FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



275 



ishing my coffee, I saw on a knoll, not more 

 than % of a mile from camp, an antelope 

 gazing at us. As 1 reached for my rifle he 

 walked down the opposite side of the ridge. 

 Leaving my friend to finish his breakfast I 

 ran to the ridge, crawled to the top and 

 dropped Air. Antelope. I dragged it to the 

 top of the hill and removed the entrails. 

 While doing so, saw a large buck watching 

 me from a point about J/2 mile distant and 

 seeming much interested in what I was do- 

 ing. Soon another young buck and a doe 

 joined him. I rolled the antelope I had 

 killed back and forth 2 or 3 times, and 

 backed off the hill, leaving the carcass 

 where the 3 could see it. I got into a 

 ravine that ran around the hill to the side 

 where the 3 animals were standing, feeling 

 sure their curiosity would get them into 

 trouble. I had not gone more than 200 

 yards toward the 3, when they came on the 

 run and I just got in good position to re- 

 ceive them when they arrived. The first one 

 fell only 27 paces from me. The others ran 

 back about 125 yards and stopped. I took 

 good aim for his shoulders but as I was 

 about to pull I saw the doe start to run. 

 She was crossing perhaps 20 feet behind the 

 buck. I held my aim for an instant and 

 puller 1 just as I should have done had I been 

 shooting at the doe alone. 



At the crack of the gun she dropped in her 

 tracks. The buck made 3 or 4 jumps and 

 fell. I paced to the first one, dragged it to 

 the other 2, and returned to camp in time to 

 help hitch up the team. We then dressed the 

 4 and returned home. I hunted no more 

 and my friend killed none, although antelope 

 were plenty. 



TIME TO CALL A HALT. 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



Editor Recreation: The stand you take 

 on the question of game protection stamps 

 you as the friend of every true sportsman. 

 In October Recreation, J. K. L. asks you 

 to " Let up on the game hogs — we have had 

 e'nough of that," etc. We have not had 

 enough of it, nor shall we have until this 

 wholesale butchery of game shall have been 

 stopped. You and Recreation have be- 

 come a power in the land, such a power that 

 many men, who have shot too many birds, 

 or caught too many fish, say to their friends, 

 " Gee whiz! Don't let that leak out or 

 Recreation will have a seal brown roast 

 on us." 



And so it should be. If we take care of 

 what game we have left, there is some chance 

 for the sportsmen of the next decade; but as 

 things now are, game, large and small, is 

 rapidly being cleaned out, to use the hog's 

 expression. Right here in California, and 

 in Minnesota, which state I left in March 

 last, we are shooting birds that were un- 

 molested 10 years ago. The turtledove (in 

 Minnesota) is an example. This is a sure in- 

 dication that game is growing scarcer. 



The question is not, " Is game becoming 

 extinct? " but, " How can we prevent the 

 extermination of gam'e? " 



First stop wholesale slaughter whether by 

 market hunters or sportsmen (?). 



Second, stop market shooting altogether. 



Third, take such measures as Judge Denny 

 did in Oregon, i.e., introduce and propagate 

 foreign game. Also shorten the open sea- 

 sons on domestic game. 



Fourth, increase the number of game war- 

 dens, and make their salaries such that a 

 man can afford to be honest, and attend to 

 his business. 



Fifth, increase the fine on illegal shooting, 

 making half of it go to the informer, as we 

 do here; the fine to be, say $100 for each and 

 every offense. The giving of Yz the fine to 

 the informer would tend to make every 

 farmer a game warden. 



It is strange that a citizen, law abiding in 

 every other respect, will ruthlessly break a 

 game law, only caring whether it is likely 

 that he will be caught. It makes one sad 

 to contemplate this destruction of game, but 

 we must face the evil and do something to 

 stop it. A few years ago every covert in 

 Minnesota held a ruffed grouse, and some 

 of th^m several large coveys. Now they 

 are scarce and the man who gets J/2 dozen 

 of them near town, in a day, is congratulated. 

 The quail is the happy exception. In mild 

 winters they hold their own pretty well. 

 Migratory fowl like ducks, geese, bay birds, 

 etc., do not follow the pathways they did 10 

 years ago, but every year, what are left of 

 them go the wildest most inaccessible route 

 they can find. There are fewer of them every 

 year. 



It is the same with fish. It is not so easy 

 to clean them out as game, on account of 

 their fecundity, each one laying many hun- 

 dreds, or even millions of eggs. Here at 

 Los Angeles we do most of our fishing in 

 the sea, where fish are more roving in their 

 habits than in fresh water. Hence the dam- 

 age done by catching too many is not so 

 great. Still thousands of pounds of fine fish 

 go to waste at Catalina every season. They 

 are caught by pseudo sportsmen who fish for 

 a record. We would like to hear from you 

 on that subject, out here.* I do not want to 

 convey the idea that the people here are not 

 sportsmen ; for I have never seen a town 

 that contained so great a percentage of them 

 as does Los Angeles. The damage is mostly 

 done by tourists, from other states. One 

 can go to nearly any of the beaches near 

 here. Long Beach. Terminal Island, San 

 Pedro, Redondo, or Santa Monica, and 

 catch a good'mess of palatable fish, or if he 

 wants sport, can catch yellowtail, which are 

 gamy enough. Can you tell me what the 

 yellowtail is? his family, and specific name? 

 I cannot find anything about him except 

 that he is " a large fish peculiar to the Pa- 

 cific water of the United States." 



E. L. Hedderly. 



* See August, 1898, Recreation, page 130. 



