A FLORIDA HUNTING GROUND. 



W. N. PIKE. 



It would be difficult to imagine a more 

 delightful experience than a hunting trip 

 to Florida in midwinter, providing always 

 one is fortunate in the selection of lo- 

 cality, boarding place, guide, etc. The 

 delicious Indian summerlike days, the gor- 

 geous sunsets and the hardly less radiant 

 moonlight nights ; the balsamic breezes of 

 the pine forests, the never fading verdure 

 of the palms and magnolias ; the wild 

 flowers under foot and the laughing, 

 dimpled lakes and lazily winding rivers ; 

 all combine to form a picture in the vivid 

 contrast to conditions existing at the North 

 during winter's stern reign. 



be unreservedly recommended in every 

 way. I refer to The Jolly Palms, at Mo- 

 hawk, Lake county, kept by Charles H. 

 Stokes. 



Mohawk is a tiny place, situated in the 

 so called Apopka mountains, a chain of 

 sandhills ioo to 300 feet high, about 6 

 miles wide and 12 miles long. These hills 

 are clothed from base to summit with long 

 leaf pine, with some oak intermingled, 

 forming open, parklike woods, carpeted 

 with a scant growth of wiregrass, with 

 here and there clumps of palmetto, plum 

 thickets, etc. Many of the valleys are 

 occupied by lakes of varying sizes, the 



A BOAT BUILT TO FIT. 



There are large sections of the State 

 which are annually over hunted and others 

 where tourists swarm, where civilization 

 obtains, and from which all game worthy of 

 the name has long since fled. There are 

 other localities where game is sufficiently 

 plentiful to suit anyone but a hopelessly 

 confirmed game hog, but where "grease and 

 grits" and other gastronomic horrors of 

 the Florida backwoods kitchen offer a bar- 

 rier which no self-respecting stomach can 

 surmount. As to guides, there are good, 

 bad and indifferent ones in all parts of 

 the country ; but it is my good fortune 

 and that of a limited number of other 

 readers of Recreation to know of a sports- 

 men's resort in Central Florida which can 



waters of which are soft, pure, of crystal- 

 line clearness and abound with big mouth 

 bass, bream, perch and other fishes. 



The Jolly Palms is built on the side of a 

 hill, with its grounds running down to the 

 sandy shore of one of these beautiful lakes, 

 from which bass of over 10 pounds in 

 weight have been taken. A footbridge ex- 

 tends out about 100 feet from the shore 

 to a combination boat and bath house. 

 The bottom of the lake is of white sand 

 and the water is so clear it looks green in- 

 side the structure. To bathe in those 

 soft, limpid waters on rising in the morn- 

 ing, or after a day's hunt afield, is an in- 

 vigoration and a delight which must be 

 experienced to be appreciated. Orange 



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