THE BEST PART OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHARLES SCHOLTING. 



In reading Recreation my attention is 

 always drawn, first, to the Guns and Am- 

 munition department, and, next, to the 

 notes "From the Game Fields." I am sur- 

 prised that some sportsman in this part of 

 the country does not tell Recreation 

 readers about our sportsmen's paradise. I 

 have hunted in 7 different States, but never 

 in so fine a game country as this. The cli- 

 mate here is all a hunter could desire. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY CHARLES SCHOLTING. 



resting the horses on cayote creek. 



There is no severe cold nor extreme heat. 

 In our beautiful Humboldt bay one can go 

 out any day, in fall or winter, and in a 

 few hours secure enough ducks to supply 

 his table. Just outside of the city limits 

 one can shoot, in one evening, enough 

 cottontails and quails for a family meal. 

 Fish are in our land locked bay in un- 

 counted numbers. In the fall there are 

 flounders, sea trout, rock cod, sardines, 

 Spanish mackerel, smelts, perch, and even 

 the king of all game fishes — salmon. Grand 

 sport can be had in catching salmon with 

 a troll or with sardines on rod and line. 

 Mr. M. Carson recently returned from a 

 few hours' trolling on the bay with 10 

 salmon; while I was lucky enough to have 

 4 to my credit. 



In summer and early fall Humboldt coun- 

 ty especially deserves the title of sports- 

 men's paradise. This county is one of the few 

 in the State where there are enough black- 

 tails left to furnish grand sport. Frank, 

 Bob and I took a trip of a month into the 

 interior of the county, on the Trinity coun- 

 ty line. We killed a few deer, used nearly 

 all the meat in camp, and dried the re- 

 mainder to be taken to town. We bagged 

 several 3 and 4 point forked horns, and 

 brought some beautiful antlers to town to 

 decorate our dens. We killed 6 rattle- 

 snakes, which we skinned and tanned. 



Grouse and mountain quails can be seen 



every day by the score and are seldom shot 

 at. A few bears and mountain lions 

 roamed in our hunting grounds. We did 

 not kill any, but their signs were to be 

 seen quite often. 



For a few days we pitched camp on top 

 of South Fork mountain close to 2 sheep 

 herders, Hans and Oscar, who are em- 

 ployed to take care of 3,700 sheep. 



Some people imagine that the average 

 sheep herder is a man almost without in- 

 telligence, and that he leads a lazy life. 

 We often fail to realize what confidence an 

 employer must have to trust a man with 

 3,700 she^p, miles away from ranch houses, 

 in a country where coyotes, bear and 

 mountain lions abound. Hans and Oscar 

 are young men of intelligence, a combina- 

 tion of herder, hunter and trapper; and 

 are alive to the responsibility of watching 

 so valuable a charge. 



We left our camp August 7th to return 

 to Eureka, a distance of 60 miles, and we 

 packed every foot of the road. 



Will some reader of Recreation tell me 

 a good way of curing deer antlers in the 

 velvet when the points are soft. We were 

 obliged to throw away some fine ones on 

 that account. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY CHARLES SCHOLTING. 



IN THE PILOT ROCK COUNTRY. 



Anyone wishing to come to this county 

 to hunt or fish may call on me in Eureka 

 and I will be glad to tell him how to get 

 good hunting and will guide him to the 

 hunting grounds. 



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