FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



463 



other — a big cinnamon. About 6 shots 

 were fired before the bear made the cover 

 of the brush. My first had brought the old 

 one to the ground but she was up just as 

 quickly. We turned our dog loose and fol- 

 lowed him after the bear into the thicket. 

 He soon had one of the cripples at bay, 

 and Murdock, being as tall as a fence rail, 

 outstepped me and succeeded in getting the 

 first shot at bruin's head which was badly 

 disfigured by a 45-90 ball. 



The other 2 bears were not to be seen 

 and all manner of coaxing would not in- 

 duce the dog to leave the dead bear; so we 

 went back after our horses which we found 

 had scampered off when we had begun the 

 firing. We soon secured them and started 

 to the lake to camp. Once there we unsad- 

 dled our horses and arranged camp. The 

 next day we got another bear and in the 

 evening lots of trout, from the lake. On 

 the third day we returned home bearing 

 our spoils. J. B. L., Clover, Wash. 



Why should New England shooters go 

 so far from home when they can get good 

 duck shooting on the Ipswich river and its 

 tributaries? I have shot ducks and geese 

 at Eagle Hill for the past 18 years and have 

 had no trouble in making a good bag when 

 the weather permitted. 



Eagle Hill is on Plumb Island river, cov- 

 ers perhaps 5 acres, and is owned by A. B. 

 Clarke of Peabody, Mass. It is also an ideal 

 location for beach bird shooting. My 

 largest bags of black ducks, for one day's 

 shooting, are 18, 24 and 17. My total, in 

 '96, was 277. This season is the poorest we 

 have had for years, owing to not having 

 plenty of heavy ice. 



Few sportsmen shoot ducks, from a boat 

 of our model, which I claim is the best 

 boat made for that purpose. Dimensions, 

 13 feet over all; only 2 laps or streaks on 

 each side; 12 feet on bottom, 20 inches 

 wide at after knee, on bottom; 28 inches 

 at stern, on top; 18 inches deep between 

 middle knees sloped from the after knee 

 on bottom 6 inches. The rest of the bot- 

 tom, forward of the after knee, should be 

 perfectly straight to stem. Rake on stem 

 9 inches; plain, on lower streaks, 6 inches; 

 top the same. Scull hole 3 l / 2 inches up 

 from bottom, inside, and 4 inches from the 

 left-hand side in the stern board. This 

 hole must be 2 T / 2 inches in diameter; per- 

 fectly round and lined with a salt-pork 

 skin. This prevents all noises. There 

 should be 2 paddles — only one to be used 

 at any given time and the other to be held 

 in reserve in case of accident. These pad- 

 dles should be 6 feet long; small enough 

 to use in the scull hole and leave plenty of 

 room to swing the paddle. They must also 

 be bent down on the handle, 3 inches, and 

 about 12 inches from the end, so that the 



end of the paddle and your hands cannot 

 be seen above the gunwale. 



To trim the boat put in ballast enough 

 to draw 2 l /i inches on stern. When using 

 in ice paint white; in summer brown, and 

 trim with long grass. This boat will stand 

 a lot of rough weather, if well handled, and 

 will carry about 7 yards of sail, made in a 

 sprit cut. T. C. W., West Lynn, Mass. 



Editor Recreation: Some of the stories 

 of hair-breadth escapes, in Recreation, re- 

 mind me of a bear story, told me by a 

 young sportsman who went up in Minne- 

 sota last fall, to hunt. 



The party consisted of Al. Leland and 3 

 others. One day they started out for a bear 

 hunt. They had a wagon and team and 

 plenty of ammunition, in both solid and 

 liquid forms, and they thought they would 

 kill every bear in the country. 



Arriving at the hunting grounds, the 

 boys tied the team to the rear end of the 

 wagon and placed a stick in the hounds, to 

 hold the pole up out of the mud while they 

 went after bear. Al. thumped around to 

 start up the bears and succeeded in starting 

 one from under a stump, with bristles up 

 and war paint on. 



Al. raised his trnsty Winchester and 

 pumped 17 bullets into the beast; then 

 threw down his gun and ran for the wagon 

 4 nr.les distant. He ventured to look back, 

 and Great Scott! there was the bear at his 

 heels, with eyes dilated and mouth as wide 

 open as a Minnesota saloon. Then Al. put 

 his No. 8's down at the rate of a mile a 

 minute and took another start for the 

 wagon. By the time he reached it the bear 

 came lumbering along, licking Al.'s heels at 

 every jump. Putting on a double head of 

 steam Al. made a trapeze leap for the front 

 of the wagon and lit safe on the double- 

 trees. Then he fainted. 



The bear was under such headway, and 

 so excited he didn't see the wagon tongue 

 until it had run clear through him. Then 

 one of the boys ran a stick through that 

 little " bizness " that holds the neck yoke 

 on. Then they all got clubs and pounded 

 the bear to death. It weighed " nigh on- 

 to " 700 lbs. Max. 



Having just read an article in RECREA- 

 TION about the game in the park I will 

 give you some idea as to how the people 

 of Gardiner and vicinity passed their time 

 last fall and winter. As the snow was deep 

 in the park the antelope came down and 

 crossed the Gardiner river, at their old 

 crossing, and got outside of the park, when 

 a party of brave guides and hunters sur- 

 rounded them and killed about 100 of them. 



Then the elk came out and something 

 like 100 of these were also killed. 



