512 ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



A SPORTSMAN'S PLATFORM. 



FIFTEEN CARDINAL PRINCIPLES AFFECTING WILD GAME AND ITS PURSUIT. 



Proposed by William T. Homaday, April 17, 1908. 



1. The wild animal life of to-day is not ours, to do with as we please. The original stock is 

 given to us in trust, for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an account- 

 ing of this trust to those who come after us. 



2. Judging from the rate at which the wild creatures of North America are now being de- 

 stroyed, fifty years hence there will be no large game left in the United States nor in Canada out- 

 side of rigidly protected game preserves. It is therefore the duty of every good citizen to promote 

 the protection of forests and wild life, and the creation of game preserves, while a supply of game 

 remains. Every man who finds pleasure in hunting or fishing should be willing to spend both time 

 and money in active work for the protection of forests, fish and game. 



3. The sale of game is incompatible with the perpetual preservation of a proper stock of 

 game; therefore it should be prohibited, by laws and by public sentiment. 



4. In the settled and civilized regions of North America, there is no real necessity for the 

 consumption of wild game as human food; nor is there any good excuse for the sale of game for 

 food purposes. The maintenance of hired laborers on wild game should be prohibited, every- 

 where, under severe penalties. 



5. An Indian has no more right to kill wild game, or to subsist upon it all the year round, than 

 any white man in the same locality. The Indian has no inherent or God-given ownership of the 

 game of North America, any more than of its mineral resources ; and he should be governed by the 

 same game laws as white men. 



6. No man can be a good citizen and also be a slaughterer of game or fishes beyond the nar- 

 row limits compatible with high-class sportsmanship. 



7. A game-butcher or a market-hunter is an undesirable citizen, and should be treated as such. 



8. The highest purpose which the killing of wild game and game fishes can hereafter be made 

 to serve is in furnishing objects to overworked men for tramping and camping trips in the wilds; 

 and the value of wild game as human food should no longer be regarded as an important factor in 

 its pursuit. 



9- If rightly conserved, wild game constitutes a valuable asset to any country which possesses 

 it; and it is good statesmanship to protect it. 



10. An ideal hunting trip consists of a good comrade, fine country, and a very few trophies 

 per hunter. 



11. In an ideal hunting trip, the death of the game is only an incident; and by no means is 

 it really necessary to a successful outing. 



12. The best hunter is the man who finds the most game, kills the least, and leaves behind 

 him no wounded animals. 



13. The killing of an animal means the end of its most interesting period. When the coun- 

 try is fine, pursuit is more interesting than possession. 



1 A. The killing of a female hoofed animal, save for special preservation, is to be regarded as 

 incompatible with the highest sportsmanship; and it should everywhere be prohibited by stringent 

 laws. 



15. A particularly fine photograph of a large wild animal in its haunts is entitled to more 

 credit than the dead trophy of a similar animal. An animal that has been photographed never 

 should be killed, unless previously wounded in the chase. 



