208 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



the best methods of hunting, preserving the deer, and the laws that should be made to 

 govern the same, each one seems to argue from his standpoint alone ; and, therefore, 

 the confusion of opinions from men whose experience should give their views great 

 weight. 



The hotel men and professional guides advocate hounding ; for the average city 

 hunter insists on dogs as furnishing the most comfortable and exciting hunting. The 

 local hunter prefers to " float," or hunt with the " jacks," as this can be done alone or 

 with a single companion, and does not require an expert shot. The rifle expert, 

 thoroughbred hunter, and one to whom time is no object, advocates the "still hunt." 



Each strives to have the laws made to favor his views and preferences, giving no 

 thought of the needs and rights of the others. They make exaggerated statements of 

 the evils of all other methods but their own, and claim that the other vicious ways 

 are surely exterminating the deer. 



The laws should consider the rights of all these classes. The man with a ten-day 

 vacation, and the one who can spend three months ; the man who lives in New York 

 City, and the frontiersman ; the man who can only hope to kill his deer with a shot- 

 gun at fifty yards, and the one who can clip the head of a partridge at one hundred 

 yards with a rifle. 



The " great slaughter " of deer that each class insists that the others are guilty 

 of is a humbug, and can be seen only by looking from their hill of self-interest. Many 

 deer are killed by hounding and two-thirds of the deer killed are shot during that 

 season ; but hounding is generally done with parties of two to five guns, and the 

 number of deer slain per gun will not exceed that by the other methods. 



It is easier to kill a deer " jacking," but it must be a moonless night. If on a lake, 

 the wind must not be too high ; the direction of the wind will cut down the field one- 

 half frequently ; the wind and rain will prevent hearing the deer on shore and in the 

 water; unfavorable weather will prevent the deer from coming to water; obstructions 

 in the water, sand bars, lily pads, etc., interfere with the stillness of the progress of the 

 boat; and finally your paddler must be strong and expert. Nothing requires so many 

 favorable conditions to make the hunt a success, as "jacking." Seldom will more than 

 five days in thirty be found favorable. 



If each of the three methods mentioned were analyzed we would find that each had 

 its advantages and drawbacks: each method suits, and is necessary to, a large class of 

 persons who have an equal right to enjoy hunting. 



Coming to the study of the question without any previous experience or prejudice, 

 and having but one object, the preservation and increase of deer on our preserve, I 

 have carefully watched and studied the effect of the several methods, discussed the 

 matter with hunters and guides, and decided several years ago that, as the preserve had 



