458 



RECREATION. 



this? You report having killed 243 ducks 

 and 155 pounds of bass on 2 trips. Don't 

 you know, John, that all decent men will 

 class you as a hog when they read this? 



Your letter head says you are a con- 

 tractor for mason work, street building, 

 etc. John, did you really distribute your 

 ducks and fish about the court house from 

 a sense of pure generosity, or did you 

 give them to the county officers in order 

 to influence trade? If you were really 

 generous you would have left at least 75 

 per cent, of those ducks and fish alive, in 

 order that your neighbors might have 

 some sport in years to come, as well as 

 something to eat. — Editor. 



SOME GOAT HOGS. 

 A friend of mine who has 2 ranches and 

 lives 15 miles below came uo the other day 

 and said he hadn't killed a deer for 3 years. 

 He coaxed me to go out and show him 

 where the game stayed at this time of the 

 year. He said he might go alone and fool 

 around a week and get nothing. 



We went up the river on the ice and got 

 2 bucks. He was pleased, because, he said, 

 his wife had t^een telling him she didn't 

 think he' could kill a deer. 



A few days before we went to hunt, 

 2 Missourians were up in that country 

 hunting, and, coming across a flock of 

 tame goats, killed 18 of them ; thought 

 they were mountain sheep. Then a hired 

 man who lives on the ranch found the goats 

 and killed one. Learning at last that they 

 were tame goats he drove them home to 

 the ranch, only 4 left, and we saw them. 

 Those I saw were females, heavy with 

 young, and not fit to be eaten, but those 

 Missouri Yahoos will eat anything. They 

 are goat hogs. We suppose the goats came 

 over the top of the range in summer from 

 the Larimie plains and got snowed jn. They 

 are all ear marked and if the owner could 

 find the parties he could recover damages; 

 but he may think wild animals have de- 

 stroyed his stock. 



I calculate to get some bear next spring. 

 Ralph Anders, French Creek, Idaho. 



DECOYS VS. DECOYS, 



A friend to whom I lent my goose de- 

 coys last fall had an amusing and instruc- 

 tive experience with them. They are of 

 the profile variety, and made to order, the 

 colors being rather dull and not sharply 

 contrasted, that they may not look too 

 startlingly bright to the geese. I have 

 used them 10 years, and have great faith 

 in their drawing powers. Only last 

 month 75 geese alighted among them while 

 a friend was using them. To the club 

 house at which Mr. M. was stopping came 

 another member of the club, A., with ia 



bright, new decoys, apparently painted with 



enamel oaint, for they reflected the sun's 

 rays brilliantly. He had never used them, 

 but called attention to their beauty. Mr. 

 M., an old goose hunter, said they were 

 pretty bright, but his suggestion was re- 

 ceived with scorn. A. in turn hooted at my 

 battle scarred decoys, saying a goose would 

 be a fool to come to such looking things. 

 The next morning the decoys were placed 

 on opposite sides of the lake. The first 

 flock of geese headed straight for the new 

 ones, but turned short in alarm, at a dis- 

 tance of 200 yards, and passed close over 

 my decoys and my fri?nd M., who did 

 good execution among them. After some 

 hours of that sort of thing M. noticed A. 

 rubbing mud over his pretty decoys to dull 

 their brilliancy; but he did not get a shot 

 at a goose that day. If there are any de- 

 ductions from this story they are, first: 

 Don't laugh, on theoretic grounds, at any 

 device which has for years proved itself 

 effective; second, don't paint goose de- 

 coys too bright. 



J. W. Hall, M. D., Denver, Colo. 



MOOSE IN NOVA SCOTIA. 



The latest report of the Nova Scotia 

 Game Society says moose are increas- 

 ing in all parts of the province. How 

 numerous they are, your readers may 

 judge from the following: October 2nd 

 a friend and I called up and killed 2 

 bull moose within sound of a steam mill 

 on one side and a farmyard on another. 

 While awaiting the approach of the ani- 

 mals we could hear dogs bark, roosters 

 crow, and cow bells ring. One moose 

 came up in the early morning within 60 

 yards. He was killed by one bullet pass- 

 ing through behind his shoulders, and 

 ran 10 yards after being struck. While 

 skinning him we continued to call at in- 

 tervals. In an hour we heard another an- 

 swer. We dropped our knives and took 

 up our rifles. In 15 minutes another 

 moose lay on the meadow 40 yards from 

 the first. He came within 28 steps of our 

 cover. Two bullets entered his chest, only 

 2 inches apart, and he died where he stood. 

 He was a 4 year old bull, and a handsome 

 animal. 



In the latter part of the same month 2 

 other sportsmen and I were calling in an- 

 other locality. We had 2 moose close to 

 us, but failed to get a shot, as a breeze 

 carried our scent to them before they 

 broke cover. While listening to these 

 moose we could hear the church bells at 

 Bear river ringing for evening prayer 

 meeting. This trip was made between 

 noon and bedtime. Comparatively few 

 foreign hunters come here; a fact not 

 deeply regretted by local sportsmen. 



J. L. Pe '/any, Bear River, N- S. 



