FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



445 



within 25 or 30 miles of Grand Rapids, 

 hunting deer. The day we located our per- 

 manent camp for the season we heard 

 hounds running deer, and they did 

 not cease until dark; but during 

 the afternoon an attache of a pot 

 hunter's camp came our way and we 

 told him any hound that came in range 

 of our firing line would be killed. No 

 hounds were afterward heard in that coun- 

 try during our stay, and some of the pot 

 hunters left abruptly without leaving name 

 or address. We were in a natural deer 

 country, but at first the animals were scarce 

 and hard to find. A few days' freedom 

 from hounds, however, caused the deer to 

 return to their accustomed haunts, and the 

 hunting improved from day to day, so that 

 at the end of our stay deer were much more 

 numerous than when we arrived on the 

 scene. Henry A. Morgan. 



Following is the clipping to which Mr. 

 Morgan refers : 



Senator J. H. Smith introduced a bill in the 

 Senate yesterday repealing 5 sections of the 

 code, leaving it in such shape that it is value- 

 less. The bill eliminates the section of the law 

 making it a misdemeanor to have in possession 

 game taken outside the State, when there is a 

 closed season against such animals in Minnesota. 

 It also repeals the section making the possession 

 of contraband game prima facie evidence of a 

 violation of the law, the section requiring com- 

 mon carriers to notify the commission of con- 

 traband shipments and the provision for arrests 

 and convictions on such evidence, the section pro- 

 viding that all reference to having in possession 

 game, birds or fish shall mean all parts of their 

 fiesh or meat, and the important sections allow- 

 ing persons to take game and fish for scientific 

 purposes, and to possess them when domesticated 

 or grown in private hatcheries or preserves. This 

 would knock out private trout ponds as well. 



In addition to these changes, Mr. Smith adds 

 a section allowing any person to kill game at 

 any time on his own land, land leased or lawful- 

 ly occupied. This section is contrary to the su- 

 preme court decision holding that the fish and 

 game of the State belong to all its people and 

 should be protected for their use. 



The new section proposed by Senator Smith's 

 bill is the most vicious thing that was ever 

 aimed at our game laws. 



STOP SPRING SHOOTING. 

 The following correspondence is self-ex 

 planatory : 



Mr. Charles H. Smyth, Wichita, Kan. : 



A subscriber has sent me a newspaper 

 clipping stating that you and a friend 

 killed 174 ducks on a recent trip. He calls 

 attention to the fact that you are a mem- 

 ber of this League, and pertinently in- 

 quires why you should set so bad an ex- 

 ample for others outside of the League. 

 As you doubtless know, the League as a 

 body is radically opposed to spring shoot- 

 ing, anywhere and everywhere, and we are 

 working hard all the time to secure the 

 enactment of laws in all the States to 

 prohibit this. It is unfortunate, therefore, 

 that you or any other 'League member 



should engage in this kind of alleged sport 

 at this late day. Please see marked par- 

 agraph in the circular herewith, contain- 

 ing report of the annual meeting of the 

 League. I trust you may never again kill 

 a bird in the spring when on its wav to its 

 nesting grounds, and should be glad to 

 hear from you on this subject. I hope you 

 will accept this reminder in the kindly 

 spirit in which it is tendered. 



G. O. Shields. 



The marked paragraph in my annual re- 

 port is as follows : 



Wisconsin has the honor of being one of the 

 few States which have laws on their statute 

 books prohibiting spring shooting. Unfortunately, 

 an effort is being made by the market hunters 

 and game dealers of the State to have that law 

 repealed. The League, through its chief warden, 

 Mr. J. T. Drought, of Milwaukee, is making a 

 vigorous fight against these forces and we hope to 

 be successful in defeating the effort of the game 

 dealers and market hunters. 



ANSWER. 



FaTn' lfl receipt of your letter and note 

 carefully what you say. Spring shoot- 

 ing is practically the best that 

 we get in this country. Our fall 

 flights go through rapidly, and the time is 

 short. If you gentlemen have the good 

 of the game bird at heart, you will use 

 your influence and efforts to stop the 

 wholesale slaughtering of the birds in the 

 South, on the Gulf, during November, De- 

 cember and January, for market purposes. 

 There they are killed by thousands. You 

 will also take up the matter of the robbing 

 of the ducks' nests in the North, where 

 carloads of wild ducks' eggs are annually 

 shipped out. The birds come to us the lat- 

 ter part of February in splendid condition. 

 I do not approve of any killing after the 

 first of April, and have never practiced 

 any myself. It is true that 2 gentlemen 

 and I killed 174 ducks, but we were 3 days 

 doing it. That is 19 ducks to a gun for a 

 day's shooting. It is not a wholesale 

 slaughter, as you seem to wish to intimate 

 in your letter. I pride myself on being a 

 sportsman. I have always discouraged the 

 breaking of the game laws and the killing 

 of any bird except a game bird, and those 

 only in season. 



Charles H. Smyth. 



Mr. Chas. H. Smyth, 

 Wichita, Kan. 

 I hand you herewith copy of a circular 

 I have sent to my subscribers in Texas. 

 This is only one of the efforts the League 

 has made to induce the Southern States to 

 stop spring shooting. We are doing every- 

 thing in our power to build up the member- 

 ship in the South, so we may be strong 

 enough to secure the needed amendments to 



