FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



287 



selman claims the honor of suggesting the idea, 

 and A. L. Bennett, manager of the sporting goods 

 department at Musselman Bros.', worked it out. 

 The scheme they hit on is setting off a strong 

 charge of flash light powder by means of an elec- 

 tric spark. 



Last Monday night Dr. Shults, Tom Shaw, W. 

 A. Hart and A. L. Bennett went to a pond 7 

 miles out, where they knew a flock of geese were in 

 the habit of spending the night. They were ac- 

 companied by Bert Tabor, the electrician at Mus- 

 selman Bros.', who had charge of the flash light 

 apparatus. They took along 4 of Mr. Bennett's 

 wild geese and stationed them in different parts 

 of the pond to act as decoys. 



The pond is triangular in shape, and a flash 

 light station was placed at each corner. At each 

 station there was an electric exploder, a quantity 

 of pyrotechnic powder mixed with both smokeless 

 and black powder, and a big pile of waste and 

 paper saturated with coal oil. All '3 stations 

 were connected by wire with a central station. 

 The apparatus was tested before dark, and then 

 the hunters retired to their firing pits. Just as 

 the last light was glowing in the West a flock of 

 13 geese was seen coming to the pond. Before 

 the geese had time to settle in the water, Mr. 

 Tabor gave the exploding magnet a turn and 

 fired the flash lights. This set fire to the waste 

 and coal oil, which burned brightly for 10 

 minutes. 



The geese were scared out of the small amount 

 of sense they possess and kept circling about the 

 lights. Two of the hunters were stationed on 

 one side of the pond and 2 on the other. All 

 were armed with repeating guns, and when the 

 lights flashed up they emptied their guns at the 

 unfortunate geese. Seven out of the 13 geeese 

 were killed, 2 were wounded and got away, and 

 2 more came back within range before the 

 hunters had time to reload. 



The sportsmen were much pleased with their 

 experiment. 



Above is from the Wichita Eagle. 

 Please give it a place in the hog pen. 

 The Dr. Shults mentioned was a Kansas 

 game warden for 4 or 5 years. I showed 

 him the Lefever gun you sent me. He 

 said, "It's a good gun, but it ain't in it 

 with a pump. With a pump you can 

 shoot 5 times at a flock and if you miss 

 you still have a shot left." 



Our present warden lives out in the 

 sand hills, and can't tell a fish from a 

 frog, nor a rabbit from a deer. It is a 

 shame the way game is slaughtered here. 

 Just before Christmas one man killed 500 

 quails in 2 days on the snow. A man at 

 Norwich shipped 1,200 birds in 2 weeks. 

 Subscriber, Wichita, Kan. 



These are of the breed who will never 

 shed their bristles until locked up in jail 

 for a long time. — Editor. 



ALL SHOULD JOIN THE L. A. S. 



There is no dollar I pay out which I 

 regret less than the one I pay for assist- 

 ing in the protection of garae, by being a 

 member of the L. A. S.; especially when I 

 read in Recreation the amount of work 

 being done by the League officers. I have 

 often wondered at the small number of 

 League members in the large cities. 



Were one of those city chaps to conic 

 out here and attempt to hunt out of sea- 

 son everyone within 20 miles would be 



aware of it, because he would be a strang- 

 er and would attract attention everywhere 

 he went; but what is to prevent the home 

 fellow in the small town, who is acquaint- 

 ed with every farmer near and far, put- 

 ting his gun in his carriage, taking his 

 dog, which he has along even when not 

 hunting, going out in the country with- 

 out attracting the least suspicion, and 

 shooting all the game he wants before the 

 season opens? Then, when the season 

 does open, the poor fellow from the city 

 finds birds pretty scarce; also extremely 

 shy, on account of having been shot at 

 so much. The city chap pays dearly for 

 every bird he gets. Then why not pay an 

 additional dollar and join the League, 

 one of whose main objects is to prevent 

 out of season shooting? This protects 

 the game, and puts the city and country 

 chaps on a more equal footing when the 

 season is open. 



This would apply also to fishing. It is 

 a waste of time to try to catch fish with 

 hook and line in Illinois, because the 

 laws are violated with seine every day in 

 the year. Why is Wisconsin considered 

 a good fishing State? Simply because the 

 State protects; the game and fish properly 

 by appropriating sufficient money and 

 having wideawake game wardens. Our 

 State is deficient in not having enough 

 wardens to cover the ground. When 

 bills are presented to the Legislature for 

 the protection of game or fish, the pot 

 hunters and the game dealers therein have 

 such bills killed. I hope they will soon 

 see that they are traveling the wrong road 

 and will get on the right one. 



L. A. S. No. 2653, Mendota, 111. 



POT HUNTING WITH A RIFLE. 



He who has read Recreation from the 

 first to the latest number should have 

 gained considerable knowledge in regard 

 to the subjects treated. When, in addi- 

 tion, he has spent a portion of each open 

 season for 20 years afield he is perhaps 

 justified in believing that he knows a 

 little about game. Such has been my 

 privilege, and when I read the article by 

 the man, woman or child who hides behind 

 the letters "J. B., Woonsocket, R. I./' I 

 had to sharpen my goose quill and ex- 

 press my opinion. 



J. B. opens by saying he wants the 

 shot gun barred, prohibited by law, in 

 order to preserve the game. Farther on 

 he says, "The true sportsman takes pride 

 in his skill." And again: "Half the 

 grouse seen were first sighted on the 

 ground and usually within 25 yards. Even 

 when flushed they could soon after be 

 located on the ground or in a tree and a 

 tfood shot obtained. My guide and 1 

 bagged -)4 of the birds we shot at." Then 



