FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



285 



day we found 17 coveys and got 52 birds 

 and 4 rabbits. Saturday we found over 15 

 coveys, bagged 48 birds and 3 rabbits. A 

 total of 145 birds and 18 rabbits in 3 days. 

 Had we been good shots we could have 

 doubled the score. Mr. Mays said over 

 4,000 birds were killed around his place last 

 season. We would frequently flush 4 or 5 

 coveys before leaving the stubble to follow 

 into the hedges and brush. Sportsmen will 

 find at Stem a good hotel, a genial guide, 

 fair shooting ground and an abundance of 

 game. John T. Edwards. 



ABOUT THOSE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 



I have read somewhere that our govern- 

 ment, or the British government — I have 

 forgotten which — would give a man, or a 

 company of men, one or more islands in 

 the Pacific ocean, near the coast of Wash- 

 ington or British Columbia, if he or they 

 would occupy it. This same article stated 

 that men were breeding fur-bearing ani- 

 mals and making money out of it, as there 

 is no means of escape from the islands, once 

 the game is put there. 



Is this report correct? 



James W. Bennett, 

 Mirage, Saguache Co., Col. 



Neither the United States nor the British 

 government has ever made the proposition 

 you refer to. The report seems, however, 

 to have been widely circulated, for a num- 

 ber of letters similar to the above have been 

 received. 



I may have something to _ say hereafter 

 about breeding fur-bearing animals on these 

 Pacific islands. Will not my friend, Pro- 

 fessor Meriden S. Hill, of Tacoma, please 

 enlighten the readers of Recreation on 

 this subject. — Editor. 



A RABBIT HUNT. 



It had snowed during the night and 3 

 inches of snow lay on the ground that 

 morning. I got my dogs and shotgun and, 

 with my friend C, set out on a rabbit hunt. 



We went over his farm and soon had our 

 3 hounds on a track. They lost it, however, 

 and until 4 p.m. we had no success what- 

 ever. 



But our luck came as we were wearily 

 tramping across a large field partly covered 

 with laurel bushes. We were going around 

 a "large bush when, like a flash, 4 large rab- 

 bits started out for a better hiding place, 

 and we got all of them. 



J. M. C, Sullivan Co., N. Y. 



GAME IN PIKE COUNTY, PA. 



In reply to O. Fisher, of Philadelphia, 

 will say that in some parts of Pike county 

 fair deer and bear hunting may be had. The 

 small game consists of ruffed grouse, 

 Northern hare, and common hare. One can 

 usually find a nice flight of woodcock 



about the last of October. Quails arc 

 scarce. I believe the winters are too severe 

 for them. If Mr. Fisher will write me a 

 week or so in advance of his next trip to 

 Pike county I shall be pleased to put him 

 on the right track to the hunting grounds. 

 I am well acquainted with the " neck " 

 Mr. Fisher speaks of. Have shot over 

 every foot of it, from the old point house 

 at the foot of Broad street to Darby creek. 

 That was 25 years ago, when there was no 

 law to hold the game butcher in check. 

 Now, thank the Lord, there are such laws, 

 and it is the duty of every true sportsman 

 to see them enforced. 



L. W. Mazurie, Dillingersville, Pa. 



NOTES. 



It must be hard to conduct with entire 

 satisfaction a magazine devoted to wood- 

 land sports. On the one hand you want 

 to inform your readers where game is to be 

 found, and what are the most deadly weap- 

 ons to use; on the other hand you want to 

 preserve the game. As far as New Bruns- 

 wick is concerned, moose are principally 

 dying of old age. There are vast areas of 

 swamp and jungle here where they breed in 

 absolute security. Since snow hunting in 

 March has been reduced to a minimum 

 moose are increasing every year. 



Frank H. Risteen, Fredericton, N. B. 



In December last I went with a party of 

 132 hunters on a 2 days' shooting trip. 

 We bagged 4,756 jack rabbits, and gave 

 them to the poor of this city. We might 

 be called rabbit hogs elsewhere, but here 

 rabbits are a pest and the farmers are glad 

 to get rid of them. 



Colorado is the place for sport. I made 

 4 trips to the mountains, and always suc- 

 ceeded in getting game. There are plenty 

 of elk, deer, bear, antelope, rabbits, ducks, 

 and geese. 



Pink Wallick, Denver, Col. 



In 1882, while en route to St. Paul, I 

 stopped off at Kilbourn City, Wis. There 

 I saw, in a pen, 600 dozen wild pigeons 

 (many of them squabs), which had been 

 collected to be sold to trap shooters. In 

 this case the nests had been destroyed over 

 a large territory. I do not remember to 

 have seen a wild pigeon since that time, 

 though in my boyhood days I have seen 

 them pass over this place in flocks, appar- 

 ently containing millions of birds. 



Dr. J. A. Dibrell, Little Rock, Ark. 



Game is more plentiful here than it has 

 been for some time past, but that is not 

 saying much, as it has been thinned out by 

 game hogs. With a new game warden, I 

 think things will improve. This year deer, 

 bear, grouse, rabbits and ducks have been 

 killed. Coyotes are also to be found in 

 places, W. L. J., Durango, Col. 



