FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



451 



Soon after we reached our campaigning 

 ground we flushed a grouse, which fluttered 

 off among some dense hemlocks. Four 

 times we flushed that same bird. The third 

 time it flew directly toward me, knocking 

 off my hat and startling me so that I did 

 not recover in time to shoot. My brother 

 lost his chance from laughing at me. The 

 fourth time we raised the game I fired, 

 but, beyond a few feathers, had no trophy 

 to show in proof of my skill, though we 

 sought earnestly and long. Reluctantly we 

 gave it up at last and went home. 



It was late when we retired that night, 

 but as the next day was Christmas we all 

 rose early, brother first. What was his 

 surprise to find in a sheltered nook of the 

 piazza a wounded grouse, which Zip, the 

 dog, instantly caught and brought to him.. 

 It had received a charge of shot in the leg. 



Had it not been wounded we should have 

 liberated it after feeding it ; but it seemed 

 the part of mercy to kill it. 



.Was that bird the one I had shot at? If 

 so, why did it come to the house ? Was it 

 to verify my claim to a hit? 



That was my last Christmas in the dear 

 old home. Its successors have been passed 

 under these far tropic skies. Instead of 

 the pine of my native land I see the frond- 

 ed palm ; and between me and the loved 

 ones rolls the mightiest of oceans. I know, 

 however, that they wait and watch for me ; 

 that my place is held for me, and I hope to 

 meet them once more when I shall have 

 finished my course here. 



James W. B. Mannion, Manila, P. I. 



DEPRECATES ALL KILLING. 



Thorold, Ont, 

 Editor Recreation : 



God bless you for your true sportsman- 

 ship ! As a boy I was passionately fond 

 of firearms, and managed by self-denial to 

 advance from a Flobert rifle to the proud 

 possession of a 38-40 repeater. As there 

 was no large game here I was restricted 

 to target shooting until I traded the rifle 

 for a shot gun. That opened up a new 

 field of pleasure. The largest bag I ever 

 made was 2 ducks in one day, but I was 

 prouder of those than a St. Clair Flats 

 swell is over his boat load. You can im- 

 agine the anger that filled my heart when 

 I read in the A. D. G. H. how 2 men killed 

 800 ducks in 2 days.. 



As the years passed I became interested 

 in other things, and kept up my shooting 

 more for health than anything else. At 

 last I received a lesson that cost the life 

 of but one sparrow, yet sickened me for- 

 ever of siaying birds and animals. I was 

 with a lad who had a Stevens rifle and I 

 watched him as he aimed and fired at a 

 sparrow in the old barn we were in at the 

 time. The little thing dropped at my feet 



and gasped out its life on the ground; 

 blood spurted from its beak at every breath, 

 and my heart turned sick at the sight. How 

 many innocent lives had I ended just as 

 recklessly. I sold my gun, and from that 

 day to this I have not killed a bird 

 or an animal. I wish I could make a few 

 game hogs feel what I felt as I watched 

 that sparrow die — the utter, needless cru- 

 elty of the whole business. 



There is no need for a temperate man 

 to reform, and if sportsmen had always pur- 

 sued your principles there would be no 

 appreciable decrease in the number of 

 feathered inhabitants of the earth. 



Keep on in your good work. Every re- 

 former offends people once in a while, and 

 if a man is afraid to live up to his belief 

 he is not worthy to hold any. 



Your photo competitions are simply 

 grand. A perfectly natural, well balanced 

 man should enjoy seeing a creature in its 

 health and beauty more than viewing its 

 mangled corpse at his feet. 



I hope the presses that turn out Recrea- 

 tion may be rushed to their fullest capac- 

 ity. 



A Reformed Sportsman, Thorold, Ont.. 



OFFERS TO BREAK THE LAW. 

 Some time ago a complaint came to me 

 from Wyoming to the effect that one S. 

 L. Adams, of Jackson's Hole, was killing 

 game in close season and encouraging 

 others to do so. In order to get at the 

 truth regarding this man's actions, I got a 

 League member to write him a decoy let- 

 ter, which ran thus : 



Dear Sir — I have seen your name in a 

 list of guides. Am thinking of taking a 

 fishing and mountain-climbing trip in the 

 Teton mountains this summer. Could you 

 go with me? If so, what would you charge 

 a day for your own services, for saddle 

 horses, pack horses, etc. ? My time would 

 be limited to July and August. Do you 

 think it would be safe to kill an elk or a 

 deer during that time? Could you suggest 

 anv way in which I could get the heads 

 out of the State safely, without danger 

 of being caught? 



Adams walked into the trap with both 

 feet. Here is his answer : 



Dear Sir — I could no doubt give you as 

 good service as anyone around here. I 

 have been a deputy State game warden the 

 past 3 years, but my commission ran out 

 the 1st of last February, as there was a 

 change in State Game Warden, and I do 

 not expect an appointment this year. I 

 know the law and how it can be evaded. 

 If you come to me I can fix the matter you 

 mention all right, so there will be no dan- 

 ger. I will not out my plan in writing. 

 If you come will explain to you and guar- 



