The morning call., 1892-12-18
GUN AND DOG.
Sea Brant Shooting in TomaIes Bay
as a Sport.

| Sea Brant Shooting In IomaleS Bay
as Sport.
In the Eastern States the canvasback is
| acknowledged by all sportsmen and cpl
| cures as being the prince Of the duck fam
| lily. Next to the can comes the mallard and
black duck.
In this State the canvasback Is by no
means as good a table bird as the mallard
or teal, simply because he is cut off from his
| favorite food celery and must exist while
| on this coast on small fishes and whatever
| vegetable matter he can find in sloughs and
| ponds.
On the Chesapeake Bay, which is the
| home Of the canvasback, the birds feed
| almost solely on wild celery, which imparts
TO them sweet and delicate flavor; hence
| the high price they command in Eastern
markets.
There is, however. a bird which visits this
| coast in the winter which is the equal of
| the Chesapeake can" in point Of flavor,
because il feeds solely on the pulp of a
| peculiar variety Of seaweeG that grows only
iu Tomales and BOdega bays. The bird In
| question is the sea braDt, which very much
resembles the Canadian wild goose in
plumage and general appearance. The
| bTant is, however. smaller bird, and good
fat fellow will weigh as high as five pounds.
Their average weight Is from three to four
pounds.
OF all cunning water fowls the brant is
unquestiOnably the leader. Flocks which
frequently contain more than one thousand
birds congregate in the bays, and 1t is
seldom a hunter can get within gunshot
distance OF them from shore.
They will not be induced by decovs to
change from their regular course of flight,
which is Immediately over the center Of The
bay. In foggy weather the birds frequently
miss their bearings and fly within gunshot
distance Of sportsmen, who hide behind
the edges Of promontories frequently for
many hours before discharging their guns
al passing flock.
When the wind Is blowing strong enough
TO send sailboat al fairly good speed
sportsmen oftentimeS get within range OF
the fiocks, and it is then that the birds
suffer.
Speaking Of brant-shootnF, an old sports
man, who at one time hunted ducks for
living on the Chesapeake. said that the only
way 10 make success of brant-shootng on
TOmales Bay was TO shoot the birds from
sneak-DoX.
According TO the way they are hunted
now, the sport is very tresome. In fact, it
is no sport at all, and only men who hunt
for the market will spend time in their
| pursuit
Owing to the few birds that are bsgged,
| the sea brant seldom appears among the
wild game that Is shipped 10 the market. At
the present time Tomales Bay is, SO TO
| speak, black with birds, but, as stated, they
are wise enough TO keep well out of range
| OF ali klnds oil guns.
Duek-shooting on the marshes has been
| very poor since the storm. Last Sunday
| there were scarcely dozen birds killed on
| the SOnoma and AlViso marshes.
III the last few days better reports have
been received from the nearby hunting
grounds.
Qute number of spoonbiH, teal and
| canvasback duck have been seen recently
| on the Sonoma marshe. above Black Point.
Reports from several points on the Sacra-
mento and San joaquin rivers extend very
| fatteTing Inducements II sportsmen TO pay
the tules visit. Six bags Of ducks, which
included mailard. sprig, teal and canvas
back, were shipped on Friday to this city
from Byron. Now is the time TO take adj
vantage of the sport, as after the next
storm oGck-shooting near home viii be
done for this season. Quail hunters are
having great inning. Better weather for
upland Shooting could not be desired.
DR.. o. w. Jones and K. A. Wolf, who re.
turned few days ago from Contra Costa
County, report that feathered game is vary
plentiful along the Sacramento River, but
on account OF night shooting the birds are
| very wild and hard TO approach. Their bag
| consisted OF eight canvasba four mallard
aud sixteen green winged teal and also two
dozen English snipe. Dir. Jones is a first
| class snipe shot aud looks upon man who
| shoots by moonlight as being an outright
| poacher.
The Country Club is having grand Quail
shooting at its preserve near Point REYES.
| During the week upward of fifty dozen
| quail have been bagged, besides plumbers of
! slipe and csnvasback duck.
Concerning the breeders and BUYERS of
] hunting dogs an Eastern sporting paper
| says: lis II not strange how some men will
| breed lifetime to secure high class dogs
| and fail, while mere novice will some
| times breed one litter OF puppies and pro-
| duce a finer lot of cracks than the exper-
| fenced breeder will get after years of study
| and devotion to the subject, and then again
| some novice will start out and buy few
| dogs and get together q string that will
| down all of the old kennel men. The
| former condition is one of luck, but the
latter is sign OF keen judgment and spec
| ulative ability, and il the same attention
and sense WAS applied TO breeding, these
men would in all likelihood produce winners
| ii they can be produced. There is consider
able inclination among old breeders to laugh
| at this latter class of fancers. OF course
| the breeder is entitled to the most credit for
| first producing the dog, but IL he has not
| the discernment to sec that his stock is CON-
| prised of high-class youngsters, then the
| man who can come In and buy il before it
! has been tested, and on his own judgment,
| is the wisest of the two. OF course the
| man who buys dogs that have already made
| records. and whose regulations as winners
| are established, Is to be congratulated only
| on the length of ones purse. liza man can
| discern quality better than the breeder him
| self, then that mau is the one who will do
| most FOR the breed. and W III likely produce
| the cracks when be undertakes to breed. at
] least lie will know the good dogs OF his
| produce when he sees them, and is likely
| to use his knowledge Of the breed TO the
best advantage"