42 



R EC RE A TIOX. 



KILLING DEER IX CLOSE SEASON. 



Dr. J. C. Comstock and Fred Bennett, of 

 Binghamton. X. Y., returned in July 

 from a hunting trip in Canada. 



The Doctor gives a reporter of the Bing- 

 hamton Republican some information re- 

 garding their trip, in the course of which 

 he says: " We were there during the close 

 season for deer, and how could we shoot 

 them? But" (he added with a wink), " we 

 had all the veal we wanted." 



The Doctor says he and his friend em- 

 ployed 2 game wardens as guides and adds, 

 " When we wanted to kill a deer they turned 

 their backs. We only killed what we wanted 

 to eat, but there were great quantities of 

 them." 



Truly, this is a remarkable confession for 

 a man to make, and especially for a physi- 

 cian. A doctor is supposed always to be a 

 gentleman and a law-abiding citizen; yet, 

 if Dr. Comstock is correctly reported, he 

 boasts of having violated the game laws of 

 the Province of Ontario. 



It is a pity there is no extradition treaty 

 between this government and Canada that 

 would enable an officer of that government 

 to go to Binghamton and take Dr. Com- 

 stock and Mr. Bennett before an Ontario 

 court to answer for their offense. 



Marked copies of this issue of Recrea- 

 tion go to several principal officers of the 

 Ontario government and it is hoped they 

 will look up the 2 game wardens who are 

 said to have acted as guides for Dr. Com- 

 stock and Mr. Bennett. They should be 

 punished for aiding and abetting these men 

 in violating the provincial game laws. 



CAN'T GIVE 'EM AWAY. 



The plentifulness of quail this fall might be inferred 

 from the statement of a well-known hunter, who says, " I 

 got so many I can't give 'em away." 



The principal reason, however, is that the law forbids 

 any >>ne to jjive away quail. The only thing to do is to 

 pick them and make your friends a present of " some nice 

 squabs"; or just drop them where your friends can find 

 them. Don't endanger your life trying to eat all you shoot 

 just to oblige the idiot who made that law. 



There have been a number of packages of squabs left 

 around town during the past few days, in an absent-minded 

 fashion. If you happen to find some lying around, freeze 

 to them. — Portsmouth, Ohio, Blade. 



Here is a man who poses as the editor of 

 a newspaper and who should evidently be 

 breaking stone for a living. He tells his 

 readers in plain English how they can break 

 the law and yet not be caught at it. He 

 also tells them how they should co-operate 

 with lawbreakers by receiving stolen goods 

 and asking no questions. I should not be 

 surprised if " The Portsmouth Blade " had 

 a circulation of at least 50 copies, and that 

 entirely among pot hunters. — Editor. 



mon, every day cottontail. Why does he 

 lie out some days, and not others? Why 

 will he run a mile one day, and not a rod 

 the next? When one is found on his form 

 does it prove he has been out all night, or is 

 he likely to have just stepped from his home 

 to take the air? Why does he in> some sec- 

 tions show a partiality for briar patches, and 

 in others seem to avoid them? Why is it 

 that in some places where the snow is fairly 

 packed by rabbits' feet during the night, not 

 a rabbit can be found by day? Many similar 

 questions suggest themselves, yet, though I 

 have, hunted bunny for years, not one can I 

 answer. Some one there must be whom L. 

 sylvaticus has taken into his confidence. 

 Let that person rise and expound these 

 mysteries. 



G. A. M., Pleasantville, N. Y. 



Cottontails do not live in holes in the 

 ground. They take refuge in them, from 

 pursuers, on rare occasions. Individual 

 variation accounts for many peculiarities. 

 The other questions are satisfactorily dealt 

 with in " Wild Animals I have Known." by 

 Ernest Seton Thompson; published by 

 Scribners. — Editor. 



6,000 SPORTSMEN. 



Fully 6,000 sportsmen are now ranging 

 the Northern hunting grounds in chase of 

 deer. This is the estimate of Chief Game 

 Warden Tinsley, based on the number of li- 

 censes issued this season, to hunters and set- 

 tlers. This officer further calculates that 

 each of these 6,000 sportsmen will kill at 

 least one deer on an average. 



11 At that rate," said the reporter, " the 

 deer ought to be decreasing; ought they 

 not?" 



" On the contrary." replied the game war- 

 den, " they are increasing. The clearing of 

 large timber tracts and their replacement in 

 the course of nature by thick undergrowth 

 is one of the prime factors in this increase, 

 for it not only affords protection to the deer 

 in places impenetrable by hunters, but also 

 gives the deer a better supply of food. No- 

 body can gauge the vast number of deer in 

 the North, as they are scattered over such a 

 wide district." 



Toronto Evening News. 



HOW ABOUT THE RABBITS? 

 Will some mighty hunter abstain from 

 pursuing the savage silver tip or lordly 

 moose long enough to tell me something 

 about the harmless, trivial rabbit? Not the 

 great hare nor the jack rabbit, but the com- 



SOME OHIO SWINE. 



W. D. Shafer killed 38 squirrels on Monday. This is 

 the best report given by local sportsmen. 



Stockport, O. 

 Editor Recreation: Enclosed find clip- 

 ping taken from a local paper which will 

 give you some idea of the kind of hunting 

 that is being done in this section of Ohio. 

 Would you not call that man a hog of the 

 rankest type? It has until recently been the 

 custom of local sportsmen to count a bag of 

 5 to 7 squirrels a good day's sport, but some 





