The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1904-04-01
WASHINGTON a sportsman's Paradise.


furred game and also numerous varle-
ties of wild fowl, waters teeming with
myriad finny tribes, Washington offers
peculiar attraction to the hunter, the
angler and the pleasure seeker and the
tourist as well, says writer IN COL
mans Rural World of st. Louis.
In Europe men travel the length ana
ireadth of an empire after sport that
cannot compare with that which nun
dreds of settlers find every morning at
their very doors in Washington. The
CITY man with taste for angling or
hunting takes ride out the length OF
the street car lines, walks mile into
the woods, and enjoys sport which is
only secured in the preserves OF the
nobility in the old countries. FIFTY
miles distant from any OF the large
cities he will find sport that men cross
and recross continents and oceans to
find. Elk, deer, wild goats and wild
sheep and bear abound in Washing
ton. But of all the large game animals
around the Sound, elk are the largest.
They are found in vast herds In the
Olympic Mountains and in the Coast
Range west of them. They are quite
numerous around Hood Canal, and are
occasionally seen in the Cascade
Mountains.
The elk of Washington are much
smaller than those of California, but
they are often four and one-half feet
in height at the shoulders. They are
in color from a gray to dark brown,
in the various seasons of the year.
Although elk are occasionally killed
in the Cascade Mountains, they are
hunted almost altogether in the Olym-
pics. To find good elk hunting
grounds, one can go by steamers to
one of the towns on Hood Canal or to
Port Angeles, Dungeness, Clallam Bay,
Neah Bay, or the Quillayute country.
From any of these points one does not
need to go far to find good hunting.
The main thing is to get into country
where browse and grass are plentiful,
and where elk trails are well-beatten
and numerous.
Excellent hunting grounds are found
around Lake Sutherland, south OF Port
Crescent, in Clallam County; Osett
Lake, near the ocean coast of the same
country, and Lake Cushman in Mason
County. Elks are also found in Hood
Canal
The deer of Washington are thought
by some to be smaller species. How
ever that may be, bucks have been
killed weighing 200 to $50 pounds, but
the does are uncommonly small. Deer
are found around Puget Sound, where
the country is not too thickly settled,
and it is not necessary to go far from
settlements in any direction to find
them; but they are most numerous on
WILDLY Island. Around Oak Harbor
is a popular hunting resort and Lake
Washington has long been favorite
locality. Their general color is a
brownish gray, and they are among
the most remarkably graceful of the
deer tribe. "Still hunting" is the
method most commonly followed.
In the vicinity of Lakes Whatcom,
Samish and Padden there are still to
be found a considerable number OF
deer and some wildcat, cougar and
bear. Black bear abound chiefly in
this region, and are peaceably inclined
when not hard pressed. They are us
ually hunted with trained bear dogs.
The forests are so dense that it is only
a step from the confines of settle
ment, or even city, to the haunts of
the finest game.
The mountain goat found in Wash