SPORT ON LONG ISLAND 



By CHARLES A. I'JRAMIJLE 



VERY New Yorker 

 who has a drop of 

 sporting blood in 

 his veins knows, at 

 least in a hazy, 

 indefinite fashion, 

 that there is more 

 or less sport to be 

 had on Long Island. He knows that 

 somewhere or other great quantities of 

 wild fowl are occasionally shot. He has 

 also heard legends of more or less 

 mythical quail, and the deer hunting is 

 brought to his notice prominently each 

 November when ten hundred irrespon- 

 sible, irrational gunners descend upon 

 the island to shoot deer and one an- 

 other. This is, indeed, a strenuous time 

 in the lives of the natives. A careful 

 computation shows that 765 shots are 

 fired for every head of game brought 

 down, while the percentage of mor- 

 tality amongst the hunters may av- 

 erage one for every score of deer 

 brought to bag. But of exact knowl- 

 edge concerning Long Island's re- 

 sources amongst the said New Yorkers 

 there is a painful lack. Let it be my 

 endeavor to supply, as far as possible, 

 in one brief paper, some precise infor- 

 mation. 



Having before us the map of Long 

 Island, we may dismiss as unworthy of 

 further consideration all those over- 

 civilized regions to the westward of a 

 line drawn from Hempstead Harbor to 

 East Rockaway. Here an epidemic of 

 bricks and mortar, cheap cottages and 

 electric railroads, form an unpromis- 

 ing combination from which the sports- 

 man is only too glad to cut loose. To 

 the eastward of this imaginary dead 

 line, we shall find, however, many 

 places where the man with easily con- 

 tented spirit and good stock of per- 

 severance may secure quite as good a 



reward as he has any right to expect 

 so near New York City. 



Indeed, it occasionally happens that 

 even further west, Jamaica Bay, to-wit: 

 there is quite fair shooting for duck 

 during the hard weather. Yet, when 

 we have gone so far, why stop short 

 of quarters where sport is more cer- 

 tain? The waters of Hempstead, South 

 O'yster, Great South, Moriches, Shin- 

 necock, Great and Little Peconic, Gar- 

 diner's and Napeague bays absolutely 

 swarm with fowl, from the month of 

 October until they freeze up, late in 

 December. And during such times good 

 bags of wildfowl are made by men who 

 know the where, and the how, and pos- 

 sess the wherewithal. Babylon, Bay 

 Shore, Patchogue, Bayport, Blue 

 Point, East Quogue, Canoe Place, Riv- 

 erhead, and a dozen other places, are all 

 headquarters from which sport may be 

 had in the proper season and under 

 good conditions. 



The deer-hunting ground is down 

 the centre of the island along the main 

 line of the Long Island Railroad, from 

 Bethpage Junction to Riverhead, the 

 best shooting being probably between 

 Lake Ronkokoma and Calverton. 



The North Shore is more of a rab- 

 bit and quail country, and just at pres- 

 ent is not very inviting for reasons that 

 will be set forth further on. 



One advantage Long Island may 

 claim over most of its rivals is, that 

 wherever you go you will find comfort- 

 able inns, where, for two dollars a day, 

 you can obtain all necessaries and many 

 luxuries. 



The Long Island Railroad gives a 

 superb train service, and by one of its 

 many branches you can reach within a 

 short drive of the wildest and most un- 

 frequented parts of the island. This 

 makes it easy. Moreover, the eastern 



13 



