The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1905-01-19

n
- but every man who handles
Il5 10Th a gun knows that even the
Sns1 MISERABLE districts pail upon one
after n time, and one hungers for
something new; some virgin field I'M
oynlored, unfamiliar, full Of entlcng
Possibilities. So it was that when Il
friend who was the happy possessor
Of a flourlshing ranch in the far-oh'
vo,ley of the Saskatchewan urged me
+o nav him visit, and limited that he
could offer Inc something special in
tbe way Of sport, jumped at the op"
nortunity, and after a four days jour-
nov found myself at Saskatoon, q Hour
ishing little town in the heart Of one
of the great wheat districts Of the
canadian Northwest, on one Of those
hronches which spring out herring
hone fashion from the main line of the
Canadian Pacific Railroad,
Here at Saskatoon had one of those
practical experiences Of Western dis
tances which bring the thing home to
one with such peculiar force. All that
I knew of the location Of my friends
ranch was that 1t lay somewhere be-
tween Saskatoon and BattlefOrd. If l
give the matter any serious thought,
II was merely to conclude that the
ranch was probably as much as five
ar six miles from Saskatoon perhaps
even ten. l knew, at any rate, that IA
stage ran from Saskatoon TO Battle
ford, which could drop me at the
ranch. When, therefore, | reached
Saskatoon, my first inquiry was for
tbe stage. The stage, it appeared, had
gone out early in the morning, and
there would not be another for two
DAYS. "Oh," said l, ~ suppose Will
have TO hire a man to drive me out.
Doubtless we can get there before
dark if we start at once" 1t was then
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
"Where," inquired the mild'eyed
mounted policeman, did you say you
wanted to go tor
"McLeans ranch" I replied.
Dear me-" said he. Pm afraid
you'll hardly make McLean's ranch be-
fore dark. It's a tribe over siXty-hve
miles from here"
WHERE 100 MILES ARE AS
NOTHING
We started for McLeans ranch early
the following morning, and after an
all.day drive over the old Battleford
trail, where one could still see the deep
ruts made by the guns and ammuni-
lion wagons that went this way in the
Riel rebellion Of 1885, at last reached
my destination, and began to under
stand why a hundred miles is thought
nothing of in this land Of eXtraragant
distances.
The following morning We got up
ahead Of the sun, put guns and ammu-
milton in order, and 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 l upon
the glorious riot of color that clothed
tuc NuOle CouuNl y slhV q WV 80
which l thought we had a 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
prodigious whirring of wings, before
l could sufficiently collect my wits TO
let fly at them.
However, the scenery had no more
witchery after this, and before break
fast time | had managed to bring
down half a dozen brace, and my COM
panion did even better.
This, L am told, is not a good year
for Chicken" in the Saskatchewan
Valley. They seemed plentiful enough
to my Eastern eyes, but according to
prairie standards they were considered
q failure. | was assured that through
out the valley OF the Saskatchewan
and, in fact, throughout the entire
prairie country, between the North Sas-
katchewan and the international
boundary, prairie chicken can usually
be found in such quantities as to al
most spoil the sport from the point OF
view of a true sportsman.
II prairie chicken were not as plenti-
full as usual, however, this could not
be said Of duck, as was made album
dainty clear upon a subsequent morn
Ing, The ponds or sloughs which
abound throughout all this country
teen with wild duck, and a mile walk
in any direction assures one o respect
able bag. The farmer or rancher III
this part Of the world rarely attempts
to keep dogs for hunting purposes
whether for small or big game so
Tar as the duck is concerned, there
really is not much need of retriever,
as the sloughs are generally small and
n laaa n.