Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1903-04-23
News Of In
e terest. =
Che State Day by Day.
HUNTING IN NORTH DAKOTA.
Great Interest in Spring Shooting =
0u$Inak fnr Snarf Nexf Eall Good

Great Interest in Spring Shooting -
Outlook for Sport Next Fall Good.
Flocks of wild geese flying nortl.
have aroused the interest of sports.
men in North Dakota. and several
hunting parties have been organized
to gather in a few of the feathered
creatures before their departure for
the far north. Ducks have not yet be.
gun to arrive in any great numbers.
Spring shooting is not particularly
of the sportsmen like to take a few
days Off to get in trim for the better
sport which comes later in the season.
Few geese nest in this state. There
are few of the black geese which
make their nests in the marshes in
the far northern parts of the state,
but most even in these prefer the
great solitudes of the Northern Can
adian lakes. There they may breed
without fear of disturbance.
OF the white geese, it may be sale
that none of them nest here. They
are entirely birds of passage. Flocks
of them will loiter on the way to the
far North, and many farmer has
heartily cursed them for gathering UP
the wheat he had sown and left un.
covered. This was in the days OF the
old style broadcast seeder. when the
custom was to scatter the grain on
the surface of the ground and follow
with a harrow to cover it. There are
cases remembered in which many
acres We're stripped clean by the
hungry white geese from the south.
These birds are less numerous than
they We're, and the damage which is
now done by them is infinitesimal.
The duck is n different sort of a
bird, and there is great deal of
sentiment against shooting ducks in
the spring under any circumstances.
Ducks nest freely in this state, and
while the country is getting little
too we'll settled for them to like it as
we'll as formerly, there are still thou
sands of broods raised here every
year.
! The birds are comparatively tame
task. The hunter is not apt to dis
tinguish between male and female,
and the shooting OF one female bird
means that brood OF six to dozen
will be destroyed. For this reason it
was proposed at the recent session OF
the legislature to prohibit the shoot
ing of waterfowl in the spring time
| Io, Il h0
support of the most prominent sports
men of the state, but failed to arouse
any enthusiasm among the farmer
members, who are apt to look with
suspicion on any movement for the
curtailing of hunting privileges as a
move in the interest Of the city sports.
nan, and against their interest.
Unless the weather for breeding is
Dad this season, the coming year will
] be one of the best on record for prairie
chickens. During the past few years
there has been a marked increase of
chickens, especially in the central
part of the state. This has been due
to the increase in the. flax acreage
!! more than to any other one thing.
Flax is a boon to the chicken. A
field of this very useful plant is to the
chicken what the cities of refuge to
the criminal were in the old Israelitish
days. 1t grows with stems clean and
some distance apart for several
inches above ground, then it branches
out and forms thick matted, impen-
etrable carpet, beneath which the bird
can scurry away rapidly in any direc-
ton. while the dogs are vainly trying
to pick up the lost scent on the sur
face. When a covy of chickens once
seek shelter in a field of flax. the
tanter may about as We'll give up, and
f he is wise he does so.
Flax has been grown more literally
than ever before, and the chickens
have quickly found that in it there is
safety. Moreover, flax is a plant which
can be left uncut through all sorts of
damage, and for this reason, during
the rush of fall work. when men were
scarce and the weather catchy. other
grains have been harvested and the
fax left standing on many thousand
acres to furnish shelter for the young
birds. In this way every township
has had it's sanctuaries for the young
chickens, where they were almost alb
solutey safe from molestation until
winter, or at least until they had
grown old and wise. This has gone
On for several years. and last fall
there was an immense area of flax
left until late. and the chickens shell
tered themselves accordingly. The
consequence is that more birds started
into winter last year than ever, and
the winter has been a good one for
them. The hunters see in these
:hinoc IiSianS of great snort next