3°* 



RECREATION. 



The still hunter has the pleasure of his 

 tramp and his search for game, which he 

 rarely gets. The man who hunts with a 

 good bird dog gets all this and, in addition, 

 has the pleasure of handling the dog, a task 

 which, to be properly performed, requires 

 a high order of skill. He also has a reason- 

 able chance to carry home game, which can 

 not be utilized as "a valuable food supply," 

 to quote Mr. Ladd again, unless it be car- 

 ried home. 



There is more sport with dog arid camera, 

 or with dog alone, in the field, than there 

 is with gun and no dog ; but the king's own 

 sport is with dog and gun. 



R. R. Raymond, 

 Captain, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., L. A. 

 S., 10,177, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. 



WANTS A LONGER SEASON. 



As a sportsman and an ardent reader of 

 Recreation I take the liberty of writing 

 you concerning a matter which has caused 

 great dissatisfaction among the sportsmen 

 of this city. 



As you are undoubtedly aware, the Leg- 

 islature of New York recently passed a law 

 changing the close season lor wild fowl to 

 January 1 to September 16 ; formerly it 

 was May 1 to September 1. 



I do not approve of spring shooting, 

 hence, when I heard that it was abolished 

 by law, I was greatly rejoiced, and felt 

 proud to be a citizen of the nth State of the 

 47 to take such action for tne preservation 

 of the finest of our American game birds. 

 But the Legislature in abolishing spring 

 shooting has made close season of the only 

 2 months, January and February, in which 

 good shooting may be enjoyed in this 

 locality. 



Little has been written about the wild 

 fowl shooting on the St. Lawrence river. 

 This is because the whistler, or the golden- 

 eye, the only duck that visits us in num- 

 bers, is elsewhere not considered desirable 

 game. It is all we have, however, and 

 although poor in its edible qualities, it af- 

 fords excellent sport and a fine test of 

 marksmanship to the sportsmen along the 

 St. Lawrence. The fact that this duck re- 

 mains on its Northern feeding grounds 

 until frozen out is a sufficient reason why 

 it does not arrive on the St. Lawrence until 

 late in December, especially if that month 

 be milder than usual. January 1st always 

 finds the golden eye abundant on this river. 

 In the early part of May, or sometimes late 

 in March, it returns North. 



During the latter part of March and in 

 May, I have noticed that the whistlers fly 

 in pairs. The time for mating has come, 

 and the hunter who has the greatest num- 

 ber of females among his flock of decoys 

 will obtain the best shooting. Then all the 

 ducks gather in an immense flock for the 

 flight North. This is generally in May, 



or if spring be early, in the latter part of 

 March and April. 



I have tried to lay before you the habits 

 of our species of wild fowl in order to ask 

 your opinion as to what should be done tc 

 bring back to us at least one month of our 

 favorite sport. If the close season could 

 be made here as an exception, say March 1 

 to September 16, or even February 1 to 

 September 16, it would give us a chance to 

 use our guns. We would greatly prize the 

 opinion of the President of the League of 

 American Sportsmen on this subject of so 

 much interest to the sportsmen of the St 

 Lawrence river. 



Ashley D. Conger, Ogdensburg, N. Y. 



_ I can not advise the enactment of a spe- 

 cial law to cover your section of country. 

 I here are too many exceptions to the gen- 

 eral game law of this State already, and as 

 a consequence it is difficult to enforce the 

 laws. It frequently happens that where 2 

 aajoinmg counties have different laws a 

 man who is arrested in one county for vio- 

 lating a law claims that the game was killed 

 across the line in the other county. Fur- 

 thermore, county lines are not prominently 

 marked -anywhere, and it is often difficult 

 for even an honest man to know whether 

 he is hunting in St. Lawrence county or 

 Franklin county, for instance. The laws 

 should be uniform throughout this State 

 and all other States. Such laws may some- 

 times work a hardship on some people, but 

 it often happens that the will of a few men 

 must btnd to serve the best interests of 

 the majority.— Editor. 



IN MICHIGAN WOODS. 

 On a cold day in the latter part of Oc- 

 tober a party of 6 was speeding North- 

 ward over the rails. We were going hunt- 

 ing, and, having heard deer were abundant 

 we doubted not that we should get our 

 share. 



Leaving the railroad, a tiresome drive of 

 30 miles over sandy ridges and corduroy 

 roads took us to our hunting grounds. 

 Finding no householder willing to take us 

 all in, we separated, 3 of us going to board 

 at one house and 3 at another. The divis- 

 ion in which I was included was billeted 

 on an old Scotchman, who lived alone in 

 a log cabin, a mile back from the road. We 

 slept in the garret of the cabin on blankets 

 spread on the floor. 



The first morning of our stay we were 

 up with the sun. Choosing each our own 

 course we struck into the woods. My 

 first shot was at a fawn just out of the 

 spotted coat, which I jumped from under 

 a fallen tree top. The perverse thing ran 

 zigzag, dodging first one way then another 

 Catching him through the sights, I fired, 

 but when the bullet got there the fawn was 

 somewhere else. I started several more 



