44 



RECREATION. 



in the art. The picture will show what suc- 

 cess I had. 



We tried to raise some Mongolian pheas- 

 ants. 2 years ago. and failed. This year we 

 tried it again, with better success, after 

 reading the article on the subject in Rec- 

 reation. There is any quantity of game 

 in this region. I killed 2 deer within 50 

 yards of the house. They seemed deter- 

 mined to destroy my garden. Unless our 

 Legislature prohibits the sale of hides or 

 buckskin, deer will soon be exterminated. 

 There are men here who kill from 100 to 

 200 apiece during the winter. One man. 3 

 years ago. killed 400 for their hides, leaving 

 the carcasses for the wolves. I had the good 

 fortune to kill 3 bears recently. Anyone 

 looking for the best hunting and fishing 

 ground in the country, should come here. 

 Take the Great Northern R.R. to Newport, 

 Idaho, and then take steamer to this place. 

 E. E. Hall. lone, Wash. 



Mr. M. P. Dunham says game catchers 

 are responsible for the disappearance of big 

 game from this section. Can he also tell 

 what became of the game of Eastern Mon- 

 tana? A few years ago sheep, deer and 

 antelopes were there in bands of hundreds. 

 No game catcher ever sent a rope after 

 those animals. They were killed off by 

 skin and head hunters. Skin hunters kill 

 all they can; while game catchers save all 

 they catch. Is it not better that a few ani- 

 mals should be confined in zoological gar- 

 dens and parks, than that all should be 

 killed? The catching of game tends to its 

 preservation rather than extermination. 



Mr. Dunham should have been still more 

 communicative and have told the readers 

 of Recreation, as he did Mr. Kemp, that 

 he had killed 100 rams in the Madison 

 range, and at present was catching sheep. 

 He afterward told O. E. Johnson, of Mad- 

 ison Basin, that he had caught 9 sheep. To 

 my own knowledge he has been catching 

 sheep for 2 seasons past. Now. Mr. Dun- 

 ham, don't quote Scripture until you saw 

 off your horns. 



R. W. Rock, Lake, Idaho. 



You ask for the opinions of hunters as to 

 deer destroying crops. I have been on the 

 frontier constantly for almost 30 years, from 

 Pennsylvania to the Pacific coast. I have 

 been in all the best deer territories and 

 among the lumber men and pioneer farmers, 

 and while I have known deer to frequent 

 clearings and visit wheat fields and other 

 crops, yet I have never yet seen or known of 

 damage to crops being done by deer, to any 

 extent worth mentioning. I have visited 

 many fields where deer were reported to 

 come every night to feed, and have watched 

 for them many a night. Only twice in a 

 score of times have I known of their com- 

 ing, and it is my honest opinion that it is 

 more for the excuse of killing a deer out of 



season that the cry is made than for the 

 amount of damage done. I will forward $5 

 to Recreation if other sportsmen will help 

 raise a sufficient amount to send some reli- 

 able person to the Wisconsin woods to prove 

 the truth or falsity of the claim that deer are 

 destroying crops there.. Let me hear from 

 others. E. A. White. Ely, Mina. 



Your game hog columns are good medi- 

 cine. Give it to them. Most of the men 

 (?) named in S. H. T.'s article on page 41 

 of July Recreation have killed more ducks 

 in 10 shoots than I have killed in my lifetime. 

 Most people seem to think if they can 

 slaughter 50 or 75 ducks in a few hours they 

 are enjoying life to the utmost. I pity such 

 swine. Spring shooting of ducks should be 

 stopped. I killed one duck last spring, and 

 it was so poor it was not worth cooking. 

 Now, Mr. Editor, don't you think I should 

 have let that duck live until fall, raise a brood 

 of young, and perhaps get a little meat on 

 its ribs? I do, and I laid my gun away to 

 rest until the 1st of November. I shoot no 

 more ducks in the spring. I think one of 

 the worst things a man can do is to slaugh- 

 ter ducks in the spring, and then tell the 

 other hogs of the sport (?) he has had. 



Chas. Rupert, Oakmont, Pa. 



Good ! I am mighty glad you have quit 

 spring shooting, and wish all the sports- 

 men in the United States and Canada 

 would follow your example. — Editor. 



There will be plenty of turkey, duck, quail, 

 squirrel, and rabbit shooting here this win- 

 ter, especially below Augusta, on the Savan- 

 nah river. The river has not flooded the 

 swamps in 2 years, and the game has multi- 

 plied in large numbers. Deer are seen quite 

 often, down the river away from the city. 

 The swamps of the Savannah river are 

 dense, and in some places it is impossible to 

 get through the cane brakes. It is 300 miles 

 by river from Augusta to Savannah, and in 

 cold weather every mile of the distance ar- 

 fords good hunting. Three large steam- 

 boats make weekly trips. During freezing 

 weather the hunter's bag of game is in size 

 according to his endurance of the cold, as 

 ducks of all species come out of the frozen 

 lakes to the running water in the river, 

 where they are easily picked up out of the 

 willows if closely watched. Otherwise they 

 rise from 60 to 100 yards away, and " go af- 

 ter a doctor." My friends. Miegel and 

 Fields, are talking of their Christmas hunt 

 already, and expect to have a big time. 



S. T. D., Augusta, Ga. 



Our 4th annual hunt will be long remem- 

 bered by us. On December 27th, C. D. H. 

 and I went to Morgan creek, a tributary 

 of the Colorado river. It is a splendid place 

 for ducks, and could be made much better 

 by planting wild rice and celery seed. 



