The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-02-03

81 k-Jb uHluS Oh 1dSltLh Ndha0N h"N.
been exhausted; far from it;
| but every man who handles
ll5 llalIl gun knows that even the
| most desirable districts pail upon one
| after time, and one hungers for
something new; some virgin field I'M
explored, unfamiliar, full of entlcing
possibilities. So it was that when
friend who was the happy possessor
of a fiourishing ranch in the faT-on
valley of the Saskatchewan urged me
to pay him visit, and limited that he
could offer me something special III
the way of sport, | jumped at the op-
portunity. and after four days jour
ney found myself at Saskatoon, Hour
ishing little town in the heart OF one
of the great wheat districts or the
Canadian Northwest, on one Of those
branches which spring out herring
bone 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 it lay somewhere be-
tween Saska toon and Battleford. Ii
gave the matter any serious thought,
it was merely to conclude that the
ranch was probably as much as hve
or six miles from Saskatoon; perhaps
even ten. knew, at any rate, that
stage ran from Saskatoon to Battle
ford, which could drop me at the
ranch. When, therefore, l reached
Saskatoon, my first inquiry was Tor
the stage. The stage, it appeared, mad
gone out early in the morning, and
there would not be another for TWO
days. "Oh," said l, Il 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 8 o'clock in the afternoon.
"Where," inquired the mild-eyeo
mounted policeman, ibid you say you
wanted to go to-"
"McLean's RANCH | replied.
"Dear me,'' said he, I'm afraid
you'll hardly make McLean's ranch be-
fore dark. It's trifle over sixty-five
miles from here"
WHERE 100 MILES ARE AS
NOTHING.
We started for McLean's ranch early
the following morning, and after an
all-day drive over the old Battletord
trail. where one could still see the deep
ruts made by the guns and ammunl-
ton wagons that went this way III the
RieI rebellion of 1885, at last reached
my destination, and began to under
stand why hundred miles is thought
nothing of in this land of extravaganza
distances.
The following morning we got up
ahead of the sun, put guns ana anlnu-
milton in order, and started out Oh 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 clotheo
the whole countryside-a colorlng
which thought we had monopoly
of i'm the East-that to my shame ana
confusion I allowed dozen brace OF
chickens to rise from the grass III 'front.'
of me, and get out of range, Win
prodigious whirring of wings, DeIofe
I could sufficiently collect my WITS 10
let fly at them.
However, the scenery had no more
e4a,, +bio and bnfprp break
fast time l had managed TO prlhs
down half dozen brace, and my com
panion did even better.
This. 1 am told, is not q good year
for chicken in the SASKATCHEWAN
Valley. They seemed plentiful enough
to my Eastern eyes, but according 10
prairie standards they were consldereu
a failure. l was assured that through
ont the valley of the Saskatchewan,
and, in fact, throughout the entire
prairie country, between the North Sas-
katchewan and the internatlonal
boundary, prairie chicken can usually
be found in such quantities as TO al
most spoil the sport from the point Oh
view of true sportsman.
If prairie chicken were not as plentl-
full as usual, however, this could not
be said of duck, as was made apuh-
dainty clear upon subsequent morn
ing. The ponds or sloughs when
abound throughout all this country
teen with wild duck, and a mile walk
in any direction assures one a respect
able bag. The farmer or rancher Ill
this part of the world rarely attempts
to keep dogs for hunting purposes
whether for small or big game. 80
far as the duck is concerned, there
really is not much need of retriever,
as the sloughs are generally small ana
shallow-rarely more than a couple Oh
feet deep-and one can secure most OF