466 



RECREATION. 



camps on the East branch of Penobscot, 

 30 miles from a post office. 



Snow is 4 feet deep, making hard going 

 for moose and deer. One can easily over- 

 take a deer or a moose in 50 or 100 yards' 

 walk. Caribou do better, but even they 

 get along with difficulty, as the crust will 

 not support their weight. 



I find a few tracks of the Canada lynx, 

 but do not think they are killing many 

 deer in this vicinity. 



Deer are in poor condition. I have re- 

 peatedly walked up to one and put my 

 hand on it. They are spiritless from star- 

 vation. It has been an unusually severe 

 winter. 



Moose do not seem inclined toward be- 

 ing petted, so I have not tried it with 

 them. I postpone that experiment till the 

 open season next fall, when I shall make 

 it with my rifle. 



No poaching noted. 



P. E. Young, Sherman Mills, Me. 



During the blizzard of '99 we were shut 

 in by ice and snow 10 days ; an almost 

 unique experience for Eastern North Caro- 

 lina. There was a high wind and a blind- 

 ing snow storm, with the river nearly closed 

 by ice. The only airhole open for miles 

 was about 500 yards from our float, and 

 by an effort I reached it and stuck a little 

 blind. I had no decoys; but how the 

 ducks did come in. I never had better 

 shooting. As we had a fair sized crowd 

 and very little grub, and we did not know 

 when we would get out, I killed what I 

 could. The ice would not bear me, nor 

 could I get a boat through it, so when it 

 came to retrieving I peeled off what I 

 could and did the trick myself. When we 

 got out a week later we did not have one 

 duck left; had eaten the very last one, 

 and mighty glad were all hands that we 

 had them to eat. We cooked 7 or 8 every 

 meal, and enjoyed the last as well as the 

 first. The ducks were redhead, ruddy, 

 black, widgeon, teal, one mallard, one can- 

 vas, and others. 



A. D. Doane, Coinfork, N. C. 



I do not wish to be considered inquisi- 

 tive, but would like to ask if, in the opin- 

 ion of the editor of Recreation, there is 

 any connection between the enclosed page 

 from Recreation and the quasi caustic edi- 

 torial that recently appeared in a weekly 

 paper devoted to field sports, published in 

 your city? The editorial to which I refer 

 was aimed at us fellows who have a habit 

 of calling Mr. Game Hog by his right name. 

 M. Schenck, Troy, N. Y. 



ders from the American News Company, 

 which indicate the phenomenal growth in 

 their trade in Recreation. Their order for 

 June, '98, was 10,600 copies, and for April, 

 '99, 21,000 copies. This would seem to in- 

 dicate that my custom of calling game 

 butchers by the name of their 4 footed pro- 

 totype is not so unpopular with real sports- 

 men as the old fogey champion of the game 

 hogs would have us believe. — Editor. 



A remarkable incident occurred while 

 I was quail shooting in North Carolina 

 last fall. There were 3 in our party, and 

 we had with us 3 dogs. Two of the dogs 

 were at heel; the other flushed a bevy of 

 quails about 200 feet from us. The birds 

 flew in our direction. We fired 5 charges 

 of No. 9 shot at them and killed 8 quails. 

 All fell within 7 feet of each other. I 

 have been shooting more than 40 years, 

 and never saw nor heard of another kill 

 of that kind. Please give your opinion 

 of it, and do not call us game hogs for 

 killing so many birds at one time. 



H. Richards, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



I never heard of a parallel case, but 

 doubtless some readers of Recreation 

 have, and if so, they are invited to report 

 on them. 



This killing does not entitle you to a 

 place in the game hog corral by any 

 means. The supposition is that each man 

 singled out a bird and fired at it, and that 

 the other birds simply got in line and 

 were killed accidentally, so to speak. — 

 Editor. 



While quail shooting last fall, I killed 

 2 birds at one shot in a most peculiar 

 way. A friend and I flushed a covey, and 

 they scattered into some hazel brush. We 

 were walking side by side, when 2 birds 

 flushed at about 10 yards and flew straight 

 away. My companion pulled on the left 

 hand bird and I took the other. As I 

 threw my gun to my shoulder a third quail 

 rose and started off at an exact right 

 angle to the others. We each killed our 

 bird, and then turned to get a shot at the 

 third. It had disappeared, and I asked my 

 friend where it was. He replied. ''You 

 got the one that flew to the right." To 

 prove it he picked up the quail he had 

 seen fall, while I got the one I had shot at. 

 They lay fully 40 yards apart, the second 

 bird having crossed the line of fire just as 

 I pulled the trigger. I did not see him 

 fall, and would not have known anything 

 about it if my companion had not seen 

 him. 



E. W. Nettleton, St. Paul, Minn. 



ANSWER. 



The clipping to which Mr. Schenck refers 

 shows reproductions of several monthly or- 



On my group of 4 seed farms in Essex 

 county, Massachusetts, I am compelle4 IW 



