FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



197 



son. Grouse and woodcock should not be 

 shot before the 15th of September, for they 

 are not in good condition. Grouse are 

 not more than half grown on August 15th." 



I. O. Hunt, Norcross, Maine, says, 

 " Game birds are not increasing. None 

 are killed out of season. Grouse, ducks 

 and a very few woodcock are all the game 

 birds we have here. The grouse are quite 

 scarce." 



W. S. McComas, Havre de Grace, Md., 

 says, " There are about 10,000 pairs of 

 ducks shipped from this city, each season. 

 I don't believe they are really much 

 scarcer, but gunners are more plentiful. 

 Hence the ducks are more disturbed, and 

 are becoming wilder. They do not tarry 

 as long as heretofore. Yes, I must say 

 they are scarcer. They are not killed out 

 of season. The old time ' swivel guns ' 

 are of course, outlawed, and are contra- 

 band property. They may be seized, 

 wherever found; but have not disappeared 

 entirely. They can still be heard, occasion- 

 ally, on the flats." 



Warren Aldrich, Greenwood Lake, N. 

 Y., says, " The reason birds do not in- 

 crease here, is because as soon as the law 

 is off we have lots of visitors; and when 

 they can't come, their guides are out alone, 

 killing birds for them when they come. 

 Some visitors send word to the stores that 

 they are coming up, on such a day, and 

 want so many birds; so by the time the 

 law is off the birds are cleaned out." 



R. W. Rock, Lake, Idaho, says, " Game 

 birds in this locality are decreasing, on ac- 

 count of the large number killed, out of 

 season. Our game laws are not generally 

 enforced." 



M. Corbel, Virginia Beach, Va., says, 

 " Game birds have decreased here, for the 

 past few years, on account of being abused 

 by disloyal citizens, who do not regard the 

 game laws. For the past few years the 

 natives have obstructed the sounds and 

 bays with blinds and boxes, so that the 

 game has to go on South. The game here 

 are swans, geese, ducks, and snipe." 



Chas. B. Lane, Good Ground, L. I., 

 says, " I want to call your attention to the 

 way game is driven from our bay. In the 

 first place we want battery shooting pro- 

 hibited by law. That is the worst thing 

 we have for ducks. It entirely ruins the 

 shooting here, as it drives the game away 

 at once. The next thing we want the life 

 saving men prohibited from shooting. If 

 that is not done goose shooting will be 

 entirely ruined. These men are forbidden 

 to get in the way of gunners, or to shoot 

 for market; but they do it all the same, and 

 shoot every day. They shoot for the 

 market, too. They don't allow a goose to 

 stop in the bay 5 minutes before they are 

 after him. The geese are not allowed to 

 feed, and so leave the bay at once. The life 

 savers drive them out." 



MY FIRST BLACK BEAR. 



H. B. GURLER. 



For the past 12 years I have each season, 

 with 2 or 3 exceptions, spent a few days in 

 Northern Michigan, hunting deer. On 

 these trips I make my headquarters at the 

 farm of a lumber company. It was during 

 my third season in the woods that I killed 

 my first bear. I discovered, while looking 

 for deer, that a bear was in the habit of 

 feeding at the slop hole of a lumber camp 

 which had been occupied the previous year. 

 When the lumbermen left they took the 

 sash from the kitchen windows and put 

 them safely away inside. They had also 

 suspended a barrel of syrup by chains to 

 the ridge log in the hallway, between the 

 kitchen and the sleeping room. They evi- 

 dently knew there was a bear around, and 

 took these precautions to preserve their 

 property. At my first visit to this camp I 

 found the bear had been there but a short 

 time before. The sand he had scratched 

 out of the slop hole, in his search for food, 

 had not yet dried in the sun. This place 

 was 7 miles from any other camp or habita- 

 tion, and it was a problem to me what to 

 do. I was not acquainted, at that time, 

 with bears, and I had a great respect for 

 them. I had no companion, and hesitated 

 a day or 2 before I decided to try to capture 

 Bruin. I did not have courage to stay alone 

 at the camp over night, to watch for him; 

 so had to make the trip from the farm to 

 this camp — 7 miles — daily. A branch of 

 Hood river lay between the 2 places and the 

 only way of crossing was to wade it. This 

 I did, removing my clothes and carrying 

 them over the river to keep them dry. On 

 my second trip I killed a large doe and took 

 her fore quarters to the camp to bait the 

 bear. I put a piece of venison in the slop 

 hole and covered it with an empty butter 

 tub on which I rested one end of a log, so 

 small animals could not get at the meat. 

 Another piece I hung by a strap over the 

 kitchen table. This table was made by 

 squaring logs about 8 inches in diameter, 

 and boring 2 inch holes through them. 

 Then wooden pins were put through these 

 holes to hold the separate parts together. 



The remainder of the venison I put in a 

 cracker box nailed to the side of the cabin 

 at a height I could just reach. I did this 

 thinking I might want it to bait the bear 

 later. The next morning the venison un- 

 der the butter tub was gone, also the piece 

 that was hung over the table. I got on the 

 table and reached into the cracker box, 

 and that was empty. The bear had cleaned 

 up all my venison at his first visit. I made 

 trips in the early morning from the farm 4 

 times before I got sight of the bear. The 

 fourth morning I found him there and got a 

 shot with my Winchester that knocked him 

 out. I shot down hill from high ground, 

 striking him in the centre of the head, a 



