The C/ipp Spcf 



No. 10. 



MONTKKAL, OCTOJ5KR 15th, 1881. 





WILLIAM COUPEB, Bditob. 



W. W. DTOLOP, Ashistant Bditob. 



ERNEST I). W1NTLE, Tbeasubbb. 



DESTROYING DEER. 



Wo have received the Fourth Book of the 

 Michigan Sportsmen's Association, being the 

 transactions in lull of the Sixth Annual Ses- 

 sion held at Lansing last January. It embraces 

 several questions of vital importance to the 

 Association, especially regarding the Fish and 

 Game of the State. The Sportsmen of Michi- 

 gan deserve the sympathy and support of all 

 who love to use the rod and gun. and we trust 

 that the State Legislature will embrace and 

 carry out the Laws which the sportsmen of 

 Michigan are anxious to enforce. The late 

 enormous slaughter of deer within the range 

 of the Sporting regions of the Association is 

 sufficient to cause enquiry, and if such illegal 

 killing is not prevented, the ultimate result 

 will be the total extinction of Cervus Virgini- 

 anus in the State of Michigan. We give the 

 following extract from Prof. H. B. Roney's 

 elaborate paper on the destruction of deer 

 in 1880. 



TOTAL EXTINCTION INEVITABLE. 



" These statistics give a grand total of 

 70,000 deer, or about 10,000,000 pounds of 

 venison destroyed in Michigan in the one year 

 of 1880. At this rate how long will it take to 

 exterminate the species in Michigan? How 

 long can the State stand this drain, before the 

 last relic of the noble race disappears? Just 

 about five years, and they will become scarce 

 in loss than twelve months, as indeed they are 

 already. And when the present supply is 

 gone, where can the next come from ? Cer- 

 tainly not from the North, East, or West, for 

 that is a geographical impossibility, while from 

 the South it can not be expected. Unlike 

 other States which border upon vast wilder- 

 nesses out of which a new supply comes to 

 replenish the disappearing race, the Lower 

 Peninsula of Michigan, when it has once per- 

 mitted this noble animal to be exterminated 

 between lakes Michigan and Huron, has for 



ever toel agreal source of wealth and valuable 

 food supply, which if now wisely presei 

 will last for generations." 



The Sporting Clubs of Canada will have to 

 keep a .-harp lookout in order to prevenl a 

 similar slaughter along the woodlands of our 

 Northern lakes, because we are fully aware 

 that when market hunters are not allowed t" 

 enter the woods of Michigan, they will doubt- 

 less have to procure the animals from other 

 localities, and they will enter Canada tor their 

 game. We have had an instance of this from 

 market fishers who hail a contract to supply 

 American hotels with a weekly weight of Brook 

 Trout, the fish being then supplied from the 

 Adirondacks. The ponds or lakes of the latter 

 locality were quickly exhausted and could not 

 supply the demand, but in order to do 80, the 

 contractors came to fish the trout regions in 

 the Province of Quebec One thousand 

 pounds was the weekly weight sent out, and 

 this was carried on profitably for nearly three 

 years before the Fishery Department .-topped 

 it. The taking of this quantity of trout at 

 that time from the Laurentian lakes, did not, 

 in our opinion, make a great difference in the 

 way of decreasing the annual production, a* 

 the natural facilities for the propagation of 

 trout in our Northern lakes and rivers, are 

 not surpassed in any other portion of the world. 

 The spawning-grounds adjoining our northern 

 mountain lakes are cool and numerous, and 

 will therefore be always productive. 



It is different with doer, which are only 

 found within their food ranges and are ao 

 ible during the open season. We cannot allow 

 American market hunters to enter those door 

 frequenting localities to slaughter them a< they 

 have been in the wilds of Michigan-. This privi- 

 lege is only for the humane sportsman who 

 goes out to enjoy a few days, not w ith the purpose 

 of making money from his skill iu handling 

 the rilie — not with the intent of destroying 



