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RECREA TION. 



While passing through Bismarck and 

 Mandan, over the Northern Pacific, just 

 after the floods of the Missouri, I had for 

 some time been watching the vast fields of 

 ice, on the Mandan flats, when my atten- 

 tion was called to the body of a deer that 

 had evidently been crushed between heavy 

 blocks of floating ice. It was lying on a 

 stranded ice floe, not far from the railway 

 embankment. This started the inquiry, 

 how many deer were killed by the immense 

 fields of floating ice that swept over the 

 great stretches of low lands, where the tfeer 

 congregate in winter? 



I learned that citizens in the neighbor- 

 hood of Bismarck had braved the dangers 

 of flood and ice fields, with their boats, in 

 the work of saving the deer. Over ioo 

 were rescued. One party saved nearly 40. 

 Some of the animals were driven ahead of 

 the boats, through openings in the ice, 

 while others were so chilled as to make it 

 necessary to carry them. Almost all of the 

 deer were liberated where they could take 

 to the hills. A very few of the weaker were 

 kept and cared for as pets. It is to be 

 hoped other localities are blessed with 

 sportsmen having the same noble spirit. 



A. J. Stone. 



I send you this clipping from the Glou- 

 cester " Daily Times " hoping you will find 

 use for it. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives that 



Whoever takes or kills a rabbit > grey squirrel or chip- 

 munk, or any land bird, except the English sparrow, 

 within the limits of that section of this Commonwealth 

 bounded by Squam river, Ipswich bay, Atlantic ocean, 

 Massachusetts bay and Gloucester harbor, at any time 

 within 5 years of the passage of this act, shall be pun- 

 ished by a fine of $20 for every rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk 

 or bird so taken or killed. 



After the law was passed parties in Glou- 

 cester and Rockport bought 10 or 15 pairs 

 of Canada hares, and liberated them in dif- 

 ferent parts of the cape. 



If the law is strictly enforced it will do a 

 great deal of good; as there are a number 

 of quails, and a few partridges. Interested 

 parties secured 2 pairs of pheasants. I do 

 not know whether they were Mongolian 

 or English, but they are going to breed 

 them with a view to stocking the woods. 

 B. F. B., Rockport, Mass. 



Many geese passed over here last spring. 

 Warren is a good place for sportsmen. It 

 is on the Great Northern railroad, 330 

 miles North of St. Paul. October is the 

 best month for geese. 



A man makes a mistake when he uses an 

 8 gauge gun over decoys. A 10, with No. 2 

 shot, is better for geese. I got into my 

 pit at daylight, one frosty morning last Oc- 

 tober, with an 8 gauge gun. The shooting 

 was lively for an hour; 12 flocks of geese 

 came to the decoys, and I fired 24 shots, 



dropping- only 12 birds. With a lighter 

 gun, I might have had at least 20. 



The field was good for sneaking and 

 that evening was covered with geese. The 

 farmer wanted me to crawl up and kill " 20 

 at a shot," but I did not disturb them, 

 knowing they would come to feed in the 

 morning. The fun of seeing 12 geese fall 

 beats a pot shot every time. My gun was 

 built for one bird at a time; and the reason 

 I missed so many was because I did not 

 have a crack shot in the pit to shoot at the 

 same time. As it was, I could count every 

 miss. E. S., Warren, Minn. 



St. Anthony, Idaho. 



Editor Recreation: I have just returned 

 from a trip through the country where the 

 game winters. Most of the game from the 

 National Park formerly wintered here, as 

 also that from Jackson's Hole, but the last 

 few years the game has changed about a 

 good deal; that is, the deer, elk and moun- 

 tain sheep. The moose and antelope don't 

 change much. 



I started from St. Anthony, with my 

 brother and another man, on the 1st day 

 of May, and on the 2d we found where 7 or 

 8 buffalo had wintered, in 2J/2 feet of snow. 

 As the snow goes off they work back into 

 the National Park. I think the same bunch 

 wintered here a year ago. I heard there 

 were some out in the lava beds, and on 

 January 1st, '96, went out to look after 

 them. I found their trail. The man who 

 told me where they were, wounded one but 

 didn't get it. I followed the trail, by the 

 blood, 6 or 8 miles, but it was storming so 

 hard I had to give it up. 



The past winter has been a hard one on 

 game. A large band of elk wintered close 

 to the buffalo, but no deer. The snow was 

 so deep the antelope and deer wintered 

 low down. 



There are plenty of bear here, and I ex- 

 pect to catch some. Their hides will be 

 good until July 1st. 



A buffalo hide went from here, last win- 

 ter, to a man in Chicago; and there is a 

 nice mounted head for sale in a store in 

 this town. I think there is also one that 

 is not mounted. George Winegar. 



When a man kicks 3 times, good and 

 hard, on my cabin door, at 5 o'clock in the 

 morning, I naturally think something has 

 gone wrong; but when he gets his wind 

 sufficiently to tell me he is a reader of 

 Recreation I throw my door wide open; 

 extend to him the right hand of fellowship 

 and cordially invite him in. He is welcome 

 to eat of my dough-gods and breakfast 

 bacon; to smoke my new cob pipe and to 

 ride my pinto bronk, who never hogs. 

 Then I will loan this stranger my favorite 

 rifle — a 50-95 Bullard express — which, by 



