162 Thirtieth Annual Meeting 



The trout and salmon waters of Maine, with a few exceptions, 

 are open to the non-resident sportsman from May 1st to October 

 1st, and tlie catch limited to twenty-five pounds at any one time. 

 The best fishing is secured immediately after the ice leaves the 

 lakes, and every spring thousands of fishermen all over the coun- 

 try await the telegram that tells them the lakes are clear and 

 .sport may begin. 



As many of the slides relate to the game interests of the state 

 a brief reference seems necessary. 



Almost all the fishing resorts become game resorts after the 

 1st of October. For weeks, much of the time extra cars are neces- 

 ■sary to move the quantities of game which the non-residents take 

 ■out of the state with them. It is estimated that 15,000 deer are 

 Killed in Maine annually. About 200 moose are each year 

 ^shipped out of the Bangor and x^roostook region alone. 



Do you ask how the game can maintain its numbers against 

 5uch slaughter? The answer is first, wise protective laws strin- 

 gently enforced ; second, the great timber sections back from the 

 main water ways where the hunter seldom penetrates. These 

 regions are natural breeding grounds where the game is seldom 

 molested. Of course deer and moose have almost no natural ene- 

 mies now. The wolf was exterminated many years ago, and the 

 bear and wild cats are not numerous enoiigh to do serious dam- 

 age. 



The increase of deer in Maine during the last two decades 

 Jias been nothing short of marvelous. I can remember when it 

 was a very remarkable event for a deer to be seen or heard of near 

 my home at Dover. Now there are thousands of them within a 

 jadius of twenty-five miles and they are frequently seen on the 

 outskirts of the village. 



Moose, too, are slowly but surely on the gain. The illegal 

 .slaughter of moose by wealthy Sportsmen — so called — who make 

 no preteuse to honor in such matters and care nothing for a fine, 

 Tias been stopped by the imposition of a short jail sentence. 



We will now have the lights turned off and fancy ourselves 

 for a time in that great ffame land of the east, the state of Maine. 



