The Washington times., 1901-11-03
HUNTING WITH A CAMERA.
How Photography Is Snvips wild
Creatures From Destrue.F ON.

i
/ new book by Ernest Thompson.
who In private life is Ernest T. Seton. On
| the day when the first copies of the work
| We're delivered by the publisher the news
! papers contained accounts of the arrest
! Of the author in Colorado by a game war
den. The charge against Mr. Seton was
that he had been detected in the act of
| buting bear trap. He was put to much
| inconvenience. but when he appeared at
Merker for trial he had no difficulty in
| convincing the judge that he had never
| in his life baited a bear trap. and that
when he was placed under arrest hc was
armed with nothing more dangerous to
animal life than Photographic camera.
| 1t was ridiculous charge" said Mr..
| Seton. and as ii was made by a man
| who takes delight in harassins Eastern
visitors. the people in Colorado know how
/ to look upon il; but to my friends in this
part Of the country the proceedings look
| ed queer 1 have had much experience
| with wild animals. but have never been
an -Gyocate of slaughter" and he pointed
| to ,;ote IN his new book. which reads:
My chief motive, my most earnest un-
derlying wish, has been to stop the ex-
termination of harmless wild animals: not
for their sakes, but for ours. firmIy be-
lieving that each of our native wild erca-
| lures is in itself precious heritage that
We have no right TO destroy or put be-
yond the reach of our children"
The camera is really the new weapon
| OF the wild animal hunter, said Mr..
Seton. THE anatomy, habits and pecuIi-
| arities of animals have always been of
interest to the hunter. but the study os
| these has been made much easier ard
| productive of better results by the use of
| the camera. Men who have tried both
weapons usually agree that it takes more
| time to shoot with camera than with a
gun, but there is much pleasure derived
| from the successful camera shots. An ex-
posed shoulder will answer the purpose Of
the man who shoots with a gun. but the
photogrs pher needs full view, close
| range and perfect light conditions before
he can hope for good results. His best
chances are accidental, and for that rea-
| son he must be on the lookout just as
| much as though he carried a gun. Men
who go into the woods to make pictures
Of animals must have huntsmens knowl-
edge to be successful and for that reason
the best hunters become the most sue
cessful photographers.
The deer's best weapon against ths
hunter is it's scent and TO approach the
game one must go against the wind and
then locate the animals from ridges and
high points. The least noise is heard by
the animals and when the hunter is dis
covered by the game he stands still and
waits for the camera subject to approach
him. That is sometimes a patience try
ing experience, because If the deer has
discovered tiIe man he uses the same tao
tics. He also stands still in his tracks
and gazes at the hunter. 1 had such an
experience in Colorado recently L came
upon deer. and, knowing that by NOV
| ing sufficiently to bring my instrument
into play ] should frighten him. | re-
mained as nearly motionless as possible,
and the deer did the same The animal
was so perfectly motionleSs that after a
while it looked to me like part of the
wood. and l began to doubt whether there
really was deer there. My failure to
move must have had similar effect on
/ the animal. for after an interval that, ac-
oordng to my calculation. must have
/ been more than eleven minutes. he backed
| into the woods and disappeared.
1T is even more difficult to get snap
at bears. and knowing that the animals
are in a certain part of the country one
| can do nothing more than wait for them
| TO come and have their pictures takea.
Some OF the best opportunities present
| themselves after sundown at times when
the man with the gun would have diff
| Guilty in bringing down his game. while
! the man with the camera may ind the
little available light in the wrong quarter
and thereby miss his chance
The hunter author has some fine photo
graphs of reindeer which he made in Nor
way last year. We saw the drove, he
said. of nearly thousand head away in
the distance. but the wind being the
wrong way we could not stalk them But
they came our way, and the photographs
which l succeeded in making were at
short range, the animals being less than
twelve feet away.
Despite all the care and trouble con-
neeted with the work about 80 per cent
of the Photographic efforts in the woods
are a failure. But the successful snaps
give the man who hunts with the camera
more real pleasure than the man who
hunts with the gun experiences over his
successful ventures. And that is the rea-
son. according to Mr.. Seton, why SO many
old hunters have laid aside the gun for
the Photographic instrument.
! They get all the excitement of the
/ hunt" he says. .'and need not destroy the
! animal. Some men have tried To do both
! at the same time, but they made only
/ failures of their undertaking, and it took
| them only a short time to learn that
! gun and camera do not go toStlher.
/ Each one takes mans whole time
| The old woodsmen laughed at the cam
| era hunter when he first came to the
/ woods but that was several years ago.
and they have gained respect for him and
Acknowledged his good standing in the
profession. 4 few years ago MIR. Seton
sent lantern slide apparatus to Steve"
Leclz, a well-known hunter in Wyoming,
with instructions how to make pictures
The man took kindly TO the work, others
followed his example. and a new order
of things has been the result. Formerly
the hunters and guides met at lodges and
ranches in the off seasons and told
stories OF what they had seen and what
they had captured or killed, and there
being no one TO contradict the statements.
many great stories were told. Men lis
tened patiently to ''whoppers,' and then
got even by telling a greater one. Now
these same guides have n shanty where
they make pictures and lantern sides. and
when they meet they show what they
saw. and there is no doubt as to the truth
of the story told by the camera.
The consequence Of this new form Of
hunting is that the men have become edu-
Gated. have discovered new traits in ami
mails. new beauties in their surroundings,
and in those parts OF the Far West where
the number of camera hunters is large
elk have increased.
Formerly" said Mr.. Seton, "a guide
would ask his chum when they met, af-
Ter having been separated for few
weeks. what luck he had with his gun,
bovy he liked some new ammunition. or
whether he thought Of getting new