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RECREA TION. 



IN DEFENSE OF MR. SHAFER. 



McConnelsville, O. 

 Editor Recreation: In January Rec- 

 reation you print a communication from 

 George L. Lyne, of Stockport, this county, 

 in which he quotes a local paper as stating 

 that \Y. D. Shafer had killed 38 squirrels in 

 one day. This article does Mr, Shafer a 

 great injustice, he being a true sportsman, 

 and a gentleman in everything the term im- 

 plies. It is true that one of the local papers 

 did publish the article referred to, but it was 

 an error on the part of the reporter. The 

 facts in the case are these: W. D. Shafer, 

 his brother, E. D. Shafer, and Alfred and 

 Howard Durbin, all 4 together killed 38 

 quail, and the reporter got it 38 squirrels, 

 and said W. D. Shafer killed them all. Mr. 

 Lyne also says it is not an uncommon thing 

 for those fellows to come in from a day's 

 hunt with 40 to 50 quails. 



I don't know who Mr. Lyne means by 

 "those fellows" unless he means the sports- 

 men from this place. The members of our 

 Gun Club had an understanding between 

 themselves, at the opening of the quail sea- 

 son, that we would limit the number of 

 quail for one day's hunt to 10 to each man. 

 The temptation may occasionally have been 

 too strong and this number may have been 

 exceeded by a few; but not often. 



M r. Lyne also says some of the land 

 owners are coming to their senses and will 

 not allow such raids. There have been no 

 such raids made in this locality. Further- 

 more we have no trouble in getting all the 

 hunting we want; so if the conditions he 

 mentions exist in this county, it must be in 

 the neighborhood of Stockport. I don't 

 think the game law is more respected and 

 less frequently violated anywhere than here, 

 and nowhere is sportsmanship brought to 

 a higher plane. No one has done more to 

 bring about these conditions than W. D. 

 Shafer, the subject of Mr. Lyne's article. 

 As Recreation is read by many of Mr. 

 Shafer's friends and acquaintances, I ear- 

 nestly request that you set him right before 

 your readers. 



We all commend your course in endeav- 

 oring to stop the slaughter of game, and 

 bid you God speed in your work. 



L. T. Gray. 



ANSWER. 



I am glad to have your statement regard- 

 ing Mr. Shafer, and have no desire to do 

 him or any one else an injustice. I as- 

 sumed, however, that Mr. Lyne had written 

 in good faith and that his statements were 

 trustworthy. I am also glad to learn that 

 you and your friends have decided to limit 

 your kills to reasonable numbers. I wish all 

 shooters were as progressive as you are. — 

 Editor. 



SOME DUCK SLAUGHTERERS. 

 T send you herewith a picture clipped 

 from one of your contemporaries to the ed*- 



itor of which I wrote saying that if I ever 

 saw a picture of game hogs this was one. I 

 told him I thought those men should be 

 branded as champion game hogs of Toledo. 

 I enclose you his reply and wish you to be 

 the judge if I am right or not. 



I returned to-day from a 2 days' hunt over 

 in Tioga County. I found birds scarce — 

 got only 3. Gray squirrels quite plentiful. 

 Killed 6 one day and 4 the next. 



F. W. M., Elmira, N. Y. 



I fully agree with you as to the character 

 of the men whose mugs are shown in 

 the picture you enclose. It appears they 

 killed, on an average, 25 ducks each. The 

 killing of 25 ducks a day, by a man, is not 

 nearly so bad as the desire these men show 

 to parade their portraits with the picture of 

 their game. - 1, however, do not agree with 

 the editor of the other journal when he says 

 25 ducks a day is generally considered fair 

 shooting. Many states have passed laws 

 limiting the bag to 10 or 12 ducks a clay. 

 Colorado allows 20 and North Dakota 25. 

 That is conceded by all reasonable men to be 

 too high. I therefore claim that each of 

 these men killed twice as many ducks as he 

 should have killed. If they were camping 

 for a week either could not possibly eat more 

 than 3 ducks apiece, each day. At this rate 

 they would about use up the 75 ducks in a 

 week. But the chances are they would keep 

 on killing all the ducks they could each day. 

 Then what becomes of the surplus? Were 

 they sold, or given away, or were they left 

 to rot? 



If the men were out for only one day and 

 each took 25 ducks home what could he do 

 with them? Unless he has a dozen people 

 in his family or unless he lives in the city 

 where he can have ice, or unless the weather 

 is cool, the ducks cannot be eaten at his 

 house. Then what becomes of them? Were 

 they given away or sold? Most decent 

 sportsman agree that a man should not kill 

 all the game he can find, simply on the plea 

 that he can give it to his friends. The time 

 is past when this latitude can be allowed 

 shooters. ' Each man must either quit when 

 he gets enough for camp use or for his own 

 table, or the game will all be exterminated 

 within a few years. — Editor. 



ANOTHER BATCH OF THE SAME KIND. 



A subscriber sends me a clipping from a 

 contemporary, containing an illustrated ar- 

 ticle on a duck shooting trip made by a 

 party of Philadelphians, to Pamlico Sound. 

 The illustrations consist mainly of a lot of 

 revolting game hog pictures and my friend 

 comments on them thus: 



" I enclose you an article and some pict- 

 ures from a sportsmen's paper. These men 

 are entitled to a place in the pen with the 

 other game hogs. They seem proud of stat- 



