FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



437 



sportsmen friends are entitled to know), and 

 I am very glad I made the change. Mc- 

 Collom's is easily reached by good and 

 picturesque roads from Paul Smith's Sta- 

 tion, on the A. & St. L., or from Brandon, 

 on the Northern N. Y. R. R. It is really a 

 big and well-tilled farm in the midst of the 

 forest, and the neat and thoroughly comfort- 

 able house is presided over by C. A. Mc- 

 Arthur, who knows what his guests want 

 and sees that they have it. The site of the 

 house and the territory immediately sur- 

 rounding it was once a great pine plain, 

 whose magnificent forest was destroyed by 

 fire years ago, when the Provincial Govern- 

 ment located and completed what was known 

 as the Crown Point Road, which extended 

 from Massachusetts to Canada. Traces of 

 this old military road are still to be seen 

 here, and the charred stumps of giant pines 

 'ire all that is left of a forest the like of which 

 exists nowhere to-day in the Adirondacks. 

 A large portion of this old " burnt ground" 

 is covered with scattered bunches of small 

 poplars and a carpet of gray moss, which, 

 with the numerous hard wood ridges and 

 tamarack swamps, make an ideal still-hunt- 

 ing country. Deer are very plenty and the 

 man who knows anything about hunting 

 them can be pretty sure of getting shots, 

 particularly if he is fortunate enough to have 

 Warren Sprague for a guide. How this 6 

 foot 4 inch giant can steal through the woo,ds 

 so quietly is a marvel. He is a still-hunter 

 in real sense of the word, and possesses the 

 various qualifications which are requisite in 

 a guide, but which are seldom found to- 

 gether in one man. 



The scenery round about McCollom's is 

 grand. There are 47 peaks visible from the 

 house and they form a mighty wall of moun- 

 tains extending entirely around the horizon. 

 I looked from the summits of 2 or 3 of these 

 mountains and the views I had are not to be 

 described on paper. There are numerous 

 lakes and streams near by which furnish the 

 angler with all the sport he wants. The Os- 

 good river which constitutes the head waters 

 of the East branch of the St. Regis river, is 

 within 10 minutes' walk of the house, and 

 Rice pond is but half that distance. Mea- 

 cham lake is 5 miles away, and Chain pond 

 and several minor sheets of water are in close 

 proximity to the house. Just over the moun- 

 tain, to the West, lies Lake Madewaska, 

 where Warden Joe Alfred's well known re- 

 sort is located. 



Therefore if a man desires to hunt, fish 

 and camp, he can do so profitably and suc- 

 cessfully at McCollom's; and if he is look- 

 ing for pleasant and wholesome surround- 

 ings for his family he may still go to McCol- 

 lom's. If he is addicted to golf he will find 

 there 9 excellent links, and perhaps it will 

 detract nothing from the interest of the 

 game if he finds deer tracks while looking 

 for his ball. This is where wildness and civ- 

 ilization meet on the same ground. 



PRACTICAL VS. FOOLISH GAME LAWS. 



Utica, N. Y. 



Editor Recreation: As your magazine 

 has great influence, and is devoted to the 

 preservation of game, I beg to call attention 

 to the law regarding ruffed grouse and 

 woodcock. (Game laws of New York, sec- 

 tions 74 and 76.) The statute provides that 

 no person or persons shall kill more than 

 36 of the above named birds in any one 

 year. What is meant by the words " or per- 

 sons " is not clear. According to the word- 

 ing of the law when 36 of " the above named 

 birds " shall have been killed within the 

 state by any one or more persons, then all 

 other persons are denied the privilege of kill- 

 ing any. Or, to view it in another form, 

 when a party of 12 persons, kill 3 each, then 

 neither of the 12 shall kill any more during 

 the year. 



Again: When one person shall have killed 

 36, " of the above named birds," it follows 

 that if he kills 35 woodcock he can only kill 

 one ruffed grouse: i.e., 36 of both, not 36 

 of each, for so it is written. 



Again in section 76 confusion is worse 

 confounded. Transportation is absolutely 

 prohibited unless when accompanied by the 

 actual owner other than an employee. 

 " Provided, however, that no person, asso- 

 ciation, or company, shall transport or ac- 

 company more than 36 of such birds in any 

 one year, nor more than 12 at any one time." 



By this wording, when a railroad has car- 

 ried passengers having 36 birds, then no 

 more can be carried. Or, a passenger train 

 at station A is boarded by a party of 4, each 

 having 3 birds; on reaching station B it is 

 boarded by another party having 12 more, 

 making 24 in all. Query: What must the 

 conductor do to save the company from a 

 penalty obviously aimed only at the carrier? 



Undoubtedly this law was intended for the 

 protection and preservation of the game, but 

 a critical reading only shows the incompe- 

 tency of the men who made it. Sportsmen 

 will observe the spirit of the law and stop 

 at 36 birds; but the market hunter will ut- 

 terly disregard it by secretly killing, carry- 

 ing, or shipping game. What then is such a 

 law good for, except to benefit the game hog 

 to the detriment of law abiding sportsmen? 

 Our laws have not been sufficient to prevent 

 the rapid decrease of game, and such foolish 

 and impractical laws fail to provide any 

 remedy because they can not be enforced. 



There is but one way to meet the difficulty; 

 namely, to shorten the open season by limit- 

 ing it to the months of September and Oc- 

 tober for killing, sale or possession. Then 

 violations could be readily detected and 

 punished. 



Such a law would be observed and ap- 

 proved by all true sportsmen, while an im- 

 practical law only meets with ridicule and 

 contempt. 



The 4^ months open seasons, during the 

 past few years have so far cleaned out grouse 



