FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



287 



place; but to brother sportsmen of the 

 L. A. S. who want a home where game 

 and trout are plenty I say welcome. 



M. W. Miner. 



HE REPLIES TO BORTREE. 



Chicago, 111. 

 Editor Recreation: 



My attention has been called to an arti- 

 cle in your January number, signed M. R. 

 Bortree. Of itself it does not merit atten- 

 tion; but, as you have seen fit to endorse 

 it. I will devote a little time to the man for 

 whom you stand as sponsor. Some years 

 ago he was paine warden of the State of 

 Illinois. At that time game was much 

 more abundant than it was when I was ap- 

 pointed to that office, and the Chicago mar- 

 ket was flooded with game, from Illinois 

 and elsewhere, at all seasons of the year. 

 Hotels and restaurants served it through- 

 out the entire year; yet Mr. Bortree 

 did not seem to know anything about it. 

 He did not take kindly to my appointment 

 to the position and has not yet become 

 reconciled to it. He has been a constant 

 kicker, finding nothing to approve in any- 

 thing I have done; yet there has not been 

 a month between August and May during 

 any year of my term of office that I have 

 not instituted more prosecutions for viola- 

 tions of our game laws than Mr. Bortree 

 did during his entire term. I have traveled 

 the State from end to end, in all direc- 

 tions, in an effort to protect our game and 

 to render assistance to my 300 deputies. 

 Had Mr. Bortree been as active in protect- 

 ing our game as he is in criticising me I 

 should have found more game to protect 

 when I assumed the duties of the office. 



Mr. Bortree has never rendered me the 

 slightest assistance since I have been in 

 office; but has been somewhat detrimental 

 to the cause of game protection by the 

 agitation of nonsensical theories, of which 

 he has quite a stock. The smallest express 

 company doing business in this State has 

 rendered me more assistance than Mr. 

 Bortree has. In fact, all of the express 

 companies have rendered me valuable and 

 timely aid. 



I have been enforcing the same law that 

 was in effect when Mr. Bortree was game 

 warden. At that time game from other 

 States could be received and sold in our 

 cities and villages between October 1st and 

 February 1st, as at the present time. 

 H. W. Loveday. 

 State Game Commissioner. 



game, as our editorial force consists of 

 men who have no thoughts in regard to 

 fur, fin or feather. Long ago Recreation 

 taught me the crime of slaughtering game, 

 and I have done my best to impress the 

 enormity of the offense on others. This 

 winter we are feeling the effects of slaugh- 

 ter. Once anyone could secure a fine bag 

 of ducks, geese, snipe, etc., in this vicinity. 

 Now we are lucky to get half a dozen birds 

 in a day's hunt. I have been out twice 

 this winter, and got one duck each trip. 



But what caused me to write this is an 

 alleged sportsmen's paper printed in Den- 

 ver. I am not a subscriber to it, and never 

 shall be. It is the most despicable sheet 

 I ever saw. If a hog goes out and makes 

 a slaughter, he sends his score to this so- 

 called sportsmen's paper. They pat him 

 on the back and say, "Do it some more." 

 A man you roasted, who lives on Puget 

 Sound, writes for their January number, 

 and, of course, gives you an indirect shot. 

 He is too cowardly to send his rot to 

 Recreation. Then a man named Whal- 

 ley, of Portland, Ore., a judge on the 

 Circuit bench, who is also addicted to the 

 slaughter habit, gives Recreation a dig. 

 He says he is afraid to give his score for 

 fear of Recreation. His effusion also ap- 

 pears in this Denver dump cart. There 

 are others. All, or nearly all, of them are 

 members of the Slaughter Club. 



I have done some missionary work here 

 among the boys, and will continue to do 

 so as long as you fight game hogs. Our 

 winter has been rainy, so we look forward 

 to a dry spring, with a fine crop of Denney 

 pheasants. Come out and we will show 

 you where they grow thick. 



F. L. Poindexter, Eugene, Ore. 



OBJECTS TO THE SLAUGHTER ORGAN. 



I have been a regular reader of Recrea- 



roN over 2 years. You are doing a 



>ble work. Long may you live to keep 



it. I hold a position on a paper in 



phich I never see a word in defense of 



DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS. 

 I have just returned from a 2 weeks' 

 canoe trip through Lady Evelyn, Dia- 

 mond and Tamagamaminque lakes, with 

 a party of 5 gentlemen. These lakes have 

 never before been fished except by a few 

 Indians. They contain lake trout weigh- 

 ing as much as 35 pounds, black bass and 

 pickerel. We could catch as many fish in 

 10 minutes with the troll as the party of 

 10 could eat in a day. We saw a number 

 of moose on the trip, but did not fire at 

 them. We paddled our canoes to within 

 40 yards of a big bull and a cow moose, 

 and 2 of the party took snapshots at them 

 with their cameras. Up here we do not 

 observe the game laws closely. We do 

 not wait for the open season, but kill when 

 the game is good to eat. The law per- 

 mits hunting only from the first until the 

 15th of November, and only 2 red deer 

 can be taken by one person. No moose 

 or caribou may be killed until 1900. They 



