Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-08-12
FIELD AND STREAM.
THE GAME AND FISHES OF NORTH.
I'm CALIFORNIA.
How and Where They May be Found
by Devotees Of the Rod
and Gun.

The rapid progress that is being made in
the States east of the Rocky Mountains in
the direction OF game determination will
within the next score Of years, compel
those who have taste for The pleasures 0:
shooting and angling especially the for
mer-to seek the far West in which to in
dulge their rod and gun proclivities. And
already has the point been reached that
persons in the older settled States, whose
eyes have been turned toward the sunny
slopes Of the Pacific in search of homes
where they may pass their Tipening years
IN comfort, have written TO friends and
acquaintances here for information about
the wild game Of the State and the facil-
tiles afforded for feld sports. One gentle
man in Iowa writes 10 us to say that ne is
one Of those who had become infatuated
with southern California from the hatter-
ing accounts he had read Of that section,
but later reading and hearsay reports had
caused him to change his mind, for he had
learned that the upper portion Of the State
was not only more fertile than the other
but offered far superior inducements 10
those accustomed TO occasional outings
with rod or gun There is more in this
idea than many very wiGeawake people
imagine. Those 10 whom have never been
opened up the mysterious
CHARMS OF wooDcRAFT,
Whose days have been spent 10 counting
room, or library or dingy factory, With
never a thrill Of the JOY thai animates the
true sportsman alield-caunOt, Of course,
appreciate the feeling which actuates
business man in preferring a location
where game IS plentiful, to one that does
not possess that advantage Nevertheless.
il is the wise man who, in these high
pressure times, combines with the cares OF
life reasonable degree Of innocent pleas
IRE and recreation. A few days or even
weeks, spent in the woods or by the stream
in the course of q season is time well ex-
pended 1t serves to refresh the lungs
with the purest of air, and to reinvigorate
the entire physical body after the wear and
tear it has endured through long months
of labor. With the benefits that come to
the physical part of the human machine
from outdoor exercise of this kind there
comes also rest to the over-taxed brain
and buoyancy to the spirits that none of
the arts known to human ingenuity can
give 1t is natures remedy for
mans i'll treatment Of himself It is
while abroad on the marsh, by early
dawn or in the dusk of evening, lying in
wait for the rushing canvasback and dart
ing teal while climbing from rock to rock
along the tumbling brook, whose pools and
rifles TEEN with gamy trout while beat
ing the brown hills or stubble-felds for
Quails in the mellow autumn days that the
sportsman is brought into contact with the
ioyeliest pictures in Natures grand gallery
Of attractions and he must be a stoical
creature indeed whose soul and being were
incapable Of experiencing the loftiest feel
jnga Of pleasure and satisfaction at such
time OF course these pleasures and de-
lights are open to all, but few there are,
other than the devotees of rod and gun,
that have known or enjoyed them.
A sPoRTsMESs PARADISE"
The sportsman in northern California
he who delights in either shooting or ang-
ling, and has the courage to tear himself
away occasionally from business for these
purposes ought to be happy man, other
things considered. He IS not as in most
Of the Eastern and Northern States, con-
fined 70 a couple of months quail shooting
in the year-at a season when the cold is so
bitter as to render outdoor life uncomfort
able-or to a still shorter ducking season.
Here quail shooting begins on the LIST day
Of October, and does not end until the Ist
day Of March Just think of it, ye Stow
ridden fellows-fve long months of quail
shooting, and not a day in all that time
that you cannot hunt in your shirt-sleeyes,
unless it happens to rain AS to water
fowl we have not now any law protecting
them in California. A few years ago
there happened to be a rather strong
granger element in the Legislature, and
these bucolic wiseacres thought 1t would
be good thing to declare wild ducks as cut
laws. because in the spring they destroyed
much young grain. So, while the grain
eating ducks are away in the Arctic regions
rearing their young in the summertime
and preparing for the next campaign the
few mallards and teal which breed along
the rivers and in the marshes about the
bays are at the mercy of every pot-hunter
that chooses to slaughter them and their
young broods. All the same, the swarnls
OF ducks come down from the North in
October and make it as lively for the
granger as ever. Our overlooked lands
and marshes and the strips of meadow that
line the sloughs in the valleys give excel
lent snipe shooting throughout the fall and
winter, but the best shooting is had along
in February and March. The birds are the
regular Wilson snipe, but they are as
Irregular in their flight here as elsewhere.
The foothills fairly swarm with hares
and rabbits, and from October TO April
Wild geese of all varieties are rs thick
throughout the grain-growing districts as
geese can well be packed together. They
are not protected by law, bat on the con-
trary men are employed throughout the
season to shoot them, so annoying are they
TO the farmers. In some parts of the foot
hills gray, or tree" squirrels are very
numerous, and the few Indians who aunt
for q living seem to pay special attention TO
these beautiful and toothsome little ami
rnals, and keep the markets well supplied
with them.
DEER STILL PLENTIFUL,
The hills and mountains-both Il the
Coast Range and Sierra Nevada, from the
edges of the valleys to the very SUBMITS
are still full of deer, notwithstanding the
thousands upon thousands that are slaugh-
tered yearly for their hides, and in defiance
oflaw Any person that understands hunt
ing deer can, within forty miles OF Sacra-
mento (by rail- step right into the very
haunts Of this noble animal, and have no
difficulty in getting q deer or two within
the first half day. That is rs many as
any decent sportsman would care to kill,
unless to replenish the larder of a large
party of campers. And right here it might
be well to remark that men who claim
to be sportsmen should never boast of
party OF three of them killing two dozen
deer while on few weeks trip in the
mountains If they should SO far forget
themselves as to kill that many deer lust
for the mere sake of killing them, they are
no better than the Indians who slaughter
unfortunately for their white employers.
But there are still lots of deer in our hills