FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



369 



tain climber and author of several books 

 on Alpine work, including the Swiss Alps 

 and Greenland. 



Parties returning from the Yoho valley 

 report numerous signs of silver tip bears. 

 Mr. H. W. DuBois, of Philadelphia, is 

 doing some great mountain climbing and 

 glacier work on his own hook. His name 

 is on almost every peak within tramping 

 distance of the C. P. R. 



From the car window we saw one soli- 

 tary antelope, just East of Moosejaw. We 

 saw several prairie wolves and thousands 

 of wild clucks, geese and gulls parading 

 along the shores of the ponds or floating 

 on the water. The big lake trout at Devil's 

 lake, Banff, had ceased to bite when we 

 reached that wild sheet of water, so we 

 went down the canyon and caught a mess 

 of cutthroat trout from the dark boiling 

 waters of the outlet of Devil's lake. 



Mr. Stanley Washburn, of Minneapolis, 

 came in from a 200 mile journey with pack 

 horses, while we were at Lake Louise. 

 He reports that the Indians are rapidly ex- 

 terminating the sheep and goats North of g 

 there by locating herds of them and then, 

 as night draws on, surrounding them and 

 firing until there are none left. He says 

 the Indians kill both males and females 

 and regularly collect the wild ducks' eggs 

 as fast as they are laid. The Canadian 

 government allows the Indians to leave 

 their reservations for this purpose. 



This morning I discovered a goat trail 

 on the saddleback overlooking the hotel, 

 and saw plenty of goat sign. 



The trout in Lake Louise are small, fat 

 and hard to catch, although there appeared 

 to be plenty of them. 



Grizzly bears are reported within a few 

 miles of Field, and good fishing at Deso- 

 lation valley, in Marine lake, about 14 

 miles from there. This section, Desola- 

 tion valley, is newly discovered and not 

 yet ruined by the man with a gun. 



Dan Beard. 



ON THE WATER OR ON THE WING? 



I have been reading Recreation for 

 some time and like it exceedingly; but 

 occasionally I come across an article in it 

 that makes me weary. For instance, I tire 

 of the constant abuse of the repeating 

 shot gun. Again, why should not a man 

 sneak to the bank of a creek where he 

 knows ducks are and give them one shot 

 on the water and 5 more when they rise, 

 if he is able. He is out to shoot ducks, 

 is he not? One would suppose from the 

 way some men write that it would be the 

 proper thing to run up a flag and ring a 

 bell before firing at a duck. 



I have been in Idaho the past 2 months, 

 deer hunting. Had been using a '73 

 model 38, but found it did not amount 



to much at over 100 yards; so I bought 

 a 30-30 and am well pleased with it. J 

 found that if I got a fair shot with it, the 

 deer was my meat. The first deer I shot 

 was not over 20 yards away; she fell in 

 her tracks. She looked as if it would 

 have taken a ton of hay to put her in 

 shape to sell. I don't see much sport in 

 deer hunting. I would rather any day 

 shoot over decoys from a blind, with a 

 good pump gun, than wait on a runway 

 for some poor buck that has just shed his 

 horns, and is so poor he is not fit to eat. 

 F. E. Barry, Hampton, la. 



ANSWER. 



You ask why a man should not sneak 

 to the bank of a creek where he knows 

 there are ducks, and give them one shot 

 on the water, and 5 more when they rise. 

 That is exactly the method of the market 

 hunter and the pot hunter — men who have 

 no regard for the future supply of game, 

 but who wish to destroy it as fast as pos- 

 sible. No gentleman ever shoots a duck 

 on the water, unless it be a cripple. A 

 true sportsman would no more think of 

 firing into a flock of ducks on the water 

 than he would think of ground raking a 

 covey of quails. 



If you know there is a bunch of ducks 

 in a creek at a certain point, the proper 

 method would be to walk up to within, 

 say, 20 or 30 yards and flush them. Then, 

 when they are well on the wing, single 

 out a bird or 2 and kill them if you can. 

 It is not against the rule of sportsmen in 

 general to use decoys, yet many of the 

 more advanced shooters have discarded 

 them. The day will soon come when no 

 one but market hunters and pot hunters 

 will use them. We must adopt eve^y pos- 

 sible means for favoring the game, or all 

 species of it will be exterminated within a 

 few years. 



From what you say of the doe you 

 killed, and of waiting for some old buck 

 .who has just dropped his horns, it would 

 seem you have been hunting deer in 

 spring. This is all wrong, and I trust you 

 may never do so again. Apparently, you 

 did not mean to violate the rules of good 

 sportsmanship, and no doubt when you 

 have thought over these things you will 

 agree with me, and with all other men 

 who think we should save some game for 

 the next generation, instead of wiping it 

 all out ourselves. — Editor. 



WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE GAME? 

 How often we hear the question, What 

 has become of the game? or, Where have 

 the game and fishes gone?? That they 

 have gone is a fact which cannot be de- 

 nied. But why and where? A few years 

 ago the mountains were full of deer, elk. 



