4 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943

SAYS THE FARMER TO THE HUNTER

By Paul T. Gilbert

The Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Van Urban, Sr., and their son, Junior, were lounging in the shade of their professionally landscaped estate. With them lounged two pedigreed wolf hounds and their most pedigreed Persian cat. The quietude of this picture was augmented by numerous bird baths, giant urns and a gigantic but rustic fireplace.

The peacefullness of this serene scene was interrupted by the backfiring of many primitive four cylinder velocipedes accompanied with much vulgar shouting. Converging from the trees came a multitude of overalled men and simply dressed women and children with a strange odor of fresh farm air about them.

The children took over the bird baths and urns and soon had them rolling over the spacious lawn, oblivious to the fact that several were being broken by such activity. The men were realizing great sport by shooting over the heads of the dogs so precious to the Van Urbans, and one stray shot placed the much pedigreed cat in a condition most unsuitable for human appreciation.

The fireplace became a mass of open tin cans, discarded paper, bountiful piles of breadcrusts and empty bottles. After the smoke had cleared away and the last mutterings of the parting vehicles were heard in the distance the Junior and Senior Van Urbans peered out upon what was once their luxurious estate.

The above anecdote may appear to be one of Orson Wells' impossible productions, such as "The Man from Mars"; however, the reverse of this scene occurs yearly on many Nebraska farms. It is regretable that all of us city dwellers who enjoy the wide open spaces must be judged because of the actions of the "unholy few."

But too well the city sportsman realizes the antagonism and contempt heaped upon him by many a farmer; likewise, the farmer in his turn may dread the approaching hunting season and the touring humanity it brings to his door.

To one acquainted with both the urban and rural dweller such lack of neighborly understanding seems very tragic as well as most unnecessary, in Nebraska can a more neighborly group of people be found than on the farm or ranch areas.

Many a stranger has found himself on some farm or ranch around noontime, uncertain of his location, and upon calling at the nearest ranch house for information has found himself presented with that well known western phrase "Well stranger, you'll have to stay and have a bite to eat with us before you go", and a bite to eat usually turns out to be the biggest feed this stranger has had for some time. While this same stranger may call upon his own relatives in the city and sit through the noon hour without an invitation to join them in their repast.

With such a friendly human foundation upon which to build our sporting relationship, the difficulties experienced by the hunter — farmer relationship should be very easily remedied.

The farmer sportsman problem finds its friction in the fact that there is too little common feeling between the two groups; and in the second place, opinions are formed regarding the entire group from the actions of the few who by no means represent the group.

Preposterous though it may sound, many are the instances of farmers' livestock being destroyed by so-called sportsman who have a tendency to shoot at the first thing that moves, and many are the farm meadows, beautiful   Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 5

in their own naturalness, which have been left a spectacle of destruction by the wayside picnickers from the city.

The answer, as is so often the case, lies in the mutual understanding of the other fellow, his problems and his ways.

The average farmer is a peace loving individual who works hard during the daytime and welcomes a bit of human companionship in the evening, sometimes driving several miles in order to visit with his neighbors and talking about how the sorrel mare is getting along or how the corn is growing on the west 80.

Under normal conditions he is more than happy to have a stranger from the outside drop in and give him the news from elsewhere.

Upon the farmer, the city dweller depends for his sustenance; and in fact, many of our most influential dwellers receive their training through experience in a rural district.

Pew are the farmers who will turn down a conscientious, friendly hunter from the city if permission is asked to hunt on the farmer's private sanctuary, his farm.

On the other hand, the average city hunter is a lover of the outdoors and a person worthy of personal friendship for the farmer.

The average hunter from the city, tied down by an office job, longs for the outdoor freedom which the farmer realize every day; and as the hunting season approaches, he realizes that age old desire to go out into the wilds and bring back game food. But the country is mostly privately owned, a large per cent .under cultivation, and if this hunter- does not happen to have friends in the country he is at a loss as to where to go to hunt, many times ending up merely driving back and forth on the side roads hoping to see a bird he can shoot without violating the many trespassing signs along the fences.

Had this individual known a farmer friend or had he contacted the right type of friendly farmer the possibilities are very good that the farmer would have gladly given him permission to hunt on this land, perhaps with the suggestion, "You might be a little careful on the lower 40 as I have a herd of milk cows down there."

After the hunt, if our fair city friend would drop back, perhaps leave a bird or two with the farmer and an invitation to drive into the city and have a visit with him, the sportsman would go home happy and contented in the thought of a new acquaintanceship to be renewed from time to time as the hunting season rolls around. And our friend, the farmer, would watch the city hunter drive away having a feeling of satisfaction in a new friend from the city who has not violated the integrity of his domain.

And so says the farmer to the hunter "I hope you folks can come out again next year" and says the hunter to the farmer, "Many thanks, my friend." And as two former strangers part good friends the prestige of Nebraska's hunting is raised to a new level through the understanding and cooperation of the farmer who harbors Nebraska's game and the sportsman who likes to hunt it.

6 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943

NEBRASKA'S UPLAND GAME BIRDS

By Levi Mohler

Upland game birds in Nebraska today are the pheasant, quail, prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and chukar partridge. Game biologists, trained in the various phases of wildlife management, are at work in Nebraska the year around investigating the conditions which affect the welfare of these birds.

Pheasants are found in all counties of Nebraska, but the pheasant population is very low in the southeastern counties and in extreme northwestern Nebraska. In an attempt to increase the population in the southeast and the northwest manj pheasants have been released there in the past several years, but conditions there do not suit this bird and it is quite probable that pheasants will not become abundant in those parts of the state.

Pheasants thrive in areas of mixed farming, where they find a great variety of foods including grasshoppers and other insects, weed seeds, and waste grains. While the pheasants are well distributed over the land in farmed areas they also get along well in sandhill valleys which afford good food and cover. Nebraska studies during the past three years show that pheasants take more than 100 varieties of weed seed and can survive and reproduce even in areas where cultivation is not practiced.

Pheasants are polygamous—that is, one cock will mate with several hens. If we confine our shooting to cocks, we can in most years have a long hunting season without interfering with the following year's production of the new game crop. A hen raises but one brood per season.

Quail are widely distributed in Nebraska, but most of the state has too little brushy cover and too severe winters to permit the development of a large quail population.

The southeastern counties, which have considerable brush and hedgerows, have Pheasant more quail than any other part of the state.

Living conditions for quail can be improved on many Nebraska farms by planting trees and shrubs such as chokecherry and wild plum. A patch of brush makes an excellent wintering place for quail, particularly if it is situated near a field of corn or soybeans or some other crop which provides waste grain for winter food. Weed patches are used chiefly in the fall before the coming of more severe weather.

Quail pair at mating season, one male mating with one female. The male assists with incubation and care of the young.

Although some quails have been released in the last few years in Nebraska the increase in the quail population has been due mainly to favorable nesting and rearing seasons. Shooting quail does not aid natural reproduction. Investigations   Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 7 in many states show clearly that there is a natural mixing of unrelated birds.

Prairie chickens, or "squaretails", require large areas of grassland cover and move to areas having some corn fields for the fall and winter. Nebraska's present prairie chicken population is found chiefly in the counties which border the southern and eastern parts of the great sandhills area. Plowing of native grassland in eastern Nebraska evicted the chickens from that part of the state years ago, although occasional winter flocks appear in that area.

Prairie chickens go through cycles in population—that is, a period of years of increase may be followed by a very serious decrease. Apparently two of these low points in population have occurred among our prairie chickens in the past 16 years.

Studies in western that lightly grazed grassland makes ideal cover for chickens while overgrazed land may be useless for them.

Sharp-tailed grouse, near relatives of the prairie chicken, no not require winter grain, and in Nebraska these birds occupy the sandhills and northwest. They thrive in lands which are practically undisturbed by farming, and utilize such foods as dandelions, clover leaves, rose hips, and buds of willows, and cottonwoods. Grouse, like prairie chickens, are cyclic, although the low years may not be the same for both birds in a given locality. The grouse differs from the prairie chicken in having a lighter color, a pointed tail and no neck tufts. When flushed, the sides of the tail show white, similar to the tail of a meadow lark.

Hungarian partridges are found in Nebraska at several points in the northern part of the state. These birds have been noticed in the past several years and it is believed the range of the Hun is extending into the state f r o m South Dakota where these partridges are quite numerous. mmm This bird is a gay-brown in general color and is larger than a quail but smaller than the chukar partridge.

The Hungarian parm tridge thrives in rather open country. J. W. Kimball, game commission biologist of Pierce, is investigating the present population of "Huns" in Nebraska. Any reader knowing of the location of Huns can perform a helpful service by writing Kimball or the office, giving the local information.

The chukar partridge has been stocked in most parts of the state in hopes of establishing it as a game bird. The results to date have not been very encouraging.

The chukar is marked with a white throat, and the sides are barred with light and dark markings. The remainder of the body is gray. Beak and feet are a bright reddish orange. Any person seeing a chukar partridge should report the observation to the game commission so that information on this interesting species may be kept up-to-date.

8 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943

HUNTING HOLIDAY 1943

By Paul T. Gilbert

I don't remember now what got me started to thinkin' of huntin'. Maybe the rustle of fall leaves or maybe just the doggon pheasants thumbin' their noses at me as I drove along the county road last week. At any rate the old autumn fever hit me and I called Bill —he's my huntin' neighbor—over to sorta line things up.

Bill brought over his old double barrel 16 and I got out my pump and we cleaned guns all evenin' while our wives gave us hell for gettin' oily rags on the carpet. "Gas may be a little rough on us this year," says Bill. He always was the worryin' kind. "Yep," I says, optimistic like, "We've got 5 tickets, that's 20 gallons of gas at 20 miles per gallon, we can go 400 miles. It's 150 miles up to the farm which will leave us 100 miles drivin' around." So far so good. Then we figures we've three boxes of shells which should net us some pheasants and ducks. So we thought we were set. Yeh! that's what we thought.

First of all, the day we was to go huntin', I crawled into my huntin' outfit and all went well until I slipped my foot into my boot and almost decapitated my toe when it fell through a hole in the sole. Any fool could see I would have to get a new pair of boots in a hurry. So I dashes down to town to get me a pair.

Old Newt Wadsworth was standing at the door of the shoe store. Newt used to be on PWA until the draft took all the young shoe salesmen. "Was there somethin'?" Newt says in a sort of disgusted tone. "Yep, a new pair of boots, of huntin' boots," I says. "Absolutely necessary?" Newt says looking down his nose. "Doggon it, Newt," I says, "I can't wear my old ones any more. Now get me out some boots and let's look them over." "This is the only pair I can let you have," says Newt. I just blowed up, "Why, them ain't my size, them are too heavy and I won't pay that much anyhow," I says. "We're not particularly interested," says Newt. Boy! I could have busted him, but I couldn't hunt without them boots so I says to Newt, "I'll take them if it isn't bothering you too much," I says. "Your ration stamp number 18," he says in a sort of governmental way. "My gosh! smart as I am I forgot that darn stamp." So I leaves Newt a standin' there with my boots while I runs home and gets my ration book.

All was Okay till Minnie—she's my wife—hollered out the window, "Leave me that stamp book, I've got to go to the store." So I tears out stamp number 18 and leaves the book behind while my wife yells at me all the way down the road about how she couldn't get her patent leather pumps, or somethin' now.

I dashes into the store and there stands Newt lookin' like he owned the place. Gosh, I can remember when he used to come into that store and beg for an old pair of shoes. "I got her, Newt," I says, a wavin' that little old white stamp. But Newt just stands there sober like a sick judge, shaking his head. "Sorry," he says, real authoritative-like, "the stamp's no good if torn out of your book." Me, I looks at Newt a while, then at that little white stamp and then at them nice new boots. "Listen! You!" I says, because I was gettin' awful mad now, "I just tore this out of my wife's book, now give me those boots!" "Sorry," says Newt bristlin' up a bit, "Regulation number 534026 says, 'Stamp must not be torn out', See here," he says, and shows me a book of fine print about as large as mother's old cookbook used to be. Well, I can't put on paper what happened next but me and Newt don't speak no more when we meets on the street.

At any rate, I had to wear a pair of shoes on that huntin' trip and the doggon sand burrs just took turns seein' which one could draw the most blood out of my poor ankles.

Finally we were packed in the old Ford and rolling along in good shape. The air was crisp and the blood of primitive man out in quest of game surged through our veins. All went well until a little after noon when we stopped at a small town to eat. It was just cool enough to work up a good appetite. A cute little thing in a white apron met us at the door of the small cafe. "Sorry boys," she says, "But the defense workers just cleaned us out of everything." So we hitched our belts a notch and drove on out to the farm, hoping for   Outdoor Nebraska—November,, 1943 9 a bit of cold ham or somethin' when we got there.

Well, we got there and here was the story. Old Jack Weatherby, the farmer, met us with this, "Say there fellows, you boys sure are welcome. We ain't butchered yet and Ma's out of points so if you'll just give me your books I'll run into town and get some vittles for us." Me I looks at Bill and he looks at me. Our darn old ration books were home safe with our wives or maybe not so safe. Jack Weatherby saw the story at a glance. "Well boys, don't feel so bad. We sold all the cream yesterday, so we ain't got no butter and we're awful low on chickens; but if you boys got some shells let's go out and get a bird or two and We'll cook 'em up for you." Well, I've hunted before for fun on a full stomach, but this was the first time that I ever hunted on an empty stomach for my dinner.

We broke out the three boxes of shells and away we went. After about a mile a bird got up in front of Bill and I grabbed my stomach. Bill pulled long and careful on that bird. He knew that that hunk of feathers was our dinner. He pulled the trigger and there was a soft puff, then a few little round shots rolled out of the end of the barrel and fell on the ground at Bill's feet and, the doggon bird just kept on buzzin' out of sight. Well, Jack and me just sits down and looks at each other all sorrowful like, then Bill just up and starts throwin' things and cussin' like mad. "Doggon my wife," he yells only he uses more likely words, "I told her not to put them shells down in that damp cellar last year but she gets so darn hepped up about them shells clutterin' up the closets, so down in the cellar they goes. Now they aren't worth a tinker's darn. We ain't got no shells, we aint got no food, we ain't got no darn food stamps, we're starvin' to death besides—" Here he was interrupted by an old cock pheasant who jumped up on a corn shuck nearby and cackled at us. Well, I guess we all went sort of crazy then.

Finally I says, "Come on, this ain't helpin' any, let's go into town and get some shells and we did. There at the counter of the corner hardware store stood an old gal who started frowning at us as soon as she saw us come in. "I would like to buy just one box of 12 guage shells," I says in my most gentlemanly manner. "Be ye a farmer?" she snarled. "No, ma'm," I says, "but we do need the shells for me and my farmer friend." "Can't oblige ye," she says, "Regulation 25608 says you got to be a farmer." "Okay," yells Jack a comin' in behind us to the rescue. "I'm a farmer, now sell me some shells." The old gal looks Jack over a bit and then give him a handful of paper fit to paper the kitchen with. Well, we work on them darn blanks for an hour and then the old gal says, she says, "Course you know them shells will just be used for rats. You got to promise." Jack scratched his bald head a little. "Well," he says, "I don't want to be made out a liar but I guess I can't help it any if my rats got a few feathers on 'em." So he signs it an gives it to old hatchet face. She just gives it a punch on an old spindel heavy with a pile of other papers just like it and stands there with her fists on her hips and glares at us. "Well, where's my shells?" Jack ventured in an awful meek voice. "You'll get them when we get the shells and when your turn comes," she barked. So out we file, the ignoble three. Half our gas gone, our stomachs drooping even worse than our spirits, and three empty guns with nothing but duds to shoot in them.

We didn't none of us say nothin'. We just drives back to the farm as Jack said he had some cold bean soup he could fix up. Things just couldn't have been any worse. Pheasants crowed at us along the road, a long V of ducks flying over us and then it happened.

It weren't no loud bang. It was just as though the earth kicked the old jalopy and she went straight up and settled back on the darndest blowout you ever had. What happened then don't bear repeatin' but the next thing we knew we were doing it all over again. Blanks, questions and more blanks and questions.

A dried up old man was putting questions to us faster than we could answer them. "Just what brought you so far from home on a weak tire?" he says. I opens up my mouth to answer and he jumps right down it with, "Don't you know our regulations only permit you to be 120 miles from home?" Bill starts to explain this when some little girl comes over to this old geezer and says, "Mr. Morehead, I just received a special notice from Washington that the value of these stamps will be cut from 4 to 2   10 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 gallons." The old boy just smiled at us and finally said, "I hope this won't inconvenience you boys any." About this time I was eyeing the loose skin around the old boy's neck thinking what fine stew it would make. Bill was frothing at the mouth so that he couldn't even talk and Jack was busy signing papers. Applications for a recapped tire, applications for emergency gasoline allotment. We swore to this and signed that and after using up two sets of frayed nerves we were told that our case would be reviewed at the next meeting of the board.

Th ride back to the city wasn't so bad. Sure we had to stand up on the bus all the way, but we were both in a sort of coma and didn't feel nothin'. In fact, the only thing I remember hearin' was a funny crunching noise when someone asked Bill how many birds he got. Don't seem to be no end of it. I have been home two weeks now. The wife still yells about the shoes she didn't get. And to make matters worse Joe Smutz, he's my fishin' neighbor, had been out huntin', got his limit, and gives my wife Minnie two nice big cock pheasants, doggon him. He said just in case I didn't get any he wanted her to taste some pheasants. Bill don't even talk any more just froths at the mouth every time he sees a blank of any kind and to end the whole thing up I gets s letter from some guy reporting me for driving too fast comin' into town from the farm.

So such is huntin' in 1943. Lots of birds, mortgage your soul, sign 999 blanks, and maybe you'll get back far enough to get back to nature to shoot a bird or two. But on the other hand like us maybe you won't.

But then times is tough, and life is hard, but I still love to hunt. At any rate we left a lot of birds for next year, and that little dollar I paid for my license will help build more and better hunting for when the boys come home and things is normal again. 'Cause really huntin' is fun, and this is one trip that will be fun to remember later, yes, much later.

Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 11

CROW STRAIT JACKET

By Bert Popowski

There is a way in which the crow can be controlled, and it calls for no extravagant outlay of time, material or money. It requires only the teamwork of a few public-spirited sportsmen with a sincere desire to keep our game populations high for the benefit of our returning warrior sportsmen. Such a national program can be brought to full fruition by grandfathers and grandsons.

The crow trap herewith illustrated is the answer. It can be built at the expense of a handful of nails and a pinch of elbow grease. The only tools you need are a saw and a hammer; the only materials a few old, weathered boards, and some scrap lengths of chicken wire. The older they are the better, for Old Jim Crow isn't too confident that his present happy state is going to last indefinitely, in spite of his not having had a gun fired at him in months.

I've learned that the major possibilities of such a trap are to be achieved only if it is placed near a crow flyway or a crow rookery. I say "near" because it is inadvisable to plant such an attraction in the middle of a roosting grove. Not only will its building keep the birds away from the roost, and generate a certain amount of distrust of the resulting contraption, but it will also tend to keep too many of the birds concentrated about the roost throughout the day.

I don't advise the use of a dead horse as bait! During certain seasons it would be an unsavory object which you could not evade. It is better to use a nestful of china eggs, painted with a dull white paint, plus the shells from two dozen or more eggs scattered promiscuously about the trap. If dead meat is to be used it can take the form of jackrabbits, large bones from beef animals, with a few fragments of meat remaining. Your imagination will supply other items peculiarly adaptable to your local situation. Sometimes a trapper will gladly furnish the carcasses of animals taken from his trap line, in season. In no case should a carcass, such as a jackrabbit, be thrown in without being ripped open so the meat is exposed. It is never so appetizing as when red meat shows, and will draw crows readily. And every crow that dives headlong into the trap is one less gamebird killer that need be disposed of in some other way.

Don't worry about the few crows that never seem to enter the trap. They're the old-timers and ordinary means aren't going to suffice for their destruction. But they will make periodic visits to the trap, always bringing along some of their cronies and a few of these are unable to resist the call of that loaded banquet board.

I prefer to locate such a trap in the shelter of a few trees. Not so completely hidden that it can only be seen when approached within a few feet, but yet not set outside of a grove in stark isolation. The crow is a sneak and, if it thinks itself hidden, is much more apt to try to gorge itself as quickly as possible, before other crows find the same food. If the trap is set out in the open the birds are apt to spend too much time in watching for other crows, and for enemies, with a consequent de- lay in entering the fatal portals.

If the trap is hidden it is advisable to hang some eye-catcher, such as a dead chicken—but never a dead crow— in one of the nearby taller trees, securely wiring it to prevent its being shredded by the black rascals. Crows that encounter such rough going soon spy the trap and drop down to try sampling more easily accessible food.

Now as to the trap: if it is built in small enough sections that can be bolted or nailed together, it can be shifted from place to place and one trap can do the crows a terrific amount of damage. Of course if several smaller traps are built and left permanently located they will do even more damage, but they must be visited regularly, or the entrance so made that it can be removed for those periods when the crow concentration is slight and it seems inadvisable to keep the trap in operation.

Those that fail to get in on first try serve their purpose, too. They yell around in insane envy and every crow within hearing is intrigued by the uproar. If they finally have to go to roost without tasting the succulent viands provided by a mysterious providence, be certain that they'll be back early the

(Continued on Page 21)

Hunting Accidents

 

14 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1948

Dogs

THE RETRIEVER—NEBRASKA'S ALL-AROUND HUNTING DOG

By Arthur C. Storz

Most hunters are true conservationists at heart. There is nothing- that serves conservation in any better way than a good hunting dog. It is estimated that from 30% to 35% of both upland game and migratory birds are lost out of the hunter's bag. By lost I mean birds that are killed that cannot be found or retrieved or birds that are hit and badly crippled and that usually drop within a range of two or three hundred yards of the hunter and then crawl off and die. With a good hunting dog 90% of these lost birds can be saved and go into the hunter's game bag. A good retriever is probably the best all-around dog to use in Nebraska as well as most of our adjoining states. They are equally as good in upland game as they are on water fowl.

The types that are best known and make the best all-around dogs in this country are the Chesapeake, the Labrador, Irish Water Spaniel and Golden Retriever. In addition to these dogs there is also the Spaniel group of which the most prominent are the Springer and the Cocker Spaniel.

Chesapeake Bay

I have owned and raised and shot over a great many different retrievers. In my estimation the Chesapeake is prob- ably the outstanding dog for the average hunter in Nebraska. The reason I say this is that he is a sturdy dog and one that can take it under the toughest weather conditions. While he is a comparatively short haired dog, at the same time his protective undercoating makes him particularly adaptable to very tough weather conditions. He can go out and get wet at ten below zero and come back out of the water a sheet of ice and still hunt all day long. Another important factor in favor of the Chesapeake is that he is comparatively short haired and that is quite an advantage hunting in Nebraska because he does not pick up the cockle burrs and sand burrs in the field that the longer haired dogs do. He is not quite as flashy in performance as the Labrador, but, in my opinion, is a dog that can stand the tough going better than the Labrador.

There is no complete and authentic record of the Chesapeake Bay dogs development. While the Chesapeake Bay retriever originated in this country ana is the only native American sporting dog, he came from parents that were destined to sail from England. In the year 1807 an English brig was wrecked off the coast of Maryland. The crew and cargo of this brig were rescued by the American ship, Canton. They also rescued two Newfoundland puppies, a male and a bitch. The male was named   Outdoor Nebraska—November. 1943 15 "Sailor" and the bitch was named "Canton" after the rescuing boat. These two dogs were given to the gentleman who gave hospitality to the sailors of the wrecked brig and were soon found to possess wonderful qualities as retrievers. The male was a dingy red in color and the bitch was black. Eventually other out crosses were used and the English Otterhound has been claimed as one of the most influential crosses. Such a cross would probably have produced different results, as the Chesapeake shows no trace of the hound. It is much more likely that the flat coated and curly coated retriever were the influential out crosses if any were ever purposely made. By 1885 a very definite type of dog was developed and this breed became known far and wide for their promise in the icy and rough waters of Chesapeake Bay, where they were often called upon to retrieve two or three hundred ducks in a day. During the last war further development arose including the dead grass color which has become so popular in the middlewest. The Chesapeake of today has improved in looks and is still without a peer in the water.

Labrador

In my opinion the Labrador runs the Chesapeake a close second as the best retrieving hunting dog in this territory and, in some things, he surpasses the Chesapeake. Most Labradors have a nice disposition, a good nose and they are flashy, and show more speed in retrieving on land than the Chesapeakes. They are smooth and short haired and do not pick up the cockle burrs. In my opinion, however, they do not have the stamina and ability to work under long and extremely tough weather conditions. I am talking now only of the very tough days when the weather gets around the zero point.

The most commonly known Labrador is the Black Labrador. However, there are also a minority that run close to yellow in color and are known as Yellow Labradors.

The Labrador retriever did not, as his name implies, come from Labrador, but from Newfoundland. They were carried to England by fishermen in the early part of the 19th century. There is no indication of how these dogs originally got to Newfoundland, but in 1822 a traveler in that region reported a number of what he called small water dogs and said: "The dogs are admirably trained as retrievers in fowling and are otherwise useful. They are about the size of a pointer with short, smooth hair, extremely quick in running, swimming and fighting. Their sense of smell is hardly to be credited and in finding wounded game there is not another equal in the canine race." Practically all of the Labrador strain of dogs in this country are direct descendents of the Labrador dogs imported from England.

Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a direct descendent of dogs called Russian Trackers and they come from a very old breed that serve the usual variety of purposes in his original home in Asiatic   16 OutDOOR Nebraska—November, 1943 Russia. One of the chief uses of the Russian Tracker was a guardian of flocks of sheep and the Golden Retriever still shows a similarity to the Shepard dog and to the Irish Setter. Within the last six years there has been quite an interest in Golden Retrievers in this country, particularly in field trials. He is intelligent, has a good nose and is speedy. He has the drawbacks of other long haired dogs and, generally speaking his coat is so constructed that he cannot stand exceptionally tough weather conditions.

Irish Water Spaniel

In appearance the Irish Water Spaniel is of the Spaniel family. He is by far the tallest of the Spaniels. He is a dog with a peculiar temperment—loyal to those he knows, but forbidding to strangers. He is a grand water dog both by reason of his liking for it and the quality of his coat, which is water shedding. His coat, however, is rather long and kinky which gives him exceptionally good protection as a water dog. He has not been found so practical for upland work as this coat, so good for water, catches in briars, thorns and so forth and also accumulates and catches many cockle burrs and sand burrs. He is a tireless worker and has a great natural instinct for hunting.

Cocker Spaniel

The Cocker Spaniel is the smallest of the sporting Spaniel family and is a fine companion in the house to adults and children alike. At the present time he is the most popular breed of the Spaniel family. He is a comparatively small dog, however—has short legs and a long coat. He has a good nose and is a fine dog for the occasional hunter, but he cannot compete in stamina or hunting ability with either the Chesapeake or Labrador and is not recommended for anyone that does a great deal of hunting. Fine for a household pet and an occasional short hunting trip.

Springer Spaniel

The Springer Spaniel is a little larger and stronger than the Cocker Spaniel. He does a good job of standing the extremities of heat and cold. He can live in town and be happy, but his greatest handicap for a man that does much hunting is that he is too small to compete with the bigger dogs on long hunting trips. On account of his short legs he tires more easily than the Labrador or the Chesapeake.

Buying Your Dog

If I were buying a hunting dog of any kind I certainly would not buy any dog excepting a pure blooded straight strained dog. True, occasionally crosses are made and there are occasionally dogs that turn out all right as a hunting dog, but their appearance is usually not good and in the majority of cases they are a failure. When buying a puppy it costs you just a few dollars more to get one that is pure bred. By pure bred dogs I mean the dog that has a registered pedigree certificate in the American Kennel Club. So often I hear men stating that they have a dog that has "papers" and usually they turn out to be pedigree papers of some outlaw kennel club that is not recognized in any competition event. The American Kennel Club is very particular about accepting registration papers and if there is any doubt at all in their minds as to their being authentic and true they will not be issued. For that reason a dog that has a registered pedigree in the American Kennel Club immediately has a definite value. As I said before, there is only a slight difference in the first cost. It doesn't cost any more to train a pure bred dog—in fact, usually less, and certainly it costs no more to feed him. Pure bred dogs like any other live stock whether it be horses, cattle, sows, chickens or anything else, always show up as definitely better than the crosses or mixtures.

Training Your Dog

All of the dogs described in this article have a natural instinct for hunting. Therefore, the main thing to teach a hunting dog is obedience and that is the basis of all training. You must learn to properly handle your dog and once you give a command you must insist on his carrying it out. Otherwise, the dog is soon spoiled and soon will become useless. A finely trained dog can also soon be spoiled by having him hunt with a hunter that does not understand dogs. Often a hunter is mistaken on just where a bird drops. In the majority of cases the dog's instinct and sense of smell will take him to where the bird is finally found, but so often the hunter tries to call him off when he thinks he is mistaken and before long a good dog can be easily ruined.

  Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 17

The average intelligent dog can only learn or understand about sixty words or commands. Beyond that he becomes confused and then he disobeys. He disobeys because he doesn't know what is expected of him. Never give a dog a command unless you expect him to obey it and once you have given a command do your best to see that the dog does as requested. Never talk continually at ado g or incessantly whistle at him. A dog properly trained will respond at once to a whistle. If you keep blowing it the chances are that the dog will disregard it altogether. He will become so confused at the incessant shrill of a whistle that he will ignore it just for his own peace of mind. I have seen many a dog lose a retriever field trial because the handler blew his whistle too much, thus confusing the dog.

I have stated before that obedience is the basis of all dog training. It doesn't take you long to find out whether a dog is deliberately disobeying you or not. If he is he should be disciplined immediately at the first opportunity, making him realize his error. You want to do this while the incident is still fresh in his mind or not at all. Punish him at the time of the incident and he will associate the punishment with that particular act of disobedience.

The best time to start training a dog is when he is a puppy five or six months old. At that age, just like a child, he can only be taught the simple rules of obedience. Later from nine to fifteen months old he can be taught the more serious hunting lessons. A dog from nine to fifteen months old can also gain much by working him alongside of a well trained older dog. He sees the other dog perform and soon realizes what is expected of him. It finally takes four or five years to develop a highly finished hunting and field trial dog. They gain by experience and their natural intelligence as they grow older.

I have had many hunters tell me they objected to this or that type of dog because they later turned cross and vicious as they grew older. I do not believe this to be a fact and my experience is that it is entirely the way a dog is trained and brought up. Any dog can be made mean and cross by mishandling or by not correcting him at the proper time. Occasionally there is an outlaw in any breed and if you should happen to be unlucky enough to get one of those, dispose of him immediately. Most all types of retrievers are good natured and dependable dogs. Never let anyone, particularly a stranger, tease a puppy or a dog. That, more than anything else will tend to make them cross.

If you own a real hunting dog you will learn to almost love him. He is a real pal and a great help. You will get a tremendous amount of enjoyment during the years that you use him. The best hunting dogs probably reach their peak at the ages of six or seven years old. From there on they slow up, although most of them live to reach an age of ten or eleven years. It is a grand sight to watch a good dog work and you will get as much kick out of watching your dog work in the field and in the water as you will out of the actual shooting of your birds. He will save you thousands of steps on upland game and take you out of many a tough situation in wading a deep stream or a muddy bottomed lake on the hunting of water fowl. Once having hunted with a good dog you will never go back to the old way of hunting without one because it is brought home to you now very forcefully what a grand job he does and what a great job he does for conservation in saving many birds that are otherwise lost.

SAVE DUCK FEATHERS

Victory can be tremendously aided through conservation of raw materials. These materials include waterfowl feathers usually wasted and thrown away. Wild duck and goose down and body feathers are greatly needed to line subzero garments for aviators, troops in Alaska, and war workers. Imports of commercial eider down for this purpose have been shut off.

Turn your feathers in at a Ducks Unlimited collection station. Or ship collect to Ducks Unlimited, 83 Columbia St., Seattle, Wash. Mark package with your name, address and the words "Waterfowl Feathers."

Feather donations will be sold and all proceeds deposited in a fund for the restoration and preservation of waterfowl breeding marshes.

18 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943

NEBRASKA PROTECTS HER HENS

By H. Elliott McClure

For the 1943 hunting season the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission again prohibits the shooting of hen pheasants. In order that this restriction be enforced it is, of course, necessary that a penalty be placed upon those hunters who are found with hen pheasants in their possession.

Why is it best that no hens be shot? With such a large portion of birds as exist this year, why would it make any difference if a few hens are taken? There are several fundamental laws of nature which govern the development and maintenance of animal populations. Any animal, from man to the lowest one celled forms, will tend to breed to the limit of its food supply. If the food supply increases, then the animal can be expected to increase. Each species has a rate of increase beyond which it cannot go. This rate is controlled by the sex ratio, that is the number of males and females, and by the number of eggs or offspring that the females can produce. For example, the passenger pigeon laid only one egg at a nesting, so with this low reproductive capacity it could not regain losses rapidly. The pheasant, with its large number of eggs, can soon regain losses.

In opposition to this ability of an animal to breed to the limit of its food supply, we have what are known as environmental resistances. An environmental resistance is anything which holds a population down by killing individuals outright, by affecting the breeding cycle, and by affecting the food supply. Weather and man are the two most important agencies working aginst the pheasant. Therefore the number of animals or the size of a population is a balance between the reproductive capacity of the animal and resistance of its environment. When man's activities or natural changes in the environment are such that losses are greater than the reproductive ability of a species, then it becomes extinct, as have the passenger pigeon, sea mink, auk, Labrador duck, Carolina paraquet, woods bison, eastern wolf, heath hen, and many others.

What, then, does all this mean to the Nebraska pheasant hunter and the no hen law ? The pheasant is a polygamous animal. Each cock can service several hens. What restrains him from doing so is the presence of other males whom he must drive away if he is to keep his little harem. Because of this polygamous nature, the pheasant makes a desirable game bird. Numerous cocks may be removed from the population and still not greatly affect it. With a bird as   Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 19 widely distributed as the pheasant and as adaptable as it is, there are but a few things that the game manager can do to increase or decrease the population. Among these is the control of the sex ratio. Through the agency of hunters and the control of their activities it is possible to make changes in the sex ratio and thereby control the bird population.

In the hunting season of 1941 one hen in a bag of five was allowed, but it was asked that the hunter refrain from shooting hens as much as possible. It is to the credit of the Nebraska sportsman that he really did hold back and not shoot hens, for they made up only 13 percent of a possible 20 per cent of the season's kill. After the hunting season, the birds entered a mild winter in which hardly 10 per cent were lost. The breeding season began about the first of April. It is in this period during the lives of pheasants when the hens suffer most. Because of their incubation duties, they are subject to a great many disasters, the most important of which is first mowing of alfalfa. All through the breeding season more hens are killed than are males. In a natural habitat, where man's activities are reduced to a minimum, this differential loss of hens does not occur, and the sex ratio remains one male to one female year after year. Because of protecting hens in the 1941 hunting season the birds entered the 1942 breeding season with a sex ratio of one hundred cocks to one hundred and twenty hens. Young females are subject to more losses than young males, because males are more aggressive and develop more rapidly. At the opening of the 1942 hunting season there was a sex ratio of one hundred cocks to seventy hens, but, because of the numbers of hens entering the breeding season the total fall population was more than double that of 1941. There was then a surplus of cocks, but definitely not a surplus of hens.

Following the hunting season Nebraska entered the winter of 1942-43 with more hens than roosters. Weather was not severe until February and March when extended spells of snow and cold over wide areas covered the pheasants' food and subjected them to severe temperatures. As much as 50 per cent of the population starved to death in some localities in the sandhills. Warm spells in March, 1943, stimulated breeding, and it appeared then that there were approximately 20 per cent more hens than in March 1942. The pheasant outlook appeared bright. However, early nests were damaged by cold weather in April and May, resulting in smaller broods during July. The production of pheasants for 1943 was down approximately onethird compared to that of 1942. Even with all these changes it is apparent that the pheasant will enter the hunting season this year with a better sex ratio than in 1942. The protection of hens has already shown some effect. Continuing to protect them over a period of years will gradually build up a reserve which can always produce a good crop. It is a much harder and a much slower job to build up a hen population than it is to reduce it, but if we have more hens then there will be more broods and we will have good hunting in the fall.

This is the condition for which the Nebraska Game Commission is striving. If more hens survive on the first of April, then by the opening of the hunting season there will not only be a population with a balanced sex ratio, but there will be more birds and a large number of roosters available for the hunter. Protecting hens is good game management, so hunters hold your shots!

The crux of the situation is that it is a much harder and a much slower job to build up a hen population than it is to reduce it.

20 Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1948

WING SHOOTING

By LORON BUNNEY THE AUTHOR

"Recognized as one of the better game shots of the state. (In trapshooting) Nebraska double target champion 1923. Worlds record for continuous breaks in shooting off tie, 200 straight in 1923. (This record was broken a few years later). Professional champion at double targets in Prairie Zone 1924. Professional champion, single targets Nebraska State Shoot 1924. Winner of official high overage of Nebraska, 1925. Nebraska double target champion 1926- Runner-up on singles. Nebraska OPEN championship, 1942."

(The above shooting is all recorded in the files of the Amateur Trapshooting Association of Dayton, O.)

Volumes have been written on the art of Wing Shooting, yet actual experience is by far the best teacher. We might carry charts giving velocity of a shot charge, speed flight of the different game birds, the proper lead for all the various angles, yet what good would it do after a bird flushed. By the time you could consult your chart the bird would be in the next county. However, I am fully convinced that a big percentage of hunters do not realize that proper lead is by far the most important factor in successful Wing Shooting.

It is very seldom that we flush a bird that requires an absolute point-blank aim. In duck shooting either pass or over decoys 90% of them must be led in order to place them in the center of your shot circle.

Now to give the novice an idea of what this lead business is all about let me quote a few figures, for example— a duck passing parallel to the hunter at 100 feet distance and moving at the conservative rate of 30 miles per hour will travel approximately 4% feet in 1-10 of a second. Our balistic experts tell us the muzzle velocity of the average shot charge is around 1,000 feet per second or 100 feet in 1-10 of a second. Therefore it may be plainly seen that the duck travels 4% feet in the same length of time it takes the shot charge to travel 100 feet—thus the lead required to center your bird provided your gun was fired from a stationary position Most shooters agree that the swing of the gun offsets a part of the lead. Quartering shots require less lead and on the other hand longer distance or speedier birds require more lead. The whole thing in a nutshell is that actual experience in the field is the only possible way to learn the game, and believe me it takes a lot of time and ammunition.

Now a little about the proper ammunition. Most beginners are handicapped by using the wrong size shot. I expect to get a "raise" out of many shooters but nevertheless the following is based on over thirty years of actual experience in the field, plus the opinion of many of the world's greatest wing shots with whom I've had the pleasure of discussing the subject during my ten years in the trap shooting game.

Wing Shooting in Nebraska at the present time is confined to ducks and pheasants with an occasional goose for dessert. My firm belief is that only three sizes of shot should ever be used on ducks and pheasants for more clean kills and less cripples, and that is 6s, 7s and 7%. Nothing heavier than 6s for large ducks and 7s or 7%s on medium ducks and pheasants. The average pheasant shooter, many of whom has had little or no experience in the field, tramps around all day and shoots at every pheasant that gets up regardless of distance and occasionally kills a bird at 80 yards with his 4s and then gets the mistaken idea that he should kill all his birds at that distance. The modern gun companies have the science of boring guns down to a mighty fine degree, but no 12 gauge gun has ever been built that will kill consistently at 70 or 80 yards. The reason for so many crippled birds, or birds wounded that fly away and die, and do no one any good, is because of poor judgment of distance. You may wonder what I consider the maximum distance for consistent killing. I place the 12 gauge at 55 yards, 16 gauge 50 yards, and the 20 at 45 yards   Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 21 with the proper balanced load. Five yards might be added by the use of maximum loads which were placed on the market a few years ago. I favor the old reliable standard load for a 12 gauge of 314-1% and would insist that beginners use nothing heavier. My reason for the use of small shot is very simple. A game bird must be hit in a vital spot to make a clean kill and the vital spot is very little larger than a base ball on the above birds with head excluded. Either of the three favorite sizes have ample penetration at the above distances to make clean kills, and the number of pellets are so much greater that everything is in favor of the small shot. Do you realize that a load of 5s has only half as many pellets as does a load of IVzS and that your chances of hitting a vital spot is considerably less with the 5s?

If nothing else will convince you, back off 55 yards and take a shot at the side of the barn or a large paper target, trying 4s. See how easy it is to throw a baseball through your pattern of 4s and I think you'll fiend a place or two you can throw a football through also. Now try a load of 7%s and let your conscience be your guide.

Learn to judge distance and never shoot at a bird over 50 or 60 yards, and bear in mind that from 30 to 45 yards is the proper distance for clean killing.

All modern guns are factory tested at a 30 inch circle at 40 yards, and a bore that will place 80% of the pellets in the 30 inch circle is some gun. Most of them run about 65% which is a very good killing circle. And when the fellow tells you he has a gun that will put all the shot in the size of his hat at 50 yards, tell him you are from Missouri, for it just can't be done.

I sincerely hope that you beginners, and also many others who in the past have shot up two or three boxes of shells getting the limit or less, will try the small shot idea, also practice distance judging, give your birds plenty of lead, and by all means shoot with both eyes open if possible, and watch the old game bag fill up.

CROW STRAIT JACKET

(Continued from Page 11)

following morning, bringing some of their friends, for such a story is in the nature of a crow bonanza and cannot long be concealed.

The operation of the trap is quite simple. Crows that alight at the top either walk or fly down to the slots provided between the ladder-like rungs of the entrance, then drop down between them to the bait below. Once inside their only means of egress is barred by those self-same

rungs, plus gravity. As the birds fly upward their wings strike the rungs and bar their further escape attempts. Too, most of them try to fly up along the walls and come to blind corners, where they cling temporarily but soon repeat the cycle.

Don't forget to leave one or two live crows in the trap.

But don't let anyone talk you into gilding the lily by including a cat or an owl in a small cage within the trap. Crows have room for only one emotion at a time, and if one of their hereditary enemies is produced they'll go into such a tantrum that they'll neglect their food until they've driven the intruder far, far away. If your captive crows are placed in a small interior cage within the trap, that's fine; but no cats, hawks, owls or foxes, please!

There it is; a device that can remove several thousand crows from any area of concentration. How many are destroyed will depend on the finesse with which the trap is operated, its construction from properly aged materials —which will frighten few of even the wisest—and how well it is located within the area of concentration. But its chief saving will be in powder and shot, until the world war is over. Then the boys will thank you for your contribution toward making it possible for them to take up their peacetime scatterguns where they left off.

Go to it—build that crow trap!

Outdoor Nebraska—November, 1943 23

OPEN SEASONS, BAG LIMITS, AND AREAS OPEN FOR GAME BIRDS AND GAME ANIMALS

The following open seasons, bag and possession limits and areas are fixed, prescribed and published effective October 1, 1943, to further change. Hours Area Posses

Species Open Season Open Open Daily Bag sion Limit Notes GAME Jh Hour "Daily Bag"— not more BIRDS: Before than one woodduck nor Ducks Oct. 15 to Dec. 23 Sunrise Entire State 10 20 more than three singly inclusive to Sunset Vz Hour *See footnote or in the aggregate of redheads & buffleheads. "Possession Limit"—not more than one woodduck nor more than six of either or both of redheads or buffleheads. Geese Oct. IB to Dec. 23 Before Entire State 2 4 "Daily Bag"—Four blue inclusive Sunrise to Sunset % Hour Before *See footnote geese may be taken in a day. If blue geese only are taken, the daily bag limit is six. "Possession Limit"— Two additional blue geese are allowed. If blue geese only are taken, the possession limit is six. Coots Oct. 15 to Dec. 23 Sunrise Entire State (Mudhens inclusive to Sunset y2 Hour Before *See footnote 25 25 Pheasants Oct 15 to Dec. 23 Sunrise Entire State 5 10 Cocks Only. Dressed pheasants must inclusive to Sunset be prepared in such a manner as to positively identify the sex of the birds. The head or tail left on the bird will be sufficient. IT IS ILLEGAL TO KILL A HEN PHEASANT. Please report to the de- GAME Before partment band numbers ANIMALS and locality where taken Cottontail Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 Sunrise of all banded birds in Rabbits inclusive to Entire State 10 20 bag. Squirrels Oct. 15 to Dec. 23 Sunset inclusive Entire State 5 10 Raccoon Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit No possession limit on raccoon and opossum Oppossum Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 furs. inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit FUR- BEARING ANIMALS: Raccoon Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 ALL Entire State No Limit Opossum Nov. 1 to- Jan. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit Muskrat Nov. 15 to Dee. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit Badger Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit Fox Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit Mink Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit Skunk Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 inclusive ALL Entire State No Limit

*The following State-owned lakes will be open to shooting for ducks, geese and coots: Arnold Lake, Babcock Lake, Blue River Recreation Grounds, Champion Lake, Cottonmill Lake, Cottonwood Lake, Frye Lake, Goose Lake, Crystal Lake, Duke Alexis Lake, Jefferson County Recreation Grounds, Loup City Lake, Pawnee Lake, Pibel Lake, Platteview Lake, Rat and Beaver Lakes, Ravenna Lake, Fremont Lakes, Verdon Lake, Rock Creek Lake, Shell Lake, Wellfleet Lake, Memphis Lake. (No one will be permitted to construct blinds or other devices on State-owned lakes. No one may destroy, molest, or disturb natural or planted vegetation on or near Stateowned lakes.) Closed: Dead-Timber and Walgren Lakes.

Lake Quinebaugh is in Nebraska.

Lake Manawa is in Iowa.