FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



37 



THE '98 MODEL SPORTSMAN. 



Tempe, Ariz. 



Editor Recreation: All those who 

 shoot, or want others to think they shoot, 

 proclaim their expertness to a wondering 

 world through Recreation. By reading 

 their communications I have learned that I 

 don't shoot, or at least am not a fin de siecle 

 shooter. What hurts me is that I never can 

 shoot, for I haven't money to buy nor time 

 to learn the names of all the traps now in- 

 cluded in the outfit of an up to date sports- 

 man. 



I was once green enough to believe that 

 a fellow who took his gun, went out 

 among the game and, paying due regard 

 to those unwritten rules of honor existing 

 between hunter and hunted, then and there 

 blazed away at his feathered friends, was 

 shooting. But I was wrong. He could not 

 be shooting; for where is his extra gun? 

 where his gun rack? where his man to 

 growl at when a straight away is missed? 

 And greater than all, where, O where, is his 

 Kodakist to take his picture as he stands 

 erect with his high priced gun in his hand, 

 his game at his feet, his gun rack at one side 

 full of guns, rifles and revolvers, and his 

 man just far enough back not to be out of 

 sight? 



Coquina will pardon me for writing about 

 my dilemma, and not only pardon but pity 

 me. He has been a Western man himself 

 and knows that a Westerner posed beside a 

 few stale fish, or ragged quail would blush 

 when the picture machine was pointed at 

 him. The blush would show that the West- 

 ern man knew he was using the defunct 

 game merely as an adjunct to the display of 

 his handsome features before the shooting 

 public. 



I have a neighbor whom I once thought a 

 mighty hunter; but now the bubble has 

 burst and I see him as he is. He never had 

 his picture published and he leans his old 

 gun against the wall instead of putting it 

 in a cabinet. And such a gun! No real 

 sportsman would own it. It is a .44-40, '73 

 model, Winchester. The muzzle was bat- 

 tered in a hand to claw lion fight by com- 

 ing in contact with a rock instead of the 

 lion, and therefore had to be sawed off. 

 Stock and barrel bear other marks of com- 

 bat that make it totally unfit to repose in a 

 $40 cabinet. Besides the old thing shoots 

 cheap ammunition; 50 shots for 6 bits. So 

 I say the gun is just where it belongs, name- 

 ly, in the possession of a man who is no" 

 hunter. The killing of over 100 lions, over 

 300 cats, catamount and lynx, and over 40 

 bears with that old .44 does not entitle him 

 to be called a sportsman or even a hunter. 



There is one incident in his career which, 

 if handled rightly, might make him out 

 something of a sportsman. One day while 

 engaged in an encounter with 3 silver tip 

 bears, his wife, a plucky Texas girl, rushed 



to his aid with an old " long Tom " .45-70, 

 government gun. The " long Tom " was 

 not needed, however; the bears being 

 despatched with the .44. Now I am anxious 

 to make out a good case for my friend, and 

 if you think best will change the bear story 

 a little. The old .44 and cheap cartridges 

 can be kept out of sight, and the lady might 

 be represented as a man servant carrying a 

 fine Savage rifle, with gold nosed bullets 

 costing $1 a piece. 



seems to be the intention of the L. A. 

 ^. 10 revive the old English poaching laws. 

 One of the reasons given is that boys and 

 foreigners use " old muskets and cheap 

 shot guns." Will some one kindly explain 

 why any one who sees fit should not use 

 muskets and cheap shotguns? 



Subscriber. 



BEARS, LIONS, AND WOLVES. 



Cora, Wyo. 



Editor Recreation: Few realize the im- 

 mense damage done, not only to stock, but 

 to game, by beasts of prey. Though it is 

 generally supposed such animals are nearly 

 extinct in the United States, yet in large 

 regions throughout the' West the ravages 

 of wolves, mountain lions and grizzly bears 

 jeopardize the profits of stock raising. Of 

 these animals, the wolf is most numerous 

 and destructive. They have increased enor- 

 mously in the past 10 years. In North- 

 western Colorado, 10 years ago, it was a 

 rare thing to see or hear of a wolf. Now 

 they range that country by hundreds, and 

 the damage they do to stock must be esti- 

 mated by thousands of dollars. 



While cattle suffer most, all kinds of 

 stock are the prey of these bloodthirsty 

 brutes. I never knew them to attack man; 

 but the reason is not hard to find. Con- 

 tact with an armed population will teach 

 caution to any animal, no matter how 

 fierce. On the stock ranges wolves are 

 shot at whenever seen, and they have a 

 wholesome fear of and respect for man. 



But nothing else escapes them. They 

 will pull down full grown cattle and horses; 

 and in the spring, when the deer are weak, 

 the gulches are lined with half eaten car- 

 casses. A wolf hardly ever touches carrion. 

 He prefers freshly killed meat. As this is 

 not hard to get on the ranges, the poor 

 cattle suffer. 



•The damage done by a wolf bitch with 

 a litter of cubs, in a cattle country, can 

 hardly be calculated. I helped dig out a 

 litter of cubs in Northwestern Colorado, 

 last spring. The den was located in the 

 center of a range occupied by breeding 

 cows. The leg bones and other remains 

 around the den, showed the old wolf had 

 killed and brought in not less than a dozen 

 calves. There was no way of telling how 

 many she had killed and eaten away from 

 the den; but a low estimate of the damage 



