FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



377 



quail in grass, or stubble, or for a jack 

 snipe in a meadow is much like hunting for 

 a needle in a haystack. I have frequently- 

 hunted these birds without dogs and have 

 usually been fairly successful, but it is diffi- 

 cult to make anything like a reasonable 

 bag, specially where birds are scarce, with- 

 out the aid of a dog. You may even walk 

 within 10 feet of a quail or a snipe or a 

 woodcock without flushing him. Your dog 

 would scent him and show you where he is. 

 One of the greatest pleasures of shooting 

 over a good dog is in watching him do 

 his work. This pays for the tramping, 

 even if you do not kill a bird. — Editor. 



A LAWLESS COUNTY. 



Recreation's definition of game hog 

 would hardly suit the people of this coun- 

 ty. They are wont to kill and catch all the 

 game and fish they can find. I have been 

 warden for this district for years. Have 

 made all possible complaints, and begged 

 for remedies. Our fish commissioners are 

 unable to procure proper legislation to 

 protect our fish. I have seen the destruc- 

 tion of fish to an extent almost incredible. 

 During the low water season, last summer, 

 I saw, in the heart of our town, barrels of 

 dead fish lodged against a pipe, which 

 crosses Clarion river. I understand that 

 not a fish can now be found in this stream. 

 This particular destruction, was caused by 

 a heavy flow from a paper mill, 10 miles 

 above us. Grouse would be abundant here 

 were it not for unfavorable conditions. 

 Our lands have been stripped of timber, 

 and forest fires are frequent. If the grouse 

 escapes, its nest and eggs are destroyed, as 

 these fires generally occur about breeding 

 time. The fox, is, of course, with us, and 

 picks up many birds in the deep snows. 

 Rabbits are plentiful. Deer are becoming 

 scarce. Lynx are still found. One was 

 killed 2 weeks ago, which weighed 45 

 Fred Schoening, Ridgeway, Pa. 



A FAMILY OF GOOD SAMARITANS. 



Lawrenceville, Va. 

 Editor Recreation: You have doubt- 

 less seen accounts of our great blizzard, 

 which excels anything we have ever had be- 

 fore; but my brother was out feeding the 

 quails in a few hours after it quit snowing. 

 He has fed at least 200 birds within a radius 

 of 3 miles and lots of wild turkeys. No- 

 body ever saw more birds than we had last 

 fall and, though my brothers killed a good 

 many, there were plenty of coveys within 

 Yz mile of the house that were not even 

 touched. This is the country for birds and 

 I believe it could be made the finest game 

 preserve in the world. People seemed de- 

 termined to kill all the deer, but the season 

 is over now, and they have let up. Rest 

 assured we are not only feeding a large 

 number of birds ourselves, but we are hav- 

 ing our friends and servants, far and near, 



feed them so that they will not succumb. 

 I see by the papers that the birds are totally 

 exterminated in various parts of Virginia, 

 and my brother found many so poor they 

 could not fly, but as soon as he " shooed 

 them to the bait they came regularly and 

 now, since all the snow is gone, seem to 

 think they can do, to a large extent, without 

 the peas, corn, oats and wheat he so abun- 

 dantly supplies. Jennie P. Bupra. 



THERE ARE 2 SIDES TO THIS QUESTION. 

 Bloomingdale, N. Y. 

 Editor Recreation: You state in Rec- 

 reation that hundreds of deer have been 

 killed this winter, simply for the purpose of 

 making the present law obnoxious. The 

 people who told you this do not know what 

 they are talking about, or are liars. This 

 town is in the center of the Adirondack 

 game fields. I have talked with many 

 guides and lumbermen who are scattered 

 over a large area, and they all tell me there 

 have been no violations of the game laws 

 this winter, and these people know. 



You are doing a good service in protect- 

 ing game, but you should investigate a little 

 before making such statements as these. 

 Don't think the residents of the Adiron- 

 dacks are fools enough to kill deer in close 

 season because some tenderfoot or tote 

 road guide tells you so. 



D. E. Moxley. 



ANSWER. * 



I am not relying on the statements of any 

 tenderfooted guide or guides. The man who 

 has made the most emphatic and far reach- 

 ing statement on this point is a well known 

 merchant in one of the Adirondack towns. 

 He tells me a number of sleigh loads of 

 deer that have brought into his town alone, 

 during the winter, killed in open violation 

 of the law, and that to his personal knowl- 

 edge deer were run with dogs all through 

 the summer and fall, in various parts of the 

 Adirondack region. Other business men 

 have told 'me of still other cases of illegal 

 killing. 



I have now in hand 3 cases of hounding 

 on which I am looking up testimony, in 

 order to prosecute. In one of these cases 

 the party killed 4 deer; in another 5, and 

 in another 11. So you will learn in time 

 that this is not a matter of guess work. — 

 Editor. 



an iowa porker. 



Maxwell, la. 

 Editor Recreation: I see you roast a 

 lot of game hogs in your excellent maga- 

 zine. We have one here and would like to 

 have you put him on the gridiron and give 

 him about 2 turns. His name is Charles O. 

 John. Some weeks ago he went out with a 

 10 gauge shot gun and brought in 52 cot- 

 ton tails, no less than 47 of them having 

 been shot in their forms. Soon after this 

 he sneaked out again, still grinning about 



