The Audubon Societies 



145 



that he had given up hunting and gone to 

 farming, except when he guided parties. I 

 noted quite a faliing-off of Mallards, al- 

 though then they were plentiful to northern 



eyes. was the most noted hunter 



there. Such a skilful 'shot' as he could 

 easily get one hundred Ducks in a day. He 

 said that, in previous seasons, there had 

 been thirty days when he got more than two 

 hundred Ducks each day. He and my com- 

 panion and I shot ninety-two Snipe in one 

 day — a sickening record. I vowed it would 

 be enough for a lifetime, and I think it has 

 been. I was there a few days each winter, 

 and I am now ashamed to say, in February. 

 Then, I was thoughtless of bird protection; 

 never realized, nor had heard about the evils 

 of spring shooting; it was an open season, 

 and that sufficed. This I mention, as I be- 

 lieve many sportsmen have just that attitude 

 and need only the persuasive, educational 

 influence, and the information and reasons 

 shown for the preservation of birds by the 

 National Association. 



"Down there the hunters shoot Snipe for 

 market only when they can find them squat- 

 ting on the ground, for to shoot single fly- 

 ing birds would require more time and am- 

 munition than would be covered by the 

 price received for the birds. My ' hunter ' 

 told me — and certainly not to brag, but in 

 connection with market-shooting of Snipe — 

 that, once, after a sleet-storm, when the 

 marshes were covered with thin sleet, ex- 

 cept in the muddy trails trod by the large 

 herds of cattle, the Snipe squatted in rows 

 along the trails, and there the men potted 

 them in paying quantities. That was the 

 occupation of these men. Why not gather 

 the harvest when it was ready before them, 

 was, I presume, their justification, if, in- 

 deed, they ever thought any was called for, 

 for such destruction of that gamey little 

 bird. 



"Many sportsmen went there for Snipe, 

 and, with one or two good dogs, could 

 easily get one hundred Snipe in a day; and 

 seldom did even sportsmen halt till the sun 



went down! Upon later visits to , I 



heard that all such game as I have men- 

 tioned had diminished materially. In the 

 vicinity of was a famous wild-celery 



pond which a rich banker had gotten pos- 

 session of. From all accounts, and the fights 

 — legal and physical — over the rights to 

 access to this pond which this ' bounder ' of 

 a sportsman had corraled and used as a show 



place for lions visiting , and of his 



keeping a gang of men there to shoot for him 



and of his shipments to and others, I 



judged this man as more guilty than the ordi- 

 nary pot-hunter. They said he made lots of 

 money out of the venture. I think his name 



is , and probably I could ascertain 



positively. Perhaps, now, he may be oppos- 

 ing your efforts to have Texas enforce its 

 non-export law, and to exact a law to pre- 

 vent the sale of game and spring shooting. 

 It really would not surprise me. We have 

 individuals and clubs in Massachusetts — 

 men of means, not real sportsmen it is true — 

 who have 'ducking' and 'goose-stands' 

 where they regularly have their care-takers 

 shoot and sell birds to pay the expenses of, 

 or make profits on, the 'stand.' This last, 

 incidentally, is the cause of thinning-out 

 the Geese and Black Ducks, which are an 

 easy prey to the highly organized decoying 

 artifices employed." 



Wisconsin. — A bill was introduced in 

 the Legislature to repeal the anti-spring- 

 shooting wild-fowl law in the state. The 

 Fish and Game Commission and the Audu- 

 bon Society of Wisconsin, and a number of 

 other persons who are deeply interested in 

 tl^^ matter, are combating the bill with all 

 their power and will probably be successful 

 in defeating the measure. 



Wisconsin now occupies the proud posi- 

 tion of being one of the first states to adopt 

 the anti-spring-shooting law, and the position 

 occupied by that state has always been 

 pointed to by this Association as an example 

 of excellent and wise legislation. Should a 

 retrograde step now be taken there, the in- 

 fluence exerted will be very bad indeed 

 in all other parts of the country. Wis- 

 consin is so near the Chicago market, one 

 of the great game-distributing points of the 

 country, that there is undoubtedly a strong 

 market-shooting influence that is at work in 

 Wisconsin. There is no doubt that the 

 great majority of the citizens of Wiscon- 



