FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



203 



and South of this point. More than a 

 dozen bears have been trapped or shot in 

 this vicinity,- and there is no noticeable de- 

 crease in their number. 



One hunter while tracking a bear came 

 to a large log on which he climbed. Sud- 

 denly the bear he -was after stood up on the 

 opposite side, and seemed fully as startled 

 at the unexpected meeting as the hunter 

 himself. But the man without waiting for 

 a formal declaration of hostilities, and with- 

 out bringing his gun to his shoulder, put a 

 ball through the bear just behind the 

 shoulders. So close was he that the fur was 

 burned by the powder. 



Another man had a trap set over night 

 and sent a boy in the morning to see if it 

 had been disturbed. The boy had a Win- 

 chester rifle and was accompanied by the 

 man's bear dog. The boy found a nice 

 young bear in the trap and, boy like, de- 

 cided to have some fun, kill the bear and 

 then report to the trap owner He com- 

 menced by setting the dog on the bear, and 

 soon had a first class fight going. The 

 bear with one foot in the trap had one hand 

 tied behind him, so to speak, but put up 

 such a strong fight that the dog was getting 

 much the worst of it. In fact the bear got 

 him down and was prepared to bring the 

 canine's career to a close, when the boy 

 brought the Winchester to his shoulder in 

 deadly aim on the bear, and — killed the dog. 

 A good joke on the boy, but rather rough 

 on the dog. 



E. A. Strange, La Veta, Col. 



LEA, AND HER WORK. 



Two weeks ago a friend invited me to go 

 hunting with him and see his black pointer, 

 Lea, work on grouse. We took an early 

 train, rode about 14 miles and were soon in 

 the woods. 



It was some time before we found game. 

 •Then several birds flushed wild and we fol- 

 lowed them. In a few moments my friend 

 called to me that his dog was pointing. I 

 went in the direction indicated and found 

 her beside a bunch of brush. I told my com- 

 panion to stand in the open and I would 

 drive the bird to him. The grouse left cover, 

 on his side and was downed beautifully. The 

 dog retrieved and starting off again soon 

 made another point. I was in a tangle of 

 briars and could not get through in time to 

 be of service; so my friend flushed the bird 

 and shot it in good style. The dog went on 

 about 25 yards and again stood like a rock 

 while my comrade put up and killed another 

 bird. There was some beautiful work done 

 by both man and dog. 



I consider my friend's pointer one of the 

 best in the world. She hunts every nook 

 andcorner, does it quickly and never flushes 

 a bird. _ Her owner's house is half a mile 

 from mine and he had never brought her to 

 my place. Yet she knew where I lived, for 

 on the following morning she came to pay 



me a visit. She announced her presence by 

 scratching at the kitchen door, and whin- 

 ing. I let her in, and she greeted me with a 

 wag of her tail, and a look that was almost a 

 smile. Since then she comes every 3 or 4 

 days. If she finds me at home she stays 

 awhile; if not, she returns home at once. 

 J. G. M., Pittsburgh, Pa. 



SOME STOCKMEN ARE SPORTSMEN. 



Gladstone, Col. 



Editor Recreation: Enclosed find my 

 subscription for one year. I like Recrea- 

 tion for itself, but infinitely more for the 

 cause it represents. 



I have lived in Colorado since 1877, and 

 have seen the mountain sheep disappear 

 from our mountains and the trout to a 

 great extent, from our rivers, and know that 

 the cause is directly due the ruthless killing 

 practiced by the crowd you so correctly 

 stigmatize as game hogs. In 1879 one man 

 killed and buried in the snow 7 mountain 

 sheep, in one day. As late as 1893 I found 

 the carcasses, all but the loins and hams, of 

 4 fine specimens at Lost Trail, on the Rio 

 Grande. 



During a residence of several years at 

 Wagon Wheel Gap I became accustomed 

 to seeing so-called sportsmen come in at 

 night with a 40 pound basket full of fish, 

 many of them only 5 inches long and some 

 less. This was a time when a moderately 

 expert flyfisherman could take easily a 

 dozen great gamy beauties, from one to 

 3 J /2 or 4 pounds. But that was nothing 

 compared with the numbers that were killed 

 by dynamite. I am thankful to say that this 

 practice has been quite effectually stopped, 

 not by the game wardens, but by the min- 

 ers, prospectors and stockmen who are 

 nearly all sportsmen and have a way of act- 

 ing on such questions as those without 

 much ceremony. There isn't very much 

 red tape in Western frontier natural law. 



George Franklin. 



TWO DAYS' HUNT IN TEXAS. 



My 2 companions and I had our wagon 

 fully equipped by 4.30 Saturday morning. 

 Our route lay through a sparsely settled 

 country and at 3 o'clock the second day. 

 in a dense grove near a stream, we pitched 

 our camp just as a steady rain set in. Af- 

 ter ditching our tent we spent an hour ar- 

 ranging our guns and ammunition for an 

 early hunt. Next morning, in a glade near 

 by, I shot a 2 spiked buck. As that was 

 enough for one day I called to my com- 

 panions and we brought the game to camp. 

 We did not go out again for deer until the 

 next evening. We found a flock of tur- 

 keys, killed 2 large gobblers and soon after- 

 ward shot another deer. Some parts of 

 Texas are worth visiting. 



Feeling that we had enough game for 

 such a small crowd we started home the 

 next morning, with our minds fully made 



