The Vinita weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1905, 1904-05-12
PRAIRIE CHICKENS GONE.
nxxas once SO Numerous In the State
Of Illinois No Longer 20
he Found.


Fifteen years ago the greatest winter
sport in central Illinois was chicken
shooting. Hunters who tramped through
snow-covered corn fields and over the
stubble fields easily could bag In ten
hour hunt enough chickens TO last a fam
lily week. Things have changed great
Iy since then, according to an old fellow
from down near Champaign. says the
Chicago Inter Ocean, who was telling
several men In a sporting goods store the
other day Of the gradual but certain ex-
termination Of the prairie chickens In
this state.
THE man who goes hunting in the
prairie counties to-day Is likely to kill a
lot of time and burn good deal OF gum
powder shooting at pewees and field
mice. but that is about the biggest game
he will find. Fifteen years ago the prai-
rle swarmed with chickens. They used
to flock on the hills In the morning and
hide In the corn during the day through
out the summer I've killed as many as
90 chickens In a single day. During the
winter we used TO 30 along the hedges
or into the corn fields where some shell
ter was afforded the big fowl 1t was no
trouble to get as many OF them as we
wanted. have gone along the hedges
on cold day and killed them with a
pltchfork
I've been hunting four or five times
this winter and haven't killed chicken.
haven't seen more than half dozen
since oat harvest. Some people argue
that the chickens have all been killed of
by the hunters. but that is not true. The
main cause for their disappearance is
that the country has become 50 thickly
settled during the last decade that there
Is no wide expanse Of prairie land, such
as the chickens need. Al the present time
there is hardly quarter section Of land
in the state that does not contain a
farm house. Fifteen years ago many
farms consisted OF Gao acres and often
covered a much greater area.
'As the farms have been cut up into
smaller farms. and as the country has
become much more densely populated,
The chickens have disappeared. II ls
foolish TO think they have all been killed,
am one who believes they have mi
grated TO the west. where they have plen-
ty of open country.
"As a point In favor Of this argument
want 10 tell OF the hunting We did one
winter. That will 90 to prove that chick
ems do migrate That winter. II was In
the early sos. we organized a sort Of
country gun club. During the year We
killed hundreds and hundreds Of prai-
rie chickens. Every one said that the
shooting in that country would be no
good for the next four OF fiye years. They
we're wrong. The next fall you couldn'i
tell the difference. In fact, there were
more chickens In that nelghborhooc
than ever before. know they were not
hatched there, for we had killed too many
OF the old birds II is certain they came
/ from distance.
we can never hope to see them plen'
tiful again. no matter how rigid th'
game laws may be made. II is not th'
hunters that are bothering them. It Il
the rapid and permanent increase IN
population of the state. As far as thu
prairie chicken Is concerned. the countr,
has become as satisfactory 3 place e
live as the city would be"