

FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 

Dr WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES 
New York: W. V. HODGE, 221 West 57th Street 
Chicago: P, J. HACKETT, 326 West Madison Street 
St. Louis: L. M. PERKINS, 217 North 10th Street 
United Kingdom: F, J. OSBORNE, 181 Fleet Street, 
E.C. 4, London, England 

Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation 

THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor 
recreation, and a refined taste for natural objects. 
August 14, 1873. 
wf 
SUMMER FISHING 
ND so when there comes a peculiar whiten- 
ing of the chestnut crowns I know it is time 
to plan a few days upon the river. The days 
are “on fire from the lamp of the sun,” and earth 
seems charmed into a soft, indolent silence. Idle 
winds drift from choric boughs to adventure over 
yellow grain and rustling corn fields. A sibilant 
murmur rises from bending blade and stalk, from 
silk and tassel. Skies that are Grecian in color 
and movement float up from far horizons and sail 
down a blue sea behind pine-studded hills. Out of 
a sun-steeped, dust-laden elm sweeps the strong 
and harsh whirr of cicada—the musician who 
ushers in the flood-tide of summer. 
The rising of a yellow sun finds me heading riv- 
erward. The subtle emanation of a shower- 
drenched earth rides the morning winds, and races 
through the body like old wine. Wild are these 
heavy odors of dawn, so utterly soothing, so inti- 
mate their invasion. The nostrils expand without 
effort, while miles lose their noonday lengths and 
the walk to the river becomes an exhilarating 
jaunt. The birds are singing up the sun. The 
wind is in the west—the good sign of the almanac 
fishermen. 
I hear the elusive note of a hidden blue jay as 
I swish through long grasses gemmed with dewy 
diamonds, and the sound has an insolence and 
splendid audacity that is truly likable. It might 
be one of the river gods interpreting a passing 
mood of time and place. In a few minutes I stand 
under the bough of a ragged sycamore, rigging the 
rod and sweeping a speculative eye up and down 
the ribbon of a smoky river. I make no plans for 
certain fish—I come to take what the water has to 
offer. And to fish with such a magnanimous spirit, 
I am sure the river will be friendly, and meet mood 
with mood. 
The first cast sends the little spoon glistening 
like a silvery insect into the pallid wraiths hover- 
ing above the imperceptible current, then I listen 
to a soft splash, and as an errant zephyr whips the 
mist into flight I catch the shifting gleam of the 
A474 
lure, and with a wrist movement give it life and 
movement. No drug of Timor can produce the 
feeling of sheer elation in knowing I am once more 
within sound of running waters and shining sands 
and singing birds. With a pipe burning a mixture 
of three states, with a primal cast drawn shore- 
ward in satisfying failure, the day begins. Fish- 
ing assumes a raiment of delight, a poetry of sport, 
not only for what it is, but what it suggests and 
offers to the passing of time. It is environment. 
To fish amidst song, scents, beauty of awakening 
- landscapes, is not this the flower of piscatorial ad- 
venture? 
w wW w 
BIG GAME ANIMALS ESTIMATED ON 
159 NATIONAL FORESTS 
ORE than 687,000 head of big game animals 
make their home on Uncle Sam’s 159 Na- 
tional Forests, announces the Forest Service 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
which has just completed the compilation of a count 
made in 1924. 
Compared with the previous year the 1924 fig- 
ures represent an increase of about 44,000 head 
after due allowance is made for 44,300 head of bear 
which were not included in the estimates of former 
years but which are included-in the 1924 estimates. 
Forest Service officials explain that this increase 
may be caused by the fact that 1924 was a very 
dry year in the West and that the drought condi- 
tions resulted in an unusual concentration of game 
animals around watering places which enabled the 
Forest Rangers to make closer estimates than in 
former years. It is also cxplained that only ani- 
mals using National Forest ranges are included in 
the estimates and that no account was taken of ani- 
mals which graze almost entirely on adjacent Fed- 
eral lands or on privately-owned areas. 
Deer represent the vast bulk of the big-game ani- 
mals with a total for 1924 of 550,500 compared 
with 511,200 last year. An analysis of the figures 
shows that except in a few National Forests lo- 
cated in California, deer show a uniform increase. 
These few exceptions may be the result of closer 
estimates rather than any real increase in number. 
The five States credited with the largest number 
of deer are, in the order of their rank, California, 
Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Arizona. Alaska, 
also, is credited with about the same number— 
50,000 head—as the two last named States. 
In the 1924 estimates bears were included as 
game rather than as predatory animals, the figures 
showing 44,300 head on the 159 National Forests. 
Of this total 38,700 were of the black and brown 
varieties, the balance of 5,600 being grizzlies. 
Nearly all grizzlies listed were found on the two 
National Forests in Alaska alone. Montana is the 
only State in which the Forest Rangers were able 
to find more than a scattering few of this bear. 
Elk have increased in all western forests, more 
than 52,600 head being listed for 1924 compared 
with 49,500 in 1923. On the Teton National Forest 
bordering the Yellowstone National Park the elk 
herd has shown a notable increase because of three 
excellent seasons with mild winters and satisfac- 
tory summers. Forest Service officials are again 
facing the question of keeping this herd down to a 
number that can be supported by the available 
forage. 
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