FROM I HE GAME FIELDS. 



473 



Fort Yellowstone, Wyo. 



Editor Recreation : I have just returned 

 from a 2 months' vacation spent in Arizona 

 and Old Mexico and am now located in 

 the National park. I have noticed the popu- 

 larity of Recreation in various parts of the 

 West I have lately visited. I picked up a 

 well thumbed copy at the little railroad sta- 

 tion of Huachuca, in Southern Arizona. 

 In Pueblo, Col., every newsstand had Rec- 

 reation prominently displayed. Same in 

 Butte City, Mont. In passing through the 

 little town of Gardiner, Mont., on the bor- 

 der of the Yellowstone park, a copy of Rec- 

 reation, in the window of a private house, 

 caught my eye. I wonder if there is a 10 

 acre spot in this country that can't produce 

 a copy of your unequaled magazine. 



The festive coyote is still thinning out 

 the antelope in the park. As I came up the 

 trail from Gardiner to the post, yesterday, 

 I saw the carcass of an antelope freshly 

 killed by coyotes. 



Al. Macnab, 

 Troop D., 4th U. S. Cavalry. 



killed quails which they shipped to Dayton 

 daily. What we want, what we must have, 

 is a limited bag and a warden. 



C. M. Huffman, Oregonia, O. 



That Savannah is in the land of the 'pos- 

 sum an' the pone is evident to all who visit 

 the public market here, where, among wild 

 turkeys, grouse, quails, ducks and rabbits 

 we find hanging the genuine yellow- 

 skinned 'possum, the game that best 

 pleases the black hunter who counts it no 

 hardship to traverse miles of woods and 

 fields to catch the long tailed critter. Rab- 

 bits seem plentiful near the city. 



Down the river I saw thousands of black- 

 birds feeding on wild rice, with a few crows 

 among them. The country is level and un- 

 picturesque. There is much wet land, with 

 yellow pine and swamp oak timber, draped 

 with gray moss that has a peculiar swampy, 

 Southern look that is not pleasing, and sug- 

 gests marsh fevers and chills. 



How the Indians must have delighted in 

 these pleasant, year-round hunting grounds 

 in the old days, where they had no snow 

 nor zero weather to contend with, as their 

 brothers of the great North woods do. 



Arthur Munson. Stamford, Conn. 



Have just finished reading one more 

 copy of Recreation which I always enjoy. 

 Your hog feed is right up to standard; give 

 them plenty of it. The last quail season 

 was better here than for years. A large 

 number of birds were killed and a larger 

 number slaughtered. During one week of 

 cold and snow this winter I had the pleas- 

 ure of feeding 10 quails that came to our 

 door yard. 



I was much interested in the report of the 

 game warden of Ohio. I fail to notice War- 

 ren county in the list. Warren is guilty 

 and should be there. One man from Cin- 

 cinnati came here and killed 96 quails in a 

 day. A party from Dayton hired quarters 

 from a farmer no better than they, and 



After an absence of a few days I have 

 returned and find your letter awaiting me. 

 It would have been more satisfactory to 

 me if you could have gotten the informa- 

 tion you desire from some one else. Our 

 party consisted of 7 persons and we hunted 

 nearly 5 days. We killed less than 10 birds 

 a day for each man; and counting out what 

 we ate, our bag would have been a small 

 one to bring home, if those of our party 

 who resided near our shooting grounds had 

 not insisted on our bringing their share 

 with us. The only thing killed on the trip 

 were quails. Most of our party made their 

 only hunt of the season on the trip. I may 

 be mistaken, but I do not believe we have 

 killed an unreasonable amount of game, 

 and what we did kill was used by ourselves 

 and our families. 



W. F. Halyard, Joplin, Mo. 



The ferret is making sad havoc among the rabbits and 

 hundreds are being brought into the market, through the 

 efforts of this pernicious little beast. There was a time 

 when the rabbit that entered the hole was safe from the 

 attack of hunters ; but that is past. Now a ferret is sent 

 in and all there is to do is to await the exit with a club or 

 bag. For the past few days the market has been glutted 

 with rabbits, and Thursday a farmer came into town with 

 a sleigh box nearly full of them. He offered to sell them 

 at 5 cents each. — Jamestown Journal. 



Inclosed find a clipping which explains 

 itself. A friend and I were hunting rabbits 

 a week ago and met a " sport " with 23 rab- 

 bits, yet he had neither dog nor gun — noth- 

 ing but a ferret. 



Cannot something be done to stop this 

 wholesale slaughter? If it is kept up at 

 this rate there will be no rabbits, in a year 

 or so. 



E. S. Mack, Jamestown, N. Y. 



While traveling through the woods 6 

 miles East of here, a young man named 

 Neil Ferguson, came on the bodies of 2 

 monster bucks, their horns inextricably 

 locked. They had died of starvation. 

 Each had a noble set of 4 pronged antlers, 

 perfect in every detail. Distance between 

 the horns at widest part, 16 inches in each. 

 Distance between points at extreme ends, 

 8 inches and 14 inches, respectively. 



The heads were taken off near shoulders, 

 leaving the heads and necks entire. They 

 are perfectly preserved but not mounted. I 

 will keep them until an opportunity occurs 

 to dispose of them. 



E. A. Slear, Ballentine, Mich. 



I congratulate you on the good work 

 Recreation is doing for the protection of 

 game, and you cannot score game hogs 

 too hard to suit me, although a few years 

 ago I was something of a game hog my- 



