A CALIFORNIA DUCK SHOOT. 



The outside world knows little or noth- 

 ing of the hunting fields of Modoc, a county 

 m the extreme Northeastern par 4 - of Cali- 

 fornia. There are to be found the best 

 hunting and fishing grounds of the West. 

 Herds of deer and antelope, and an occa- 

 sional elk, inhabit the forests ; the river 

 and creek banks are alive with otter, mink, 

 beaver and other like animals ; while in 

 different parts of the county black and cin- 

 namon bears abound. The streams afford 

 the finest trout fishing in the State, and the 

 swamps, which are many and large, swarm 

 with ducks and geese. There is the home 

 of the mallard, which, despite the varying 

 conditions of weather, can always be found 

 in great numbers. 



The latter part of November Attorney J. 



left the water about 4 o'clock that evening, 

 with 190 ducks, mostly mallards and wid- 

 geons, and 13 geese. The accompanying 

 picture shows 160 of these birds, after our 

 return to Alturas. The guns used were 

 repeating Westchesters and one Le Fever. 



This same party has often gone on the 

 swamp only 3 miles from Alturas and 

 bagged 38 ducks in half an hour. 



Many market hunters are at work on 

 Lule lake, this county, and I have heard 

 that they have shipped as many as 5,000 

 pounds of ducks and geese at one time, do- 

 ing so, of course, under assumed names. 

 However, the local sportsmen in and around 

 Alturas keep the market hunters away 

 from the South Fork swamps. — R. L. Sloss, 

 Alturas, Cal. 



R. L. SLOSS, ALTURAS, CAL. 



W. Adams and wife, Dr. E. F. Auble and 

 wife, and my wife and I left Alturas, the 

 county seat of Modoc county, and drove 

 one evening to the South fork of Pit river, 

 which is one of the tributaries of the 

 Sacramento. The distance was about 20 

 miles. 



We camped for the night, preparatory to 

 having a duck shoot the following day. In 

 the morning we drove down to the ranch 

 of W. W. Williams, where we were joined 

 by him. The day was clear and cold, and 

 as a great deal of the open water was frozen 

 we sought the warm spring section, where 

 there was plenty of warm, open water. We 

 stationed ourselves about 100 yards apart, 

 and as the birds came in from all direc- 

 tions, most singly but sometimes 2 or 3 

 together, we found the shooting good. We 



COMMENT. 



If you and your friends killed 190 ducks 

 and 13 geese, as you state, you are all en- 

 titled to places in the hog pen. You say, 

 ''The accompanying picture shows 160 of 

 these birds, after our return to Alturas." 

 Only 61 ducks are shown in the photograph 

 and no geese. Where are V 1 other 90 

 ducks and the 13 geese? Probably stored 

 away under the porch, eh? Your state- 

 ment and the picture do not hang together 

 well. You should either have used a 

 camera that would exaggerate, or else you 

 should have toned down your own state- 

 ment to fit the camera vou did use. 



I am not surprised that you and one of 

 your friends should have used pump guns. 

 You are exactly the kind of men who may 

 always be counted on to use the most mur- 

 derous weapon that can be found. — Editor. 



"Music is said to be good as a medicine." 

 "That's all right ; and then again we often 

 feel the need of medicine after hearing 

 some kinds of music."— Cincinnati Commer- 

 cial-Tribune. 



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