FROM THE GAME FIELDS, 



129 



signs of woodcock. I think these birds 

 should be protected from Maine to Texas 

 for a term of years. Rail and ducks are 

 fairly plentiful. There are a few rabbits 

 left, but they are hounded every month in 

 the year. 



I think the Sunday law in this State is 

 a rank injustice. It was drawn to hurt a 

 certain class of people. Most of our sports- 

 men are men who work every day and 

 have no time to hunt save on Sundays, 

 Labor day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 Why not forbid hunting on all holidays, 

 and so save the game for the swells? The 

 law was right as it stood in past years. If 

 a man was arrested for shooting on Sun- 

 day he was fined for breaking the Sab- 

 bath, not for violating a class game law. 

 The Sunday law is a bad thing for game, 

 for when a man is cut down to 3 days a 

 year he will get all he can carry on those 

 days. If game 'needs more protection for- 

 bid shooting on one or more days of each 

 week, but not on Sundays. It will be all 

 the same to the birds and you will not be 

 robbing the workingman of his share of 

 sport. 



W. R. Walden, Whitman, Mass. 



TWO FEARLESS MEN. 



Find enclosed clipping from Duluth 

 News-Tribune, which I think will interest 

 you. A few months ago Joseph Mitchell 

 was fined for running a "blind pig." Evi- 

 dently he has been on the down grade some 

 time and his development from a blind 

 pigger into a full grown game hog was 

 quite natural. 



I have written the Municipal Judge at 

 Ely, H. Von Blarcom, to inquire the name 

 of the deputy game warden who filed the 

 complaint against Mitchell, and to assure 

 him that this office will assist in every 

 proper way in securing the conviction and 

 punishment of offenders against our game 

 laws. 



Wm. B. Phelps, Duluth, Minn. 



The clipping referred to is as follows : 



Joseph Mitchell, of Ely, recently braved the terrors of 

 the law in order to supply the demand of certain of its 

 citizens for the tender and juicy moose steak. The 

 game warden, however, was opposed to moose meat as 

 an article of diet at this season of the year and suc- 

 ceeded in inducing Mr. Mitchell to satisfy his appe- 

 tite lor 50 days on the plainer fare provided by Sheriff 

 Sargent at the county jail. 



Mr. Phelps and that game warden are 

 both men after my own heart. — Editor. 



GAME NOTES. 

 Small game is fairly plentiful here, in 

 Sullivan county. A proper enforcement 

 of our game laws would secure good 

 shooting. We have the red and gray 

 squirrel, rabbits, quails, some prairie chick- 

 ens and a few ducks and geese. Of the 

 fur-bearing animals we have the red fox, 



raccoon, mink, skunk, water rat and an 

 occasional otter. 



'Tis sad to note the rapid extermination 

 of the game. A few years since ducks, 

 geese and brants could be counted on our 

 prairies and marsh lands by the tens of 

 thousands; now it is a rare thing to see 

 geese alight. Our county has become 

 thickly settled, our marsh land has been 

 reclaimed and is now fine farming land. 

 This is partly the cause of scarcity of 

 water fowl. 



One man near here killed 300 quails in 7 

 days last November. I call him a hog. 



Go ahead. Advocate game protection, 

 and roast those game hogs until every 

 man knows his duty toward our kindred, 

 the game. 



A. R. Pifer, Carlisle, Ind. 



The motto of the Milwaukee Fishing 

 and Hunting Club is, "Hunt for sport, not 

 for gain," and we have made many con : 

 verts in the past 2 years from among 

 the army of Wisconsin game hogs. One 

 of our most stringent rules is that mem- 

 bership is forfeited for firing at or killing 

 a bird except on the wing. Last fall n 

 members went into camp at Hamlin lake, 

 Michigan. With the party were 2 pot 

 hunters who were to be given a lesson in 

 sportsmanship. There was abundance of 

 game, and it was a study to watch our 

 "hogs" when they were told they were 

 subject to the rules of the club. Had they 

 been allowed to turn loose, there would 

 have been terrific slaughter; but as it was, 

 at the end of 6 days in the woods the total 

 bag consisted of 15 quails, 14 grouse, 22 

 ducks and 20 fish. 



On our return the 2 gentlemen, our 

 guests, became members of our club and 

 both avow they had a better time than 

 when they shot everything in sight. 



R. L. Schlick, Milwaukee, Wis. 



Game is scarce around here. We only 

 have a few squirrels, rabbits, prairie 

 chickens, and, in the fall and spring, geese 

 and ducks. I have an old .16 gauge muz- 

 zle loading gun. It shoots well. I have 

 killed a number of rabbits and squirrels 

 with it. I like the way you call the game 

 hogs down and also to read the Gun and 

 Ammunition Department. 



Will cottontails breed when captured, 

 and what is the best thing to feed to young 

 fox squirrels. 



Chester Springsteen, Harvard, 111. 



ANSWER. 



The cottontail rabbit will not breed in 

 close confinement, but if placed in an en- 

 closure of 2 or 3 acres would undoubtedly 

 do so. 



The best food for young fox squirrels is 

 whole grains of corn, and a varying diet 



