MONEY IN ROD AND GUN.
How to Combine Profit and Pleasure--Some Truths About
Trout--Stories of the Wild North--Fortunes in Furs--Nearly Five
Million Skins a year--Cost of Birds for Ladies’ Hats--$25 a Day and
Your Own Game Keeper--An Elephant Hunt in Africa.
Happy is the man who can combine pleasure and profit. Most men use the
rod and gun for sport, but there are a number of persons who follow the
business “professionally.” Especially in the great forests of the north
are found thousands of men to whom the skins of wild beasts may be said
to be meat and drink. Some of them even attain a competence and retire
on their savings from the sale of furs. This is less surprising when we
remember that people in the great northern wilderness spend little
beyond what is needful for the bare necessaries of life.
887. FAT QUAILS.--The quail has been called the game bird of America,
because it is found almost everywhere. Some of the best shooting is
found in North Carolina and Maryland, where a hunter of average skill
can bag fifty birds a day. Price, $1.75 per dozen, or $7 for his day’s
sport. Hunters must consult the game laws, which differ in various
States of the Union.
888. TROPICAL BIRDS.--It is estimated that the number of birds it is
necessary to slaughter annually for the decoration of ladies’ hats
amounts to the enormous number of 9,250,000. These are mostly tropical
birds, and are shot in the forests of Brazil, Central America and
Mexico. Some are natives of our Southern States, especially of Florida.
On account of the great difference in the worth of the feathers, no
estimate of the value can be given, but it is said that a skilled hunter
of these bright wings can easily bag $10 worth of the birds in a day.
889. IVORY.--Elephant hunting in Africa is very profitable for those who
have the courage and taste for the work. Seventy-five thousand elephants
are slain yearly to supply the world’s knife-handles, billiard balls,
and piano keys. There are a number of persons engaged in the killing of
elephants for the sake of the sport, but most hunters do so for the
profit. Ivory is worth about $1 a pound, and the tusks of a male
elephant weigh about fifty pounds. The average of one elephant a day is
considered a good day’s work, although five or six have been taken under
the most favorable circumstances. The safest plan is by means of a
pitfall, as then the enraged beast is unable to attack his aggressor.
The elephant hunting business is worth about $5,000,000 a year.
890. THE TROUT POND.--In New England there are hundreds of fish dealers
who own ponds which they have stocked with trout, and which they sell
for $1 apiece; and this price they often receive even when the buyer as
sportsman catches them himself. The profits of fish raising lie in the
fact that fish are prolific to an extent vastly greater than any other
creatures used for human food, the female sometimes laying as many as
150,000 eggs. There are owners of trout preserves who receive as high as
$25 a day from sporting clubs for the exclusive use of their ponds.
891. FABULOUS PRICES FOR FURS.--Hunting and trapping in British America
and in the North Woods of the United States have always been very
profitable. Here is a list of the number of furs taken, with a few of
the prices obtained: A good sable skin brings from $20 to $150,
according to quality; 15,000 are caught yearly. Almost as valuable is
the fur of the pine marten; 200,000 skins taken annually. Another
high-priced skin is that of the mink; 250,000 are taken every year. The
ermine is another choice fur, of which 400,000 are taken yearly. A
beautiful material for robes, ladies’ sets, trimmings, etc., is the fur
of the Canada lynx, of which 50,000 are taken yearly. The fur of the
otter is much esteemed for caps, collars, and gloves; 40,000 taken
yearly. Almost the same number of beavers are captured every year; the
fur is used for caps and mufflers. Three million muskrat skins are in
demand every year. Of all kinds of foxes some 200,000 find their way
into our markets or are exported to Europe. The skin of the silver fox
of Labrador has been sold in London for $500. The raccoon furnishes us
yearly with 500,000 skins, and the badger with 50,000. We have as a
summary 4,745,000 skins marketed every year, affording employment for
thousands of hunters and trappers.