et De 

FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 211 
ers to some extent, but unfortunately it 
is not. Men who have killed wagon loads 
of geese in California and ducks in Ore- 
gon and deer in other States have, when 
called to account for their wickedness, put 
up the plea that they gave the game away 
to poor half starved babes in infant hos- 
pitals, or to lung sufferers in other hospi- 
tals, or to some other charitable institutions. 
It is a mystery to me that the so called 
cloak of charity has not been torn into 
shreds long ago by being stretched to cover 
the crimes of so many thousands of game 
butchers. Mr. Dunn and his friends may 
be charitable men, but I would bet Io to 1 
that if any man asked them to go down to 
Mexico and kill 1,000 or 2,000 birds to 
feed the suffering children of any town 
there, the aforesaid hunters would decline 
the invitation with thanks. Still, these same 
men go down there, kill 2,480 quails in 3 
days and then in order to try to square 
themselves with their consciences and with 
possible accusers at home, distribute their 
birds among these poor people; but it does 
not go. No decent man will be hoodwinked 
into forgiving them for such disgraceful 
slaughter, simply because they could not 
eat all these birds and because, therefore, 
they gave them away. . 
It was simply the love of slaughter and 
the vanity these men felt in being able to 
make great records, that prompted this 
merciless destruction of bird life. 
Here is a copy of an entry I have just 
made in the game hog register. 
F. W. Dunn, No. 972; S. H. Black, No, 
073; D. P. Doke, No. 974; Fred Doke, 
No. 975; E. A. Fano, No. 976; Geo. Gar- 
retson, No, 977; T. A. Brown, No. 978.— _ 
EDITOR. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR QUAIL HUNTERS. 
When you are ready to go quail shooting, 
drive around to the corner saloon and load 
up 2 or 3 kegs of beer, depending on the 
room you have in your conveyance. Ask 
all the loafers you run across to go with 
you. They will be useful for advertising 
purposes, if you like to advertise that way. 
They will also help to make noise, but do 
not put them in the end of the wagon con- 
taining the beer. Better take a bottle of 
bug juice, too, as the good old farmer may 
like it better than beer. 
Take at least 300 loaded shells for each 
man, not forgetting the loafers. They are 
not men, of course, but will probably want 
to shoot. Don’t buy anything smaller than 
No. 2 shot. The birds are wild these days, 
and have to be persuaded with heavy shot. 
Besides, with large shot you may be able 
to shoot the eyes out of a cow or a horse 
over in the next county. 
As soon as you get clear of the police, 
do as you damn please. Law and order are 
all right for the city, but everything goes 
in the country. Shoot at all the chickens 
you see, and sing and yell all you want to. 
Country people enjoy noise and riot. 
hen you arrive at the home of the far- 
mer with whom you have made arrange- 
ments for dinner, drive into his yard and 
yell some more. This will please and im- 
press the worthy agriculturist, and make 
him glad to entertain you. Then tumble 
out of your wagon. Of course, the farmer 
did not expect such a crowd, but never 
mind that. He may appear a trifle gruff, 
_ but pay no attention to him. He probably 
hasn’t been up long, and feels cross and 
sleepy. His gruffness will wear off before 
noon. 
Don’t forget to turn your dogs loose as 
soon as you reach the barn. They can 
limber up on the poultry and stock while 
you are putting out your horses and get- 
ting the beer out of the wagon. This is 
good for the dogs, and they will be in 
shape to work as soon as the hunting 
grounds are reached. Pay no attention to 
the fuss made by the poultry; they will set- 
tle down in a week or two; those that are 
not killed. 
When you get down to business, shoot. 
No matter what you see, shoot. It doesn’t 
pay to take chances of losing game when 
you are hunting. No matter if you do kill 
a hog or a sheep. It might have been a 
rabbit, you know, and the more you shoot 
the more you may expect to kill. If you 
chance on a farmer gathering corn, go 
up close to him and fire 2 or 3 shots as 
fast as you can. He will not mind it. His 
horses may run away, but they will soon 
stop. If he asks you to go over on the 
other side of his farm, fearing you may 
shoot him, don’t go. There is no use of it. 
Farmers must get over being so timid. 
About an hour after you begin hunting, 
your loafers will want to.go back and 
look after the beer keg. Let them go, and 
tell them to enjoy themselves. Tell them 
not to be afraid to make a noise around 
the farmhouse. The sight of a few well 
jagged bums will afford much amusement 
to the farmer’s wife and her daughters. 
At noon come in and see how your partners 
are getting on. At this time interview the 
bug juice bottle. This will give you an 
appetite for dinner. Don’t pay for your 
dinners if you can avoid it. See if the 
farmer won’t accept 3 or 4 rabbits, those 
that are shot up the worst. Bird hunters 
generally bag plenty of rabbits, though in 
town they will tell you they never shoot 
at anything but birds. When hunting, al- 
ways throw down all the fences you can. 
This gives the worthy farmer something to 
do the next day, and the work helps his 
