Photographing Wild Game 



389 



scenes of slaughter the eye has success- 

 fully focused. Not so with the camera 

 hunter. Each year adds value to his suc- 

 cessful shots, and when he departs for 

 the happy hunting grounds his works live 

 on forever. 



"Generally speaking, it is a patent fact 

 that in the more remote portions of our 

 country the largest of the great game fall 

 singly and in bands without any pretense 

 that the meat itself can be possibly used, 

 and this is especially true of the moose, 

 elk, caribou, and formerly of the buffalo. 

 In many instances the horns and hide be- 

 come a handsome trophy, but at a cost 

 far exceeding their commercial value. 

 Wherefore this anomalous state of af- 

 fairs ? 



"If the incentive pulling the trigger is 

 the flesh pot or the purse, the case is in- 

 curable. To the professional hunter the 

 camera would be a hollow mockery, and a 

 plate containing the image of a deer in- 

 stead of a solid chunk of venison a Bar- 

 mecidal feast. Killing game by the pro- 

 fessional is purely a matter of business, 

 like cutting cordwood, and therefore 

 gauged upon a different, but nevertheless 

 much more rational, principle than the 

 one which governs most of us in hunt- 

 ing." 



The above plea for the camera in hunt- 

 ing has since been supplemented by many 

 other sportsmen and naturalists, until, at 

 the present time, hardly a month goes by 

 that some new and forcible reason is not 

 given for the substitution of the camera 

 for the gun. 



While a number of the present illus- 

 trations were taken in the daytime, this 

 method of photography is now so well 

 known that I will not attempt to describe 

 such pictures in detail ; but in view of the 

 fact that I was the first to attempt flash- 

 light pictures of wild game, and for 

 the first fifteen years was the sole occu- 

 pant of this attractive field of photog- 

 raphy, it may be of interest to the readers 

 of this article to learn something about 

 this rather odd way of picturing wild 

 animals, at a time when the hunter ordi- 

 narily is sound asleep. 



When going out for the first time in 

 the dead of night, in the silent, trackless 

 forest, or upon the placid bosom of some 

 little lake, searching for game photo- 

 graphs, with the way feebly lighted by a 

 bull's-eye lantern on one's head, or the 

 lamp fastened to a stick in the bow of a 

 frail canoe, one is apt to think it is a ven- 

 ture unlikely to meet with much success, 

 however great the novelty of such an 

 expedition. 



However, the pictures herein produced 

 are but a few of the many obtained in the 

 past, and indicate that night hunting with 

 the camera, while of course difficult, is 

 still not barren of results. 



Like all pastimes worthy of permanent 

 existence, considerable skill and patience 

 is required, doubly rewarded, first by the 

 fascination of life amid Nature's secret 

 haunts, and secondly in the beautiful and 

 permanent game pictures which the cam- 

 era hunter obtains when his efforts are 

 properly directed. 



A brief description of how these night 

 pictures were taken may not be out of 

 place. Ordinarily it is preferable to seek 

 the game along the water-courses, and, 

 as most wild game are largely nocturnal 

 in their habits, the writer has usually 

 sought his game in a boat rigged espe- 

 cially for such purpose. 



In the bow of a light fourteen-foot 

 boat is set a frame upon which two cam- 

 eras are placed, focused at from thirty 

 to forty feet ; above this is placed a lamp 

 with a strong reflector, which throws the 

 rays directly in front of the boat. 



The deer and the moose feed among 

 the lily pads and grasses along the edge 

 of the stream or lake. They are not ordi- 

 narily frightened by the approach of a 

 light, their curiosity being very strong 

 and the bright rays of the lamp blinding 

 them, so that they cannot see the boat or 

 its occupants. This method of approach- 

 ing game is well known to hunters, and 

 is called "hunting with a jack-light." It 

 has been the subject of some discussion 

 among the sportsmen as to whether this 

 method is legitimate, nearly all contend- 

 ing that it does not give the deer a chance 

 for his life, which true sport demands. 



