Sept. 7, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
303 
A Canadian Outing. 
CLEMENT L. WEBSTER. 
Mr. John Laurie, a relative of the writer, 
spent several months last season with the game 
in Canada, an account of which is here given 
as related to me. 
I reached Regina, Saskatchewan, about the 
15th of August last. In this region are many- 
little lakes and ponds, generally partially filled 
with coarse grass and rushes. Several species 
of ducks breed and rear their young, stop¬ 
ping here each season instead of going further 
north and northwest as do a majority of their 
companions. In these little lakes and ponds I 
saw thousands of ducks, many of them too young 
to fly even at this late season of the year. This 
was the close season, and as is usual with ducks 
with young they were all very tame. Teal, mal¬ 
lards, spike-tail, blue-wing and other species 
were here and remained until ice formed on the 
water in November, when they left for the south. 
I saw only a small number of cranes, and 
wild geese, none of which appeared to breed here. 
Prairie chickens in large numbers were present 
all over the country, especially in the stubble 
fields, and afforded splendid shooting during the 
open season. The Sunday hunting law is strictly 
enforced in this country, and the inhabitants gen¬ 
erally appear to take an earnest interest in the 
protection of game and in the observance of the 
game law. 
On the wild lands grows a gray bushy grass 
six to eight inches tall, generally called “wool 
grass,” which cures on the ground and is ex¬ 
ceedingly nutritious. Many of the settlers allow 
their stock to run during the winter and obtain 
their living from this grass, and they always 
come out looking sleek and fat in the spring. 
Sixty to sixty-five miles north from Regina 
is a group of drift or moranic hills, called Last 
Mountains and Touchwood Mountains. These 
mountains are partially clothed with the north¬ 
ern poplar, to the exclusion apparently of all 
other species of trees. Here a few elk, white- 
tail deer and an occasional moose are reported. 
As the open season here is short, the game 
is pretty well protected. 
During the short open season, however, the 
hunting privileges are pretty well taken advan¬ 
tage of, especially by the people of the region. 
The big game keeps almost wholly to the hills 
and appear quite well able to maintain themselves 
here. 
Prairie wolves are quite numerous and 
are of a different breed from the little coyote 
of the States. Toward evening one day as a 
friend of mine was driving home across the yel¬ 
low prairies he saw a wolf not far from the 
trail and started after him with his team on the 
dead run. For a time the chase was exciting, 
but on coming within shooting distance my 
friend brought him down, and loading him into 
his wagon, drove home. 
In this northern country as elsewhere the 
wild game is being driven back before the ad¬ 
vance of civilization, and within a few years, 
in spite of the excellent game laws, the wild life 
here will have become a thing of the past. 
Closed Territory Increasing. 
Albany, N. Y., Aug. 27.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In looking over up-State newspapers I 
cannot help noticing the steadily increasing ten¬ 
dency to post lands against hunters and fisher¬ 
men. This is particularly noticeable in the Adi¬ 
rondack section where luckily, however, the State 
owns so much territory that there always will 
be room for those who are so fortunate as to 
be able to reach this public paradise. 
And right here it may be well to say that 
the Adirondack region is not for the poor man, 
unless the poor man already resides there. It 
costs a lot of real money to reach the Adiron¬ 
dack country. It costs a whole lot more to stay 
there (because prices for the simplest necessity 
are far higher than in the cities), and it would 
be very hard indeed for any but the ablest men 
to get any sort of work. So it should be well 
understood that if ever the policy of renting 
camp sites in the Adirondacks is adopted, these 
sites can only be for the well-to-do, and that 
such a course will not result in any benefit to 
the sick and the needy. 
Returning to the subject of closed lands, 
let me call attention to the last edition of the 
Elizabethtown Post, which is the newspaper 
which I see oftenest from Essex county. This 
carries no less than sixteen notices forbidding 
trespassing on as many different pieces of prop¬ 
erty. Some of these notices forbid hunting, 
some fishing, some both, and some add trapping 
and berry picking. But all shut out the men 
who are seeking trout and deer from places 
which, in many cases, have been free to the 
hunter and fisherman for generations. Occas¬ 
ionally a notice states that permission to fish 
can be had by paying fifty cents for each in¬ 
dividual, not a prohibitive sum by any means, 
but sufficiently indicative of the thrift of the 
landowners. All the notices state positively that 
trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent 
of the law, and some of them obligingly state 
in addition that the punishment of the trespasser 
is $25 fine. In a couple of instances where the 
notice declares that the property posted “dedi¬ 
cated as a private park for the propagation and 
protection of fish, birds and game,” the infor¬ 
mation is added that in addition to the penalty 
for the trespass, the hunter or fisherman is liable 
to be sued for damage to property. 
If my recollection serves me, Essex county 
streams have been liberally stocked by the State 
in the past. If any stream is so stocked at the 
request of the owner of the land through which 
it flows, he is barred by that fact from exclud¬ 
ing the public, for he must sign an application 
for the fish which could be set up as a defense 
in any suit brought for trespass on such prop¬ 
erty. 
Possibly, however, the Conservation Com¬ 
mission is keeping track of such matters, since 
they seriously affect the rights of many people. 
John D. Whish. 
Reduced Price Improved Quality. 
Haverhill, Mass., Aug. 18.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: In reply to yours of recent date 
inquiring in what form I sent money will say 
it was a $1 bill. If it is lost in transit, the only 
thing for me to do is send you another. Iwill 
send money order next time. 
You naturally ask why I wish to discontinue. 
For no reason, except I am not so enthusiastic 
as I was some years ago regarding everything 
that pertains to hunting • in fact, my guns are 
for sale, as game is so scarce near settlements 
that it is useless to chase the muzzle of a gun 
aiound, so much so that I have lost in¬ 
terest in the whole business. I have been a sub¬ 
scriber for five years as you say, but you will 
be some surprised when I inform you I have 
not been without Forest and Stream for twenty- 
five years. I took it from news stands for years, 
but I surely could have saved some coin if it 
had been by subscription. In the halycon days 
I'Orest and Stream was $4 per annum, but you 
have kept pace with the times and improved the 
paper and lowered the price. 
1 he majority of your best writers to my 
fancy have crossed the bar, peace to them, as 
they were valued friends of mine through their 
wiitings. My favorites in order were Roland 
Robinson, Fred Mather, Cabia Blanco, Nesmuk 
Sears, Hermit Walton and a few lesser ones. 
Oh ! and Schultz, whose Indian tales are classics. 
He is writing some for the Youth’s Companion 
of late, I am pleased to note. I did not intend to 
try to preach a sermon when I started in, so 
wil1 close - Chas. F. Orne. 
Illinois Shooting. 
Bloomington, Ill., Aug. 16.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Quail hunting is to be excellent 
next winter, according to the farmers of Central 
Illinois. They say that the coveys seen this sum¬ 
mer have been large and much more numerous 
than in former years. The weather conditions 
have been propitious and the birds have thrived. 
Rabbits are also numerous, and the supply will 
be unlimited by the time the season opens. 
Farmers say that the young rabbits now seen 
are almost large enough to eat. Prairie chickens 
are scarce and the efforts to protect them by 
four years of closed season appear to be with¬ 
out success. Young squirrels are numerous 
where the timber has extensive growth. The 
outlook for fall shooting promises to be satis¬ 
fying to the nimrods of all classes. 
E. E. Pierson. 
New Publications. 
I he Purple Sage, by Zane Grey, Harper Bros., 
price $1.25. 
Zane Grey hadn’t lived many years at the time 
of his story, but he has nevertheless given an 
“among those present” touch to his latest book, 
“The Purple Sage.” It tells graphically and in¬ 
terestingly the life on the Utah frontier in the 
early seventies. It relates the history of the 
Mormon plots against the too few Gentiles, weav¬ 
ing a charming story of love and romance 
throughout the narrative. It abounds with Zane 
Greyism and action. You will make a mistake 
if you don't read it. 
