The Adirondack Deer Law 



many men who had been most devoted to 

 hounding, were forced to admit that if the 

 deer are to be preserved, they must be pro- 

 tected from a form of hunting which makes 

 their death inevitable when they get into the 

 water. The unsportsmanlike method of shoot- 

 ing the swimming deer from a boat was gen- 

 erally deprecated. 



Greatly encouraged by what I had learned, 

 I went back to the Legislature, hopeful that 

 during the session of 1897 satisfactory legisla- 

 tion could be secured, and this proved to be 

 the case. The contest was renewed with in- 

 creased energy. Notwithstanding the force 

 of fact and argument, it was still impossible to 

 pass" a law prohibiting absolutely these two 

 methods of hunting ; but a compromise law 

 was enacted, by which they were prohibited 

 for five years. 



Any one who kills deer must recognize that 

 the contest at best is an unequal one. The 

 man with a rifle is at such a great advantage 

 that there is comparatively little to be proud 

 of in killing a deer under any circumstances. 

 But when one is compelled to match his phys- 

 ical endurance, his woodcraft, and his skill as 

 a hunter, against the deer's natural instinct, 



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