While this place is inaccessible and quite for. I assure you, you will find no one here to greet you when you arrive, but it excels in hunting and fishing and mountain climbing and one can enjoy the sea-shore, with all it’s charms and sea production products, as well as being in close proximity to the reverse side of summer outings, only ½ hour from the beach you can find the most beautiful timber and alder, redwood, cedar, pine, oak, madrone, laurel, and tan oak, besides manzanita, wild plum and grape cascara, and the home of the now famous Incas berry commonly call Cayona, or bear-berry, the latter we found, and I might add the madrone, manzanita further up the mountain side in quite near the summit while the alder redwood and tan-bark grew neared the ocean. The gorge of the Arroyo Grande is wonderfully rough for perhaps 2 miles, so rough in fact that it is only passably by the best woodsman, but alter a laborious climb fo 2 or 3 miles, the gorge slowly begins to broaden, until it finally opens out into large open <paseo> and rincons with scattering clump of chaparral and <chemise>, this upland is excellent stock range, water is abundant and feed in proportion to such a degree that stock are never <fed> throughout the year. In this locality was found the home of the mountain quail, this is no doubt one of the finest of our game birds, being considerable larger than the valley quail, and more beautiful the plume or crest differs also from the valley relative being carried floating backward, instead of tipping forward. They do not band together in large flocks, seldom more than two broods are found together.
What saved this wonderful bird from total destruction is it’s lonely haunts in high and rough mountain as it is easily confused and becomes bewildered, falling an<d> easy prey to hunters when flushed, as they very seldom fly and then only a short distance. I have known [w]hole flocks being killed by a single hunter. One advantage lies in favor of the bird, he is a ventriloquist, is a hunter has not had the good luck to flush a covey of these birds, but is attracted by the call, which is frequently given in the early morning or late evening, thinking to be guided by the call to a flock, he will find on reaching the point from which the call was supposed to be issued from, that his caller was behind him anywhere from 200 yds to 1 mile, and being fooled about twice you will give up the chase especially when when you have crawled on your hands and knees for many yards under chemise and buck brush over rocks and boulders, down into gullies over rocky points and ridges, dodging tarantulas and rattlesnakes.
I remember that it was on this trip, and at this very camp, that two of our boys, planned at trip up the cañón to the highland to lay for a california lion which we had ever reason to believe had been prowling around our camp at nights attracted by the smell of fresh meat, but so far we had not seen even a trace of him, and our suspension was only based on the pussy footed breaking of twigs, and shadows as lightly, which had occurred at different times throughout various nights. So the boys had planned to take what necessary articles it required to make a night of it and lay for him, where it seems most likely he would or did put in his time during the day, which was about 4 or 5 miles form the camp up the mountain near the summit, as a rocky dark, gulch surrounded by a thicket of chaparral and low scrub manzanita had attracted their attention some days before and they had spoken of this likely place for our lion several times. They left camp one afternoon about 3 P.M. And got in next day at noon, but with no success, having spent the night mostly watching for him. But the point I was making was this, that on this trip they had run into a flock of mountain quail, but only having their rifles with them it was almost foolish to attempt a shot, because of the effect a bullet would have on those tender birds, but the flock ran into a bunch so close together, that a shot was risked at about 89 yards. The shot was successful as several quail remained upon the ground, the boys ran forward and on picking up their game they found three dead, and not one hit with the bullet, as the birds proved this assertion when exhibited at the camp on their return. The birds were killed by small round hard gravel, which covered covered the spot for probably many yards square where the quail had stopped, which they nearly always do just before entering the low underbrush.
Another shot even more marvelous, was one which happened while we lay at Pacific Valley. I being one of the party and and eye-witness to it. My comrade and I was returning from hunt late one afternoon and while crossing a field we came to a picket fence which we had to climb over just as we had laid our guns against the fence to mount it a large flock of wild pigeons swooped down and began settling on the pickets of the fence not more than 50 yds. From us, quickly picking up his gun my companion took a bead on the line of heads which were as near in line as it was possible to be and
the pickets being all of one height he fired. We picked up several dead birds and several others flew away badly wounded. He had cut the head off of 4 and [on] the rest the shot had ranged toward the body, their necks and shoulders being hit.