Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-09-02
HUNTING THE GROUSE.
Fine Sport on tho Illinois Prairies-The
Season Near at Hand.

Fine Sport on tho Illinois Prairies-The
Season Near at Hand.
Especial Correspondence
CARTHAGE, Aug. 16.-While the enthu-
siastic disciples Of Izaak Walton are enjoy.
ing the finest sport along the rivers and
trout streams, the lovers of the field, gun
and dog are looking forward with eager
expectations to the LIST of September, when
they can sally forth into the stubble fields
in quest Of prairie chickens: The natural
time for the killing of prairie chickens
should begin Aug. Is, but the heavy in
roads made upon these birds in the past
few years nave caused the legislatures of
many of the western states, particularly
that of Illinois, to pass stringent laws in
regard to shooting wild fowl.
It is almost impossible to secure a fair
bag of prairie chickens nowadays unless the
hunter has the services of a well trained
dog. The birds are very shy, and no amount
of general flushing will dislodge them
from cover. Sometimes the hunters who
have no dogs can manage to get a shot at q
covey of birds later in the season, but IN
less a well bred dog either of the pointer
or setter variety can be secured to find the
birds the sportsman is very apt tx run over
the covey and lose them altogether.
About 8 o'clock in the afternoon, dur
ing the month of August, the young
chickens leave the cool shade of the corn
fields and seek food in the adjacent stubble
fields or tall prairie grass. This is where
they are hunted on the western prairies.
The dogs have very little trouble in find
ing them, and a stanch thoroughbred
will perform beautifully after trailing a
covey of young birds. If the hunters be-
hind the dogs are true sportsmen they
will not annoy or hamper the animals in
their work, and the result will be that al
most every bird in the covey will be Sc
cured-that is, if the sportsmen are good
wing shots. The young birds get up out
of the stubble with a clumsy futtering of
wings, and often they are almost under
the feet of the hunter when they rise.
AS the season becomes advanced the
birds grow more wild, and then comes the
test Of smokeless powder and choke bore
guns. Shooting chickens from cover in
stubble fields is generally over by the latter
part of September. and as soon rs the frost
begins the birds will flock together and seek
the corn fields or prairie lands. In the early
morning hours of autumn they congregate
in wheat fields or roost in trees or on
fences, but do not lay the fattering unc-
tion to your soul that you are going to get
within easy range of them. They invaria-
bly, post sentinels at prominent points, and
no matter how patiently the sportsman
may crawl along behind fences or in the
brush some sharp eyed bird is, most likely
to observe him, and then, with a cackle
from the leaders and a general roar of
wings, the flock is off. Many sportsmen
delight to hide themselves in the deep
grasses Of some slough bordering a corn
field or wheat stubble and await the even
ing fight of these birds. Just a short
time before sunset, late in the fall, the
birds desert the corn fields and other feed
ing grounds where they have been con-
cealed since morning and come in with
booming sound Of their wings. They seek
the long, deep grasses of the sloughs as a
roosting place at night, and their flight to
this haven of rest is always bold and strong.
The march of civilization is driving the
game farther west every year. While
chickens and quail are to a certain extent
the most domestic of the wild fowl that
inhabit the western states, yet the inroads
of pot hunters and the extreme cold
weather, and more often floods drowning
the young birds, have thinned them out.
1t will not be many years before prairie
chickens and quail will be almost a curl
osity in some of the middle states. In view
of this fact it is certainly wise that strin-
gent laws should be passed and as rigidly
enforced for the protection of these birds.
All true sportsmen will lend their hearty
cooperation to the work of preserving
game of all kinds. GAY DAVIDSON.