434 



RECREATION. 



od. It requires men who are brought up 

 to it, who are in the prime of life, cautious, 

 and with keen eyesight, and not apt to 

 shoot until they are satisfied there is no 

 danger to other human beings. The main 

 point for hounding is in this connection, and 

 the principal objection to still hunting, is 

 the danger to sportsmen. A large portion 

 of our Northern district is covered with a 

 dense second growth, in which still hunting 

 is out of the question. 



As to the killing of does and fawns, the 

 correspondent is correct in stating that 

 "the slaughter of a doe is getting at the 

 base of life." Deer are so numerous in the 

 districts under consideration, that probably 

 each hunter could secure his quota of 

 horned animals, sparing the does, and giv- 

 ing the fawns an opportunity of growing to 

 a size worth shooting. This is a matter on 

 which the Government might look favora- 

 bly, and place restrictions to protect the fe- 

 male and her offspring. 



Killing deer in the water is a mode of 

 hunting of which no true sportsman would 

 be guilty. It is one style of hunting that 

 does not require any strategy or cleverness, 

 and is a cruel way to secure the game. It 

 is one feature of the present law which 

 should be rescinded. 



Instead of the supply of deer decreasing, 

 they seem to be growing more numerous 

 each successive year. This is due, no 

 doubt, to the shortness of the open season, 

 and to the strict prosecution by the Onta- 

 rio Government of all who transgress the 

 laws, as well as to the protection to the 

 deer by the new dense undergrowth, which 

 is replacing the timber lands in several of 

 the Northern districts. Information lately 

 received from Mr. E. Tinsley, Chief Game 

 Warden of Ontario, gives the number of 

 licenses and permits issued for the season 

 of 1902 as nearly 10,000, and Mr. Tinsley 

 states that a conservative estimate places 

 the number of animals killed at about 12,- 

 000. In addition to these about 100 moose 

 were killed. 



The Canadian Express Company carried 

 2,376 carcasses, with an aggregate weight 

 of 248.993 pounds ; an increase over 1891 



of 4 deer. A large majority of these were 

 taken from points on the Grand Trunk 

 Railway system, the greatest number having 

 been brought from the Magnetawan river 

 region, the Lake of Bays district, Muskoka 

 lakes region and the several stations be- 

 tween Gravenhurst and North bay. In ad- 

 dition to these the Dominion Express Com- 

 pany carried 240 deer and 40 moose. Of 

 course these figures do not by any means 

 represent the number of deer killed, as 

 Chief Game Warden Tinsley states that 

 Ya, of the hunters are settlers, and carry 

 their deer to their homes by teams. There 

 were 972 hunters in excess of previous 

 year carried by the Grand Trunk to the 

 hunting districts. 



The railroads not only take a deep in- 

 terest in the hunting in this country, but 

 in the fishing as well, as has been dem- 

 onstrated during the last few years. The 

 Grand Trunk has worked in harmony with 

 the fish commissions of not only Canada, 

 but of the several States through which 

 their lines run, and to the betterment of all 

 concerned. Several of the lakes in North- 

 ern Ontario had, during recent years, been 

 somewhat depleted. The Ontario Govern- 

 ment, in conjunction with the Grand Trunk, 

 arranged to restock these lakes with parent 

 bass. To this end the Grand Trunk built, 

 in 1901, at their shops, a fish car, with mod- 

 ern devices, for the purpose of transporting 

 these fish, the car having a capacity of 

 about 1,000 fish. During 1901 the Gov- 

 ernment contracted for 10,000 parent small 

 mouth bass. These were all successfully 

 transported and planted in the several 

 lakes, with a loss of only 356 fish, all of 

 which perished in the first shipment, be- 

 cause of extremely hot weather. The wa- 

 ters which were stocked in 1901 included 

 the Muskokas, Lake of Bays, Lake Couch- 

 iching, Lake Simcoe, Stony lake, River 

 Thames, Welland river, Sparrow lake and 

 Grand river. During 1902 the results were 

 not so successful as in the previous year, 

 only about 2,000 bass having been planted 

 in some of the same waters. This was 

 caused by the unpropitious weather during 

 the time the bass were running. 



"You say Grace married into the smart 

 set?" 



"Gracious, no ; she was divorced into it." 

 — Baltimore Herald. 



