346 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



CHAPTER XVIII 



BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 

 BY CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY 



MANY statements to the contrary notwithstanding, I venture to 

 assert that, in spite of the evil doings of the ' scallawag ' and 

 the meat-hunter, there is still quite enough big game in many 

 parts of the American continent to amply satisfy the desires of 

 any reasonable big game hunter, meaning by that term one 

 who is content to work moderately hard in an exquisite climate, 

 free from fever and other Oriental troubles, for a few good 

 trophies every season, and enough meat to keep his camp 

 supplied. 



It is undoubtedly true that you cannot any longer kill 

 hundreds of head of big game to your own rifle in one season ; 

 it is also true that the game laws of Canada and the United 

 States have somewhat curtailed the liberty of the sportsman ; 

 but it is true too that amongst English sportsmen the number 

 of those who would care to shoot down hundreds of stags, &c. 

 in one season is limited, and that not a few of them realise 

 that the game laws of America, though often ill-framed and 

 always badly enforced, are still in the best interests of those 

 whom they control. There are, of course, mistakes in every 

 code of laws. For instance, it is a mistake I think to protect 

 sheep absolutely in Colorado, while wapiti are not similarly 

 protected ; for sheep are now more numerous there than wapiti, 

 are much less easily obtained by the meat-hunter, and are less 

 profitable to him when he has obtained them. 



