FOR A LEAGUE OF AMERICAN SPORTSMEN. 



39 



was deeply interested in something away 

 off in the other direction; but all the while 

 the corner of one eye was on me. How 

 well he knew I had no gun! 



They bother young sheep and hogs here, 

 and stray chickens never come home to 

 roost, if they once wander from their own 

 fireside. The vast number of destructive 

 gophers, ground squirrels and rabbits it 

 takes to make a meal for a coyote are too 

 seldom taken into account. 



Years ago 50 to 100 jack rabbits could be 

 seen at once on a grassy plot here within 

 10 miles of the State Capitol. It was nearly 

 impossible for a poor settler to fence 

 against them, and notwithstanding 2 coun- 

 ties here have paid out, in bounties, about 

 $30,000 we still have plenty of jacks; while 

 out in the Eastern part of the State, rabbit 

 drives are made to destroy the pests. 

 Sometimes as many as 3,000 are killed in 

 a day. The coyote undoubtedly holds the 

 balance of power, and I leave him free to 

 roam over my land. When some old sin- 

 ner becomes too pugnacious I administer 

 a " broken dose," at long range and it 

 seems to do the entire tribe. 



They have great respect for a gun, and 

 know when you are out for business. 



Certainly the good they do, in suppress- 

 ing these destructive rodents, far out- 

 balances the harm they do the few. 



F. R. Fouche. 



AS TO TRAPPING WOLVES. 



Jacksonville, 111. 



Editor Recreation: I have been in- 

 terested in the letters on the wolf question. 

 When a boy I lived in the territory of Wis- 

 consin. Near us lived an old man by the 

 name of Dr. Biglow, who had lived many 

 years with the Indians. He made his liv- 

 ing, principally, by trapping. I visited him 

 frequently and once took care of him 

 through a sickness he had. During that 

 time he taught me how to trap all kinds of 

 animals that were found in the country in 

 which we lived. 



It was known that he used something to 

 bring the wolves to his traps, and he told 

 me what it was. He said that when he 

 caught a wolf he saved the urine, from its 

 bladder, until it became rancid. Then, after 

 setting his traps he sprinkled a few drops 

 of this over each one. He said this would 

 bring a wolf, in a bee line, for over a mile 

 when he crossed the wind from the trap. 



The Doctor always set his traps in beds 

 of ashes, generally where a log had been 

 burned by the forest fires. He smoked his 

 traps and his boots, to kill all human odor. 



He said it was much more difficult to trap 

 a fox than a, wolf. He told me in poison- 

 ing animals never to put the poison in any 

 kind of fat; as the fat neutralized the poi- 

 son; and to be careful not to use too much 

 poison. Geo. Hayden. 



FOR A LEAGUE OF AMERICAN SPORTSMEN. 



As an old member of the League of 

 American Wheelmen, I sr ould say that Mr. 

 Lydecker's idea is certainly commendable. 

 A League of American Sportsmen is need- 

 ed. There is an immense amount of good 

 work which such an organization could do. 



The L. A. W. was organized under much 

 more difficult conditions, and with a much 

 smaller number of bicycle enthusiasts than 

 the L. A. S. would have, at the start. There 

 are many thousands of sportsmen, and I 

 believe about 170,000 of them are readers 

 of Recreation. These should all be glad 

 to join the Sportsmen's League, which 

 would have for its object the protection of 

 game and fish; the educating of young 

 sportsmen, and the teaching them that it 

 is unsportsmanlike, ungentlemanly, un- 

 kind, and " hoggish," to 'slaughter game in 

 excess of what they need for their own 

 table; or to kill game on its breeding 

 grounds, or migratory birds when on their 

 way to breeding grounds; or to take fish 

 at a season when the taking of one female 

 means the destruction of several hundred 

 more. 



Personally, I am in favor of a short 



shooting season, and of having the open 

 season uniform in the Northern half of the 

 United States, between the oceans from 

 East to West. In the Southern half of the 

 United States the season should also be 

 uniform, but somewhat at variance with 

 that of the Northern portions. I do not 

 believe the passage of game laws, in various 

 States, will have nearly so good an effect, 

 for the protection of game, as the educat- 

 ing of the rising generation, and the teach- 

 ing of them as to what should and should 

 not be done in the matter of protecting 

 game. 



A few years ago the average sportsman 

 would boast of the number of birds he had 

 killed in a day. To-day it is different. The 

 more intelligent sportsmen are close read- 

 ers of such journals as Recreation, and 

 hence have been educated to look upon 

 the killing of an unreasonable quantity of 

 game as unsportsmanlike. The result is. 

 that these same men now pride themselves 

 on having a day's sport and securing only 

 as much game as they can use for their own 

 tables. 



I am opposed to the sale of game at all 



