FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



205 



around. The so-called sportsmen go out, 

 and on the ground that they are hunting 

 rabbits, kill everything they come across. 

 I think nearly all of our imported Mon- 

 golian pheasants have been killed in this 

 way. Buckeye Bill. 



Mr. J. H. Pixley thinks gray rabbits 

 should not be protected, because they de- 

 stroy fruit trees and berry bushes. They 

 never gnaw trees or bushes except in win- 

 ter when the ground is covered with snow 

 and they can obtain no other food. I think 

 they should be protected as well as squir- 

 rels or quail. As it is, they have a hard 

 time of it with the game hogs. Two men 

 at West Liberty, O., Saul Prater and Bartly 

 Stein, hunted them all last winter, with a 

 ferret. One day they brought in 32 rabbits 

 and sold them for 10 cents each. They 

 kept that work up as long as there was 

 enough snow on the ground to enable them 

 to track poor bunny. 



C. A. S., Columbus, O. 



ised to write up the trip for the best mag- 

 azine in the world. 



M. P. Dunham, Woodworth, Mont. 



Formerly when I went hunting, I would, 

 in the absence of other game, shoot every 

 kind of bird I could find. But Recrea- 

 tion has opened my eyes and I never do so 

 now. The L. A. S. is a great institution. 

 J. H. Stubsman, Peru, Ind. 



I get hundreds of such letters as these, 

 yet some people claim that my crusade 

 against game hogs is doing no good. 

 Fortunately the game hogs are not all 

 alike. Some of them can be taught. 

 Other, like Webber for instance, cannot. — 

 Editor. 



I have read the letter in December Rec- 

 reation, headed " This game hog squeals " 

 and it has riled me. It is not giving our 

 valuable domestic animal a fair show to call 

 such men as Webber hogs. He should 

 rather be classed with that little black and 

 white animal, with a bushy tail, which we 

 call a skunk. I am glad, however, that Mr. 

 Webber is gone. As I looked farther 

 through December Recreation, I saw him 

 on page xxvii., taking a header into the 

 bottomless pit, where he belongs. His Sa- 

 tanic Majesty is onto Mr. Webber's curves, 

 all right. 



J. J. Harris, Niagara Falls, N. Y. 



Have just returned from the mountains, 

 where I have been with a party of 3 — a gen- 

 tleman, his daughter and son. We were 8 

 days on the trip, and saw 3 bull elk, one 

 cow and a calf. We caught 2 of the largest 

 salmon I ever saw. The smaller one, 

 weighing 12 pounds, fell to my lot. The 

 young lady secured a 14 pounder, which 

 measured 36 inches in length and 18 inches 

 around the body. The lady is Miss J. A. 

 Peers, of hunting renown. She has prom- 



Enclosed please find $1 to pay for my sub- 

 scription to Recreation for another year. 

 I could not think of dropping it, as it would 

 seem like losing one of my best friends. Be- 

 sides, it is a deadly enemy to one of the 

 worst tribes of creatures that this fair land 

 of ours is disgraced with, that is, the game 

 hog. I think the legislators of the different 

 states would almost be justified in offering a 

 bounty on their scalps. I hope the swine 

 can be made to see their folly and reform 

 before it is too late. 



Walter Scott, Stillwater, Minn. 



Mr. H. W. Howling, a Minneapolis taxi- 

 dermist defines a true sportsman thus: 



The sort of sportsman who fulfils my ideal of what the 

 term should imply, is he who, being an expert with rod 

 and gun, has outlived the craving for big bags, who can 

 construct of his own knowledge any sort of camp, who is 

 at home in a dory or an Indian canoe, who knows how to 

 trap, how to tie his own flies, mount his own birds and 

 beasts and fish, trains his own dogs, imitates the call of 

 any game bird or animal in such wise as to deceive it, 

 can identify any species in any time of the year, describe 

 its migrations, habits, foods, breeding places and so on. 

 I say the true sportsman — I mean the accomplished 

 sportsman — should be at once a geologist, a botanist, and 

 a master of woodcraft. 



And Mr. Howling's head is mighty near 

 level. 



I have read a great deal about your game 

 hogs in the East, but do not think they are 

 in it with the skinner or hide hunter of 

 Northern California, Oregon, Washington, 

 and the Northwest in general. These are 

 fast exterminating our deer and elk, merely 

 for their hides, realizing from 25 cents to 50 

 cents a hide. They take as much of the meat 

 as they need for food, but the greater part 

 of it is devoured by bears and other animals. 

 Such hunting is contrary to the law, but the 

 hogs find a market for the hides, just the 

 same. A. E. Fischer, Haywards, Cal. 



In Ohio we have other disreputable 

 hunters besides game hogs. A class of 

 thieves who in the neighborhood of farms 

 shoot chickens, turkeys and even larger 

 stock. As a result the farmers in many 

 places look upon all sportsmen with dis- 

 trust. In one section of Southern Ohio 

 the farmers forbid all hunting on their 

 lands. This action was taken because of 

 the killing of 2 cows by careless or viciou? 

 hunters. I raise my voice against careless- 

 ness. 



Dinmont, Zanesville, O. 



The Abercrombie tent is a dandy. Last 

 fall I enjoyed an 8 days' outing up in Ver- 

 mont and New Hampshire, after small 

 game. I found birds and squirrels scarce, 

 but plenty of rabbits and foxes. I found 

 no woodcock whatever, although we went 

 over some fine ground. I do not think you 



