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RECREATION. 



that if I should come in contact with 

 some of the men whom I have branded, I 

 should have to do some shooting in self de- 

 fence. Possibly some one of them may get 

 the drop on me; but if so, I shall not be the 

 first man to die in a good cause. 



If these men want me to quit calling 

 them game hogs, they must quit being 

 game hogs. That is the only remedy 

 while I live, and run Recreation. I am 

 not trying to reform the game hogs, by any 

 means. I am trying to make them and 

 their work so disreputable that all decent 

 men and boys will avoid being led into their 

 ways. In this work I am succeeding to a 

 much greater extent than you or any other 

 man outside of this office can ever know. It 

 is true I have lost many good friends 

 on account of my work, but it is because 

 they do not know the results of it. — 

 Editor. 



SHOULD JOIN THE ARMY. 



'The F. G. Williams, of Ferndale, Gal., 

 who bagged 61 ducks one day last fall is a 

 prominent business man of that town, and, 

 I understand, is president of the gun club 

 there. I have been told that he frequently 

 shoot's 30 or 40 ducks in a day. I think you 

 could teach him that 20 ducks should satis- 

 fy any man for one day's shoot. 



Every man who can afford a gun and 

 ammunition can afford to put up $1 

 a year to help protect and increase the sup- 

 ply of game by joining the L. A. S. I 

 think the reason many do not join, who 

 otherwise would, is that they think the 

 League was organized chiefly to protect 

 game for the rich sportsmen. Yet you can 

 hardly blame some of us who live here in 

 the mountains. The deer feed on our 

 ranges, and in some cases destroy our 

 orchards and gardens. Then the city hunt- 

 er, who can have his meat brought to his 

 door during the close season, comes out 

 when the season opens and kills 15 or 20 

 deer, and perhaps a steer belonging to the 

 rancher. So lon^ as such work goes on we 

 cannot expect the rancher to go without 

 meat, and furnish range for deer in order 

 that strangers may slaughter them. As a 

 rule, the rancher or stockman kills but few 

 deer in a year, and those only for food. 

 With some L. A. S. members scattered 

 through the mountains, and a limit placed 

 on the number of deer and other game ani- 

 mals and birds one man may kill, game in 

 this country would increase so all could 

 have a share. 



Your war against those who slaughter 



game in great numbers will not be in vain. 



I hope to see the day when every man 



who hunts will be a member of the League. 



D. S. Ballard, Bridgeville, Cal. 



DEER, PISH AND CAME HOGS. 



I am greatly interested in your excellent 

 magazine, and always begin to hang around 

 the newsstand a week before its arrival. 

 I am specially pleased at your stand for the 

 protection of game. 



Game is plentiful here. Deer are fre- 

 quently seen within a mile of town, while 

 10 miles from here they are plentiful, and 

 there are a few bear. Small game is 

 abundant, rabbits, ruffed grouse, prairie 

 chickens and squirrels being found within 

 an hour's walk from town. Quails are 

 greatly on the increase. They are so tame 

 in some cases that they come every morn- 

 ing to eat with farmers' chickens. We 

 have few ducks here. It is doubtful 

 whether there are 25 killed here in a year. 

 We have a few woodcocks, but I do not 

 believe 10 persons in town know we have 

 them. 



We have little fishing ; a few trout, rock 

 bass and pickerel. A dam went out in the 

 Eau Claire river, the only large river near 

 here, last summer and a great many pick- 

 erel came up the river. As soon as it was 

 known, every large pool was dynamited or 

 seined. In 2 weeks there was not a pick- 

 erel left. 



Some parties were found seining and 

 fined $1 a pound for all the fish found in 

 their possession. There are few game hogs 

 here, but plenty of fish hogs. Quite a num- 

 ber of our sportsmen take Recreation, and 

 all are delighted with it. Success to you. 

 I wish your circulation were 300,000. I am 

 a friend of the "little red devil" in spite 

 of all said against him. 



Edgar Secor, Augusta, Wis. 



STOP THE SALE OF GAME. 



My only recreation the past 26 years 

 has been duck shooting. I have shot on 

 Illinois river the last 16 years. Unless 

 something is done it will be impossible to 

 get ducks on the Illinois in 2 or 3 years 

 more. It has been said by a college pro- 

 fessor, I believe, that it would be impossible 

 to exterminate ducks with the shot gun. 

 It has also been said that their diminishing 

 number is due to the gathering of their 

 eggs for commercial purposes. If this is 

 true, could the destruction of the eggs be 

 stopped? T. S. Hitt, M.D., 



Indianapolis, Ind. 



ANSWER. 



The college professor is entirely wrong 

 in his statement. The ducks and geese 

 have been reduced probably 75 per cent, in 

 the past 10 years by the shot gun ; but not 

 in the hands of sportsmen. It is the market 

 hunter who follows the ducks from the 

 Canada border to the Gulf of Mexico; who 

 shoots them all fall, winter and spring, and 

 ships them to market. That is what will 



