SPRING SHOOTING. 59 1 



If the claims of such men are founded on fact, their 

 case is certainly a hard one, but, manifestly, laws limit- 

 ing the shooting of fowl should not be applied to any 

 one section, but should be general. 



Within the recollection of men who are not yet old, 

 more than one species of bird and mammal have become 

 extinct in America, while over large sections of the 

 country many species have been practically extermi- 

 nated. If gunners generally could be induced to take 

 a broad view of these matters, and to consider the gen- 

 eral good, rather than their own selfish advantage, the 

 cause of game protection would be greatly helped, and 

 the gunners themselves, after a few years, would be 

 greatly benefited. It is to be hoped that before long 

 most of the States will have followed the worthy ex- 

 ample set them by a small number of those in the 

 Northwest, and will enact laws leading to the better 

 protection of our fowl. 



Years ago, the suggestion that spring shooting 

 should be abolished was commonly laughed at, but 

 slowly a belief in the necessity of limiting the shooting 

 has grown, until now there are a few States which pro- 

 hibit spring shooting altogether, and a few others 

 which prohibit it in a more or less half-hearted way. 

 In Vermont the season for shooting wild ducks ends 

 January ist, and in New Hampshire, February ist. Of 

 course, long before these dates, all the ducks and geese 

 have gone South, not to return until the ice breaks up 

 in the spring. In Minnesota, the season for wildfowl 

 closes January ist, and in Idaho, March ist, in both 



