FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



209 



average unthinking mortal would have 

 killed the doe and hung her up in the back 

 yard or cellar. — Editor. 



Please explain how a birch bark canoe is 

 made. Reader, Sandy Creek, N. Y.~ 



ANSWER. 



I do not think anybody can tell you how 

 to make a birch bark canoe. You would 

 have to see one made, and there are but 

 few white men who make them. It would 

 probably be necessary for you to go to Wis- 

 consin or Michigan and see the Indians 

 make their canoes. The Indians in Maine 

 used to make them, but there are practically 

 no birch trees there now that are large 

 enough, and there are only a few in Michi- 

 gan and Wisconsin. — Editor. 



I saw in Recreation an inquiry as to 

 whether there are any mountain sheep, or 

 big horns, on the Pacific slope. We have 

 them on the coast of Alaska, the same as 

 the Rocky Mountain sheep, only white in 

 color. I have guided 3 hunting parties 

 from England and one from Chicago, and 

 all got a good number of specimens. Be- 

 sides moose and bear, there are plenty of 

 sheep here within 40 miles of salt water. 

 We often get moose and bear on the beach 

 of the inlet. 



Wm. Hunter, Kenai, Alaska. 



Some readers of Recreation think quails 

 ought to be protected for 5 years. I think 

 they should be protected 500 years. There 

 is a flock of 18 or 20 birds near my home, 

 and all through the cold weather they fed 

 at our corn crib and around the house. I 

 shot 4 of them early in the season and then 

 let them go, and am not going to shoot 

 any more. We have good pointer dogs and 

 shoot a few chickens in the fall. There is 

 a fair number of them now, though they 

 had been scarce 5 or 6 years. 



T. Y. Shear, Thawville, 111. 



I have been in this country nearly 8 

 years. Game hogs, firebugs, fish hogs and 

 timber thieves have materially lowered the 

 price of real estate. Six years ago I saw 

 a train of wagons coming from the Priest 

 lake country. The snow was about a foot 

 deep. "What luck?" I asked. "Oh, pretty 

 good. We got 213 deer and 5 caribou," 

 was the answer. "Yes," he added, "the 

 dogs ran as many more that we didn't 

 get. Most of them went over the divide." 

 S. G. M., Rathdrum, Idaho. 



In a recent number of Recreation E. M. 

 B., Lead, S. Dak., accuses the soldiers at 

 Fort Meade of slaughtering game, and calls 

 them shoats. During my service at Fort 

 Meade in the hunting season of '98 I saw 



nothing unsportsmanlike in the conduct of 

 the men. I have always found soldiers 

 good sportsmen, perfectly satisfied with a 

 small quantity of game. Deer were abund- 

 ant here last fall and could be found within 

 half a mile of the post. 



Dr. C. E. Macdonald, U. S. A., 

 Fort Yates, N. D. 



There are many people here who have 

 no regard for the game laws. Recently a 

 man went out hunting and as he could not 

 hit anything he tried to shoot some meadow 

 larks, but he could not hit them either. 

 Some of the L. A. S. boys got after him 

 and he afterward said he was glad his 

 aim was not true. We are trying hard to 

 get boys to join che League and have suc- 

 ceeded well so far. 



James Montgomery, Erie, Pa. 



I am much interested in the fight against 

 spring shooting. If we win, ducks will, 

 within a few years, be nesting in this State, 

 as they now do in Canada. It is amazing 

 that ducks have not been exterminated 

 before this when you consider that there 

 is hardly a month in the year when they are 

 not being hunted somewhere on the con- 

 tinent. Stop spring shooting and the sale 

 of game and there will yet be plenty of 

 sport for us all. 



Y. F. Close, Middletown, N. Y. 



Game is going fast in this country, and 

 unless better protected will soon be gone. 

 Gold Butte is in the sweet grass hills. We 

 have no large game to speak of, but grouse 

 are abundant, and there are a few ducks 

 and geese. The unlawful killing of deer 

 and sheep along the Missouri, between the 

 Yellowstone and Fort Benton, should be 

 looked into. You are doing better work 

 than you think, and the country can never 

 repay you. 



Harry Feed, Gold Butte, Mont. 



_ The only way to save our game is to pro- 

 hibit market shooting entirely. Recently I 

 heard a farmer tell how he was returning 

 from town one evening and saw a flock of 

 quails settling for the night. He drove on 

 home, several miles distant, got his gun, 

 and, returning to the place, fired both bar- 

 rels at the birds on the ground, killing 21. 

 He certainly would not have gone to the 

 trouble had he not known he could sell the 

 quails. X, Hartford, Conn. 



Owing to general observance of the game 

 laws game is becoming more plentiful here. 

 Quails were numerous last fall, and but for 

 the unusually cold winter they would have 

 been abundant this year. Rabbits threaten 

 to become a nuisance in the near future. 



