464 



RECREA TIOJST. 



There are some peculiar conditions ex- 

 isting here. All admit the game is going, 

 and that it should be protected, yet when 

 they go into camp they claim it is all right 

 to kill a few birds, or a deer for camp meat, 

 even in close season. Most of the people 

 with whom I have talked say, " Oh, it's all 

 right to shoot some game when in camp; 

 but to go out shooting from town, that 

 should not be done in close season." I am 

 unable to see it in that light, and there are 

 some others who do not, either. The best 

 element is the one we have to combat first. 

 I do not think much can be done until some 

 one is fined, to the limit of the law. I went 

 out last fall before the legal duck season 

 opened, with as fine a man as one would 

 want to be with, yet he would kill a duck in 

 a minute if he got a chance, and thought it 

 all right. The trouble is the people here 

 have for so long shot what they pleased and 

 when they pleased that they cannot see 

 there should now be a change, though the 

 laws are on the statute books. It is a good 

 deal easier to make laws than to enforce 

 them. Yet there are some men in this town 

 who are not afraid to ' swear out warrants 

 against the most prominent men in the 

 town. When it comes to that I shall be 

 with the best of them, and think we can 

 make some of them change their tune, who 

 now think position enables them to violate 

 the laws with impunity. 



I have noted your comment in the last 

 Recreation, on a letter regarding Indians 

 killing game off their reservations, and shall 

 write Mr. McGinnis and tell him what kind 

 of information we want. We shall set our 

 pegs, and later there will be trouble. 



BACK UP YOUR GOOD ADVICE. 



In every mail I receive a dozen or more 

 letters containing reports of some slaughter 

 of game or fish, some violation of game laws 

 or some exhibition of swinishness on the 

 part of would-be sportsmen. Those who 

 send me the reports invariably urge me, in 

 strong terms, to roast the hogs. The writers 

 also assure me of their entire sympathy and 

 approval in my crusade for game protec- 

 tion. In many instances, however, when 

 I reply to such letters, asking the writers to 

 join the League of American Sportsmen 

 and thereby help to carry out the only prac- 

 tical plan ever offered for the protection of 

 game, I am likely to hear nothing further 

 from them. 



I am always glad to be advised of any 

 and every act tending toward the destruc- 

 tion of birds, game or game fishes, and am 

 glad to use the full weight of Recreation 

 against the destroyers; but why do I not 

 have the financial support of every true 

 sportsman in this work? Why are so many 

 content to " sick " me on, without putting 

 up a dollar themselves to aid the cause? 



I am spending every hour and every dol- 

 lar I can spare to further the work of the 



League. Many other sportsmen are doing; 

 the same; but not until every true sports- 

 man in the country is willing to put his,-, 

 shoulder to the wheel and his dollar into- 

 the treasury can the League accomplish all 

 it seeks. 



Whenever I roast a game hog I make 

 enemies of him and of his friends. If any 

 of them have been subscribers to the maga- 

 zine I lose them. I am perfectly willing to 

 meet all this. I am gaining 10 honest sports-, 

 men for every game hog I lose; but mean-" 

 time it costs money to educate these people 

 and to train public sentiment in the right 

 direction. Therefore, send in your dollar. 

 Join the League and help while help is- 

 most needed. 



HE HAS QUIT SELLING GAME. ' 



Greenville, Mich. 



Editor Recreation: I leave in a few day3^ 

 for my annual deer hunt in the Lake Supe- 

 rior region and shall find myself in camp, 

 with a lot of fellows who, with one exception 

 beside myself, will sell the saddles of every 

 deer they kill, reserving only the forequarters 

 for their own meat. When I come out, at 

 the end of 10 days (that is all the time the 

 school board can allow me), the depot at 

 Mackinaw will be strewn with probably 200 

 carcasses of deer, consigned to various com- 

 missioners in Detroit, Grand Rapids, etc. 

 This state of things, so far as the depot is 

 concerned, will obtain almost every day dur- 

 ing the season. Hitherto on account of my 

 leaving earlier than the other boys, I have 

 taken a lot of such consignments from our 

 own camp, and neighboring ones, as far as 

 the junction of the 2 roads; and there have 

 actually seen that the venison was prop- 

 erly expressed to the consignees. I shall be 

 asked to do the same this year; but shall re- 

 fuse and be voted a hog — not a game hog, 

 Heaven forbid — because I shall refuse to aid 

 in this sale of game. I shall be true to our 

 colors and shall do what little lies in my 

 power to obtain converts. Furthermore I 

 shall put away my gun and quit when I get 

 2 deer, though the law allows me 5. 



The little silver badge of the L. A. S. I 

 sent to my wife who is spending 6 months in 

 England; and she wears it every day just to 

 show the people over there, and to tell them 

 something about our organization and the 

 great good it is doing. She goes much in 

 society and meets many of the best people. 

 Of course the law attends to such matters 

 over there, and it brooks no infringement; 

 but they can't help but admire the motive of. 

 the L. A. S. Percy Selous. 



Your letter certainly has the ring of the 

 genuine sportsman. You are making a mar- 

 tyr of yourself to the good cause, but virtue 

 is its own reward, and I trust you will fee!" 

 you have yours. You will see by some cor- 

 respondence printed in the L. A. S. depart- 



