, 1877-01-13
cROUSE-SHOOTINC.

CR0USE-SH00TIMC.
CONCERNING OUR GAME WITH
FEATHERED LEGS.
THE NOTIFIED BEAUTIES OF THE GLEN
| The lover of field sports, who
comes to Washington Territory fol
a season of that pleasure which il
only to be found apart from the
busy haunts of men, where Avarice
chokes Labor into silence and Glow
browed Baseness watts perfume to
Pride"-must not suppose that our
field sports are limited entirely to
elk-shooting along the Straits OF
Fuca, nor to duck-hunting on the
tide-lands of the Skagit Delta. In
fact, our Territory and the eastern
portion of Oregon, are the only
portions of the Federal domain in
which the Eastern partridge (vul-
carly called the pheasant, here) and
the pinnated grouse (prairie chick
en) can be killed within the borders
of the same State. What would
Henry w. Herbert and his old fat
friend, Tom Ward, whom he i'm
mortalized in his
WARWICK WOODLANDS,
As "Iom Draw"-what would these
worthless have said if they had been
told that there was a portion of
America where these different va
rieties of grouse could be killed
within twenty miles of each other.
Take the Oregon side of Klamath
Lake, you find the prairie chicken; ;
on the California side, you hear the
pheasant" drumming in the tim
ber. Add to this the fact that the
sage-hen = the great, magnificent
bird which Audubon styles the
'cock of the plains''- can be found
in great abundance and is very pal
atable when young, and you GER
tainly admit that we have an extra
ordinarily
FINE HUNTING COUNTRY.
The sage-hen has been immor-
talized by the trenchant pens of
Mark Twain and Old Forbes, the
Nevada humorists, SO that we shall
attempt no further anecdotes on the
subject than a story which is told
on Capt. Tom Stump, the Richie
lieu Of swift-water pilots. His
passion for a days sport with dog
and gun are we'll known. and the
precision of his aim with the deadly
twin tubes only equalled by his ac-
curacy at the helm. One day,
while shooting in company with the
lamented Samuel D. Holmes, they
flushed a sage-hen, which Holmes
hit with both barrels, but
FAILED TO STOP HIM.
The Captain then CAV him both
barrels, but the tough old stager
kept on. apparently unhurt. The
ancient mariner stroked his ven
erable beard and remarked "I'd
like to have that fellows body for
the model of an iron-clad gunboat. :"
The sage-hen IS found on all the
broad plains along the Columbia
river, east of the mountains and
affords good sport. In fact, hardly
a good days shooting at prairie
chickens is complete without killing
three or four of these emperors OF
the grouse tribe. It takes good
powder, heavy shot and above all,
accurate aim, to stop them in their
strong and rapid fight. Next to
them in point of size, comes
THE GREAT BLUE GROUSE,
Or "hooting grouse," whose dull,
heavy "woo-oof" may be heard in
the stiffness of our vast prairies
during the months of incubation.
It is a burning shame that these
splendid birds should be slaugh-
tered as they are, by boys and pot
6U UIldU SCC0OA WAC1,
ed by his sensuality, the male bird
drags his wings upon the ground
and struts for the admiration of his
future bride. On the little prairies
lying between the Columbia river
and our vast inland sea, these splen-
did birds are very abundant in the
fail and may be found at early
morn on the stubble of the bare
and tawny wheat fields. Their flesh
is very juicy and affords a delicious
repast ut the campfire.
THE RUFFED GROUSE,
Misnamt d the pheasant in Virginia,
Oregon and this Territory, is the
same bird called tie partridge in
the New England States. 1t is usu-
ally found in dense thickets near
the cultivated lands and lies we'll to
the approach Of the dogs. The
hunter must be quick and ready or