202 



RECREATION. 



die. May be we can get close enough 

 to smash him on the head with the butt of 

 the gun." The boys sent the boat flying 

 over the water and we were soon- within 2 

 feet of the buck. I was about to hit him 

 on the head, when he turned so abruptly 

 that I nearly lost my balance. I shouted to 

 the boys to head him off again, and they 

 certainly did good work. For several min- 

 utes we kept him at bay between the island 

 and the main shore, sometimes approaching 

 close enough for me to touch his horns, 

 but each time he would give a sudden 

 lurch and change his course. I shall never 

 forget the haunted expression of his eyes 

 as he swam, with antlers thrown well back, 

 his breath coming in quick gasps. At any 

 other time I know I should have had com- 

 passion on him. When we were congratu- 

 lating ourselves that he would soon be our 

 game we came to our senses sufficiently to 

 hear shouting and shooting on the main 

 shore. There a bunch of buck-crazed city 

 fellows were firing at the deer, the bullets 

 whizzing all about us. The more we shout- 

 ed to them to stop, the more they fired and 

 the more crazed they became. Finally we 

 began to consider our own safety suffi- 

 ciently to stop our boat about midway of 

 the river. The buck, seeming to gauge 

 the ability of the metropolitan Indians, 

 swam directly toward them, notwithstand- 

 ing their firing and yelling, reached the 

 bank, and leisurely moved off into the 

 woods unscathed. 



W. B. Leonard, Glens Falls, N. Y. 



I am glad the deer escaped. You should 

 have let it alone in the first place. If you 

 had not a gun and could not kill the deer 

 suddenly and in a sportsmanlike manner, 

 you should have let it alone. Your at- 

 tempt to beat it to death with an oar was 

 brutal, and you should be heartily ashamed 

 of it. — Editor. 



BRUTALITY, NOT SPORT. 



It was with great pleasure that I ac- 

 cepted an invitation last fall to hunt quails 

 and rabbits. Taking mv double barrel shot 

 gun and 50 shells I started with my friend 

 and soon we reached the stubble of an oat 

 field. 



There we separated. I had about 

 crossed the field when I heard a slight 

 rustling and detected a movement on the 

 ground in front of me. First I thought it 

 was field mice but finally decided it might 

 be quails and I fired into the stubble. Up 

 sprang a flock of the birds and I fired my 

 left as they sailed away, but missed. I 

 marked down 5 or 6 near the corner of the 

 lot. I found I had killed 4 with my first 

 •barrel. Much elated, I headed for the 

 fence. 



When about 25 yards from the corner, 



I saw 2 quails sitting side by side on the 

 fence. I let fly both barrels. My aim was 

 true and both birds were mine. 



Looking for tne other birds I noticed a 

 small bunch of oats left by the reaper, un- 

 der which quails could easily hide. First 

 I thought I would go up and kick the 

 bunch, but finally decided it would be too 

 much trouble, so fired both barrels into the 

 oats. Much to my delight the shot added 

 3 more quails to the 6 already in my bag. 



The remainder of the afternoon I hunted 

 rabbits and succeeded in getting 19.. I 

 would have secured more if they had not 

 got into the stone walls after being wound- 

 ed. On my way home I passed the place 

 where I shot the quails, and, hearing one 

 calling on the fence, I crawled up and 

 popped him over. That made 10 quails. 



My friend did not have such good luck, 

 as he had to return earlier than I because 

 of wounding his hound in firing at a rabbit 

 which the dog was pursuing. However, he 

 succeeded in getting 14 rabbits and a 

 ruffed grouse which he found running 

 on the ground with a broken wing. 



Thos. B. Daley, Norwich, Conn. 



Talk about prohibiting the use of dogs in 

 hunting ! A dog is a gentleman as com- 

 pared with this man. So is the man who 

 uses the dog. As a rule I have found that 

 only real sportsmen use dogs in hunting 

 birds. Such men never shoot a bird until 

 it is on the wing, but here is a man who 

 would doubtless condemn the use of dogs 

 in hunting. He goes out, ground-rakes his 

 birds and kills 4 or 5 at one shot. He fires 

 both barrels at 2 birds sitting on a fence 

 and is delighted to see them fall, mangled, 

 to the ground.. This man is of the same 

 type as the brute who uses a ferret. — 

 Editor. 



A WHITE DEER. 



From a country paper I learn that a 

 white deer was killed recently on a private 

 game preserve in the Adirondacks and that 

 the owner of the preserve, a resident of 

 Glens Falls, N. Y., sent the skin as a pres- 

 ent to the Superintendent of State Forests. 

 The recipient of the skin of the deer, whose 

 fatal beauty made it a shining mark for the 

 hunter, is not blamable in this pathetic busi- 

 ness ; while the owner of the preserve may 

 be equally innocent, the animal having been 

 killed, probably, by some unthinking em- 

 ployee. 



But the irony of it ! The loveliest, rarest 

 creature in the wilderness is killed on a 

 game preserve, and its skin adorns the office 

 of the guardian of our State forests ! Well 

 may the deer include in their orisons : "Pre- 

 serve us from our preservers !" 



The news article stated that only 2 white 

 deer have been seen in the Adirondacks 



