4* 



RECREATION. 



riedly ordered the trunks and valise re-checked 

 *o Rileyville. The constable stuck closer than a 

 brother, and again boarded the train with him on 

 the return journey. Arriving at the Perry county 

 line, the constable arrested Letempt, and confis- 

 cated the birds. Letempt was placed in jail and 

 afterward furnished bond. He employed Wm. 

 S. Cantrell, of Benton, as his attorney, and threat- 

 ened a red-hot fight over the matter. The fines 

 in this case at the minimum would have aggre- 

 gated $12,850. But the case was compromised. 

 Letempt paid a fine of $250, and his lawyer's and 

 court fees probably amounted to as much more. — 

 Pinckneyville (111.) Democrat. 



I am employed on a ranch located on the 

 trail of the elk and antelope on their way 

 to and from the desert, and I see and hear 

 of a great deal of unlawful killing. Elk 

 are killed by hundreds along the trail 

 from December 1st until May and June. 

 Antelope the same. Many elk are also 

 killed for their teeth. There is no game 

 warden in this locality, so game is killed 

 the year around, mostly by non-residents. 

 I hear that a guide, not many miles from 

 here, killed 30 elk last winter. I have also 

 heard from reliable sources that elk are 

 killed on the desert in large numbers and 

 the meat is sold in Rock Springs and other 

 mining towns along the railroad. 



Tenderfoot, Pinedale, Wyo. 



The game laws are little observed here. 

 What grouse we have are killed as soon as 

 they can fly. Deer, which were abundant 

 until recently, are now scarce. Indians 

 and many white men kill them at all sea- 

 sons. It seems the intention of the In- 

 dians, when their reservations are thrown 

 open to the prospector, to clear the coun- 

 try of game as quickly as possible. That 

 has proved the case all over the State. 

 Pintail grouse are becoming numerous in 

 the Okanogan country. They are the only 

 thing able to hold their own against the 

 coyote and the pot hunter. There are few 

 shot guns or bird dogs here, but every boy 

 has a 22 rifle. 



L. H. Doner, Republic, Wash. 



I wish Recreation could reach some of 

 the fur hogs who boast in other sportsmen's 

 periodicals of the big killings they have 

 made. There are animals, such as minks, 

 weasels and muskrats, that seem of no 

 earthly use ; but to kill raccoons, opossums, 

 skunks and foxes simply for the price of 

 their skins is utterly wrong. No creature 

 renders the farmer more valuable aid as an 

 insect destroyer than does the skunk. Our 

 Legislature recognizes that fact, and has 

 forbidden the killing of those animals un- 

 der heavy penalty. No other creature 

 does so little harm while furnishing as 

 much sport to as many people as does the 

 fox. 



H. S. Wolf, Point Pleasant, W. Va. 



Many sportsmen, when on hunting trips, 

 are in the habit of shooting birds that can 

 in no sense be considered game, simply 

 for practice. Large numbers of gulls, 

 terns, swallows, swifts, nighthawks, which 

 in some sections of the country are known 

 as bullbats, and birds of like character are 

 destroyed every year. Without considering 

 the aesthetic side of the question, such birds 

 should not be killed from an economic 

 standpoint. They are of great value to the 

 public, and no true sportsman will wan- 

 tonly destroy them. Sportsmen should 

 practice and preach the gospel of protec- 

 tion at all times. 



William Dutcher, New York City. 



i have always hunted small game and 

 observed the law, and I admire your plat- 

 form of game protection. I have been in 

 Northern Pennsylvania 3 years. Last year 

 I got 15 grouse in the whole season. We 

 had Lou Fleming, of Pittsburg, Pa:, and 

 other crack shots here last season for a 

 shooting tournament. They stayed one week 

 to hunt and the largest bag made was 5 

 or 6 grouse. It is hard to make a big 

 bag here on account of the brush. Birds 

 are plentiful. I contend that men who 

 shoot too much in open season do less 

 harm than is done by campers in close 

 season. C. E. Karns, Kane, Pa. 



Early last summer some animal began 

 playing havoc with young chickens in this 

 vicinity. As long as he confined his at- 

 tention to the hen roosts of my neighbors 

 I was content to suppose him a fox or a 

 coon. When, however, he levied toll on 

 my own flock, I determined to hold an 

 autopsy that would leave no doubt as to 

 the rascal's species. I procured 8 steel 

 traps and set them along a trail leading to 

 an opening in the poultry yard fence. The 

 next day I found the robber fast in 2 traps, 

 and I was as greatly surprised as he, for 

 he was an 18 pound woodchuck. 



L. H. Bower, Newfield. 



I think A. A. W. never owned anything 

 in the dog line better than a yellow cur, 

 or he would not advocate the extermina- 

 tion of bird dogs as a measure to increase 

 game. No real soortsman feels any more 

 satisfaction in making a nice shot or a good 

 bag than in watching the work of his 

 pointer or setter. Moreover, ^4 of the 

 birds killed are not recovered unless a dog 

 is used. A. A. W. likens hunting with bird 

 dogs to running deer with hounds. It ap- 

 pears to me much easier for a covey of 

 birds to get out of reach of a bird dog than 

 for a deer to get away from a hound. 



H. A. C, Luzerne, Pa. 



