THE GAME BREEDER 



41 



WILD FOWL AND GAME LAWS IN SOUTH DAKOTA. 



By E. D. Pickell. 



When I met you a year ago in New 

 York City I told you I was going on a 

 farm, where I hoped to recover my 

 health. I was then looking for a farm 

 in New England which would be suit- 

 able for wild game, fruit and poultry. 

 I found many places suitable as far as 

 water was concerned, but the soil did 

 not suit me, being used to broad prairies, 

 as far as the eye can reach ; the hills of 

 your state did not appeal to me. I had 

 been told that a western man never 

 would be satisfied in the East. As to 

 that I cannot say, only this, something 

 seemed lacking and, after travelling 

 through the country from the shores of 

 the St. Lawrence river to Chesapeake 

 bay, I was very glad to turn my eyes 

 westward to the big prairies of South 

 Dakota, with her beautiful sunsets and 

 sparkling lakes, dotted with myriads of 

 wild water-fowl. To a man who loves 

 game as I do, this is restful to the eye. 

 It must be true that I love it, for my 

 better half has accused me of it more 

 than once. 



I sold my game park at Huron and 

 last season I spent on my brother's ranch 

 in North Dakota, where there are lakes 

 and game galore ; where I could study 

 their ways of feeding and raising their 

 numerous families in happy content- 

 ment. 



Here were the Mallards, Pintails, 

 Canvasbacks, Redheads, Scaups, and 

 many other varities, and even the little 

 ruddy duck raising her brood. Many 

 mornings in May and June while roam- 

 ing over the hills I have started the wild 

 Mallard, Pintail, Spoonbill, Gadwall and 

 both the Teal from their downy nests ; 

 sometimes it would be in a clump of 

 buck-brush, again it would be in the 

 open, near a tuft of grass. Generally 

 there would be from 8 to 14 eggs of a 

 greenish white color. The nests were 

 lined with a beautiful soft down from 

 the breast of the mother duck. 



Many of the nests would be a mile or 



more from water. It has always seemed 

 strange to me that the ducks go so far 

 away from the lake. The mother duck 

 when the little ones are only a few hours 

 old will start on their long journey to 

 the water, and they very seldom give out 

 on the way. In the thirty years that I 

 have lived in the wild ducks' domain I 

 have never found more than a dozen of 

 the ducklings abandoned by the mother 

 on the road to water. 



The only way you can ever find the 

 nests of Canvasback, Redhead and other 

 deep water species is to get inside of a 

 pair of waders and get out among the 

 reeds and flags ; generally you will find 

 them from ten to twenty feet from the 

 shore, built like a coot's nest floating 

 among the reeds. Six to eleven eggs is 

 about their number. I have known of a 

 Redhead's nest being built on shore close 

 to the water, but it is seldom you will 

 find them on the bank. I have never 

 found a Scaup's nest here in South Da- 

 kota, but they must breed here, as many 

 broods can be seen on the lake in June. 



I do not think that the Widgeon 

 breeds in this state, as I have never seen 

 any young during the breeding season. 

 Many old birds stop here every spring 

 and fall on their way north and south. 

 The Gadwalls breed here by the thou- 

 sands. Also the Spoonbill, which can 

 be found on all the sloughs. I have 

 raised many of these, but I always found 

 them harder to start than most varities 

 since they suck their food from the 

 water. They will learn to eat grain and 

 I have kept many a one on a clear grain 

 diet when the water and ground was 

 frozen in winter and I could not get 

 worms for them. They seem to like a 

 duck mash more than grain when they 

 cannot get bugs from the water. I like 

 to watch the young males get their new 

 plumage and I think they would be beau- 

 tiful were it not for their ill-shaped bills. 



Stale bread crumbs in water will start 

 this duck eating quicker than anything 



