M.D. Orange, Pilot otk: 0. capper
August 8 W.. Nu Matlock, “Pendleton... 2.5 nace.
August 11 G. i. Hurd, Sta mereta ra... ice erin eels one
August 14 o F. ieuallen Westone. ae: <1, keeee
August 15 Dr.. J... D. Plantondon, “Aqhena. oso... cg
August 15 Dr..J3:\D.; Plamondony Athena. 2.5. waa mos
August 15 Dr. J. D. Plamondon) Athena. see...
August 29 Ei. P: Dodd; Hermiston S40 ve vetoes cs yn
September 1 Hid. Baylor, Penglevons: ek gai ters
September 1 Gilman Folsom, Pendleton..............
September 1 LouisScholls Jz.» Behos. .. ae ee
September 7 BH. P. Dodd, Hermiston. 3 2 ac. aie
September 24 S. B. Sanderson, Freewater............-.
November 6 Dr. J.-D. BMlamondonsAthendy. 3 saeco
November 6 S. R. Oldaker,Hermistonk 2.5 jcc ae. + cme

96

96

156

252

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

UNION COUNTY

August 17
September 13
November 6

WALLOWA COUNTY

August 26
September 1
September 5
Oetober 6
October 13
November 8
November 8
November 11

WASCO COUNTY
July 23
July 24
July 28
July 28
July 28
August 6
October 6
Oetober 25
November 9
November 9
November 10

WHEELER COUNTY

March 5
September 6

‘*‘THE WARDEN’S SIXTY SECONDS.’’

Chris Johnson, North Powder.......
Alex McKenzie, Summerville........
Arthur Eatigarim, Pigin i.) ..-....-.-

d« SaGRsen, Moshe... a oe Ae
Hi: 70 ‘Breen, Wallowav))... 0.26...
He. GmOsoy, PORGPi. 64526. c2 bees
W. C. Hinterman, Enterprise, 2.5.7. .
Dr Charles Kang Plord . . .
Dre Charles) Kane Mota os
W. C. Hinterman, Enterprise........
Te SiGubson; MOsEp ha. Visca. jee ees

Maleolm A. Moody, The Dalles......
ee. Pimepdne hb Oreleya. ole ofits oes
Se CGE, DATED. Se 10 oe oo”
ere, tomas. SD atime oye 2 tr) a. ae
AN A MOU ES DUE es files ta 2) o, t
dames, Netsot, ‘The Datles 2. ...3 5 ..
W. PF. Cushing: The Dalles sn...
J. 0. aarper, Tyen Vatloya .occc%.e ..):
Rod and Gun Club, The Dalles......
Rod and Gun Club, The Dalles.......
AE Oe Oieon.: Dar. 9 ae Welk. «(veiw eee

aula Watters, «-MOSSil eco. 5.5 «ghee - ci as olay ys
Charles -G. Millets, Possilic..<.'.. 2.5:

Total number of pheasants liberated

13

— 84

— 216

— 300

The Youth’s Companion, January 14, 1915, contains an interesting
story by Dallas Lore Sharp. The main part of the story is based on an
experience which Deputy Game Warden J. J. Furber of Klamath Falls had
while engaged in the performance of his duties two or three years ago.
It is entitled ‘‘The Warden’s Sixty Seconds.’’

14 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGES LIBERATED.

The following is a report by counties of the Hungarian par-
tridges liberated from January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914:

BENTON COUNTY Liberated by Number
January 23 Dave Wom, :Alseai aiecricce See ee 12
— 12
CLATSOP COUNTY
Mareh 3 Charles Vil Brown; (Astoria... .). 0 See 24
a 24
CLACKAMAS COUNTY
Mareh 5 Wilham Lodinley Portland: ). 2. Sa aeee 24.
— 24
COOS COUNTY
March 2 J. W. Bennett, Marshfields. .. 2-125. soa 24
March 2 A. J. Sherwood, Coquille cae sere cele 24
_— 48
CROOK COUNTY
March 7 Baldwin Sheep Co., Hay Creek.......... 12
Mareh 12 Harry; Skuse) Bendy ov voc sue ee 12
— 24
DOUGLAS COUNTY
January 15 Roy. Boothe vion@allll aie veneer 12
January 18 S. L. Bigelow, Canyonville...........7.. 12
March 11 Bartrum & Sykes, Roseburg............. 24
March 11 J. JY BOO bal OSGW Nl yk. te. ses Ge eae 24
HARNEY COUNTY ie
March 9 Dr, VE Habbard Isr scree na. oes eias 24
HOOD RIVER COUNTY eet
February 28 Leslie Butler, “dood River. 2 i\e.2 whom see 24 beak
JACKSON COUNTY Sl ts
January 15 Sam L. Sandry, Rogue River............ 24
January 17 A: iS, /ubbard, A shlaard 3 ice teas accu 36
January 18 C, Ls Springer, Jacksonmellies: hist eee 24
March 10 dis, od «) TOpL Ys, WIELD iia nunc cites 9 te ieee ee 12
March 11 AY Si Fi bbardy Ashlande .scssves wee ae 24
JOSEPHINE COUNTY eetig:
March 3 Fred Merrill Grants: Pages sien ear. cee te 12
— 12

KLAMATH COUNTY
March 9 C. M; Ramsby, Klamath aus. ci. eb eae 60
— 60

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 15

LANE COUNTY

January 17 Es, By, PSE Cy rancein «cas phe aie) my bine Wine 36
February 4 760. M, Knox, Cottage Grove............ 24
March 1 Geo. M. Knox, Cottage Grove............ 3
-— 96
MARION COUNTY
January 15 Oy AW Pare Bayete crac acd « ees pane 8 12
January 16 a, Fhe OMNES EV ORTOM rs oto Sie aea oh a0 8 an » 24
March 3 dC, Corey Prec. << 4’ sree ins “th aoe 24
— 60
MORROW COUNTY
March 8 AL Cri or ats 9 6) 0 c=) Se 12
a 12
MULTNOMAH COUNTY
March 5 Sr. G,,vennert »ortlands, «12 ith. 25k. os 24
oo 24
POLK COUNTY
January 19 PROP CHEMIE MOS a Vict re Bie cle cw Dn ein a oie 12
_ 12
TILLAMOOK COUNTY
Maren 4 George E. Leach, Tillamook. ....% fovu.: 24
— 24
UMATILLA COUNTY
Mareh 2 J.D “Plamonden: (A Chews cont t/5 85 30. - Xe'-.0'S 24
March 2 Had veri “Pendlepgnc eae trek ec estes 24
March 2 Gy urd, Sianirelde 2.5) Meets < cakes. <a 24
March 4 Clarence Carson, Hermiston.............. 12
March 8 i. B. Aversll; (Pendlenou, 2%. tre atecalss <x 24
UNION COUNTY a es
March 2 Gade, (Ora tea G@rande fai ie. ee ee 96
WALLOWA COUNTY wake
Mareh 1 Wika hettel Joseph. oitssos ok ie wks ass 72
WASHINGTON COUNTY Stain
March 11 Jolimyerbiss Datla. < Jo ae ohh Lie ads, wes 12
March 12 George Russell, Gaston’ ..::.....%.0..... 48
March 12 Yrank Holeamb, Hillsboro? oo fois. ec. eas 12
WHEELER COUNTY ene
March 5 SE eA Oes BOSSA RE yale oats. ches BE. oes 12
YAMHILL COUNTY gee
March 4. OG. Parker, MeMimnwilieee:) << v ica git as 36 36

OAL TUM DAL OL DINGS... 6.6 Ynwe Se ee owe i 1068

16

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CALIFORNIA QUAIL LIBERATED.

_ The following is a report by counties of the California quail
trapped in southern Oregon and liberated from January 1, 1914,
to December 31, 1914:

BENTON COUNTY Liberated by No. of Birds

Jan. 23, 8914" Dave Ton, Alsearct xan ae 12

EB, 92

CLACKAMAS COUNTY

Mareh 6, 1914 William L. Finley, Jennings Lodge...... 24

Dee. 4, 1914. “Ben '8./-Pattonyetstacadaw.7 ci eens 24

Dee. Zo, 1914 Stanley G? Jewett, Wstacada....c.0.4 4 ae dh
CLATSOP COUNTY abate

Feb. 27,. 1914. O., Dadititten, Seaside ..c..6 50... sage 8

March 3, 1914 ‘Chas. V “Brown, Astoria. ce eee 12
COOS COUNTY = ee

Jan. 19,1914 A.J. Sherwood, Coquille..... DESL SN eee 24

Mareh 2, 1914 A. J: Sherwood; Coquille pees eee 12
CROOK COUNTY =

Mareh 7, 1914 Baldwin Sheep Oo., Hay Creek........... 12

Dec. 4.1914. Mrs. Evelyn fl. Denny, end ¥:5 i. tiene 24
HOOD RIVER COUNTY roe

Feb. 28, 1914. Leshre Butler ood Madyer. 4. shee eet 12

Dee. 4,.1914. Heshe Butler, Hood Rivere. +. (omit ve oes 24

Dee: 4, 1914 “William Stewart, Hood Bivyer.>......8- 24
LANE COUNTY aesttine

Jan. ol, JOU4: hcp Be am. Mine CMe ay.) kas ai yori ret de ance 36

Nov I Ode. oh DS Sean, MWe CMe) gi eia.coyy sta eee neue 24

Dee. 5, 1914 EH. C. Bills, “Hugene..: x4... pe ee 12

Dec. 4,.1914 Curtis Veateh, Cottage Grove. -........0% 24
LINCOLN COUNTY aT Ay

Nov. . .24,,1914 .O..F. Diekson, Toledon 04's... ao oa ie 7

Dee. 4.1914 OF ES Dickson) Moledonas We yo). 2c sie cae 24
MARION COUNTY sigs Se

Jan. 15, 1914. Ci cAy Parks Salem cin ng cove meen VaeL 12

Jan. 16,-1914 .J. Ke Mount Silvertomith ok. ohne. 0. ow, Oe 48

Jan. 16, 1914 Dr. R. BE, Lee Stemer, Salem... opis... 36

Nov. 11, 1914. J. K. Mount: ‘Silvertone. se,.-..4:---2- 9. 24

Nov. 11,1914 Roy Buemmer, Salem: = sw ores ents 24

144

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

MULTNOMAH COUNTY

Feb.
Dee.
Dee.
Dee.
Dee.
Dee.

13, 1914
5, 1914
21, 1914
31, 1914
31, 1914
31, 1914

GGG, WOUCRO es OLPlIAtG. wcecninqucsivgs c's 24
Reed College (Finley), Portland......... 24
Dr, Mist, Hotorook, Portland..<..,...4055+ 48
Pin WL RST ee TE ies Sai ae nod se «on Bs 24
Mrs, Wi, Df. baad, Portiand:, 00 22. . « 12
Dy Avg OIe GEM AG io. ss trary nes « 12

TILLAMOOK COUNTY

March

UMATILLA COUNTY
Feb. 12, 1914

March

4, 1914

4, 1914

UNION COUNTY

Feb.

WALLOWA COUNTY

Feb. 18, 1914

12, 1914

Gilt beach. Dillamogolks: s,4%. 8405.2. .... 24
Hoey Averill Pendletomitict. 660. ooh. als 48
Clarence Carson, Hermiston.............. 12
Onetare Chitetine Nast Comernt Os sere Shes <8 a 2 ake ehty Os 48
WE CRMC EECD Me OSEIRI s cteiass cinly oscars s o'd "a: om 48

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Feb,
Nov.
Dee.

2, 1914

11, 1914

4, 1914

21, 1914
21, 1914

YAMHILL COUNTY

Jan.

March
March
Nov.
Dee.

instead of three dollars.

18, 1914

4, 1914
5, 1914

11, 1914
21,

1914

Georce, WW. dhussell,. Gastoity os. os ook. ws 48
Chas. A. Ussell rel ShOit ayy cece elatn here tacsty 24
Prank Holcomby,-Hillsbord@ed . 3.2. $5 os ot 24
Geo. W. Rupsell, ;Gastone sos. ue Pwd ee 8 48
W. E.-Metzger, Raleigh Station.......... 55
0. B. Parker; MeMinmnyalle :» > 2.) eis 2553 12
O. B. Parker, eae Side eae 24
O. B. Parker, SPP PN Ie NM Wels sie an 24
©. B. Parker, eer ee pike SA ce ate 36
O. B. Parker, indy! «. biemkenes > ASR tis 24
O. B. Parker, og Oe a eee 48

Total number of California quail liberated

THE NEW ‘‘FOREST AND STREAM.’’

With the January, 1915 number, Forest and Stream, published at 22
Thames street, New York City, becomes a monthly publication instead of
a weekly. In future, the price of the magazine will be one dollar per year

17

144

60

48

48

199

18 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

BOBWHITE QUAIL LIBERATED.

The following is a report by counties of the Bobwhite quail
trapped in the Willamette valley and liberated from January 1,
1914, to December 1, 1914:

DOUGLAS COUNTY Liberated by — No. of Birds
Dee. 31, 1914. J: BH. Booth, Rasebure. 32-5. 42 eee 12
JACKSON COUNTY oo 12
Feb. 3, 1914. Sam L. Sandry, Rogue River............. 24
Feb. 26, 1914 Sam L. Sandry, Rogue River............. 12
Feb. 26, 1914 A. S.. Hubbard, Ashland. .<:.: 4875000 - oe 12
March 16, 1914 John Smuck, Rogue River....:.......... 6
Mareh 21,.1914 . A.«S/ Hubbard, Ashland) ato. kh see. 2 2s 12
KLAMATH COUNTY — 66
Feb. 14, 1914 C. M. Ramsby, Klamath Falls.....¥.....: 40
Mareh 9, 1914 C. M. Ramsby, Klamath Maulls...j7.2%... 12
LANE COUN1LY — 52
Oct. 21, 1914 Griffin Hardware Co., Eugene............ 7
Dec. 5, 1914 K. C. Hills; Busene yee ee 12
Dee. 17>. 1914 > ih. C, Halls? Mg@ene, s) 1 Sse ee ce ee 16
MULTNOMAH COUNTY — 35
Dec. a1, 1914. LL, A> Klemm; Dorblamds. = a0y.,..ga-gae acne 10
Dec. 25,1914 Stanley. G..Jewett, Portland. 7, . 2... 24 34

POG i 4. sez stan ca eget ee ei cena Reet cee ee 199

SILVER PHEASANTS.

The following is a report of the Silver pheasants raised at the .
State Game Farm and sent out for breeding purposes and libera-
tion from January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914:

BENTON COUNTY Liberated by Number
September 26 S¢°Cr Stars, Monraes. fis CXS ahaa a +
JOSEPHINE COUNTY — 4
September 25 CG) HL. (Sampson, Grants, Pass..." <°. < ft. '- 3% 2
LANE COUNTY — 2
August 6 1? Re. Bean, . Wag@ene.; . veoos. Kee oS 12

November 19 Griffin Hardware Company, Eugene.....
YAMHILL COUNTY — 14
October 24 Artie Evans, Neéwbere... 22 nina came a= eae 3 3

Total number of Silver pheasants........... 23

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 19

REEVES PHEASANTS.
The following is a report by counties of the Reeves pheasants
raised at the State Game Farm and liberated from January 1,
1914, to December 31, 1914:

DOUGLAS COUNTY Liberated by Number
August 2 Woy Bonihy Vonealliane eo. ee ee ee 12
September 18 J), cl, So0ptm, Gesebure si)... oe uts)).. 00 12

— 24

JOSEPHINE COUNTY

September 25 Ce. Sampson, 'GranisvPass 6%. Foor 2
-- 2

LANE COUNTY
July 26 CM NE ETE S Og os 12 72 2k ae ead de ee ne 24
August 6 ici. eam. immene aa ie6 11004 FOR. 24
August 8 K.. M. Sharp,.Cottage Grove. ..). 02. 22.0% 24
October 21 Griffin Hardware Company, Eugene..... 2

== 74

MARION COUNTY
September 22 J...K., Mount, Sabyertomt)a gst: teen an ii 12
November 5 Hei NGAIE, GST ErLOM ie. ei 2s Spike. 12

— 24

YAMHILL COUNTY

November 3 pact lie evans. ING WEES). ~ .te mein St pein ae 2 2
TE Gr a a aa oi athe ens 5b 3 attests 126

GOLDEN PHEASANTS.

The following is a report of the golden pheasants raised at
the State Game Farm and sent out for breeding purposes and for
liberation from January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914:

BENTON COUNTY Liberated by Number
September 26 Be Cl Sher paren iy oe se se ks a
—_— 4
JOSEPHINE COUNTY
September 25 C,H poampson, (Grants. Pass... ea... 3
— 3
LANE COUNTY
August 6 1a Ta Peat. (ETI MONGS ore Lac gee yyy! apalete ns >» 12
August 8 Bo Mo Sharp;Cottaga Grove. os 7.2209... 12
November 3 Griffin Hardware Company, Eugene..... 3
i 27
UMATILLA COUNTY
August 20 obeys oe ARCIOUe we On 2 ek pe os ee 6 6
GUL oi, EASA Be oe oe MLR La. 40

20 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

PHEASANTS RAISED AT STATE HOSPITAL.

During the past three years Dr. R. E. Lee Steiner, Superin-
tendent of the State Hospital, has co-operated with the Fish and |
Game Commission in raising and liberating game birds at the
poultry farm at Salem and at the Asylum Farm which is in a
State Game Refuge. The report for the past year is as follows:
14 pair Chinese liberated early in the spring.

pair Reeves sent to Mr. Buckley.

pair Amherst sent to Mr. Buckley.
pair Chinese sent to Mr. Buckley.

Silver male sent to Mr. Simpson, State Game Farm.
Golden hens for Mr. Fleischner for breeding, birds to be liberated.
Chinese cocks to be sent to Mr. Simpson, State Game Farm.

16 Chinese hens yet to be liberated. |

1
1
1
3 pair Reeves sent to Washington county.
uf
2
f

12 Golden and Amherst pheasants yet to be liberated.

78—Total.

PHEASANTS KEPT FOR BREEDING AND SHOW PURPOSES.

10 Chinese pheasants,
7 Amherst pheasants.
7 Golden pheasants.
4 Reeves pheasants.
3 Silver pheasants.

‘*PACK-AND-SADDLING IT.’’

December, 1914, issue of Recreation contains a very interest-
ing article entitled ‘‘Pack-and-Saddling It’? by George Palmer
Putnam. who was recently appointed secretary to Governor
Withycombe. Mr. Putnam has had many interesting experiences
hunting, fishing and camping in Oregon and is well known as a
writer on outdoor subjects. The above article treats of one of

his trips in the high Cascades.

Begin
with the child

Encourage the child to build a bird-house. If he

builds a bird-house and puts it up in a suitable loca-
tion where a wren or a bluebird will rent it, he is
taking an important step in wild bird protection.
He soon learns to watch and care for his bird tenants.
He will also learn to put out food for his bird friends
if a heavy snow comes during the winter. He soon
becomes a protector of both song and game birds and
will help rid the community of stray cats, which are

the worst enemies of our birds.

Start the child on the right path. If he is given
a gun, he may take to killing all sorts of creatures
without restriction. If he is encouraged to build a
bird-house, he develops a wholesome love for wilc

birds.. Game protection is largely educational. We

must begin with the child.

2 VAR 22 1017
HS, HOS” VIAN 44 '

HAAR

PITTI COCO LLL LCC aaah aha aaah iii ah hhh aa aaii

The OREGON
SPORTSMAN

FEBRUARY, 1915

QUNUROUOAOAONESOSHAAGONEOAEOROGUNGUORUOGOEOROAUERGOCRUEOOORTURSOASNECUSSUNRCODDEORAAGGHEERGOAECAEOOAREESEAEEOSUOREOASEARDEROEOCEGAOCUEESEGUAAEERNOEOGOROAGOREEAEDDAGOGEANORUAESURSOREGESUANUACORSOR GERACE REE ARSENE EGA ESERDA ESE ELEAROESOSEGA SOE EGRECERERASSOREAESORSUARSEREDEUERSUECEROESESERAABEREOESOESASSAEEESELESS SEBRSEREEEEAATIREOEECEEDERSAROEERAED AREER RAESERILERS

Black-tailed Jack Rabbits

PUBLISHED MONTHLY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

Piso HAND GAME:;C:OMMISS ION

: By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 2

SUVODEROOAUOOOOOEOOOOUOONOGSAEOSEREEDEENDROROLEODOGHOONOOOONOOOOUOONOUDDOULDEOEOOAEEOOUOEONAGNNEUOCOOOOOLUOUOONOEUDANCOOOOOOOOROGOO00N0010N000RFODOREECOLESUOUNonOOORONORCOOREUDOEOOOOUNONOUSEOOGUOEEOUOEONONOONIOOOOOODAEOEOREOTOUOUNOOOOOUOOODONOONNDSEREOEROEOOUEONONGNUNUOUDOOUOOOOOROERDREEORAREOUENOO’ROOUOOOOOORERODERDERRREERERHOEOESORROUIOOSU DOOD ORREOEORREREEERRAROREUENENTONNSSNNNCI0O00000000POEETEEEEERESAPREREEEAREMDENEDEPREOADOUORODOOERIDOOITOOTONI TY

AAU ECORCOTUOOUUREROTOOCHUGHUOOHNGRO ADOC ORRORE CUE ECOCUNDeNOROLERONECCECOEUCHUOCCCOANOUCECUCECHCOCLCOREDRROEOREROUECEOUQECOERCEOOEEUECOECUECOCECORCOCEREOCERCROOCECRECEOERECLOCOUOERUEOOCERECUREDERUCUUECUCEOEEPURESOSEEOEOOSODESTEOOORRRURUEROORECERRSORROOEREROROOTRDERIIDEDEL EOE Inti

=
=

nnn nnn Mn nm

—

CONTENTS

Copyright 1915, by William L. Finley

Page
The Bob-white Quail, Colored Illustration.............. 24
Rie Bob=wihitesan Ome cone pik acpi rk ee ee Ter eee 25
The, Arthur Ss: Hubbards Memorial onan .ye tere oon ee 27
Jack Rabbit Bounty in Harney County............-.... 28
The: Deathvot Prot. Er ab: Ay chien ea coe ee ere 29
he aAvaim bow. rob. ye Bye eh olin Grill eds aca tea este erect 30
Discovery of a Rare Rodent. By Stanley G. Jewett..... 37
Notes from the Clackamas and Colliwash Rivers....... 38
Nuskratss Driven Oludi: tse soes ease cisco te ie emg eee mee 38
Statement of Game shicemsesnr ra: cece eel pict area 39
Additional Bounty on Predatory Animals...5........... 40
Distribution o£; Games Bushy 2S sei ater ere biol er ieee een 4]
Report of Violations of State Game Laws.............. 42

How: toe Build) Bird Housese one eee oe eee oe 43

i

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white Quail -

The Bob

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III FEBRUARY, 1915 ; Number 2

THE BOB-WHITE IN OREGON.

The spring eall of the male gave this bird its name ‘‘bob-
white.’’ It is the best known game bird throughout the United
States, generally called quail through the north where the
ruffed grouse is called ‘‘partridge.’’ But Bob-white is often
called ‘‘partridge’’ in the southern states. It is a bird highly
sought by the sportsmen, a bird that is a valuable friend of the
farmer.

In our Oregon country, Bob-white is loved by all. Since his
coming many years ago, there has never been an open season in
this state. No bird gladdens the heart of the Oregon farmer
more than Bob-white as he calls from the top of an old rail fence,
for the larger part of our farmers knew him in bare-foot days
among the hills of the eastern states. He is the friend and com-
panion about the garden and field. His call means gladness and
satisfaction. To some of my farmer friends, he is always an
optimist. If a shower is needed, one may hear Bob-white calling
—‘‘More-wet! More-wet!’’ After a dreary downpour, that has
lasted for several days, Bob-white is sure to mount an old brush
heap and sing just as confidently—‘‘No-more-wet! No-more-
wet!’’

The history of the introduction of the Bob-white quail
into Oregon would be very interesting if it were complete.
A few birds were brought in from the east thirty or thirty-five
years ago and liberated in the Willamette valley.

Mr. J. H. Raley of Pendleton writes that during the fall of
1893 he secured sixty Bob-white quail from the Willamette valley
and liberated them on McKay ereek on the place where he was
then living. This accounts for the coveys of Bob-white quail along
the Umatilla river west of Pendleton. During the summer of
1911, I heard several Bob-white quail calling on the grounds of

26 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

the State Hospital near Pendleton. They thrive well in the
patches of willow and cottonwood along the river.

Years ago, Bob-white quail were introduced into the Boise
valley in Idaho and from this point they have undoubtedly spread
to eastern Oregon in the vicinity of Vale and Ontario in Malheur
county and along the Snake river in Wallowa county.

Bob-white are also found in the northern part of Umatilla
county and it may be these birds spread north from those that
were introduced at Pendleton in 1893; or they may possibly have
been introduced by some one in that locality.

During the summer of 1899 while on a cruise up the Wil-
lamette river with Herman T. Bohlman, we saw; and heard Bob-
white quail near Independence. They were not uncommon at
that time in the country around Salem and south to Independence.

During the spring of 1908, I heard a Bob-white quail at
Risley station between Portland and Oregon City. During the
early spring of 1909, I frequently heard Bob-white quail calling
in the vicinity of Jennings Lodge. I am very sure a pair nested
in that locality, but after the summer was over I saw nothing
more of these birds, nor were they there during the EU LE es
year. They were likely killed by house eats.

In September of 1912, I saw three different flocks of Bob- :
white quail within a distance of a mile or so of Sherwood in the
southeastern part of Washington county.

Mr. C. C. Bryan, Deputy Game Warden of Corvallis, reports -
that on May 20, 1912, he heard numbers of Bob-white quail call-
ing about three miles west of Lebanon. He reports that during
1911, he saw but very few of these quail in the southern part of
Benton county, but in 1912, the birds had materially increased
in that locality.

During the fall of 1911, Mr. George Russell, Deputy Game
Warden at Gaston, reports seeing a number of coveys of Bob-
white quail in Polk, Benton and Linn counties. |

Bob-white quail are now fairly common in the Willamette
valley from the foothills of the Cascades west to the foothills of
the Coast range, and from Oregon City south to Albany, and

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 27

especially in the vicinity of Corvallis and north to Dallas, Me-
Minnville and Forest Grove. At the present time, they are per-
haps more abundant in parts of Benton, Polk, Yamhill and Marion
counties than in any other parts of the state. During the win-
ters of 1913 and 1914, about 200 of these birds were trapped in
Yamhill county, near McMinnville, and liberated in other parts
of the state. During the winters of 1914 and 1915, over 300 were
trapped near the same localities to stock other sections.

During 1913, a covey of Bob-white quail was reported near
Grants Pass, but at that time, as far as I know, there were prac-
tically none of these birds to the south, especially through the
Rogue river valley and across the Cascade range into Klamath,
Crook, Lake and Harney counties. Since then Bob-white quail
have been liberated in Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Mult-
nomah and Klamath counties.

For data on the economic value of the Bob-white quail and
the rearing of the Bob-white quail in captivity, the reader is
referred to two excellent articles by Prof. C. F. Hodge of the
University of Oregon, published in the issues of The Oregon
Sportsman for January and February, 1914. Weeduicg

THE ARTHUR S. HUBBARD MEMORIAL.

When it became known that Mr. Arthur 8S. Hubbard, Dep-
uty Game Warden at Ashland, had been murdered by Loris
Martin, whom he was sent to arrest, on Upper Trail creek, sev-
eral of the wardens asked for the privilege of raising a sum of
money for the purpose of establishing an Arthur .§. Hubbard
memorial for the benefit of Mrs. Hubbard and her two children.

A committee was appointed consisting of Mr. T. J. Craig,
Mr. Sam L. Sandry, and Mr. George W. Russell. The various
wardens and employees of the Game Department contributed
$69.50 which was sent direct to Mrs. Hubbard.

The matter was also taken up by the Oregon Sportsmen’s
League. Mr. H. B. Van Duzer, the president, appointed Mr. I. N.
Fleischner, of Portland, chairman of the committee in charge to
raise funds for this memorial.

28 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Under the auspices of the League a series of moving picture
reels were shown and lectures given at the Heilig theatre in
Portland, January 22, 23 and 24. The net amount raised by these
lectures was $379.15; $55.45 were sent in by the Elks’ lodges

and $129.90 raised by private donations. With the amount raised
by the wardens, this makes a total of $634 which is to be turned
over to Mrs. Hubbard. |

A bill was also introduced in the Legislature and has been
signed, Governor Withycombe appropriating $3000 out of the
game protection fund for Mrs. Hubbard and her children.

JACK RABBIT BOUNTY IN HARNEY COUNTY.

During the past year in certain localities in eastern Oregon,
jack rabbits became so abundant that they were a continual
menace to farmers’ crops. The matter reached a climax in Har-
ney county, where at the last election a four-mill tax was levied
to create a jack rabbit bounty fund for the extermination of these
creatures.

The assessed valuation in Harney county is $7,783,570.00.
This gives $31,000 for the jack rabbit bounty fund.

The bounty law in Harney county became effective January
2, 1915. On February 18, 1915, the County Clerk’s office had
paid out a bounty of five cents each on 156,707 rabbits. This
made a total amount of $7,835.35.

The jack rabbit bounty law in Harney county provides that
if the fund set aside for the payment of bounties should be ex-
hausted, warrants shall be drawn, and that at the next period for
making tax levies, the County Court shall make such levy as will
provide for the payment of the debt thus incurred.

It will be interesting to find out how Harney county will
come out in her experiment with the rabbits. The history of
bounty laws is not one of successes. Too often the people who are
most in favor of bounties, wish to make a profit out of the com-
mon pest. One of the serious objections to the bounty scheme
is that as soon as the creatures grow less abundant, so that it

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 29
ceases to be profitable to kill them, the destruction of the pest
stops. The creature has not been exterminated and it is but a
short time before another bounty measure has to be passed. It is
a question, whether competent men cannot be hired, as the Gov-
ernment is now doing, and whether these creatures cannot be
more effectively reduced in number and at a far more reasonable
price to the taxpayers.

For several years the state has been paying out considerable
money to destroy coyotes which are the natural enemies of the
rabbit. The coyote and jack rabbit problem in eastern Oregon
is a good example of overthrowing the balance of nature.

THE DEATH OF PROF. L. L. DYCHE.

Prof. Lewis Lindsay Dyche, State Fish and Game Warden
of Kansas, died on January 20, 1915. He was well known
throughout the country as a naturalist and for his work in wild
life protection. He took an active part in the National Associa-
tion of Game Wardens and Commissioners and for the past five
years has acted as treasurer.

In 1899 when an effort was made to kill off the sea lions on
the coast of California, Professor Dyche, by a study of the food
of these animals at Monterey Bay and an examination of ‘the
stomachs of about 25 individuals, furnished evidence which
demonstrated conclusively that these sea lions instead of feeding
entirely on food fish, fed largely on squids and in consequence
permission to kill the animals on Government reservations was
rescinded and the extermination prevented.

Professor Dyche has made more than twenty scientific expe-
ditions to various parts of the continent, to the Arctic regions,
including Greenland, and to points on the Pacific Coast from
Alaska to Mexico, in search of material for the University of
Kansas Museum. The Kansas State exhibit of big game animals
which he prepared for the World’s Columbian Exposition .in
Chicago in 1893 attracted much attention and favorable comment.
In connection with his work for the University Museum he
was fortunate in securing an important series of mountain sheep
in northern Washington representing a form now almost extinct.

39 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

THE RAINBOW TROUT

(Salmo irideus)

A Story of the Habits and Characteristics of the Rainbow and
How Distinguished from Other Species

BY
JOHN GILL

Perhaps before this chapter is in print there will be no Rain-
bow trout. The debate of the question whether the Rainbow and
Steelhead trout are one and the same has waxed warmer for some
years among learned men. The greatest American ichthyologist,
Dr. David Starr Jordan, has during the past twenty years held
four opinions on this question, and may even now have changed
his mind again. This readiness to reconsider his views on the
subject indicates a broad and receptive attitude, and it also indi-
cates to the layman that this question is a difficult and puzzling
subject.-

In one of his earlier descriptions Doctor Jordan has written:
‘There are no circumstances in which I have not been able to
distinguish the Rainbow from the Steelhead.’”? In a work by
Doctor Jordan and Charles F. Holder (1909) the opinion is less
positive, as follows: ‘‘Very careful comparison of specimens
leaves no doubt that the two are distinct.’’ —

Two years ago’ Doctor Jordan told the writer of this article
that he thought it probable the two types sprang from a common
parentage and might be one and the same fish. The apparent
difference between a Steelhead recently from the sea and a typical
adult ‘‘Redside’’ or Rainbow is surely greater than the difference
between a Rainbow of a pound weight and a Clark trout of that
size; yet we have no confusion of the two latter. The greatest
chance for doubt is when the Steelhead, in the spawning season,
acquires a red side and enlarged head and jaws.

THE RAINBOW STRIPE.

Let us leave out any consideration of the fish least known to
both scientist and angler—Mason trout, which is believed to
inhabit only streams west of the Cascade summits—and take into
account the type which most anglers know as Rainbow or Red-

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 31

side, found only in streams of the Cascades and eastward, at least
in Oregon, Washington and northward.
The first and most prominent distinguishing trait of a Rain-

bow adult fish, of two years old and more, is the peculiar red
stripe along the side, following pretty closely the median line

Almost a Strike. The Rainbow Trout.

from the opercle to the tail. This mark in the Rainbow is a narrow
stripe, not half an inch wide in fish of a pound weight, and not
much wider than half an inch in very large specimens of even
five pounds and more. Both sexes bear this mark, but it is
brighter and bigger on males. |

On a typical Rainbow this stripe is densely red, nearly Indian
red, and so clearly defined that it appears as if painted with one
sweep of a narrow paintbrush. It is not a rosy blush such as we
see on the side of a male Cutthroat, but a dense, livid, narrow bar
This mark is more brilliant at the beginning of the mating season,
and grows misty and faint after spawning. I think this mark is
more pronounced on Rainbows of waters east of the Cascades.
Certainly no such vivid band is seen on Clark or Mason or Dolly
Varden trout, nor ever on the Steelhead of my acquaintance.

32 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

On any but the Rainbow, where a rosy or purple tint is seen on
the sides of the trout it is a thin, transparent tint, extending over
more than half the side of the fish vertically. In the Rainbow
typically marked the stripe is vivid, dense in color, sharply de-
fined—not shading faintly away into the general color as it does |
in other species—and is a narrow Stripe, not more than one-sixth
the width of the side.

There seems to be no good reason for naming this fish ‘‘Rain-
bow,’’ but it is a splendid name. In no trait save the red side
does he resemble the bow of heaven more than his fellows; and
the stripe instead of being seven-hued is one bright, dense, bricky
red. A trout so marked is certain to have all the other traits of
the Rainbow and to be no more readily mistaken for any other
species than a carp for a salmon.

But not all Rainbow are thus distinguishable. Until two
years old, when they first spawn, all the family are much less
vividly marked, and may be readily mistaken for Clark trout
when the latter are adult and in spawning dress, when the male
Clark or Cutthroat trout has the wide, faint, rosy sheen which
then appears. :

Old males of the Jrideus or Rainbow family frequently take
on livid, blotchy colors and the whole fish is sometimes as red
as a spent dog salmon.

From an Angler’s Diary these notes will help to fix the
‘‘stripe’’ feature. The reader will observe that one lot of fish
is from Blue mountain, waters and the other from Cascades.

‘‘May 28, 19—, Reuben Montgomery displayed in a window
a lot of fine trout caught by him in the McKenzie river. One was
a big Dolly Varden, 28 in. long, weight 84% Ibs. dressed. Hight
were Rainbows of one to two lbs. weight. The red bar on side
was very striking; as deep as if painted in Indian red. On every
fish this extended from opercle to base of tail.’’

‘‘Oct. 28, 1912, Mr. Finley has fine specimens of Rainbows
eaught yesterday in Umatilla by C. K. Cranston. All typical,
no doubt about them. Hight to twelve inches long. All bear
distinct stripe of deep red along median line and a little below.
In the largest this stripe is half inch wider midships. It begins

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 33

rather narrow and fainter in color at the opercle and diminishes
near the tail.’’
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS.

Two great ichthyologists state that the ‘‘Rainbow may be
known by the numbers of scales in a line from head to tail, which
is about 120.’’ Both say its scales are larger than in the Steelhead
or Clark trout.

One of these scientists is Doctor David Starr Jordan. He
named this trout ‘‘Rainbow’’ in 1870, the specimen being taken
in San Leandro creek, near Alameda, California.

The description given by Doctor Jordan of the Rainbow
seems to be followed implicitly by many writers, though very in-

. The Parr or Young Rainbow,

complete, and even questionable. The statement that ‘‘its head
is larger than any other Pacific trout’’ is open to question, the
pictures illustrating the article showing the Clark trout’s head to
be the larger of the two. Perhaps the Rainbow trout of California
differs from ours, but two-year-old Rainbows, eight to ten inches
long, from Oregon waters, show a considerably smaller head length
than Clark trout of the same size. In unusually large fish of

34 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

either species, especially breeding males, the head is dispropor-
tionately large.

SHAPE OF THE TAIL.

In all under-size trout the tail is much more deeply indented
than in mature, large specimens. All big Rainbows I have seen
show a ‘‘square’’ or nearly right line along the margin of the tail
when fairly extended. This is so noticeable a feature that in many
places this trout is commonly called ‘‘square-tailed trout.”’

Certainly the shape of the Rainbow’s tail distinguishes him
easily from Clark trout, which has a rounded hollow in the
mid-margin, and the corners or lobes gracefully rounded. In the
Rainbow the points are sharply angular, as in the Steelhead. The
difference between the tails of all the salmon is easily learned,
but is so little as to confuse Steelhead and Rainbow.

HEAD, MOUTH AND EYE.

One of the characteristics given by Doctor Jordan is: ‘‘Head
obtusely ridged above.’’ Several other writers copy this descrip-
tion exactly. It is plain that they have taken the Doctor’s state-
ment without question, permission or examination. Look for the
‘‘obtuse ridge,’’ and see if there’s any such feature.

Doctor Jordan says, ‘‘the mouth is smaller than in Cut-
throat,’’ and so it is. This difference is evident. The gape of the
Rainbow from tip of jaw to corner of the mouth is about one-fourth
less than in Cutthroat. The angle of the open mouth in Rainbow
is just in line with front edge of eye-pupil. In Cutthroat the
mouth extends back to middle of pupil or farther.

In young and medium size fish the Rainbow’s head is dis-
tinctly more blunt and rounded than in any other of our trouts.
In this feature there is a noticeable difference from the adult
Steelhead, which has a more pointed upper jaw.

Comparison, I believe, will establish this difference as one
certain mark of recognition. There is an ‘‘innocent’’ air in the
profile of the Rainbow, due to this roundness of the front of the
maxillary. |

The eye seems to be a very notable point too. In recent
examinations I have observed the eye of Rainbows to be peculiar

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 35

by reason of its larger size—one-fifth greater diameter than that
of Clark trout—and by a staring look which the latter has not.
The iris in Rainbow is broader than the Clark and of a clear,
pale yellow, with rarely any spots in or on the iris, while the eyes
of many Clark trout examined recently show the iris to be almost
eovered by dark spots resembling the spots of the surrounding
skin. The narrow band of iris surrounding pupil is also of a
darker, rich gold.

My opportunity for observation of Rainbow is rare, and I do
not venture to be dogmatic concerning him; but I hope this pecu-
liar difference in size and marking of the eye may prove to be
distinctive.

One other peculiarity marking the Rainbow is the usual pres-
ence of spots on the cheek or operele, black and round. Color
and shape of these spots, as well as the peculiarity of their placing,
seems a distinct trait.

SPOTS AND COLORS.

The general color of the Rainbow, except in breeding season,
differs little from Clark trout, except the red bar. Sometimes
a Rainbow is very profusely spotted, but usually the Clark trout
is more numerously speckled.

There is, I believe, a real difference in the majority of the
spots, in shape. I thought two years ago that in the spots was a
sure mark. Specimens of Rainbow then seen were marked mostly
by little crescent-shaped spots, sometimes joined together making
a ‘‘3,’’ and with occasionally a third crescent attached to the ‘‘3’’;
but I found some Clark trout with the same marks. However,
the spots of the Clark are mostly larger, and are of an irregular
circular or hexagonal type. The spots on base of tail are larger
and blacker in the Clark trout.

The variation of spots and colors in all trout, at certain times,
is so great that few naturalists would risk an opinion on these
alone: The Rainbow frequently has red stripes under the mandi-
ble, but they are narrow. The Clark trout is sometimes almost
without these, but where present they are twice as broad as in a
Rainbow of the same size. Both fish return from the sea with
hardly a trace of this throat mark.

36 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

HABITAT OF THE RAINBOW.

Authorities referred to above state that the Rainbow is the
typical trout of coastwise streams, and that it is not found east
of the Sierra Nevada or Cascade ranges; yet in the same chapter
the waters of the Klamath lake and its tributaries are cited as the
most remarkable Rainbow trout fishing in America.

The great typical Rainbow is not found in Oregon or Wash-
ington coastal rivers, though abundant in Rogue river above
Grants Pass. Neither is it seen in the west-side streams of the
Willamette.

It prefers, apparently, the large streams of the Cascades, both
east and west slopes, and appears to be more abundant in the
southern rivers—McKenzie, Rogue, Klamath, Shasta, ete. It finds
its way up the Sacramento to Goose lake, and is also abundant in
Deschutes, Klickitat, White Salmon and a few other mid-Columbia ©
rivers.

Some of the finest specimens ever seen in-Portland came
from Silvies river, a large stream flowing into the land-locked
waters of Malheur lake.

Lewis river is the farthest west that I have seen Rainbow
trout, but probably Kalama has some too.

Naturalists speak of Rainbows (as distinct from the Steel-
head) being found in the waters of the sea on British Columbia
and Alaskan coasts. Dolly Varden trout of great size swarm in.
the Alaska seas in the neighborhood of the rivers, and thousands
are canned as salmon on Bristol bay, in the southeast corner of
Behring sea. Several times I have seen Clark trout among young
salmon from Puget sound, and they had been netted in the same
haul at sea. The eastern brook trout goes to sea from St. Law-
rence river, and returns silvery and spotless as ‘‘seatrout.’’ The
tendency of this tribe of trout seems to be to go to sea, at least
from adjacent rivers, and the Rainbow is probably no exception.
Of the Clark trout’s going to sea and return we know a little—
more than is known of any of the others, yet very little. There
are few things else that I would rather know with certainty than
these times of the trout’s sea-going, the trout’s reasons therefor,
the changes produced in their traits by this sea-dwelling, and their

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN. 37

return to the rivers. The difficulty of observation is very great,
yet some of our coast streams seem to offer ready opportunities.

As to the sporting quality of the Rainbow, most of my read-
ers are better informed than I. Men who write good books upon
angling give this trout high praise, and some say he is the greatest
fighter among the trouts. Most eastern writers think him inferior
in this trait to the eastern brook trout.

The Rainbow has been successfully planted in many waters
of the eastern United States, in Europe and in New Zealand.
In the latter country it has increased enormously both in numbers
and size, the giants of the tribe being numerous there.

DISCOVERY OF A RARE RODENT.
é; By Stanley G. Jewett.

In the forests of Lane county, one of the rarest animals
known to naturalists has been found. It is the second one that
has ever been discovered, and is known to scientists as the white-
footed lemming (Phenacomys albipes—Merriam).

This little creature has never before been found in this state,
although naturalists have collected in every part of Oregon in
the forests and through the mountains.

The first white-footed lemming ever discovered was col-
lected by Walter K. Fisher in the redwoods of Humboldt county,
California, in 1899, and was first described by Dr. C. Hart Mer-
riam in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington,
July 19, 1901, pages 125 and 126.

The animal is about six and one-half inches long from tip
of nose to end of tail, the tail is about two and one-half inches
long. The fur is long and soft and on the back is deep brown,
shading to creamy white on the belly. The tail is sharply bicolor,
brown above and white underneath, and the feet are clear white.
His ears are so small that they are almost concealed by the long
fur on the head, and his face is ornamented with long, black
whiskers.

38 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

During the month of May, 1914, I was camped on the Mc-
Kenzie river about two miles below the little town of Vida, and
on the 18th I caught one of these lemmings in a mouse trap
baited with oatmeal. The trap was set for shrews, and was
placed among the rocks at the side of a small stream where it
flows through a dense forest of spruce and fir timber. At this
place both banks of the stream were lined with an almost im-
penetrable jungle of salmon-berry bushes and sword fern, where
jumping mice and deer mice, as well as several species of shrews
were collected.

NOTES FROM THE CLACKAMAS AND COLLIWASH RIVERS.

Mr. Ben 8. Patton, deputy game warden of Estacada, reports
that on a trip up the Clackamas and Colliwash rivers, which he
made between December 9 and December 15, he saw elk tracks
in the snow. On the Colliwash there was six inches of snow, and
he saw where a band of timber wolves were hunting. He and
Mr. Hugh Mendenhall caught one of the wolves in a trap. They
also saw where another wolf had been caught in a trap, but noth-
ing was left except the foot. ;

A few years ago deer were common in this locality, but now
there are comparatively few because of the wolves.

MUSKRATS DRIVEN OUT.

Mr. F. H. Faweett of Narrows, Oregon, reports that on
January 27 he saw two muskrats in the streets at Narrows. Some
of these animals are also taking refuge in the dwellings about
Malheur lake, and have been seen out in the sage brush several
miles from water. Mr. Faweett says that the winter has been
very cold, the ice is thick on the lake and he thinks the shallow
portions of the lake are frozen to the bottom, so the rats have
been forced to move out on account of food supply.

Malheur lake is the best trapping ground in Oregon for musk-
rats. During the winter of 1913 and 1914, 10,250 of these were
trapped about the lake.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

39

STATEMENT OF GAME LICENSES ISSUED BY THE COUNTY CLERKS

FOR WHICH MONTHLY REMITTANCES ARE MADE
TO THE STATE TREASURER.

From January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914.

COUNTY
Baker

Clatsop
Columbia

Curry

Worlds .. WLOb:

Gilliam
Grant
Harney

Eigod River... ;
Jaekson .....4

Josephine

Kiamath ........

Lake
Lane

Wits... UA

Union

Waseo
Washington
Wheeler

Vemma. fs 24222

Total 1914 ..
Matal bold...
WIGET EASE vine 2 hui oc. -

Inerease

SCMILOD ... < a.ctese «

ess sens © @

ee ee ee eee

@ 10 (a tect ow ©
eee eee eee

ereeeeee

eee er eee eee
eee eee eee eo

Mie! Nt aS
Mibamook .:-.-.: 3.
Wmatilla . secs:

ee ee ee eee
a, a) amy ele’ 6) earn ae.

oF .6, 30,5, 8 Ae

ae, eke) Oe ce

Hunters
871.00
1,271.00
1,477.00
810.00
656.00
2,395.00
706.00
524.00
2,260.00
250.00
385.00
543.00
450.00
2,948.00
1,156.00
1,559.00
601.00
3,085.00
501.00
1,896.00
547.00
3,708.00
208.00
8,384.00
1,236.00
146.00
700.00
1,999.00
1,406.00
997.00
669.00

. $47,767.00

48,490.00
723.00

Anglers

$ 1,028.00 $

892.00
1,925.00
974.00
586.00
1,780.00
1,509.00
319.00
1,265.00
117.00
482.00
263.00
869.00
3,003.00
703.00
1,236.00
624.00
2,558.00
872.00
1,410.00
206.00
3,380.00
321.00
13,222.00
932.00
268.00
1,351.00
2,900.00
2,026.00
1,462.00
1,300.00

46,060.00

Combi-
nation

666.00
430.00
212.00
380.00
228.00
796.00
620.00
172.00
828.00

54.00
290.00
256.00
144.00
354.00
256.00
502.00
286.00

1,354.00

90.00
504.00
162.00
508.00
112.00

2,848.00

274.00

28.00
198.00
710.00
578.00
172.00

14,866.00
12,620.00

$ 6,398.00 $ 2,246.00

Non-Res.
Hunters

150.00
20.00
90.00

20.00

$52,458.00 ¢

$1,200.00
1,630.00
$ 430.00

Total
2,565.00
2,613.00
3,614.00
2,214.00
1,630.00
4,981.00
2,855.00
1,145.00
4,413.00
431.00
1,157.00
1,082.00
1,463.00
6,365.00
2,125.00
3,487.00
1,521.00
7,087.00
1,463.00
3,830.00
965.00
7,606.00
641.00
24,604.00
2,462.00
442.00
2,249.00
5,699.00
4,010.00
2,651.00
2,169.00
3,123.00
229.00
3,400.00

$116,291.00
108,800.00

$ 7,491.00

40 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL BOUNTY PAID ON PREDATORY
ANIMALS.
On Warrants Drawn by Secretary of State on Game Protection Fund.

From October 1, 1913, to December 31, 1914.

BOBCATS COUGAR WOLFE
COUNTY At $1.00 Hach At $15.00 Each At $20.00 Each Total
No. Amount No. Amount No. Amount Amount

Bakery e046 ees 6 104 ¢ 104.00 $ 104.00
Benton? 230308 19 19.00 GRE OO SERS TE aks fk 19.00
Clackamas: vo.oec Al OM 101.00 4 ¢ 60.00 7 $140.00 301.00
@latsopys ... ... HO.0n 121 121.00 2 30.00 151.00
Columbia .:. Ott 86 86.00 5 75.00 161.00
Coosrad. . 4. OOAE. 271 271.00 18 270.00 541.00
Gronks & ea. HOS. 409 409.00 2 30.00 439.00
Gurtyl £5... ARLE E 68 68.00 60 SOOO. eet en 968.00
Dovglases \. ee By ar h 327.00 85 1,275.00 12 240.00 1,842.00
Gailligin-«... . 2< Os. 20 20.00 sn 8 Segre 4) 4 20.00
Gramibl £2... cee 182 182.00 .4 60.00 242.00
Hamer... . eae « 1039 = 1,039.00 aL 15.00 1,054.00
HoodMRiver 7. s.cu< 33 33.00 3 ADOOKE 6 ES Ss 78.00
Jackson 2... POE. 269 269.00 28 420.00 3 60.00 749.00
Joséphine «.:-iGeiia, Lid di 00. GOUe 165.00 276.00
Kkdamath, ..... #005 150 150.00 ct 15.00 165.00
Wake: is. . QUE. 452 452.00 - divi ou Os LEN hae pees aes 452.00
Tames 0... ste 258 258.00 24 360.00 4 80.00 698.00
Icingelnts 2 1. aor 139 139.00 EL een wl COR. once 139.00
Tannta.& . 0. eee 78 78.00 10 150.00. 5 | 100.00 328.00:
Malheur «. . Gee. 595 595.00 RS hs: EIA 595.00
Marion): .< BE 10 10.00 2 30.00 40.00
MiOHEOWW: )% \..5)< aires 37 37.00 a oT hGO, 37.00
Multnomah ....... 20 20.00 al 15.00 35.00
Polka 8 5 SOO. 5 5.00 3 45.00 50.00
Sherman » .: ac 'sshies Tl 11.00 a ie Doth 11.00
Tillamook . 2.6. .u0 97 97:00) (4} 1 15.00 112.00
Uniratilla “Stee 2.00 2.00
Wom ee caer 25 25.00 25.00
Wallowa ......... 144 144200° 10,4 ets, We 144.00
WaSdds fiataas cates 86 86.00 3 45.00 131.00
Washington, 745, ¢-. 38 38.00 1 15.00 53.00
Wih@eler en, a27c.5Gee 97 97.00 97.00:
"Vieni sees peer 21 21.00 21.00

TOtAIS terse cer. 5425 $5,425.00 269 $4,035.00 381 $620.00 $10,080.00

NOTE—The payment of additional bounty on Bobeats was discontinued
on all hides presented to County Clerks on or after August 14, 1914.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 4|

DISTRIBUTION OF GAME FISH DURING 1914 BY COUNTIES, INCLUD-
ING FISH LIBERATED THROUGH CO-OPERATION OF
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

aCreCOMmiy sete, mecn t+ 135,350
SOIT OMM COMMUN i245: an < 2s 70,050
COOS COWMMGY Te cs ce rs 20,000
Clackamas county ....... 750,446
GHaGSOpNCOUMty sc .le s . «- 147,900
ColmmibiasCOumbyer oct. o 21,200
CroolmMmCOnmiti Sos... 5s 207,500
Douptas* county: .....5... 417,064
Grant sCOwmn by A. oo ines 53,900
Gilliamecounity Brak. 2 2: 41,500
Hood River county....... 98,400
El aMe ve COMM y. 9 eens 2 40,000
Jackdemreountyrn...... 821,844
Killam counby, 2... a... 300,830
ihalkkeacoumitiys 2% 2a ef 48,780
Manereomnty 2 i a. ts 241,789

enim SC ONMNGWA Fee a ne et @ 170,135
Mimic olin GRUMIGNS oe 2 ce 600
Manion commtye.......... 175,770
Malheur eounmty ......... 28,300
Moriow Countse -)5....:.. 65,000
Multnomah county ...... *560,570
Polk (COWMEY iis Fence gees 60,520
Tillamook county ........ 692,443
Umiattilaxeounmtiy 2. ..-..-’- 290,515
WMO WA COMBEY, adore one. oe 244,500
Wallowa @oumity 72.2... 40,000
NVGISCOMCOUM DY oe tt enepst =: 128,500
Washington county ...... 223,079
Mam lal eoenityey 2 ce a2 an 170,925

AR Os all eaieccrs ttinoret xc 9 combat at Ses ons 6,267,010

*Out of this number, 545,070 were steelhead fry liberated into Tanner
creek from the Bonneville central hatchery.

Summary.
nO tere Ail: OtN Bisel eta nine. cee lei. 2 ete ce ie bine: Seale ara eterel 844,023
SNice MMA UCTS secre crak GUNG, <1 ons uuet tet eae eee © cee name 5,422,987 6,267,010
ENO ist neldrat NECen me river MabOMery ae jerreine ye cers solr. 206,723
Broowucheteldsat Melvenmemrnver, batehery 24 fea scarica cin = ee 206,723
rie llae te OUnag ests he ends tenpeey sete eee cneee eS aes Se he ee RN a oo te 6,553,033
Black: bass released im streams andmlakees. 2.0.0. Jace ee el os 204,200
Crappies recovencduirom Jandlocked: sloughs.= 2... ee) o70se5 e - 70,500
Catfish*retovered from landlocked slow@hs................2.25.-. 106,000
6,933,733
Early Chinook salmon liberated at the request of Multnomah
SxS 0 BIAS Goll CoM eee oe otcira aA oa tec Gh SOON ON SBS A eR MP ED CARI, Coan SUR 538,500
Fall Chinook salmon liberated at the request of Riddle Rod and
Sra) GUNNS 5 a REZ A tern vested eth i eee Pe pk Om oN Nae Ee a 103,200
SIS rien Tectia te a tes ukemi, rtd te Wee. + Gite god Monte cua EM. bia) WEISS rae es 7,575,433

42 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

REPORT OF VIOLATIONS OF STATE GAME LAWS.
From January 1, 1914, to December 31, 1914.

i S
: E
5 3 SB e ee
4 S e B 8 Be = <i a
= H 25) S a On ©) Hw
Z open y= e ae 2 Be
5 SRe cieedes g TS : of
S) 5 S) S) ne g aS |
o A 'S <q ee a ea oe)
Bakeimertiis one eure tis ; ‘ Ae AME eee tn Arnon es ah aon a6 3
Benois yassa ae ee 5 De esos SB 2OOROO) tak ae eae cae eee penne) 80.0)
Clackamasue eee 19 18 i 550.00 $ 350.00 $ 50.00 75.00
Clatsop ico ioreoeraue 8 a i 175.00 COSOO} eae 50.00
Columibitay eee eee 15 11 4 300.00 PADAUO cine bao a U3 e50)
COOSA eee fi (ir, oes 175.00 25.00 50.00 50.00
Crook ten Gis iy Ser ne er ee i a een rn ate mi nts ae linet nt
CUP TRyes Gah ges baceee ack ILL as 825.00 650.00 50.00 62.50
Dou glasr ee eerer: 19 dD Aaa 450.00 1OQ5O0. sy scce 162.50
Gillnaimns- Garona sac hace EA Tapas 2 ATO a kta ily CMU sae SR aaa aT
Gira en cee 4 Aaa 100.00 BOAO ODEs eecgecae 37.50
PAEMe Wie oreo 6 Ae 150.00 RSA OLD meine ees 62.50
IEL@OOG! JewhV@Ie bo obo 4 0 co 5) Oe has ZO OOM iris cesta espace tema 62.50
JACKSON Mer Cee 18 Sree 725.00 AGS OOPS aa sce ie 130.00
Josephine reer 5 Area 110.00 ASW ehtais cane 42.50
Felamat igang eee 8 Sia 205.00 or OOutreeskee 90.00
hake. Pap Ue Ne il Neen: PAD TO) UMaine Rott one riaatactsl ts 12.50
Bin Vergennes Or uia amen 8 iLL 8 3 150.00 25.00 25.00 50.00
Ane Oita vate aac ee 12 10 2 225.00 25.00 25.00 87.50
HYNES ace see gear ee e 9 i 2 125.00 HOLOOR SAG ice es 37.50
Meal erie ote aero toey: uf UU seen ces ACES OK Urea oeicera Gens 125.00 25.00
Matione yc car oc 19 NG ese 325.00 WOOO os cece 6 112.50
Morrow uk. sae he ME ER SUAS Ca oo LTR Pe Ot J Be ee a ae
Mail tniomdahie 544 en ae rO-ee oe 1 1,160.00 790.00 160.00 125.00
Polk: ary cece idl 10 1 DO OLO Oe eer Ra RS Cavite tots 125-00
SIOGHHONAN soopooccoce eS Segoe TORN oath scrigs Botha SET hae NS, ek OM EA Rea Si dete raters eee
AMM TVOOl 5 3.55.5 00 6 23 19 + 650.00 200.00 225.00 112.50
Wimartililioken ee cere wae 29 23 2 1,325.00 450.00 75.00 400.00
Winn TON cic edo mete 9 8 if 490.00 25.00 40.00 212.50
Wallowa eters 1 1 Nae 25.00 PASEO Ore Neal ama het ese
VARGO" Guo ndod nan con GPa NG Menee: 250.00 157200 steunee ees 46.50
Wasilla tomer eerste 9 9 AO ZOO rue ee 25.00 92.50
Wheelem ies atts Ard eet OM aT RN, we MRP EN WE ap hoo. Nae Ve lahat, pics A
BY/a in In| eee eee Be aia aal 205.00 50.00 55.00 50.00

Gail ae ey es 333 307 26 $9,680.00 $3,672.00 $905.00 $2,551.50

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 43

HOW TO BUILD BIRD HOUSES.

The time of the year is at hand for
children to build bird homes. It is im-
portant that they are built correctly if
children wish to attract feathered ten-
ants. The door to a bird house is an
important feature. This should never
be on a level with the floor, but at
least six inches above. The house should
be eight inches or more high.

The natural home for bluebirds,
wrens, violet-green swallows and chick-
adees, is an old deserted woodpecker’s
house. The nearer one can imitate this
bird home the better. A round limb of

phe Ben way: a tree sawed in two and then hollowed
out and fitted together again, makes a good bird house.

The door-way may be as small as a fifty cent piece, or even
smaller for wrens and swallows. The size of a dollar is good for
bluebirds, and a hole from two to three inches in diameter suits
a flicker.

Any spot that is slightly sheltered is a suitable location
whether it is on the side of the building or in a tree. Bird homes
should be located from at least eight to twenty feet above the
eround.

Especial attention is called to
a most useful publication issued
by the United States Department
of Agriculture, entitled ‘‘Bird €
Houses and How to Build Them”’
(Farmers’ Bulletin No. 609). The
pamphlet contains many drawings
and specifications for construct-
ing bird-houses. Every teacher
of a bird study class should pos-
sess one, and may procure it by
writing to Henry W. Henshaw,
Chief of the Biological Survey,

iby

Washington, D. C. EM re oe

my

US, HOS

HMIVUUIALUIULLUUUUUULLLULLLLULLUUULUULLUULLUULLU UU

CUOUUUIOUOCUC CUCU OOOO CEE R SPEER PE EODEE EET ORE EEO EU CRC EOTEE COT DETR DER URERTELETET ERECT UEOEE UATE EE EATER RE STELEEEETEPEREET EDEL ERTET IR ERT EERE”

The OREGON
SPORTSMAN

MARCH, 1915

SASREAEORAECHOEAEANUES EOE

The Coyote.

BUBEISHED* MONTHLY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 3

Sepeeeeereeeens SEDEDEEDESEDEAONOEOEOOEONDOOOCONOGOOUSEOUOOUOHONEOOONEOOOEOEOOAOUOUNSHOONSEORIONDOOEOUENCOOOSOQOLOOUOOEONOTONODENEOOUOUODODORESUNIONDODDOORDOONEDOREDEOOOOOOUNORDODEROOOEDOONNODORNDROOUROGNTORDORNDOCEORODOQUROOROTCTUGEOEOREDODRUPPREN FI OORFOSURSEIDED OD \ GRUPPO RURUREORURO DAC RURODOSUSBOREREDEDAONEDIORS COURS RURESEORERUORORUREDESAOREDEDPORODRO OOOO TEORORI ORO RIELOFIRIREDESEOEITNTEOEROREEEDRIEATE DED RIOR RO DAU EEDEDPI TREAD REST PET EER E®

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ANN =

CONTENTS ©

Copyright 1915, by William L. Finley

Page
The Mountain or Plumed Quail, Colored Illustration..... 46
ithe. Murderer of Ebubbard’ GoesiBirect +2 <2. ea ae AT
Reed College Game Refuge—By R. Bruce Horsfall...... 51
Fishing in Oregon Waters—By Blaine Hallock.......... 52
The Mountain Quail—By William L. Finley............ dT
Hrror-ine Pebruarye issues <9. 2 is) ea nee Se Rega OF Far 60
Anghing Improves in. Umatilla: County. sas eae bee 60
Method of Poisoning Coyotes—By Cy J. Bingham...... 61
Rabies Among Coyotes........... a ee ea ee Seale 63
Cow =Adtected wath cha bles yrs tn ioe oo eee ee ee «64
Bass in .@old_ Springs -ReServourats 2 nc See ce eee 64
A Clearing House for Outdoor Information............. 65

This issue contains the first of an interesting series of
angling articles by Blaine Hallock. They have the tang of
outdoor life and will give you the fishing fever. You need

The Oregon Sportsman. Send in your subscription.

i eaiheanenrmletahalk ih Os ETE SERENA ERA we en Achar A ARYANS ra AE RN he MASHER THM SSPEARS AL thre he te EPRI ERY Trea Ay

il

in or Plumed Qua

The Mounta

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III MARCH, 1915 Number 3

THE MURDERER OF HUBBARD GOES FREE,

In the January issue of The Oregon Sportsman, we gave 2
brief account of the killing of Deputy Game Warden Arthur §.
Hubbard of Ashland, while in the performance of his duty.
Hubbard was shot on December 17, 1914, in the upper Trail
Creek country when in the act of arresting a game law violator
by the name of Loris Martin. The trial of Martin was held in
Jacksonville, Jackson county, beginning March 1. A verdict of
acquittal was rendered Tuesday afternoon, March 9. The pre-
siding judge was F. M. Calkins. Attorney A. E. Reames de-
fended Martin and Judge EH. E. Kelly handled the case for the
State.

We are printing our version of the facts in this case, because
this is the first time in Oregon that a game warden has been
threatened and killed by a man who openly defied the game
laws and the trial brings out two points very strongly, namely:
that courts do not. always administer justice and that in Jackson
county there is a diseased condition in official circles that should
be remedied by the law-abiding people.

On July 9, 1911, soon after Mr. Hubbard was employed as
deputy game warden, he arrested Loris Martin for fishing with-
out a license. Martin paid a fine of $25. The testimony showed
clearly that Martin bore a bitter feeling against Hubbard for
this act.

Martin Makes Threats.

At various times and places after the date of his arrest, up
to within two days of the time he shot Hubbard, Martin had
made threats that he would kill Hubbard if he ever attempted to
arrest him again. Andrew Poole told of a conversation with
Martin in which Martin said, ‘‘If Hubbard bothers me, damn him.
I’ll kill him.’’ Mrs. Poole and her daughter swore that they had
at other times heard Martin threaten to kill Hubbard.

Mr. Vogeli, who was out hunting with Martin, said he asked
Martin if he had a hunting license. Martin told him no, he

48 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

didn’t need one as long as he had his rifle. When asked if he
was not afraid of being arrested by a game warden, Martin told
Mr. Vogeli that if any game warden tried to arrest him, he would
get shot. Mr. T. C. Gaines also testified hearing Martin threaten
Hubbard.

Mr. Ed Van Dyke testified that two days before the shooting
he was helping Martin saw down some trees near his cabin. A
conversation came up about Hubbard who had made a trip into
that part of the country a few days previous to investigate game
law violations. Martin, with an oath, swore he would kill Hub-
bard if he came up there and tried to arrest him.

A few days before the tragedy, Mr. Hubbard furnished the
State Game Department with evidence that Martin was killing
deer out of season. He was instructed by District Game Warden
Sam Sandry of Rogue River to take Warden F. B. Herrington of
Riddle and go and arrest Martin. Owing to an accident, Mr.
Herrington could not go, so Mr. EEO Uae took Constable A. L.
Irwin of Ashland.

Hubbard, a Careful and Fearless Officer.

In order to be legally prepared, Hubbard first secured a
search warrant from Justice of the Peace Taylor of Medford
giving him a right to search and take the venison from Martin’s
cabin. Martin was not at home, so the two officers took two
hams of fresh venison from the shed which was a part of Martin’s
cabin and tied them to the saddle. After waiting for some little
time, they came on back down the trail and met Martin who was
carrying a bag, an ax and a rifle.

‘*Hello, Loris,’? said Hubbard. ‘‘Hello, Hubbard, what the
hell are you doing here?’’ rephed Martin. They were within a
few feet of each other and Irwin rode a little behind Hubbard.
As Hubbard stopped, Martin set down his ax, threw his gun from
his shoulder and held it ready for use at his hip. Hubbard threw
his leg over the horn of his saddle, jumped from his horse and
started toward Martin. Hubbard could not have advanced more
than a few feet when Martin backed a little and with the rifle
still at his hip, pulled the trigger. The muzzle of the rifle was
not more than from four to eight feet from Hubbard’s breast.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 49

The soft-nosed bullet entered about the center of the breast bone,
causing instant death.

The moment Hubbard fell, Martin reloaded his Winchester
and faced Irwin who was still on his horse. ‘‘That man done me
dirt and there is the result,’’ said Martin.

The Line of the Defense.

From the above statements, one would arrive at the con-
clusion that it would be impossible for a jury to acquit Martin,
but the impossible sometimes happens. The line of the defense
was shrewdly built up from two standpoints.

In the first place, it was spread broadcast by Hubbard’s
enemies that the first time he arrested Martin for fishing without
a license, he had baited his hook for him and thus it might be
said encouraged the violation of the law. This was untrue, but
coupled with the other stories that Hubbard had also made
threats against Martin, a sentiment was built up against Hubbard
as an officer among a certain class of people in Jackson county.
This sentiment was strong among the people in the official cir-
cles in the town of Jacksonville. Sheriff Singler and his deputy
not only did not assist the state in any way from the beginning
to the end of the case, but they assisted the defense and were used
as their witnesses. County Assessor Grieve was also a witness
for Martin. But one of the real causes for the acquittal lay in
the instructions that Judge Calkins gave the jury, which favored
the defense strongly and were unjust and unfair to Hubbard as
a police officer.

In the second place, the defense laid great stress on the
claim that Hubbard was attempting to draw his gun when Martin
pulled the trigger and .therefore Martin shot in self defense.
However, certain facts which are admitted by both sides, show
that he could not have drawn his gun. He carried a Luger pistol
in a holster under his left arm. Hubbard’s coat was buttoned
when he fell and it was still buttoned when the body was ex-
amined by the coroner and sheriff. The undeniable proof was
that the bullet penetrated both lapels of Hubbard’s coat.

Why should Hubbard attempt to draw his gun? Martin had
him covered from the beginning. Irwin, who was a few feet
behind Hubbard, said that when the bullet struck, Hubbard swung
partly around and he saw both his hands clutch at his breast as

50 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

the body twisted and fell face up, the head within two or three
feet of where Martin was standing. Irwin testified that he did
not see anything of Hubbard’s pistol, although he went up to
Hubbard’s body after the fatal shot.

How Did the Gun Get There?

The climax in the case which gave Martin his freedom was
Hubbard’s revolver which was found at the side of a little bush
over four feet by actual measurement and a little to the rear of
the spot where Hubbard had stood. How did Hubbard’s gun get
there? From the first, Martin dominated the scene with his
thirty-thirty. He refused to surrender. He refused to accompany
Irwin. He refused to leave the spot, but finally agreed to give
himself up if Irwin would go down and get one of his friends.

Irwin returned an hour or so later with two of Martin’s
friends, but still Martin refused to surrender. Then he showed
just where Hubbard’s gun had fallen, for Martin’s plea was self-
defense. But granting Martin’s trumped-up case was true, Mar-
tin knew Hubbard was an officer of the law. He saw that the
officer had the undeniable evidence of his guilt for killing deer
out of season. He assumed an attitude of resistance and when
pressed by the officer, pulled the trigger in a spirit of diabolical
hatred with which his soul was filled. |

The weeks that Martin, the murderer, spent in the county
jail did not soften his heart in the least, for toward the end of
the trial when he was asked if he shot to kill Hubbard, his eyes
still gleamed hate and passion, when he answered, ‘‘Certainly I-
shot to kill!’’

The jury filed in and settled in their seats. It was a solemn
moment. The verdict was unanimous. Then a great burst of joy
from the throats of a court room full of sympathizers. Hooray!
Congratulations! Martin, the Trail Creek murderer, is free! It’s
not a crime to kill a game warden in Jackson county!

The Secretary of Agriculture has advised Senator Harry
Lane that the complaints in regard to the killing of ducks and
geese on the Klamath Indian reservation will be investigated.
Steps will be taken by the federal authorities to enforce the laws
protecting these game birds.

—

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 51

REED COLLEGE GAME REFUGE.
BY
R. BRUCE HORSFALL

During the past winter, from fifty to eighty wild water
birds have been living on Crystal Springs lake, which is a part
of the Reed College Game Refuge. The greater number of ducks
are scaups or bluebills. There have also been a few teal, mallards,
spoonbills, baldpates, redheads, grebes, both pied-billed and
horned, coots, Wilson snipe, killdeer and one lone great blue
heron. The ducks keep well out toward the middle of the lake
during the day, but work along in shore toward night.

The question of putting out food for the ducks and attract-.
ing them to the lake has been attended to by Dr. W. C. Morgan.
Wheat has been kept on hand for ducks and it has not taken them
long to learn where to go for food.

This splendid lake is within the limits of the city of Portland
and an effort will be made to give careful protection to the wild
birds here in the hope that within a few years they will be tame
enough to eat out of the hand. In Golden Gate park in San
Francisco where birds have been carefully protected for years,
flocks of ducks, geese, coots and other birds are so tame that they
furnish, a great attraction.

The birds soon recognize places where they are given protec-
tion and food. At Titusville, Florida, where the hotels allow no
shooting within certain limits, the scaup ducks take bread from
the hands of people sitting in boats or upon the wharves, while
beyond the ‘‘dead-line’’ these same ducks are so wild that one
cannot get within gun shot. The same conditions prevail at Lake
Worth, Florida. In the middle of New York City, wild mallards,
recognizing the absolute freedom from molestation, nest about
the shores of the little lakes in Central Park where thousands of
people pass daily.

Quite a number of Hungarian partridges, bob-white and val:
ley quail have been liberated on the Reed College Game Refuge
by the Fish and Game Commission. It is hoped careful protection
will be given these birds so they will increase. Chinese pheasants
are already very common. Some silver-gray squirrels are also
to be hberated in the groves about Reed College.

52 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

FISHING IN OREGON WATERS

The First of a Series of Sketches Devoted to the Gentle Art
of Angling

BLAINE HALLOCK

series of articles, devoted to the gentle art
of fishing, appear here somewhat against
my better judgment. They have been
penned, not by a scientist learned in all the
Latin classifications and anatomical ar-
rangements of the many finny creatures,
but by a simple fisherman who loves more
the sound of gurgling brooks and the sight
of open blue sky than the doubtful joy of
a knowledge that his Latin classifications are correct or his
theory on genus, as disclosed by fin arrangement or scale mark-
ings, 1s faultless.

These articles will abound in errors in biology. A fish’s
caudal fin I shall be pleased to call by its unlovely sobriquet,
his tail. Perchance I may confuse the salmo irideus with the
salmo gatrdneri, and the char may even be referred to here, with-
out further apology, as a trout; but underneath it all I hope
my patient reader may catch some useful hints on angling, or,
not being a fisherman himself, may end by holding in higher
regard those prevaricating, though harmless, individuals who
are so classed.

One day a friend of mine remarked that since the fishing
season had closed he supposed my days off must hang very
heavily upon my hands. Somewhat to his surprise I replied
that the fishing season never closes. And such is indeed the case,
especially here in Oregon. Fish' of ten inches or more in length
may be taken on rod and line the year round, with no violation
of the law, and this without regard to kind. Salmon, trout, char,

—

oO
eo

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

bass, grayling and any of the many varieties of bay fishes may
be taken by angling at any season of the year, subject only to
the qualification as to the first three named, of their measuring
ten inches or over.

It is a popular idea that the fishing season opens in the
spring of the year, and, to most purposes, so it does. About the
time when the first wild flowers venture to peep at the uncertain
weather, and after the last snow patches have disappeared from
the hollows of the lower woods, we read on the calendar that it
is the first of April. The state says we may now go ‘‘a fishing.’’
And though we have been fishing often during the preceding
months of winter and early spring, we have gotten into the habit
of calling this first April day the opening of the season.

Let us then begin our fishing with the first of April. We
have looked forward to the date, recognizing in it our first chance
to catch a mess of early brook trout. And here, at the expense
of appearing inconsistent, permit an amplification. The trout
here referred to is not that gorgeous little fellow popularly known
as the eastern brook trout; the brook trout of the east, is
not a trout at all. Sounds like a paradox, doesn’t it? One
might well ask the conundrum, when is a trout not a trout?
And the answer would be, when it is a char. To be more exact,
while the small trout of our Oregon brooks, the cut-throat or
black speckled trout (salmo Clarkii), the mountain and western
brook trout (salmo purpuratus) and the rainbow or red-side
(salmo irideus) are really brook trout, since they are true trout
living in brooks, the so-called eastern brook or red-spotted trout
(salvelinus fontinalis), which is not a native of our streams but
which is always referred to by that misnomer, is actually no trout
at all. He is a char.

If you live in Portland some day after you have eaten your
lunch at noon, step over to First and Alder streets and observe
the trout in the tank in Constantine’s market. There, side by
side, you will see the native cut-throat and his eastern brother,
the brook trout. This fellow with his pink and gold spots, his
red belly and fins, and his peculiarly mottled back, is the fontinalts
or char.

o4 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

The story runs that our pilgrim fathers, eager to learn if

the many streams which they found on this new continent would
afford trout fishing such as they had left in Merrie England,

soon discovered this brilliant little fellow, and, though he was

quite dissimilar to the brown and Loch Leven trout at home,

promptly named him brook trout. Although probing scientists

Along an Oregon Trout Stream.

later proved this fish to be a
char and not a trout, the name
stuck, and today he is quite
generally known as the eastern
brook trout.

But enough of fontinalis, be
he trout or char. We started
out this April morning for a
mess of brook trout and these
we will get. Real bona fide
trout of our western brooks.

It is April. On the higher
levels little rusty patches of
snow still lie, though already, in
the broken glades, white tril-
liums glisten against the deep
moss and the first anemone has
pushed up a round, heavy bud
full of promise.

There are no flying bugs
about, though many such in the
embryo, fat larva, can be found
if we but know where to look.
We may well expect to tind the
particular brook decided upon
still milky from snow water and
clouded by spring freshets.

Where shall we go? We
want to catch some little trout,

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 55

within a few hours of Portland. We think of the famous old
Columbia Gorge, with its many dashing water courses. There is
Herman creek, near Cascade Locks; Eagle and Tanner creeks,
near Bonneville; Pierce creek, Dry creek, Williams creek, Bridal
Veil creek, Latourelle creek, Gordon creek, Trapper creek, Cedar
creek, and many others. All good. But my own little pet brook
for early April fishing I have purposely refrained from mention-
ing. Being particularly fond of this tiny stream, I am loath to
let you in on my secret. It is quite the prettiest, coolest, daintiest
little rill that I know of, and each year it affords me quite a
respectable creel of small cutthroats. So I have learned to con-
sider it, with its accompaniment of blossom and brake, my own
tiny April domain. But I know this is selfish indeed, so I turn
it over to you in its wild loveliness. Young’s creek! We shall
try its purling waters.

This creek tumbles down through the rocky defiles of Shep-
pard’s Dell, near Bridal Veil, and finds its way to the Columbia
about a mile west of that point. But it cannot be ascended from
its mouth. In places the water plunges sheer for many feet, and
the footing is uncertain. So we will follow the Bridal Veil Lum-
ber Company’s logging road till we get up onto the bench land
to the right of Bridal Veil creek. Then take the road to the right
over the divide, and a few minutes’ brisk walk brings us to the
rough little stream. If we are lucky enough to be first in, and
are not discouraged by brambles and rough walking, we should
take a fair catch of pretty cutthroats.

The Right Bait.

It is too early for fly fishing. We will have ample oppor-
tunity to indulge that later. This is a plain case of bait. Come
with a bait box full of fresh, clean angle worms. To toughen
and prepare them for bait, place in a clean earthen jar, half-filled

with moss which has been dipped in water and squeezed nearly
dry. On this drop a teaspoonful of milk and a light sprinkling
of corn meal. After worms have been left in the jar for twenty-
four hours they will be found bright, tough and lively.

56 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

For brook fishing use a short, light, rather whippy rod, about
seven feet long. A long rod is very unwieldly in the brush, while
a short casting rod is too stiff. Fifteen or twenty yards of medium
weight oiled silk line is plenty for this fishing. The reel is the
least important item. Use a three-foot light leader single hook
loop. Very often the only line out will be the leader. A half
dozen No. 8 sneck hooks will complete the outfit.

Fish slowly and carefully and keep well out of sight. This
point cannot be too strongly emphasized. These little trout are
extremely wary, and any sudden movement of the fisherman
sends them off in a flash to hide under some rock or sunken log
till they are reassured.

Fish the deeper pools under overhanging banks and beside
submerged rocks. Pinch a split shot onto the leader above the
hook, and lower it into the likely places, being careful to keep
it moving slowly with the current.

Freshets and swollen streams cause the banks to cave off
here and there, and the fish eagerly watch these places for worms
and grubs. They are hungry and vigorous in the early spring,
and will bite readily, although rarely will they take food from
the surface. a

The day is spent working along the stream from pool to pool,
taking a fish here and losing one there.

Budding nature greets us upon every hand, and if we do not .
bring home three wild flowers to every trout, we have missed
the essence of the excursion.

We will clean our little catch before we leave the stream,
being careful to keep them away from the water as much as
possible. Fish cleaned dry keep much better than those washed
and packed in wet grass. A few fresh ferns lining the basket
keeps the fish cool and firm. Garnish the pack with water cress,
and if my humble stream has not yielded a full complement to
your yawning basket, fill the top with wild flowers.

With this offering you should be able to buy permission for
another jaunt, and reconcile ‘‘her’’ to the idiosyncracies of a
fisherman.

Ol

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL.

Notes on the Life History of This Rapidly Decreasing Oregon
Game Bird.

SHALL never forget my first impressions of
this game bird when I used to see a flock
of them many years ago dusting in the road
or feeding towards evening at the edge of
the woods. I remember occasionally coming
upon a flock unexpectedly. One of the birds
would start off down the road in alarm, his
neck stretched and his long crest feathers
extended straight up making his legs seem
very short and giving his body a peculiar squatty appearance.

The mountain quail (Oreoriyx picta, a painted quail of the
mountains, named from the Greek, orus, mountain, and orty-,
quail, and the Latin, picta, meaning pictured or painted.) is the
largest and handsomest quail found in North America. It is some-
times called ‘‘Big Blue Quail’’ by sportsmen distinguishing it
from the ‘‘Little Blue Quail’’ which is the California or Valley
Quail.

The call note of the Mountain Quail is a plain short whistle,
which is given with the beak up and the wings drooped and
sounds like the whistle of some boy signaling to his friend.

This quail was formerly more abundant than it is today.
Thirty years ago in the Willamette Valley it was extremely com-
mon. Coveys of them were found in every patch of woods, in the ©
vicinity of every farm and even within a short distance from the
center of our towns. Fifteen years later their numbers had
greatly decreased. Today they are quite rare in many parts of
the Willamette Valley.

Because of the scarcity of quail in the Willamette Valley
and parts of Hastern Oregon, the last legislature closed the sea-
son on Mountain and California quail throughout the state, ex-
cept in Klamath, Jackson, Josephine, Coos, and Curry Counties.
The season on bobwhite quail is closed for the entire state.

58 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

A Gradually Disappearing Species.

The Mountain Quail does not stand the advance of civiliza-
tion as the Bob-white and California or Valley Quail. I do not
know the reasons, except that they are more shy and as the
groves are cut, the swales drained and the land cultivated, these
quail gradually disappear. Today they are more abundant in
some of the small coast valleys of southern Oregon than any place
I know. I remember in the early nineties of seeing a great many
of these birds in Coos County, especially up some of the small
streams not far from the coast. They thrive best on the brushy
side hills along a stream at the edge or even away from the culti-
vated field.

The nest of the Mountain Quail is often made at the edge or
a little under an old brush heap where it is carefully protected
from above, or it may be carefully hidden in the ferns or at the
base of a small fir sapling. I have found fifteen eggs in a nest,
although the average number is from ten to twelve. The eggs
are cream or buff colored and unspotted. The period of incuba-
tion is twenty-eight days, it might be a day or so more or less
according to the weather.

Raising Quail in Captivity.

On May 7, 1908, we set fifteen eggs of the Mountain Quail
under a bantam. On June 4, eleven quail eggs hatched. One of
the eggs had been stolen by some animal. One egg was addled;
the other two were slow in hatching. The chick in one of these
eggs died, but by picking a ring around the second egg with a .
pin point and then wrapping it in a warm, wet cloth, this chick
came out of the shell all right. We wrapped him in a woolen
cloth and put him where it was warm; in about an hour he was
out and running around as lively as any of the others.

Young quail seem to have a great deal of vitality. They
were very wary from the first, for whenever their bantam mother
fluttered her wings, the little quail scattered lke a shower of
bullets for a hiding place under ferns or leaves.

When first hatched, the Mountain Quail chick is definitely
marked with a brown streak edged with light yellow extending
down his back. Under each eye was a black streak. The rest of
the body was speckled brown and black. A few days after hatch-
ing, the chicks showed two or three fine stiff black feathers on

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 59

their heads which were soon to develop into top-knots. The wing
feathers developed rapidly as in the grouse or pheasant.

At first, the quail had a soft note like the peep of a chicken,
but in two or three weeks this note changed to a twitter and a
warning cry of ‘‘Quit! Quit!’’ like that used by the mature bird.

We did not find the quail hard to raise. They adapted them-
selves to the bantam’s note and came when she called them. They
were fed on hard boiled egg, cracked wheat, lettuce, clover and
were very fond of any flies or insects. Although very few of these
birds are raised in captivity, I see no reason why some of the peo-
ple in our state who are interested in raising game birds should
not raise some Mountain Quail and get good prices for them.

One of the recognition marks of the Mountain Quail is the
‘thin long black crest feathers that extend back from the crown
or stand straight up when the bird is alarmed or excited. The
upper parts of the bird or the back, wings and tail are olive-
brown. The breast is bluish slate. The throat and flanks are
deep chestnut, the latter barred with black and white. The male
and female are identical in dress, the crest of the female is a
little shorter than that of her mate.

Two Species Called Mountain Quail.

From a scientific standpoint, there are two quail in Oregon.
both locally known as Mountain Quail. One cannot be distin-
guished from the other by the ordinary sportsman. The trained
ornithologist, however, can pick out slight variations in the color
of the plumage and distinguish the Mountain Quail (Oreortyx
picta) from the Plumed Quail (Oreortyx picta plumifera). The
home of the former is the humid transition zone of the Pacific
Coast from the southwestern part of Washington south to Monte-
rey County, California. It was formerly introduced on Vancouver
Island. The native home of the latter is the semi-arid transition
zone from the Columbia River south through the Cascade Range
and along both sides of the Sierra Nevadas in California to Lower
California.

While these are the latest records on the geographical dis-
tribution of these two subspecies, quail have been trapped and
introduced from one locality into another until the student oi
geographical variation often finds that the present records do
not hold true. .The Mountain or Plumed Quail ranges in con-

60 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

siderable numbers out into Lake, Harney and Malheur counties.
In the collection of skins belonging to the Fish and Game Com-
mission, are specimens from the following localities: Portland,
Eugene, Salem, Roseburg, The Dalles, Sisters, Klamath Falls,
Adel and the Alvord ranch in Harney county.

According to the old records, the Mountain or Plumed Quail
were not native to the state of Washington. In the early seven-
ties, Prof. O. B. Johnson of the University of Washington wrote
that these birds were rarely found north of the Willamette Val-
ley. At that time they were very abundant in Oregon and many
were trapped and shipped alive to different markets. Some of
the birds sent to Seattle were liberated in that locality, on Whid-
bey Island and other places. W. iL. F.

ERROR IN FEBRUARY ISSUE.

In the report of game fish distributed during 1914 which was
published on page 41 of the February issue of The Oregon Sports-
man the number of brood fish which have been kept in the Mc-
Kenzie river hatchery was repeated. The second line should have
been left out and the following line inserted: ‘‘Brood fish held
in Bonneville hatchery, 79,300.’’

ANGLING IMPROVES IN UMATILLA COUNTY.

During the past year game conditions have improved in
many parts of the state because of the large numbers of game
fish liberated in the various streams.

Dr. J. D. Plamondon of Athena writes as follows:

‘‘T have been fishing in the waters of the Meacham creek,
which is the principal tributary of the Umatilla river, for about
fifteen years and wish to state that the past season’s catches have
exceeded all other seasons in my experience both in number of
fish and size.

‘‘Other sportsmen of this vicinity, some of whom have fished
the Umatilla and Meacham for many years, concur with me in
this opinion.

‘‘More and more people visit these streams annually and the
fact that the catches are better each year speaks well for the
results obtained by the Fish and Game Commission in its methods
of fish protection and propagation.’’

~

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 61

METHOD OF POISONING COYOTES.

Cy J. Bingham, Forest Supervisor,
John Day, Oregon.

Of all the predatory animals that harass the stockman, the
coyote is perhaps the most destructive. This is due, no doubt,
to the fact that he is found in much greater numbers than any of
the other animals. .

Experienced trappers and hunters know that the coyote is
the most difficult animal on the range to capture. It is a very
clever trapper indeed who ean place his trap so that these cun-
ning animals will not detect it. The most extreme care may be
used in concealing the trap, and in leaving no scent around it,
and yet the chances are greatly in favor of the coyote detecting
it and passing around.

If properly used, poison is much more effective in ridding
the range of coyotes, than is either trapping or hunting. Strych-
nine has been used, but usually with no great degree of success.
The use of strychnine, in fact, should be discouraged. If the bait
containing this poison is not eaten by coyotes or other animals
it retains its deadliness for an indefinite period, and may be
picked up months later by a dog with fatal results. Thus a valu-
able animal may be destroyed and no good accomplished.

A poison should be selected that will lose its effectiveness
in a short time after being placed, so that in case it is not picked
up by a coyote it will do no damage. The Northwest Hide and
Fur Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, sells a small capsule con-
taining enough poison to immediately kill a coyote. The price
of these capsules is $1.75 per hundred. In ordering them it must
be stated that they are for coyotes, as different sized capsules
are required for different animals. The capsules are called
‘‘Suredeath poison capsules.’’

To prepare the capsules for use take a roll of old butter,
preferably a little rancid. Warm it until it is soft enough to
handle well, but not enough to melt it. Care must be used not
to touch the butter with the hands. Use a small wooden paddle
that has no human scent on it. With this paddle cut off a piece

62 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

of butter about the size of a marble; lay it on an unscented board
and flatten it out; place the capsule on the strip of butter; roll
the butter around the capsule leaving it as nearly round as
possible. Take a small pair of wooden pincers and place the
butter rolls in a jar that is free from scent. Never use metal to
handle the butter or capsules—always wood.

The jar containing these butter rolls should be placed where
the rolls will freeze. After freezing, they should be kept in a
cool place. In this manner they will keep indefinitely.

The careass of an animal should be used for bait. It is better
to secure an old cow or horse, lead it to the desired spot, and
kill it. A fresh-killed carcass is much better than an old one.

The most desirable spot for placing the bait is on the top of
a knoll or hill from which one ean see in all directions. Such
spots are usually frequented by coyotes. Ground should not be
selected, however, which is thickly covered with brush, rocks,
or other natural hiding places, since poisoned coyotes will if
possible hide themselves.

Lead the animal which has been secured for bait to the spot
you have selected. Do not kill the animal by shooting, since the
discharge of firearms leaves a scent, and the noise of the dis-
charge may frighten any coyotes within hearing so that they will ©
not return to the spot. The best method of killing the animal
is to cut the main arteries in the neck. Such a death, while not
so instantaneous, is just as humane and painless as shooting. In -
this manner the animal bleeds profusely and the odor of the
blood will attract the coyotes for a long distance. The killing
must be done from on horseback. In fact, all the operations must
be conducted without dismounting. Otherwise an odor would be
left on the ground which would keep the coyotes away.

After the animal is killed, the poison capsules should be
scattered around it for a distance of 50 or 60 feet. The poisoned
butter rolls must not be touched with the hands. They should
be removed from the jar with a stick or pair of wooden pincers.
If there is snow on the ground they may be thrown into the snow.
If there is no snow they should be placed under dry cow chips
or other natural debris. This may be done without dismounting

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 63

by the use of a long stick. About two or three dozen capsules
should be placed around each carcass. At each subsequent visit
to the carcass a few fresh capsules may be scattered. The ear-
casses should be three or four miles apart.

In cold weather the carcass should not be visited oftener than
twice a week. If the weather is warm it should be visited daily
and the capsules put out more frequently. The dead coyotes must
be removed without dismounting. To do this requires some prac-
tice. A noose is made in the end of a rope. By the use of a long
stick it is hooked over a leg of the coyote. At the second carcass
a half-hitch is placed around the leg, and so on. With a Little
practice it will be found that six or eight carcasses may be re-
‘ moved at one time with a single rope. The carcasses should be
dragged at least half a mile from the bait before being skinned.

Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the necessity of leaving
no human scent either on the poisoned rolls of butter or on the
eround about the carcass. Firearms should never be carried.
One might occasionally be able to shoot a coyote if he had his
oun along, but in doing so he would do more harm than good.
Everything used in the preparation and placing of the bait should
be absolutely free from scent. One should never dismount
within half a mile of the carcass for any purpose, nor leave any-
thing about the bait that could possibly carry a human scent.

RABIES AMONG COYOTES.

During the past winter, there have been a great many reports
throughout eastern Oregon of coyotes affected with rabies
There are many reliable cases where coyotes have been killed and
the heads sent in to the State Board of Health for examination.
There has been no question as to the disease being prevalent in
parts of Umatilla, Union, Baker and Grant counties. More
numerous reports come from Umatilla and Baker counties.

There have been a number of reliable cases where dogs, stock
and even people have been bitten.. A good many dogs and stock
have been killed. A number of people have been treated by the
State Board of Health, but we know of no deaths.

In order to kill off the coyotes and wipe out the disease.

64 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Governor James Withycombe sent a special message to the legis-
lature and a bill was passed increasing the bounty from $1.50 to
$3.00 per head on coyotes. This bounty bill is in effect until
January 1, 1916.

COW AFFECTED WITH RABIES.

Mr. F. H. Fawcett of Narrows, Oregon, reports that on
March 6 he went to see a cow that was reported to have been bit-
ten by a coyote with rabies. The cow was owned by Mr. Haas of
Narrows. He gives the facts as follows:

‘“A few weeks ago a coyote found its way into the corral
while the hired man was milking. He happened to turn around
and saw the coyote within a few feet of him. He went over the
fence without much ceremony, secured a ou and killed the
animal. It showed no signs of rabies.

‘‘On March 5 the cow seemed uneasy and kept walking
about the corral much as a cow does just after being taken from
the herd, but her mouth was covered with froth continually.

‘‘Some time during the night of the 6th, she broke out of the
corral and on the morning of the 7th was charging around at
everything she could see or hear. She appeared to be partially
blind and occasionally she would run into a wagon or fence.
Sometimes she would stumble and fall. She was killed by the
owner.’’

BASS IN COLD SPRINGS RESERVOIR.

Reports of splendid catches of bass in the Cold Springs reser-
voir near Hermiston have been made during the last few weeks
by anglers from Pendleton, Echo, Stanfield and Hermiston. Sevy-
eral of the fish taken are said to have weighed five pounds each
while large numbers of smaller ones have been caught.

The first bass were liberated in the reservoir four years ago
this fall when 20,000 were planted. The following year 20,000
more were planted. There is an abundance of food in the reser-
voir and the entire environment is apparently ideal for the shal-
low water around the edges of the reservoir is said to be literally
alive with the smaller fish of this species.

The reservoir also contains rainbow, steelheads and chinooks.

A Clearing House

for Outdoor
Information

The Oregon Sportsman has reliable up-to-date
material from various parts of the state. It acts as a

clearing house for out-of-door information.

The Oregon Sportsman keeps a list of reliable
guides who are equipped to take out hunting, fish-
ing and camping parties.

The Oregon Sportsman can tell you of good rec-
reation places and splendid outdoor camps and ho-
tels. You may want to know where to go and how
to get there.

The Oregon Sportsman frequently receives let-
ters from people in other states, and especially from
sportsmen in the Kast, in regard to hunting and fish-
ing conditions on the Pacific Coast.

If we cannot furnish the information desired,
perhaps we can put you in touch with people who

can.

Send The Oregon Sportsman to some of your

Eastern friends.
Have you subscribed for The Oregon Sportsman?

If not, send 50 cents. now.

HS, Yoo
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- The OREGON
SPORTSMAN

APRIL, 1915

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Angling Along Klamath River.

BeBe Ee DM ONERL YY. -UNDER“~ THE: DIRE CT-LON, “OF THE

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

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CONTENTS

Copyright 1915, by William L. Finley

SS

Page
The California or Valley Quail, Colored Illustration.... 68
The California or Valley Quail—By William L. Finley.. 69
Exhibit of Oregon Game Birds..............+--2000-0- 72
Decision! on* Columbia, River Eisner aes sere aa eee 72
“ln phe; Ome come Ouimityae re cette cae eee ee eee 73
An Outing on the Deschutes—By Blaine Hallock....... 74
A National Bird Census—By Henry W. Henshaw........ 79
Annual Meeting of the Multnomah Anglers’ Club....... 81
Oreson Staite! irapshooters loumnami\emi re eee ee 81
Changes ins Washineton JG amie Wanw Se. es ae 82
Calirornia @ manag ele Matas ere ace pene reer eae 82
NIQUES! skOne el er andallen eke WE INS IBEICIRINS be ee os oe 83
Live Mish Exhibit. bakenstosSan=WramerscOpe ye. eles 84
Mederal laiw=S tll Wit e@tinie sense 4 iene ee eee 84
Items: of Uniterest:<2t.o80: aire hactere ie oe me ena ore eee 85
fhe ttchine Elour—SB ye Balllleyes alls seen ne eeices ee eee 87

Read the second of a series ef angling crank sketches
in this issue by Blaine Hallock. It is the next thing to
casting a fly in the Deschutes.

In the May issue, you will want to read a complete
account of the new game laws, as well as other items of
interest about the game conditions.

ATUL TTT TATTLE LLU

|!

The Oregon Sportsman is devoted to
fostering a love for outdoor life and
educating people in the protection of
their game resources.

A true sportsman is not necessarily a
man who carries a rod ora gun. He is
a lover of woods and streams, fields and
flowers, trees and mountains, fish, birds
and animals.

QIAN

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The California or Valley Quail.

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III APRIL, 1915 Number 4

THE CALIFORNIA OR VALLEY QUAIL.

A Valuable Bird About the Farm, Introduced from Southern
Oregon into All Parts of the State.

F THE farmers throughout the state want
me a bird that is valuable both from the
- economic and game standpoint, they
. should encourage this bird which is
often known as the Little Blue Quail.
The food of the bird is largely weed seed
and insects. It is a native of the southern
part of our state and during the last two
or three years has been introduced into
almost every part of Oregon. With a
little encouragement, the California or Valley Quail will thrive
in every section of the state.

During 1914, nearly twelve hundred of these birds were
trapped in Jackson and Josephine counties and were liberated
in sixteen different counties in various parts of the state, accord-
ing to the reports published in The Oregon Sportsman for Janu-
ary, 1915. In order to protect these quail and give them a chance
to increase, the legislature has closed the quail season during
1915 and 1916.

The call note of the California or Valley Quail is easily
imitated and sounds like, ‘‘Coo-coo-coo! Coo-coo-coo!’’ with
the emphasis on the second syllable. It differs distinctly from
the single whistle of the Mountain Quail. This call is one com-
monly used as a sort of a signal from one bird to another or for
the flock. If one comes upon a flock of these birds unexpectedly,
the first note is a danger signal, ‘‘Tst! Tst! Tst!’’? which might
be described as a sound made by suddenly exploding or drawing
in a breath of air.

Quail have a great many enemies. In order to protect them-
selves while feeding ,one bird will often mount to the top of a
fence or take a position in a tree and act as a sentinel for the
rest of the company. Eternal vigilance is the price that the quail

SSR

70 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN .

pays for its life every day in the year. The birds are quite local
in character; if food is abundant and there are natural hiding
places such as the brushy banks along a creek, the flock will stay
around day after day in the same region.

Climate has considerable effect upon the plumage of some of
our birds. The song sparrow, for instance, that lives in the moist
rainy belt along the Oregon coast is darker in dress and a trifle
larger than the song sparrow that lives in the higher, drier zone.
The ruffed grouse of western Oregon with its reddish phase of
dress is quite different from the gray ruffed grouse of north-
eastern Oregon. The same is. true of the pine or red squirrel that
lives in Oregon. In the series of speci-
mens in the collection of the Fish and
Game Commission, we find a very
interesting gradation of change. The
red squirrel from Tillamook is rich
dark brown above and underneath
the fur has a very marked reddish
tone. The same squirrel from the
vicinity of Portland and along the
Columbia river is lighter on the belly,
while in specimens from eastern Ore-
gon, especially Wallowa county, the
reddish tint underneath is faded out
entirely until it is pure white in
color.

Along the Pacific coast, the same
kind of a change is traceable in the
California Quail. Speaking from a
scientific standpoint, there are two
quail, the California Quail (Lophor-
tyx californica, named from the
Greek, Jophos, a crest, and ortyx, a
quail) and the Valley Quail (Lo-
phortyx califormca vallicola). The
former is a native of the humid tran-
sition zone from southern Oregon on
the west side of the Cascades south to

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 71

Monterey county, California. This bird was also introduced on
Vancouver island and in the state of Washington. The latter
is a native of the higher Cascade range from the Klamath Lake
country south through California and east to the mountains of
western Nevada. It is somewhat smaller and paler in dress. Since
the habits of both birds are identical, they will both be treated
as a single species.

The California Quail may easily be distinguished from the
Mountain Quail. It is smaller in size. There is a decided differ-
ence in the crest. That of the California Quail is shaped lke a
comma; it curves forward and is larger at the upper end. The
plume of the Mountain Quail is long and narrow and extends
straight back. The throat of the California Quail is black bor-
dered by a white line. There is also a white line running across
the gray forehead and extending over each eye. The breast is
bluish-slate, while the feathers of the belly are white and yellow-
ish bordered with dark brown, looking as if the bird were covere:l
with scales rather than feathers. On the center of the belly is
a chestnut-red patch. The back is bluish like the breast, but with
a brown tinge and the flanks are dark brown streaked with
white. The female is duller and of a general slate-brown color,
lacking the black and white markings on the head and the chest-
nut color on the belly.

I have known of two or three cases where the California
Quail crossed with the Mountain Quail in the wild state. A very
interesting hybrid was secured by Mr. George D. Peck on April 1,
1911, along the Silvies river, Harney county, about two miles
north of Burns. The crest was a curious combination of both
birds. It was narrow like that of the Mountain Quail, but curved
forward like the crest of the California Quail. The coloring on
the body of this bird showed a very even balance of character
derived from both birds. In size, it was a little larger than the
average California Quail and thus more like the Mountain Quail.

While on a trip through Wasco county in 1908, I heard a
quail call and recognized the note of the Mountain Quail. I crept
up closer to where I could get a view of the bird and found it was
a California or Valley Quail. It seems in this case the habitat
of the two species overlapped and the one had learned the call
note of the other.

72 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

The nest of the California Quail is a little hollow in the
ground lined with grass. From twelve to eighteen eggs are laid.
They are cream colored and peppered or blotched with brown.
They can easily be distinguished from the eggs of the Bob-white
Quail or the Mountain Quail, because these eggs are unspotted.

W. L. F.

EXHIBIT OF OREGON GAME BIRDS.

The exhibit of live game birds which has been installed at
the Panama-Pacifie Exposition in San Francisco by Mr. ’Gene M.
Simpson, superintendent of the State Game Farm, is attracting
considerable attention. To show the different game birds that
are found in Oregon, a rustic lodge has been built in front of the
Oregon building at San Francisco just on the shore of the bay.
In one end of this is a reproduction of the Columbia river with
miniature canneries, fish wheels, boats and other equipment that
shows the fishing industry.

In the other end of the lodge, the space has been divided and
Mr. Simpson has installed coveys of wild quail, all three varieties
that live in Oregon, bob-white, valley and mountain quail. There
are also grouse and pheasants, Chinese or ring-necked, Reeves and
others, a flock of wild pigeons and a lively bunch of silver-gray
squirrels. Many people who come from the Hast are attracted by
these wild creatures which make Oregon famous as a game state.
No other state in the Union has such a variety and abundance of
game birds. Many eastern tourists will be attracted to Oregon
to hunt and fish during the coming summer and fall.

DECISION ON COLUMBIA RIVER FISHING.

On March 23, a decision was handed down by the Supreme
Court of the state of Oregon upholding the constitutionality of
the act which forbids the taking of salmon with nets in the
waters of the state of Oregon by persons who have not resided
in this state for a period of six months or longer. The opinion
was written by Chief Justice Moore and affirmed a decision of
Circuit Judge Eakin of Clatsop county. The law at the last
session of the legislature was amended requiring a residence otf .
one year which is now in effect, the bill carrying an emergency
clause.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 73

“IN THE OREGON COUNTRY.”’

This is the title of a new book by George Palmer Putnam.
It is a series of sketches covering different phases of outdoor life
in Oregon. The book is well, illustrated and has an appropriate
introduction by Governor James Withycombe.

There is plenty of good literary material in Oregon, espe-
cially from an outdoor standpoint. A greater part of the state
is a big outdoor playground for the angler, the hunter, the
camper, the tramper and everyone else who likes mountains,
woods and rivers. Mr. Putnam has seized upon some of the
opportunities. There is no better theme than ‘‘On Oregon Trails’’
or ‘‘A Canoe on the Deschutes.’’

Mr. Putnam is a nature lover. He came to Oregon from New
York. He lived at Bend, the heart of a great country with its
pine-covered slopes on the west and the gray sage plains on the
east. He is an enthusiast. He absorbed the life of the land. He
saw that part of eastern Oregon pass out of the frontier class.
He rode with the old stage driver from Shaniko to Bend.

‘‘Do you chew?’’ asked the driver.

I, who sat next to him, plead innocence of the habit.

‘‘Have a drink?’’ said he later, producing a flask. And again
I asked to be excused.

‘‘Don’t smoke, neither, I suppose?’’ The driver regarded
me with suspicion. ‘‘Hell,’’ said he, ‘‘th’ country’s goin to the
dogs. These here civilizin’ inflooences is playing hob with every-
thin’. Las’ three trips my passengers haven’t been fit company
for man or beast—they neither drank nor chawed. Not that I
mean to be insultin’ ’’—I assured him he was not—‘‘but times
certainly have changed. The next thing along’ll come a railroad
and then all this goes to the scrap heap.”’

His gesture, with the last word, included the battered stage,
the dejected horses, and the immediate surroundings of Shaniko
Flats.”’

If you want to ride the old stage into Bend before the coming
of the railroad and feel your spine twist as it lurches from one
chuck hole to another, or if you wish to hook a few rainbows in
the Deschutes, or pack through the forests of the high Cascades.
you have only to wade into some of the chapters in Putnam’s new
book.

14. THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

AN OUTING ON THE DESCHUTES

_ In Every Pool, Behind Every Sheltering Rock, for a Distance of
Two Hundred Miles, Lurks a Gorgeous Rainbow

BLAINE HALLOCK

m™ HE question has been often put to me by
enthusiastic anglers, ‘‘Where can I go for
a Sunday fishing trip, that I may get a mess
of trout and still lose no time from work ?’’
And I reply, ‘‘The Deschutes.’’ This, too.
with very little consideration for the so-
called ‘‘fishing season.’’ Big fish can be
taken from the Deschutes the year round. .

Even today but comparatively few of
the cult realize what an angler’s paradise this wild stream really
is. Tumbling from the high mountain meadows and draining a
myriad of crystal lakes at the very top of the Cascades, the
Deschutes river rushes north for nearly the entire length of our
good old state, finally roaring into the Columbia east of The
Dalles, where its turbulent waters are soothed and blended into
that great flow to the sea.

In every pool, behind every sheltering rock, along every
choppy riffle for this whole distance of more than two hundred.
miles lurk gorgeous rainbow trout eager to attack the proffered
lure. This stream is at our very dooryards. Two nights on a
sleeper, a whole eighteen-hour day on the river, and we are back
on the job, refreshed from the jaunt and richer by a full creel
and a full heart. |

There are at least three kinds of game fish in the Deschutes,
the beautiful, gamey rainbow (Salmo irideus) or red-side,, as he is
locally known; his less sportive though more powerful cousin,
the Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), who is a char as distin-
guished from a true trout; and the rather inconspicuous though
really good fish, the whitefish (Coregonus oregonus) sometimes
called a grayling.

“I

oO

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Each of these fish commands our respect for its different
fighting qualities. The lordly surges and spectacular leaps of
the trout excite keenest admiration. The vigorous power and
sullen ree’ stance of the char compel us to respect this voracious
fish and ause us some uneasiness for the safety of our tackle.
As to the whitefish, his skillful dodges and quick turns in white,
foamy water give us many a thrill, while his ability to grab, in
swift current, a spoon hook three times the size of his tiny square
mouth is a source of constant wonder.

From the first of April till well into the winter fish can be
taken from the Deschutes, and I have no doubt bait fishermen
can get them even during the winter and early spring when the
stream is swollen and cloudy. The very cream of the season,
however, extends from about the’ first of May, when the caddis-
flies hatch, till the last one disappears toward the end of June.
At this time the merest novice can get fish, and they are in the
pink of condition.

These flies emerge from the pebbled shell where they have
spent the larval stage of their brief career, and hang in great num-
bers upon the willows and brush along the banks of the stream.
It is then that the fish he close under the banks, waiting for the
flies to drop. And it is then that the fishing is at its easiest
and best.

Start your day’s work with plenty of No. 4 and No. 6 caddis-
flies, tied especially in imitation of this insect, and don’t forget
to soak up a half dozen six-foot leaders for immediate use. The
fish are large and powerful, and your tackle is bound to suffer.
I have learned to pin my faith on the big hooks at this season of
the year. Nothing smaller than No. 6.

Approach the stream with caution. Although the fish are
close in, they are by no means as bold as this might seem to indi-
cate. They are close to shore because the flies are there, but for
this very reason they are even more shy than usual. Do not
expect too much of the big, fine-looking pools. The fish are not
there in May. Leave them for the September fishing.

Cast your fly lightly into the comparatively still water above
some low-hanging willow or on the river side of a half-submerged

76 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

rock near the shore. Keep well out of sight and let the fly float
naturally along with the current. Do not attempt to keep it on
the surface. A big trout seldom takes his food from the very
surface of the water. However, do not allow the slack line to pull
the fly; let the fly pull the line. By all means keep your eye on

The Deschutes, Famous for Fishing.

the hook. These red-sides are as quick as lightning when they
strike. But do not expect a wild rush. It is only the httle trout
which splashes at the fly and leaps out of the water before it is
hooked. Your big trout moves rapidly up to the partially sub-
merged fly and sucks it into his mouth with lightning-like rapidity,

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 17

though with hardly a flutter of the surface water. The strike
of a big trout is known in the fisherman’s vernacular as a
‘‘lump.’’ When the water appears to lump up in the vicinity
of your fly, strike quick and hard. The fish can spit out the fly
with quite as much dexterity as he can pick it up, and he loses
no time in doing so when he finds that he has been fooled.

Your line is brought up taut against a firm, quivering some-
thing out there under the willows! For a second it remains
stretched motionless. You wonder if you have hooked a snag.
But only for a fleeting second are you in doubt. Then follows a
battle royal. The big, brilliant fish leaps clear of the water time
after time. He rushes madly out into the current, and you must
check his heavy surges. He dashes back to the home pool with
such marvelous speed that to recover your slack line is a prob-
lem. When he makes one of these home runs it is best to ignore
the reel for the time being, and haul in line off the rod with your
free hand.

But gamey as he is, the fish cannot last long against such
heavy odds, and with luck you are soon able to dip him up in your
landing net, and a beauty he is indeed.

And so the day advances. You land some of them, and more
you lose. Many a lusty fellow takes or breaks a hook and leader,
and many another works the hook from his mouth in the fight.

During the heat of the day the fish are close under the banks
in the shade of the willows. In the afternoon they move leisurely
across to the shady side, and if you happen to be on the wrong
side of the river, then you had best crawl under the trees and
take a nap. The evening’s fishing will tax your strength and
nerve.

-’ When the last rays of the sun have left the river, pick out a
long, choppy, deep riffle with foamy, broken water at its head,
and whip out fifty or sixty feet of line. You will now have to
wade out, and east all the line you can handle. A 91% or 10-foot
rod, with plenty of backbone, is needed for this work. If you
are going to buy a rod get a good one. A hand-made Hardy,
Leonard, Thomas or any other of the standard rods. A cheap,
whippy rod is worse than none at all. For long, accurate casting
you should have a tapered line of at least thirty yards.

78 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

The fish are now in the open water. and you are not hid from
them as you were in the morning. A long cast, therefore, is in-
dispensable.

Use two fhes. If they do not strike a caddis, try a McGinty.
It is a great taker for evening fishing on the riffles. Cast the
head of the riffle and work down. As the bait comes quartering
in off the current at the toe of the swift water, look out. Your
fly is under the surface. You are handling lots of line. Your
footing in the swift water is precarious. This is a test of your
nerves.

Watch the fly—or the spot where you think it is! Any
quiver of the waters, any slacking of the line, any lumpy swirl,
the faintest gleam of red or silver, is the sign. Strike! You may
miss him—you may be fooled, but you cannot afford to wait for
the jerk. If you do, you have waited too long. Your fish is
quicker in the swift water than he is in the still places under the
willows. The lump, the gleam of silver, the slack in your line;
they mean that a fish wants your fly. Try to take it away trom
him. You will find that he is the quicker. Your very act will
send the hook home to the bony substance of his hungry mouth.

Then the fight all over again, with variations, until your
fingers grow cramped from gripping the rod and your shoulders
ache from the weight of the heavy creel.

Finally the shadows lengthen and the light fades from the
water. A breeze springs up from the south. The fishing is over -
for the day. You dry your wet feet and legs by the uncertain
heat of a sagebrush fire over which you have brewed a tin pot
of coffee and fried a scrap of bacon. The purple shadows gather
deep in the hollows formed by the high rim rocks. The ragged
summits of the bare hills are silhouetted against a far sky studded
with millions of tiny brilliant stars. The day is done. And it uas
been a good day. You are tired but happy, and as you doze in
the little station building out there in the big, still night, waiting
for your train, you offer up a silent little prayer of thankfulness.
You are glad to be alive—and you are. not ashamed to be a
fisherman.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 79

A NATIONAL BIRD CENSUS

How the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture
Expects to Work Toward a Rational Basis for
State and Federal Laws

HENRY W. HENSHAW
Chief Biological Survey, Washington. D. C.

The passage of the Federal law placing migratory game and
insectivorous birds in charge of the Department of Agriculture
makes it desirable to obtain more detailed and definite informa-
tion concerning the distribution of bird life in the United States,
and for this data we must look mainly to voluntary observers.
This bureau desires to obtain a series of bird censuses, beginning
with last summer (1914), taken during the breeding season, with
a view to ascertaining how many pairs of each species of birds
breed within definite areas. Such censuses will serve as a basis
for determining later whether the present state and Federal laws
are effective and whether game and insectivorous species are in-
creasing or diminishing in numbers. In this undertaking you cau
materially aid by taking a census of the birds breeding this
summer on some area or areas selected to fairly represent the
average character of the country in your immediate neighbor-
hood. The ideal tract of land would be one that exactly repre-
sents the average conditions of the neighborhood in the propor-
tions of woodland, plowed land, meadow, etc., contained in it.
As this idea is practically unattainable, an area should be selected
representing fairly average farm conditions, but without wood-
land. It should not be less than 40 acres—a quarter of a mils
square—nor more than 80 acres, and should include the farm
buildings, with the usual shade trees, orchards, etc., as well as
fields of plowed land and of pasture or meadow.

The area should be selected not only with reference to the
present summer’s work, but should, if possible, be chosen so that
the physical conditions will not be much changed for severai
years; if succeeding annual censuses show changes in the bird
population, it will be known that they are not due to changed
environment.

What is wanted is a census of the pairs of birds actually

80 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

nesting within the selected area. Birds that visit the area for
feeding purposes should not be counted, no matter how close
their nests are to the boundary lines.

It is practically impossible to take this census on the scale
of 40 to 80 acres in a single day. A plan which has been used
with advantage for several years is to begin at daylight some
morning the last of May or the first week in June and zigzag
back and forth across the area, counting the male birds. Early
in the morning at that season every male bird should be in full
song and easily counted. After the migration and the birds are
settled in their summer quarters each male can safely be taken to
represent a breeding pair.

The census of one day should be checked and revised by sev-
eral days of further work, in order to insure that each bird seen
is actually nesting within the area and make certain that no
species has been overlooked.

The height of the breeding season should be chosen for this
work. In the latitude of Washington—latitude 39°—May 30 is
about the proper date for the original census. In the latitude of
Boston the work should not begin for a week later, while south of
Washington an earlier date should be selected.

The final results of the census should be sent to this bureau
about June 30 and should be accompanied by a statement of the
exact boundaries of the selected area, defined so explicitly that
it will be possible 25 years hence to have the census repeated. The
name of the present owner of the land should be given, together
with a careful description of its character, including a statement
whether the area is dry upland or moist bottom land, the number
of acres in each of the principal crops, or in permanent meadow,
pasture, orchard, swamp, roads, etc., the kind of fencing used,
and whether there is much or little brush along any fences, roads,
or streams, or in the permanent pasture.

If there is an isolated piece of woodland conveniently near
and comprising 10 to 20 acres we should like to have a separate
census made of the birds nesting therein. In which case the
report, in addition to the size and exact boundaries of the wooded
tract, should state the principal kinds of trees and whether there
is much or little undergrowth.

THE Ost EGON SPORTSMAN 81

Still a third census desired is that of some definite area—as
' 40 acres, for instance—forming part of a much larger tract of
timber, either deciduous or evergreen. While the number of
birds on such an area would be far less than on an equal area of
mixed farm land, their correct enumeration will require con-
siderably more care and time.

The above are three kinds of bird censuses considered desir-
able, and it is hoped that you will volunteer to take one or more
of them this season. In this connection we shall be very glad to
have a statement from you concerning any changes you may have
noted in the bird life of your locality, especially if your observa-
tions extend over a considerable number of years.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MULTNOMAH ANGLERS’ CLUB

At the annual meeting of the Multnomah Anglers’ Club,
which was held in the convention hall of the Portland Commercia}
Club the evening of March 26, the following officers were elected
for the ensuing year:

Lester Humphreys, president; John Gill, vice-president; Dr.
EK. C. McFarland, secretary-treasurer.
The following members were elected to serve on the execu-

tive committee:

Mr. A. E. Burghduff, Dr. L. L. DuBois, Mr. Walter Backus,
Mr. Elmer Wallace and Mr. L. H. Dart.

OREGON STATE TRAPSHOOTERS TOURNAMENT.

A great deal of interest is centering around the annual state
trapshooting tournament which is scheduled for April 25, 26 and
27 at the grounds of the Portland Gun Club. The winner of the
main event is the champion of Oregon and has the honor of repre-
senting the state at the annual grand American handicap to be
held at Chicago during the summer. Last year Pete O’Brien
represented Oregon at the big event.

Practice day has been set for Sunday, April 25, at which time
the out of town delegates will have an opportunity to try out the
local traps. The first event in the regular tournament will start
Monday, April 26, at nine o’clock. The officers of the state
association are: H. F. Wihlon, president; Henry Veatch, vice-
president, and E. A. Bean, secretary-treasurer.

82 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CHANGES IN WASHINGTON GAME LAWS

BY
L. H. DARWIN
Chief Game Warden of Washington

There seems to be considerable confusion as to whether the
trout season will open in Washington April first or May first
this year. This arises by reason of the fact that the last legis-
lature passed a law opening the trout season on April first, instead
of May first. .

The law passed by the last legislature does not contain an
emergency clause and, therefore, it does not become effective
until June 10. For that reason, the trout season will open May
first this year instead of April first; but, in 1916, the trout season
will open April first.

The new law also changes the season for bass, and makes it
open at the same time as that for trout. Under the present law,
the bass season does not open until July 15. Ags the new law
becomes effective on June 10, this year it will be lawful to fish
for bass commencing June 10 instead of having to wait un.il
July 15.

There is a provision in the new law which makes it unlawful
for county game wardens to hunt while on duty.

CALIFORNIA QUAIL AT McMINNVILLE.

Mr. F. W. Masterson of McMinnville reports that the Cali-.
fornia quail which have been liberated in that locality are doing
well. ‘‘They seem to be better rustlers than the bob-whites, for
they will feed over a hundred acres while the bob-whites feed
over ten acres. They generally fly farther than the bob-whites.

‘‘T think the worst enemy the quail have is the wild house
eat,’’ continues Mr. Masterson. ‘‘I have seen places where a
number of bob-whites have been eaten in brier patches. While
cats are valuable mousers, I think the sportsmen and farmers’
boys would do well to start a crusade, for I think if they were
thinned out there would be an increase of quail. I am very sure
a large number of young pheasants fall victims to the field cai
also. These creatures are far more destructive than foxes.’’

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 83

NOTES FOR THE ANGLER.
BY
W. F. BACKUS

Salmon trolling at Oregon City opened about March 15, at
which date there was a light run of spring Chinooks in the river.
The members of The Salmon Club got busy at once, and on
March 21 first honors for the season were taken by O. P. Locke,
who landed a Chinook weighing 24 pounds. This was the first
salmon which Locke had. ever hooked, and it was taken on a
light two-joint bass rod. On the same day F. W. Knoll got one
weighing 15 pounds, also on light tackle.

On Saturday, March 27, another man got his button, the
lucky angler being L. W. Humphreys, who caught one scaling
21144 pounds. By the way, this was Humphrey’s eighteenth trip
to the falls after a button fish, and he ought to have a special
reward for perseverance. March 28, two more salmon were taken
on the light gear, one weighing 2314 pounds by Perry Kitzmiller,
and a 20-pounder by Warren Cornell.

The next tussle will be to see who gets the first 30-pound
fish, as the winner will receive a fine Hardy fly reel as prize.

After dozens of local anglers had combed the Sandy river
for steelheads all winter, it remained for F. M. West to get the
biggest fish just a few days ago. While fishing in the Bull Run,
a short distance below the power plant, West hooked his big
steelhead on trout tackle. It took almost an hour to tire the
monster fish, which tipped the beam at 27 pounds. The big
steelhead was poor, owing to his long fast in fresh water, and
must have weighed at least 35 pounds when he first left salt
water.

From Bull Run also comes the tale of a big fish which got
away. While fishing the deep pools above the station, Warren
Cornell hooked a fish which was probably a steelhead of immense
size. For fully two hours this fish fought his way down stream,
and at no time was Cornell able to get him near enough to even
eet a fair look at him. The stream is filled with huge boulders
at this point, and the fish worked down from one rock to an-
other, always keeping down out of sight. Constant rubbing over
the rough boulders finally proved too much for the line, and it

84 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

suddenly gave way, leaving Cornell with a week’s supply of
angling conversation.

Bass fishing has also opened early and some good strings
have already been taken. The grand-dad of all the bass in Oswego
lake was caught last week. That is, Carl Liebe got one there
which weighed 734 pounds and, so far as we know, it is the
largest one ever taken in the lake. ,

LIVE FISH EXHIBIT TAKEN TO SAN FRANCISCO.

During the month of February the Oregon fish distribution
car Rainbow was used by the United States Bureau of Fisheries
and the state of Washington in transferring a live fish exhibit
from Seattle to the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco.
The trip was made under the direction of Mr. T. J. Craig who has
been in charge of the car ever since she was built.

The Rainbow left Portland for Seattle on February 8, where
some good specimens of Dolly Varden, rainbow and steelhead
trout were secured. Crappies, bass and sturgeon were loaded
from the Columbia river. More steelheads were taken at Grants
Pass, while at Sisson and Dunsmuir some fine golden trout and
others were added to the exhibit.

At the Federal building in San Francisco a splendid exhi-
bition of live food and game fishes of the Pacific coast has beex
installed. It was found that the water used at the Exposition
was not satisfactory for the live exhibit, so special apparatus for
aerating and purifying the water had to be put in to make the
exhibit a success. It is attracting the attention of many people
at the Exposition.

FEDERAL LAW STILL EFFECTIVE.

Many of the press comments on the decision of the United

tates District Court, rendered March 20, at Topeka, Kansas,

holding that the Federal Migratory Bird Law is unconstitutional,

are erroneous and are apt to mislead the public concerning the
real situation in this matter.

The Kansas decision, like a former decision to the same effect

in the Eastern District of Arkansas, is limited in its operation

solely to the district in which it was rendered. Neither decision

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 85

settles or nullifies the law, and the exact contrary has been held
by the United States District Court for South Dakota.

The Arkansas case has been appealed to, and is now pending
in the United States Supreme Court. The Act of Congress pro-
tecting migratory birds stands effective until the Supreme Court
finally decides the question of its constitutionality. In the mean-
time, it is incumbent on every law-abiding citizen to observe its
provisions and the regulations. It is the duty of the Department
of Agriculture to enforce this law and the officials in charge will
endeavor to do so as long as it is in force, and the Fish and Game
Commission has instructed its wardens to co-operate and assist
the Federal officials.

Reports of violation will be carefully investigated and when
sufficient evidence is secured they will be reported for prosecu-
tion. In this connection it should not be forgotten that an of-
fender against this, as in the case of other United States laws, is
subject to prosecution any time within three years from the date
the offense is committed.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Dr. J. C. Bartlett counted seventy-two antelope in Barren
valley in Malheur county not long ago.

The movement is on foot to establish a sportsmen’s organiza-
tion in Lebanon. Dr. Gill is the leading spirit and N. N. Newport
is assisting.

Mr. William M. McBratney, former member of the Idaho
legislature and a member of the game committee, is now a resl-
dent of Ontario. He is very much interested in local game con-
ditions.

Mr. F. B. Herrington, Deputy Game Warden at Riddle, re-
ports that while on the headwaters of Cow creek a few days ago
he learned that a large number of Chinook and silverside salmon
were reported in that region during the fall and winter. This
seems to prove that the new fishway built at the Roseburg dam
on the South Umpqua has rendered immediate service.

86 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Mr. H. W. Harris, Forest Supervisor at Wallowa, reports by
actual count thirty-seven elk in the Billy Meadows pasture. He
places an estimate of the total number of elk in Wallowa county
at 265.

Mr. A. A. Derrick and his son, who live at Jamison in Harney
county, are engaged in ranching and stock raising. They are
very enthusiastic in matters of game protection and report quite
a few antelope in the Steins mountains.

The Brownsville Rod and Gun Club are furnishing and deco-»
rating their club home. The members are keeping up their push
and enthusiasm which dominated the club from the beginning.
As a result of stocking the streams in that' part of Linn county,
fishing is very good.

The Big Luckiamute in Polk county is among the finest
trout streams in the state. Sportsmen of that locality have com-
plained on account of the lack of adequate fish ladders over some
of the dams. An effort is now being made to have these con-
structed. A new railroad is soon to be in operation up the stream
which will make the region more accessible to anglers.

The fishway over the dam recently constructed by the gov-
ernment at Three Mile falls in the Umatilla river has been com-
pleted and the run of steelheads which was being held back by
this obstruction are now ascending the river. Until recently the
water in the river was very low, but at the present time the fish
are having no difficulty in ascending.

Mr. J. H. Nichols, president of the Rod and Gun Club at
Baker, reports over two hundred members. The anglers in that
locality are enthusiastic over the improvements in lake fishing
since these waters were restocked. The pheasants liberated by
the Fish and Game Commission in Baker county have survived
the winter in good shape. Mr. E. A. Lincoln, a rancher at Keat-
ing, has been feeding seventeen pheasants on his place during
the winter.

UHM

ULLUUIUIVUUAUUYAU UIT

HULLAC

THE ITCHING HOUR.

Midway between March first and Kaster,
When it’s time for the bee and the flower;
Comes a pause in the grind everlasting,
It is known as the itching hour.

IT hear in the realm about me,
A musi¢ that’s soft and sweet;
It’s the sound of a Clackamas eddy
Where the silvery riffles meet.

I see in the vision before me

By the stream, where the fir trees tower,
A eamp of Old Walton’s disciples,

It’s on me—the itching hour.

I’m unable to work in the morning,
I’m unable to work in the night;

I can see nothing but fishpoles and fishhooks,
My studyroom looks like a fright.

I walk in my sleep in the night time,
’Tho to rest I try with all power;
My appetite’s left me forever,
It’s got me—the itching hour.

In puddles all over the pavement,
The ‘‘rainbow’’ are swimming about;
From vegetable wagons and mail carts
The salmon come jumping out.

My ealabash looks like a great big gaff
That could hook the old boy from his bower;
Be good to me, ‘‘kids,’’ I know I am bugs,”’’
But I’m ‘‘down’’ with—the itching hour.

The bathtub is covered with grampus,
Grasshoppers jump under the bed;

Salmon eggs float over my coffee,
At times I wish I was dead.

Girls in their ears wear spoonhooks
Too big for a shark to devour;

Their handbags are made out of fish heads:
It’s awful—this' itching hour,

I’m trolling when lying in bed,
And casting while walking the street;

I see baskets of trout and big pack sacks
On every man that I meet.

So I oil up my reels and fix up my flies,
And make ready my ‘‘kit’’ for a shower;

I’m waiting to ‘‘beat it’’ long days in advance,

It’s “*s-o-m-e time’ ’—this itching hour.

BiGEY “pins:

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PORTLAND PRINTING HOUSE CO., PORTLAND, OREGON

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. Vi A i) ¢€ 40497
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YS, HOS

Making Friends of a Young Bluebird.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 5

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CONTENTS

Copyright 1915, by William L. Finley

Page
The Friendship of the Birds—Dallas Lore Sharp........ 89
The Oregon Ruffed Grouse Drumming, Colored Illustration 90
seas Trolime for“Salmon.o a eee eee eae Qi
Minneséta hollows ‘Oregon’ S blames, 9 cen: ere nae. ene 92
The Oregon Ruffed Grouse—by William L. Finley...... 93
Sportsmen, Win an, Pennsylvania. eo ate eee 95
After Steelheads in the Rogue—by Blaine Hallock..... 96
Changes 1n-Orecon; Game ow Set2-.a emer aera ee 102
Foresters Study Game: Conservation: 2...5/0) 22880. e2e- 105
Newport Bod and "Gam (Chilbets sce eer oe nro 105
Oregon Sportsmen’s League Commended................ 106
Items. of - Interest a2. ok cody. acs eee cee eee eee eee 107

Significant Figures." 2.2 pie ate per ee ee ana 109

SUUTMIIIITIIITVINVTAUTLUIUTUUTGTTUUETITTUUTAUTA ITU TTT

HUNITUIIUTLLITUUITUTUUTUITUTVUETEIVUTOUTLTOUUTVUCUVUTTUTUUUU TEU

SulIIITNIIITILHUTUVUITTTUUUUTTAU TUT

The Friendship of the Birds

“Tf we should let the birds have their way
they would voluntarily fall into civilized, if
not into domesticated habits. They have no
deep-seated hostility toward us; they have
not been the aggressors in the long, bitter
war of extermination; they have ever sued
for peace. Instead of feeling an instinctive
enmity, the birds are drawn toward us by
the strongest of interests. If nature any-
where shows us her friendship and her deter-
mination, against all odds, to make that
friendship strong, she shows it through the
birds. The way they forgive and forget
their endless efforts at reconciliation and
their sense of obligation, ought to shame us.
They sing over every acre that we reclaim,
as if we had saved it for them only; and in
return they probe the lawns most diligently
for worms, they girdle the apple trees for
grubs, and gallop over the whole wide sky
for gnats and flies—squaring their account,
if may be, for cherries, orchards and chim-
neys.’’—Dallas Lore Sharp.

lik

VIVIAN

Fil

The Oregon Ruffed Grouse Drumming.

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III MAY, 1915 Number 5

SEA TROLLING FOR SALMON.

Trolling for Chinook salmon off the mouth of the Columbia
river furnishes excellent pastime for sportsmen who like to land
these big fish. For many years the fishing below the falls at
Oregon City during May has afforded recreation for many
people, but it was not until during the past two or three years
that fishermen discovered they could make big catches on the
other side of the Columbia river bar, just before and during the
time the spring Chinooks were entering the river.

Since the Oregon law does not permit net fishing in the
Columbia river between March 1 and May 1, many fishermen
from Astoria go out beyond the bar and troll for salmon for
commercial purposes. It is not unusual for some of the commer-
cial fishermen to land three to four hundred pounds of salmon
in a few hours off the Columbia river. Of course, these men do
not use light tackle, but they have several poles set out lke the
ribs of a fan with several hundred feet of line attached. When
a fish is hooked the line is heavy enough to haul the fish aboard
without much delay.

Some of our sportsmen have also thought that the falls at
Oregon City was the only place where a Chinook salmon would
give a man a good lively tussle, but the spring Chinook seems
to be a gamey fish wherever he is. During the past two or three
years sportsmen have landed some of these fish by trolling above
the falls at Oregon City, especially along the rapids and in the
lower stretches of the McKenzie. The Willamette river between
here and’ Eugene has never furnished much of anything for the
ardent angler. If some of our sportsmen from Oregon City up
to Eugene should discover that during April, May and June
they could land two or three big Chinook salmon within as many
hours along the riffles of the upper river it might be something
worth while.

Last summer some of the sportsmen from southern Oregon
made a trip to the mouth of the Rogue river. Here they found
the big Chinook and steelheads lying in wait ready to take

92 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

almost anything they saw. One of these ardent anglers told us
a forty-pound Chinook took hold of his tackle and in trying to
save his pole he was carried over the bar and had to swim back
empty handed.

The Salmon Club of Oregon was established to encourag>
the catching of salmon on light tackle instead of using a pole
as strong as a baseball bat, or a line that would hold an ordinary
gasoline tug. Why not encourage some of our: enthusiastic
anglers to try light tackle on one of these forty-pound Chinooks
out in salt water? They are a little more lively there than at
Oregon City. The rollers might be a little bothersome, but we
guarantee the fish will give fight enough to keep a member of
the Salmon Club from getting seasick. We recommend a special
large button made of something more precious than gold to the
angler who can land a forty or fifty-pound spring Chinook off
the Columbia bar on the hght tackle subscribed by the club.
The ocean off the Columbia bar is full of Chinooks in April and
May. Tuna fishing in southern California waters between Cata-
lina and San Clemente is outclassed and angling for tarpon in
the Florida waters is a back number. Let’s bring out some of
the eastern anglers who ean afford to go across the continent
to test their tackle and: give them the try of ther lives off the
Columbia bar. ke

MINNESOTA FOLLOWS OREGON’S PLAN.

The Minnesota Game and Fish Commission, upon the initia- -
tive of its virile executive agent, Carlos Avery, has inaugurated
a new policy for the protection of game and fish in that state,
the policy being that educating the people at large will do as
much, if not more, good than apprehending and punishing. In
other words, educating the people to the value of game and fish
and the necessity of obeying the laws for their protection and
propagation, will prove far more beneficial than prosecutions
for violations of these same laws. In furtherance of this plan
the Minnesota Game and Fish Commission will publish monthly
an official bulletin entitled ‘‘Fins, Feathers and Fur,’’ in which
every subject in which the commission ‘is interested will be
treated.—American Field.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 93

THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE

A Drummer of the Deep Woods, Called Partridge in the North
and Pheasant in the South and West

HE drumming of the Ruffed Grouse is a
sound dear to all woods’ lovers. When
drumming the bird stands at full height
and beats its wings rapidly towards its
sides. It begins slowly and seems to work
up speed until in the end it is a rapid
whir. This drumming of the grouse is

‘heard not only during the spring, but
frequently I have heard it in September
and October. I remember on October 20,
1914, when over in Tillamook county, I
heard a Ruffed Grouse drumming in the

deep woods. I tried to sneak up slowly to where I thought the

bird was, but after going for fifty yards, I seemed to be no
nearer but the sound seemed to come from another direction.

In fact, it was so elusive and uncertain I could not tell exactly

where it was.

On May 19, 1909, I found the nest of a Ruffed Grouse about
eight miles south of Portland near the bank of the Willamette
River. When I found the nest, the eggs were just beginning to
hatch. The mother had been disturbed by some men cutting trees
for a roadway. She slipped off the nest when I approached but
stayed in the bushes nearby, making a sound exactly like the
whining of a puppy. A little bit later she came to me boldly as
if to frighten me away, but when she got within a few feet she
seemed to lose courage. She spread her feathers and fluttered
her wings and then retreated to the cover of a large log. The
nest was at the foot of an alder tree. One of the eggs was just
hatching and the chick was halfway out. Several other eggs were
pipped. I went away and returned in an hour’s time and found
seven of the chicks were out of the shell. The other two eggs
were cut around so that the chicks were ready to come out. It
seemed as if the hatching of every egg had been timed like clock-
work.

94 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

I approached very slowly and got up within a few feet of
the mother as she sat on the nest warming the chicks. She purred
and talked to them just as a cat does when it is anxious about
the kittens. She mewed in a kind of a subdued way. I have often
found that a mother bird will make unusual sounds when scared
and anxious for her young.

Several times I have examined shells in the nest of a Ruffed
Grouse after the chicks have hatched. They were all opened the
same way, as if by machinery. The chick pounds a little hole
in one place in the egg, then he withdraws his bul and turns
slightly and pecks another hole. This is continued until he makes
a complete revolution in the shell and the cap drops off. In this
way the top of the large end of the egg is cut around very evenly.

The enemies of the Ruffed Grouse are many, just as are the
enemies of all game-birds. No matter whether it is down in the
valley where there is an uncleared patch of woods with fields
surrounding, whether it is along the river bank where the rose .
briar, vine maple and ash trees grow thick so as to form abundant
cover, or whether it is in the deep forests far back in the
mountains, it is my experience that about all the Ruffed Grouse
can do is to hold his own. I remember certain places where I
have gone year after year and I was always sure to find one or
two of these birds. During the winter I could flush them almost
any day. In the spring they would nest and bring off a brood
of from six to ten birds, but after the fall and winter season most
of the young birds are killed from one cause or another. If one
or two remain they spread out to some other place. For all the.
protection we have ever given the Ruffed Grouse, his numbers
do not increase. If it is far back in the mountains, the bobcats
and hawks and owls keep the numbers of grouse down. I re-
member on the upper headwaters of the Willamette during the
winter of 1913, seeing where two Ruffed Grouse had been killed
by a Goshawk. In one case I came upon the hawk just after
he had killed the grouse. He picked up the bird, and flew away
with it. But the enemies of the grouse are just as abundant down
in the valley where the county is settled, for here instead of bob-
cats are tame house cats that are always on the hunt.

The Ruffed Grouse’is called Partridge in the northern states,
but in the south and west it is called Pheasant. Here in Oregon

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 95

it is known as the Native Pheasant. The bird may readily be
recognized by the black ruff or shoulder feathers. They are dark,
glossy green, prominent. in the cock bird but rather undeveloped
in the female. The back of the bird is mottled with dark reddish-
brown and black.

The food of the Ruffed Grouse consists largely of wild
berries, fruits and buds. In some of the stomachs I have ex-
amined, I have found catkins of hazel and alder; also pieces
of leaves. In one stomach I found a part of a toad-stool. During
the fall season around the edge of the fields the birds often pick
up wheat that has fallen after the harvest, although wheat is not
essential as a food. They are very fond of wild crab-apples.

The Ruffed Grouse may be raised in captivity and with a
little care the bird becomes quite tame. The mosi interesting
experiment that has ever been made in raising this bird in
confinement, was made by Mr. C. F. Hodge, of the University of
Oregon. In The Oregon Sportsman for March, 1914, Mr. Hodge
published a very interesting account of the Ruffed Grouse, giving
some of his experiences.

It is the same in the case of the Ruffed Grouse as in some
of our other birds, climate has considerable effect upon the
plumage. The Ruffed Grouse of western Oregon (Bonasa um-
bellus sabini) has the reddish phase of dress. It is quite different
from the Canadian Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus togata) of
the northeastern part of the state, which has the gray plumage
instead of the red-brown. W.L.F.

SPORTSMEN WIN IN PENNSYLVANIA.

By a vote of 111 to 55, the lower house of the Pennsylvania
legislature, on March 17, appropriated the $334,800 collected in
that state for hunters’ licenses to the State Game Commission.
Objection was made to the bill, as it carried provisions that the
salary of the commission be raised from $4000 to $5000, increased
the pay of wardens from $900 to $1200 a year, and added thirty
new wardens to the twenty already employed. Evidently the
legislators of the Keystone state, or a majority of them, believe
in applying money to the purposes for which it is collected.
Other state legislatures would do well to follow Pennsylvania’s
example.—American Field.

96 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

AFTER STEELHEADS IN THE ROGUE

Once He Feels the Sting of Your Hook, the Steelhead is a
Wild, Reckless Fighter; Seven Pounds of Quivering,
Angry, Stubborn Fish is Contesting With
You His Right to Live

By
BLAINE HALLOCK

RECALL having read in one of Henry Van
Dyke’s exquisite little fishing stories a line
which he modestly credits to our long-deceased
and much-respected brother, Ike Walton, but
which I truly suspect originated in his own
fertile brain. Musing on. the excellence of a
luscious wild strawberry which he finds ripening:
on a sunny bank, he volunteers that ‘‘doubtless
God could have made a better berry—but doubtless God never
did?

And now, on this particular spring morning, when the eall
to go ‘‘a-fishing’’ is strong, the thought comes to me that doubt-
less God could have made a finer trout than the steelhead, ae
doubtless He never did.

I think it will be admitted by all who have taken steelhead
(salmo gairdnert) trout on light tackle that they are easily mas-
ters of their kind. The rainbow, especially of a pound and a half
or two pounds weight, is a worthy adversary. He can rush and
leap and sulk with a style all his own, and he is game, every
inch, from the tip of his stub nose to the end of his square tail.
A big cut-throat in small water is worthy of your best efforts.
Even the cannibalistic Dolly Varden, with his slower though more
ponderous surges, will come in for his share of credit as a game
fish.

But to the steelhead, the powerful, lithe, quivering steelhead
of the Rogue river, belongs the title of king.

I refer to the Rogue river steelheads because to me they
typify the perfect trout. Perhaps this is purely imaginary. It is
possible, and for that matter quite probable, that the fish of the

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 97

Rogue river which we catch in the fall with a fly are the same
fellows who visit our northern streams in January and February,
or, if not the same fish, then at least of the same family. True
they are all of the genus salmo gairdnert. True they are all steel-
head trout. But I cling nevertheless to the fancy—if it must be
called such—that the trout of the Rogue are the finest, the
gamest, the best trout in the Pacific Northwest.

Along toward the end of December, and in greater abund-
ance during January, the steelheads of our northern waters
ascend the many tributaries of the Columbia and the coast
streams. At this time very fine specimens are taken from the
Sandy river, Bull Run creek, Beaver creek, Clatskanine river,

Angling in the Rogue River.

Hood river, Nehalem river, Salmon creek, etc., in Oregon, and
from the Klickitat, White Salmon, Washougal, Lewis, Cowlitz,
and many other rivers and creeks in Washington.

In these streams and at this season the fish, for some inex-
plicable reason, readily strike a bait of fresh salmon eggs. For
this fishing a short, light casting rod with free running reel is
used, and the bait—a luscious chunk of roe probably half as
large as a man’s thumb—is tied onto a number two or three hook
with red thread.

Why the fish take this lure remains an enigma. They are
evidently not feeding. This is apparent from the condition of
their stomachs, which are absolutely empty and have contracted

98 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

to the point where they are hardly distinguishable from the in-
testines. Probably they strike the eggs in a vicious desire to
mutilate and rid themselves of unwelcome fish babies in the
embryo who have dared to invade their particular spawning
water. But even though such may be the case, I know from my
own experience that steelheads in the White Salmon have been
taken on a grasshopper bait, which would seem to explode that
theory, and the fact that the anadromous Rogue river fish, which
does not feed in fresh water, eagerly strikes a gaudy fly in the
summer and fall, renders it still more perplexing.

There are two recognized seasons or periods during the year
when steelheads can be taken in the Rogue. The upper river
yields fish from as early as the middle of June clear through the
summer and late into October, while on the stream below Grants
Pass the steelheads will not strike before probably the first of
September. It was! my good fortune last year to make one of a
party of three who spent several days in July on the famous
stream, at ‘‘French’s,’’ some seventeen miles from Medford.

Our excursion properly began—the enchanting part of it at
any rate—when we emerged from our rather cramped sleeping
quarters on a southbound Southern Pacific train to find ourselves
weaving in and out through the very heart of a magnificent
broken hill country, sprinkled with fine fir, cedar and hemlock,
and covered underneath with a mixed growth of laurel, chapar-
ral, manzanita, and great ferns. If our fishing ardor cooled
during the hot night in proportion as our temper and our tem-
perature ascended while tossing in those stuffy berths, the fresh-
ness and beauty of that morning in Cow Creek canyon, with the
click of the rails marking off the rapidly decreasing distance
from our mecea, caused that ardor to re-ascend to a much higher
level.

It is experiences such as these which add to fishing excur- —
sions their inexplicable charm. It is this full appreciation and
enjoyment of the lovely bounties of God’s great big out-of-doors
which endears to the fisherman his hobby. Perhaps he himself
doesn’t fully realize this. At least he doesn’t stop to analyze it.
But be he at heart a true fisherman, then unconsciously will he
drink in the wholesome, happy, healthful influence of open sky
and trees and sunshine—the songs of birds—the perfume of fra-

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 99

Wade in Deep so You.Can Cast Out to Where the Big Fish Lie.

erant growing things—the ripple of wild water and the joy of
hfe. Indeed your true fisherman ‘‘finds tongues in trees, books
in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in every-
thing.’’

From Medford an accommodating Ford trundled us across
a rolling valley country of fruit orchards, ripening grain fields,
vineyards and broken glades, from whose patches of laurel and
chaparral little coveys of quail would rise and whirl away.

Then French’s, a modest, rather isolated farm, on the very
bank of the river, and then—the river itself. And such a river
it is indeed! Imagine a mountain brook with all its eddies, its
riffles, its tumbling, broken water and its deep, still pools mag-
nified a hundred times, and you have the Rogue. Imagine, too,
the fish of the brook equally magnified, and you get an idea of
the size of the monsters of the tribe piscary which (unless you
are a dexterous fisherman like myself) are quite apt to take
your proffered lure. I almost completely prevented such a ¢a-
tastrophe. But my two friends, who were less skillful, actually
found themselves on several occasions in the embarrassing situa-

100 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

tion of having allowed a big steelhead to seize and retain their
flies, which necessitated their playing and landing the creatures
in order to recover their property.

Before this experience on the Rogue I entertained a modest
idea that I had some notion of fly casting. After fishing with
and watching my two companions, both masters of the art, I have
concluded that I know more about pragmatism or the fourth
dimension. ttt

In order to catch a Rogue river steelhead one must first
locate the likely water. This is really quite important. The fish
do not he in every pool, nor on every riffle. On the contrary,
you may walk a long, long way and may pass many otherwise
likely places before you find proper steelhead water. But finally,
when you do find a long, swift, rather choppy stretch flowing
over seamed bed-rock, at a depth of from four to twelve feet,
get ready for business. The first requisite is supplied.

Now as to the fly. A No. 6 is perhaps the best size. There
are many favorites. <A ‘‘Grizzly King,’’ ‘‘Silver Doctor,’’ ‘‘ Brown
and Gray Hackle,’’ ‘‘Queen of the Waster,’’ or ‘* Royal Coach-
man’’; each may prove a winner. I know of a Rogue river fish-
erman who, by way of experiment, took seven consecutive steel-
heads on as many different flies' in one afternoon.

Use the heaviest quality of gut leader. <A steelhead, once he ©
feels the sting of your hook, is as wild and reckless a fighter as
you can find in any water that flows.

Now wade out. Not up to your ankles or your knees or
your waist, but up to your neck if need be. Get out where the
big fish can be reached. Find a reef of bed-rock if you ean,
which will afford shallower water for your footing. If you can’t,
hang on to the bottom with your toes. The famous ‘“‘Big Kelly”’
of Rogue river says he doesn’t believe in deep wading. He says
he can’t cast after the water begins to run into his ears. He
refuses to go any deeper than his neck.

Now east. If you can whip out forty feet, then whip some
more. Forty won’t do.. Neither will fifty—nor sixty. When
you get out seventy feet of line, you are beginning to reach the
fish. At this distance your fly is quite submerged. It ought
to be. Your steelhead wants it from four inches to a foot below

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 101

the surface. Let the fly swing down and in across the tail of the
flow above the lower broken water. Watch the line. There!
It straightens out in a flash! A broad swirl twists the surface
water way out where your line disappears. The tip of your rod
is jerked down, and the reel sings. Now mind your footing.
It’s well that you have plenty of filler. Already the tapered
line is clear out and twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five feet of the
filler flies from the reel. Then a mighty splash! Seven pounds
of quivering, angry, stubborn fish is contesting with you his right
to live. He knows more wiles than a politician, and he tries
them all. Time after time he leaps clear of the swift water and
scatters diamonds with his lusty tail. Over and over again he
lets you coax him to more favorable water, only to rush with
renewed vigor back into the swirl.

But the best fish that swims cannot fight for long against
that constant strain of good bamboo and a firm wrist. Little by
little he yields, until finally, from sheer exhaustion, courageous
to the last, he rolls over and without further protest allows him-
self to be lifted from the water at your feet.

Now, at close range, you can see how it was that he proved
so formidable an adversary. Every line in this lithe creature
suggests strength. His fine body, from the end of his nose to
the tip of his tail, is just one highly developed, powerful, ex-
quisitely efficient muscle. Unlike most creatures whose force
must be applied through different limbs and parts working more
or less independently, his whole effort is expressed in the one
muscle, which is the fish himself.

I will say here for my two friends, those gentlemen who
wielded the fly so marvelously, that at this juncture of the per-
formance they lifted the prize from the water, very gently ex-
tracted the hook from his bony mouth, gloated over his beauty
and his fighting qualities for a brief moment, and returned nim
to the stream, a wiser fish and none the worse for his experience.

I say my two friends did that. I did not. My fish (I use
the word in its singular sense) ; the one I finally did land after
days of failure, could not have purchased his ransom with all the
wealth of King Midas.

102 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CHANGES IN OREGON GAME LAWS

Statutes Passed by the Last Session of the Legislature Become
Effective the 22nd of May

According to a law passed at the recent session of the legis-
lature, the terms of the present members of the Fish and Game
Commission will expire this month, and Governor Withycombe
will appoint a new commission to take office May 22. The new
law provides that four members are to be appointed by the
Governor. The terms of these men are to be one, two, three and
four years, so that hereafter one member of the commission is to
be appointed each year. Two members are to be. appointed from
that part of the state lying east of the Cascade Mountains, and
two are to be appointed from Western Oregon. The Governor
serves as Chairman of the Board. }

During the past two years women were required to have
licenses to hunt and angle, but the last session of the legislature
changed this law so that after May 22 no fishing and hunting
licenses will be required of women.

A law was also passed granting free licenses to all veterans
of the Civil War to hunt and angle. Arrangements have been
made with the County Clerk of each county so that upon pre-
sentation of the proper credentials, a free license will be given all
Civil War Veterans after May 22. The bill originally included
all veterans of the Spanish American War, but this part was
eliminated from the original bill.

The 1913 session of the legislature passed a law setting aside
six large areas in different parts of the state as game refuges.
Considerable objection has been made to two of these, so a law
was passed recently abolishing the _Imnaha Game Refuge, which
was a large body of land situated in Wallowa, Union and Baker
Counties.

The Capital Game Refuge was also abolished. This included
an area of land about eight miles square around the city of Salem.
It included the property of a number of people who objected
to being in the reserve. Although the Capitol Game Refuge is
abolished, yet under the law of 1913 setting aside all state land
as game refuges, there are still some two or three thousand

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 103

acres on which state institutions are located, which are still
within the state game refuge.

During the past two years, one-half of all the fines imposed
for violation of game laws was paid into the state treasury ana
deposited to the credit of the Game Protection Fund; the other
half went to the general fund of the county in which the arrest
was made. The new law which takes effect May 22 provides
that all fines collected for violation of the game laws shall be
placed in the general fund of the county in which the arrest is
made. The statute also provides that each county shall be given
five per cent of all moneys collected from the sale of hunting and
engling licenses. These changes in the laws will mean that the
various counties of the state will receive from ten to twelve
thousand additional funds during the present year, which was
formerly a part of the Game Protection Fund.

The following changes have been made in the game laws
in regard to seasons and bag limits:

’ The deer season in both Districts No. 1 and 2 was shortened
fifteen days. Instead of opening August 1, it opens August 15
and closes on October 31, as before. The limit is three bucks.
It is illegal to shoot any deer without horns.

The season on Silver Gray Squirrels in District No. 1 was
changed. It opens one month earlier, beginning September i
instead of October 1, and closes the same as before, October 31.
The bag limit is five in one day, or five in any seven consecutive
days.

While there were several changes in the laws concerning
ducks and geese, yet the Federal Law, which supercedes the state
law, is still in effect, making the season uniform throughout
Oregon, Washington and Idaho—October 1 to January 15. The
federal law does not have anything to do with the sale of game.
The new law opens the sale of geese which are killed in Wasco.
Sherman, Gilliam, Harney, Crook and Umatilla Counties during
the open season, which is October 1 to January 15. The bag
limit is thirty in any seven consecutive days.

The season on Chinese Pheasants and Grouse in District No.
1 remains the same—October 1 to October 31. During the pasi
two years it has been unlawful to kill female Chinese Pheasanis,

104 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

but the new law allows the hunter to kill one female in a bag
of five birds; or two females in a bag of ten birds, which is the
Jimit for Pheasants and Grouse in any seven consecutive days.
The season.was opened in Jackson and Union Counties on Chinese
Pheasants from October 1 to October My The bag limit is the
same throughout the state.

The season still remains closed throughout the state on Bob-
white Quail. The season on California or Valley Quail and
Mountain or Plumed Quail is closed entirely throughout the state,
except that there will be an open season in Coos, Curry, Jackson
and Josephine Counties from October 1 to October 31; and an
open season in Klamath County from October 1 to October 10.
The bag hmit is ten birds in any seven consecutive days.

In District No. 2, the Grouse season will open fifteen days
earlier, inasmuch as it begins August 15 instead of September
1, and extends to October 31. The bag limit is five birds in any
one day, or ten in any seven consecutive days.

The season on Sage Hens was opened fifteen days earlier,
beginning July 15 instead of August 1, and extending to August
31. The same bag limit prevails as in the Grouse season.

Heretofore the season on Prairie Chickens, or Sharp-tailed
Grouse, has been closed, but during the next two years it will be -
open in Sherman, Union and Wasco Counties from October 1 to
October 15. The bag limit is five of these birds in any one day,
or ten in any seven consecutive days.

In District No. 1 the season on Doves remains the same—
also in District No. 2—September 1 to October 31. The bag iimit
is ten birds in one day, or twenty in any seven consecutive days.
According to the Federal Law, it is unlawful to shoot Wild
Pigeons at any time during the next four years.

The law in regard to the use of nets in fishing for Salmon
in the Willamette River was changed so that after May 22 no
net fishing will be permitted south of the bridge at Oregon City.
The Trout season remains the same as it has been during the last
two years in both District No. 1 and District No. 2.

The open season is from April 1 to October 31, except that
trout over ten inches may be caught all the year. It is unlawful
to take any trout under six inches in length.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 105

FORESTERS STUDY GAME CONSERVATION

University of California Instructs Students in Saving Wild Birds
and Animals From Economic Standpoint

Students in the newly established Forestry School at the
University of California are to receive instruction in game con-
servation. They will be taught to recognize at sight the differ-
ent species of game fish and animals and will be informed as to
the economic value of each and the means by which they can
be conserved. Dr. H. C. Bryant, in charge of the Bureau of
Edueation, Publicity and Research recently established by the
California Fish and Game Commission, will give the introduc-
tory lectures. He will be followed by N. B. Scofield, in charge
Department of Commercial Fisheries, and Dr. W. P. Taylor,
curator of mammals in the University of California Museum of
Vertebrate Zoology, who is one of the most active game con-
servationists in the state.

As all forestry men in California, by virtue of their posi-
tion, become deputy game wardens, these lectures will be of
service in developing interest and in affording training to those
who will later become guardians of our wild life. In addition
there is an intimate relation between the two great natural re-
sources—forests and wild life. Each is dependent more or less
on the other. It is necessary that every forest conservationist
should have complete knowledge as to the value of birds as
destroyers of forest insects. And every game conservationist
should be brought to realize that protection of forests means
better protection of game and that reforestation means better
food and cover for game. Co-operative work such as this planned
between the State Forestry School and the Fish and Game Com.
mission will help to develop the men to whom the administra-
tion of our forests and game will ultimately be intrusted.

THE NEWPORT ROD AND GUN CLUB.

The Newport Rod and Gun Club was an unknown quantity
on January 1. Two months later, or on March 4, a hundred
sportsmen gathered around the banquet’table in the Club’s own
leased building. There were a hundred and sixty-four members
in good standing on the membership roll, at one dollar each.

106 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

In the beginning, a few who were skeptically inclined said,
‘“They will never make it go,’’ but by March 4, with their one
hundred and sixty-four members, they had under lease for one
vear, with an option to purchase, a building forty-two by one
hundred feet, formerly the Opera House, from which the stage
had been torn out and the floor extended, giving a good hall
for dancing. The baleony was remodeled and made into three
rooms, a reading room, kitchen and billiard room. Modern
plumbing has been installed on the upper and lower floor. Prac-
tically all this work and the material used has been donated by
club members. The building is now complete, in an ideal place
for club purposes. ,

The officers of the club are R. D. Morse, President; HE. J.
Carter, Vice President; C. V. Averill, Secretary; Jessie Frey.
Field Captain. The meeting nights of the club are the second
and fourth Thursdays of each month.

OREGON SPORTSMEN’S LEAGUE COMMENDED.

In the April issue of Recreation, the Oregon Sportsmen’s
League is commended very highly for its good work in this state.
As to the form of the organization, Recreation has the following
to say: .
‘“The Oregon sportsmen are to be congratulated upon adopt-
ing this particular form of organization for a state association.
This magazine has long advocated that state associations be
formed upon the league plan, the membership of the league con-
sisting of local clubs or organizations of sportsmen throughout
the state, each club being entitled to representation according to
membership. The working body of the Oregon Sportsmen’s
League consists of an executive committee of seven members,
one from each of the seven districts into which the state is
divided. The theory of such an organization is that it is much
more representative of the interests of its members; and further-
more, has less difficulty in securing and maintaining a large indi-
vidual membership in its various local organ associations or
clubs, than does the state association that is organized upon the
direct individual membership plan. The work of the new league
will be watched with much interest.’’

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 107

Mr. W. O. Hadley of The Dalles, Oregon, reports that on
April 23 while on a trip to Cascade Locks he saw 45 swan near
Wyeth. This is the largest flock that has been in that locality
for some time.

Deputy Game Warden C. C. Bryan of Corvallis reports under
date of April 8 that when at Sulphur Springs near the head-
waters of Soap creek he heard a large number of sooty or blue
grouse hooting.

Deputy Game Warden Tycer of Brownsville, under date of
April 18, reports that Dr. Howard and his hounds last week
succeeded in bagging one of the largest bob-cats ever killed in
this community.

Mr. Ed H. Wood, of Rockaway, Tillamook county, Oregon.
reports on April 7 finding a sick female beaver on the ocean
beach in the breakers. The animal weighed from 35 to 40 pounds.
He took the beaver home and she seemed apparently perfectly
well the next morning. He has her in a pen.

The park board of Tacoma, Washington, recently erected a
platform at the lagoon in Wright park for the benefit of those
interested in bait and fly casting. The new platform was dedi-
cated the other day with an interesting exhibition of scientific
angling by members of the Tacoma Bait and Fly Casting Club.
The club is} planning to invite the casters who will take part in
the national tournament at San Francisco to come to Tacoma.
President G. T. Dutcher and Captain W. J. Bailey have the plans
in charge for this event.

108 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Mr. J. Ross Leshe reports counting fifteen Chinese pheas-
ants from the car window on a trip between Enterprise and
Joseph during the winter. On one occasion he saw a flock of
thirteen where some hogs were being fed. This shows that the
pheasants which were liberated from the State Game Farm are
thriving well in Wallowa county.

Mr. J. A. Dewey, who lives on the headwaters of Cow creek,
killed six cougars and eight bobeats since November 1, 1914.
All of these were treed by his-dog, Keno. About March first the
dog was lost between the head of Cow creek and the South Fork
of the Umpqua river, near Tiller. It may be the dog has met with
foul play by falling in with a pack of wolves. Mr. Dewey is
anxiously seeking information as to the whereabouts of his dog.

The state of Wisconsin recently received twenty-nine elk
from the Jackson Hole country in Wyoming, to be placed in a
state game refuge. In the herd there were six males and twenty-
three females and all except two reached their destination in very
good condition, considering the long ride they had to make in
freight cars. Howard Eaton, an old hunter, accompanied the
herd from Wyoming to Wisconsin, and saw that the animals were
fed and watered every day during their journey. The elk cost
the state of Wisconsin nothing except for their capture and
transportation. .

Anglers in and around Pendleton, Oregon, are having great
sport these days, owing to a run of steelhead trout in the Uma-
tilla river. Many big fish have been landed, but a still greater
number have taken tackle away with them. The unusual run is
attributed to the work of the fish and game commission in
liberating 100,000 steelhead fry in the headwaters of the river
four years ago. The fish had been kept in a nursery pond until
they were from three to five inches long before being lberated.
They are believed to have remained in the stream until they were
two years old, when they went to the ocean and are now return-
ing to spawn. The fish being caught are all the way from
eighteen to thirty-two inches in length and many of them have
a weight of ten pounds.—American Field.

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Significent
Figures

A few years ago it was impossible to get a jury
to convict people in certain parts of the state for
violation of game laws. This is gradually changing.
Farmers and other landowners have become more
interested in game protection. They have come to
understand that game is one of our most valuable
resources.

From the time the Fish and Game Commission

took office, on May 21, 1911, to December 1, 1912,

632 arrests were made for the violation of game
laws. Out of this number, 420 convictions were se-
cured, or 6614,% of the persons arrested were con-
victed.

During the year of 1913, there were 312 arrests
and 229 convictions, or 73% of those arrested were
convicted.

During the past year of 1914, there were 333
arrests and 307, or 92% of those arrested were con-
victed.

In the biennial report of the California Fish and
Game Commission recently published, concerning the
arrests and convictions during the past two years,
it says:

‘The percentage of convictions obtained, 83%,
is, so far as we know, the highest ever obtained in
the country by any Fish or Game Board.’’

The credit for the high percentage of convic-
tions in game cases, and for the improvement of
game conditions in Oregon, must be given to the
warden service throughout the state. These men
have worked carefully and intelligently to interest
people in the value of our game resources, and to
get co-operation in making Oregon a great game
state.

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The OREGON
SPORTSMAN

JUNE, 1915

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Dinner Time. Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

Bool -A-N DD: GAME: COMM LES S.1L-0O-N

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 6

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CONTENTS

Copyright 1915, by William L. Finley

Page

Conservaiion = Whio tei eb dle aro tee veel sete eee didatt
the Sooty or biue Grouse, Colored lustrationm see. 112
The Sooty or Blue Grouse—by William L. Finley....... 113
Birds sands Orests Ms sisc ik alee cee cae econo Poe lee a 115
Trolling for Nehalem Chinooks—by Blaine Hallock...... 116
Rocky Mioumitaam Natrol seater ae eiccnny esther 122
Pheasants Going to Roost—by Alfred C. Shelton........ 123
_ Hood on, the Messen Seaup-or ss lwe-lailee ene ee eee 124
Birds amd’ WaoihG houses icc yi nt te oy ween risen Seana ur nea 124
Wolves Low in the Hills—by Alfred C. Shelton......... 125
Prapshootme,- on tlie. emilee er eS eo 125
Tt Pras ior Ard We rbisie ier vor was hit ac ae RUC HN Ret Aira es 126
Pishime may Wiallllo was Wiailkce 28s o00 tele bs st aoa ei ete ca lee 126
“Che Bird scot -Calitommiar arc on oo. eiert nie arate eee eee 127
Destruction fom Weer WWiolive seis winters hey eee ce lene cea 127
Hump-Backed Salmon for New England Waters........ 128
Jack-Rabbit Investigation in Lake County.............. 128
Items: of: Interest once cs cuecci aso ced Sinn eer ey er ieee aiats 129

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Conservation
Through Education

This is the motto adopted by the California Fish
and Game Commission in the publication of its quar-
terly magazine entitled ‘‘California Fish and Game.’’
The campaign of education adopted in California is
bringing rapid results in more effective game pro-

tection.

Representative Linthicum of Maryland in discuss-
ing the Federal Law for the Protection of Migratory
Birds in Congress said:

‘‘We should begin a campaign of education, teaching not
only the pleasure to be had from a closer acquaintance with
our bird friends, but also the benefits which farmers derive
from their presence. To many it has never occurred that man
is the only living creature who takes life for sport or
pleasure; others take life, but when they do so, it is always
for food or in self-defense—never for pleasure alone. Legis-
lation alone will never assure that complete protection toward
which this measure is a step. Real protection will come
through educating our people as to the value of birds, that
they may realize the part played by them and other inhab-
itants of our fields, forests and streams as economic factors
in our every-day life. Unless backed by strong public co-

operation, legislation will accomplish little.’’

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The Sooty or Blue Grouse.

The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III JUNE, 1915 Number 6

THE SOOTY OR BLUE GROUSE

The Largest of Our Wood Grouse, Commonly Known Because
of the Elusive Hooting of the Male During
the Nesting Season

NE of the first signs of spring in the woods of
western Oregon is the hooting or booming of
the sooty grouse. The love call or hooting of
the sooty grouse is a sound that is very hard
to locate and equally difficult to describe. It is
a deep, resonant ‘‘hoot! hoot! hoot!’’ that may
be imitated by a sound made back in the throat with the mouth
closed. It is repeated three or four times rather slowly, then
two or three times more rapidly, as if running down the scale.
When the male is booming, the air sacs on each side of the neck
swell out. This hooting of the sooty grouse is very different from
the drumming of the ruffed grouse or native pheasant which is
made by the rapid beating of the bird’s wings against its body.
There are two species of blue grouse nesting in Oregon. The
sooty grouse (Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus) lives throughout
the western part of the state and in the Cascade mountains, and
the Richardson’s grouse (Dendragapus obscurus richardson) is a
resident of the mountainous sections of eastern Oregon. I have
found the latter species quite abundant in parts of Wallowa and
Baker counties. This bird seems to migrate to a certain extent
here in the eastern part of the state. It is found in the higher
mountainous regions during the winter time, but comes down in
the valleys to breed. When found in the fall season in the moun-
tainous sections; it is not very wild, not nearly so wild as the
sooty grouse of the western part of the state. One can often get
quite close to the Richardson grouse. I remember in the summer
of 1912 of seeing a flock of about fifteen or twenty of these birds
along the south shore of Wallowa lake. They were feeding at
the time on grasshoppers which were very abundant. They flew

114 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

along the edge of the lake for a little way, some lighting on the
sround again and others lighting in a large pine tree where they
seemed to make no particular effort at hiding. In this section

they are very much easier hunting than the sooty grouse in the

western part of the state.

The Sierra grouse (Dendragapus obscurus sterrae) differs
shghtly from the two species mentioned above. It lives in the
Sierra Nevadas, ranging through California, and has been found
as far north as the Fort Klamath country.

In early days in the Willamette valley, the sooty grouse or
‘‘Hooter’’ was very abundant. It lives about the fields and on
the side hills in the spring and summer, but during the winter
retires into the higher fir trees, where it lives almost entirely on
buds and is seldom seen on the ground. As the fir groves have
been cut and the country settled more, these birds have gradually
disappeared. Even though they become exceedingly wild and
wary, yet they do not seem to stand the advance of civilization.

During the mating season, a sooty grouse will take his place
on a limb of a big fir tree and hoot for hours at a time, every
few minutes apart. This hooting of the male sounds quite like
the whirring of a slender stick rapidly through the air. When a
bird is flushed from the field and flies up into the firs, it is. ex-
tremely expert in hiding. It is difficult to find a bird that sits
perfectly still among the fir foliage. It is a surprising thing that
one may see several of these birds fly up into a tree or a flock
fly into a small grove and yet even by searching very carefully,
the ordinary person cannot pick out a single bird. In some way
nature has made it possible for this bird to hide so effectively
in the firs that only the trained eye can detect it. The hooting
of the bird, too, is elusive and deceiving, for oftentimes as one

stands in the woods, it is impossible to tell whether the sound |

comes from in front or behind.

The sooty grouse is the largest of the wood grouse that are
found in the United States, but not so large, however, as the sage
grouse of eastern Oregon. It may be recognized by the bluish-
slate color on the back, finely mottled with gray and brown.
Above each eye of the male is a small streak of yellow skin not

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 115

covered with feathers and something like a small comb. The tail
is blackish with a wide bluish-gray band. One of the distinguish-
ing marks between the sooty and Richardson grouse is that the
former has the gray band on the end of the tail, while the latter
is without this distinct terminal band. The feet of all the grouse
are covered with hair-like feathers.

The blue grouse nests on the ground, oftentimes at the foot
of a tree. The eggs are cream colored with fine red-brown spots,
very much like a turkey’s egg, only smaller. The number of eggs
in a nest ranges from six to ten as a rule.

A very good description of the booming or hooting of the
sooty grouse was published in Forest and Stream, May 23, 1889,
by a correspondent from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
This writer was driving through the woods when he saw a pair
of blue grouse near the trail. He saw the cock bird give a very
entertaining exhibition of the charms he displays in wooing his
mate.

‘‘Like a turkey cock, he strutted about with his wings trail-
ing on the ground, his tail feathers erect and spread out fanlike
to their fullest extent, his neck distended, and on each side of his
neck the feathers were turned out so as to resemble a pair of
round, white rosettes nearly three inches in diameter, with an ob-
long red spot in their center where the skin of the neck was ex-
posed. His head seemed to be crowned with a fiery red comb.
Excepting the rosettes, he was in appearance a miniature turkey
cobbler. Every few seconds, he would strut up to his demure but
sweet looking mate, puff out his neck and with a jerky movement
of his head, utter his boom or hoot, boom—boom—boom.’’

We ele TR”

BIRDS AND FORESTS.

As a general rule, people do not realize how much birds do to
protect the forests. According to a writer in ‘‘American For-
estry,’’ more than half the food of chickadees and almost all the
food of woodpeckers consist of moths, caterpillars, boring beetles

and other insects injurious to trees.

116 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

TROLLING FOR NEHALEM CHINOOKS

How a Pair of Amateur Anglers Exploded the Theory of the
Oldest Resident and Caught Salmon
On a Running Tide

By
BLAINE HALLOCK

~ ) HE dawn climbed quietly up above the
( ragged spruces and bathed the many-

colored slopes of old Neah-kah-nie and

: the long white lines of surf at its base
with the tints of an Indian summer
morning. I thought of Browning’s im-
mortal lines:

*“Day!

ad Faster and more fast

O’er earth’s brim, day boils at last.”’

It was September. The early violets which, in

June, painted the whole mountain-side and the lower

rolling meadows above the sea a delicate lavender,

and the myriads of purple irises of July, had given

way to the brilliant fireweed or Indian paint brush .

of late summer.

As we trudged down the slope, Jim and J, on
that quiet morning, bent on a day’s angling at the ~
bay some three miles distant, I glanced back at the majestic pile.
The sun was Just tipping its rocky apex. There it stood, the moun-
tain of Neah-kah-nie, frowning down upon the wrinkled sea below.
And I meditated the mystery of that mountain and of the sea
beach stretching to the south. Jutting out from an impenetrable
forest of spruce, fir and hemlock, the mountain presents a south
slope absolutely devoid of trees, save for a few clusters of young
gsrowth here and there in the deep ravines, and a bold stand of
birches clinging to the sheer walls of the cliff far down the rough
incline.

The soil is intensely fertile, yet produces only meadow grass,
salal, ferns and wild flowers. Did some mighty cataclysm, ages

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 1%.

ago, send a once flourishing growth like that of the forests of the
north hurtling down the mountain in a mad landslide to the sea,
leaving a bare slope to seed, centuries later, to fern and shrub?

Did the Indians, as tradition has it, fire this mountain on
the sea side that later green meadows might develop, affording
better hunting grounds for the deer, which even now come down
to the springs for water?

And the mystery of treasure cove—that wild pocket in the
mountain’s base where roving pirates are reported to have
buried fabulous wealth. Who knows what lawless band adopted
as its stronghold this rockbound cove, where sea birds wheel out
in widening circles and scream above the incessant pounding of
the waves. At least two rock tablets have been found in the
vicinity bearing inscriptions in a locked cipher—perhaps the
mystic ‘‘“Open Sesame.’’ Many venturesome souls, in search of
the hidden treasure, have explored the damp and hazardous re-
cesses of the cove, but I know of no more valuable discovery than
a rusty sea chest containing a very ancient and partly decomposed
piece of parchment.

Then there is the mystery of the Nehalem bees-wax. For a
distance of several miles down the beach from the mountain
many discoveries of this peculiar wax have been made. These
finds are shrouded in doubt. Not only its source, but the very
substance itself baffles understanding. The wax, which is found
in pieces varying in size from a baseball to a wash tub, analyzes
more nearly common bees-wax than any other known substance.
Perhaps it is some local evidence of natural oil. Or it may be a
crude form of paraffine. Many in the neighborhood cling to the
belief that it forms bits of what was once an ill-fated ship’s cargo,
wrecked there many years ago, and this theory appears to be
pretty well substantiated by the recent investigations of the
United States Interior Department, a report of which was pub-
lished a few weeks ago. Some of the pieces bear strange heiero-
glyphic carvings.

And not the least of the mysteries of Nehalem is the eternal
enigma of the salmon. Year after year, without a pilot, with no
charts to aid their navigation, with nothing to guide them but
their infallible instinct, countless thousands of Chinook (Oncor.

118 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

hyvnchus tschawytscha) and Silver (Oncorhynchus kisutch) salmon
thread their certain way along the paths of the trackless ocean,
straight into the shallow and devious channel of Nehalem bay.

And this brings me back to my fishing.

The quaint, sleepy little town of Nehalem straggles along the
margin of the bay on the north, and is seriously threatened by
a very obstinate and very flourishing growth of verdure encroach-
ing from the hills above. The town presents an aspect of uncer-
tainty. It appears to have approached the bay with some mis-
givings, establishing itself temporarily up by the old cannery.
Then gathering itself up, it ambled further down, stopping here
and there, until it finally located in the little hollow against the
western hill.

“The game was on! Forty yards away a huge, silvery monster cleared the
water and hit it again with a mighty splash.”

Here at Nehalem, after a forty-minute walk from the moun-
tain, we negotiated for a small skiff, loaded in our miscellaneous
assortment of tackle, and were on the point of shoving off when
an ancient citizen, who had been eyeing our movements from the
wharf, volunteered a bit of advice.

‘“Y’ ain’t goin’ to try it on this tide, are y

‘‘What’s the matter with it?’’ I inquired. “‘Looks to me like
a good, strong, vigorous sort of a tide.’’

2A) P22)

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 119

A broad grin wrinkled his weathered face.

‘‘That’s just the p’int. Y’ won’t catch nothin’ but sea weed
when she’s runnin’ like this. You’re a-wasting your time. Wait
for the ebb.’’

‘“When’s the ebb?’’ I asked with some misgivings.

He pulled out a little, much-thumbed table, and ran his finger
down a column of figures.

‘‘Seventeen minutes after five.”’

I looked at Jim. We had hurried that three miles through
the woods because we wanted a full day on the bay, and we had
promised them at the cottage we would be back for dinner at six
o’clock sharp. It was then eight in the morning.

‘‘And say,’’ ejaculated a boy who had joined the old man,
‘‘better take off that there copper riggin’. These fish wants this
kind of a hook. Won’t take nothin’ else,’’ and he displayed a
big red and silver combination resembling more a choice article
in women’s hat adornment than any fish hook I had ever seen.

We were ecrestfallen. Our kit boasted no such marvelous
creation. This was our first day on the bay. It bid fair to be a
dismal failure. Rather mechanically Jim began to take down his
rod. A little bunch of sea weed drifted by. I noticed for the
first time that there were many similar patches floating in on
the tide.

The old man had left us, evidently feeling that he had done
his full duty. The boy turned and started away.

‘Say, boy,’’ I called, ‘‘how much for the hook?’’

He looked at it lovingly.

‘‘T got five on it yesterday,’’ he volunteered.

‘“What’ll you take for it?’’ |

‘And Bob got three Sunday, and the day before that—’’

It was too much.

‘“‘T’ll give you fifty cents,’’ I shouted, by way of opening a
trade.

That boy was fully twenty feet from our boat, but he covered
the distance in a bound.

*Tt’s..Foursy’”

With a face struggling to suppress his glee, he pocketed the
coin, grinned at us for a moment, and said, rather slowly:

120 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

‘Tf you need any more, you can get ’em over there at the
store, two for a quarter.’’

‘“Jim,’’ I said, ‘‘we’re a couple of fools.’’

‘Why ‘we’?’’ said Jim.

With that we decided to adopt our original plan. Why not
fish on a running tide? We were there with the whole day be-
fore us. We would fish even though it was a forlorn hope. Row-

ing a boat was better than sitting on the wharf waiting for the
tide to turn.

So we started out. The morning was ideal. Over against
the west, indistinct in the haze, a long, yellow line marked the
sand spit dividing the placid waters of the bay from the rolling
sea. We noted the very spot where the ill-fated ‘‘Mimi’’ rode
the breakers and wedged herself on an even keel high on the
beach.

To the east the verdant hills closed: in about the upper
reaches of the bay and quite concealed the outlet of the North
Fork, hid away among the meadows.

Monarch spruces on the south shore, with their bare roots
twisting into the bay, extended heavy festooned branches which
brushed the surface of the blue-green waters. Was ever morning
— lovelier than this?

A half hour’s pull up the bay netted us nothing but frequent ©

bunches of sea weed, and some well-meant advice from a passing
fisherman that our tackle was all wrong.

‘‘That red thing would scare a shark,’’ he assured us. ‘* What ~

you want is a number six nickel spinner sunk deep with a couple
ounces of lead.’’

Our suspicions as to the feathered contraption already having
been somewhat aroused, we willingly made the change, and
started afresh. ;

This time we trolled for nearly an hour before again receiving
advice. A swarthy young fellow in a heavy boat passed just as
we were cleaning sea weed from our hooks for the hundredth time
that morning. We didn’t see him until we had bumped into his
boat. .
‘Tn the first place,’’ he snapped, ‘‘no fish in the bay would
take that. You want a brass tandem and no lead at all. In the

Sa

ee a we a

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 121

second place, fish don’t bite on this tide. And in the third place,

if you did hook one he’d smash those whips you’re usin’ first

flop. Throw ’em overboard and use a hand line rike we do.’’
We drifted apart.

‘‘T beg your pardon,’’ said Jim, with an apologetic air. ‘‘ You
see this is our first try and we are a little green,’’ and he added
after a pause, ‘‘I hope we’re not in the way here.’’

I was a little peeved. The thing was getting on my nerves.
IT began unstringing my rig again.

‘‘Going to try the brass?’’ queried Jim.

‘‘No, I’m not going to try the brass, nor the nickel, nor the
feather, nor the lead. I’m going to put on the number five cop-
per, as we originally intended, and I’m going to fish on this run-
ning tide in spite of all the sea weed and all the advice in Tilla-
mook county. And I’m going to catch fish. And I’d advise you
to do the same.’’

We got back to our first love, and out went the hooks. We
were under way again.

“See that old dolphin,’’ said Jim, catching the spirit. ‘‘Be-
fore we get there I’ll have a—’’

He never finished the sentence. I heard the hum of his reel.
I saw his rod twice whack the gunwale. I saw him elutch at the
erips as his line went out in long spurts. I saw him jump to his
feét, and the light of joy was in his eyes. That inexplicable joy
known only to fishermen. The game was on!

‘“Owee!’’ he yelled, “‘look at that!’’

Forty yards away a huge, silvery monster cleared the water
and hit it again with a mighty splash.

What followed I shall not attempt to describe. To you who
have caught salmon, the story is old. And those who have not,
must get the same experience before they will understand. Like
all big Chinooks, fresh from the sea, and hooked in salt water
on light tackle, this fish of Jim’s fought with every ounce of his
strength. He rushed and he leaped. He circled about the boat.
He dove deep and “‘sulked’’ for many minutes. He was. often
worked carefully to the boat, only as often to rush away again
leaving a path of bubbles in his wake.

At last, after a long, hard contest, and to Jim’s intense relief,

122 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

the big fish was led to gaff, and was hauled aboard. Our first
salmon of the season! Caught in our own fashion, on an unprece-
dented tide and with a hook the subject of local derision.

‘*Jim,’’ I said, ‘‘not so bad. But watch me now. - We’ve
drifted way below the dolphin. I’ll get one before we get back.

And I did.

What magic there was about the dolphin, or the water in its
vicinity, I shall not pretend to say. But the fact remains that
of the many trips we made that memorable day, up and down
past the weathered bunch of piling, not one failed to reward us
with a strike.

How the sun got way over into the west and slid into the
sea while we thought it was still morning, I shall never know.
That we, with our beach appetites, should forget all about lunch
remains one of the unexplained things. Why the long shadows
stretched away from the spruces in midday, and what strange
phenomenon painted the placid surface of the bay with evening
purple and gold, when by all reason it should have been noon,
T know not.

But I do know this. We hooked and played that day four-
teen Royal Chinooks, and of these we landed seven. I remember,
too, that we were late for dinner, and I shall not soon forget that .
evening trudge through the woods with Jim’s heels striking at
every step the tail of a big Chinook strung on a stick across our
shoulders. |

What’s the joke, Jim?’’ I had heard him softly chuckling.

‘‘T was just thinking,’’ he said, ‘‘how we exploded the theory
of salmon fishing on a running tide.’’

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.

As our country becomes more settled, there is but one way
that we can keep our larger game animals from becoming ex-
tinct. This is by setting. aside certain areas as game refuges.
The Yellowstone National Park is the best example we have of
a big game refuge.

The Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado was estab-
lished by a bill which passed both houses in Congress without a

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 123

dissenting vote and was signed by President Wilson on Jan-
uary 26.

According to Mr. Enos A. Mills, who has worked for many
years to have this area set aside as a national park, wild life
is abundant. There are more than two hundred bighorn sheep.
some elk, a fair supply of deer, several colonies of beavers and
plenty of ptarmigan and grouse. The streams are well stocked
with trout.

‘“‘This park embraces about 360 square miles of the most
characteristic and striking scenery in the Rocky mountains of
Colorado. In it are more than fifty mountain peaks that are
above 12,000 feet altitude, about 200 lakes and tarns, primeval
forests of Engelmann spruce and lodge-pole pine, scores of beau-
tiful park-like meadows, several small glaciers and a number of
wild canyons. Longs Peak, ‘king of the Rockies,’ altitude 14,225
feet, is the highest point.’’

Hen Pheasant and Young.

PHEASANTS GOING TO ROOST.
BY

ALFRED C. SHELTON

On the evening of December 10, 1914, the writer was re-
turning to Eugene from a two-days’ shoot in the duck marshes of
the Long Tom swamp, some fifteen miles west of Eugene with a
party of local sportsmen. Some eight or ten miles west of town is an
old uninhabited ranch, the buildings long unused, and nearby an
old orchard, long uncared for. As we passed this orchard just be-
fore dusk, we stopped, amazed at the pheasants which were com-
ing into the old orchard apparently to roost. The orchard was fairly

124 : THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

alive with pheasants; they were along the fences, feeding in the
grass beneath the trees, and flying up into the trees to roost.
We carefully estimated their numbers, and from seventy-five to
one hundred pheasants were coming into that orchard for the
night. It was by far the largest number of birds I had ever seen
in one flock, and the sportsmen with whom I had been shooting
all agreed that it was the largest single flock any of them had
ever seen. It is also unusual to find these birds taking to the
trees to roost.

FOOD OF THE LESSER SCAUP OR BLUE-BILL.

On November 23, Mr. Botsford of Reed College, Portland,
found at the head of the south ravine leading into Crystal Springs
lake a dead female lesser scaup or blue-bill duck. The bird
might have been killed by flying against telephone wires, or it
might have been killed by a stray shot. Examination of the
stomach contents showed the crop well filled with small clams,
three varieties of snails which are found near the shores of the
lake and an angle worm. No green water plants or grasses were
traceable, though the lake affords duck weed and other water
growths. 7

BIRDS AND LIGHTHOUSES.

Every night during migration, thousands of birds, attracted
by the powerful glare of hghthouses, after circling for hours
about the lights, fall exhausted, and die. It is said that as many
as 1800 woodeock perished in one night at a single English light-
house. Prof. J. P. Thijsse found that if a hghthouse is fitted
with proper perches near the light, the birds will rest upon them,
and few will lose their lives. The lghthouse at Terschelling, in
Holland, has been thus equipped for the last three years. At this
lhghthouse, which stands directly in a path of migration, multi-
tudes of birds formerly died every night; now the deaths do not
exceed a hundred throughout the whole season of migration.
Perches have recently been fitted to two English lighthouses,
The Caskets, in the English Channel, and St. Catherine’s, on the
Isle of Wight. The birds fly to the lighthouses only on dark
nights.—Youth’s Companion.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 125

WOLVES LOW IN THE HILLS.

BY
ALFRED C. SHELTON
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

Timber wolves seemed to come lower in the hills this past
winter than usual. For several weeks one ravaged the hills be-
tween Wendling and Marecola, in the Mohawk river country, not
over twenty miles from Eugene, where it was very destructive
of both sheep and cattle. The beast was finally killed by Mr.
A. B. Wilkins and proved to be a big black fellow of unusual
size and color. His hide is now in the possession of Mr. Stacy
Russell of Eugene. This wolf was killed the latter part of
February.

At the same time, about February 25, Mr. John Vaughn and
his partner, trappers in the Fall creek region, on the middle
fork of the Willamette, were after wolves which were ravaging
that section of the country. These trappers tried poisoning at
first and were successful in getting the wolves to take the bait.
In the words of Mr. Vaughn himself, the wolves ‘‘ate up two
horses and four bottles of strychnine.’’ But the poison was not
sufficiently deadly to kill at once, and the trappers were never
able to trace or find the brutes after they had taken the poison.
At last they resorted to traps and two wolves, a male and a
female, were secured. These were taken in the hills near Fall
creek, on the Middle fork of the Willamette, and again not over
twenty or thirty miles from Eugene. The female, a light yellow-
ish colored brute, was purchased by a resident of Eugene, but
the male, another big black fellow, is in the museum at the State
University at Eugene. This is the first record of these wolves,
so far as the writer has been able to ascertain, ravaging so low
in thehills, and so close to civilization as the localities given
above.

TRAPSHOOTING FOR THE PUBLIC.

The interest in trapshooting is growing rapidly in various
parts of the country. It is good outdoor recreation. Traps have
recently been established in Lincoln park, Chicago, and the pop
of the guns within the city draws as big a crowd as the monkeys

126 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

and lions at the zoo. The park is frequented by thousands of
people every day and in order to prevent accidents, the range is
on the shore of Lake Michigan and the danger zone on the lake
is fenced off by buoys to prevent motor boats from coming too
close.

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE.

‘““The Oregon Game Commission will find it a profitable
investment to spend one thousand dollars a year in advertising
Oregon’s fishing and hunting advantages,’’ said Mr. Joseph C.
Rader, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who has just returned to his
eastern home.

Mr. Rader said that he was attracted to Oregon by the lec-
tures given: by the woman commissioner from Oregon at the
Buffalo Exposition in 1901, and that he knows of five permanent
settlers in Oregon as the result of the same woman’s work. These
five families brought to Oregon for investment about $462,000.

Mr. Rader has been visiting the expositions in California
and stopped in Oregon for an outing. He went to the Hood
River valley to make a visit to Lost Lake. He made the trip to
the lake on foot, carrying a Klondike pack. He said the ice was
not all out of the lake and that there was some fallen timber
across the road beyond Cedar springs. This is Mr. Rader’s
third visit to Oregon, but his first to Lost Lake. He said he had |
excellent fishing.

According to Mr. Rader, the sportsmen who are organized
throughout the state of Oregon are doing splendid work in pro- -
tecting game birds and animals and in helping to get more fish
into our streams. This work will be the means of bringing a
sreat deal of money into Oregon, for there are many people all
through the eastern states who are willing to cross the continent
for good fishing and hunting.

FISHING IN WALLOWA LAKE.

Wallowa lake is one of the most popular summer resorts for
those who like outdoor life. It is beautifully located in the edge
of the mountains. For several years it has been well stocked
with fish by the Fish and Game Commission and even the most

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 127

inexperienced angler has little or no trouble in landing rainbows,
Dolly Vardens and dwarf bluebacks or redfish, commonly called
‘“‘yanks,’’ which are so abundant in the lake. One of the most
attractive camping spots in the state is at the head of this lake.

“THE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA.”’

In 1909 Mr. W. Leon Dawson in collaboration with Mr. J. H.
Bowles, published a splendid work in two volumes entitled ‘‘The
Birds of Washington.’’ Since then Mr. Dawson has moved to
Santa Barbara and for several years has been engaged on a very
elaborate work entitled ‘‘The Birds of California.’’ This new
publication in which Mr. Dawson has the assistance and help of
all the leading ornithologists of the state, promises to be the most
complete and artistic production that has ever been published
on the bird life of any state.

DESTRUCTION OF DEER BY WOLVES.

During February from the 16th to the 25th—10 days in
all—I made a trip up the Clackamas River and its main trib-
utaries, the Colliwash and the Oak Grove Fork. The destruction
of deer by timber wolves has been serious for a number of years.
From personal observation I have seen the deer almost dis-
appear from large sections of the country where they were num-
erous a few years ago, and where they would have increased
in spite of the hunters if it has not been for these predatory
animals. In talking over the situation with Hugh Mendenhal:,
the District Forest Ranger of that locality, he made the statement
that in his opinion there was not over one-fourth the deer in that
general region that there was four or five years ago. And it is
naturally a good deer country and practically unmolested by
hunters during the close season. On this trip, especially along
the Colliwash river, I saw more tracks of wolves than I did of
deer.

£ it was necessary to go into details there are many reasons
I could state why the regular bounties on these animals in a
locality that is so far from any settlement, and so extensive in
area, will not induce trappers to go in there, equip for the work.
and stick to it long enough to accomplish anything. For that

128 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

reason I think a special bounty offered to only one or two who
are competent is about the only practical way to deal with the
problem. And with the understanding that the pelts, skulls and
all data are to be turned over to the Fish and Game Commission.

BEN 8. PATTON, Deputy Game Warden.

HUMP-BACKED SALMON FOR NEW ENGLAND WATERS.

As a substitute for the fast disappearing native species, the
Atlantic salmon, the fish commissioners of Maine have recently
placed 7,198,922 fingerliing hump-backed salmon from the Pa-
cific coast in the rivers and lakes of that state. They were sent
across the continent last year while in the egg stage. The plant-
ing of hump-backs in New England waters will continue until
the species is firmly established. 7

The hump-backed salmon is a slim fish with a strong dorsal
hump and long, strongly hooked jaws. It is a bluish color with
silvery sides, and when fresh from the sea its flesh is of a rich
red color and fine flavor. In weight it runs from three to ten
pounds.

This salmon spawns near salt water, and it is hoped that for
this reason it will escape the fate of the large native species now
nearing extinction. The pollution of the streams by sewage, the
chemical waste from the mills and the removal of the forests
from the headwaters, together with the increasing number of
dams in the upper rivers are the main, causes for the disappear-
ance of the Atlantic salmon.

JACK-RABBIT INVESTIGATION IN LAKE COUNTY.

James Silver and Fred Hgli, in the employ of the Biological
Survey of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, have completed
an investigation of the jack-rabbit situation in northern Lake
county with a view to recommending ways and means for ex-
termination of the pest. The investigation began early in the
winter and was concluded in March. Owing to the absence of
heavy snows in the course of the winter, Mr. Silver said,
trapping and poisoning the long-eared animals was imprac-
ticable; and he could not recommend inoculation as an effective
means of ridding the country of the pest. Rabbit drives and

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 129

fencing against the jacks were suggested by Mr. Silver; but
ranchers have been too busy with their spring planting to pro-
mote drives. One drive late in the winter at a point half way
between Silver Lake and Fort Rock netted more than 2000 rab-
bits. Several homesteaders of the high dessert country, those
whose crops were destroyed by jacks last season, will not re-seed
their land this year. Others, notably the Allen brothers and
Oliver Osmundson, are fencing considerable areas with wire
netting made to turn rabbits. Messrs. K, C. and Lloyd S. Allen,
who have 240 acres thus fenced, believe the netting the easiest
and most economic method of combatting the nuisance.

Lake county is watching the bounty experiment in Harney ;
but it is not probable any scalp bonus will be hung up in this
part of the state.

Mr. Arthur Perry of Estacada trapped a good specimen ot
timber wolf during the last week in March, about a mile and a
half above the Oak Grove ranger’s station. The animal was a
female, and upon dissecting her Mr. Perry found four pups,
which would likely have been born some time in May.

Mr. W. O. Hadley, Deputy Game Warden of The Dalles
writes that on April 9, Mr. P. EK. Lamar of Bonita Ranch. ten miles
southeast of The Dalles, dug out a den of eight young Coyotes.
The pups were about eight or ten days old. The mother was in
the den with the pups which is rather unusual as the old coyotes
are generally away from the den during the day time.

130 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Mr. Stanley G. Jewett, writing from Willow Creek above
Heppner Junction, says he saw several pairs of Chinese pheas-
ants in the alfalfa fields. These are birds liberated from the
State Game Farm. The residents in that locality give the birds
careful protection and they are thriving.

New Brunswick stands out as a notable example of what
may be accomplished by proper methods of game protection. A
history of New Brunswick written in 1825 contained a statement
to the effect that the last moose had vanished from the forests
of that province. According to the report made by the Chief
Game Warden of New Brunswick the number of deer killed in
that province in 1913 was 2075; moose, 1499; caribou, 454; a total
of 4028.

Mr. Allan Brooks, the artist and ornithologist whose colored
pictures of quail recently appeared in the Oregon Sportsman,
enlisted with the Canadian troops and is at present on the firing
line in France. He is one of the very few exceptional bird artists
in this country and his return will be anxiously awaited by those
who have admired his drawings.

It is said more ducks have been seen in Kansas this spring
than before in ten years. Is the federal migratory bird law to
be given credit for this condition? If not, what is it that makes
the water-fowl more plentiful in Kansas this spring than before
in many years? This is a condition for sportsmen to consider
well before they denounce the federal law.—American Field.

According to the new game law of Arkansas, no person shall
be licensed to hunt in that state except he or she be a bona fide
citizen and resident of the state, and shall have, previous to the
issuance of the license, resided in the state twelve months. An
annual tax of one dollar is placed on all dogs in the state used
for hunting quail. The new law makes the daily bag limit on
quail fifteen and on ducks twenty-five. Quail can be hunted
only between December 1 and February 1 of each year, and it
is unlawful to ship fish and game from the state.

SHA LA

TVA U

|

Fisherman’s Luck

‘‘Never believe a fisherman when he tells you that he
does not care about the fish he catches. * * * Watch him
on that lucky day when he comes home with a full basket of
trout on his shoulder, or a quartette of silver salmon covered
with green branches in the bottom of the canoe. His face is
broader than it was when he went out, and there is a sparkle
of triumph in his eye. ‘It is naught, it is naught,’ he says,
in modest depreciation of his triumph. But you shall see that
he lingers fondly about the place where the fish are displayed
upon the grass, and does not fail to look carefully at the
scales when they are weighed, and has an attentive ear for
the comments of admiring spectators. You shall find, more-
over, that he is not unwilling to narrate the story of the
capture—how the big fish rose short, four times, to four
different flies, and finally took a small Black Dose, and
played all over the pool, and ran down a terribly stiff rapid
to the next pool below, and sulked for twenty minutes, and
had to be stirred uv with stones, and made such a long fight
that, when he came in at last, the hold of the hook was
almost worn through, and it fell out of his mouth as he
touched the shore. Listen to this tale as it is told, with end-
less variations, by every man who has breught home a fine
fish, and you will perceive that the fisherman does care for
his luck, after all.’’

—Henry Van Dyke.

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PUBLISHED MONTHLY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

By WILLIAM L. FINLEY, Editor, Portland, Oregon

Volume III 5c a copy—50c a year Number 7

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The Oregon Sportsman

Volume III JULY, 1915 Number 7

COVERING A BROADER FIELD

In the first issue of The Oregon Sportsman published in
September, 1913, the aim of the Fish and Game Commission in
establishing this publication was clearly defined. The idea was
to make fishing and hunting important resources of the state.
There is no reason why Oregon should not use her wild birds
and animals as a prudent farmer protects and uses his flocks
and herds. Fields and forests that abound with game and streams
that are stocked with fish furnish a most attractive advertise-
ment for the state. Good hunting and angling invite a desirable
class of tourists who have money to spend and money to invest.
Game protection and propagation are business propositions, not
only for the man who lives in the city, but for the farmer, the
truit-grower and the timberman. Game laws will be better
observed when we get the real interest of farmers, homesteaders
and other land owners throughout the state. It is felt this can
be accomplished through education and publicity more effectively
than in any other way.

As the work of the Fish and Game Commission has in-
creased steadily during the past four years, it has seemed best
to enlarge the scope of The Oregon Sportsman and to make it
more distinctly a state publication, acquainting the public more
fully with the work that is being done to develop our game re-
sources and make Oregon a greater game state. The aim of the
Commission is to furnish our readers with a larger and better
magazine. This cannot be done at present by publishing once a
month as heretofore, so the following plans have been adopted.

Beginning with the next issue which will be October Ist, The
Oregon Sportsman will be. published quarterly instead of
monthly. It will be three times as large as the present issue and
its scope will be broadened so as to cover more completely the
work in Oregon relating to all the phases of fish and game pro-
tection and propagation. No effort will be made to make a
magazine in the popular sense of the word, but to publish a

136 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

quarterly bulletin furnishing full information on what is being
done at the various hatcheries, the number of fish liberated and
where planted; the same facts concerning the State Game Farm
and the raising and liberation of game birds; also to work out
the various problems of game protection and propagation and
publish facts of scientific and popular value concerning wild
birds, animals and fish, with the idea of gradually working up a
complete natural history and survey of the state.

The sportsmen and public generaliy have a right also to
know more often than once in two years or even once a year just
how the money of the Game Protection and Hatchery Funds is
being spent and what is being accomplished. So every three
months a complete financial statement will be issued in The Ore-
gon Sportsman.

In order to carry out these plans, arrangements have been
completed to increase the editorial staff to a board of three, Mr.
George Palmer Putnam, Secretary to the Fish and Game Commis-
sion; Mr. Carl G. Shoemaker, State Game Warden, and the pres-
ent editor who has been elected to the position of State Biologist.
Mr. Putnam is well known as a writer of magazine articles and
the author of two outdoor books, entitled ‘‘The Southland of
North America’’ and ‘‘In the Oregon Country.’’ Mr. Shoemaker
was formerly editor of the Roseburg News and is well known
as a newsparer man.

GAME DESTRUCTION.

There are 5,000,000 hunters in the United States. This
rather astonishing statement was made the past week to the
national conference on American game breeding and preserving
held at New York. It is no wonder that game is extinct in so
large a part of this country.

It has sometimes been thought that strict game laws are not
democratic. Every farmer’s boy cherishes the privilege of get-
ting out with his gun. A hunter’s license law, with a small fee,
looks aristocratic to the farmer, creating a privileged class. But
the result of free game shooting appears at the present time.
Most men, to get a good bag, have to travel many miles and run

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 137

an expense bill of railroad fares and hotel charges. That is not
a democratic condition of things.

This country was originally rich with all kinds of wild game.
Every variety had its value. Most of them added each an ele-
ment of beauty, color, and life to the woods. The majority were
useful as food for the human race. Then comes man, blazing
away regardless of times and seasons. Today many of our finest
varieties are extinct or practically so. Man is a spendthrift and
a wastrel, who pollutes his rivers, burns up his forests, and de-
stroys the wild life that might serve and cheer him. When game
was abundant hunters were satisfied to get out after the real
vermin of the woods, the varieties that are destructive. But if
foxes and raccoons are exterminated in a given section today,
the more ignorant hunters at least will get out after song birds
that protect the farmers’ crops from insects.

The delegates who gathered to the conference above referred
to should do something more than pass resolutions. They should
~ appoint themselves a national committee to work in every state
for strict game laws, strict enforcement of them, and for the
propagation of many of the fine species of wild life that have
been wiped out.—Astoria Budget. |

A FLICKER’S BREAKFAST.

Two flickers dropped to the ground in our back yard the
other day and went poking about among the grass tufts directly
beneath my window not more than six feet away. The female,
whom I watched closely, found and devoured seven cut-worms
in about that many minutes, all within a space of less than ten
square feet.

Knowing the potential possibilities of seven cut-worms, a
bird like this flicker is worth her weight in gold. Suppose she
duplicates this meal several times a day, which is not improbable;
it shows her to be a bird of great economic value. The progeny
from the cut-worms eaten during one day by the flicker would,
before the summer was over, reach the total of fifteen hundred
or enough to completely destroy a town-lot vegetable garden.

ho 5. EN.

138 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE

A Rapidly Disappearing Species Commonly Known as the Prairie
Chicken of the Northwest —

Among the sportsmen who are licensed to shoot game birds
during the open season, it is surprising to find that a compara-
tively small number really know one game bird from another.
Where a certain species is almost extinct and the state makes a
law protecting the one species but permits the killing of other
similar species, the statute is often violated through ignorance.
This is the case with the bird commonly known as the Prairie
Chicken in the eastern part of Oregon. In some counties, the
bird is protected, but at present there is an open season in Union,
Wasco and Sherman counties from October Ist to October 15th
each year. The open season on Ruffed Grouse and Blue Grouse
in eastern Oregon is from August 15th to October 31st. The
season on Sage Grouse is from July 15th to August 31st each
year. Sportsmen who shoot in eastern Oregon should be able to
distinguish the Prairie Chicken or Sharp-tailed Grouse from the
Sage Grouse, Ruffed Grouse and Blue or Sooty Grouse.

The Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, Pin-tailed Grouse or
Prairie Chicken (Pedioecetes phasianellus columbianus) was for-
merly quite common throughout the eastern part of the state
from Klamath county to the Columbia river and in the counties
to the east. Its range does not extend across the Cascades. This
bird was first discovered by Lewis and Clark in 1805-6. They
found it very common along the plains of the Columbia and it
was named by Ord in 1815 Phasianus columbianus or Pheasant
of the Columbia.

This grouse is one of our best game birds, but it has de-
creased very rapidly with the change of conditions because it
does not prosper in the vicinity of man. It has always held its
own in the sage brush with the coyotes and other natural ene-
mies, but like the Sage Grouse, it has suffered a great deal on
account of the extensive pasturing of sheep. Where the flocks
tramp through the brush in the springtime hunting for grass,
they destroy many nests. As the sage is grubbed out and gives

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 139

way to the fields of alfalfa and grain, one might expect that the
Prairie Chicken would thrive. But where it builds in a cultivated
field, the nest is so often destroyed by irrigation.

The only way this grouse can be saved from extinction in
many of the regions where it lives is by the setting aside of
certain areas not fit for agricultural purposes as wild bird ref-
uges where hunting is forbidden and the birds are well protected.
Otherwise, the history of this western grouse will be the same —
as that of its cousin, the Pinnated Grouse or Heath Hen. The
Heath Hen was so abundant that in the early history of Massa-
chusetts, the articles of apprentices sometimes specified that they
were not to be compelled to eat the meat of this grouse oftener
than twice a week. This bird was not only abundant in Massa-
chusetts, but in Connecticut, Long Island and New Jersey. From
uncountable numbers, it grew less and less as the country was
settled, until in 1907 the individuals of this species were fewer
than a hundred. The only place where this bird is now found in
the wild state is on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. They have
been given protection here by the legislature of Massachusetts
setting aside this place as a special game refuge.

The Sharp-tailed Grouse may readily be distinguished from
the Sage Grouse because of its smaller size. The former has the
white belly and white wing linings. The chest of the Sage Grouse
is white, but the belly or lower part of the body is black. The
upper parts of the Sharp-tailed Grouse are grayish-brown varie-
gated with black and reddish. The reddish is noticeable on the
back. The wing coverts have a row of conspicuous white spots,
one on the end of each feather. In winter the plumage of this
crouse is dense and the feet and legs are rabbit-like and feathered
to the toes, making good snow-shoes. In the coldest weather
they roost under the snow like the Ruffed Grouse.

The nest of the Prairie Chicken is a slight hollow in the
cround, generally lined with a few grasses and feathers. The
number of eggs are generally from eleven to fourteen, pale buff
in color lightly spotted with reddish-brown. The period of incu-
bation is about twenty-one days.

The courting antics of the Sharp-tailed Grouse or Prairie
Chicken are described by Mr. Ernest E. Thompson as follows:

140 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

‘“ After the disappearance of snow and the coming of warmer
weather, the chickens meet every morning at gray dawn in com-
panies of from six to twenty on some selected hillock or knoll
and indulge in what is called ‘the dance.’ This performance I
have often watched. At first, the birds may be seen standing
about in ordinary attitudes, when suddenly one of them lowers
its head, spreads out its wings nearly horizontally and its tail
perpendicularly, distends its air sacs and erects its feathers, then
rushes across the ‘floor,’ taking the shortest of steps, but stamp-
ing its feet so hard and rapidly that the sound is like that of a
kettle drum; at the same time it utters a sort of a bubbling crow,
which seems to come from the air sacs, beats the air with its
wings, and vibrates its tail so that it produces a low, rustling
noise, and thus contrives at once to make as extraordinary a
spectacle of itself and as much noise as possible.”’

‘‘As soon as one commences all join in, rattling, stamping,
drumming, crowing, and dancing together furiously; louder and
louder the noise, faster and faster the dance becomes, until at
last, as they madly whirl about, the birds are leaping over each
other in their excitement. After a brief spell the energy of the
dancers begins to abate, and shortly afterward they cease or
stand and move about very quietly, until they are again started
by one of their number ‘leading off.’ ”’

We LicRe

a

USE OF DEER MEAT FOR BAITING TRAPS.

BY
BEN S. PATTON

When the Oregon game laws were revised about two years
ago, it was made unlawful to use the flesh of any game animal
or bird for baiting traps. With certain hunters and trappers
who have been accustomed to taking more or less liberty in such
matters, this law has been criticised a good deal. They have
claimed that such bait was necessary in order to catch predatory
animals such as the wolf, cougar and others that are so destruc-
tive to game. The same idea has prevailed to some extent with
other people who are interested in game protection, but have
little knowledge of these predatory animals and the methods of

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 141

reducing their numbers. This has led to a feeling that the game
laws have put an obstacle in the way of people who would trap
these animals.

As an illustration of this feeling, two trappers were arrested
on the headwaters of the Molalla river on December 22, 1914,
and fined for killing deer. The ‘‘Molalla Pioneer’’ in reporting
the case intimated that such action was questionable, claiming
they killed one deer only and were trapping to exterminate wild-
eats, cougar, etc. But as a matter of fact they were trapping
for the money they could derive from pelts, and for any animal
that would produce a pelt of commercial value. As to the actual
disposition of this deer referred to: they threw the hide in the
river; had part of the meat in camp and were using it; kad taken
part out to their home near Scotts Mill; were feeding it to their
dog, and had baited their traps with what was left. This is a fair
example of what would be done with a good many deer if the
practice of baiting traps with game was permitted. Besides, a
greater part of the trapping such men do is not for wolves or
cougar, but for otter, mink, marten and other small fur bearing
animals which are more numerous and more easily caught. Many
of them are incapable of catching an animal as elusive as the wolf
or cougar, even if they did use an unlimited supply of deer meat
for bait. If such a practice was allowed trappers would soon be
a menace to the game of the woods and mountains. It is only
fair to say that a good many trappers are willing to obey the law
on this point; but there are others that have neither regard for
the game or the laws for its protection.

As to the necessity of using deer meat for baiting for the
wolf, cougar and others, any one that has had long experience
with these animals knows that when hungry they will eat the
flesh of almost any kind of animal, either domestic or wild, so
long as they do not smell or see signs of man around to make
them suspicious or afraid. That point alone is the difficult one,
and not the kind of meat used. Many of the best trappers do not
use bait, but depend on prepared scents, and ‘‘blind sets.’’

The law in question is a good one and should be enforced.

142 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

WILD BIRDS AND THE FARMER

BY
F. E. L. BEAL
Assistant, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C.

Whether a bird is beneficial or injurious depends almost
entirely upon what it eats. In the case of species which are very
abundant, or which feed to some extent on the crops of the
farmer, the question of their average diet becomes one of supreme
importance, and only by stomach examination can it be satisfac-
torily solved. Field observations are at best but fragmentary and
inconclusive and lead to no final results. Birds are often accused
of eating this or that product of cultivation, when an examination
of the stomachs shows the accusation to be unfounded. Accord-
ingly, the Biological Survey has conducted for some years past a
systematic investigation of the food of those species which are
most common about the farm and garden.

Within certain limits birds eat the kind of food that is most
accessible, especially when their natural food is scarce or want-
ing. Thus they sometimes injure the crops of the farmer who has
unintentionally destroyed their natural food in his improvement
of swamp or pasture. Most of the damage done by birds and com-
plained of by farmers and fruit growers arises from this very.
cause. The berry-bearing shrubs and seed-bearing weeds have
been cleared away, and the birds have no recourse but to attack
the cultivated grain or fruit which have replaced their natural
food supply. The great majority of land birds subsist upon in-
sects during the period of nesting and moulting, and also feed
their young upon them during the first few weeks. Many species
live almost entirely upon insects, taking vegetable food only when
other subsistence fails. It is thus evident that in the course of a
year birds destroy an incalculable number of insects.

In winter, in the northern part of the country, insects become
scarce or entirely disappear. Many species of birds, however,
remain during the cold season and are able to maintain life by
eating vegetable food, as the seeds of weeds. Here again is an-
other useful function of birds in destroying these weed seeds and
thereby lessening the growth of the next year.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 143

THE CHINOOK IN NEW ENGLAND
WATERS

The Greatest Fish of the Pacific Waters Transplanted for the
Benefit of Eastern Anglers
, BY
GEORGE H. GRAHAM

Fish and Game Commissioner, £pringfield, Mass.

%)O MORE interesting experiment has ever been carried
} on in the line of fish culture than what has been done
WW in the past ten years with the Pacific salmon known

as ‘‘Chinook’’ in some of our New England lakes.
The ai record that has come from Lake Sunapee, N. H.,

and more recently what has been the result of planting these fish
in Lake Quinsigamond in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts,
attracts the attention of fish culturists and anglers all over the
country. Knowing what had been the results of planting these
salmon in Lake Sunapee and believing that equally good results
could be obtained in the old Bay State the Commissioners on
Fisheries and Game began to look around to see where to try the
experiment. They found in Lake Quinsigamond what they con-
sidered an ideal lake; it has a large area of deep water and is
very cold in places. It has a large amount of food for the salmon
to feed upon in the shape of landlocked smelts which seemed to
be increasing at an enormous rate.

The lake was screened at the outlet so as to prevent the
young fish from going down stream and when the fish were
planted they were good sized fish from four to six inches long.
Ten thousand of these fish were planted during the fall of 1912
and during July of 1914 or within about twenty months from the
time they were hatched, over 600 salmon were caught by the
anglers, ranging from one and one-half to five pounds each.

These fish were caught both trolling and still fishing with
live bait, and as there has been no limit on salmon in Massa-
chusetts one man caught over twenty fish in one day.

The salmon that were planted in Lake Quinsigamond were
kept in the hatchery until they were from four to six inches long,

144 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

and when they were planted they were well able to care for
themselves. This lake, like so many others in our New England
states, was well stocked with pickerel and perch and there were
so many of these fish that doubt was freely expressed that ihe
salmon would all be eaten up before they had a chance to grow.

The acme of all fishing is salmon fishing and it is a sport
that has been enjoyed by only a very few people during the past
fifty years. In recent years, one in order to secure any sport
of this kind had to have a fat pocketbook and lots of leisure
time. In the early history of New England, most of the large
rivers’ were noted as salmon rivers and the salmon ascended the
rivers every year to lay their spawn in fresh water, but since
the rivers have been dammed to make power, the fish have been
unable to ascend and it was only a few years after the dams
were built when our salmon were all gone.

Since the salmon stopped running up the rivers very few
people have had a chance to get them and there are but a few
lakes and streams in all New England where salmon can be
taken today. So scarce have these fish become that many men
spend large sums of money each year to go to lakes in Maine,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It is no won-
der then that much interest has been displayed by sportsmen.
all over the country in the experiments that have been carried
on with the Pacific salmon known as Chinook salmon, in our’
lakes of New England.

There has never been a fish introduced into our eastern
waters that has appealed to our sportsmen as much as has this
species of salmon and when it is known that the government is
in a position to furnish millions of these eggs from the fall run
of Chinook salmon without injury to the commercial interests
and by taking eggs that will not be otherwise used it is no won-
der that our people are interested in having the eggs sent to
New England. No activity of the Bureau of Fisheries has been
more successful from the angler’s point of view than has the
work done with these salmon.

THE OREGON SPORTSmAWN 145

THE MINK, A VALUABLE FUR-BEARER

BY
STANLEY G. JEWETT

The mink (Lutreola vison energumenos—Bangs) is one of the
best known fur-bearing animals in Oregon. A full grown mink
is about twenty-two inches long, including the tail, which is seven
or eight inches. The slender, sinuous body, long neck, short legs
and dark-brown or chestnut coat, is rather a rare sight as the
mink swims or dives in a clear, deep pool along some of our trout
streams, because he is a sly, wary creature.

The Mink.

The mink is strictly carnivorous and feeds mainly on fish,
frogs and small birds and mammals which he catches in and along
the watercourses. He is an extremely powerful animal for his
size. Sometimes he invades the poultry yard and kills chickens.
He also hunts and kills animals equal to or greater than his own
weight, such as muskrats and rabbits. Mr. H. E. Anthony in the
‘‘Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History,’’ Volume
XXXII, describes the method of hunting used by a mink. He
saw one in pursuit of muskrats in a beaver pond on Willow creek

146 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

in Malheur county, Oregon, on August 20, 1913. Mr. Anthony
writes as follows:

‘“The dam made a large, still pool, grown up about most of
the margin by willows. Large clumps of dead willows were in
the pond, and low, rank grass on the side I approached. I heard
something drop off into the water as I came up, and marked the
animal’s progress through the shallow, grass-encumbered water
by the movement of the grass tops. Presently from my right
(the first animal had made off to the left) about two minutes
later, a slight noise disclosed the approach of something. It came
following the low, grass-overhung bank to within six or eight feet
of me, the vegetation hiding it. Then the animal came ashore and
darted yet closer through the grass, the movements of the tops
showed quick, hurried motion below. Back then, the way it had
come, and the hasty glimpse I secured showed a fine, large mink.
All his movements seemed so quick and businesslike. I think he
must have been trailing some animal, probably a muskrat, for
their burrows and runways were quite plentiful in this vicinity.
Beyond a doubt the first animal I heard was the muskrat which
would surely have been caught had I not taken his place, for the
mink came straight to where I stood, in his bloodthirsty quest.
Although I waited some minutes for a shot, expecting him to
appear farther down the bank, I never saw him again.’’

It has been reported that mink sometimes invade the docks
along the waterfront in Portland and kill chickens in shipping
crates that are awaiting transportation. At one time, the writer
was stopping at a logging camp in the mountains, where the cook
had boiled a large pot of salt codfish which he set on a bench
just outside the camp door to cool overnight. Next morning
every particle of that fish had been carried away, but the mink
left his telltale tracks, thereby settling all doubt as to the robber.

Mink are widely distributed over the state of Oregon. There
is probably not a stream or lake in the state where this animal is
unknown, and he is one of the few species that seems to have
wits enough to hold his own in settled regions where others soon
disappear under constant persecution. Mink live in burrows
along or near our watercourses and in the spring, April to June,
the female mink gives birth to from four to eight young. Both

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 147

old and young mink are very playful, and seem to take great
delight in chasing each other up and down the bank of a stream,
or swimming and diving in the water, sometimes keeping it up
for considerable time. They are good climbers, but hunt mainly
on the ground, and can run swiftly. Their long, slim, graceful
bodies allow them to run in and out of all sorts of nooks and
crannies in search of food.

One day as the writer was slowing coasting along near shore
in a launch on Tillamook Bay, two mink were surprised as we
rounded a point, and instead of diving as is their usual habit
under similar circumstances, both mink swam to a nearby log
that was leaning almost perpendicular against the high bank,
and they ran up that log as nimbly as two squirrels.

The mink is one of the most valuable fur-bearers, and annu-
ally large numbers of their skins are sold in the fur markets.

*During the fur season of 1913-14 two thousand four hundred and

sixty-six skins were reported from trappers in Oregon. ‘These
were sold for $7824.58, making an average of $3.25144 each. Of
course this is not the total number of mink caught in the state.
The greater number of these skins came from the coast counties,
Tillamook and Columbia counties providing the greater number
of skins. Eastern Oregon skins bring a higher price to the trap-
per. Lake county skins last winter average $3.90 each as com-
pared to $2.85 in Lincoln county. Tillamook county skins aver-
aged a little over $3.00 each.

DISCOVERY OF THE TREE MOUSE

(Phenacomys longicaudus—True. )
BY
VERNON BAILEY
Biolozical Survey, Washington, D. C.

Twenty-five years ago Mr. Aureleus Todd, of Eugene, Ore-
gon, sent to the National Museum a new species of mouse from
Marshfield, Coos county, near the coast of Oregon, and with it
an interesting letter on habits. He called it the Tree Mouse, and
said that it built nests in the branches of Douglas spruce trees.
He had then seen but two of the mice. The next year he sent
another skin and skull to the Biological Survey from Meadows

148 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Lane county, Oregon. The mouse was very different from any
other known species. Collectors have since searched eagerly
for it, but until recently in vain. I have often set traps over
the branches of trees, on cushions of tree moss and on logs high
above the ground, but to no purpose.

In 1907 Dr. William Bebb of Los Angeles showed me sev-
eral specimens of the tree mouse that he had taken in Oregon
at a lumber camp. The men were chopping down tall Douglas
spruces and he watched when the trees came down and caught
several of the stunned or crippled mice as the nests were crushed
by the fall. I tried to persuade Dr. Bebb to publish a note on
this, but have never seen any further reference to his interesting
discovery. The main new fact which he made known in regard
to the habits of the mouse was that they lived in the tops of tall
trees, often 100 feet or more from the ground. This made ecol-
lecting a good series of specimens seem more difficult than ever,
and it is no great wonder that from 1890 to 1914 no more speci-
mens were secured for the National Museum collection.

In 1914 Alfred Shelton of the University of Oregon,
secured two immature specimens of this rare mouse and
learned to recognize their bulky nests in the tree tops and
pointed out a number of them to me. Many of the nests were.
in unclimbable trees, but we found a few in trees that were not
too large to be half encircled by our arms and with the aid of
Shelton’s climbing irons we went up them and examined the
nests, selecting the most promising and taking turns in climbing
and watching from below. The work was hard and we were
seratched and covered with pitch, but to me the game was worth
all it cost, for at last it was my good fortune to find a nest
with a mouse in it. This nest, or house, as it might better be
called, was about 80 feet from the ground on three radiating
branches close to the trunk of a Douglas spruce. It was a bulky
mass about two feet wide by one and one-half feet high and
evidently many years old. The twigs of which it was largely
composed had settled in a half decayed and earthy mass as solid
as a muskrat’s house, and beginning at the top a tiny burrow
wound down spirally through the structure to one after another
of the four or five fresh, clean little nests of green spruce leaf

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 149

fibers. The mouse finally ran out at the bottom of the house
from one of the several burrows or doorways leading out along
the top of each of the supporting branches and as he was out
of reach of my arm when first seen and too close to be safely
shot, I watched him run slowly and steadily along the top of
one branch and across to another until at the right distance for
a shot with my pocket collecting pistol. I could take no chances
of losing so precious a specimen, but wanted to watch every
move and learn as much of its habits as possible. It crept cau-
tiously along the branches entirely mouse-like in its motions and
not even Peromyscus-like in sprightly activity. It ran freely
from one branch to another and could have gone on for miles
among interlaced branches without coming nearer to the ground.
It made no leaps or quick motions, but seemed entirely at home,
and with its sharp, curved claws is evidently well adapted to an
arboreal life. Its warm yellow-brown fur, long black tail and
dark feet distinguish it from other mice of the region.

Other nests were found, some higher but none much lower
down. Some were larger and evidently older and one encircled
the tree trunk, resting on the whorl of seven radiating branches.
Some had only one nest and others had as many as five. The
nests were fresh and clean and always of the same material, the
fine midribs of a great number of spruce needles, the sides of
which had served as food. The feces were deposited around’ the
outside of the house and helped to build up its solid walls and
render it weatherproof.

Green tips of twigs were found in the houses and even in
the nests that were in use and the stomach of the one mouse
taken contained only a milky green pulp, evidently of the young
spruce leaves.

Recently a series of a dozen specimens of apparently this
species have been received from Mr. H. EH. Wilder from Hum-
boldt county, California, with interesting notes on habits. Mr.
Wilder found these in low spruces, sometimes only 20 feet from
the ground, and one nest within reach of his hand. It is to be
hoped that others will be found in Oregon and that more will
be learned of their habits.

150 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

RELATIVE NUMBERS IN SEXES OF THE TREE MOUSE.
BY
WALTER P. TAYLOR,
Curator of Mammals, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California

Of the many significant discoveries made by field natural-
ists during the last few years the ‘‘rediscovery’’ of the tree
mouse (Phenacomys longicaudus—True), is acknowledged to be
one of the most interesting. It was the good fortune of the
writer, in connection with his regular duties as leader of the
North Coast Counties expedition of the Museum of Vertebrate
Zoology of the University of California in 1913, to be able to
study the habits of this species. Upon examination of the speci-
mens collected it immediately becomes apparent that the females
are much more numerous than the males. In fact, in a series of
eight adult specimens, six are females and only two are males.
This difference in numbers immediately prompts the question as
to why such a condition should obtain.

There are at least two possibilities to be considered: (1) that
the mice practice polygamy, and that there are actually more
females than males; (2) that the adult females remain more
closely in the nests than the males do, and so were taken in great
numbers by our methods of capture, which involved the disseec-
tion of the nests. |

Of the young specimens available eight are males and thir-
teen females. It appears that among the young individuals the
proportion of females to males is well below two to one, while
among the adults the proportion is four to one. If males and
females are born in equal numbers, a non-selected series of young
should divide up equally between the sexes. Since our specimens
do not divide in this way, one is tempted to the conclusion, on
the one hand, that the females are actually about twice as
numerous as the males. On the other hand, the difference in
proportions of females to males in the series of young and adults
respectively seems to indicate that the females do remain more
closely in the nests than the males and so were taken in greater
numbers by the methods of capture employed.

It is realized that the numbers of specimens examined in this

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 15]

connection are too small to make conclusions more than tentative.
The observed facts are worthy of notice, however, and their ex-
planation, which will doubtless be forthcoming in the future, will
inevitably lead to a clearer insight into the family relations and
life history of the species.

WEIGHTS OF FUR-BEARING ANIMALS.

BY
ALFRED C. SHELTON

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Discussion often arises over the weights of certain animals.
We hear of bob-cats weighing forty pounds, or a ’coon which
weighs thirty pounds, so these remarks on the weights of a few
animals may not, be amiss.

This winter the writer spent some seven weeks with the trap-
pers in the high Cascades, and had an excellent opportunity to
secure data on this very subject.

A large bob-cat, in fact one of the largest brought in to
McKenzie Bridge this winter, is now in the University of Oregon
museum and this animal, a male, weighed just twenty pounds
and twelve ounces. Large male bob-cats will average trom
twenty to twenty-two pounds. One Cascade trapper tells me the
largest bob-cat he ever caught weighed twenty-three pounds.
A female cat will not average over twelve or thirteen pounds.

For their size, beaver are by far the heaviest of the fur-
bearing mammals. They are compact, and very heavily built.
Well muscled and solid, with bodies set close to the ground on
short legs, their appearance greatly deceives their true weight.
A small young beaver taken this winter at McKenzie Bridge,
not over two-thirds grown, weighed twenty-nine pounds and two
ounces. A large specimen taken last spring at Medford, Oregon,
weighed just forty pounds, while another, an old female, taken
this winter at McKenzie Bridge, weighed just forty-five and
one-half pounds.

‘Coons from the coast streams have been reported to me as
weighing as much as thirty or forty pounds. I have no reliable
data on these animals from the coast region, but I do know that

Way THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

a ’coon taken at McKenzie Bridge this winter, which was said
there to be as large as any taken in that region, weighed just
thirteen and one-half pounds. A comparison of ’coon skulls from
the mountains and from the coast region shows no difference
which would indicate any great difference in weight, and I
greatly doubt if there is any such extreme difference as that
reported. This is but an example of how careful one must be in
accepting estimated weights of animals when there is no evidence
by standard seales to back up the assertions.

Bear, cougar, and wolves were taken in the mountains be-
yond McKenzie Bridge, this winter, but the trapper who secured
them skinned them in the field, and no weights could be secured ;
and the estimated weights were so unsatisfactory that they are
withheld from pubheation. The writer would appreciate infor-
mation on the weights of any of these animals from any one who
has definite data of weights on standard seales.

DUCKS VS. MALARIA AND YELLOW FEVER.

‘‘For some years I have been using ducks to keep down
mosquitoes in swamps that would have been difficult and expen:
sive to drain,’’ says Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, the Pennsylvania
Commissioner of Health, in the journal of the American Medical
Association, ‘‘but I never fully appreciated the high efficiency
of the duck as a destroyer of mosquito life until the foregoing
test was made.’’ The test he describes was made after several
unsuccessful attempts to destroy the larvae by means of fish.

He divided the swampy place into two equal parts, each about
fourteen hundred square feet in area. One he stocked with gold-
fish, and the other he left as a feeding ground for ducks—both
were ideal breeding places for mosquitoes.

In the fish division, mosquito larvae flourished, while in the
side with the ducks, larvae were entirely absent.

Then he put ten mallards in the fish pond and within 48
hours only a few small larvae were left.

The Doctor considers that many larvae were drowned owing
to the commotion the birds raised in the water.

For health’s sake, let’s have more ducks and less fever !

RiSB. ae

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The Lure of the Hunt

‘‘But I suppose the very best about hunting can
never be told at all. That is true of any really good
thing and there is nothing better than a long day
after the birds. It is always good to be out of
doors. And there are seasons when one is glad to
wander slowly over the fields and byways; there are
times when it seems best of all to be still—in the
heart of the woods, on the wide hill pastures, in the
deep grass of the meadows. But not in the fall!
Is it a breath of the migrating instinct that makes
us want to be off and away, to go, and go, and go?
Yes, fall is the time for the hunt—gay, boisterous
fall, rioting in wind and color to keep up its spirits
against the stealthy approach of winter. And
whether we shoot well or ill, whether our game
pockets are heavy or light, no matter what the
weather we find or the country we cross, it is all
good hunting, very good. And at night we come in
to a blazing fire, feeling tired, oh, so tired! and
hungry, oh, so hungry! and with soul and body
shriven clean by wind and sun.’’—Hlisabeth Wood-
bridge, ‘‘In the Wake of the Partridge.’’

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|} THE OREGON
| SPORTSMAN

OCTOBER -- NINETEEN FIFTEEN

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY AUTHORITY OF THE

Pistia ND Gavi COMMITS > FON

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Volume Three Fitéin Consacory Number Eight

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MALE AND FEMALE MALLARD DUCK

CONTENTS

Editorial Comment— Page
Aico) ora etter Pa CoN aTah h ald (Gil O04 7 1 AR ante cea Re (Le 155
NUMEGe Ee eASAM Liat cee aL ete ea a OEE NO 156
Came ,erotechons io) ee nn, stn eae 156
owelviany wportsman awk ee Ate ree 8 ela nh 158
‘Trout, Proparation and Distripution. oso ed 158
eM G CEIISSIOlec erine em niet). Aw Ay EET ea tae 160
Prapplneid One ronicred: were tA are eet) AME 168
Spare ntienivenne REASAM Us sti. sei ls eee ecet ay 164

The Protection and Propagation of Game and its Relation to Trans-

CP RTTRU RD WRG a AREAS ed NIRS 2 Se ea ON Cay SA) 2p en a eS 167

Wie: Miele Bully Breet he tees ee iy eis ee a 170

Conservation throushiHoducabion cj ete ee 172

he, Mallard is. 3. HRs Ce aaa AS UNE NEAR A eA See RL 173

wePricavioar Salmon Conservation 232300 5 or eo he al a i 15

Notes-on the wsand= lailed Pimeane ne 2 ee oe ee 177

Sunrise and sunsetmnOremon 2k kia) eee te me el 179

Questions Asked About the Game Laws |... 180

whe Dutiesof a Game Wardeny 2')iic 0 Picea 5 ee, Anant} 182

Breeaine ot Minksam: Captivity 2) py ee bo Pe 183

A Southern Oregon Mountain Trip... 1 hen ala 184

Good News About Sharp-Tailed Grouse _............. Tere ect Se ea a 184

Over the Stiens on a Desert Greyhound 0. 185

Bnice’ Tahoe ‘Trout mi Oremon :0 2 ye a)? ee eT ease oe 187

Bebe Winite Woistle is'Gheerfule oo eb ecg ON mE et Tal fc 187

Mildueamevas at Used ite beset a ee Pe ee 188

Rod and Gun Club Notes—

MIE SHorisman are. Members 20200 obo ye oe a 189
Seacige Olob has Pls) Mentbers): «ices ees ee 139 «-
Pre Deme tine at: Gold bil (ce 2 en eh ee 190
Meum cests Clipe One WELL Ur Sickie ee ee ei ee 190
(Gao Newsrtrom: Cous Pay. sic ko VN a) 191
The Brownsville Rod and Gun Club 20a. 192
Notes from Counties—
Plea for the Protection of Wild Game..wo..2.00.00....022 ooo cee 194
Wald Ganmiein Benton Countyi oi cee 195
Game in the Second Smallest County in the State... 196
Hunting and Fishing in the Deschutes Country ~.........000000......... 197
Game and Fish Abundant in Coos County... 198
OPIS aT ETE UBS aS ES Iam 2 Sie sell RP Se UD ie ea 198
In the Game Wilds of Douglas County 0c. 199

AgTrip to the Badger Lake Country (23200000 199

CONTENTS — CoNnTINUED

Page

Hood River ‘Cotati oro a8 re ee 200

Klamath County. 25200020 a 1 ns eee se 200

Reeves. Pheasants inane (County i202) 20 0 ee eee 201

The Duck and ‘Goose Problem=20 22) a 8 a eee 202

Linh. County. oo. 5 ee ee 202

Marion ‘County peo ec Ce sy ee 202

Polk County 2:3... Geo ines en (a eho ahah ee eee 203

The Game Situation in Sherman County 0. 203

Tillamook County ie) a Si be 02h 204

Washington County has Snow White Buck... 0... 205

Yamhill ‘County: 2... 243 cee eee Bh ety ne ey aa ek een 205

Game Conditions in Yamhill County 10.0 .t sen ee 205
Items of Interest—

Elk in Southern ‘Oregon 20 es se ae Ee a 207

Valley Quail are:Thrivings23 35.06 eee ari CO eee 207

These are not Bear Stories 220.2. 0. oh ee ae 207

Chinese Pheasants in Clatsop County 0. 208

Party. Saw: 5! Deer. se era wade lace ads BE AR Adee 208

Some: Trapper :.!..::.. .epetee ta... A RN oe ee 208

Coos County iii 2 eto Penis A ho Se EE ea 208

Mountain Quail Doine Well. -2...=) Sopa Osh ees 209

Chinese Pheasants in Portland: -:. 02 eis 3An ee 209

Hungarian Partridges in Umatilla Connty —....... 210

We Leave i6:to. You 20 0s 007 6 oe eee 210

A-1916 Sugpestton ca ES a Dae eae eee 211

Porcupine destroys:Orehard: 2s). .4 oe Faee tee ees ae 212

Fun with a Tillamook Cub Bedr 122 ee ree 212

Oregon Fish and Game Commissioners 22.2222. .0..02 occ eee 214

Regular Deputy Game Wardens, 235 a eee 214

Regular. Fish, Wardens 2.02 ee Ft SE ees ene ee 214

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Volume Three October, 1915 Number Eight

Published by authority of the Oregon Fish and Game Commission
from its offices, 533-536 Pittock Block, Portland, Oregon.

EDITORIAL STAFF

COE TS SGC TRGB Tio iia feo he outs tall ohiates oa) o toucdeieo,'a Mate acane State Game Warden
NAH, Mins MEDIANS Sis ieee ann! a: wi acak a x alias slideb Gh gay wow edah ch acaba rneobaar wie State Biologist
Gear ge BAQHeM PINON Aah: be dais sited Pee, Secretary to the Commission

All material for publication should be sent to the Oregon Sports-
man, Portland, Oregon.

EDITORIAL COMMENT.

THE SPORTSMAN IN NEW FORM.

With this issue the OREGON SportsMAN changes
from a monthly to a quarterly publication. The change
was decided upon after mature consideration on the part
of the Fish and Game Commissioners. It is believed
that the SPoRTSMAN in a quarterly form will serve the
interests of its subscribers and readers better than would
a monthly publication. This is more apparent when we
take ito consideration that the quarterly will contain
about five or six times as much reading matter as one
issue of the monthly.

We want the SportsMAN to have a personal appeal
to its readers. 'To assist in bringing this about we have
inaugurated with this issue brief items of interest from
the men in the field. No man is better able to ascertain
conditions in his territory than is the Deputy Game

156 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Warden. He is on the firing line; he knows the best
hunting and fishing grounds, and his intimate acquaint-
anceship with the sportsmen places him in a position to
learn accurately and at first hand the situation with re-
gard to game and fish. We believe that the reports
from our wardens will be of interest to sportsmen gen-
erally and for that reason we have devoted considerable
space in this issue to these brief reports from the front.

The editors of the SportTsMAN earnestly solicit the
co-operation of Rod and Gun Clubs and Game Protec-
tive Associations throughout the state in making the
Quarterly a magazine which will fill a real need in our
efforts at making game protection popular.

We need the help of every true sportsman of this
state in this great work and we know that we will get it.

CHINESE PHEASANTS.

The season which is closing on Chinese pheasants has
been filled with much pleasure for sportsmen; for never
before have these magnificent game birds been so plenti-
ful. These birds have been liberated by the State Fish
and Game Commission at great expense. It is men-
tioned here just to point out another activity of the
Commission which is carried on for the sole benefit of
the sportsmen.

GAME PROTECTION.

The enforcement of our laws relating to game pro-
tection rests with a warden service, which, though not
perfect, is as good as conditions and finances permit. It
is wholly impossible to patrol every stream, lake and

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 157

forest within the state and apprehend all violators with
a total of forty deputy game wardens. The Game De-
partment must depend to a great extent on the good
citizenship of the people to assist in this work of pro-
tection. The game and fish of this state belong to the
people as a whole. ‘It is as much to their interest to help
in its preservation as it is for them to help in the enforce-
ment of the other laws of our state. If a citizen saw
some one shoot his neighbor’s cow he would report the
incident and appear against him. If he knows of per-
sons who violate the game laws he should with equal
promptness notify the deputy game warden and assist
in prosecuting the case. The people of our state must
realize that the game is not inexhaustible and that if we
expect to long continue to enjoy the splendid recreation
of angling and hunting we must all of us actively co-
operate in its protection.

The wardens are located in your county to help you
protect your own fish and game. ‘They cannot ferret
out all violations. They expect that you will do your
part in aiding them to enforce the laws. Game pro-
tection is as necessary to perpetuate hunting and fishing
as is Insurance against unexpected fire damage.

We assume that every good citizen is a deputy game
warden without salary and that he will not only give us
his moral support but his active and sincere co-operation.

In the fal analysis game protection rests largely
on the attitude of the people of the state. If that atti-
ture is friendly the warden service becomes highly effi-
cient. On the other hand if that attitude is hostile, un-
friendly or apathetic the efficency of the warden service
is greatly handicapped. The result is that game protec-
tion would become more or less of a myth.

158 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

It is gratifying to note that the attitude of the people
in the past few years has tended more and more toward
the game protection idea. From every nook and corner
of the state reports reach the game department stating
that conditions are much improved. With the devel-
opment of this attitude will come protection of the high-
est character and violations will be reduced to a mini-
mum.

HOW MANY SPORTSMEN?

Up to October 1st there had been sold 47,433 anglers’
and 30,584 hunters’ licenses. For the past few years
the number of anglers’ licenses sold has steadily in-
creased. This is due largely to the policy of the Fish
and Game Department in constantly restocking the
streams of the state, thus making a fair catch reason-
~ ably certain to him who loves to spend a day on the
stream. Of course we must take into consideration
the fact that our angling streams are easier of access
than our hunting grounds. A fisheman can spend a
day angling and return home in the evening with his
catch. A hunter spends from a couple of days to a
month on his hunting trip. He has to go farther for
his big game or his birds. It takes more preparation
and demands a larger outlay of money. All these items
enter into a consideration of the causes underlying the |
fact that each year there are more anglers’ licenses sold.

TROUT PROPAGATION and DISTRIBUTION

Bonneville is the most modern and largest hatchery
in the world. Oregon has a reputation throughout the

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 159

Union as being a “‘sportsman’s paradise” and Bonne-
ville does much to maintain this reputation. Were it
not for the propagation of game fish and their libera-
tion in our streams the splendid sport of angling would
long since have passed into the category of classic
myths. But the Commissioners were far sighted and
have established hatcheries and feeding stations in vari-
ous locations in the state which are favored by climatic
conditions and a plentiful supply of water of a proper
temperature.

These smaller hatcheries and feeding stations play
an important part in this great work of game fish propa-
gation. Millions of eggs are taken from them annually.
Some of these eggs are exchanged in the Kast for the
eggs of Brook Trout and other varietics of game fish
not native to Oregon. In many other ways these smaller
stations serve a most useful purpose and it is hoped, as
finances permit, to increase their number and enlarge
their efficiency.

Bonneville was visited during the past season by
thousands of people from all parts of the state and the
nation. No one who has not visited this hatchery has
any adequate idea of what the Fish and Game Com-
mission has undertaken for the benefit of the sportsmen
of Oregon. During the past season between six and
eight million trout fry have been liberated from Bonne-
ville and the other stations. The sportsmen know how
well this has been done in their own communities. But
they do not know, unless they visit Bonneville, the
amount of care and attention that the State gives to
make this distribution possible. _From the time the eggs
‘are taken from the female fish till the trout are finally
planted in the waters of some lake or stream they are

160 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

looked after and cared for like so many pets. ‘They are
fed and nourished daily. Their growth is watched from
day to day and when one of those little minnows dies
there is positive sorrow at the station.

Mr. Angler, do you realize when you cast your hook
into the stream and a trout Jumps at your fly and you
reel in a beautiful specimen of a rainbow, a steelhead, an
Eastern brook, a cut-throat or any of the other game
fish within our waters, what has been done to make this
possible? You do not think of the many weeks that
sturdy men have stood over troughs and ponds and fed
and cared for that fish. But it is a fact. The men who
have charge of the little fish at the feeding stations are
as anxious that you should catch fish as you are. They
take a personal interest in their work. 'That the work of
propagation has attained such a marked degree of suc-
cess is due largely to the excellent system of taking care
of the young fry which is under the direction of the
Superintendent of Hatcheries. The men working with
him at the stations take a great pride in the success of |
their own endeavors.

All honor to these men who from day to day stand
over and guard the safety of our trout fry. To their.
faithfulness and industry must be credited the abund-
ant supply of fish in our re-stocked streams.

THE COMMISSION.

The Fish and Game Commission is taking a great
interest in all phases of its work.

At the head of the commission is Governor Withy-
combe, who has displayed a deep knowledge of the needs:
and desires of both hunters and anglers, and who con-

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 161

stantly makes many helpfu! suggestions for the better-
ment of fish and game conditions. In his travels over
the state Governor Withycombe has an excellent oppor-
tunity of meeting sportsmen and learning from them
the situation in their territory. He is taking an active
personal interest in the work of the Commission which
is proving of benefit to the sportsmen.

Hon. I. N. Fleishner, of Portland, is one of the best
known sportsmen in Oregon. From sunrise on the first
day till sunset on the last day of the open season he is
very active with his rod and line, his flys and his spinners;
and during the closed season he likes to tell his friends
what happened during the open season. He is a thor-
ough business man who has been remarkably successful.
He has an intimate personal knowledge of many of the
angling streams and lakes of the state, and is familiar
with many of the best hunting districts. He has a seri-
ous interest in the work of the commission and takes
pleasure in it. 7

Hon. Marion Jack, of Pendleton, is one of Oregon’s
successful ranchers. One of the serious problems of the
commission is the screening of our irrigation ditches. His
knowledge of this problem, gained at first hand through
a long study of the irrigation question, has proved of
great value to the commission. He knows the needs of
that vast territory of our state popularly known as Kast-
ern Oregon. He brings that part of the state into a
close relationship with the work of the commission. He
represents the agricultural interests of the state, whose
co-operation in game protection is vital and essential.
Mr. Jack is a sportsman himself, and appreciates what
it means to have plenty of fish in the streams, birds in
the air and wild game in the forests.

162 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Hon. C. F’. Stone, of Klamath Falls, is a lawyer with
a statewide reputation. Like most successful men he is
a man of wide experience and varied activity. He comes
from a part of the state where the sportsman has an
abundance of trout fishing, duck shooting and deer
hunting. He has participated in all these sports and
thoroughly understands them. He takes a keen delight
in his work as a commissioner and in the deliberations of
the commission is active, earnest and sincere in his ad-
vocacy of measures and policies for the best interests of
the sportsmen of the state. His experience as a lawyer
gives him a broad vision which he uses intelligently in
his work as a commissioner.

Hon. Frank M. Warren, of Portland, is head of one ©

of Oregon’s large salmon packing industries. He was
brought up in the business and knows it in all of its in-
tricate details. His interest in the work of the commis-
sion may almost be termed a hobby. He is strong in his
belief that our streams should be well stocked with trout
and our wild birds and animals well protected. While
his private interests are almost wholly confined to the
commercial fishing industry he never looses sight of the _
requirements of anglers and hunters. He personally
applies to his work on the commission those same meth-
ods which have made for success in his own business.

The Fish and Game Commission is composed of rep-
resentative men of affairs who give their knowledge and
experience to the development of our fish and game re-
sources. ‘They have a single purpose in view—the stim-
ulation and encouragement of fish and game protec-
tion. ‘They realize that with the popularization of pro-
tection there will be an increasing fund for the purpose
of propagation of game fish, game birds and game ani-

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 163

mals. ‘The Commissioners are engaged in a good work.
Let us all encourage and assist them in carrying it out.
For in the end that which they are doing redounds to the
benefit, pleasure and recreation of every true sportsman.

TRAPPING IN OREGON.

Last year the Game Department issued nearly one
thousand trapper’s licenses. ‘The law provides that
trappers must at the end of the season (February 28)
furnish to the Commission a verified report of the num-
ber and kinds of fur-bearing animals caught and killed
during the season and where sold and the amount de-
rived from the sale. Only 64 per cent of those taking
out licenses made such a report. The total amount of
money derived from fur-bearing animals caught by
those who turned in their reports aggregated nearly
$10,000.00.

Under our laws otter, mink, fisher, marten and
muskrat are considered fur-bearing animals, on which
there is a closed season. ‘The open season on these five
species begins on November first of each year and con-
tinues through to March first of the next year. There
is no closed season on predatory animals, such as cou-
gar, wolf, bear, cats, skunk and coyotes.

There is no open season on beaver.

We believe that along many Oregon streams and in
the wilds of her forests there is an excellent opportunity
for good trappers. We would like to see more trapping
done in this state. In addition to the money which is
derived from the sale of the pelts there is a bounty paid
on wolf and cougar by the various counties and an addi-
tional bounty by the Fish and Game Commission. Tak-

164 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

ing everything into consideration a good trapper should
be able to make more than a good living following his
occupation.

“SPARE THE HEN PHEASANT”

During the years 1911 and 1912 the Legislature
closed the season for killmg Chinese Pheasants. The
numbers had been growing smaller and it was thought
best to give these birds a chance to recuperate. In 1913
and 1914 the season was again opened, but for the shoot-
ing of males only; the hen pheasants were protected by
law. This was a good law. Sparing the hen pheasant
is the best method of insuring birds for the following
year’s crop. ‘There are very important reasons why the
hen pheasants should not be killed.

In the first place the Chinese Pheasants are polyga-
mous in nature. They are entirely polygamous when
kept in captivity and they are to a large extent polyga-
mous in the wild state. If there are as many cocks as —
hens in the wild state, the birds will pair off, yet if there
are more hens than cocks the hens will be cared for much
the same as they are in the tame state where a cock is
kept in a pen with from four to six females.

The most vital reason why the hen should not be
killed is that she is a smaller bird than the cock and less
able to protect herself in the wild state. At the State
Game Farm, for instance, where cocks and hens are kept
in an open field, they are sometimes attacked by hawks
and owls. In over thirty birds that were caught in this
field by hawks and owls, every single one was a hen.
Although the cock stands out in the open, he is strong
and big and able to protect himself, while the hen is not.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 165

We have several times seen a cat attack a hen pheasant,
and yet make no effort to spring at a big male bird. In
other words, out of twenty hens and twenty males in the
wild state the chances are that not one of the cocks would
be caught or killed by hawks, owls, cats and some of the
other predatory animals, where ten or twelve of the fe-
males would be killed. After the first few days of the
shooting season the cocks become much wilder than the
females. ‘They are more able to take care of themselves
while the females lie closer to a dog and are more likely
to be killed. Every sportsman, therefore, or any other
person interested in the real protection of the Chinese
Pheasant and keeping up the future supply, should re-
frain from killing hen pheasants.

There may be some excuse for a man having an un-
dersized fish in his possession, because he can’t tell in ad-
vance the length of the fish which has snapped at his fly,
but there is no excuse for that same man fishing without
a license. |

If you believe in game protection help it along by
speaking a friendly word in its favor whenever you get
. the opportunity. It will mean more fish, more birds
and more deer for you in the years to come.

When duck shooting be careful or the Federal war-
den will get you if you don’t watch out.

Get your license for 1916 early in January. It may
help you and it surely will help the department.

166 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Douglas County still claims to be the banner county
in the number of hunting parties entertained and deer
bagged. Does any other county want to contest for
the laurel.

The fiscal year of the Fish and Game Commission
ends December Ist. The January number of the Quar-
terly will contain a complete financial report.

The hunter who will pack around three or four china
hens and, when caught, say that his friends each shot one
deserves a seat of honor in the Ananias Club.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 167

The PROTECTION AND PROPAGATION of GAME
AND ITS RELATION to TRANSPORTATION.

(From an address of State Game Warden Shoemaker, given at a recent meeting
of the Transportition Club.)

The commercial fishing industry of this state is so important that
were it to be wiped out entirely over night it would directly effect the
means of livelihood of about 8000 of our citizens and indirectly would
cripple the incomes of many hundreds more, while thousands of dollars
worth of nets, wheels, geer, boats and machinery would become idle
and useless. Since authentic records have been kept the salmon in-
dustry on the Columbia river has produced over $100,000,000, or ap-
proximately $25.00 per acre per year for every surface acre on our
majestic river. Yet up to two years ago the industry was losing
ground. The pack was falling off from year to year and it was freely
predicted that the industry would within a short time become unprofit-
able and discontinued.

The 1913 pack somewhere approached 400,000 cases. 1914 came
and went with the largest pack in the history of the industry when
about 650,000 cases were put up. This year when the fall pack has
been completed it is estimated that something over 750,000 cases will
have been packed and made ready for the market, the value of which
is said to be over $4,000,000. Men in a position to speak with authority
say that within three or four years these figures will be doubled.

What then has caused this immense increase in the pack each year
for the past few years? Surely we cannot attribute it to the natural
increase of the fish—for until two years ago the catch was annually
falling off. The increase is due to one cause only and that cause is
the development of modern hatchery methods. Five years ago the state
of Oregon adopted, in spite of many doubts expressed as to its wisdom,
the system of feeding salmon fry in retaining ponds. Prior to that
time spasmodic efforts had been made along this line but it was not
followed up each year in order to determine its value. Fishermen
themselves shook their heads and would give little, if any, encourage-
ment to the idea. In the fall of 1910 the Fish and Game department of
the state determined to give the plan a fair and square trial. Under the
direction of Hatchery Superintendent Clanton the work was com-
menced. It takes four years to obtain results in this work, and in 1914,
the first year in which results could be expected, the industry had the
largest pack from a financial standpoint in its history. Still there were
some who doubted the work of the hatchery department and expressed
the idea that the run last year was unusual but liable to happen any
time. But when the figures for the 1915 pack began to roll in with an
increase of 15 to 18 per cent over those of 1914, the most skeptical
literally “sat up and took notice” and are now among the strongest in
their praise of modern hatchery methods.

This season there have been liberated in the commercial streams of
the Columbia River district about 17,000,000 Chinook salmon fry by the
Fish and Game Commission. At the Bonneville hatchery the state has
on hand about 3,000,000 sockeyes which will soon be liberated. None
of the commercial fish are liberated till they are from four to six
months old and from four to five inches in length. By retaining them
in the feeding ponds until they have attained this age and size they
are more able to withstand the rigors of the streams into which they
are liberated and are better able to protect themselves from the cannibal
fish which infest all our waters.

168 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

It takes about 600 pounds of food a day to feed the young salmon
at the Bonneyille hatchery now and in the heighth of the season as
high as 2000 pounds a day are fed. By using spent salmon, smelt and
the offal from the canneries the state is able to obtain this food at a
very low cost, and through the installation of a cold storage plant the
food can be obtained when it is most plentiful and kept in a frozen
state till it is required for feeding.

You, gentlemen, who are hosts here today, know better than I how
to translate the foregoing figures into freight. You know the number
of cars which you have handled annually for the commercial fisher-
men of the state. The propagation of salmon, therefore, has a peculiar
and pertinent relation to the railroads of Oregon. Should the state
take a backward step and discontinue the modern feeding system the
packing industry would begin to slump and the railroads would lose
proportionately. For the most part the hauls connected with the
salmon industry are long hauls which are much preferred and greatly
desired. The transportation companies of Oregon can therefore well
afford to take a very pronounced interest in the work of the hatchery
department. At no expense to the taxpayers the state is keeping alive
and growing an industry which is of vital importance to thousands of
her citizens. To paraphrase a familiar quotation—the state of Oregon
casts its fish into the waters and in four years they return manyfold
to bless and enrich us.

So far I have only touched on the propagation of commercial fish.
From this industry we get tangible, visible results and the trans-
portation companies know absolutely what is their share of the money
which annually flows to Oregon from the Eastern markets.

We have still another department of our hatcheries which is. just
as important although the results cannot be measured so accurately
in dollars and cents. I refer to the propagation and distribution of
game fish in the streams of our state. The planting of these fry, like
the commercial fish, was conducted spasmodically up to the year 1911.
That year the game department liberated nearly two million trout fry.
Since that time there have been liberated from the several hatcheries
and feeding stations an average of over 6,000,000 annually. It is safe
to say that there are very few of the angling streams of the state
which have not been stocked and restocked since first this work began.
In the past three years trout fry have been liberated in 175 lakes,
which prior to stocking had never had any fish in them. The planting.
of trout in these lakes has created new recreation grounds for anglers
and has materially widened the field of this splendid sport. Reports
from every nook and corner of Oregon state that never before has
fishing been better. This is a striking testimonial for the work of
our hatcheries.

In 1913 we issued 54,000 hunters’ licenses and a few more than
52,000 anglers’ licenses. Last year the figures remain the same for
hunters but—and the statement is significant—we issued 59,891 anglers’
licenses—an increase of nearly 8000 or about 15 per cent. It is
estimated from the meagre reports on hand at this time that the
increase will hold good for this year.

What has brought about this increased desire to angle? Cer-
tainly it is not because the people of the state want to help out the
Fish and Game department by showing their interest through the pur-
chase of a license. The real reason is because the fish are in the streams
and are being caught. And the reason the fish are there in plentiful
quantities is because they have been planted there and have grown
and multiplied. You take a day off, wade the rippling trout stream

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 169

and return home with a bag full of delicious trout. You relate your
day’s outing to your neighbor and your friends. You tell of the big
ones you didn’t get and the smaller ones which you actually landed and
you create a desire among your auditors for a day of similar sport.

These anglers for the most part use some form of railroad trans-
portation to and from their favorite angling stream. Literally thou-
sands of them take from one to twenty trips in a season. This means
actual money spent with the steam and electric lines of our state. 1
need not remind those of you who have charge of the traffic here ot
the crowds which have every Saturday and Sunday invaded your cars
for a Sunday’s angling on the many streams within a radius of forty
miles of Portland. Your report sheets tell the story more eloquently
than I can. While it is true that the automobile has taken some of
this traffic, yet, with the increasing interest taken in the sport, due in
a large degree to the work of stocking and restocking the streams,
the railroads should show an increased number of fares collected from
sportsmen.

With the exception of those trout which are liberated directly into
the streams from the feeding ponds all the work of distribution of
fry is accomplished through the agency of the state fish car, which
has been fittingly named the “Rainbow.” Last year the Rainbow
traveled between twenty-two and twenty-three thousand miles. This
year the travel record will be higher. This car accommodates 177 cans.
When the Rainbow reaches its destination it finds enthusiastic sports-
men from all walks of life ready to assist with their time and their
means in the task of transporting these cans from the car to the
streams where the fish are liberated. These men are busy men and
in their own community are representative of its varied activities.
They put in from a half to a whole day of their time. They furnish
their autos and other conveyances and they do not charge the state
a single cent for anything. They do it because they love the sport.
It is a splendid example of unselfish devotion to a cause from which
they themselves reap only a very small proportion of the benefit. Were
we to be charged for the actual cost of auto hire and two men’s time
with each machine the cost of distributing each car of fish would ap-
proximate something over $100.00. Prior to August the first of this
year the hauling of the Rainbow has been done free of any charge
by the railroads of the state. We were notified some time ago that
hereafter a charge of ten cents a mile would be made for this service.
It is estimated by. us that the cost of transporting the Rainbow next
year would maintain three feeding ponds of good size. I mention
this merely as a matter of fact and not in the nature of a criticism.

In addition to the liberation of commercial and game fish the state
conducts quite an extensive game farm from which about 4000 Chinese
pheasants will be liberated this year. Wild bird refuges have been
established and a movement is now under way for the establishment
of wild game preserves within the national forests which will be
under the control of both the federal and state authorities.

The citizens of our state have grasped the idea that if they are
to continue to enjoy the splendid recreation of hunting and angling
they must encourage not only ‘the protection but the propagation of
our game animals, birds and fish. Conditions are rapidly shaping
themselves for the propagation of wild animal life in a similar manner
to that which we now employ with Chinese pheasants and trout. Rod
and gun clubs and game protective associations are giving helpful and
active co-operation in our efforts to make the fish and game of our
state worth more and more as a real tangible asset. It is estimated

170 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

that the hunting and fishing, aside from the commercial industry, is
worth annually over $5,000,000 to the business interests of Oregon.
The transportation companies derive more than an average proportion
of this amount. On them the sportsmen must depend for transporta-
tion to and from their field of sport.

From what I have said it is seen that every phase of the distribu-
tion of both the commercial and game fish of our state is accomplished
without any charge from those who do the final work of planting. In
concluding, I want to express my belief that with a better understand-
ing of conditions the transportation companies of the state will in the
future be equally as good sportsmen as they have in the ‘past. I have
a firm faith that this belief will not be misplaced.

THE EDIBLE BULE. FROG:

By Warven I. B. Hazetine.

Some twenty-three years ago a Frenchman, residing on a ranch
near Boise, Ida., imported a number of the large edible specie of frog from
France and planted them in a pond which he had prepared on his place.
They multiplied very rapidly and he thereby added a very economical
dish to his table, which it is needless to say was not envied by the
native population at that time. During the flood season one year his
dam gave way and the frogs were liberated in a tributary of the Boise
River and are now plentiful in the sloughs and ponds tributary to this
and the Payette River, and also in those of the Snake River as far
north as Weiser, I believe.

The people, however, have gradually gotten over their aversion to
the frogs and now esteem them as a great delicacy for the table. Only
the hind legs are eaten, but as the bodies of the larger ones sometimes
attain a total length of over 11 inches, this member would pee Sea
favorably in size to that of a chicken.

Frog hunting is considered as great sport in the above named
section as trout angling is in other parts of the state. The method used
in taking them is to either use a 22 calibre rifle, or angle for them
with a long pole fitted with hook and line and baited with a small
piece of red flannel, which is lowered over their heads. I have been .
informed that it is common for one of the larger ones to jump at least
a foot into the air to grab it. As great caution must be used in getting
close to the big ones as is used in trying for the old and wary trout,
and the person catching the largest specimen of the day feels just as
proud as you or I when we have put it over on the other fellow just
a little in the length of the Rainbow taken during the day’s angling.

In going over my territory I had noticed many sloughs and ponds
which were worthless from a sportsman’s point of view, and so far
as stocking with edible fish was concerned, and having heard of this
specie of amphibia I determined to take the matter up with the Fish
and Game Commission and see if I would not be permitted to intro-
-duce them in my district, which comprises Grant and Baker counties
in Eastern Oregon. The Commission did not have the necessary funds
for this purpose at this time, but gave me permission to go to Idaho
after them if I could arrange elsewhere for the expense. This I did,
through the rod and gun clubs of my territory, and was successful
finally in liberating some 30 dozen tadpoles and about six dozen of
the fully developed frogs. Of course I cannot give any definite report

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 171

on the success of the venture until next season, but I see no reason
why they will not do well, as identically the same conditions exist
here, weather and otherwise, as where they are found in Idaho.

I inquired of several managers of grilles as to the possibility of
getting a market for frogs’ legs and all without exception said that
the only reason why they were not on their respective menus was
that they were unable to procure them. This, and the great number
of inquiries I have had from all parts of Eastern Oregon and elsewhere
since the undertaking has been made public, leads me to believe that
if persons owning land surrounding sloughs or ponds would stock the
waters with this frog they would, if successful, have no difficulty in
procuring good prices for the legs in the market.

For the benefit of those who might think of stocking some of
the waters in their section, will state what little I have been able to
find out regarding the kind of places suitable and conditions favorable
to the propagation of this amphibia. The pond or slough, running
water is not advisable, must have mud bottom, be deep enough so that
there is no danger of the water freezing to the bottom during the
winter season and contain vegetable matter favorable to the propaga-
tion of water insects and a fringe of willows or other brush furnishing
shade. Regarding conditions other than this, will say that ducks, and
muskrats are said to be very injurious to the young frogs and that it
would be practically useless to place them in ponds where either this
specie of bird or animal were abundant. The females are said to lay
from three to five thousand eggs during the season and that they will
mature to marketable size within from one year to fifteen months from
the time of hatching.

In conclusion, I might say that the fully developed frog will stand
shipment alive for long distances if properly cared for in transit, and
that the common toad will disappear from all waters where the larger
specie become abundant. It is not whether it is a case of “the big fish
eat the little fish” or not, but, nevertheless, it seems to be an estab-
lished fact. I might also add that the frogs for stocking purposes can
be procured for $1.00 per dozen at Payette, Idaho.

I will gladly assist any one who desires, to procure frogs for stock-
ing purposes, as I am deeply interested in the matter and believe if
conditions are favorable, generally, over Oregon, they will some day
to some extent take the place of some of our game animals and birds
which are becoming so few, and thereby furnish recreation and food for
the sportsman in localities where other game does not abound. And
lastly and of greater importance, to myself at least, as my venture has
been taken lightly by some, I want to see “the scoffer return to pray,”
as I verily believe he will after he has overcome his prejudice and
tasted some of these legs cooked by a chef who knows how to serve them.

172 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CONSERATION THROUGH EDUCATION.

By Haroitp C. Bryant, in charge Education, Publicity and Research, California Fish
and Game Commission.

In Mr. Henry Chase’s well known book, “Game Protection and
Propagation in America,’ it is stated that the most needed thing to
forward the great movement of game conservation is a campaign of
education. Mr. Chase says: “Connected with the game department
in each state there should be a bureau of education and publicity,
presided over by an expert. With these bureaus co-operating with each
other and with the national one, a campaign of education along correct
lines can be conducted which will accomplish more and better results
in a few years than has been done altogether in the past. :
Unquestionably, nothing can be of more value to the cause of game
protection at this time than a systematic campaign of education con-
ducted officially by the game department in every state of the Union,
and an extension in the work on that line now being performed by
the Federal bureau.” f

The California Fish and Game Commission, convinced of the truth
of Mr. Chase’s opinion, instituted a year ago a Bureau of Education,
Publicity and Research, as a fundamental method of bringing about
proper game conservation. Results are already noticeable, although
this bureau has only been in existence a year.

Though the motto of this new department is “Conservation through ©

education,’ and the primary function is to educate the people to the
value of California’s wild life, much emphasis has been placed upon
research; for proper education and publicity must always be backed
with indisputable evidence. In order to supply this evidence, data is
being collected regarding the life history and the status of all of the
native game birds and mammals. The food habits of birds are being
studied in order that the real dollar-and-cents value of each species
may be well understood. In connection with the problem of restock-
nig depleted game covers many investigations are being made. The
one of present interest is that of the status of the ring-necked pheas-
ant, as a result of which more information will be at hand showing
why Oregon has been so successful in the efforts to establish this
game bird, whereas California and other states have been unsuc-
cessful. In order that future generations may have evidence upon
which to base their efforts in the direction of game conservation, a
collection of photographs showing the work of the Fish and Game
Commission and the status of game is being assembled. These and
other investigations are furnishing the backing for educational and
publicity work.

The principal means used in the campaign of education are lec-
tures, bulletins and correspondence. Many illustrated lectures on
game and game conservation have been given in various parts of the
state to organizations of sportsmen, farmers and teachers, as well as
to the general public. Realizing the advantages to be gained from
co-operation with educational institutions, a series of lectures was
given to a class of prospective teachers in a course in advanced ver-
tebrate zoology in the University of California. Such training is of
particular importance in California for all forest deputies by virtue of
their position become game wardens.

A quarterly periodical, California Fish and Game, is now being
published and sent free.to all citizens of the state who make applica-
tion. This quarterly follows the motto, “Conservation through educa-

~"

P i dan gi

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 173

tion,” and furnishes to the public accurate data and information
regarding game and game conservation in California. Many of the
articles appearing in this publication have been reprinted in news-
papers throughout the state. A series of articles under the general
heading, “Game Resources of California,’ published in the San Fran-
cisco Call-Post, were regularly reprinted in about twenty newspapers.
Numerous other newspaper items have given publicity to the work of
the commission and to the status of game.

Legislation will never afford wild life complete protection any
more than legislation will totally prevent murder, for it does not
meet the problem at its source and prevent it there. Pure enforcement
of law is an attempt to remedy the fresult with no consideration of the
cause. Education must be joined to legislation if either is to be
effective. This is particularly applicable to the problem of conserva-
tion. Unless backed by strong public co-operation, laws avail but
little. Without a knowledge of the need for a game law and without
sympathy for it, there can be no consistent obedience of that law.
Consequently this new step taken by the California Fish and Game
Commission is sure to bring about the most adequate type of game
conservation.

It is hoped that the people of the State of California will, through
the results of this campaign of education, become so interested in
the wild life of their state that public sentiment will demand proper
game conservaticn and game laws will then have become an expression
of the will of the people and the function of the game warden will
have become the positive one of conserving game rather than the
negative one of prosecuting the violator. By encouraging such a senti-
ment the Fish and Game Commission can assume its proper role.

It took many years to develop a public sentiment that would
properly protect our forests. It may take even a longer time to
develop a public sentiment favorable to proper game conservation.
But the California Fish and Game Commission feels that in thus
making use of an educational propaganda they are using the best
method to attain this ideal. It is inevitable that a public which is
properly instructed as to where its best interests lie will co-operate
with those whom they delegate to further these interests.

THE MALLARD.

The Wild Duck That Can Be Raised in Captivity With Ease
and Profit

Many sportsmen have the idea that the great number of Mallards
scattered along the Columbia River and through the Willamette Valley
every year are birds that come from the far North. This is not so.
The Mallard is largely a local bird. Formerly large numbers of them
bred along all our waterways and about our marshes and ponds. A
great many of these birds still breed in various parts of Oregon,
especially along the Columbia River and through the Willamette Val-
ley. In a single field near Gaston, in Washington County, I saw the
nest of a Cinnamon Teal and a Mallard last spring. Of course, the
greatest breeding ground for Mallards and other ducks in Oregon, and,
in fact, in the whole western part of the United States, is in the vast
lake region of southern Oregon in Klamath, Lake and Harney Counties.

174 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

An ideal breeding ground for wild ducks is in the wide syampy
area where the Klamath River meanders through the marsh. The
lowland extends for miles and miles in places from the river channel
back to the hills. On the edge of the fields and especially on the
grassy islands on either side of the river, one can easily find duck
nests if he knows where to look. Yet the actual finding of the nest
is not always so easy, for it is generally an accident. I was wading
along through the tall grass south of Keno along the Klamath River
one morning, wondering why I did not find a nest, when suddenly
with a roar of wings a female Mallard flushed squarely between. my
feet. I had straddled the nest of ten eggs and had put my foot within
three or four inches of the mother before she flapped lamely off
through the grass. It is a common trait, for twice during the morning
I nearly stepped on a brooding duck before she flushed. A Mallard
is loath to depart and show the location of her home. But I found that
after once discovered they become wilder, generally sn when I
approached within fifteen or twenty feet.

In one place I found a grassy island about two hundred yards out
from the wooded hillside. This place had been a regular rendezvous
for ducks, for we located eleven deserted nests. On close examination
of the egg shells, I found that they had not hatched, but had been
raided by some egg-sucking animal.

The destruction of duck nests along the edge of the swamp likely
has something to do in influencing different ducks to nest back away
from the marsh. I saw one Malard nest back in the woods a distance
of half a mile from water where one would never think of looking for
a duck. I found another Mallard a hundred yards up on the side of
the ridge above Tule Lake under a sagebrush. Along the Columbia
River, Mr. O. J. Murie found a Mallard nesting seven or eight feet
from the ground on a leaning ash tree. The side of the tree was cov-
ered with scattered moss, dried leaves and sticks which had accu-
mulated in the crotch. In this rubbish the bird had made its nest.

The Mallard (Anas Boschas) is the best known, perhaps, of all
our wild ducks. It is commonly called “Green-head,” and ranges in-
general throughout the United States, more particularly in the interior
than on the coasts. The Black Duck or Dusky Duck (Anas obscura),
breeding in the northeastern states from Illinois and New Jersey north
to Hudson Bay and Labrador, is almost identical with the Mallard,
but can always be distinguished from the Mallard by the lack of
white in the wings.

Two or three years ago, my attention was called to some sick Mal-
lards that were found on Government Island in the Columbia River.
Two males were found swimming about on the lake, but they could
not fly. Two dead birds were also picked up and examined.. In the
stomachs of one of the dead Malards we found forty-two shot. Some
of these were the size of No. 6 shot; others were as small as dust
shot, showing that they had been worn down by the action of the
stomach. For many years there has been a great deal of duck shoot-
ing along the Columbia. There is naturally a great deal of shot scat-
tered about. In feeding along the mud bottoms of the ponds, ducks
eat these shot, mistaking them for seeds or gravel. Mr. J. H. Boyles,
of Tacoma, records the same thing on the flats surrounding the mouth
of the Nisqually River where it empties into Puget Sound near Olym-
pia. He examined the stomachs of two Mallards and found one con-
tained nineteen shot and the other twenty-seven. It seemed to be
purely a case of lead poisoning. The Mallard seems to be the only
species that is affected.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 175

The Mallard is one of the easiest ducks raised in captivity. It is
not at all difficult to domesticate. It is surprising that farmers do not
raise more of these birds from a business standpoint. They not only
bring a good price as decoys, but they always demand a good price
for table use. Since the sale of ducks killed in the wild state was
prohibited in Oregon, there is no reason why the demand cannot be
partly supplied by wild ducks raised in captivity. The Oregon law
permits this to be done by licensed breeders and sold when they are
tagged under the authority of the Fish and Game Commission. A
fat wheat-fed Mallard is a fit article for any table. The proof is in
the eating.

Wiss. Hy

A PLEA FOR SALMON CONSERVATION.

By H. L. Kerry, Master Fish WarDeN.

“You will never miss the water till the well runs dry,’ sang an
old song. The idea contained therein applies to many of the blessings
which we continually enjoy, yet too often never seriously consider.
Among these, and one of vast importance to every individual in the
state, is our well-established salmon industry.

How many of our citizens realize what a calamity it would be,
if for some reason or other not a single salmon of any kind should
enter our Oregon streams next year? Thousands of people from the
mouth of the Columbia River to the extreme southern confines of the
state would be thrown out of employment and their entire earnings
cut off, while other thousands would be deprived of a large share of
their annual income. That would awaken our interest and sympathy
at once, aS many would have to be assisted until they found other
employment. All others, not directly interested in the work would
be affected by such a condition for, with approximately thirty million
pounds of salmon taken off the market, the price of other fish and
meats would be correspondingly raised.

The salmon is worthy of a great deal of our attention and con-
sideration, for besides being a most interesting nature study, this king
of fishes helps to boost the state’s prosperity figures about $4,000,000
each year.

How many of us are thankful to an all-wise Providence for having
created a salt water fish which delivers itself at our very doors fresh
from the ocean? Yet such a fish is the salmon. A sea fish pure and
simple of most delicious flavor, rich in food value, and which can
be caught hundreds of miles inland virtually “fresh” from the sea.

When compelled by instinct, they leave their rich feeding grounds
in the mysterious depths of the ocean and enter the rivers by hun-
dreds of thousands. Nets, seines, traps and wheels take their toll,
but tens of thousands manage somehow to escape all these death
devices. Up rapids and over dams and falls they fight their way, many
killing themselves in their persistent efforts to pass whatever barrier
blocks their way. Still thousands get by, although many are badly
bruised and cut, and on they go to the coldest, purest waters. Here
the spawn is deposited in the clean sand and gravel of the shallow
rifles. This is the salmon’s last act, for shortly after spawning they
die. All this is done to plant the seed for the future “crop” that will
automatically deliver itself and save us the trouble and expense of
going out to the ocean to gather it.

The commercial value alone of the salmon should create a desire

176 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

in everybody to prevent the useless destruction of a single fish. A
further appeal to our sportsmanship and love of fair play is made, when
we consider their gameness to fight and to continue fighting though
battered and scarred by nets and rocks. Without food or rest after
entering the fresh water, but solely on the stored-up force and vitality
gained in the ocean, they strive for and reach the very headwaters of
the rivers, whether a hundred or a thousand miles inland. However,
many people apparently are quite indifferent to the salmon’s value to
the state, or whether or not it gets a square deal. This is undoubtedly
due to thoughtlessness or ignorance.

Mills, factories, power plants, irrigating ditches, etc., are of para-
mount importance. In operating these a little forethought in placing
fish ladders and screens, and in preventing acids, dyes, sawdust, etc.,
entering the streams will help save thousands of fish each year.
Another loss occurs after the salmon have reached the spawning
grounds. Here hundreds are killed by sportsmen(?) to get the eggs
for trout fishing and many are shot or killed just for the “sport” of
killing something. The killing of just one of these may be the means
of depriving the state of more than $100 worth of fish.

There are laws covering all these points and the law will be applied
wherever violators are found. A very little study of actual conditions
pertaining to salmon fishing should enable anyone to appreciate the
economic reason for the law, and voluntarily comply with the spirit
of it, which is to allow the greatest harvest of fish possible each year,
but saving enough for seed purposes to insure the future supply.

True, there are some who are utterly indifferent to the common
good of the state or community and have a regard only for their selfish
interests. These can be held in restraint only through fear of the
law. Still there is hope that most of these can be reached if the
proper educational methods are used, and it behooves all who are
interested in fishing to help spread the gospel of “Saving the Spawners
for Spawn.”

It is hoped no one will be led to believe from this article that
there is any danger of our streams becoming depleted of salmon. Due
to the hatchery work the supply of fish is gradually increasing year
after year, and we have a right to hope that in time the salmon will
become as numerous as they were before the demand created by the
canneries made such inroads upon the natural supply.

The point for consideration, and which is a most important one,
is the waste of spawning fish. These can be saved at very little addi-
tional expense in most cases, and in many instances at no expense
whatever. The saving would possibly add half a million dollars to the
state’s revenue each year.

Germany’s success in the war thus far is due primarily to the
national thrift which backs up her army. Who can say when the
United States will have to fight a world power or a combination of
them? But whether that ever happens or not the practice of thrift is
a national necessity. Is there a better way for Oregonians to start the
practice of economy and the conservation of natural resources than
in the cultivation and preservation of our salmon fisheries /

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 177

NOTES ON THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON.

Report of Investigations in Tillamook County to Determine the
Economic Status of the Wild Pigeon.

By STANLEY G. JEWETT.

(Occasionally a report is sent in to our office to the effect that wild
pigeons are destroying crops in some of the coast counties. To ascertain
the facts regarding the food habits and abundance of these birds, Mr.
Jewett spent the greater part of the month of May in 1913 in Tillamook
county. He was in the field each day from May 2 to and including May
25 and collected the following data.—EDITOR. )

The wild pigeons arrive in Tillamook County from the south about
the first week in April and become common about the 20th of the
month. At this time most of the farmers are sowing oats, and the
pigeons congregate in flocks of from twenty to one hundred, and from
the evidence I gathered, they feed mainly on oats picked up from the
surface of the ground. All the pigeons I saw were in the agricultural
districts where they remain until the elderberries are sufficiently
grown to offer them food. I was told by several local farmers and
sportsmen that elderberries, huckleberries, salal and cascara berries
are the main food supply of the pigeons during the summer and early
fall months.

The food supply appears to be the main controlling factor in the
distribution of the pigeon. In early spring when the oats are first
sown or just sprouting, the birds are to be found in the fields, a little
later they will be found along the rivers and foothills where the elder-
berry is plentiful, and in the fall on the open hills along the coast
where they find an abundance of huckleberries.

Several complaints reached me of the damage done by pigeons
to the oat crop in Tillamook County, but upon interviewing several
reliable farmers, I came to the conclusion that most, if not all, of
these reports were greatly exaggerated. For example, on May 5 a
’ farmer living along Wilson River about five miles from Tillamook
sowed a ten-acre field to oats; next day I saw some fifty or sixty
pigeons about this field. I again visited the place on May 24, and
found a good stand of oats about three inches high. I never knew of
this bird pulling up rooted grain, although some kernels with sprouts
as long as three-quarters of an inch were found in the crop. It isa
well-known fact that grain lying on the ground in wet climates will
sprout, but one or two days’ sunshine will shrivel it up and make it
entirely worthless, so the pigeons should be welcome to it.

Their method of feeding is very interesting. A flock will circle
over a field several times before lighting, when all at once they drop
to the ground, and instead of spreading out, keep close together, alter-
nately walking and flying, some in the air all the time, others walking
along picking up kernels of oats left on the surface of the ground.
Then all at once the flock rises and flies off to some tall, dead spruce
or alder tree to rest awhile before the performance is done all over
again.

On rainy days I believe the pigeons feed off and on all day, but
on clear days most of the feeding is done during the early morning
hours and just before sundown in the evening.

178 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

Data in regard to the nesting habits of the band-tailed pigeon
are greatly desired. I met two persons, only, in Tillamook County
who had seen their nests. Mr. A. Biggs told me of seeing ‘‘a nest in a
vine-maple tree on Sutton Creek some years ago,” and his son-in-law
says: “I saw two nests placed in alder trees near Tillamook River;
both were high up and contained young late in the summer.” On
May 4, I shot a female from which I took a fully developed egg with
a soft shell. Several females shot from May 5 to May 10 showed every
evidence of breeding.

The flesh of the band-tailed pigeon is delicious and compares
favorably with that of other game birds. The average weight of ten
birds killed in May was three-quarters of a pound each, weighed shortly
after being shot.

Table Showing the Results of Examination of 22 Crops and
Stomachs of Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba fasciata)

Collector’s

From Tillamook, Oregon.

Date
No. Sex. insnts% Crop. Stomach—
1496 Male May 3 848 oats Partly digested oats
1498 Female r 4 Empty Oat hulls
1499 Female as 4 65 oats Oat hulls
1500 Female re 4. Hmpty Oat hulls
1501 Male ey 4 85 oats Partly digested oats and hulls
2 wheat .
1502 Male ny 5 112 oats Partly digested oats and hulls
1 wheat
1503 Female TY 6 247 oats Partly digested oats
1504 Female " 6 Empty Few oat hulls
1505 Male int 6 Empty Partly digested oats
1506 Male a 6 Empty Oat hulls
Toit) Bemale 1G.) 63 thoats Partly digested oats
25 wheat
1 unidentified
seed
1512 Male “11 49 oats Oat hulls
2 unidentified
seeds
1518 Male Cy alle Oy Few oat hulls
1514 Female “ 11 Empty Oat hulls
1516 Male Oe SBD Oat hulls
1518 Male ‘12> Empty Partly digested oats
1519 Male eieapiahs LA ates! Shh c.0) 0) vac Oat hulls
1520 Male “12 390 oats Partly digested oats
. 19 wheat
249 Male 0 2 a ORES Partly digested oats and hulls
3 wheat :
1 unidentified
' seed
250 Female yt TOC, Oat hulls
251 Male “12: 593 oats Partly digested oats and hulls
3 wheat
252 ' Female “12 Empty Oat hulls

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 179

SUNRISE AND SUNSET IN OREGON.

The State Game Department has received so many inquiries re-
garding the hour of sunrise and sunset that it has prepared a table
showing the exact time the sun rises and sets during the months of
November, December, and up to and including January 15th, 1916.
Beginning November first the only open season for shooting will be
on migratory birds, such as ducks, geese, etc. The shooting of these
birds is controlled by the Federal Migratory Bird Act. It is unlawful
to begin shooting before sunrise and one must cease shooting at sunset.
Cut out the table which appears below and paste it on the back of
your hunting license. It may save you trouble.

—November— —December— —January—
Date Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset
ii H252 4:57 Tiss 4:27 Tt: 5p 4:37
2 6:58 4:56 7:34 4:27 Lie) 4:37
3 6:55 4:55 1235 4:27 T3538 4:38
4 beao yas 4:36 4:27 hse 4:39
5 6:58 4:52 Tor 4:26 AGP 4:40
6 6:59 4:50 7:38 4:26 i258 4:41
i 7:00 4:49 7:40 4:26 (Ge 4:43
8 102 4:48 7:41 4:26 7:52 4:44
9 7:03 4:47 7:41 4:26 7252, 4:45
10 7:05, 4:46 7742 - 4:26 7:52 4:46
11 7:06 4:44 7:43 4:26 CRG 4:47
12 2 OF 4:48 7:44 4:26 (Gysul 4:49
13 C09 4:42 7:45 4:26 7:50 4:50
14 fee 4:41 7:46 4:26 7:50 4:51
15 7:12 4:40 LIAT 4:26 7:49 4:52
16 (aa ies 4:39 7:47 4:26
17 teks 4:38 7:48 4:27
18 hid 4:37 7:49 4:27
19 Ret f 4:36 G49 4:27
20 7:19 4:35 7:50 4:28
21 7:20 4:34 7:50 4:28
22 Ta: 4:33 frou 4:29
Ze (Os 4:33 1: bt 4:29
24 7:24 4:32 fas? 4:30
25 7:25 4:31 7:52 4:31
26 G2 4:30 7:53 4:31
27 7:28 4:30 7:53 4:32
28 7:29 4:29 fa) 4:33
29 Toe 4:29 58 4:33
30 7:32 4:28 13153 4:34
31 1:53 4:35

180 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT THE GAME LAWS.

The State Game Warden receives several letters each day from
sportsmen over the state asking for an interpretation of various sec-
tions of the Game Code. The questions and answers which follow are
taken from his files:

Q. Is a confederate veteran entitled to an angler’s and hunter’s
license free of charge, the same as a federal veteran?—C. H. Z.

A. The law does not presume to make any distinction between
Union and Confederate veterans. The law says that the county clerk
shall issue a license to any veteran of the Civil War upon proof of
such service.

Q. Has any other person than the one killing a predatory animal
any right to obtain bounty thereon?—F. F. B.

A. No. The person who actually killed the animal must claim the
bounty.

Q. Does the State Game Warden enforce the laws of trespass?—A. C.
A. No.

Q. Does a combination angler’s and hunter’s license include a
license to dig clams, take crabs or trap for commercial purposes?—
WW Ve

_A. No. Separate licenses must be secured for each class men-
tioned.

Q. Is there any open season for trapping beaver in this state?—
O. S. 0.

A. No. Beaver are protected at all time and it is unlawful to have
them in your possession. When beaver are doing actual damage to
one’s property the state game warden may issue a permit to trap a
few, but the pelts must be sent to the Fish and Game Commission.

Q. Is it necessary for me to post notices on my farm to keep
trespassers off?—C. O.

A. No. The law provides that before a person can go on your
property to hunt he must first obtain permission from you, your agent
or your lessee.

Q. Is it lawful to sell deer meat or jerky under our laws?—M. J. B.

A. No. It is always unlawful to sell deer meat in Oregon.

Q. What proportion of the fine money does the game department
get?—D. B.

A. Formerly we received one-half but the last legislature did away
with this and the entire fine now goes to the county. Persons who

inform on violators of the commercial fishing laws receive one-third
of the fine money.

Q. Is it legal to shoot game birds in season from a row boat on
open waters, say for instance, on Columbia Slough or the Columbia
River?—H. B.

A. It is lawful to shoot game birds from a row boat in any of the
waters of the state, not in game refuges or preserves, except Netarts
Bay, in Tillamook County.

Q. Is it legal to catch bass or croppies less than six inches in
length?—H. B. ;

A. The only game fish the law specifies shall not be caught under
six inches in length are trout.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 181

Q. Is it lawful to use any other than carp or pike minnows for
live bait?—H. B.

A. It is unlawful to use the minnows of any game fish for bait.

Q. Is it lawful to use the plumage of Chinese pheasants on hats
or otherwise?—O. D. B.

A. Yes, provided the bird has been shot in the open season and
in a lawful manner.

Q. Is it necessary to obtain a trapper’s license to trap predatory
animals?—W. B.

A. No.

Q. What bounty does the Fish and Game Commission pay on cougar
and wolves?—B. R. H.

A. On cougar, $15.00. On wolves, $20.00. These are paid in addi-
tion to the bounty paid by the county in which the animal is killed.

Q. I would. like to get two dozen mountain quail from the state
game farm to send back to my brother in Iowa. How shall I go about
it?—A. H.

A. The State Game Department does not raise its birds for dis-
tribution outside of this state. There is no way you can get them
from the state for this purpose.

Q. What proportion of the license money does the county get?—A. T.

A. The county which issues the license gets five per cent of the
license money. This will cut the game protection fund about five thou-
sand dollars this year as this provision was passed by the last legis-
lature.

Note.—The new Fish and Game Laws are ready for distribution
and any person who desires a copy will be furnished with one upon
sending a request to the Fish and Game Commission.

182 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

THE DUTIES OF A GAME WARDEN.

By Warpven L. L. JEWELL.

The duties of a game warden are various. We have the disagree-
able duties to perform as well as the pleasant, and we sometimes see
the comical side of life. One thing quite certain, is the fact that it is
the unexpected that happens, and usually there is something doing all
the time. If a man phones you about game violations in his section
of the country it might be wise to go in the opposite direction if you
want to catch the violator. Of course, this does not always happen, as
there are many honest people who want to see the game laws enforced
and will assist in every way possible. This brings to my mind a little
incident that happened not long ago in my territory. ~-

About noon one day the phone rang long and loud and I felt that
something unusual was about to happen, so I was not surprised, as I
took down the receiver, to hear the following: “Is this the game
warden?” “Yes.” “Well, this is Mr. VanDusen of the Tenderfoot Ranch
at the foot of Rattlesnake Mountain, and I want you to come over
here and shoot a pack of dogs that are running deer every night and
morning on the east side of the mountain.” “Have you seen them?”
“No.” ‘Do you hear any shooting?’ “No, but the dogs do lots of bark-
ing and you can hear the big yelps when they catch one.” ‘Al] right,
I’ll be over tonight.”

Now, I knew this honest German, and I was satisfied he was in
earnest about it, so I took my sixteen-year-old boy, two guns, enough
grub for a day, and about four p. m. got into my auto and made the
thirty miles in about two hours. Rattlesnake Mountain is a favorite
place for great big old bucks to sun their horns in the fall, and in
years gone by I had helped to get many a big fellow from the rocky
mountain side. There is an old Indian legend as to the reason it came
to be called by that name. It was said that two young Indian bucks
fell in love with the same Indian lassie, and the father of the girl
told them that the one who would bring in the biggest buck before
the next full moon should have his daughter for a wife. So these
young hunters started out with their bows and arrows to prove which
was the mightiest hunter. At the end of a week each had bagged an
eight-point buck; but had not gained the girl. Finally Fire-Kater
decided to go to this big mountain twenty miles away to get his buck,
as he knew it was the home of the big ones. As he started up the ~
rocky steep he spied the track of a monster. It was so big that he
stopped and rubbed his eyes twice to make sure he was not dreaming.
Then he selected his choicest arrow and slowly and cautiously crawled
up among the rocks, till he spied the noble beast a hundred yards
away, and as he looked at its great antlers his heart swelled with
pride to think what good fortune was in store for him; but he must get
nearer, so he crawled up behind a big rock, got his arrow ready to
shoot, bent his bow and raised up and shot over the rock. True was
his aim, and the arrow pierced the vitals of his game; but as he shot
a monster rattlesnake, laying on top of the rock, also made a true shot
and fastened on the Indian’s cheek. He never flinched, but killed the
snake, took the buck, which had fifteen points, and started for home.
It took him two days to get there, and when he arrived he could not
talk, but just pointed to the buck, and dropped down dead. He won his
bride, but it cost him his life. ,

After my arrival at Tenderfoot ranch I got all the particulars
obtainable from our old friend, the German, and then took my auto up
an old wood road as far as possible, made our beds with fir boughs

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 183

under a big oak tree, and camped for the night. Along about three or
four o’clock in the morning we were awakened by the most unearthly -
noise I ever heard, and before I was aware of it we were both standing
up with gun in hand, expecting to be swallowed alive any minute. As
soon as my scattered senses came back to me, and I had pinched myself
to see that it was really I, I burst out laughing, for there in the brush,
not two hundred feet from us, was a large pack of coyotes, who had
scented us and set up a yell that would rival the Apache Indians. it
seemed as if there were fifty of them by the variation of their voices;
but probably ten or twelve was all. After we had listened long enough
to satisfy our curiosity, two well directed shots in the darkness silenced
the pack, and we had rest till morning. Ag I listened to the far-away
yelp of an occasional coyote, I said to myself, “There are the dogs that
our friend has heard running deer.”

When daylight came we ate our breakfast and started out to
climb Rattlesnake Mountain, as I was anxious to see what the deer
sign was, as the open season was now on. As we climbed up the
brushy hillside I could occasionally hear the yelp of coyotes, and I
even took a far-away running shot at one of them, but only cut off a
little hair from his back. A little later I struck one of those big buck
tracks, with two smaller ones, and I sent my boy around on top of the
ridge, while I came up through the brush. After waiting the proper
time for him to get located, I proceeded up through the brush. When
about half way up I started the quarry and could hear him going up
the mountain, and it was not long before a rifle shot rang out clear
and loud, and a cheery “I got him!” from the boy met my ear. It took
me twenty minutes of hard work to get through the brush to see, as I
supposed, a big seven or eight-point buck, but I was disappointed to
find it was only a small three-pointer. It was evident that the small
deer was ahead and at the crack of the gun the big one sneaked off
through the brush in another way. All I said was, “Good boy, but we
will get the big one in early October, when he is a little fatter.”

When we returned to the ranch and inquired of our German friend
if he had heard the dogs after the deer that morning, he said, ‘Yes,
did you find them?” [I told him we had, but did not get them, as they
were coyotes, and he could shoot them and get $3.00 apiece for them
at the County Clerk’s office. I gave him a piece of venison and
instructed him how best to get those “deer dogs,” and left him figuring
up how much money he could make on a dozen coyotes at $3.00 each.

BREEDING OF MINKS IN CAPTIVITY

Mr. Ned Dearborn, of the Biological Survey of the Department of
Agriculture, has given considerable attention to the breeding of minks
and other fur bearers in captivity. At a recent meeting of the Biolog-
ical Society in Washington, Mr. Dearborn read a paper on the breeding
of minks, in which he brought out a number of interesting points. He
stated that the period of gestation was found to be forty-two days.
The number of young was from one to eight. The eyes of the young
remain closed for one month after birth. The young may be weaned
at six weeks. Minks breed when a year old. Their fur is. suitable
for market at a year and a half. Experiments show that different types
of diet have no effect on the quality of fur. The character of food is
about the same as one would feed a cat. Minks are polygamous in
nature. Mr. Dearborn is satisfied that minks may be raised to good
advantage for commercial purposes.

184 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

A SOUTHERN OREGON MOUNTAIN TRIP.

By Warven L. C. APPLEGATE.

Departing from the city of Rogue River, a beautiful little city sit-
uated on the banks of the famous river of that name, on the 14th day
of August, I traveled for some distance along the valley of Evans
Creek, thence along Pleasant Creek from its mouth to its source, then
at length over partly blazed trails filled with logs, rocks and brush,
and by perseverence finally reached the timbered mountain tops and
grassy ridges at the hour of 9:15 a. m. on the 15th. From this eleva-
tion I heard numerous shots from the deadly 30-30 Winchesters and
with haste sped in the direction of the battle ground. In the mean-
time shot after shot was heard, and finally when I reached the lucky
hunting party they had before them one eight-point, two five-point, one
four-point and one three-point buck deer. The hunters were residents

of Rogue River and Medford, Oregon, and were greatly pleased over
their reward for a three hours hunt. Soon they had their booty piled
in an auto, together with rifles, ammunition, water bags and a French
harp, and getting aboard glided off and in a few seconds all that re
mained to mark the path of the delighted hunters was a cloud of dust.

I continued my course through the mountains until I reached the ©
north fork of Evans Creek, which I ascended until I reached the famous
Willow Flat hunting camp. Here I came in contact with two amateur
hunters from Gold Hill. The boys had good luck, having bagged
between them four fine bucks. The Evans Creek country is a very
good hunting ground, due to the numerous small streams that join the
creek in this section, thus cutting up the mountains and providing
many canyons and small breaks that are so much used by the intelli-
gent buck deer.

This section can be reached by pack horse from Willow Flat Camp
on Evans Creek. Other important hunting camps that can be reached
from Evans Creek are Battle Mountain, Round Top Mount, Spikenard
Butte, Skeleton Mountain, Red Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Salt Creek,
Raspberry Creek, Boulder Creek, Battle Creek, Sand Creek, Pea Vine,
Gulliway Top, Cow Creek, Buck Camp, and numerous other smaller
camps.

My advice to hunters would be to wait until after a good rain
before trying for the limit, because of the fact that the dry leaves and
breaking twigs under foot attract the attention of the deer and put
them to flight before the hunter can get a shot.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

Mr. E. F. Averill, of Pendleton, Oregon, reports that in 1912 there
was a small band of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse or prairie chickens
on the farm belonging to J. M. Tabor, Hermiston, Oregon. These birds
have been carefully protected by Mr. Tabor, and last winter Mr. Averill!
counted over 150 birds in the flock. He thinks it has increased to at
least 200. This bird has been very rapidly disappearing in Oregon,
and this seems to be one of the few places where they are not only
holding their own, but increasing.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 185

OVER THE STIENS ON A DESERT GREYHOUND

By Warven F. W. Triska.

The writer, accompanied by Miles A. Brecount, of Burns, had what
was considered a novel experience recently—a trip over the Stien
Mountains on two Harley Davidson motorcycles. This narrative might
possibly appeal more forcibly to the readers of the Sportsman if
they were acquainted with the country we passed through, this being
the first time that the feat was ever accomplished by other than a
saddle horse.

We left Burns on August 14th for the Narrows, arriving there at,
8:45 p. m., after traveling a distance of thirty miles. We were up at
5 o’clock the next morning and, strapping our guns to the motorcycles,
were off for the Grain Camp, one of the Hanley ranches, some twenty-
two miles distant, for breakfast. We traveled the Canal Road, which is
a highway constructed on the banks of a canal some thirty miles long
running along the Blitzen River. We reached Grain Camp at about
7 o'clock, a trifle late for breakfast, and had to be content with a light
repast. This was hard on two young men gifted with healthy appetit s.
Our next stop was at the P Ranch, eighteen miles distant, where we
sat down to a ‘“buckaroo dinner,” to which we did ample justice. After
looking over our “Greyhounds,” and taking some good-natured gaff
from the boys at the ranch, we left for Home Creek, also one of the
Hanley ranches, located about twenty-five miles south of the P Ranch
on, the east side of Catlow Valley and with an elevation of 9800 feet.
We then went to Three Mile Ranch and inquired about the road to
Smith’s Flat, a lower plateau of the Stien Mountains. After obtaining
the necessary information, we set out for Milton Modie’s Camp, distant
twelve miles, the road being nothing but a mere horse trail. It was
here that our real experiences began.

My motor lights being out before we reached Modie’s Camp, I
had to be guided by the rear light on ‘“Count’s” cycle. We were getting
along famously, however, when within a mile of the camp the lights
in the windows began to show up and I undertook to “cut across coun-
try” and beat “Count” into camp. I was rapidly nearing the lights and
going at a fairly good rate of speed, when I ran into a washout caused
by a cloudburst. I did not stop for the washout, but kept right on
going. The motorcycle did, however. After gathering myself together
and abstracting the motorcycle from the ditch, I towed the machine
into camp and found “Count” enjoying a dish of cold rice. He in-
formed me that he never knew rice tasted so good before. Making the
raise of a blanket from a trapper who was stationed at the camp, we
turned in, sleeping so sound that had not Mr. Modie awakened us
and told us it was raining we would never have known it. It had
been raining an hour when we were awakened. We moved under the
cook tent and slept until the breakfast bell rang. After eating a hearty
breakfast, we went out and shot some sage hens, which are very plen-
tiful in that locality.

The Stien Mountain Reserve line being only about three miles dis-
tant, we concluded we wanted a deer, so leaving our motorcycles and
chartering two saddle horses, we lit out for the east rim of the moun-
tain across the divide. The elevation here was about 8000 feet. Sta-
tioning our horses here we descended about 1200 feet over an almost
perpendicular rim, at the bottom of which I saw the ears of a coyote .
and “blazed away,” hitting him in the hind quarters. I was a little in

186 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

advance of “Count” and, hearing an avalanche coming down behind
me, I turned quickly and saw “Count” crawling out from under a mass
of loose rocks and crying excitedly, “Where is the buck?” Imagine
the disgusted look on his face when I informed him it was only a
coyote. sae

Feeling certain that there was a buck in the vicinity, I went along
a small rim of rock, while “Count” went down about 100 yards. I
had not gone far when I heard the familiar thump-thump, and saw a
nice five-pointer hitting it from the rimrock. I shot and hit him in the
flank, the bullet coming out at the upper part of the brisket. The deer
ran for a small “hogback” and “Count” got a shot that caused him to
throw up his head and fall. The bullets from each gun were not more
than six inches apart and running parallel to each other. There is
always a thrilling sensation in dropping a good buck, but that was
nothing compared to the yells let out by “Count” when he found he
had killed the deer. “I got him, I got him!” he yelled. He was toa
excited to assist in the dressing of the meat. The deer was taken to
camp and the antlers tied to “Count’s” cycle as a trophy to his
prowess, it being his first deer.

The next morning we struck across the mountain on a horse trail
with our motorcycles, and having but one quart of gasoline between
us, Mr. Modie volunteered to pull us up to the top, where we arrived
at about 10 o’clock. At this point we were about 9000 feet above sea
level, and from this on.our descent started. Tying a riata to the.
motors, we took them down one at a time, the path being so steep that
two men held back on the machines from the rear on a rope while
the other steered the machine down the descent of more than 1200
feet in a mile and a half. Getting down safely, we mounted our motor-
cycles and started to coast down the mountain side to Mirandas Sta-
tion, a distance of about four miles. Here we filled our tanks with
gasoline and accepted Mr. Mirandas’ hospitality for the night. It
was here also that we learned much about the game conditions from
him, as he is well versed in the habits of all kinds of game in that
country.

We left Mirandas Station for the well known Alvord Desert, a
dry lake bed about fifteen miles long and nine miles wide. The lake
bed is a natural speedway, smooth as a floor, and a great resort for
motorists. We decided to try the speed of our machines, which were
registered to seventy-eight miles per hour. They surely done justice
to the record, crossing the desert in five and one-half minutes. We
reached the Alvord ranch in the evening. This ranch is owned by
Frank Clerf and consists of 15,000 acres all in one body. There are
thousands of mountain quail on this ranch and about 300 prairie
chickens. Mr. Clerf has a pet doe with two fawns, which are so tame
that they will come up to the house and allow themselves to be petted
by the ranch help. There are also two cow elk left here of the herd
taken there by Mr. Divine some twenty-five years ago.

Leaving the ranch the next morning, we went to Alberson, a station
about twenty-five miles north, near the line of the Stien Mountain
Reserve, then down to Diamond. After dinner we started for Narrows
and had gone about a mile when I broke my machine and had to be
towed back to Diamond. Not having the necessary tools with which to
repair the machine, ‘“‘Count’”’ offered to tow me and my machine to
Burns. If the reader has ever had a similar experience of being towed
for sixty miles in the soft sand and dust, he can appreciate my predic-
ament. We arrived in Burns at 6 o’clock in the evening, having com-
pleted the feat of crossing the Stien Mountains on a motorcycle.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 187

LAKE TAHOE TROUT IN OREGON.

The California Fish and Game Commission recently presented
the State of Oregon with 100,000 fry of the Lake Tahoe trout. These
were shipped from the hatchery at Sisson, California. About 20,000
of these were taken to the government station at Trail Creek on the
Rogue River to be held for liberation in Crater Lake. The remainder
ol the shipment was sent to the Central State Hatchery at Bonneville,
until they reach the fingerling stage, when they will be placed in
Wallowa Lake in the northeastern part of Oregon.

Both of these Oregon lakes are similar in condition to the home
waters of this trout in California and the fish are certain to thrive
in their new home. It will be a new species for Oregon sportsmen to
angle for.

Crater Lake, known throughout the world as a beauty spot, is
already well stocked with Black-spotted and Rainbow or Steelhead
trout. These fish were introduced there many years ago from the
government hatchery on Rogue River. They are now abundant enough
for the most inexperienced angler to catch.

Wallowa Lake is a splendid body of water lying just above the
town of Joseph in Wallowa County. It is about five miles long and a
mile wide, and is one of the best known summer resorts in the state.
It contains as large a variety of fish as can be found in any other lake
in the West. It is the home of the Rainbow and the Dolly Varden. It
is perhaps best known as the home of the dwarf Redfish, Kennerly’s
salmon, or a fish locally known as the “Yank.” This is a fish ten or
twelve inches long and weighing half a pound, which lives in the lake
and runs up Wallowa River in great schools to spawn during the fall
season. In addition to these fish, during the past few years the
Fish and Game Commission hag introduced Chinook salmon and Blue-
back into the Wallowa Lake.

The Tahoe Lake trout spawns in the spring, much the same as the
Rainbow, entering the shallow water of streams for that purpose. It
grows to a weight of from three to six pounds and is a fish of both
food and game importance. Its habitat is western Nevada and the
eastern portion of California, especially the Truckee, Humboldt and
Carson Rivers, as well as many streams on the east slopes of the
Sierras. .

W. L. F.

BOB-WHITE WHISTLE IS CHEERFUL.

Mr. S. R. Oldaker, of Hermiston, Oregon, reports that the game
birds released by him near Hermiston had multiplied rapidly. He
recently saw three flocks of Valley quail, about sixty birds in all. He
says the Chinese pheasants are quite plentiful. Some of the old cocks
are so tame that they frequently get in a fight with the chickens. He
writes: “It sounds quite cheerful out on the farm to hear the whistle
of the Bob-White and the crow of the pheasant, and the landscape is
beautified by an occasional flock of these birds that are busy all day
long destroying grasshoppers and other noxious bugs and worms.”

Mr. Oldaker also reports that he saw two flocks of pinnated grouse
or prairie chickens, each of which contained about fifteen birds. These
birds had become very scarce in Umatilla County, but they now seem
to be on the increase.

188 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

WILD GAME AS IT USED TO BE.

By Warven J. R. Merzcer.

In the year 1864 I came with my parents to Oregon, making the
trip by boat from San Francisco to Portland. At. this time Portland,
was a small town and all freight was hauled by teams to the smaller
towns up the valley. My father hired a farmer to haul us to within
about five miles of Salem, where we lived on a small farm for some
time. In those early days wild game was very plentiful, Elk, Black-
tailed Deer and White-tailed Deer were numerous. The White-tailed
deer, which are now almost extinct, where natives of the Willamette
Valley. They are a little larger than the Black-tailed Deer, whose home
is in the mountains. Most all the oak grub lands was full of White-
tailed deer in those days and when fresh meat was needed some one
would take the old muzzle-loading rifle and many times not Pee gone
from home but a half hour, would return with a. deer.

Blue grouse and native pheasants were also as thick as black-
birds in those days, and all kinds of native quails abounded. It was
not uncommon to see 25 or more elk in a band, almost as tame as the
cattle. Of course, the elk were found in the foothills and mountains,
but not as far back as you find them. today if you find them at all. 1
know of several bands of elk, but it is not often that you ils run onto
them.

- Where is all of our game today? It has been wasted by men Bai
as thoughtful as the Indian, for the Indian killed only what he wanted
for food. In those days deer hides sold for 40 to 50 cents apiece. 1
have seen on the North Fork of the South Santiam River great num-
bers of deer carcasses. The deer had been killed by hunters, their
hides and the hams taken and the balance thrown in the creeks. The
hides and hams were taken to Lebanon where they were disposed of.

In the old days it was an easy matter to kill deer in large numbers
as they came down from the high mountains in the fall when the first.
rains set in. The deer had regular trails and oft times they would
come in bunches, the does and fawns first and then the bucks. Hunters
would lie in wait on these trails and slaughter them until they were
satisfied. A great many hunters killed more than they could use sim-
ply for the “sport” of shooting them. I recall that one man killed
five elk and only packed one out of the mountains. Is it any wonder
that we have very few of these noble animals left?

The streams in those days were not fished out at all and there
were plenty of “large ones” that would make a sportsman g0 some to
land with the old-fashioned hazel pole and no reel.

I delight in the sport of hunting, but never killed ee deer,
although [ have spent a number of years in the timber and mountains
and am a lover of the great outdoors. In closing this article I want
to enlist the services of every true sportsman in the effort being made
to restock our state with fish and game and to bring it back to where
it was a few years ago in this respect. It can be done only through
the united and untiring efforts of the loyal sportsmen and citizens of
Oregon.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 189

ROD AND GUN CLUB NOTES.

[Eprror’s Notre.—‘The secretary of every Rod and Gun Club and Game Protective
Association in Oregon was asked to contribute a_ short article to this department.
The following contributions only were received. The.editors want more items from
these organizations for the next issue, which will be published in January. Con-
tributions for this department must be received before December 15. Won’t you urge
your officers to send us a short article of your Club’s activities?]

ALL SPORTSMEN ARE MEMBERS.

Dufur, Ore., Sept. 11, 1915.
Mr. C. D. Shoemaker,
State Game Warden,
Portland, Oregon.

Dear Sir: Nl

Replying to your letter of 9th inst., regarding the sending in of
reports from the different Rod and Gun Clubs as to work being done
and progress made, received. As to what the Dufur Rod and Gun Club
has accomplished will: say that nothing startling has happened. Prac-
tically all the sportsmen of the community are members of the organ-
ization and all take an interest in it and in the enforcement of the
game and fish laws. During the past two or three years many pairs
of Chinese pheasants have been liberated in this vicinity and all are
apparently doing well and multiplying fast, and in a few years more
the country here will be well stocked with them. There are two special
game wardens here who. look after the enforcement of the game and
fish laws. Yours very truly,

DUFUR ROD AND GUN CLUB,
T. C. Queen, Secretary.

SEASIDE CLUB HAS 115 MEMBERS.

The Seaside Anglers’ Club, one of the most enthusiastic and pro-
gressive organizations of the kind in the state, has made wonderful
strides during the past year in bettering the conditions for anglers and
in the protection of game fish.

This club, which numbers 115 active members, has planted five
cars of the various kinds of trout in the Necanicum River and tribu-
taries during the past four years and has been instrumental in assisting
the Astoria Anglers’ Club in securing a large consignment of bass that
were planted in the several lakes on Clatsop Plains a short distance
from Seaside.

Among the results obtained by this organization, aside from re-
stocking the streams, has been the maintenance of a friendly feeling
between the sportsmen and the ranchers along the several streams in
this vicinity who have assisted the anglers materially in planting the
fish in the streams.

During the existence of the club $300 was raised by public subscrip-
tion for the cleaning out of the snags from the Necanicum River in
order that fly-casting and trolling might be made a pleasure to the
sportsman while fishing for salmon and salmon trout.

The planting of two cars of Eastern and Cut-throat trout was made
during the past month and the Fish and Game Commission members
were greatly pleased with the manner in which these fish were handled
during the night by the members of the club.

190 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN.

The Anglers’ Club members are commencing to receive the benefits
of their great care in the protection and careful handling of trout at
this point, as the best of fly-fishing, trolling and bait fishing may be
had at most any time of the year in which trout and salmon may be
caught with hook and line.

Since the planting of the streams with large Eastern brook trout,
the club has secured the closing of the streams tributary to the Necan-
icum river by the Fish and Game Commission and during the next
two years great results are anticipated by the members, when these
trout propagate in sufficient numbers to declare the streams open to
fishing.

Seaside streams are noted far and wide as among the best for
all year-round fishing in the State of Oregon. The Necanicum and
Wahanna rivers that flow through the heart of the city are daily be-
sieged by fishermen who return with baskets well filled. The Lewis
& Clark River, six miles distant over the mountains, is teeming with
mountain and cut-throat on the upper river and near the mouth hun-
dreds of salmon trout are caught. The Nehalem river, within a half-
day’s travel of Seaside by wagon affords the wielder of the rod and
reel a paradise for angling never to be forgotten.

SEASIDE ANGLERY’ CLUB,
C. M. Godfrey, President.

FRY DOING FINE AT GOLD HILL.

Gold Hill, Ore., October 23, 1915.
Mr. Carl Shoemaker,
Portland, Oregon.
My Dear Sir:

Complying with your request for a report on the condition of the
fry liberated in Rogue River at this place a short time ago, I beg to.
state that from close observation they seem to be doing exceedingly well.
At the point where they were liberated there is a comparatively large
expanse of smooth water and in the evening thousands of the fish can
be seen jumping out of the water. Included in the shipment were quite
a lot of Eastern brook trout and these can be easily distinguished by .
the red marking on their sides. Yours respectfully,

H. D. REED,
Sec. Gold Hill Rod and Gun Club.

YOUNGEST CLUB DOING WELL.

By Frep E. Sarety, Sutherlin, Oregon.

Perhaps the youngest member of the many organizations of sports-
men in Oregon is the “Sutherlin Rod and Gun Club.”

Though only about a couple of months old it contains about 50
enthusiastic members. The object of its existence is, as is stated in its
constitution, to become better acquainted with the wild animal life,
the birds and fish of Oregon and to render all the assistance possible
to the conservation and development of those resources which make
Oregon and especially Douglas, County a veritable “Hunters’ and Fish-
ers’ Paradise.” Many of us came here from the Middle West and
states even farther east and we have recollections of boyhood days,

——_—

Le, Se? Oe eee ee eee ee eer eee
4 .

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 191

when the streams back there contained bass, pickerel, pike and other
game fish, where now only the worthless carp and humble bull-head
exist.

We have seen the prairie chicken, quail and grouse become almost
extinct and where in spring and fall countless flocks of wild ducks
and geese darkened the skies, only a few scattering flocks are now
seen. Such conditions will.some day reach Oregon if the proper at-
tention is not given to the propagation and conservation of her game
and fish. To avoid just such conditions is the prime object of the
Sutherlin Rod and Gun Club.

We have already planted in the Calapooia and other streams trib-
utary to the Umpqua River several thousand Rainbow and Steel Head
fry and we are now trying to obtain a few cans of Eastern brook or
Red Speck trout to plant in the head waters of the Calapooia.

We expect to build this fall on the Calapooia somewhere near its
source, a hunting and fishing lodge which will be used as a common
meeting place for members of the club and their guests and also as a
distributing and experimental point for different species of trout. The
club is also making some investigations as to the advisability of stock-
ing this locality with other variety of birds, the Bob-White quail for
example.

While it is true that there is a selfish impulse back of the club’s
existence (we desire to have the best kind of fishing and hunting)
still the true spirit that brings such clubs into existence, might be
well described by a quotation from that fisher, hunter, statesman and
man, Grover Cleveland, which is as follows:

“It seems to me that thoughtful man should not be accused of
exaggerated fears when they deprecate the wealth-mad rush and struggle
of American life and the consequent neglect of outdoor recreation with
the impairment of that mental and physical vigor absolutely essential
to our national welfare, and so abundantly promised to those who recog-
nize Nature’s adjustments to the wants of men. Manifestly, if out-
door recreations are important to the individual and to the nation,
and if there is danger of their neglect, then every instrumentality should
be heartily encouraged which aims to create and stimulate their in-
dulgence in every form.”

GOODS NEWS FROM COOS BAY.

Marshfield, Ore., September 24, 1915.
Mr. Carl D. Shoemaker,
State Game Warden,
533 Pittock Block,
Portland, Oregon.
Dear Sir:

Your letter of the 9th inst. was duly received, but owing to my
absence from the office, I have been unable to give same my attention.

It will now be too late for us to get any mention in the ‘Oregon
Sportsman,” but, nevertheless, I would like to outline briefly the work
which this association has already done.

We organized this association on November 30 last, for the purpose
of interesting the residents of this locality in the propagation of the
game and fish, and also for the purpose of securing different species of
fish and game, which are not now to be found in this locality. We
started with a membership of 32, and since that time have secured a

192 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

number of new members. We have been in touch with the State Fish
and Game Commission, and have already received several dozen Chinese
pheasants, several dozen Bob-White quail, and one hundred thousand
mountain trout eggs. We have orders in for. about twenty thousand
small mouthed bass, but I have received a letter from Mr. Clanton in
which he states that the Fish and Game Commission will not allow the
shipment of these bass to any lake or stream which has an outlet.
I was under the impression that the lake which I had in mind had no
outlet, but I believe I am mistaken as I have taken the matter up with
others who are convinced that during the winter months this lake has
an outlet to other lakes in that vicinity.

We endeavor to assist the game warden in this locality in the
protection of game. We do not anticipate being able to do much
during the coming winter months, but next summer will again become
active and again endeavor to do everything in our power to assist this
officer, and also make this portion of the state one of the best game
reserves.

If there is anything further in the way of information which |
can give you, I will be glad to hear from you.

Thanking you for the interest you have taken in this matter, I beg
to remain, Yours very truly,.

W. J. CONRAD, Secretary.

THE BROWNSVILLE ROD AND GUN CLUB

It has been delegated to the writer of this article to give the
readers of the Oregon Sportsman an outline of the organization, history
and object of the Brownsville Rod and Gun Club, which is one of the
most enthusiastic and thoroughly progressive sportsmen’s organization
in Oregon. gis

The Brownsville Rod and Gun Club was organized under the laws
of the state, March 11, 1913, with twenty-five charter members. From
the birth of the club the enthusiasm of this live bunch of sportsmen
spread rapidly until the membership had increased to such an extent
that the members began to discuss ways and means to provide the club.
with a home of its own. It was about this time that the membership
numbered 168, and the proposition to erect a club building was seized
upon and devoured with the determination and vim of an “Oregon
Redside” after an Oregon troutfly.

The plan adopted by the club to attain the desired end was most
effective. It consisted of a proposition to subscribe enough cash with
which to purchase the material necessary to construct a building ac-
cording to the plans already adopted, and in addition enough donated
labor to build the same.

As proof of the statement that intense interest and enthusiasm
guided the members, it is only necessary to say that construction work
began in February, 1914, and the building was completed, with the
exception of the interior finish, during the following March. A short
time later the interior was finished in like manner. All labor was
donated, including cement foundation and concrete walls.

Today the members of the Brownsville Rod and Gun Club enjoy
a beautiful home of their own, all complete, worth at least $2,000, and
practically free from debt. The rooms of the building, besides being
appropriately decorated with pictures and mounted birds and animals,

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 193

are equipped with a bowling alley, shooting gallery and other amuse-
ment features, including reading tables, etc., all of which are thor-
oughly enjoyed by the members and are a source of pride to the com-
munity.

Among the membership of the Brownsville Rod and Gun Club is
counted the names of practically all the leading business and profes-
sional men of Brownsville. The membership roll includes also the
names of several Albany and Portland sportsmen, and others from
surrounding towns.

The object of the club, as set forth in the first article of the Con-
stitution and By-laws, is “To promote the practice of field sports among
the members; to protect the fish and game of the state of Oregon, and
to enforce all laws in connection therewith.’ The object set forth in
the foregoing is being attained in no small measure.

There are many other features about the Brownsville Rod and
Gun Club that would be of interest to the readers of the Sportsman,
especially to those who contemplate forming an organization of a similar
kind, but these features cannot be enumerated at this time.

Through the efforts of the club the Calapooia River, one of the
finest trout streams in the state, is being constantly stocked with the
gamiest of fish, while other streams of the county are also receiving
attention along this line. Bob White and California Valley quail have
also been liberated around Brownsville under the direction of the club.

A good deal of the success of this club is attributed to the splendid
illustrated lectures given at different times by State Biologist W. L.
Finley. This Club has also taken a prominent part in the organization
of the Oregon Sportsmen’s League and its maintenance and in the
enactment of fish and game laws that will improve and perpetuate the
fishing and hunting resources of the state. The first vice-president of
the Oregon Sportsmen’s League was Mr. A. Crandall, a prominent sports-
man of Brownsville, who contributed much to its organization. Mr.
Crandall is at present a member of the executive committee of the
League.

This in brief is the record of the Brownsville Rod and Gun Club,
attained in a little over two years and a half of existence. Is there
another sportsmen’s organization in the state that can equal it?

—F. M. B.

PLEA FOR THE PROTECTION OF WILD GAME

By Warpven Ben S. Patron.

In reporting the game conditions of Clackamas county for the
Oregon Sportsman, will say that nothing has been done that has shown
up to better advantage within a short time than the planting of trout
fry in the streams of this section—principally the Clackamas, Molalla
and their tributaries, including several good streams and lakes that
formerly contained no fish. A great deal of this work has been accom-
plished by the help of the people of the different localities, and it has
been the best means of enlisting their support in protection generally.
It is very noticeable that as soon as certain people of a section begin
to help to plant fish in the streams, procure and liberate game birds,
and work of that kind, from that time on they take more intelligent
and active interest in the fish and game of the locality. With the
number of fish that have been planted in the above streams the fishing
has held up well in spite of the increasing number of fishermen, and
the fishing today is better than it was four or five years ago. But with
the new electric lines running out from the towns, good automobile
roads, and trails into the mountains, that are making all parts of them
accessible, it is going to take constant effort to keep up both the fish-
ing and hunting, and will require a grade of knowledge and application
that will have to be a new departure from some of the old contracted
ideas of game preservation that have prevailed over this state.

As to the deer of the mountain regions of this locality, while there
are still a good many, they have been reduced to away below what
such a region could easily support. There is an extensive mountain
country to range over that is too rough for settlement, with an abund--
ance of feed such as deer use. For years past adverse conditions have
existed that have brought about the reduction of the deer; but they
are conditions that can, and will be, gradually eliminated. It is not
an easy task to kill off hordes of wild predatory animals in a rough,
inaccessible region that prey on deer and other game; and it takes
time for the people of a community to change from a rambling, pot-
hunter class, that often kill for the sake of killing, to a class of sports-
men and citizens that look upon the deer and other wild life as one
of the chief attractions of the mountains, woods and fields, and some-
thing to be conserved and not destroyed.

Of the forces that have contributed most to the destruction of deer
and other game of the mountain region of this section, I will put the
predatory animals—the timber wolf, cougar, wild-cat and coyote, at
the head of the list. The winter hunting that only a few years ago
was so general, has run them a close second. Of all the ¢lasses of
winter or other illegal deer hunters, the hound running element have
been the most destructive. They are an element that have no more
regard for the game than the wolf or coyote, will kill does and fawns
just as quick, and hunt out of season when they think they can get

—— 7, “= —— —

——— a

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 195

away with it. Fortunately, their tribe is decreasing, and none will
mourn their loss if they become totally extinct.

During the winter months it is natural for deer to leave the high
mountain areas and come down into the foothills and river bottoms.
The feed is better, they escape the deep snows and wild animals of the
higher country, and conditions generally are better for getting through
the winter. But during the years when little attention was paid to
game laws, they were killed and harrassed so much by hunters when
they did venture down, that they have changed their habits somewhat,
and seldom venture below certain limits. This has been a detriment to
the deer aside from the numbers killed. When they are allowed to
come down into the river bottoms and foothills unmolested during
winter, escaping many adverse conditions, they will raise more young
and thrive better generally. If the animals that prey on them venture
down it gives settlers a chance to kill them without going miles back
into the mountains. By correcting such evils there is no reason why
the deer, and elk, too, need not become nearly as numerous in these
rough regions as they were in the early days. Legal hunting alone will
not deplete the deer in such a region, at least until there is far more
done than at present.

There are two or three small bands of elk in this territory. They
were about reduced to the point of extermination at one time, but are
now showing an increase. Within a few more years there will be quite
a band if nothing happens to them. The number of pieces of elk horns
that have been found are a mute testimony to the hundreds that once
roamed over this region.

WILD GAME IN BENTON COUNTY

By WarpvENn C. C. Bryan.

The deer season opened with a rush in Benton county. Hunting
parties could be seen on their way toward the mountains with nearly
every mode of conveyance except ox-team. The greatest rush appeared
to be for the Alder Creek section, this being considered one of the
favorite hunting grounds of the county, as it is easy of access and is
generally known to be inhabited by a goodly number of fine bucks.
The Alder Creek Camp is reached by way of Philomath, following the
Alsea road and passing over the mountains to the Coast side. Imme-
diately at the foot of the mountain flows the little stream known as
Alder Creek. Here you will find a beautiful camping ground and by
following the creek north for a short distance you will find yourself in
the happy hunting grounds. This section is timbered with dense un-
derbrush, affording excellent protection for the deer. It was in this
locality some years ago where Frederick Layton, of North Albany,
was killed by accidental shooting. At the time of the accident there
was a large number of hunters reported to have been within almost
talking distance of the unfortunate man. It is evident that there was
a great deal of wild shooting from the number of shots reported as
having been fired, but only one deer was taken out of that locality
on that day. It was shot by Albert Woods, of Pleasant Valley. This
accident was such a shock to the hunters that this locality was prac-
tically, abandoned up to the present time.

No great number of deer have been bagged this season owing to
the dry hot weather. The largest number reported killed by any one
party is six. These were killed in the Siuslaw country by Prof. A. B.
Cordley, Prof. George W. Peary and W. A. Jenson, who were accom-

196 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

paniea by Bert Hawley and brother. The largest deer bagged in Benton
county this season is credited to W. E. Brien, of Corvallis. It was a
five-point, weighing about 175 pounds dressed, and was killed in the
Alder Creek section.

Bob White quail are quite mianeitils in this county this season.
On August 29th the writer counted a covey of seventeen Bob White
quail on the R. L. Glass farm, and on September 3rd.a covey of four-
teen was counted on the Whitaker farm near Winkle Buttes, and
again on September 7th a covey of thirty-seven was counted north of
Albany near Spring Hill. M. A. C. Tunnison, residing one mile north
of Corvallis, reports counting forty Bob White quail at one tinie on
his farm.

GAME IN THE SECOND SMALLEST COUNTY sae eda
STATE

By WarpEN W. Brown.

Pursuant to the request to furnish the Oregon Sportsman.with an
article showing the game conditions and situation in Columbia county,
where I have been stationed since my appointment, which is of recent
date, I will say that I have traveled over the country pretty thoroughly
and have found the county, in my opinion, to be one of the most interest-
ing in the state. As I have traveled through many, of the counties
of Oregon, and with all due consideration to the importance of the
other counties, I believe in a normal season that Columbia county
would prove a greater hunter’s paradise for certain game than any other
section. The county, to my personal observation, presents more nearly
the primitive state from the fact that the virgin forests still comprise
the major portion of the county.

Columbia county, of course, is the second smallest county in the |
state, being only 677 square miles in area, and the population being,
I should judge, about 12,000 or 13,000 people. Outside of the cities of
St. Helens, Rainier and Clatskanne the population is scattered over this
area of rugged picturesque country. I say picturesque for the reason
that I believe every person who has had the good fortune to explore .
the three corners of this county and follow the meander of the
Columbia River for the other corner, will readily agree with me that
this county will not suffer in its charming location with any other
county in the state.

The sportsmen who revel in the best wild game hunting to be
found in the West will find Columbia county the field for action. . For
illustration, cougar, wildcats, timber wolves, and some bear abound
to. some extent, and some of these, for instance, the cougar, are proving
a great menace to the deer, and if the cougar is not exterminated more
rapidly the deer will become extinct within a few ‘years. I have not
had sufficient time yet to give as thorough a study to this important
branch of the state’s resources as I will have accomplished in another
year.

During the month of NESE: the first deer taken in Columbia
county weighed 150 pounds, and was killed by the Rev. Snyder party,
of St. Helens, and the place where the deer was | shot was in the yaeanity
of Trenholm.

I have information of a number of ar eas killed in this: county
during the month of August also.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN lS al

I have taken special pains to watch for violations of the game and
fish laws, and am proud to say that we have among our sportsmen
citizenship a very law abiding class.

For those desiring information as to facilities for getting into
Columbia county, will say that the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway
traverses the entire western part of the county, as well as the Columbia
River, which furnished: good transportation facilities, which will take
the hunter to bases to start,in any direction from which he.desires to
the mountains. There is plenty of good drinking. water as well as fine
camping spots. Clatskanine seems to be the mecca from which the
hunters meet and depart in all directions.

HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE DESCHUTES COUNTRY
| By WarpDEN CrypE M. McKay.

Fishing throughout the Deschutes Country has been very good
ever since the season opened up. Local parties have been out and
caught more fish than any season yet. This is also true of outside
parties, and there is no question that there were three times the people
fishing along the river than any year before. At the present time
parties are bringing in from forty to sixty trout for an afternoon’s
fishing.

The Deschutes is an ideal stream for camping and fishing. From
Redmond, Laidlaw and Bend parties can go north and reach the river
at any point with teams or auto. The absence of underbrush along the
river makes it one'of the best streams in the state for fly fishing.

The stocking of the rivers and lakes by the Fish and Game Com-
mission has given a great impetus to fishing in this part of the state.
East Lake and Paulina Lake were stocked in 1912 with rainbow trout
and this June trout were caught that. weighed 814 pounds. Booth
Lake and Square Lake, northwest of Sisters, were stocked three years
ago with eastern and rainbow trout. In July fishermen caught eastern
brook in these lakes that were twenty-two inches long. Eastern brook
trout were planted in the Deschutes in 1913 and 1914. A great many
were caught this season and some were caught above Crane Prairie at
the very head of the river that were over sixteen inches long.

Kishing at Crescent Lake and O’Dell Lake has been very good.
On the Metolius River the fishing has-not been up to the average and
the stream will have to be restocked.

' Hunting has not been very good up to the present time. Sage hen
hunting has been very poor and hunters brought in very few. This is
also true for other game, and very few deer have been killed. On
this side of the Cascades it has been very dry all this year and the
sheep have covered more ground than usual. These two combinations
have made it very hard to get sight of a deer and hunting will not
be good until there is a rain or snow storm.

GAME AND FISH ABUNDANT IN COOS COUNTY

- By Warpven J. M. Tuomas. —

Coos county ranks among the best in the state as to abundance
and kind of wild game and fish in her mountains and streams. Deer
are very plentiful in many localities, more so than formerly. Many

a THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

hunters have returned from their vacations and report securing the
limit with but little trouble. Two of the largest deer I have seen this
season were killed by Carl McCulla and Bert Gould, of Coquille. One
was killed on the West Fork of Coos River and the other near Elk
Peak in the northern part of the county, and both were forked-horns.

Bear also are reported plentiful on the West Fork of Coos River
and a number of hunters have had the sport of shooting at them, but
so far none have been killed that I know of.

Fishing in the streams of Coos county is unsurpassed. Our lakes
also abound with the speckled beauties, and trolling on our bays and
rivers for salmon cannot be surpassed anywhere. A glimpse of Coos
Bay on a fine October morning when her waters are dotted with all
kinds of watercraft and the occupants trolling for salmon will convince
anyone that this is true.

Duck shooting in season on the bays and lakes and in the Coquille
Valley is very good. In the latter valley, however, the shooting is not
good until the rains come in the fall. The valley is very dry during
the summer season, but when the fall rains come and flood the valley
the ducks flock in and remain until late in the spring. This writer
has seen hundreds of wild ducks within the city limits of Coquille in
the month of April—real wild ducks. If this statement is doubted the
reader is requested to write District Attorney Liljequist at Coquille
for a statement of the facts.

Up to the present time Chinese Pheasants have not been a success
in Coos county. They have been tried a number of times in years past,
but do not increase. I think the house cat and the small hawk are
really responsible. Many pairs of Chinese Pheasants have been lib-
erated on the Dement Reserve, but there is not a bird to be found on
the Reserve at the present time. The Hungarian Pheasant could prob-
ably be raised to better advantage here, as the climatic conditions
are low.

CURRY COUNTY

Hunters report plenty of deer in Curry county, but are unable to
get many on account of the dry weather.

A good crop of sweet acorns on the high divides makes good bear
hunting in October.

Frank Thasker killed an extra large panther at Snow Camp last
month; W. R. Coy also reports killing a panther. He got the big “cat”
on the Colebrock sheep range where it had been living on sheep.

Fly fishing is better than usual this year on the lower river. Every:
body reports good catches.

Salmon trolling is at its best at the mouth of the Rogue River.
From ten to fifteen salmon a day per boat is the record.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 199

IN THE GAME WILDS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY

By WarpdEN Orrin THOMPSON.

In response to the request for an article for the Oregon Sportsman
from the game wilds of Douglas county I will give the following items:

i have spent most of the time since the open season began on the
South Umpqua River above Tiller. Hunters in this district have had
good success, considering the dry and. very hot weather that has pre-
vailed. One hunting party, composed of Messrs. Earl and Pearl Wood
and John and Sidney Morley, bagged nine bucks and a coyote in one
week’s hunt. These men were from Silverton, Oregon. Another party
ran onto an old female bear with three cubs and killed them all. l
do not consider this a very sportsmanlike “stunt” to slaughter these
harmless animals at this time of the year when the old ones, especially,
are good for nothing. I believe they should be protected by law at this
season of the year.

John W. Gates, of Portland, met with an accident while hunting
on Bear River above Tiller just after the season opened. He fell and
dropped his gun and the hammer striking a rock the weapon was dis-
charged, the bullet striking him in the hand. It was necessary to
amputate three ot his fingers.

On a recent trip to the higher ridges dividing the waters of the
Rogue and Umpqua Rivers, I saw a greater amount of wolf signs
than usual at this time of the year. I also heard them howling on
several occasions. Some of the “Old Heads” tell me this is a sign of
a hard winter.

I have seen a large amount of “buck sign” in my travels, which
convinces me there are plenty of deer left. The wily old bucks have
shed the “velvet” from their horns and gone into the brushy canyons
where they will surely give the nimrods a “run for their money.”

In the district where I have been, I have noticed an unusually
large number of Mountain Quail. I have seen very few Blue Grouse
and I do not believe they have done very well in this section.

A TRIP TO THE BADGER LAKE COUNTRY
By Warven W. O. Habptey.

One of the many interesting trips that can be made from Hood
River or The Dalles, is the trip to Government Meadows, then on to
Lookout Mountain and on over Gumquack to the Badger Lake Country.

From Hood River the trip can be made by a good wagon road to
Mt. Hood postoffice and then on a good trail to Government Meadows,
which is twelve miles long. From The Dalles the trip to Government
Meadows can be made by wagon or automobile on a good mountain
road, either by way of Mt. Hood or Dutch Flats, the distance being
twenty-eight miles, When you reach the “‘Flats,’ which are south
of The Dalles, you have a beautiful view of the valleys and the Colum-

200 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

bia River for many miles. Government Meadows consist of about 100
acres and are fringed all around with a fine growth of trees. This
remarkable “nook” in the mountains lies at an altitude of about 5000
feet above sea level and slopes to the southwest. From the northeast
side can be obtained a fine view of Mt. Hood. From the Meadows
there is a good trail via the big bend in Hight Mile Creek and over
Long Prairie to Lookout Mountain, which is 6287 feet high and located
about eight miles east of Mt. Hood. From Lookout Mountain you have
a grand view in all directions. To the west, down into the valley of
the East Fork of Hood River and on across the valley to Mt. Hood;
south down into Badger Lake, five miles away, and on south until you
see Mt. Jefferson looming up forty-five miles away. There is a zig-zag
trail down the south side of Lookout Mountain, then it runs on over
Gumquack and down into Little and Big Badger Lakes, which are
situated in a big horseshoe curve of the mountains.

Big Badger Lake is down in the bottom of the valley and has an
area of about fifty acres. Little Badger Lake is on a bench of the
mountain side, 900 feet higher and one mile north of Big Badger, and
has an area of about twenty acres. On a ridge above and north of
Little Badger Lake, one of the grandest views of the mountains can be
had—looking southwest one can see the two lakes below and further
on the hills and valleys and in the distance grand old Mt. Jefferson.

HOOD RIVER COUNTY

A feature of the distribution of a carload of Rainbow trout fry in
the streams of Hood River county September 4th, was that of the
transportation of twenty-eight cans of trout to Fall Creek by a com-
pany of forest rangers.

KLAMATH COUNTY

Deputy Game Warden H. D. Stout, of Klamath county, reports the
planting of 5,000 crawfish in Crater Lake and 3,000 in Diamond Lake
early in the month of August. The crawfish were taken from the
waters of Sprague River and O’Dell Lake and transported to the above.
named lakes by automobile, where they were liberated. The work of
stocking Crater and Diamond lakes with crawfish was successfully
accomplished by the State Game Department under the direction of the
Oregon Fish and Game Commission, and was done for the purpose of
providing food for the trout and young trout fry which have been
planted in these lakes within the last year or two.

Gus Melhase, a Klamath county sportsman, killed one large buck
deer and three bear on a recent hunting trip and now declares that
deer hunting is too tame entirely. Gus says nothing but bears go here-
after with him, and grizzlies are preferred.

A black-tailed deer that weighed 173 pounds was killed on Parker
Mountain a few days ago by Jack Pringle. A number of other Klamath
county sportsmen have had good luck in bagging large deer this season.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 201

REEVES PHEASANTS IN LANE COUNTY

During the past few years between two and three hundred Reeves
pheasants have been liberated in Lane County, especially in the terri-
tory around Eugene. These birds have been raised at the State Game
Farm and a special effort has been made to stock the refuges about
this section of the county because it is considered an ideal locality for
the birds. The Reeves pheasant is not as hardy as the Chinese or
Ring-neck pheasant, but it is a larger and more beautiful bird, and it
will be a splendid addition to our Oregon birds if the sportsmen will
give it careful protection until it can get a good start.

During the summer of 1914 seventy-four Reeves pheasants were
liberated in Lane County, twenty-four of these set loose on game
refuges near Cottage Grove. Mr. HE. M. Sharp, of Cottage Grove,
reports that these birds are doing well in his locality. Under date of
September 4th, 1915, he writes as follows:

~“T have had reports from a number of different farmers in this
section in regard to the Reeves pheasants. Mr. McReynolds, whose
ranch joins that of Mr. J. H. Hawley, the place where we liberated the
Reeves pheasants last year, reports a flock on his place. Mr. McDowell,
also joining Mr. Hawley, reports seeing afew. Mr. Dugan, a mile west,
says a flock of twelve or fourteen young ones are on his place. Mr.
Foster, living four miles north of Mr. Hawley’s place, says there are
ten or fifteen young Reeves pheasants on his place.

Mr. Sharp also reports that the Hungarian partridges liberated
in that locality are doing very well. The farmers are all interested in
protecting these birds.

Two dozen Reeves pheasants were liberated on the Luckey game
refuge a few miles north of Eugene. Three large Reeves cocks stayed
about Mr. Luckey’s house all last winter. They became quite tame.
On the first day of last March I visited this refuge with Mr. L. E. Bean
and saw these birds, as well as a flock of Silver pheasants that had
been liberated in this section. The Reeves pheasants were in beauti-
ful plumage, especially with its long tail feathers. During the summer
a flock of Reeves pheasants hatched in the wild state were seen here
on the Luckey reserve. Several broods of young Reeves pheasants
were sent from the State Game Farm and placed on the Luckey farm
early last spring.

In August two dozen Reeves pheasants were sent to Eugene and
liberated on the College Crest Game Refuge. On September 7th Mr.
EK. C. Whitton, of Eugene, wrote Mr. ’Gene Simpson, superintendent of
the State Game Farm, to the effect that all the birds were doing well,
with the exception of one hen that was found dead in the county road
about a quarter of a mile south. One leg was broken, and a slight
bruise on each hip. It was thought that the bird came in contact with
a telephone wire or with a woven wire fence.

Deputy Game Warden E. C. Hills, of Eugene, reports seeing a
flock of young Reeves on Mr. Warner’s place, about two miles above
Oak Ridge. These are likely some of the birds that were liberated
near Eugene in the past two or three years.

If the Reeves pheasants are to get a start in Lane County, it is

very essential that the sportsmen in that locality take great pains
during the shooting season in October that they do not kill Reeves
pheasants for Chinese pheasants. While the male birds are very
different and cannot be mistaken, yet the females are somewhat alike

202 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

and a Reeves hen might be mistaken for a Chinese pheasant hen.
On account of this, people hunting around Eugene should, for the sake
of preserving these birds, refrain from shooting hens.

W. L. F.

THE DUCK AND GOOSE PROBLEM

By Warven M. S. Barnes.

The open season on ducks and geese in Oregon is a month too late
for the Oregon sportsmen as the ducks and geese are practically all
gone when the season opens, October 1st. The ducks, especially, are
all grown and flying out in the fields before the first of September.

On a recent trip to the north end of Lake county I saw, as I was
passing Summer Lake, hundreds of ducks flying from the lake to the
fields, and it seems to me to be too bad to hold the season closed until
October 1st, when the ducks are all gone to California. As it is, we
protect and feed the ducks for the California sportsmen.

LINN COUNTY

Sportsmen of Linn county take great pride in the fact that it was
in that county that the first Chinese Pheasants were liberated. They
were imported from China by Judge Denny, and for years thereafter
were known as the “Denny Pheasant.” From the time that Judge
Denny liberated the birds near Peterson’s Butte, seven miles north of
Brownsville, they have multiplied very rapidly and spread throughout
the Willamette Valley in large numbers until today they afford the
greatest sport in season in the state. It was in Linn county, also, that
the first Bob White quail were liberated. They, too, were turned loose
near Brownsville, by Mr. S. L. Wright, now of Crowley, La. Mr. Wright
brought seven pairs of Bob White quail to Oregon from Parke county,
Indiana, in the spring of 1879, and liberated them between Brownsville
and Tangent.

MARION COUNTY

The finest. catch of Eastern Brook trout that has been made in
Marion county was by Arvil Wilson, of Salem, on July 25th, in a lake
near Oallie Butte in the eastern part of the county: The largest fish
were eighteen inches long and weighed two pounds, and the shortest
fourteen inches. Mr. Wilson caught twenty of the beauties. These
fish were planted three years ago.

Messrs. A. R. Wetson and Geo. W. Johnson, Jr., residents of Salem,
returned home August 29th from Lake Elenor with some of the finest
Rainbow trout that has been seen in Salem. A number of the trout
measured twenty-three inches long and weighed three pounds. Lake
Elenor is situated ten miles east of Jordan on the headwaters of
Thomas Creek. Six years ago John Santner and Henry Shakes planted

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 203

about 1200 Rainbow trout in this lake. Prior to this time there were
no fish in the lake. The elevation of the lake is 3660 feet and covers
about twenty acres. The depth is unknown. Parties wishing to visit
this lake will find a trusty guide in Thurston H. Thomas, of Scio, Ore.

The prospects for a good hunting season for Chinese Pheasants
in both Marion and Polk counties was never better than at present.
The young birds are more plentiful than for many years, but are
rather small for this time of the year. The reason for this is said to
have been the wet weather in June, which destroyed most of the first
hatchings. The second hatchings, however, have more than made up
for the loss. In the vicinity of Salem the birds are more plentiful than
in some other localities, the reason for this being the fact that the
Capitol Game Reservation has been in existence for the past few years.
The last Legislature repealed the Capitol Game Reservation Act and
hunters will have no trouble in bagging the limit around Salem when
the season opens.

POLK COUNTY

One of the most successful deer hunting parties of the season,
composed of M. D. Ellis, H. G. Black, Roy Black, D. J. Grant and F.
Whitney, all of Dallas, returned from the headwaters of the North
Fork of the Umpqua River, in Douglas county, on August 28th. The
party was out ten days and killed fifteen deer. Besides the deer killed,
the party saw 51 deer and two bear while on the trip.

THE GAME SITUATION IN SHERMAN COUNTY

By WARDEN JAMES STEWART.

The game birds of Sherman county consist of Grouse, Prairie Chick-
ens, Quails, Doves, Sage Hens, Wild Ducks, Geese, and Chinese Pheas-
ants, the latter just being introduced into the country. As there has
been little or no protection for game in the past, there having been
no game warden here until recently, the numbers have been very much
reduced. But some of the game birds, the quail especially, are now
increasing very fast, large numbers of young quail being seen along the
streams this season. In addition to this, in co-operation with Wm. L.
Finley, State Biologist, I have been trying to introduce the Chinese
Pheasant here this year. There was a small number of these cele-
brated birds liberated here a year ago, all of which have done well,
and this year we are liberating about twenty-four dozen birds at about
twenty-four dozen different places in the county. I have tried to pick
out the best locations for these birds, where there is plenty of brush
and running water. Have interviewed the owners of the land and
found them in every instance not only willing but anxious to get the
birds. They have also agreed to feed them in the event of a hard
winter and protect them in every way until they get a start. In doing
this work I find that there is a great deal of interest in this county in
fish and game protection and I hope to be able to organize a Fish
and Game Protective Association that will cover the entire county as
soon as the fall work is over and the people have more time.

204 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

I consider that the number of pheasants now liberated here should
be sufficient to stock this county inside of a few years, and I hope to
be able to do the same thing for Gilliam county next year. In this
way we will soon have Chinese Pheasants all over eastern Oregon.

The game animals of Sherman county are nearly a thing of the
past. They have been killed off for lack of protection at the right time.
However, we still have a few deer in the broken country along the
John Day and Deschutes Rivers. There are alSo some beaver in these
streams and I believe they are on the increase on account of the pro-
tection which the law now affords them:

The wild geese will soon be coming in now' to their old roosting
grounds along the John Day and Columbia Rivers and I expect to take
a camp. outfit and team and travel up and down both streams and do
what I can to enforce the laws for their protection.

Should this article be of sufficient interest I will send a write-up
on the fish and game streams of this section of eastern Oregon for the
next issue of the Sportsman.

TILLAMOOK COUNTY

On August 22nd, while Chas. Morgan and Andrew: Peterson were
hunting deer in the hills back of Bay City, Morgan mistook Peterson
for a deer and shot him in the hip. The wound was not fatal.

Deer appear plentiful this season in Tillamook county, many’
hunters bagging their limit. W. J. Himes killed three spike bucks on
Trask River. The largest buck killed in this county so far this season
was bagged by Alvin Wells. It was a seven-point and weighed 219
pounds dressed.

On the first day of September a large 10-point bull elk was seen
drinking at the creek at Bridge No. 8 on the Salmonberry by trainmen
of the Southern Pacific.

The campers and pleasure seekers are having much sport killing
bear in Tillamook county, seven having been killed on Kilchis River
during the last week in August.

‘The anglers have had a fine season. Tons of trout have been taken
from Wilson and Trask Rivers this summer. At the present time the
anglers are having great sport with jack salmon along the head of
tide waters.

Ducks are coming into Tillamook Bay in large numbers, and the
shooting is excellent.

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 205

WASHINGTON COUNTY HAS SNOW WHITE BUCK

By Warpen G. W. RuSsSELL.

The anglers of Washington county are circulating a petition asking
the State Fish and Game Commission to close the Tualatin River and
its tributaries to winter fishing. Since the season has been open on
trout ten inches in length and over during the winter season, the fish
in the Tualatin and its tributaries have rapidly decreased and the
sportsmen attribute this decrease to the constant winter fishing. Win-
ter fishing undoubtedly takes from the streams a great many trout
that are almost ready to spawn.

Deer are plentiful in the mountains of Washington county this
season, but very few have been killed on account of the dry weather.
Another thing that has prevented the killing of deer in Washington
county is the fact that the brush is becoming very thick. On Septem-
ber Ist Roy Walters, of Gaston, killed two fine bucks on the headwaters
of Tanner Creek, the largest one being a four-point and the finest deer
killed in this section this season. Hunters report seeing a snow white
buck deer near the Harper place in Scroggin Valley. One hunter shot
at this deer several times, but failed to bring him down.

YAMHILL COUNTY

Deputy Game Warden O. B. Parker, of Yamhill county, reports that
Alex McKern, ex-county clerk of that county, killed a five-point buck
on August 18th that dressed 200 pounds. The deer was killed near Fair-
view. Warden Parker relates that the deer was too heavy for Mr.
McKern to pack, so he left it in the woods and returned to camp, where
he told two other men in the party that he had killed a deer that no
one man could pack. One member of the party replied that he could
pack any deer into camp killed in the Coast Mountains. Mr. McKern
offered to pack the head into camp if his partner would carry the deer.
Accordingly they returned to the scene of the killing and the deer was
placed upon the back of the strong man, who, after staggering about
ten feet, fell down and could not get up again. His only remark, as
he crawled from under the deer, was that he didn’t know there were
any such heavy deer in the Coast Mountains. The deer was divided
into halves and the hunters finally landed it in camp.

GAME CONDITIONS IN YAMHILL COUNTY

By Warven O. B. PARKER.

At this date I know of sixteen deer having been killed in Yamhill
county since the beginning of the open season. One casualty has oc-
curred in the county when Edward Berry was shot by John Moulette,
who was hunting with him near Green Mountain, about ten miles
northwest of McMinnville. Mr. Berry had killed a deer which they
had dressed and resumed their hunting. Mr. Moulette saw the brush
move and thinking it was a deer, he shot Mr. Berry in the head. Mr.
Berry has recovered so far that he has been out hunting again. This
accident occurred on the first day of the open season.

On Sunday, August 29th, W. L. Duncan, special deputy game warden,
and myself left McMinnville in Mr. Duncan’s automobile at 5 A. M.,
driving to the P. E. Holdridge farm ten miles south of McMinnville on

206 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

the Salem road and from there to Dayton, making a drive of about
seventeen miles. On the trip I counted 253 Chinese Pheasants, the
largest band containing 35 birds; 45 Bob White Quail, and 32 Grouse.

Six miles west of McMinnville, where George Kauffman is camp-
ing on the McFarland farm, he reports there are from 300 to 500 wild
pigeons in the vicinity of his camp.

The California or Little Valley Blue Quail, and Hungarian Part-
ridge are reported to be increasing rapidly in the different localities
where they have been liberated in this county. There is a large crop
of game birds in Yamhill county this season. Chinese Pheasants, espe-
cially, are very numerous. :

There have been three arrests in Yamhill county so far this season
for violating the closed season on Chinese Pheasants. In all three
cases the defendants were find $25.00 each with costs added.

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TEMS « INTEREST

TO OREGOX SPORTSMEN
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ELK IN SOUTHERN OREGON

That elk in southern Oregon are doing well and are increasing in
numbers is attested by the fact that within the past two weeks no less
than 31 head, of which number five are calves, were seen in one day
in that part of the state. The State Game Warden’s office is informed
that elk in other parts of the state are also doing well, and doubtless
the increase this year will be considerable.

VALLEY QUAIL ARE THRIVING,

Mr. W. H. Sharpe, of The Dalles, Oregon, reports that on his place
twenty Chinese pheasants wintered in good condition. Birds released
here from the State Game Farm have increased. He also writes that
there are several hundred Valley quail on his place and perhaps about
fifty prairie chickens or sharp-tailed grouse. The latter birds are rather
scarce in Wasco County.

THESE ARE NOT BEAR STORIES.

Last year Mr. Sam L. Sandry reported that 165 deer were brought
out of the north fork of Evans Creek. This year from August 15th to
October ist, 68 deer were killed and brought out by hunters who went
hunting in this territory.

On Saturday, September 11th, Mr. John Hammersley, of Gold Hill,
killed three cougar on the north fork of Evans Creek. One was an old
female and the other two yearlings.

208 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

CHINESE PHEASANTS IN CLATSOP COUNTY.

Mr. W. G. Brown, of Clifton, writes that he does not need any
more Chinese liberated in his section. “We had twenty-four last fall,
besides those already on the place. Some of them must have raised
three broods, as there are coveys of various sizes. If they do as well
next year, the ranch will all be pheasants.”

PARTY SAW 51 DEER.

One of the most successful deer-hunting parties, composed of the
following residents of Dallas: M. D. Ells, H. G. Black, Roy Black,
D. J. Grant, and F. Whitney, returned August 28 from a ten-days’ trip
from the headwaters of the north fork of the Umpqua River. They
killed fifteen deer and saw 51 more; they also saw two bear.

SOME TRAPPER!

Mr. George Hargadine reports that on the Modoc Reserve he
trapped the following creatures: One coon. five skunks. two: civit cats.
three hawks, one owl, nineteen house cats. This report shews the
predominance of house cats in some localities. These creatures are
more destructive to game birds and song birds than any of our wild
animals.

COOS COUNTY

Game Warden J. M. Thomas, of North Bend, whose district em-
braces the county of Coos, is credited with having made the most:
important catch of game violators so far this year. About the middle
of July, Warden Thomas arrested two men in the almost inaccessible
mountains of Coos, seizing 400 pounds of jerked venison, a number of
deer hides, and two guns, all of which was confiscated by the state. At
the time of the arrest two deer killed that same day were found near
the camp of the hunters. The men plead guilty to killing deer out of
season and were fined $400 each, or $1.00 a pound for each pound of
cured deer meat found in their possession at the time of their arrest.
Payment of the fines imposed was suspended upon the promise of the
men not to violate the game law's in the future.

Hunters report plenty of deer but are unable to get many big bucks
on account of the dry weather. Outside hunters postponing their hunt-
ing trips until after the first rain. There is a good crop of sweet acorns
on the high divides so we will have good bear hunting about November.

Frank Thacker killed an extra large panther at Snow Camp last

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 209

month. W. R. Coy also killed a panther last month. He got the big
cat on the Colebrock sheep range where the animal had fed on sheep.
Salmon trolling is at the best at the mouth of Rogue river—10 and 15
salmon per day to the boat are being taken out. Fly fishing is better
than usual on the lower river this year, and everybody reports good
catches.

MOUNTAIN QUAIL DOING WELL.

Mountain, or Plumed, quail have made their way for the first time
across the mountainous partition that divides Silver Lake and Summer
Lake Valleys, north Lake County, and have scattered to several parts
of the Silver Lake country. A covey of approximately fifty quail
passed the winter at the Cove ranch, owned by F. D. Duncan, at the
south end of Silver Lake. Another covey of twenty-nine wintered at
Mr. Duncan’s Lone Pine ranch on the west shore of the lake. There
were thirty-two quail in the covey that fed about the grain stacks at
the Circle M ranch of O. A. Morris, at the north end of Silver Lake;
and Lloyd S. Allen, of the Allen Brothers’ ranch, east of Thorn Lake,
reports that at least thirty birds wintered in his barn yard. With the
coming of spring, these birds scattered to the hills. The nests of
several pair have been found in the gulches leading back from Silver
Lake. One bird is rearing her brood at least five miles from the water.

CHINESE PHEASANTS IN PORTLAND.
By Warpen E. H. CLark.

_ Having been requested to prepare a report from this district, or
an article which may be of interest to the readers of the Sportsman,
I am submitting the following on “The Chinese Pheasant of Portland”:

The gamy China pheasant well knows where protection is afforded
him and there he thrives and increases. Within the residence section
of the City of Portland these birds have increased in numbers to such
an extent that there are probably more of the noble birds here than in
any other place of the same area.

The many lovers of the wild life in this city take great delight in
the taming of these birds, which is done by placing food and water
during the dry season in their yards and the adjoining vacant lots.
The birds soon come regularly for the food and in this way may soon
be closely approached. It is no uncommon sight during the breeding
season to see a mother pheasant strutting across a paved street in the
residence section of Portland. followed by her brood of chicks. or to
see several of these beautiful birds feeding in the early morning near
some home where food has been placed for them.

210 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

During the spring and summer months, many complaints come to
me of sportsmen who train their dogs on the birds within ‘the citv
limits, not knowing it is a violation of the game laws to do so. The
dogs not only scatter and make the birds very wild, but unless closely
Watched may kill the young birds.

The greatest violator of the game laws within the city, however,
is the house cat, which, as a general rule, is a very successful hunter
and does far more damage to the birds than does the boy with his
small rifle or bean-shooter. Recently I received reports of two angora
cats in the Mount Tabor district, that had been seen bringing home
eight young China pheasants, beside numerous smaller birds, during
a period of two weeks. The owner of these animals has spent nearly
$50.00 in fencing the rear yard with an eight-foot wire fence, and still
these cats find a way of climbing over and continuing their depre-
dations.

HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGES IN UMATILLA COUNTY.

Mr. C. K. Cranston, of Pendleton, reports that Hungarian part-
ridges are becoming abundant on the Upper Walla Walla River above
Milton. These birds are probably the result of liberation by the Walla
Walla sportsmen, in Walla Walla County, Wash. The birds have spread
over the line and up the canyon.

Mr. Cranston also reports that Chinese pheasants that have been
liberated around Pendleton have spread out in various directions. They
are ranging out into the wheat fields away from the stream courses.
Farmers report seeing many of these birds in different sections of the
county. During 1914, 252 Chinese pheasants raised at the State Game
Farm were shipped to farmers in various parts of Umatilla County and
released. A greater number of birds have been released during the
present season, so that with one or two more breeding seasons pheas-
ants will be numerous in this part of the country.

WE LEAVE IT TO YOU.

Over in a neighboring state not many hundred miles away there is
a game warden who likes to go Webster one better when it comes to
using the King’s English. The story leaked out a short time ago and
we copy it from a recent issue of one of our leading sportsmen’s maga-
zines: ;

“State Fish and Game Warden knows how to play up to the
ladies. He received the other day a letter from a lady asking if she
could troll for whitefish in the upper ‘river. After taking a
long glance at the inquiry and making up his mind that there was
nothing in the laws of the state to prevent the lady from fishing as

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 211

she desired, he sat down at his desk, pressed the button that called
his stenographer and, after placing a fresh stogie in the starnoard side
of his mouth, dictated the following reply, which in our humble opin-
ion should go down in literature as a masterpiece alongside of Web-
ster’s famous reply to Hayne:

May 22, 1915.
Dear Madam:

I am in receipt of your letter of recent date and am pleased to
inform you that ladies are permitted to angle for whitefish in the
manner which you mention.

I sincerely hope that you are situated so that you can go fishing
often and that you catch lots of fish and BIG ones, and I trust your
example will be followed by all your lady friends, for besides being
good to eat and the fun of catching them—fishing gets one out of
doors in God’s fresh air, and we all need lots more of that than we get,
and especially does this apply to the ladies.

Wishing you good luck, I am,

Very respectfully,

eoeceveveesesv eee ese sees eeeeeseesesee see eae

A 1916 SUGGESTION.

The Lacey Act, the Federal Law regulating the importation of
certain animals into this country, prohibits the traffic of the mon-
goose. In discussing the regulations, Hon. I. N. Fleischner, one of the
Fish and Game Commissioners, was reminded of an incident which
occurred to him when he was visiting in Egypt a few years ago. He
said that he was standing in front of his hotel one day in Cairo as
an Arabian peddler was passing. Following at the heels of the Arab
was a long, slender animal which was new to Mr. Fleischner. He
asked an acquaintance of his what the animal was, and was told that
it was a mongoose. His friend then told him the story of a man in
Chicago who was walking down the street one day carrying a large
covered market basket. He was approached by a friend who asked him:

“John, what have you in the basket?” John replied that he had
a mongoose.

“What in the world are you going to do with a mongoose?” his
friend exclaimed. .

“Well,” said John, “you know I have been getting home from the
club pretty late the last few nights, and every time I go home I see a
lot of snakes and I bought this mongoose to kill the snakes.”’

“Why!” his friend replied, “these snakes that you see are only
imaginary snakes.”

“Well,” said John, “that is the kind of a mongoose I’ve got in
the basket.”

212 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

PORCUPINE DESTROYS ORCHARD

By WarpvEen Ep WALKER

An interesting incident occurred in Jackson county some weeks
before the deer season opened that will no doubt amuse the readers of
the Sportsman. Mr. Connor, an orchardist of the Rogue River Valley,
discovered one day that a number of the young shoots on the lately
grafted pear trees in his orchard had been broken off and the tender
ends eaten up. In looking for the cause, Mr. Connor discovered a
number of deer tracks in the orchard and at once decided that the
deer were doing the damage. He immediately notified a local game
warden, who, after an investigation, came to the same conclusion that
Mr. Connor had—that deer were responsible for the damage to the
orchard. Accordingly, application was made to the State Game Depart-.
ment for permission to kill the deer which were apparently using
the orchard. The permit was granted, directing Deputy Game Warden
L. C. Applegate and the writer to kill the troublesome deer.

Armed with the permit and their trusty rifles, the wardens pro-
ceeded to Mr. Connor’s orchard to carry: out the orders of the Game
Department, when it was discovered by fhe wardens that a small quan-
tity of hair had been left by the animal sticking to the waxed ends of
the grafted limbs of the trees. It could be plainly seen that the hair
was not that of deer, and it was finally determined that the hair came
from a porcupine. The wardens stationed themselves in the orchard
and waited until about midnight, when a large porcupine came out of
the brush and entering the orchard, climbed a tree and began breaking
down the limbs and eating the ends. The animal would break down a
number of limbs and then go to another tree and repeat the operation.
One porcupine, working at the rate this one did, could easily ruin eight
or ten trees in a single night. Had the wardens not discovered that
the porcupines were doing the damage they might have killed the three ~
or four does which lived and reared their fawns in the timbered strip
along the Rogue River adjoining the orchard. The wardens, however,
proceeded to kill the porcupine and the skin is mounted and in graceful
form now graces the collection of wild animals in the State Game
Department museum at Portland. ®

FUN WITH A TILLAMOOK CUB BEAR
By Warven G. E. LeEacnu.

Upon complaint of a farmer at Fairview that bear were breaking
down his apple trees and eating the apples, C. S. Wells and myself
started out with five dogs to catch the offenders. After making an
investigation of the orchard we come to the conclusion that an old bear
and two cubs were doing the mischief. We then set about to find

THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 213

where the bear were staying during the day, which proved to be a
small patch of brush a short distance from the orchard. Having located
the bear we circled around on the opposite side of the brush, the dogs
all the while turning somersaults in their endeavors to get lose. We
finally unsnapped their chains and let them go. In about two minutes
they had caught the old bear, and the way they made the hair fly
wasn’t slow. The bear made a little circle in an opening, and as she
started back to the brush we both shot. As we were following her in
the brush we spied one cub, weighing about 40 pounds, making for a
tree. As I made for the cub Wells called to keep it up the tree until
he came back as he wanted to catch it alive. By punching the cub
with my gun and a stick, I managed to keep him up the tree until
Wells returned. After killing the old bear, which weighed about 400
pounds, Wells came and sized up the cub. While he was doing this
the cub walked out on a limb and let go, falling to the ground. No
sooner had it struck the ground than Wells was upon it, and the fun
commenced. During the scuffle, which lasted about fifteen minutes,
sometimes Wells was on top and sometimes the cub. As the cub was
making it too warm for Wells he began to kick and every time he
kicked the cub would tear a good sized piece out of his trousers. Find-
ing this mode of capture would not work out successfully, Wells
seized a spruce knot and struck the cub over the head, which ended
the fun. “What was I doing,’ you ask? Sitting on a log close by
having the biggest laugh I have enjoyed in a long time. It is needless
to say that it was necessary for Wells to purchase a new pair of
trousers, for the ones he wore in the battle with the cub were cer-
tainly beyond mending. The other cub got away.

214 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN

OREGON FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS.

Hon. James Withycombe, Governor and Chairman............... Salem
Hon. I.. N.. Fleischner....... idisjje, ord suet ly pikes Pamecetegeen Asie Seasons hake Portland
Hon, : Marion :Ja@ek-. 04 :.,.cowsdteecnde & Sik dara oe Peer Oe aoc alee Pendleton
Hon: Jc. We Stome nda. dace ates Seek ee ..Klamath Falls
Hon:.. rank M.cWarren« .% <p itads coke hk ae <Sctid's yas Shades aad Be oc oie Portland
George: Painter: Putnant ).) J 006 & BER SE ae hs ae Secretary
TH Laie yrs ay Noe ee ee ne eee oie nar jellal at nfm cate Master Fish Warden
Carl DShoemaker's.)) aso Fae oe otk Sot te ae State Game Warden
Ri ECan ton ss see is co eee Se Superintendent of Hatcheries
William ly, “iimley o.oo. ie ee ee ee; oe eee & State Biologist
Office of the COMMISSION Os. oss ss uc sa 533-36 Pittock Block, Portland

REGULAR DEPUTY GAME WARDENS.

I. C. Applevates <ce.sees Gold Hill Gt eae. Sik el ers Tillamook
Jolin i. Adams. {eee Agness Clyde Nis McKay Ss ek ate Bend
William Brown........ St. Helens cee Sa NECLZ ST ch nieces tases Albany
MoS “Barnes 72-7 2a Lakeview GO. 0 Barker. ./oeees McMinnville
GC, -CrBryane o. Sonne Corvallis Bens S Patten? ws. cee Estacada
Rey Bremmer “. csoo eee Salem Gee, S.) RUSSELL ee wets ete Gaston
By eo Clarks. . yes eae Portland EE Stats Ase Klamath Falls
Jas cH.) Driscoll. .23ehke Ashland Joi FAS SSCCS Rach e Pihs male Riddle
Overton Dowell, Jr....... Mercer James: Stewart is sei. oe Moro
WG. Mimerys sey ee Newport George Tonkin......... Pendleton
lL. 5B. Hazeitine sts ai see Baker Mrank \W, Driskar seu, oes Burns
WO. Hadley vise The Dalles Orrin: Thompson. ¢. 2.4. Roseburg
Ban: Elis.45 ee eee Eugene J. MecMhomasc. sna North Bend
Ty tes Sewell!) soe Grants Pass S.. Bie lveets tee a Brownsville
C.. W. Loughrey. 2. o38..% Seaside J. W: WWalden.\. sas. 22. La Grande
John Larsen. 3.40 Ss aie Astoria Edward Walker ........ Medford
Robert H. Young......... Heppner .

Sib; Ratha cee eas Portland Wire tee MIMO Y tsa oa wea et Newport
W.°Os BMadley. vcs eek The Dalles Overton Dowell, Jr....... Mercer
Jas. He Driscell eee meaor Ashland Bate sewell. oo o.6s e258 Gardiner
Geo. Leach! 32. s..66- Tillamook pamerowell) oo. b 2. Wedderburn

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