The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-12-16

rT-Ti 7 was not that the hunting
L9 gI fields Of Eastern Canada had
been exhausted; far from III;
IA-l but every man who handles
Ill1N llguI gun knows that even the
I.os1 ueslrable districts pail upon one
after time, and one hungers for
something new; some virgin held I'M
explored, unfamiliar, full OF entic!ns
possibilities. So IL was that when
friend who was the happy posses5or
of a AourIshing ranch in the far-on
valley OF the Saska tchcwan urged me
10 pay him visit. and limited that he
could offer me something special In
the way Of sport. jumped at the OPP
pOrtunlty, and after four days Jour-
ney found myself at Saskatoon, flour
ishing little town in the heart OF one
Of the great wheat districts OF the
Canadian Northwest, on one Of those
branches which spring out herring
bone fashion from the main line OF the
Canadian Pacific Railroad.
Here AZ Saskatoon had one Of those
practical experiences Of Western dis
tances which bring the thing home to
one with such peculiar force. All that
| knew OF the location Of my friends
ranch was that 1t lay somewhere be-
tween Saskatoon and BattlefOrd. III |
gave the matter any serious thought
Il was merely 10 conclude that the
ranch was probably as much as FIVE
or six miles from Saskatoon; perhaps
even ten. I knew, at any rate, that
stage ran from Saskatoon 70 Battle
ford, which could drop me at the
ranch. when, therefore, | reached
Saskatoon, my first inquiry was for
the stage. The stage, IL appeared, had
gone out early in the morning, ana
there would not be another for two
days. "Oh," said /, ~ suppose VIII
have Ia hire man 10 drive me out.
Doubtless we can get there before
dark If we start at once" 1t was then
about , o'clock in the afternoon.
where" inquired the mild-eyed
mounted policeman, did you say you
wanted to go tor
"McLcan's ranch" | replied.
Dear me-" said he, I'm afraid
you'll hardly make McLean's ranch be
fore dark It's tribe over sixty.hye
miles from here"
WHERE 100 MILES ARE AS
NOTHING.
We started for McLean's ranch early
the following morning. aud after an
all.day drive over the old Batt!eford
trail, where one could still see the deep
ruts made by the guns and ammunl-
lion wagons that went this way in the
Ricl rebellion Of 1880, | at last reached
my destination. and began to under
stand why hundred miles is thought
nothing of in this land of eXtrayaSant
distances.
The following morning we got mp
ahead of The sun, put guns ana ammu-
aition in order, ana started out or what
was my first experience in hunting
prairie chicken.
over the gently rolling hills we made
our way. in the intoxicating air of the
Northwest, and SO intent was | upon
The glorious riot of color that clothed
the whole countrySidc-a coloring
which thought we had monopoly
Of in the East-that to my shame ana
confusion | allowed a dozen brace OF
chickens to rise from the grass In front
Of me. and get out of range, with a
prodiglous whirring of wings, before
( could sufficiently collect my wits TO
let fly at them.
However, the scenery had no more
Uitchery after this, and before break
fast time | had managed to bring
down half dozen brace, ana my COM
panion did even better.
This. am told. is not \ good year
Tor chicken in the Saskatchewan
Valley. They seemed plentiful enough
to my Eastern eyes, but according to
prairie standards they were considered
4 failure. was assured that through
out the valley ot the saskatchewan,
aud. IN fact, throughout the entire
prairie country. between the North Sas-
llatchewau and the international
boundary. prairie chicken can usually
be found In such quantities as to al
most spoil the sport frcm the point of
,ew. of a true sportsman.
IL prairie chicken were not as plent-
tul As usual however, this could not
De said of duck, as was made abun-
lautly clear upon a subsequent morn
ns. The ponds or sloughs which
abound throughout all this country
teem with wild duck. and mile walk
in any direction assures one respect
nble bag. The farmer or rancher III
his part of the world rarely attempts
10 keep dogs for hunting purposes,
whether for small or bic game. So
| TAR as the duck is concerned, there
| -eally is not much need or retriever,
/ Is the sloughs are generally small ana
! ,hallow-rarcly more than a couple or
! teet decp-and one can secure most or
! The birds with little or 10 difficulty.
| one can very often secure the services
/ OF an Indian or breed Coy. who
proves quite as effective as retriever.
! Both mallard and zeal are exceed
| tngly plentiful throughout the Sis'
! Satchewan Valley. A. in the East.
/ the former is shy. and must be ap'
/ preached with caution, while the teal
is a comparatively easy proposition.
The Crees spend good part of their
.imc in hunting wild duck aud prairie
chicken. They support themselves 20
4 large extent In this way. and manage
TO sell or barter what they cannot use
themselves. The very day that | ar
lived at The ranch couple of disrep-