272 The Ruffed Grouse 



1851: Delaware— season closed March 1— July 1. 



1858; Maine— season closed March 1— July 1. 



1862; New York— sale prohibited during closed season, whole 

 state. 



1867; New York— possession permit required to keep them alive 

 over winter. 



1869: Pennsylvania— prohibited baiting, trapping, snaring; West 

 Virginia— season closed February 14— September 1; Maine 

 —closed season extended to February 1— September 1. 



1878; District of Columbia— season closed and sale prohibited 

 February 1— August 1. 



1887; Delaware— no hunting when snow on groimd. 



1897; Pennsylvania— sale prohibited. 



1911; New York— sale prohibited. 



1928: New York— first completely closed season (effective for 

 two years). 



This list is far from a complete record of the attention given to 

 grouse by the legislatures, but it gives the trend of events by pe- 

 riods from complete freedom to complete closure. 



For a long time it was felt that game abundance could be ac- 

 complished by the simple procedure of legislating it. As more and 

 more restrictions successively failed to accomplish this end, various 

 supplementary efforts were one by one brought into play. But it 

 should be clearly recognized that even though legislation and law 

 enforcement are not synonymous with game management, they are, 

 ff adequate, the essential foundation of any soimd system of game 

 management. To say that our present laws are not adequate is to 

 state the obvious. Their immense variation from state to state is 

 ample evidence of this. 



Probably the greatest weakness in the grouse laws ( as well as all 

 other game laws ) of most of our states today is the lack of authority 

 in the executive conservation officer to adjust seasons and bag 

 limits without resorting to specific legislation. Legislative machinery 

 is notoriously slow, and grouse do not wait on the good senators to 

 undergo marked increases and decreases in numbers. If lack of con- 

 fidence in the executive setup deters the legislature from delegating 

 this authority, then they should readjust the system so that there are 

 adequate safeguards. Most important, the authority is direly needed 

 somewhere ff good game management is to result. 



