FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



49 



Now Mr. Editor, hurry up and let me 

 know how it is; for I dassen't begin to 

 yank up Bill till I hear from you, lest I get 

 more then I bargain for. 



Yours for law and justice. 



Hank Backwoods. 



P. S. Pennsylvania Law. 



A SOUTHERN CRUISE. 



Beardstown, 111. 



Editor Recreation: My family and I 

 feel that we are acquainted with you 

 through Recreation. My wife is a good 

 shot, and we believe in the gospel of open 

 air. We are spending a few days with 

 friends in Sangamon valley, on the Illinois 

 river near Beardstown. Here are abun- 

 dance of quail and chickens. The game 

 laws are well enforced. The lakes are 

 stocked with fish; crappie, pike, bass and 

 thousands of gamey little sun-fish, which 

 are not bad sport when the others fail to 

 bite. The game and fish hog gets the cold 

 shoulder here. When Recreation has 

 1,000,000 subscribers the hogs will have no 

 place on this earth, and there will be fish 

 and game enough to satisfy all true sports- 

 men. 



October 15th we leave Beardstown, in 

 our boat. Will travel the Illinois river to 

 • the Mississippi, then down to the Sunk 

 Lands of Arkansas. Later we go on to 

 New Orleans and the Gulf and take passage 

 to Fort Myers, Florida. My wife and our 

 little son will be my companions on the 

 journey. 



We never fail to say a good word for 

 Recreation. Birds should not be shot 

 during their spring flight. The females of 

 game animals should be spared at all times. 

 The game hog and market hunter should 

 be suppressed by well made and well en- 

 forced laws. If these principles are carried 

 out we will have an abundance of game, 

 even in the thickly settled portions of our 

 country. Wm. Clark. 



WHERE TO GO TO TRAP FURS. 



Vancouver Island, B. C, is a sportsman's 

 paradise for game and fur. On the North- 

 ern half of the island can be found elk, deer, 

 black bear, cougars, wolves, lynxes, wild- 

 cats and coons, beavers, land otters, fishers, 

 martins, minks, blue grouse, ruffed grouse, 

 ducks, geese and brant. To make a special 

 hunt in B. C. would cost a non-resident 

 $50; but there is no license for trapping. 

 That is free to all alike. 



The best trapping grounds are found in 

 the interior of the island, from the head of 

 Campbell river to the source of Salmon 

 river, on a long chain of lakes about the 

 middle of the island, with the exception of 

 land otter, which are found along the rock 

 bound coasts of the many bays and inlets 

 on salt water. However, these otters go to 



the lakes to breed, in spring and summer, 

 and return again to salt water in the fall. 



A dozen beaver and otter traps, and 4 

 dozen martin and mink traps, with the dead- 

 falls that can be built, will be plenty for one 

 man, and one rifle or shot gun, or both. 



To reach the grounds take steamer or 

 cars from Seattle, Wash., to Vancouver, B. 

 C. Then take steamer Comox or Rain- 

 bow, to the Hastings lumber camp, at 

 Bear River, Vancouver Island; thence 

 3^2 miles to Bear lake, by trail, which is 

 the first of a chain of lakes that extends 

 for 40 miles. 



Unless you are in the company of some 

 one who knows the country it will take 

 you one season to learn the details. But 

 for a hunting or trapping country Van- 

 couver Island is all right. 



L. L. Bales, 

 Alaskan Guide, Seattle, Wash. 



HOW TO HOLD. 



Dear Sir: I take the liberty of seeking a 

 few points on duck shooting* through your 

 valuable columns. I am a fair wing shot; 

 but on ducks I meet with little success. I 

 shoot a 10 gauge Parker, with No. 5 shot. 

 I think my ill luck is owing to miscalcula- 

 tion of distances. 



A reply, through Recreation, will con- 

 fer a favor on a lover of the gun, but not a 

 pot hunter. 



Chas. Ellis, Denver, Col. 



I referred this to Mr. Wilmot Townsend, 

 who replies as follows: 



Mr. Ellis' statement that he is a fair wing 

 shot, seems to me, to make the matter sim- 

 ple of explanation. I should say his trouble 

 lies not in " miscalculation of distances " as 

 he puts it, but rather in miscalculation as 

 to the speed of his game. I take it that he 

 has not done much duck shooting, from 

 the tone of his letter. If he will increase his 

 lead on cross shots, giving them 6 to 12 

 feet for their ordinary flight, and when they 

 boom down on the wind, from 16 to 20 feet, 

 aye, and even more, I think he will be in the 

 right way of solving the problem. The 

 speed of wildfowl is tremendous, at times. 

 and great all the time; and the majority of 

 misses are caused by not leading them 

 enough. 



With practice Mr. Ellis will soon get the 

 hang of it; but at first he will find it hard 

 to believe that one must lead his ducks such 

 a distance. 



His gun should at least be a modified 

 choke, for this work, though I prefer full 

 choke in both barrels. 



Wilmot Townsend, Bay Ridge, N. Y. 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR CONTEST. 



Recreation's grizzly bear makes his 

 second bow to his friends, who have been 

 shooting at him so industriously ever since 



