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RECREA TION. 



The Moon River Hunt Club, composed 

 of Orilla, Gravenhurst and Coldwater men, 

 is having a successful hunt. Mr. McDivitt, 

 who came back yesterday says the party 

 had killed 16 deer, and expected to reach 

 the legal limit before the end of the week. 



The Free Grant Gazette says: — " Ac- 

 cording to all reports there are more deer 

 in Muskoka this fall than usual. They are 

 continually being seen in the immediate 

 neighborhood of the town. One day last 

 week 2 large deer walked between Mr. Rus- 

 sell's house and barn." 



Keen observers tell us the proper time 

 to take extra precautions against breaches 

 of the game law is during the close season, 

 when a number of pot hunters make' a reg- 

 ular business of exterminating deer for the 

 sake of venison and hides. During the 

 open season, it is urged the efforts of the 

 game wardens are not so necessary, as the 

 hunters themselves are nearly all deeply in- 

 terested in preserving the deer for future 

 sport. — Gravenhurst, Ont., Banner. 



IS REFRIGERATED GAME FIT TO EAT? 



33 East 33d Street, New York. 



Editor Recreation: I am in receipt of 

 your note asking for information as to the 

 injurious effects of eating game which had 

 been kept in cold storage. If game soon af- 

 ter being killed were frozen and kept con- 

 stantly at a temperature below freezing, and 

 eaten soon after being removed from such 

 conditions, it might not be injurious as food. 

 The trouble is that these conditions are not 

 complied with, and often meat which has 

 been kept in cold storage is positively poi- 

 sonous. 



Meat simply frozen, kept so for a few 

 hours or days and then allowed to thaw, 

 quickly begins to decompose. 



So the chances of being poisoned by 

 eating game, or any other kind of meat is 

 greater if it has been kept in cold storage. 

 M. P. Denton, M.D. 



HE LIKES ROAST PORK. 



We do not have much game here, al- 

 though this year gray squirrels and rail have 

 been plentiful. 



In the vicinity of Essex, on the meadows, 

 there was any amount of rail, and New York 

 sportsmen (?) came up there and shot rail 

 for records and matches. In the woods out- 

 side the town the leaves were so thick and 

 the brush so dense, it was almost impossible 

 to get birds, and that put a stop to many of 

 the game hogs shooting. I do not like to 

 criticize your excellent magazine in any 

 way. but my attention is called to the illus- 

 tration on page 264 of October issue. I be- 

 lieve this appeared in August, '97 issue, page 

 109. 



I notice that J. K. L., of Rochester, N. Y., 

 wants you to let up on the " Game Hogs." 



You answered him just right. Brand them 

 good and deep everytime. 



" Bob White," Middletown, Conn. 



You are right. The picture was reprinted 

 from August, '97, Recreation because it 

 had meantime been entered in my third 

 photo competition. Of course Recrea- 

 tion has many readers now who did not 

 read it then and the picture was reprinted 

 for their benefit. — Editor. 



FUN WITH A WILD CAT. 



Not long ago Charlie, a friend of his 

 named Earnest, and I were wildcat hunting, 

 in Sullivan county, N. Y. We found an old 

 track and followed it to a ledge where we 

 lost it. In the meantime we met Harry K. 

 who was also hunting. Together we made a 

 circuit of the ledge to make sure pussy was 

 still there. There were no tracks leading 

 from it, but we discovered a crevice in the 

 rock up which we concluded the cat had 

 gone. I went to the top to prevent the an- 

 imal escaping in that direction; others of 

 the party in the meantime exploring holes 

 and crevices in the rock. Finally Charlie, 

 who knows every foot of these ledges, came 

 to the top where I was. He stepped directly 

 to a crevice I had overlooked, and as he 

 did so the cat sprang from it and disap- 

 peared over the ledge in the direction of a 

 hill known as Round Top. The guns were 

 standing against a tree some distance off, 

 and Charlie and Earnest rushed for them. 

 Neither rifle ball nor buckshot did more 

 than hasten the cat's retreat. He crossed 

 the hill and entered a small swamp. We all 

 followed: I on the trail, and the others tak- 

 ing positions outside the swamp, hoping to 

 head him off. When certain of the direction 

 the animal was heading, I called to K. to 

 take the trail while I went to a spot at the 

 lower end of the swamp where I thought 

 puss would come out. There I found 

 Charlie, and together we waited for the cat 

 and K.. Only the latter put in an appear- 

 ance. That seemed so strange that we in- 

 vestigated. Following K.'s footsteps back 

 into the swamp we found he had kept to the 

 cat's trail only where it led over open 

 ground. Where it went through thick brush 

 he had gone around, and that merely be- 

 cause he had on his good clothes! If he had 

 not been so particular or had worn old 

 duds, I should have had another story to tell; 

 and I hope I may yet be able to record the 

 capture of that same cat. 



W. T. H., Peekskill, N. Y. 



PLENTY OF REARS. 

 Bears in great numbers have appeared 

 in the mountains near here. Many have 

 been seen, and every trail is full of tracksof 

 others. The reason of their sudden in- 

 crease is supposed to be the extensive min- 

 ing operations in the high mountains North 



