FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



39 



among the most enjoyable. I have been 

 all through the mill. I have encountered 

 ice, snow, sleet, and nearly all the other 

 conditions that come to a shooter on land 

 or on water, and I know what I am talking 

 about. No matter if a man hunts or sits 

 in a blind without getting a shot for 10 

 days he should be glad to quit on the nth 

 day if he gets 25 birds. You have, no 

 doubt, read many letters of sportsmen treat- 

 ing of this subject and believing as I do. 



You have doubtless read many replies to 

 criticisms, from men who have tried to ex- 

 cuse themselves by explaining that they 

 gave the game to friends. While this is 

 an excuse for the killing it is not a good 

 reason. This subject has been threshed out 

 in Recreation time and again and the 

 fallacy of such excuses has been thoroughly 

 ventilated. — Editor. 



THE CIRCLE HUNTS OF THE WESTERN 

 RESERVE. 



In a recent number of Recreation I saw 

 an account of a neighborhood hunt or deer 

 drive once common in this part of the 

 Western Reserve. Had I undertaken the 

 task 20 or even 10 years ago I could have 

 collected much information regarding such 

 hunts from actual participants, for this 

 county of Portage, Ohio, was once the heart 

 of the best deer territory in the world. 

 Deer 'drives took place each fall and every 

 settler within a day's travel was expected 

 to attend. The portion of forest, 5 to 10 

 miles square, selected for the drive was 

 marked by blazing trees along the sides 

 of the strip. Near the center a large circle 

 called the firing line, was blazed. The 

 hunters in 4 squads, each under a captain, 

 were stationed at the sides of the square 

 and at a signal advanced toward the inner 

 circle'. No one was allowed to shoot until 

 the circle was reached. 



There the deer and other animals caught 

 between the advancing lines found them- 

 selves penned within a ring of men stand- 

 ing almost shoulder to shoulder. Occasion- 

 ally a bear or wolf would break the line and 

 escape, but the poor deer, lacking cour- 

 age to attack the hunters milled around in 

 the circle until the last one was killed. 

 All game taken was divided equally among 

 those present. The hunt was followed by 

 an open air feast, which sometimes degener- 

 ated into an orgy. 



Now the old hunters have gone their 

 way, unconscious of having merited the 

 maledictions of their descendants. To 

 them, doubtless, game seemed inexhaustible 

 and they depended largely on it for food. 

 There remains alive, in this vicinity at 

 least, but one man who took part in the 

 great game slaughters once considered the 



acme of sport in this region. At the age 

 of 98, he still tells the story of the great 

 hunt of 1822 in which over 500 deer were 

 killed. 



One can imagine the abundance of game 

 in those days when so many deer could be 

 corralled in one township. As the country 

 became settled and game decreased men 

 came to realize the folly of this annual 

 slaughter, and the last circle hunt ever 

 attempted in Portage county was frustrated 

 by a number of disgusted hunters who 

 opened their part of the line and permitted 

 the deer to escape. That was before I be- 

 gan to hunt, though I am 77, but I can 

 remember hearing my older brothers talk 

 about it when they came home. 



A. H. Parsons, Ravenna, O. 



WESTERN MAN SHOULD WAKEN UP. 



Will you have space in Recreation for a 

 request for the names and addresses of 

 sportsmen and others who are in favor of 

 a statutory clause prohibiting the sale of 

 any game bird in the States occupied by 

 your various readers, under heavy penalty? 



If enough signatures can be secured, 

 steps will be taken to have the clause em- 

 bodied in the various State game laws. I 

 hope your readers will be in favor of this 

 clause, so that the slaughter and ruthless 

 destruction of the game birds may be 

 stopped. 



L. R., Denver, Colo. 



For 10 years past I have been giving a 

 great deal of space in Recreation to the 

 advocacy of laws prohibiting the sale of 

 game in the various States, and this is one 

 of the primary objects for which the League 

 of American Sportsmen was organized and 

 which now has over 10,000 members. I 

 have spent three-fourths of my time during 

 the past 6 years, and more than $15,000 of 

 my money, in working for the passage of 

 laws in the various States prohibiting the 

 sale of game, and in endeavoring to pre- 

 serve it. As a result there are to-day 24 

 States that have laws prohibiting the sale of 

 certain kinds of game. Eight of these pro- 

 hibit the killing of game at any time for 

 .gale, and Idaho, Kansas and Montana pro- 

 hibit the salfe of all game at all times. It 

 seems, therefore, that you are rather late 

 coming into the field with your proposition. 



You should join this League at once and 

 help in the great work it is doing. We hope 

 in time to have laws in all the States pro- 

 hibiting the sale of game and you should get 

 in the procession at once. — Editor. 



SOUTHERN MONTANA BIGHORN. 



In the fall of 1889 my brother, another 

 young man and I set out for Albert Young's 



