120 



RECREATION. 



about as though chickens were far from 

 his thoughts. Just then a shout from Bill 

 called attention to Sam, who had come to 

 a most beautiful point. A second later 

 Flora, almost at Jivans' feet, confirmed 

 the fact that we were in the midst of a 

 covey. Flora's bird raised first, followed 

 almost instantly by 3 from under Sam's 

 nose. All 3 of these dropped, but Evans, 

 in some inexplicable manner, missed his 

 bird with both barrels. My second barrel 

 brought down the fourth bird, which 

 proved to be an old cock, probably the 

 patriarch of the covey. 



Evans' next attempt was better. He 

 missed one and hit another at long range. 

 Bill, in the meantime, had shot 2 birds. 

 One more shot all around netted 2 to Bill 

 and one to me. Then the whole covey 

 rose, finding us with smoking guns. 

 Clearly Bill had that day shown us 3 

 things we had long doubted: First, that 

 he was an old hunter; second, that Sam 

 was no slouch ^ and last, that the covey 

 was a dead certainty. 



The covey took its course toward a 

 neighboring field, scattering as it settled 

 over an. area of about 10 acres. After that 

 every chicken that was raised had almost 

 to be poked out of the grass with the bar- 

 rel of the gun. The frightened birds sim- 

 ply would not fly. This robbed us of a 

 great deal of sport, although it "probably 

 saved the lives of several of those birds, 

 for, in our magnanimity, we often reck- 

 lessly gave them more than a fair start, 

 and, consequently, often missed. 



The covey, as far as we were able to 

 judge, contained about 45 birds. Thirty- 

 two left the field for the dinner table, 18 

 having fallen to Bill, 6 to Evans and 8 to 

 me. 



DEER HUNTING FATALITIES. 



Thirty-nine persons are known to have 

 met death in 3 States during the last deer 

 hunting season. In most instances the fa- 

 talities were due to hunters mistaking hu- 

 man beings for deer or bear. It is said 23 

 persons were killed in the Adirondacks 

 in as many days. Nine were killed in 

 Michigan, and 7 in Wisconsin. Eighteen 

 persons were wounded by hunters in 

 Northern Michigan, and several of these 

 subsequently died. In 4 instances the men 

 wounded by hunters were abandoned by 

 the latter in a most cowardly manner, and 

 left to bleed to death, when they might 

 have recovered if those who shot them had 

 stopped and rendered aid. 



Following is a list of those killed in 

 Wisconsin and Michigan: 



IN WISCONSIN. 



Albaugh, Stephen, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 aged 71; mistaken by hunter for bear. 



Artz, John, fanner, Flambeau, Wis.; shot 

 by deer hunter. 



Holcomb, H., age 40, farmer; chot near 

 West Superior by hunter who mistook him 

 for deer. 



Parks, J., age 49, carpenter; struck by 

 stray bullet, while working on a house near 

 Mellen, Wis. 



Strayer, George, age 14; shot by com- 

 panion while hunting near Ashland. 



Trobridge, Edward, Medford, Wis.; shot 

 by deer hunter. 



Winters, Thomas, farmer, Neillsville, 

 Wis.; shot by deer hunter. 



IN MICHIGAN. 



Anderson, Ernst, age 17, Republic; shot 

 by companion, who mistook him for a 

 deer. 



Boekeloo, Otto, age 40, Kalamazoo; 

 stray bullet from hunter's rifle. 



Christensen, Martin, age 37, Escanaba; 

 found dead in woods; thought to have 

 been shot by hunter. 



Lewis, Frank M., age 35, Pigeon river; 

 shot by unknown hunter. 



Mathewson, Wesley, age 24, Durand; 

 shot by hunting companion. 



Snap, George, age 27, Bancroft; shot by 

 unknown hunter. 



Newman, Miss Lois, South Olive; shot 

 by brother, while on hunting expedition. 



Thompson, Ellis, Jasper; shot by un- 

 known hunter. 



Twenty-five persons in Wisconsin and 

 Michigan met death through their own 

 carelessness in handling firearms while 

 hunting, and the number of such accidents 

 is also reported to have been greater this 

 year than before. 



The mystery of all this is that the man 

 who cannot hit a deer, even if he shoots 

 at a whole herd, never fails to bag his 

 partner when he mistakes him for a deer. 



HUNTING ON SUNDAY. 



New York City. 



Editor Recreation: The letter from 

 Sheboygan, Wis., questioning the justice 

 of laws which bar a working man from all 

 shooting by forbidding hunting on Sun- 

 day, is opportune and not without provo- 

 cation. Your correspondent, however, 

 while seemingly an intelligent man, for- 

 gets the real purpose of laws. They are 

 created not for any one class but for the 

 good of all. It is true many are able to 

 enjoy more privileges than others. This, 

 however, is not in consequence _ of game 

 laws nor class legislation. It is merely 

 the outgrowth of conditions that have 

 characterized all civil life and invaded the 

 very domain of the aborigine. I pity your 

 contributor, but has he considered that he 

 is not the only poor man in the vicinity of 



