LIVE GAME AND FOREST RECREATION 



BY ARTHUR H. CARHART 





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PURPLE-GRAY shadows crept into the lake basin. 

 Dusk's domain was invading the land that a moment 

 since had been gorgeous with the flash of the sun's 

 rays the instant before he climbed down behind Marvine 

 peak. In silence the Traveler and I sat while he smoked 

 his pipe and dreamily watch- 

 ed deep black shadows come 

 up out of the depths of the 

 lake to hide under the over- 

 hanging spruce trees until 

 next day's sun should drive 

 them back to watery fast- 

 nesses behind deep reefs in 

 the lake. 



"Saw some grouse today," 

 remarked the Traveler, after 

 a long meditative puff. 



Another long pause en- 

 sued. A trout leaped des- 

 perately after a moth or fly 

 and smacked the glassy 

 water surface in his fall. 



Then the Traveler made a 

 remark which has come to 

 my mind many times since 

 and under many 

 different condi- 

 tions. "You 

 know," he said 

 softly, "if I 

 could only see 

 a bunch of wild 

 elk or one flock 

 of m o untain 

 sheep while I 

 am out here 

 and see noth- 

 ing else all the 

 time I am here 

 I would feel 

 that every cent 

 I have put in 

 this trip was 

 repaid." 



Figuring 

 what I knew 

 the Traveler 

 was spending on his little outing quickly brought to me 

 his value of that one look at a flock of native mountain 

 sheep. It is hard to believe that a man would pay more 

 than a dollar or so to see a wild bighorn in a cage or 

 an elk in a zoo but the Traveler by his statement had 

 valued that one glimpse of the sheep in their native set- 

 ting at no less than five hundred dollars and knowing 





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I' 



Photograph by Hosmer. 



A BIGHORN BUCK IN THE UNCOMPAHGRE NATIONAL FOREST 

 SEEN AT HIS BEST, POISED ON A ROCK IN HIS NATURAL 

 SETTING AMONG THE CRAGS AND PEAKS OF THE MOUNTAINS 



Photograph by Christopher. 



ONE GREAT RECREATION VALUE OF THE FOREST IS FOUND IN THE PRESENCE OF LIVING 

 GAME, AND SOME MEN WOULD GLADLY TRAVEL FAR FOR A GOOD LOOK AT THESE 

 MOUNTAIN SHEEP ON THE UNCAMPAHGRE NATIONAL FOREST 



the Traveler I realized that it was his true valuation of 

 a glimpse of a flock of bighorn. 



Since the night the Traveler made this remark marry 

 like remarks have come to notice. Men have taken 

 hard trips just for the chance of seeing a band of 



deer or elk. Others lucky 

 in seeing a band have told, 

 jubilantly, of their good for- 

 tune and still others have 

 been disappointed deeply 

 when they have failed to 

 see any large game whatever 

 in some of the mountain re- 

 gions visited. 



So there has been present- 

 ed a problem in calculation 

 which cannot be solved by 

 rule of thumb nor by any 

 one individual. And that 

 problem is the actual value 

 of living game as one of 

 the features one may enjoy 

 when visiting forest land on 

 a vacation. For years the 

 keen enjoyment of the hunt 

 lured many 

 men from desk 

 and shop to 

 spend days fill- 

 ed with long 

 tramps, lively 

 appetites and 

 the joy of living. 

 Game in the 

 forest meant a 

 motive for 

 spending time 

 each year in an 

 outdoor life 

 that netted not 

 only trophies 

 but better 

 health and 

 clearer vision. 



Today big 

 game may be 

 taken still in 

 many parts of the country but it has decreased in num- 

 bers to a point where it is a real task to bring home a 

 set of antlers. The lake at which the Traveler camped 

 was twenty years ago the very center of a population of 

 elk, deer, sheep and other large game that literally over- 

 ran the country. That remark passed the evening last 

 fall when I sat at the door of the Traveler's tent meant 



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