To “PRECREATION. (2 0 Le eee 
there stood the larger of the 2 deer, behind 
a big birch. He stood broadside to, looking 
in the direction in which he had seen me. 
I could see his head and shoulder on one 
side the tree, his flag on the other. For a 
moment I was so tremulous from excite- 
ment that I dared not shoot. Summoning 
all my self-control I drew a careful bead 
and fired. When the smoke cleared I ex- 
pected to find him stretched out lifeless, but 
instead he stood gazing in the same direc- 
tion as before, as moveless as a stone. A 
second time I fired, and a third time, same 
result. 
By this time I could reason, and con- 
cluded that I was either overshooting him, 
or filling that birch with lead. Lowering a 
little, and holding farther forward, with a 
cooler din 1 fired again. 
and scrambling in the leaves! 
When I came up to him I discovered that 
I had come off without my knife, so I had 
to cut his throat with a bullet. This I did 
with another shot. He bled nicely. 
To get him home was now a problem. I 
could not draw him. How was I to manage 
it. Alternately I carried and dragged him 
to a farm house near by. The kind hearted 
farmer hooked up his team and took me and 
my game home. 
Since that I have shot my full share of 
deer. Some have been larger and hand- 
somer, but never again shall I feel the keen 
delight which that day I experienced. 
W. L. Steward, Monson, Me. 

A GOOD GUN AND A LONG SHOT, 
RECREATION is a good tonic. As I read 
it I can smell the pine woods, and hear the 
whirr of the partridge; I can smell the 
bacon at the camp fire. It carries me back 
to my younger days. 
Reading of big shots puts me in mind of 
a little shot I once made. I was using a 
64% pound 12 gauge breech loader that was 
a cuckoo. I concluded to go duck hunting 
on the marshes that fall and thought I had 
better get a heavier gun, so ordered a I0 
pound 10 gauge breech loader. On its ar- 
rival my 3 pards and I started out to give 
my gun a good trial. 
We drove over to Long lake, got out the 
boat and started to row across the South 
end. When about half way across, and 
some 35 to 40 rods from shore, I saw a 
sand hill’s head and neck sticking above the 
grass. I told the boys to head in and I would 
give Mr.~Crane a trial. In an instant I had 
2 loads of No. 6 ready. We had just got 
nicely straightened away when up went the 
crane. I gave him the right and he went 
down like a piece of lead. 
You know, Coquina, that with No. 6 shot 
40 rods is a long shot at a crane. Well, 
you bet that gun was not for sale. We 
talked of its merits, examined it through 
the bottom of my glass cup and started for 
Such a kicking © 
shore. The minute the boat struck I was 
out after my crane. 
Coquina, did you ever have your idols 
smashed? Did you ever go to camp tired, 
hungry and find the mountain dew all gone? 
Just imagine how I felt. That dod-gasted 
crane was fast in a musk rat trap and I had 
not touched him. 
I like your swine department. Give it to 
them. A man who will fish and hunt for 
record making will never be permitted to 
enter into the Golden Hereafter. 
Your correspondent who talks of Lost 
Island lake, Iowa, must have made a mis- 
take. Lost Island lake near Ruthven, in the 
Northern part of the state, is a beautiful 
sheet of water. There is a large summer re- 
sort on the East shore. The Lost Island 
can plainly be seen from some old dead 
trunks still sticking out of the water. It 
lies about half way North and South and 
pretty well to the West side. Good fishing 
there. 
J. W. F., McGregor, Ia. 

GIVE THE POOR DEVIL A SHOW. 
; Hicksville, O. 
Editor RECREATION: Years ago when 
Paulding county, Ohio, was a good hunting 
ground, hunters came from all parts of the 
country for bear, deer and small game of all 
kinds. That is all over now. The country 
is cleared up and the hunting ground is de- 
stroyed. 
I have hunted in lower and upper Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but the best 
hunting was in Ohio. Now the rich peo- 
ple say pay $25 and you can hunt; but if 
you get more game than you can eat let it 
spoil. We are allowed to kill 5 deer cach, 
but must not sell any. 
Now, readers of RECREATION, do you 
think it is right to shut the poor man of 
this country out entirely? I like to hunt 
as well as anybody, but I cannot pay $25 
to get to the hunting ground and then pay 
$25 for the privilege of hunting. No poor 
man can stand it, so that leaves it all with 
the rich. Now don’t take me to be a game 
hog, for I am not. I want nothing but my 
share and you know when you charge a 
license fee of $25, it shuts out the poor man. 
It is not we who make game scarce. It is 
Indians and people who are staying at lum- 
ber camps. They pay no regard to the law. 
They kill deer at any time and we take the 
blame. M. Miller. 

IN THE MICHIGAN WOODS. 
Early in the spring of ’97 we began to talk 
of a deer hunt. There were 5 of us to go, 
and it would take a good deal of game to 
go round. 
We continued to talk it over until Oc- 
tober, when we decided to go promptly. Af- 
ter a good deal of discussion we decided on 
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