450 



RECREATION. 



in i x / 2 days 34 birds. Pheasants are scarce 

 owing to late, cold spring rains. 



G. W. A., Portland, Ore. 



EVADE THE QUESTION BUT NOT THE PEN. 

 Al Otness, Charles W. Seed, Ed. Flues and Ed. 

 Young returned from Harney lake last night, 

 where in lyi day's shooting, they killed over 300 

 ducks and geese, bringing in with them fully 250. 

 They claim to have runout of ammunition; other- 

 wise the slaughter would have been greater. They 

 also say the country is alive with grouse, prairie 

 chickens and sage hens and a band of about 50 

 antelope was seen, but not near enough to invite 

 a shot. — Sumpter (Ore.) Miner. 



To my inquiry Seed and Flues replied as 

 follows : 



Your letters of recent date regarding the 

 killing of 300 ducks were forwarded to me 

 from Sumpter. Unlike the illustrious 

 father of our country, I can not say "I did 

 it with my little" gun ; nor can I bring 

 myself to believe that I ever killed such 

 an awful number of ducks. 



Chas. W. Seed, Denis, Ore. 



Yours in regard to the killing of 300 

 ducks and geese in i T /2 days: It is not the 

 part of wisdom to believe all you see in the 

 newspapers. However, I am willing to ad- 

 mit that, had we the inclination and ammu- 

 nition, we could have killed 5 times as 

 many ducks in the time stated. 



Edwin Flues, Sumpter, Ore. 



It will be noticed that both of these men 

 evade the question. They do not state how 

 many ducks and geese they did kill, and 

 it is reasonable to assume, therefore, that 

 they are guilty of the charge made against 

 them by the Miner. Seeds, Flues and 

 Young are, therefore, fully entitled to wal- 

 low in the hog pen. — Editor. 



DEER INCREASING IN NEW YORK. 



I refused 5 chances to shoot at imma- 

 ture deer, and killed no deer at all in 1901. 

 Deer were more abundant when that season 

 ended than when the season of 1900 began. 

 There were a few hounds used in this 

 region last year, but some of them did not 

 get back home. A few hunters here who 

 used to believe in hounding, gave it up in 

 '97 and do not permit others near them 

 to practice it, either. They get more veni- 

 son by still-hunting, and there are 6-fold 

 more "deer than 5 years ago. Then a deer 

 out in the fields was a rare thing. Now, 

 in season, I can take you to an orchard 

 not 100 rods from my dwelling where many- 

 deer come nightly for apples. It is the 

 same everywhere in this region ; deer have 

 become numerous since the law of '97 took 

 effect. I hone it will be re-enacted. 



I protest against the widespread use of the 

 term "pot hunter" as a synonym for "game 

 hog." Originally it was applied to one who 

 killed game for his own dinner pot, and 



took care to make every shot tell. He cer- 

 tainly was not a wholesale game extermi- 

 nator, an all around market hunter, or a 

 game hog. Those names are plain United 

 States for the men we are opposing. I pre- 

 fer to write myself a pot hunter of the old 

 school. The game laws are for all the 

 people alike, and it is to secure the great- 

 est good to the greatest number that we 

 obey and uphold them. 



Rodney West, Minerva, N. Y. 



WYOMING PEOPLE SHOULD WAKEN UP. 



Do you, can you, realize what a hard 

 proposition we have to face out here in our 

 beloved Wyoming, the last stand of the 

 big game of the West? There is more in- 

 difference shown in this matter here than 

 anywhere else. The people do not 

 seem to care. They find fault with you 

 for roasting the game hogs, but appear to 

 lose sight of the fact that you are doing 

 lots of good. Even the majority of the 

 guides in this neighborhood censure you 

 for your roasts. I wish to God we could 

 get them to realize that our big game is 

 going fast, and that if more stringent 

 measures are not taken to protect it, it 

 will soon be a thing of the past. Perhaps a 

 change will come before it is too late. 



The antelope are just about gone in the 

 Bighorn basin. When I first came here, 

 in '89, they were numerous. 



Elk, deer, bighorn and moose are still 

 in goodly numbers, but how long will they 

 last if our citizens do not take an inter- 

 est and see that the game is properly pro- 

 tected? My advice, from the standpoint 

 of a hunter and guide, is to restrict resi- 

 dents and non-resident sportsmen to the 

 killing of one male animal of each kind 

 of game in one season, and attach a 

 heavy penalty to the killing of any females. 

 That is the only hope for the big game of 

 Wyoming. * 



Jas. L. McLaughlin, Valley, Wyo. 



A NEW SPECIES OF BEAR. 

 Referring to the article, "An Adirondack 

 Bear," by Dr. Bassler, in September 

 Recreation,, I should like to know what 

 kind of bear that was. I have seen 

 many bears, but never one with a white 

 belly. In 1858 I was living in Northern 

 Wisconsin, and bears were abundant. There 

 was an Irishman living about 3 miles from 

 the settlement. One moonlight night he 

 heard a disturbance in his hen house. He 

 grabbed his old musket, woke Bridget, 

 and sallied forth on a bear hunt. He stood 

 by the door, while Bridget, by making a 

 racket at the back of the building, drove 

 the brute out. Pat rolled him over most 

 beautifully. Pat and Bridget then pro- 

 ceeded to skin him, and nailed the hide on 



