FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



117 



soever and whenever I please, regardless 

 of law, order, or decency; 



That I will not betray a brother of this 

 degree, nor suffer it done by another, if I 

 can help it; and should I see or know of 

 his being in trouble with officers of the law, 

 I will run the other way as fast as my legs 

 can carry me; ever bearing in remem- 

 brance the motto of the order: ' Every 

 man for himself, and the devil take the 

 hindmost.' " 



After some further ceremonies which 

 cannot be properly published, the candidate 

 is raised, and becomes a free, ancient, and 

 acceptable Hog, and is instructed. 



The emblems of the order are the skunk 

 and buzzard. As the former is ever pres- 

 ent when least expected so in the hog, and 

 the physical stench of the former is typical 

 of the mental meanness of the latter. Let 

 the examples of mephitis ever remind you 

 of the odor of the animal which you now 

 represent, as a game hog. 



The buzzard is an emblem of the freedom 

 and lawlessness of the hog. As he sails 

 through the air above us, noiselessly and 

 warily, he reminds us of the movements of 

 the stealthy poacher, who sneaks upon his 

 game in the silent woods, or drags his net 

 in the starlit lake, ready at a moment's 

 warning to retreat or advance, as chance 

 may suggest. Like the hog, a glutton, a 

 sneak, and a thief in principle, he is wor- 

 thily held as the chief patron and pattern 

 of the ancient and dishonorable order of 

 Game and Fish Hogs. 



Three grand grunts are now given, and 

 the sty is closed. C. C. H. 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A SPORTSMAN. 



Editor Recreation: Will you please tell 

 me 



1st. What constitutes a sportsman, ac- 

 cording to Recreation? 



2d. Is 1 not the term " Sportsman," as ap- 

 plied to a disciple of Nimrod, a compara- 

 tively new invention; one that owes its 

 origin to and is used almost exclusively 

 by residents of our cities and towns? 



3d. Is it not a fact that the term is almost 

 unknown to that mighty host of American 

 hunters who live in the rural districts of 

 our states and territories? 



4th. Are all men who kill game for 

 market game hogs, in the estimate of Rec- 

 reation? 



5th. Can you give me an idea as to the 

 number of game preserves already in ex- 

 istence and controlled by private individu- 

 als, to the exclusion of others who are not 

 fortunate enough to have the price of ad- 

 mission? J. G. D., Randor, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



1st. A full reply to this question will be 

 found on pages 457-458 of June Recrea- 

 tion. 



2d and 3d. The term sportsman is cer- 

 tainly at least 50 years old if not more. 

 Frank Forester was perhaps one of the first 

 American writers to bring the term into 

 general use here. It is still much older than 

 this in Europe. It is true that the residents 

 of towns and cities, who shoot and fish, al- 

 most invariably term themselves sports- 

 men, while men in the rural districts call 

 themselves hunters or fishermen; but the 

 city sportsman, as a rule, accords to his 

 country brother the term sportsman just as 

 cordially as he applies it to himself. This is 

 merely a matter of habit with the country- 

 man and the mountaineer. The language 

 of these people is always simpler and more 

 primitive than that of city dwellers. Con- 

 sequently the country people adhere to the 

 old terms " hunter and fisherman " in com- 

 mon with many others that have been 

 handed down from oUr forefathers, and 

 which city people have, in a great measure, 

 discarded. 



4th. A man who kills more than a reason- 

 able bag of game in a day, as defined in the 

 article above referred to, is in my estima- 

 tion a game hog, whether he eat the game, 

 give it away or sell it. A man is not a 

 game hog because he is a market hunter, 

 but because he destroys more game than he 

 should in any one day, or on any one hunt- 

 ing trip. 



5th. I cannot give you a definite idea as 

 to the number of game preserves in exis- 

 tence, but there are probably several hun- 

 dred of them. — Editor. 



WHERE ONE FOX WENT. 



Portland, Me. 



Editor Recreation: F. B. Rosebrook, 

 of Twin Mountain, N. H., has a pure white 

 fox-hound, named Dime. This dog has a 

 record' of having caught 2 foxes in one 

 day; running each about 5 minutes, in 

 light snow 2 feet deep. 



About the first of last January, Mr. Rose- 

 brook started for a fox hunt. Dime soon 

 had one moving and drove straight for 

 the ledges on what is known as " Load 

 of Hay mountain." 



The dog went out of hearing and half 

 an hour later came back, showing plainly 

 by his actions, that he was not satisfied 

 with the way his chase had ended. 



Mr. R. has the hang-on disposition that 

 makes a successful hunter; so he just said, 

 " Dimey, I guess we will see where you left 

 him." 



A foot of snow made the climb tiresome; 

 but after 2 hours' hard work dog and man 

 stood near the top. There the dog tracks 

 ended at the edge of a ledge, which fell 

 abruptly a distance of about 75 feet. Out 

 on the extreme edge, where the dog had 

 not dared to go, fox tracks could be seen. 

 It was a slippery and dangerous place, but 

 the hunter left his gun and carefully 



