3 I2 



RECREATION. 



thing unless I catch these lawbreakers on 

 my own premises. 



There were a number of deer on my own 

 place a short time ago and I did the best 

 I could to leave them undisturbed. They 

 fed at night in my back fields, drank and 

 waded in the little lake in my pasture and 

 slept and rested in a thick second growth 

 patch adjoining my wood lot ; but these 

 hogs found my little herd of deer and have 

 killed or frightened them away. I hear 

 shooting every night in some one of the 

 feeding places which are all within half a 

 mile or so of my house. 



S. C; Brighton, Me. 



I have just returned from a 10 days' 

 hunt in this State and I find grouse have 

 changed their habits entirely since my boy- 

 hood days. Then they could be found any- 

 where, while now they are found only in 

 swamps and thick pine woods. There is 

 no danger of grouse becoming extinct from 

 any but natural causes in this section, for the 

 pines and brambles are so thick it is difficult 

 to see the birds when they flush, and impos- 

 sible to kill them, except by a chance shot. 

 A hunter can easily start 10 to 30 in a day's 

 hunt ; he will be lucky if he sees 5 or 6 of 

 them, and more lucky still if he gets any 

 at all. They are little hunted, and but for 

 the fact that foxes are as thick as house 

 cats in a city, grouse would be exceedingly 

 plentiful. We found a few late fall wood- 

 cock, but they are abundant in spring, 

 summer and early fall. Wild turkeys are 

 fairly plentiful, while deer in some coun- 

 ties are a nuisance. They increase rapidly, 

 as the swamps and marshes make it next 

 to impossible to hunt them except with 

 dogs. E. C. Payne, Richmond, Va. 



November 3, 1903, J. C. Kilborn and P. 

 T. Kilborn, of Ralston, Pa., and J. S. Sible 

 and I, of Harrisburg, moved our porta- 

 ble house from Ralston to the head waters 

 of Hagerman's run, where we camped 2 

 weeks. The house is built of half inch 

 basswood, matched lumber, 8x13 feet and 

 6 feet to the eaves, . w T ith floor of rough 

 boards. It is in sections and is held to- 

 gether by hooks and eyes. We found it a 

 convenient and warm habitation, and, 

 when not in use, easily stored. Our larder 

 was well filled with good things, and our 

 latchstring hung out for all visitors. Four 

 bucks were shot by the party, 2 falling to 

 me. It was my first deer hunt in 23 

 years, and those 2 were all I saw. 



Deer are on the increase in Lycoming 

 county ; the vigilance of true sportsmen in 

 their protection and the dense second 

 growth of the country favor them. A large 

 black bear was wounded by F. P. Keys, bur 

 got away. Bear are plentiful in that section 

 and several were seen. 



J. W. Kilborn, Harrisburg, Pa. 



I have been a constant reader of your 

 magazine the last 2 years, and can hardly 

 wait until the next copy of Recreation 

 comes around. Your manly stand in re- 

 gard to game protection is what I most 

 admire; also your condemnation of the 

 game hog. There are a few of those ani- 

 mals here on the Pacific slope, but not so 

 many as formerly. I think if you could 

 send each hog a copy of Recreation he 

 would swear off and be a man ; at least 

 no one with any manhood left would 

 slaughter game after reading a few copies 

 of Recreation. I was re-elected shooting 

 master for 190.1 of the Columbia Fistol 

 and Rifle Club of San Francisco. I did in- 

 tend to buy an automatic shot gun, but 

 after reading your editorial in November 

 issue will get a double barrel. If you ever 

 come to our side of the continent I shall 

 deem it a great honor to help entertain the 

 champion of our fast disappearing game. 



Frank Knostman, San Francisco, Cal. 



With my father and a cousin I camped 

 2 days last winter at Grassy lake, 10 miles 

 South of here. From one o'clock until dark 

 ducks came in great flocks to rest on the 

 lake. We procured boats and went after 

 them. Before night I had 9 birds and had 

 dropped as many more in thick brush, 

 where I could not find them. Father killed 

 6, and my cousin, 11. They also lost a num- 

 ber of ducks in the brush. The following 

 morning we secured a few more birds, and 

 then set out for home. Just before we left 

 the bottom a big drove of turkeys crossed 

 the road ahead of us. Father and I hid 

 among the trees, while my cousin drove on, 

 intending to circle the birds and force them 

 toward us. As it happened, they came in 

 my direction and father did not get a shot. 

 I killed one big gobbler on the ground and 

 another on the wing. 



J. H. Brannon, Conway, Ark. 



_ Nature is always worth studying, espe- 

 cially near our own homes. Nothing gives 

 me more pleasure than to put my camera 

 in one pocket, my lunch in another, and 

 stroll forth to study my wild neighbors. 

 The camera hunter is fast taking the place 

 of the gun hunter. It is far more interest- 

 ing and instructive to study nature with a 

 camera tfian with a gun. The day is not far 

 away when laws will be passed forbidding 

 the killing of any wild animal or game bird. 

 The repeating rifle and shot gun are fast 

 exterminating our forest friends. 



There is a miniature forest near my home 

 in which I spend many enjoyable hours. I 

 have found no better place to study nature 

 than there. 



Matthew J. Harkins, Brookline. Mass. 



