FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



283 



An editorial note says: 



The steamer Virginia Lake recently brought to St. 

 John's, on the west coast, large quantities of the frozen 

 carcasses of these beautiful animals. The great heap 

 here pictured contained 369 caribou, and a fortnight after- 

 wards the same steamer brought 500 more. They are not 

 wasted, but form a delicious and cheap article of food, 

 greedily purchased by rich and poor. 



The laws of Newfoundland require non- 

 resident hunters to pay a license fee of $100, 

 and the authorities claim this is done for 

 the purpose of protecting the game. They 

 say if they should reduce it to say $25, the 

 amount charged in Canadian Provinces, so 

 many American hunters would go there 

 that they would soon exterminate the game. 



These law makers need not trouble them- 

 selves in the least about Americans exter- 

 minating their game, even if they should 

 remove the license fee entirely. If they 

 will simply allow their own people to carry 

 on the slaughter, as they are now doing, 

 for 2 or 3 years, there will not be enough 

 caribou left on the island to tempt an Amer- 

 ican to cross the channel, even if no license 

 fee were charged and a steamship pass fur- 

 nished him. 



HE IS CAMPING ON THEIR TRAIL. 

 In this vicinity, a few years ago, a man 

 could catch salmon and mountain trout by 

 the hundred, and could see 25 to 200 deer 

 in a day's hunt. Now he cannot, in a 

 week or month, catch or kill what he could 

 eat in a week. The deer and birds have 

 been destroyed by the hogs and pot hunt- 

 ers, the fish by sawmill dams and dust. 

 Our present game warden and fish com- 

 missioner and I have just been giving the 

 lumber men a roundup. One of the men 

 pleaded guilty, and was fined $100 and 

 costs. Another was arrested and was ac- 

 quitted, the jury being out all night and 

 standing 5 for conviction and one for ac- 

 quittal. The other 2 that were arrested 

 were turned loose, because the deputy war- 

 den and the lawyer thought they could 

 not be convicted. As long as I am in this 

 locality I will camp on their trail, which is 

 7 miles above this place, on the Little Spo- 

 kane and its tributaries. Some of them 

 have dams that the fish cannot get over. 

 If we can not compel them to take care 

 of their dust we shall soon have no fish 

 nor meadow lands along the stream. 



J. C. Cowgill, Chattaroy, Wash. 



A TEXAS BEAR. 

 My first hunt in Western Texas was with 

 a naval officer who visited me in the fall of 

 '92. Two ranchmen, veteran hunters, ac- 

 companied us. We camped about 45 miles 

 from Pecos, at the mouth of a deep canyon. 

 On the way to camp we started 5 white 

 deer and I shot a spike buck. The rest of 

 the bunch got away. I was anxious to do 

 all the hunting I could and after our tent 

 was pitched I started up the canyon. I had 



not been out long before I started a big 

 black bear and the sight of him filled me 

 with strange emotions. I sent a .44 ball 

 into him as soon as I could recall the object 

 of my visit to the canyon and then the bear 

 did a war dance and the way he rolled and 

 kicked and spurted blood was a caution. 

 As I saw him down I dropped my gun and 

 sailed toward him with my hunting knife. 

 But the bear was not dead and before I 

 reached him he was on his feet and running 

 up the canyon. I went back after my gun 

 and then followed him, pumping lead as I 

 ran. This race lasted for about a mile and 

 then the bear tried to climb the side of the 

 canyon. I refilled the magazine and kept 

 up the pumping until a ball finally went 

 through his head and he came tumbling 

 down. It was dark when I got back to 

 camp. My bear was the most important 

 prize of the hunt, but the rest of the party 

 got their share of game before we quit. 

 I. J. Bush, Pecos, Tex. 



IS THE WOODCOCK DOOMED ALSO? 



Lee, Mass. 



Editor Recreation: I have been greatly 

 alarmed, during the last 2 or 3 seasons, at 

 the scarcity of woodcock. They are my 

 favorite bird, .and I would rather kill a 

 dozen of them than 50 of any other game 

 bird. I wonder if they are going the same 

 way as the buffalo and the wild pigeon. 

 Have recently hunted in 3 States, in the 

 coverts they love and which should hold 

 many, but alas! how many covers have I 

 drawn blank! 



I should like to hear from other sports- 

 men on this matter, for I am sure some- 

 thing is wrong. We don't get the birds 

 either on the flight, or on the breeding 

 grounds, as in days of yore. 



The woodcock is a bird that the hogs 

 can't trap or snare as they do our other 

 game birds. It can only be shot on the 

 wing, in a sportsmanlike manner. No pot- 

 ting it in flocks on the ground, as in the 

 case of quail. How is it, then, Mr. Long- 

 bill cannot hold his ground? Will brother 

 sportsmen please enlighten me? He has 

 sadly decreased in numbers and I fear will 

 soon be extinct. Corduroys. 



TWO SHAMELESS BOASTERS. 



Chester, Pa. 



Your favor of the 22d received and I am 

 glad to give you the information you ask. 

 It is true we brought home over 800 birds 

 from our shooting grounds, but that was 

 only a little more than one half of what we 

 shot, lost overboard, gave away, and dis- 

 posed of in one way and another before com- 

 ing North. Our shooting was done around 

 Hatteras as you are no doubt aware. 



Geese, brant, ducks, swans and all sorts 

 of wild fowl abound there at this season. 

 Every year a party of 9 or 10 of us go South 



