FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



379 



had every thing but a double barrelled 

 pickaxe. 



A gray squirrel had no show for his life. 

 They used to carry back to the city about 

 200 grays and as many ferreted rabbits with 

 them. 



I once went into the woods, after these 

 Indians had gone through, but saw only 

 one chipmunk and he threw up both hands 

 and begged. 



In a few years, if a man has the luck to 

 capture a red squirrel, he will have it put 

 on exhibition, and the people will climb 

 over one another to see it. 



I asked a neighboring farmer if he had 

 seen any grays lately. He said there was 

 but one left in the woods, and he is bald 

 headed. He escaped being shot last year. 

 Frederick Willis, Putnam, Conn. 



frequently came into his fields and almost 

 to his house. 



B. P. Hood, Jr., Loysville, Pa. 



Renewed interest has been taken in game 

 protection in the last 3 months. The Board 

 of Supervisors has voted $10 reward to the 

 county game warden. Mr. Williams, for 

 every arrest and conviction. The warden 

 has published an article in which he says 

 game violators can expect no leniency 

 from him. I have killed since the opening 

 of the season, 1 deer (a buck), 24 ducks 

 and 34 grouse. I have not killed more than 

 5 birds any day. I have talked with some 

 of the worst game violators and most have 

 promised to reform and become sportsmen. 

 I am greatly in favor of a uniform open 

 season for all game. Most of the violations 

 have been from seeing and killing protected 

 game when hunting for other game. The 

 license law has been effective, everyone get- 

 ting a license before starting for the hunt- 

 ing grounds. Two men from Indiana came 

 up to hunt, probably expecting to evade 

 the license, but we received a telegram, and 

 when they arrived, they paid $25. the non- 

 resident's fee. The telegram was sent from 

 the game warden of their county. 



W. H. Dunham, Kalkaska, Mich. 



Last November I took a deer hunt in 

 Black Log valley where deer are plentiful. 

 There is a party of men who go into that 

 valley after the season is over and hunt 

 deer with hounds. My friend and I. not 

 being lucky enough to get a deer, remained 

 a few days in December to shoot rabbits 

 which are exceedingly plentiful. One 

 morning as we were starting out we heard 

 a pack of hounds on Black Log mountain. 

 When they came closer we could see a deer 

 about 150 yards ahead of the dogs. There 

 was 6 inches of snow on the ground with a 

 thin crust through which the deer broke at 

 every jump. Every day for a week we 

 heard the dogs chasing deer. Mr. Michael 

 Stelcer, with whom we boarded, told me 

 this same party hunts deer every fall with 

 hounds and kills a great many. He said the 

 deer are so tame in the summer that they 



George H. Webber is about the meanest 

 game hog I have yet read of. He reminds 

 me of a shoat my father had. The shoat 

 was an awful case of hog. He was never 

 satisfied. He would eat 2-3 of the swill and 

 toward killing time became so fat it took 

 him a good 5 minutes to get to the trough, 

 after the feed was dumped in. Then he had 

 to sit on his haunches to eat, and when he 

 could not eat another mouthful he would 

 sit there and squeal because the other pig 

 then had a chance to get his share. And 

 that was not much, for he was not a hoggy 

 hog, and knew enough to quit when he got 

 enough. 



When they were killed the one was fit for 

 a king ; but the hog ! Well, we had to make 

 lard and soap grease of him. 



We have but little game here, thanks to 

 the game hogs and market hunters. As 

 long as I have a $ to spare I will be a sub- 

 scriber to Recreation. 



S. H. L., Sprout Brook, N. Y. 



In this part of Massachusetts game is 

 nearly extinct. This deplorable condition 

 results from the work of hound owners and 

 ferret sneaks. There are many such game 

 thieves within 15 miles of this place. They 

 are alone to blame for the extermination 

 of our rabbits. Decent hunters, who are 

 content to occasionally get enough rabbits 

 for a pie, stand aside and let these sneaking 

 game hogs carry on their thieving work. 

 Every one knows where our feathered 

 game is going — into the market-hunters' 

 pocket. There is no law in this state to 

 stop this business. Even our daily paper 

 declines to publish a word against these 

 sneaks. I wrote a short letter to a Brock- 

 ton daily; and have yet to see it published. 

 Perhaps I sent it to an editing game hog. 

 I feel thoroughly aroused over the ferret 

 business and am determined to make an 

 example of the first man I can prove is us- 

 ing one. 



S. C. R., Elmwood. Mass. 



I greatly enjoy Recreation, especially 

 the roasts it gives game hogs. Geese and 

 ducks were plentiful here last winter. A? 

 to jack rabbits, the sage brush was full of 

 them. A man could kill a wagon load and 

 not violate the law. as there is a bounty on 

 their scalps. Bands of deer and antelope 

 wintered on the Snake river flats, some 30 

 miles from here, and are now starting for 

 the higher altitudes, in fine condition. 

 Coyotes are thriving, having wintered well 

 on sheep, and can be heard any evening 

 singing, " There'll be a hot time in the 

 sheep camp to-night." 



Mountain sheep and goats are fairly 

 plentiful on the upper Boise river. Many 



