St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-15
AMONG CANVASBACKS.
DHSTING TISHED PARTY HUNT.
ING I'm TURTLE MOUNTAINS.
Besides Ducks There Are Lots of
Moose, Elk, Lynx, Bear and
Deer.

what is the most notable hunting party
Of the Western season. We are en-
at Pleasant Lake. n. D., just a
mile south of the Great Northern road,
and i'll the very midst of the great
est game haunt in North Amer
lea. Situated fifty miles west of
Devils Lake. we are as many
miles south of the famous Turtle noun
taius, in the vale of which the moose.
elk, lynx, bear, deer and antelope have
wintered from time immemorial. Nine
teen miles north of Knox lies Alkali Is
land lake, the greatest canvasback
breeding district III the country. That
this rare and toothsome bird confines
itself to this particular and surrounding
water is due to the abundant growth of
wild celery which thrives in the bed OF
the lake. The rich flavor and plump
physique of the canvasback is as much
due to its habit and nature as to the
heritage of its fine species. Its chief
food is celery. The rarity of this growth
i'll Western waters, and i'll fact all
waters, except the Chesapeake Bay
shores, directs the reSort Of this game
bird to out few game harborS ill the
country.
The Devils Lake region is familiar
to our Western SpOrtSmen,and now that
the Great Northern road extends north
into Bottineau in the west. and ST. John
in the east of the Turtle mountain dis
trict, field is open to our sportslnen
which should crafty the greatest ell
thusiast.
| have been all over the Dakotas and
Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska grouse
planes, goose fields and duck marbles,
but | have vet to find region so natur-
ally alive with aquatic game as | find
Roiette, Bottlneau, Pierce and Nc
Henry counties, in North Dakota. The
valley of the Mouse river is a natural
flight for Northern>bred birds: the
lakes north and south of Knox are fat
tening feeding mourS; the Great North
ern is easily accessible from all points
of the interior, and take il all in all, the
shooting party with which your cor
respondent has pitched his tent is better
situated than it has been ever before
and that is indeed expressive, for the
party and its extensive equipment has
been organized for six years.
Camp Anson is our harbor. The
lodge is named in honor of Capt. A. &.
Arson, Of the Chicago base ball club.
Besides the noted base balliSt, the party
consists of William f. Bickel.vice pres
dent of The Minnesota Savings bank,
st. Paul; Harry Bickel. Walter r. Will
Duryea, pitcher; the GLOBE correspond
ent; Henry Shields, keeper of the game
and camp equipment. and "GeOrge"-
fat. black, genial George" the best
camp cook ever caught.
Every fall for the past six years this
party has visited this northern district.
Its equipage is as complete as money
and thorough sportsman's knowledge
of the necessaries of such a iaunt in
such country can possibly make It,.
There is no lodging in farm houses or
barns. and the daily menu is not there
by limited to salt pork and rubber pan
cakes with the tenacty Of porous
plaster and the taste of a bloated in
sole. Each department of the camp is
governed by memorable rules, and every
member of the party, having long ago
absorbed SpOrtsman'S training, knows
very well how to observe these laws OF
the lodge.
The tent is 24X16 feet, with seven foot
wall. One apartment is used by the
chef. another is devoted to dining and
third is fitted up will, eight cots and
ticks, Where each man has his own lit .
lie sacred domain for the soundest sleep
which ever restored Il weary ones
tissue. There are mirrors and reflected
lights hanging OIL the tent poles: there
are trunks at each piliowed and warm
ly-blanke!ed cot: center table is used
i'll common for sketches of the district,
plans for the next days campaign, let
Ter writing, or stories, pipes and cards
CT perchance the entertainment of
friendly settler or Indian from the
neighbOrhood. When the lodge is
pitched in grove, as it was On Island
Lake island, the game, from golden
piOver 10 10 siX-fOOt eight-inch swan,
is hung in the trees roundabout. or
spread on the frozen ground. When the
tent stands in the open, poles and
racks are fixed in the ground
under tarpaulins. The game is thus
kept as fresh and cold as in the best
storage. In fact, the appointments of
Camp Arson are perfect, and the severe
hardship and endurance required TO
successfully chase these Northern
prairie wastes are most sumptuously
recoiDpensed when the men turn into
the lodge at night. Instead of a frozen,
cherries tent they are greeted with
perfect order and system, supplemented
with the fumes of the following menu:
THURSDAY EVENING.
st. George Cocktail
| Jack Rabbit Stew, With Dumplings
Sandhill Crane Steaks, With jelly
| Roast Plover and Canvasback Duck, DRESSED
With Apples and Onions
| Sweet Potatoes, Pickles Radishes
fot Biscuits. Maple Syrup.
| Coffee, Milk from Neighboring Farm
| After dinner, or, rather, after the
feast - which. by the way, is inter
larded with each mans story of each
mans proves, doubles. long shots ant
other achievements, from faint modi
| fication of the truth to tales of advent
| ure twelve feet long the dogs O
| which there are seyen-are fed and pu
10 bed-chained to the foot Of each cot
1t is an imperative rule in Camp Arson
that the canine contingent shall neve
run loose in camp excep. when the hun
is OH. The rule is an excellent one.
The game which abounds in this re
gion is of great variety. Our bag con
sisted of white brant, black Canad
swan, canvasback, redheads, mallards
spoonbills, widgeons, ruddv and tea
ducks, jackSnIpe and golden plover
prairie chicken, pinnated grouse, Jack
rabbits, badgers and coyotes. In
marsh two miles south of Island lax
we encountered wolves. Upon our al
rival the shooting was not at its best
nor has it been during our camp nortl
Of Knox. We attribute this TO the fai
weather and the numerous Eastern par
ties whom we met shooting everything
from craps to cranes. The day before GU
advent three Illinois gentlemen shot 16
canvasbacks on pass between the tw
island lakes. These waters are oper