FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



125 



There is a small lake covered with a heavy 

 growth of rushes, 2 miles from here where a 

 large number of teal, pintail, mallard, and 

 other ducks breed each spring, and where 

 many more would do so if left unmolested 

 during the close season; but they are hunted 

 more or less throughout the spring and sum- 

 mer, and many of the old ducks are shot 

 on the nest every spring. I have called the 

 attention of the State game warden to this 

 state of affairs. 



I hope the influence of the L. A. S. will 

 soon be felt in this State, and game wardens 

 appointed who will do their duty. 



Chas. J. Campbell, Englevale, N. D. 



Mr. Leland Frazier, of Dewitt, Mo., was 

 hunting geese near that place, in the win- 

 ter of '96, when a flock of 6 ringneck geese 

 came to his decoys. Mr. Frazier was using 

 a Winchester repeating shotgun. He fired 

 at and brought down the leading goose. 

 The others flew a short distance, then cir- 

 cled back over their fallen comrade. Mr. 

 Frazier shot another, the flock circled, and 

 again returned to lose another member. 

 This continued until all 6 were killed; all 

 falling within a radius of 30 yards. This is 

 vouched for by people whose veracity can- 

 not be questioned. 



J. D. French, Dewitt, Mo. 



G. G. S. Lindsey and Dr. Bruce L. Riordan have re- 

 turned from the Magnetawan River district, where they 

 have been camping since the end of last month with D. A. 

 Cameron, C. C. Ambery, and F. Swift, of Walkerville, 

 and T. Minty, of Seaforth. They report deer plentiful, 

 and brought down some big bucks. Ex-Mayor Boswell, 

 Dr. Lesslie and J. F. Stupart, of the Observatory, came 

 down from Ahmic Harbor, yesterday with 5 deer. Four 

 hunters were detained last night at Burk's Falls, on a 

 charge of shooting deer in the water. — Globe, Toronto. 



Harry Anderson has just returned from a pilgrimage to 

 the Muskokas, and brought back with him 10 deer and a 

 fat and sassy coon. — Herald, Hamilton, Ont. 



Barney Swayze, William Hildreth, Alfred Parmenter, 

 Harry and " Nug " Anderson, John Bloom, Charles 

 McCardle, and "Ham" Land, have just returned from 

 Muskoka with 10 deer, one coon and a porcupine. 



— Herald, Hamilton, Ont. 



Those porkers on page 437 of June Rec- 

 reation will spoil if not extra well salted. 

 They have been fattened by running wild, 

 and the meat will be. very soft. I believe 

 they should be left in the brine about twice 

 the regular time. Every body should have a 

 .30-40 to turn loose on these " Swinus 

 Merganser " and exterminate them as soon 

 as possible. And then there is " G. W. H.," 

 of Seneca Falls, N. Y., taking 900 bass 

 in one season, keeping the family well sup- 

 plied with fish. He must have kept the 

 whole bristled family of the State in fish. 

 Dan Wogaman, Piqua, O. 



R. T. Bartlette asks, in October Recrea- 

 tion, how to teach a dog to tree game, and 

 stay at the tree. My experience in grouse 

 shooting is, never to allow the dog to get 

 excited if you want him to do good work. 

 If you teach him to work quietly, and take 



his time, the chances are that he will not 

 bark until the bird flies, and if the bird is 

 not frightened it will rise into a tree where 

 the dog can see him. With the game treed 

 the dog will continue to bark till you come 

 to him. Dogs that I have trained to hunt 

 grouse were equally good for coons. 



M. P. Edy, Clarenceville, P. Q. 



In reply to L. F. Boeltger, Jr., as to 

 whether any reader of Recreation had ever 

 seen a dog drive a woodchuck into a tree, I 

 can say I have, and he wasn't long in getting 

 in there either. I have seen a dog not more 

 than half as large as a woodchuck kill a full 

 grown one in a short time. 



There are a number of fox squirrels, also 

 a few gray and red ones here. 



Rabbit hunting is good in season. Some 

 quails and a few ruffed grouse can also be 

 found, but they are protected until 1900. 

 Recreation is the best sportsmen's mag- 

 azine published. 



L. H. Ashline, Clarksville,-Ia. 



In June Recreation W. B. Scoten in 

 speaking of a fox, says: "We had no 

 chance to shoot, as he did not come within 

 range." In Virginia we hunt foxes for the 

 sport. We ride to hounds in the early morn- 

 ing. When the hounds give tongue, the fun 

 begins. If we strike the trail of a red we 

 know it means a hard ride, while 2 grays 

 have often been run to cover in a day. There 

 is no bounty offered for his scalp in this 

 region and any man caught shooting a fox 

 would be severely censured by all true lovers 

 of the sport. 



J. H. Montague, Jr., Richmond, Va. 



Was out 65 days with a party, starting 

 August 27th. We got some large elk heads. 

 They were unusually heavy in beam and 

 had from 12 to 15 points. The longest pair 

 of antlers measured 48 inches; the shortest, 

 38^. We also got 2 good antelope heads. 

 There is a scarcity of buck antelope in 

 Jackson's Hole, though there are plenty of 

 does. The killing of bucks should be for- 

 bidden for a number of years. 



Game is not properly protected in Wyo- 

 ming. Any hunter can kill more than he 

 should. W. A. Hague, Fridley, Mont. 



On our trip to Hubbard county, Minn., 

 we were successful in killing some large 

 deer. The largest buck had 11 prongs on 

 one side and 12 on the other. Length of 

 antlers 26^2 inches, spread 23^2 inches. 

 Longest prongs 9 inches. Weight, dressed, 

 2 weeks after being killed, 245 pounds. We 

 had 2 more bucks that dressed 233 arid 218 

 pounds respectively. Ducks were plentiful; 

 bluebills, mallards and canvasbacks. If 

 there is such a place as hunters' paradise 

 we think we found it. 



Hoeffken and Bradley, Norwood, Minn. 



