FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



451 



it pan on, with one foreleg and left hind- 

 leg. The third shot killed it. 



We soon saw another rabbit, walked to 

 within 40 yards and fired at his head with 

 the 22 rifle. We hit it, but it got up, began 

 to circle, and soon started to run off. 

 At the crack of Tobe's rifle the rabbit 

 dropped, cut almost in 2. He used a 38-55, 

 and is the best running shot 1 ever saw. 

 He can hit 4 out of 6 shots at Jack rabbits 

 running across his path. 



So ended a very enjoyable day. I find 

 my sport in the pursuit of game, not in 

 possession of it. 



M. F. Smith. 



SA-RAGH-TO-GA NO LONGER A HUNTING 

 GROUND. 



The upper Hudson valley, from Troy 

 North for 40 miles, is probably one of the 

 most picturesque sections in the East. 



Sa-ragh-to-ga, the famous hunting 

 ground of the Mohawk Indians, was the 

 territory now comprising the towns of 

 Northumberland, Saratoga, Saratoga Spa, 

 Morcau, and Stillwater in Saratoga coun- 

 ty; as well as Easton, and portions of 

 Greenwich, Fort Edward, and Argyle, in 

 Washington county. 



Until recent years its reputation as a 

 sportmen's resort has been fully sustained. 

 Nowhere could better upland grouse 

 shooting be found. Woodcock abounded 

 in the swamps, and ducks and geese in 

 their annual flights tarried in the numer- 

 ous coves and setbacks which border the 

 river. Pike, bass, and muskalonge 

 swarmed in the river itself. 



As game throughout the country de- 

 creased, the craving for fish and game 

 dinners increased. The proximity of a 

 great summer resort soon made itself felt 

 in the diminution, to an alarming extent, 

 of the finny and feathered denizens of our 

 woods and waters. Gunners with porcine 

 proclivities would march abreast through 

 the covers, in midsummer, piloted by close 

 working dogs. They would literally clean 

 up the woods of young grouse. Cover 

 after cover would be the scene of like de- 

 vastation, until, when the season opened, 

 the decent sportsmen went abroad to find 

 only silence and solitude. Even the feath- 

 ered musicians of the woodlands and hills 

 have given up their little lives at the man- 

 dates of fashion. 



The query naturally arises whether 

 game wardens are an unknown quantity in 

 our locality. Verily, they exist; but are 

 rendered useless by reason largely of their 

 official ties. Our wardens are men who 

 have a pull with local legislators because 

 of services rendered in times of political 

 need. They are careful to not offend, by 

 even a hint of prosecution, fellows whose 

 hostelries have been made famous by din- 



ners of fish and game served regardless of 

 season. Pot hunters and game hogs vote 

 as often as men do, and their votes natural- 

 ly go to the candidate who can be trusted 

 not to interfere with their nefarious prac- 

 tices. 



I hope you will continue to write in the 

 interest of legitimate sport, that our chil- 

 dren may, if we can not, live to see the 

 day when our woods and fields will once 

 more abound with game. 



B. T. P., Saratoga, N. Y. 



TWO MONTHS ON CAPE COD. 



Last fall I took a 2 months' hunting trip 

 on Cape Cod. After considerable trouble 

 regarding transportation, we arrived, just 

 at dusk, at our destination. Spectacle pond. 



For 3 or 4 days we worked from sunrise 

 to sunset, building our shanty and getting 

 ready for the birds. Then my friend 

 was obliged to return home, which left me 

 alone with my dog. Day after day I 

 watched and waited for ducks. One day 

 a pair dropped in the pond. One I shot, 

 and might have got the other had not 

 the left firing pin been missing from my 

 gun. 



After that I shot, at long intervals, one 

 or 2 ducks, 2 coots, a widgeon, a plover, 

 and several snipe. Shelldrake, I am told 

 by the inhabitants, are numerous at this 

 pond later in the season, but I did not see 

 any. 



I had some good rabbit hunting. Foxes 

 were plentiful. Grouse, toward the last 

 of my stay, began to come up from the 

 thick woods and were becoming numer- 

 ous. Quails were abundant, but hard to 

 get. As soon as they are shot at they fly 

 into thick brush, making difficult shooting. 

 During my stay I did not see a gray squir- 

 rel, a fact I can not explain. 



On the whole, the cape seems a good 

 game region. Deer signs were every- 

 where. I do not believe the animals are 

 molested to any extent by the natives. I 

 see no reason why deer hunting should not 

 be good at the end of the closed term, in 

 1903. 



The ponds on the cape are well sup- 

 plied with bass, but for duck shooting 

 they are rank failures. The flight seems 

 to be from one side of the cape to the 

 other, and it is almost impossible to stop 

 a bird. 



The people of the cape are sociable and 

 can not do too much for strangers. The 

 majority are for game protection, and use 

 their influence, as best they can, toward 

 that end. They appreciate the work Recre- 

 ation is doing. 



R. C. Stevens, Elmwood, Mass. 



