FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



289 



of course, all summer, the second brood 

 being very small when the season opens. 

 The young quails are subject to many dis- 

 asters, as they are a delicate morsel for 

 birds and beasts. They need the care of 

 their parents until well grown. During 

 the summer great numbers of old birds 

 are shot while standing on fences or 

 bushes calling their young. Most of these 

 butchers are from the city and get a few 

 weeks' vacation in the summer, when they 

 make up for lost time, as the loss of a 

 parent kills the brood. 



Day after day I have heard the banging 

 of guns, which made me feel sick. I have 

 found many dead and dying little birds by 

 the roadside, their death being evidently 

 caused by the loss of their parents. There 

 is another set of fellows who make a prac- 

 tice of shooting half grown birds, which, 

 though not quite so destructive as killing 

 the old birds, is bad enough. 



E. R. Preston, Pasadena, Calif. 



HAS REFORMED. 

 The way game, large and small, has been 

 slaughtered in this country is a national 

 crime which our people will yet bitterly 

 regret. Thirty years ago Rock county, 

 Wisconsin, was full of game; now it is al- 

 most gameless. When I was a boy I 

 helped in the destruction. With an old 

 musket I could kill, anywhere along the 

 waterside, more ducks than I could carry. 

 When I grew older I bought a rifle, and 

 after I saw what could be done with that 

 weapon I had no further use for a shot 

 gun. There is more real pleasure in knock- 

 ing the heads off a few squirrels or birds 

 with a rifle than in murdering a carload of 

 game with a shot gun. Years ago I was in 

 the habit of going to the Northern wilder- 

 ness every season. Often I brought back 

 6 to 12 deer and sold them for a few cents 

 a pound. Since reading Recreation a few 

 years I am heartily ashamed of my earlier 

 work. Last year I went up again, killed 

 one deer, and was satisfied. 



A. K. Wallin, Fulton, Wis. 



This is only one of thousands of 

 cases that have been reported to me where 

 men have been reformed by reading this 

 magazine. And the good work still goes 

 on. — Editor. 



GAME NOTES. 

 Can any brother sportsman account for 

 the yearly migration of prairie chickens in 

 Northwestern Minnesota? This year there 

 was an unusually large flight. From the 

 1st to about the 25th of October they fly 

 Southward, returning in March and April. 

 For the last 5 or 6 years thousands of the 

 birds have wintered here, on account, I 

 think, of the great quantity of corn now 



grown in this section. Their annual 

 flight has long puzzled me. Where do they 

 go? If part of them stay here and flourish, 

 why do not all remain? Our game laws 

 are well observed. The last amendment 

 prohibiting the sale of prairie chickens is 

 a dandy. Market shooting is the ruina- 

 tion of sport. If no one would shoot more 

 than he could use, our game would last 

 for generations. 



P. H. Ehlers, Garvin, Minn. 



We have in this State many important 

 game fields, and beautiful trout streams 

 and lakes. Unfortunately, every year, in 

 violation of law, in season and out of sea- 

 son, the game hog, apparently lost to 

 every sense of honor and decency, prac- 

 tices his unholy methods of extermina- 

 tion that are so rapidly giving us a game- 

 less West. I earnestly hope in time every 

 sportsman in our State may become im- 

 bued with the healthy sentiments of the 

 L. A. S. and may add his name to its roll 

 of members. I greatly desire to see Ne- 

 vada well represented in the organization 

 that is doing such noble work toward pre- 

 serving the game in all parts of our coun- 

 try. 



A. Huffaker, Carson, Nev. 



Having hunted and fished from my boy- 

 hood, I, of course, enjoy Recreation. My 

 favorite sport is snioe shooting. Some 

 years ago I could find it in plenty on the 

 meadows near Newark, but the growth of 

 the city, combined with spring shooting, 

 has driven the birds from those grounds. 

 In this State the fall open season on snipe 

 is the month of September. This should, 

 I think, be changed to October. Then 

 the birds are in excellent condition and 

 more numerous than at any other time. 

 The law as it stands is exceedingly unpop- 

 ular. Abolish spring shooting and make 

 October the open season on snipe, and it 

 will be better for both sportsmen and birds. 

 H. S. M. Griffen, Newark, N. J. 



Five of us went coon hunting one dark 

 and rainy night. Our hounds took up the 

 trail at 7.30 p. m, and we followed it 

 until 5.30 the next morning, making a run 

 of 10 hours. If anyone has a hound with 

 a better record on coons I should like to. 

 hear of it. The coon took to the water 

 many times, and at one place followed the 

 middle of a creek fully ^ of a mile. 

 About 3 a. m. the temperature fell below 

 freezing; at 5.30 trailing was so difficult 

 that we called Pat off. If that coon was as 

 tired and sore as I, I feel sorry for him. 



We cross trailed 3 or 4 wolves, and one 

 fox. Prospect for small game is goo<i; 

 lots of quails left over. 



M. E. Hoag, D.D.S., Maxwell, la. 



