FROM THE GAME FIELDS 



43 



Fog was unusually prevalent here during 

 the first part of January and, because of it, 

 some of our hunters met with trouble. 

 Three members of the Chico club got 

 turned around on a duck marsh. At 

 dusk, when tired, wet, cold and hungry, 

 they reached a spot of dry land and de- 

 cided to camp there for the night. What 

 dead wood they could find made them a 

 scanty fire around which they sat all night 

 and talked of food, beds and such unob- 

 tainable things. When day broke they found 

 themselves only a few yards from the 

 county road leading to their homes. 



Madge, Oroville, Cal. 



A deer has been seen recently in the 

 fields around Sanquoit and Clayville. The 

 farmers' dogs, of course, give chase now 

 and then and some men have, in spite of 

 the law, taken guns and joined in the 

 pursuit. The man who kills her, if she is 

 killed, will be exceedingly sorry. We are 

 bound to protect her if we can. It is the 

 first deer that has been seen here in 30 

 years. 



Does Norwood claim that the photo in 

 January Recreation is of live deer? If so, 

 I want to quarrel with him. 



W. J. King, Norwich Corners, N. Y. 



I am much interested in the protection of 

 game, and am anxious to see more strin- 

 gent laws enacted and enforced. Grouse 

 and squirrels are fairly plentiful here, but 

 constant pursuit has made them exceeding- 

 ly wild and is steadily reducing their num- 

 ber. Since the removal of protection from 

 rabbits, thev have been almost extermi- 

 nated by ferreters. The sportsmen of this 

 county favor a short open season on rab- 

 bits and would endorse a law making 

 ownership of a ferret a penal offense. 



Hunter, Catherine, N. Y. 



Deer are plentiful and fair hunting can 

 be obtained within 4 or 5 miles of this 

 town. Excellent hunting can be found 

 at Brompton lake, 15 miles from here. 

 The best place, however, is 30 miles down 

 the St. Francis river, at Drumhanville. 

 Good grouse shooting can be found within 

 2 miles of town. Coons and red foxes are 

 abundant. Black bear are also plentiful ; 

 a large number were shot in the fall of 

 1901. Ducks and geese are rare visitors on 

 the river. 



W. R. Damant, Richmond, Que. 



Duck shooting here was good throughout 

 the entire season. Canvasbacks were more 

 plentiful than for a number of years, mal- 

 lards were scarce, while widgeon, pintail 

 and teal visited us in large numbers. Ow- 

 ing to dry weather and the lack of green 



food, geese did not remain here in any con- 

 siderable number, as they did the previous 

 season. However, many snow geese, 

 checkerbreasts and honkers fed on the grain 

 fields in Orange county. 



B. C. Hinman, Los Alamitos, Cal. 



I congratulate you on the good work al- 

 ready done and hope you will keep it up. 



It seems there is no use in trying to get 

 our State law on quails and grouse changed, 

 more especially on quails. It is too bad, 

 having the open season begin October 

 15 and close December 15. Many quails 

 killed after Thanksgiving are not more 

 than half grown. Pot hunters made our 

 law ; let us change it to November 15 to 

 February 1. 

 H. L. Manchester, Tiverton Corners, R. I. 



In March Recreation someone told of a 

 deer that ran into a building: and lay down. 

 Some men secured it, took it to the woods 

 2 miles away and turned it loose. The 

 League of American Sportsmen ought to 

 give those men a gold medal. I hope their 

 pictures will be sent to Recreation. 



Geo. R. Dunahoo was evidently a tender- 

 foot and the old miner was filling him up 

 with his road runners and snake yarn. 

 Mrs. Ben Morss, Cottage Grove, Ore. 



Deer wintered well, and are fairly abun- 

 dant. Mountain quails and gray squirrels 

 are also plentiful. Smoke from the Iron 

 Mountain copper mine and its smelters is 

 killing all the timber and brush for miles 

 around. It has already spoiled thousands 

 of acres of our best hunting ground. This 

 is a foothill and winter range country, and 

 it is a pity that game should be driven away 

 for the sake of a penny foundry. 



C. E. Kimball, Stella, Cal. 



Am a reader of Recreation and a firm 

 believer in its principles and work. Your 

 roasting of game hogs is all right, and well 

 deserved by them. We have some here 

 who need browning. December 26th, A. 

 Van Wicklen killed 68 coot and old squaw 

 from a battery, and the weather being 

 warm the next 2 days many of them 

 spoiled. Still such men cry, "where is the 

 game?" 



Jasper Smith, Port Washington, N. Y. 



I believe there are more quails to the 

 acre in this part of the State than in any 

 other place in the country. Since the law 

 prohibiting the taking of game out of the 

 State went into effect there has been no 

 hunting except a little locally. In one of 

 our orchards of 200 acres there were 6 

 bunches of more than 20 birds each. They 

 should make a large crop for another year. 

 C. S. Perry, Menlo, Ga. 



