FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



The man who quits when he gets enough, with plenty of game still in sight, is a real sportsman. 



TRYING TO BE FUNNY? 



Colorado Springs, Colo. 

 Editor Recreation: 



Someone has forwarded me a recent 

 copy of Recreation containing your char- 

 acteristic complimentary article and pleas- 

 ing picture of myself. I gather in glanc- 

 ing over your magazine that Recreation 

 approves of shooting 200 ducks a day. 

 This is a tall limit but worthy the high 

 aims and standard reached by Recrea- 

 tion in other directions. With these views 

 it was somewhat of a surprise that you 

 should publish a picture containing only 

 80 ducks. These few birds were obtained 

 in 4 hours, and not in 2 days, as stated in 

 your article. The law in Utah is 40 ducks 

 a man per day, and as there were 2 men in 

 the boat, it entitled a bag of 80 ducks. As 

 soon as they were obtained we pulled out 

 for home. This was on a Saturday when 

 there were many shooters at the camp and 

 I could only be accompanied by my regu- 

 lar companion. From Tuesday to Friday 

 I used to take out 4 men in the boat, so 

 that with myself, the boat could lawfully 

 bring home 200 ducks, your exact ap- 

 proved limit. Arriving on the shooting 

 ground, a big boat blind was made with 

 the 4 men in the rear end of the blind, with 

 a box of cigars and a bottle of old rye 

 among them to wet their whistles. 



Then we were ready, when the ducks 

 came in sight, for all 5 men to call, each in 

 a different key, and in an expert and inter- 

 esting manner, which rarely failed to bring 

 the ducks right up over the 150 decoys that 

 were artistically set out in front of us. 



At noon, when the shooting quieted 

 down, the 4 men would go in different di- 

 rections over the marsh, and the ducks, dis- 

 turbed while resting, would almost always 

 come to my big bunch of decoys. You will 

 regret to hear that the boat never quite 

 reached your high standard of 200 ducks, 

 the full legal quota. The best bags re- 

 turned were 197 ducks and 3 geese, 187 

 ducks and one goose; 183 ducks and 11 

 geese, one swan. The 'birds were all fat 

 and mostly redheads, mallards and pin- 

 tails. All the game was sent to Salt Lake 

 City, given away and distributed among 

 the different charitable institutions, except 

 one batch of some 300 ducks that were 

 given away in Ogden. 



If you had only put a stamp on the let- 

 ter you claim to have mailed to me, it 

 would have given me great pleasure to 

 forward you a large photograph of 

 the "Best Day," 197 ducks and 3 

 geese, nicely hung up in the form of a 



bower, with the 4 men underneath, each 

 holding his pump "gas-pipe " gun, with the 

 box of cigars, alas, empty, and the bottle 

 of whiskey, also extra dry, in front of them. 

 In the centre is yours truly with 3 double 

 barrel guns and 3 shell cases, each hold- 

 ing 200 cartridges. The whole makes a 

 grandly artistic and sportsmanlike picture 

 that I feel sure would have greatly pleased 

 you, and once having seen it, you never 

 would give a second thought to a little bag 

 of 80 ducks. Now, I can not say I quite 

 agree with you or quite approve of shoot- 

 ing 200 ducks a day; yet, under the present 

 laws of many States, it can be done. Still 

 I am with you heart and soul in your fight 

 to a finish against game hogs. It is my 

 humble opinion, even if it does clash with 

 yours, that 50 game birds of any kind in 

 one day should be enough for any man or 

 party. With such a small number of birds 

 to get, the sportsman could start late in the 

 day and get back early, and even then have 

 a respectable bag of birds. Rest assured 

 that law abiding people and good sports- 

 men, like myself, will never break the law. 

 The present game laws in many States may 

 be faulty, but that is not the sportsman's 

 fault. I expect to go South in a few days, 

 on a month's shooting trip, to a place where 

 last year 100 quails and snipe were an aver- 

 age daily bag. This year I intend to stop 

 after pounding them for 50 birds a day. I 

 shall only take 6,000 shells with me. Will 

 write you of my luck on my return. Mean- 

 while, I wish you every success in driving 

 the game hogs out of business. 



H. Gardner. 



You are not only a game butcher, but 

 a liar as well. Recreation never advo- 

 cated killing 200 ducks in a day, and you 

 know it, if you know anything outside of 

 your feed trough. Possibly you mean it 

 as a joke. If so, it is as high a grade of 

 humor as one might expect from your 

 level. If some Southern sportsman where 

 you threaten to go and kill 5 o ducks a day 

 does not put a charge of buckshot into 

 your carcass before you get out of there, 

 he will be neglecting his duty to his fellow 

 men. — Editor. 



?«3 



BE CONTENT WITH FEW. 



Some time ago Mr. Ralph Widdicomb of 

 this city handed me a postal from you 

 which said : "Is it true you killed 100 grouse 

 in one day?" He asked me to reply to it, 

 but I shortly after went North into the 

 woods, and only remembered it on finding 

 the postal when I returned. Last autumn 



