210 WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



in these populous United States wherein there is no longer 

 game shooting of any kind! The gameless localities are in- 

 creasing, in number and in area, at an alarming rate. For 

 example, in the hilly wilderness of the western Berkshire 

 Hills, New York, which we know well, there is absolutely 

 no hunting save of ruffed grouse, on a basis of four birds 

 per day. Deer are there, and a very, very few quail, but 

 not enough that it is right for any man to kill a single one 

 of either species ; and the law absolutely protects both spe- 

 cies. The guns are hanging up. The time may come when 

 it will be right to have an open season on quail, or deer, 

 but I do not believe that it ever will. I fear that New York 

 was about ten years too late in giving her quail a 5-year 

 close season. The sportsmen of the state lost a year, hesi- 

 tating, after the demand for a long close season had been 

 made. On account of natural enemies and hard conditions, 

 I fear that there never again will be any real quail shooting 

 in the State of New York. We foolishly and wickedly frit- 

 tered away our chance to save our native quail on a perma- 

 nent basis ; and all efforts at restocking have failed. It be- 

 gins to look as if our 5-year close season came too late. 



Look at Colorado, as an object lesson. According to our 

 crude and bungling American ideas of big game "protec- 

 tion," Colorado is, and long has been, a good game-protect- 

 ing state. She was the first state to stop all mountain sheep 

 hunting, twenty-seven years ago; and she has successfully 

 brought back to her state fauna that fine species. She was 

 the first state to provide for the sale of game and fish reared 

 in captivity under a tagging system. But concerning big 

 game, Colorado's laws too long remained fatally liberal to 

 the hunters. The guns were far too many; and the game 

 too easy to kill. Result: Today in Colorado, once one of 

 the finest of all states for big game, there is "no hunting of 

 elk, deer, mountain sheep, antelope, wild turkey, quail or 

 pheasant!" In other words, in Colorado, sport with the rifle 

 now is EXTINCT ; and sport with the shotgun is nearly so ! 



