SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, ETC. 177 



not for her sparkling eyes, she would seldom, if ever, be 

 discovered. 



Were sportsmen' s ethics in the moxintains what they 

 should be, the birds would not be hunted before the 

 middle of August, at which time, if the reader will, we 

 shall take a trip for them. Our weapons must be a gun 

 for grouse, a rifle for deer, bears, and other large game, 

 and rods suitable for trout or salmon, according as we 

 camp by brook, river, or lake. For this early shooting 

 a light 16-gauge breech-loader is just the thing, and the 

 shells should be loaded with 3i drams of powder and an 

 ounce of No. 10 shot. Heavier charges and No. 8, or 

 even No. 6, shot will do late in the autumn; but in sum- 

 mer shooting the birds will make only short flights, and 

 they will never rise until they are comj)elled to do so. 

 The straight rise and straight-away flight give thfe sports- 

 man ample opportunity for covering them, and his 

 trouble will be that he peppers the young and tender 

 fowl so fall of pellets that they are difficult to pluck and 

 clean, and are much more liable to spoil. 



Sharp-tailed grouse being one of the principal objects 

 of our expedition, we must have a team of good pointers 

 — dogs that will range freely, and that, when a bird has 

 dropped, will not quickly give up the search for it. In 

 these altitudes, a setter is much more apt to get out of 

 condition than is a pointer; and the long, arid deserts 

 that must be traversed, from stream to stream, tell upon 

 the constitution of a water-loving dog. 



No matter whether our route be from the south or the 

 east, we must cross a hot, dusty, sage-covered desert in 

 coming into Southern Idaho — a region that tries the tem- 

 pers of the best of friends; but game-land is just ahead, 

 and the green tints and white patches that cover the 

 mountain-sides become hourly more distinct, and at last, 

 late in the hot summer afternoon, we reach our destination. 



12 



