FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



367 



On the morning of the 7th I started 

 out with my 2 dogs to have a dav's sport 

 with the birds. I am noc a very good she?: 

 on the wing and only got 6 grouse, 

 hut if I tad been a good shot I could 

 have killed 25 or 30. I got at least 12 

 coveys up. I killed 4 rabbits and could 

 have killed 3 more easily, but I had all I 

 could carry and all I needed, so I quit. 

 There are a few squirrels, and I have fine 

 ',port with them sometimes. Fifteen miles 

 from here, in Jefferson county, 2 boys 

 killed 18 in one evening. 



The coming of Recreation is always 

 looked forward to with interest. 



Paul Hobbs, Brookhaven, Miss. 



more than heretofore, and all game is be- 

 coming plentiful. 



C. L. Bering, Houston, Tex. 



In '94 I was shooting ducks with Harry 

 Gordan at Red Rock lake, Mont. Gordan 

 was walking along the lake shore, and I 

 was 100 yards or so back from the water. 

 I flushed a prairie chicken and it flew to- 

 ward the lake, but behind my friend and 

 far cut of range. When above the water 

 it turned and took a course which would 

 give Gordan a good shot. He was watch- 

 ing a duck coming up the lake, but on my 

 crying "Mark!" he turned and saw the 

 chicken also. Both birds were flying at 

 the same height and in opposite directions. 

 As they came in line Gordan fired and 

 killed both with one shot. 



M. P. Dunham, Ovando, Mont. 



We have been doing some hard work in 

 this State under our new game law. Al- 

 though handicapped for lack of funds, we 

 have accomplished a great deal in the way 

 of putting a stop to the illegal killing and 

 sale of game. There seems a general dis- 

 position among sportsmen to aid in the 

 good work. It is my opinion that half 

 the quail crop was saved last season by 

 the new law, backed by a goodly list of 

 prosecutions in which fines were imposed. 

 Game of all kinds is more plentiful in this 

 part of Illinois than at any previous time 

 within my memory, and the future prom- 

 ises much. 



Frank C. Riehl, Alton, 111. 



Last year was one of the best all round 

 shooting years for a long time, and there 

 is an abundance of game left. Deer are 

 more plentiful than for years. Chickens 

 are scarce, as last year's coveys were ruined 

 by the floods in June. Quail are on the 

 increase, and though shot at unsparingly, 

 many flocks escaped. Snipe are still plen- 

 tiful. Plover are here by the thousands, 

 and many are killed daily. Turkeys were 

 hunted by the best of our old hunters, and 

 some large gobblers were killed within 10 

 miles of the city. Our laws are respected 



Two or 3 months ago I sent 4 subscrip- 

 tions to Recreation. As you are making 

 the magazine better all the time, and fight- 

 ing the battle of the weak against the 

 strong, I send herewith names of 6 more 

 subscribers. Shall add others before July 

 1st, and will then make choice of a pre- 

 mium. That is a secondary matter. I am 

 a lover of game, fish and birds, and admire 

 the dexterity with which you remove the 

 cuticle from the pachyderm game butchers. 

 Go on with the good work until you have 

 converted the short bristled one and made 

 the long bristles ashamed of themselves. 

 Dr. W. H. Mean, Marionville, Ind. 



Few people realize how much game is 

 destroyed by cougars, lynx, wildcats, etc. 

 I know of stumps, beside game trails, in 

 different parts of our State, to which cou- 

 gars have resorted to watch for and spring 

 upon passing deer, until the stumps were 

 worn smooth and the ground about them 

 covered with the bones of slaughtered 

 deer. I think it would be well 'to demand 

 a bounty on carnivorous animals. Then 

 hunters would hunt them instead of deer. 

 The bounty need not be large at first, be- 

 cause the animals would not be hard to 

 find; at least, in a deer country. 



Lester Martin. Nez Perced, Idaho. 



I have heard at different times of num- 

 bers of ducks that are caught in gill nets 

 set in the lakes. If the reports are true 

 thousands of wild ducks are needlessly 

 killed during the spring and fall. Three 

 tugs brought to Dunkirk last spring 2,500 

 ducks that were caught in the nets in one 

 day. Countless thousands must be caught 

 in the same manner along the immense 

 coast line of the great lakes. 



A. R. King, Syracuse, N. Y. 



This is a calamity. Can any reader of 

 Recreation suggest a remedy. — Editor. 



Most of the readers of Recreation 

 frowned at first at your severity on the 

 game hogs, but it goes to the spot. I no- 

 tice that already those who used to kill 

 game before the season opened and boast 

 of it are a great deal more careful now. I 

 venture to say that in a year from now all 

 intelligent sportsmen here will side with 

 Recreation. We have one grave defect 

 in our game laws. The season on sage 

 hens opens July 15th. This is entirely too 

 soon. The law should not permit the hunt- 

 ing of them before August 15th, or 1st at 

 earliest. 



R. C. Petermann, Diamondville, Wyo. 



