294 



RECREA TION. 



did. Thar the duck wuz, floppin' aroun' in 

 the crick, an' the buck kickin' things loos' 

 on t'other side. 



" Well, thinks I, He hav' to git acrost 

 thar an' tend to ye. So I j is' piled in an' 

 waded an' pick'd up the duck; an' b'gosh 

 the trout rushed up my britches laigs til' 

 tha' bust a buton off; an' it flew up the 

 crick 'bout 10 rods an' killed anuther big 

 buck that wuz crossin'. 



" Wall. I °ot out o' the crick an' got the 

 fish out of my britches, un' hall'd the bucks 

 together, an' thinks I wonder whar that 

 ball went to. So I got the range un' fol- 

 ler'd up till 1 cum to a big holler sicamore 

 un' thar she wuz; a hole big ez yer thum', 

 un' honey a runnin' out fullsige. 



" Thinks I, that won't do, to let that 

 honey go to waste; so I grabbed down to 

 git some leaves to plug up the hole, un' 

 b'gosh I got hold of a rabbit thet wuz sit- 

 tin' thar; an' it made me so durned mad to 

 be disapp'inted thet way, that I throw'd it, 

 hard 's I could, an' it struck into a flock of 

 pa'tri'ges an' killed 13 of 'em. 



" Wall, I plugged up the bullet hole, an' 

 gethered up my game un' carried it to the 

 shanty an' got suthin' to eat, for ye can 

 bet I wuz hungry. 



" After brekfust I tuck sum buckets an' 

 went over an' cut the big tree un' tuck out 

 4 bar'ls o' honey. Figgerin' up one duck, 

 2 bucks, 2 bushels o' fish, one rabbit, 13 

 pa'tri'ges an' 4 bar'ls of honey waren't bad 

 fur that mornin', wuz it? " 



And Bill didn't call himself a game hog 

 either. G. B. 



TIN PIGEON SHOOTING, IN WILD AND 

 WOOLLY WYOMING. 



Wind River, Wyo. 



Editor Recreation: There are 4 of us. 

 We thought we could shoot. The ducks 

 that went South last fall know better. Four 

 men, 4 guns, 1,000 cartridges gone up in 

 smoke and 100 ducks down in our pockets. 

 That's the summary of 2 months' work. 



We reflected; cast about for ways and 

 means, and made soft remarks to ourselves, 

 when out of ear shot of the ladies. 



Empire targets and traps? Excellent; 

 but, then, we are 1,000 miles from anywhere, 

 the last 150 being over a Klondike snow- 

 bank, with corresponding freight rates. 



Then we remembered Recreation, Sep- 

 tember, 1897, page 218 and Mr. Lowe's 

 home-made trap. We got out our loga- 

 rithmic table, Chauvenet's "Least Squares," 

 Analytical Geometry, and Analytical and 

 Applied Mechanics; but were immensely 

 relieved on discovering that to construct 

 the trap, these works were not necessary. 



The trap built and pigeons made, we went 

 to work. We made a few " possibles," con- 

 sisting entirely of misses; but finally hit 

 the right trail and occasionally made a 

 score. We hunted up all the literature 



available: read "Wild Fowl Shooting," 

 " Wing, Cover, and Trap Shooting," and 

 other discussions, as to the correct jneth- 

 ods. 



Some say one eye open, others say 2. 

 Like David, we said in our haste " all men 

 are liars," and concluded that 1*4 eyes were 

 more nearly right. The only level headed 

 fellow on the subject was the chap who 

 said, " The best way to shoot, is the way 

 you can shoot best." He was a Recrea- 

 tionist, too. Any way that was the method 

 we finally adopted — each fellow as he saw 

 fit, keeping either one or both eyes open; 

 looking at the bird only, or sighting along 

 the gun at the bird. The results were about 

 the same; it being merely a matter of prac- 

 tice. 



Shooting at these tin targets is very in- 

 structive, if rightly followed. There is a 

 time in the flight of nearly every one of 

 them when it stands almost still, relatively 

 to the shooter. If you are out for record, 

 shoot then. If for instruction, take the bird 

 in the quartering or rising flights. When 

 we finally 'quit shooting, we were fairly 

 proficient, being able to get 8 to 10 birds 

 out of 10 shots. Now, when the ducklings 

 homeward fly, let them beware of the tin 

 pigeon sharp; who is out with his gun 

 and his appetite. Siwash. 



FOR UNIFORM FISH AND GAME LAWS. 



A most important convention was held 

 in Chicago, in February last. It was com- 

 posed of delegates from Illinois, Wiscon- 

 sin, Michigan, and Minnesota, and its ob- 

 ject was to plan and work for the enact- 

 ment of uniform game and fish laws, for 

 these 4 States. 



In attendance were 2 Representatives and 

 one Senator from each State, game war- 

 dens, and members of the State Game and 

 Fish commission, and delegates from sev- 

 eral sportsmen's organizations. Senator J. 

 H. Green, of Wisconsin, was made chair- 

 man, and S. F. Fullerton, executive agent 

 of the Minnesota commission, acted as Sec- 

 retary. 



A committee was appointed to outline the 

 work for the body consisting of Represent- 

 ative M. R. Bortree, of Illinois; Represent- 

 ative W. H. Flett, of Wisconsin, Represent- 

 ative W. B. Douglas, of Michigan, C. E. 

 Brewster, Deputy State Game Warden of 

 Michigan, and W. H. Loveday, Game War- 

 den of Illinois. 



The following resolution, offered by Sen- 

 ator Potter of Minnesota, was adopted: 



" Resolved, That it is the sense of this 

 meeting that trout and white fishing should 

 be prohibited on the great lakes, during the 

 spawning season, being from October 15th 

 to December 1st." 



A resolution was also adopted recom- 

 mending that laws be passed in the several 

 States prohibiting the capture of any fish 



