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Show r BY " i y ; .. t i y. 4 D ' Mecca, where they had been Industrlous- I rt 'W f A l.v uprooting and destroying farmers' V :i ,v -: ,10 ' crojid prior to the opening of the ten- ''4i3E''"0 Vtyjy , day season, October 1 to 10. inclusive. , As the shooting guest of "Toggery Dill" . c.f Mrftrfl tVir-H tin onu!lA.,l dint - n ,.(r. RRAYKD In feathered parb of au- Atum or golden tints, Bhapely and attractive, Its scintillating, iridescent iri-descent colorings reflected in the untight, the China or rlns-! rlns-! necked pheasant Is one of the most at-I at-I tractive of birds. Imported Into the United States In 1SS1 by the late Judge O. N. Denny, who was a United Slates I consular agent at Shanghai, China, the j first consignment of ten cocks and eipht-i eipht-i een hens was liberated in Lynn county, I Oregon. This little aggregation of birds increased so rapidly that it was estimated that .rj0,u00 birds were killed on the opening open-ing day of the season in 18i2. eleven years after their original introduction. In Europe pheasants are raised in confinement con-finement for svorting purposes or fall shootinff. The eggs are hatched by the Incubator route, as hens are not especially shifty about covering or protecting their young during storms or inclement weather. Pheasants are very easily protected pro-tected under ntate. laws. As cocks are so distinctively diKnrent from the hens, they are easily distinguished by the hunter before firing his shot. The male Pbasl-anus Pbasl-anus torquatus. with tail measurement, attain the length of thirty-six inches. They are sluggish in thojr habits compared com-pared to our ruffled grouse, and usually try to escape by running or hiding, rather than by taking wing. When they do fly, they go in a direct line, making most excellent targets for wing shooting. shoot-ing. They soon become acclimated and furnish an utti active day's sport, even though the bag limit In all states is a limited number. Numerous on Coast. On the Pacific coast H Is claimed they have become so numerous they are a menace to gardens and growing crops in those localities. Hunters are welcomed as nn aggregation of crop suvers. The "Chinks" natural inclinations are along the lines of sociability; they are seldom found a great distance from the haunts of man, and barnyards soon become. then-Mecca then-Mecca ' Domestic hens are a source of especial interest and attention from the male ring neck. He will fight an intruding in-truding rooster to a successful finish. The polygamous cuss carefully seiects and jealously guards his harem. Tn no locality are the China pheasants found more numerous than In tho Itogue River valley, adjacent to the city of Med-ford. Med-ford. Ore. A pheasant hunt was booked for the opening day of the senRon on the headwaters head-waters of Antelope creek, fourteen miles northeast of Meuford, a reported "Chink" Mecca, where they had been Industriously Industrious-ly uprooting and destroying farmers' crops prior to the opening of the ten-day ten-day season, October 1 to 10. inclusive. As the shooting guest of "Toggery Dill" of Medford, an excellent shot and outdoor ent husiast, I was assured a welcome against the ever-present "no trespassing" signs that decorated fences. Tillers of the soil made us most welcome, we were the first scatterpun artists to arrive. ar-rive. They became our self-appointed guides, ushering us to the most likely haunts and feeding grounds of the unsuspecting un-suspecting pheasants, A buckwheat field, almost ruined by the birds' attention, atten-tion, was our first objective, and a fine covey of birds awaited our arrival. Wo could see them "reading" through tho patch ahead. They finally arose for a lazy flight, and four male birds were folded, ail striking the ground about the same time. Our human retrievers failed to drop to shoot, but rushed the birds, making a rapid and satisfactory gather. After our first fusillade an S. O. S. was sent out by the survivors of the flock, causing every bird to consult his calendar calen-dar to find the open season was on. Birds Become Wily. Birds tli en ecame wily, cautious and scarce, ruading to a place of safety instead in-stead of taking wing, until they were out of tho killing zone. We hunted industriously, indus-triously, occasionally gleaning an old cock who had forgot ten his "safety first" tactics. We worked out In s wails, willow wil-low eupse and irrigation ditches, an occasional occa-sional whirr was followed by close sex observation ob-servation before firing a shot which might land one in juil or invite an excessive exces-sive fine. The gray or quaker shades of the female birds was their passport to I safety. The male birds had a hRppy j faculty of introducing a tree or brush in the line of vision, while the female set-med to always select the open. Our legal limit of five cork birds (it being illegal to kill the females) brought to bag, our efforts were diverted to quail. Wo located both the mountain and valley varieties, which offered most difficult shooting, due to their selection of Inaccessible Inac-cessible haunts and ability to cover distance dis-tance with velocity in a rail-fence flight through dense thickets. There was no : sex embargo on quail and we soon bagged I our legal limit of ten birds. Four teal I ducks, many bunnies, one squirrel, five ' pheasants and ten quail was our donation to the "Mulligan stew" prepared at the I Elks' club for our friends and selves that I evening. |
