This book is included in the Family Affairs - Children, Parents & Home Economics section.
Foreword by Dan Beard Any Sport which tends to keep our boys in the open is undoubtedly a good thing for the coming generation. The rod and the gun are neither of them instruments for indoor use, consequently a book devoted to the proper use of rod and gun is a book which tends to send our young people to the field, the forest, the river, and the lake; which tends to brighten their eyes, strengthen their muscles, and to quicken their perception and their self-reliance. We must remember that all boys yes, every one of them will pick up the first firearm that comes within reach, and the danger of such an act is in proportion to the amount of their previous study and training in the handling and use of firearms. A well written book on the subject of the gun and rod is a much safer guide than the personal direction of some one who does not know. Almost all the deplorable accidents with firearms are the result of lack of proper training among those who use these weapons. An amusing incident, which occurred at my log house on the shores of Big Tink in the mountains of Pike County, Pa., illustrates the attitude of all good sportsmen toward an untrained man or toward a man whom they do not know. Two men, both trained woodsmen and crack wing shots but strangers to each other, were my guests. Upon their arrival I informed them that the venison was about gone and that there was but one ruffed grouse left hanging in the gallery, adding that if they wanted a good dinner they had better take their guns and dogs and hustle for it. Never shall I forget the suspicion with which these men regarded each other and the searching looks which passed between them as the old-timers started away through the woods; how they watched each other like two feudists waiting for an opportunity to kill. Each well knew the danger incurred in going afield with a chump and a gun. I enjoyed watching them for I had often hunted with each of them and I knew that they would not find one another wanting. Sure enough when they came back from the hunt, loaded with game, they came arm in arm. They had gained mutual confidence and a new but warm friendship. It is only a few days ago since the author of this book with his young son visited me at my log house at "Pike," as we all call it, and any one who had seen Mr. Miller casting on the lake would at once have recognised the fact that he was an adept, also any one who had seen his small son casting with the skill of a veteran would have been impressed with the fact that the author of this book is not only an adept himself but also a practical and capable instructor. Furthermore, any one who had watched the boy, with his quick, self-reliant movements, his erect carriage, clear eyes, and manly bearing could not but have been impressed with the great value of outdoor training. The boy himself is a better preface to this book than I can write. After all is said and done there is but one excuse for the men of to-day living in this world and that is to prepare the boys, the men of to-morrow, to run the world better. For, if the men of to-day are honest, they must confess that they have been guilty of some fearful and frightful bunglings in managing the world's affairs. Some years ago in writing for boys I invented the phrase "the boys' of to-day are the men of tomorrow, " and the immediate use of that phrase by public men in sermons, editorials, speeches, and essays all over the English speaking world is the best guarantee that men realise the immense value of constructive character building work among boys. Any one who will attend a banquet of lawyers, doctors, merchants, or politicians and look over the faces and bodies of the men he sees before him and then look over the faces of the men at a banquet of the Camp Fire Club of America cannot but be impressed with the difference in the appearance of the men, a difference which forcibly emphasises the beneficial effect of an outdoor life, "a the Camp Fire Club of America there are lawyers, doctors, merchants, and politicians but they are of the outdoor type and the difference is so great between them and the ordinary city men that all guests at the speaker's table of the club are struck with wonder and admiration for the crowd assembled on Camp Fire Night. Then let us give our boys an outdoor life, give them an opportunity to go to the open for their games and recreation, and I know of no better way to stimulate a desire for this than to put into their hands books of the outdoor world, books such as Mr. Miller writes. Dan Beard LOG HOUSE, PIKE COUNTY, PA., APRIL, 1916. Author's Preface "The Boys' Book of Hunting and Fishing" was written because there seems to be no book now in print which will tell the youth of twelve to eighteen years age how to start right in learning these fine arts of the outdoors, and how to get tackle and equipment which will not be out of reach of a young fellow's pocketbook, yet will be just the right thing for the beginner, honestly made, not having perhaps the wearing qualities of more expensive outfits, but efficient and capable for the purpose which most cheap goods are not, from the very start! The boy's books of the woodcraft type do not fulfil this requirement, for they stop just where the growing boy wants information; they tell him all about woodcraft and nothing about the right tackle to get and how to use it for trout and bass; nothing on how to learn to be a good wing shot and what guns and gauges to start in with; and little on how to camp out for weeks at a time with a light yet comfortable outfit, and one that will not make them liable to cold from exposure, or sickness from improper food. The men's books on camping, fishing and wing shooting cover these subjects thoroughly, but they suggest outfits that are altogether out of the financial means of any but rich boys, and no fellow has a right to ask his father for equipment that costs far more than the presents that his brothers and sisters get, and that father himself, perhaps, can hardly afford to purchase. Yet there is good cheap equipment, good enough for any beginner, man or boy, on the market, but you must know what to look for to seek it out. Again, most boys like to make their own outfits from the raw material, as being cheaper and adding zest to the game, particularly in camping outfits. The author has camped, fished and hunted since a boy of ten, and, having been so poor that nearly all his own outfits of that date had to be made by himself, has borne this well in mind in penning the chapters of this book. It will be noted that the chapters on hunting are almost exclusively wing shooting, only one chapter on the rifle being included. My reason for this is that the shotgun is not only the most suitable weapon for boys, as being safer and more capable of getting game within a boy's reach, but proficiency in the use of the shotgun is the best possible training for skill in the use of the rifle in shooting big game. Military shooting, as it is now practised, is based on an entirely different set of conditions than big game shooting. The latter is practically wing shooting with the rifle, where a quick, accurate sight at bounding big game, going at full speed, must be taken and a hit scored. It has been the author's experience that boys under the age of eighteen have not the development and endurance needful for the hunting of big game, while, on the other hand, they can become quite as skilful as the men in upland and marsh bird shooting. The rifle, however, that boys can become intimately familiar with and masters of, is the .22 and its near relatives and cousins rifles of comparatively low power but extreme accuracy. Such game as woodchuck, fox, rabbit, squirrel, etc., is fair game for the boy with his rifle, and skill in its use should be attained between the ages of twelve and sixteen years. Again let me reiterate that this book is written with the poor boy in mind. There is a tremendous amount of shoddy outdoor goods on the market, and the average salesman unloads it on the innocent and confiding boy, who trusts him implicitly and parts with his hard-earned pennies for tackle and equipment that is entirely unsuitable for real game fish or real camping or wing shooting. While it has not been possible to name brands of rod, reel, line and lure as good yet cheap, I have given specifications which are met by goods now offered for sale at a low price by reliable houses, and it is up to the boys themselves to ferret out the goods. Knowing just what you want, and about what you ought to pay, it ought not to be hard to select outfits that will start you right. The rest is practice and enjoyable practice, too the only school of which you will never tire, if you live to be ninety years young! INTERLAKEN, N. J., APRIL, 1916. Contents PART ONE: ANGLING FOR BOYS CHAPTER I BATTLING BASS AND WILY TROUT CHAPTER II THE TACKLE TO GET AND How TO USE IT BLACK BASS CHAPTER III THE TACKLE TO GET AND How TO USE IT FLY CASTING FOR TROUT CHAPTER IV KINKS ON CATCHING GAME FISH PART TWO: SHOOTING FOR BOYS CHAPTER I FIRST LESSONS WITH THE HAND TRAP CHAPTER II CHOOSING A GUN CHAPTER III THE "PING PONG" TRAP CHAPTER IV PRACTICE WITH THE STANDARD TRAP CHAPTER V THE SWIFT AND SPITEFUL TWENTY GAUGE CHAPTER VI THE FIRST DAY AT THE GUN CLUB CHAPTER VII A DAY IN THE UPLANDS CHAPTER VIII SHORE BIRD SHOOTING CHAPTER IX DUCK SHOOTING ANTICIPATION CHAPTER X DUCK SHOOTING REALIZATION CHAPTER XI A CHAPTER ON THE RIFLE PART THREE: CAMPING FOR BOYS CHAPTER I BOY CAMPS OF LONG AGO CHAPTER II HIKING CHAPTER III THE HUNTING AND FISHING CAMP CHAPTER IV CAMP COOKERY CHAPTER V ALL ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TENTS CHAPTER VI CAMP FIRES CHAPTER VII WOODSMANSHIP CHAPTER VIII LIVING OFF THE FOREST CHAPTER IX PERMANENT CAMPS
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