44 



RECREATION. 



I disagree with J. N. Fisher, Jr., who, 

 in February Recreation, growls at the 

 non-resident license laws. Take the Indi- 

 ana law as an example. I am sure it pre- 

 vented 1,000 Chicago shooters from visit- 

 ing the Kankakee marshes, thus saving the 

 lives of fully 10,000 ducks. Next to the 

 stopping of spring shooting, a good stiff 

 license fee is the best thing for the birds. 

 O. A. Corner, Chicago, 111. 



I think A. A. W. is wrong in contending 

 that dogs should not be used in hunting 

 grouse and quails. If he lived on Cape 

 Cod, he would want a dozen dogs ; and if 

 he used them all he could not get over 6 

 birds a day. I own a good rabbit hound. 

 I went out 6 times last winter, hunted all 

 day each time, and my biggest day's bag 

 was one bunny. 



E. G. Harding, Harwich Port, Mass. 



We have plenty of bears, deer, turkeys, 

 grouse and squirrels in this part of West 

 Virginia. Quails would be exceedingly 

 numerous if they could find food in the 

 winter. The rest of the year they thrive 

 famously. Coveys of 20 and over are the 

 rule. Scarcely any grain is raised in this 

 country, which is probably the reason so 

 many birds starve in winter. 



Minter Jackson, Jane, W. Va. 



As the result of a 5 days' hunt in the 

 vicinity of Notch P. O., Pike county, last 

 fall, I brought out a number of grouse, a 

 240 pound buck and a big doe. Inci- 

 dentally I helped extinguish a forest fire. 

 The game and fish wardens attend strictly 

 to business in those parts. They are well 

 supported by the residents and, as a con- 

 sequence, game is increasing. 



P. W. Hobday, Dunmore, Pa. 



I saw Mr. Van Dyke's hunting stories in 

 February Recreation. They are stories, 

 and no mistake. Any deer not instantly 

 killed will run when hit if it sees the per- 

 son who fired the shot. If a deer dies after 

 being hit with a 22 caliber ball it is from 

 heart disease. A healthy deer would run 

 off with all the 22's the U. M. C. Co. could 

 make in a month. 



C. L. Patrick, Cedarville, Mich. 



On my annual hunt last season in 

 Northern Michigan, I killed 2 large 

 bucks and a small one. We have a good 

 game law now and I believe deer are in- 

 creasing, for I never saw so many signs 

 in the same length of time. Recreation is 

 doing good work. Keep on until every 

 game hog is too ashamed of himself to 

 grunt. 



Reuben Fish, Freeport, Mich. 



Ducks of many varieties, including 

 lards, greenheads, pintails and teal, 

 exceedingly abundant last spring, 

 game hogs got all they wanted. It 

 shame that ducks are slaughtered on 

 Northern flight. They are of little 

 value at that season, and every one 

 then means 3 or 4 less in the fall. 



C. E. H., Fulton, 



mal- 

 were 

 Even 

 is a 

 their 

 food 

 shot 



111. 



I was among the first in the Adirondacks 

 to stand for a non-hounding law. I was 

 almost alone then in the North woods, but 

 to-day consensus of opinion in the Adir- 

 ondacks is against the dogs. There are 

 more deer here now than for 30 or 40 years. 

 I have seen scores of them within a few 

 hundred yards of the house. 



Mr. R. M. Shutts, Merrill, N. Y. 



I should like to see Recreation take up 

 the fight against loose dogs in the close 

 game season. Without doubt a few dogs 

 running at large through the summer will 

 destroy more young animals and birds than 

 would glut a dozen game hogs. Will not 

 the members of the L. A. S. take this mat- 

 ter into consideration? 



R. W. Stout, Poolesville, Md. 



Grouse were plentiful here when the 

 shooting season opened last fall, but they 

 were nearly exterminated when it closed. 

 Quails are abundant, because they sold so 

 low the market hunters could not afford to 

 hunt them. Foxes, I am sorry to say, are 

 also plentiful, and are destroying many 

 birds. 



Wm. Leigh, Wurtsboro, N. Y. 



Recreation is doing much good here- 

 abouts. Keep pounding away and you'll 

 get things right after a while. This State 

 permits spring shooting at ducks, which 

 is a mistake. It should at least cut out the 

 month of April. That would result in a 

 great saving of birds. 



E. L. Cobb, Portland, Me. 



Grouse are scarce in this part of Sulli- 

 van county, and becoming more so each 

 year. Rabbits are numerous, but farmers 

 kill them at every opportunity, claiming 

 that they damage crops. Quails have in- 

 creased wonderfully. 



Louis Boettger, Jr., Callicoon, N. Y. 



We have quails, prairie chickens, jack 

 rabbits, cottontails, ducks, geese, brant, 

 snipe, plover, minks, muskrats and wolves. 

 There will be no open season on quails for 

 3 years. There are few game hogs here. 

 Roy Fryer, Plainview, Neb. 



