462 



RECREATION 



and as such I have been intimately acquainted 

 with the prairie chicken and his enemies for 

 the past twelve years, and I think the greatest 

 enemies of this prince among his fellows are 

 the market hunters, the broad and narrow 

 stripe four-legged skunk and the common 

 two-legged one who traps him in box traps or 

 snares baited with corn during the winter. 

 Although that same Mr. S. F. Fullerton 

 named in your item has done much to eradi- 

 cate the market hunter in Minnesota, there 

 is still much to be done in that line, and a 

 large part of it can be accomplished by city 

 sportsmen. 



The two varieties of skunks, one of which 

 destroys the eggs of the prairie chicken by the 

 hundred in nesting time, and the other who 

 pursues the bird in his time of need, from 

 April till November, can be reduced if not ex- 

 terminated (not without some bad odor) by 

 none but the farmer-sportsmen of the Gopher 

 State and the two Dakotas, if they have man- 

 hood enough in their make-up to become 

 thoroughly aroused over a shameful crime. 

 As for introducing the ring-necked pheasant 

 in place of the prairie chicken, if any one has 

 money or time to squander on the ring-necked 

 pheasant or can get an appropriation from the 

 state for that purpose, he should by all means 

 use it for the perpetuation of our native 

 prairie chicken, who has done wonderfully 

 well in an unequal fight for a long time and 

 who has the ring-necked pheasant outclassed 

 at every point. 



Hoping to see the portion of Recreation 

 devoted to the bird dog continued and wish- 

 ing endless life to Recreation and the prairie 

 chicken, I am H. R. Flint, 



West Union, Minn. 



TEA STAIN FOR GUT. 



Editor Recreation : 



Have any of the fishermen who read your 

 first-class little magazine ever tried soaking 

 their gut leaders and flies in a cold tea so- 

 lution? I learned to do this from an old 

 trout fisherman on the River Tweed, in Scot- 

 land. 



Take a bowl of cold tea and allow 

 your gut and gutted hooks to soak in it for 

 ten or twelve hours. You will find that the 

 gut is made much tougher than it was and 

 that it will be more lasting. 



There is excellent fishing in the streams of 

 this county (Sonoma, California). In spring 

 all the mountain brooks and creeks team 

 with trout, and in the summer there is plenty 

 of bass, pike and a fish called "hardmouths" 

 in the creeks and rivers. 



Ignatius Sutherland, Sonoma, Cala. 



the party. How much do you think we ought 

 to pay for our outfit? 



Please answer this in your next issue. 



F. A. Turner 

 F. A. Turner: 



You will require two guides, one extra 

 packer, one cook and ten horses to do the 

 thing well. 



I estimate your probable expenses as fol- 

 lows : 



2 guides, at $5 a day $10.00 



1 extra packer 2.00 



1 cook 2.00 



Board for 8 men 6.00 



10 horses, at 50 cents 5.00 



Total per day $25.00 



Editor. 



COST OF A HUNTING TRIP. 



Editor Recreation: 



I am thinking of going to Southern British 

 Columbia next month. There will be four in 



GOOD TIMES. 



BY M. BOWEN COSIER. 



Some fellers, they will set an' tell 



About the big things they hev done, 

 An' squirt tobacco-juice around, 



An' think they're havin' lots of fun; 

 But as fer me, I'd ruther take 

 My fish-pole an' a can o' bait, 

 An' sneak across-lots to the lake 



An' throw my hook — an' set an' wait. 

 Bimeby I'll feel a little jerk, 



An' think I've surely got a bite; 

 An' when I find it's just a weed, 



It makes me mad enough to fight. 

 But then I take another worm, 



An' go to baitin' up my hook, 

 An' watch him double up an' squirm, 



An' then throw in — an' wait, an' look. 

 An' there I'll set, an' think, an' dream, 



An' watch the clouds go floating by — 

 Till after while 'twill almost seem 

 'S if I was up there in the sky. 

 Then pretty soon another jerk 



Warns me I'd best be takin' heed; 

 An' then I come back down to earth, 



To find — I've caught another weed. 

 By that time gen'rally the sun 



Is pretty well 'round to the West — 

 An' so, as life can't be all fun, 



I git up slow, an' square my chest 

 To face the cares of life once more — 



An' trudgin' home across the fields, 

 I git to thinkin' of the joys 



That Nature to us mortals yields. 

 Some fellers think they've got to go 



Away off somewheres to have fun; 

 An' dance, an' flirt, an' travel thro' 



'Most all the lands beneath the sun; 

 But as fer me — I'd ruther take 



My fish-pole an' my can o' bait, 

 An' sneak across-lots to the lake, 



An' jest set there an' fish — and wait. 



