366 



RECREATION. 



made off, was pursued by the dog, treed 

 and killed. The hunters then returned to 

 the buck, which was found dying. His 

 ribs were broken and his head pounded to 

 a jelly; but there was not a mark of tooth 

 or claw on him. The skin was unbroken. 

 He was simply pounded to death. Car- 

 roll, who is an old hunter, declares that to 

 be the lion's favorite manner of killing 

 deer. He says he. has known of several 

 such cases. It is a new one on me. 



A bear recently came down into the town 

 of Telluride, at night. He was seen, and 

 many shots were fired at him, but he es- 

 caped. 



One afternoon the owner of a ranch on 

 Bilk creek was standing by his cabin. He 

 heard a rock roll down the canyon wall, 

 and looking up saw a medium sized black 

 bear going into a hole, under the rim rock. 

 The ranchman climbed the hill, smoked 

 the bear out and killed him with one 

 shot through the head. The skin was 

 a beautiful one, and I bought it. The 

 same bear had recently been trapped in 

 the neighborhood, and had escaped, leav- 

 ing his foot in the trap. Hearing of 

 this, and knowing who had the foot, I pro- 

 cured that also, and will have it sewed on 

 the leg, when the skin is made into a rug. 



Just before the close of the grouse sea- 

 son I had a delightful afternoon with the 

 birds, at timber line, on Mt. Wilson. They 

 were feeding in the spruce trees. As they 

 always fly down the mountain side, when 

 alarmed, I had a friend go about 200 yards 

 above me. We then moved along the side 

 of the mountain on parallel lines, the birds 

 that he flushed flying over me. I killed 8, 

 the soft snow saving them from being 

 dashed to pieces on the rocks below. 



C. M. Coleman, Telluride, Colo. 



DEFENDS WESTERN GUIDES. 



W. S. W., Pittsfield, Mass., criticizes, in 

 November Recreation, statements made by 

 one Finn in the New York Times, concern- 

 ing residents and guides of Jackson's Hole, 

 Wyo. 



About September 15, 1901, 2 Massachu- 

 setts men came to my camp on a small tri- 

 butary of Fall river, late in the evening, 

 having been attracted by the light of my 

 fire. I believe W. S. W. to have been of the 

 party, which was guided by Clark Caswell 

 and a man named Peterson. These men 

 were certainly not game slaughterers or 

 violators of the game laws, though they 

 had their quota of trophies, except ante- 

 lope. 



For 10 years past I have been visiting 

 Jackson's Hole and neighboring points in 

 Wyoming, Montana and Idaho for rest and 

 recreation, and incidentally for game. 



I have learned that most of the adult 

 male residents of Jackson's Hole are moun- 



tain guides; that every guide is a regularly 

 appointed and duly sworn game warden or 

 deputy warden ; that they are sticklers for 

 the honest observance of the game laws, 

 not only by the tourists whom they guide, 

 but by their neighbors ; and that they them- 

 selves obey the law. 



These guides are, as a rule, honest, in- 

 telligent and courteous. The statement that 

 these men are afraid of tourists, poachers, 

 ranchmen or anybody else has no founda- 

 tion in fact. Only men of courage and de- 

 termination would or could follow their 

 calling. Should Mr. Finn doubt this let 

 him go to Jackson, choose his man and try 

 to "do him." 



The people of Jackson and of the Rocky 

 mountain region in general are not appre- 

 ciated by Easterners. They are not given 

 credit for their thrift, industry, intelligence 

 or honesty. To be able to judge them 

 justly one must live among them. 



Van S. Bennett, Rockton, Wis. 



DUSKING. 



It was a beautiful night, and will live 

 long in the memories of 2 young hunters. 

 An edge of the moon just peering above 

 the horizon made the dark objects on the 

 marsh, the edges of which were covered 

 with snow, beautiful but uncanny. Such 

 was the place in which our 2 friends hur- 

 riedly constructed a blind of the tall reeds. 

 The dog, an Irish spaniel, did his best to 

 keep warm, but, to his mind, it. was un- 

 satisfactory. 



By the time the blind was finished, the 

 moonlight was rather dim, though brighter 

 than usual on account of the snow. 



The blind being complete, nothing re- 

 mained but to wait really a very short 

 time, but it seemed to the boys an eternity. 



Presently a low, whistling rumble was 

 heard, and a pair of black ducks, looking 

 for a place to sleep, flew swiftly overhead. 

 Alas ! 2 pairs of sharp eyes had caught 

 the sights, and at the twin reports the hap- 

 less pair fell dead on the water. Evidently 

 a poor place for pot hunters, with their 

 clumsy, murderous 8 bores, in this dim and 

 uncertain light. 



After the first pair, with short intervals 

 of time, came the ducks, in singles and 

 pairs; always to be met with a charge of 

 5's. The boys enjoyed the sport till each 

 had 10 ducks. Then came a 4 mile walk, a 

 cup of hot coffee and a warm bed. Do 

 you wonder that the recollection of that 

 night still lives in the minds of 2 sports- 

 men? W. F. Irish, Lowell, Mass. 



Not at all sportsmanlike. Ducks should 

 be allowed to rest from dark till daylight, 

 and I trust no reader of Recreation will 

 ever again disturb any game bird at night. 

 — Editor. 



