ii6 NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



with the make-up of the book ; but the sportsman should 

 always procure a copy of the existing game regulations 

 before undertaking a journey to the island. According to 

 the present game laws of Newfoundland, shooting Caribou 

 is allowed after the first day of August ; it is quite a question 

 whether so early a season is advisable. To begin with, from 

 the sportsman's point of view, it is scarcely worth while 

 killing the stags while their horns are still in the velvet, and 

 soft, as they are until September. Such horns are difficult 

 to preserve, at least until the velvet begins to dry. Then, 

 also, during the warm weather of August, the meat does not 

 keep for any length of time, unless salted or smoked, so 

 that most of it is likely to spoil before it can be used. Of 

 course, it is a convenience, when out on a fishing trip in a 

 wild country, to be able to procure a piece of fresh meat, 

 as fish becomes monotonous as a steady diet, and this is 

 especially true of salmon and trout. Besides these reasons, 

 this early season has a disadvantage in that it allows fire-arms 

 to be carried into the woods at a time when they are better 

 left behind, as no shooting of other game, except bear (for 

 these, I believe, there is no close season), is allowed. 



The game laws of Newfoundland are, I consider, as nearly 

 perfect as any in existence ; they are fair to every class, and 

 give no particular advantage to those who are blessed with 

 sufficient of this world's goods to enable them to control 

 both shooting and fishing to the exclusion of the less fortunate 

 whose purse is out of all proportion to their love of sport. 

 Other countries are beginning to realise their mistake in 

 having allowed the few, who are rich, to take up great tracts 

 of land. In wild country, both fishing and shooting lands 

 should be open to all, controlled by sensible laws, and 

 maintained by the payment of reasonable licence. Not only 

 does this method stimulate a greater interest among the 



