. THE GAME BREEDER 



WHY OUR GAME VANISHES 



By Dwight W. Huntington 

 Author of "Our Feathered Game;" "Our Wild Fowl & Waders," etc. 



Before proceeding to a discussion of 

 the needed reform in the American game 

 laws and the proper methods which 

 should be used to make game abundant, 

 and cheap in the markets, it seems well 

 to ascertain why our game vanishes. 

 Some of the matter in this article may 

 seem to be repetitious to old "Amateur 

 Sportsman" readers but the "Game 

 Breeder" has a large and new audience 

 €ager to know what is the matter. 



The governor of a New England state 

 told me not long ago that about one- 

 tenth of the legislation in his state re- 

 lated to game. In another state over 

 eighty game bills became laws at one ses- 

 sion of the legislative assembly, and 

 many more which were introduced and 

 ■debated, failed on their passage : and so 

 it is throughout America — our game 

 legislation, .everywhere, seems to be ex- 

 cessive. 



But when we inquire how fares the 

 game? we are told that it seems to he 

 vanishing everywhere. Evidently there 

 is something wrong. Even the children 

 now read in a biology used in the public 

 schools of New York, that although the 

 prairie grouse is protected for eleven 

 tnonths of the year, this splendid bird 

 is "doomed to extinction." I claim it 

 is "doomed" to abundance. 



Whenever the extirpation of American 

 game is discussed the writer or lecturer 

 ^gins, usually, by contrasting the form- 

 er tremendous abundance of the wild 

 food birds (when turkeys sold for 25c. 

 and apprentices in the north and slaves 

 in the south were protected in contracts 

 from a game diet) with their present 

 scarcity and continued diminution. Often 

 an appeal is made for more funds to 

 secure more laws to further restrict the 

 shooting or handling of game. It is 

 fashionable to refer to the passing of 

 the bison and the pigeon in order to em- 

 phasize the need for more money to 

 secure more laws. The fact that we 



have a thousand more laws than any 

 country which has game seems to be 

 overlooked. Millions of dollars are ex- 

 pended annually in the effort to save the 

 game, but the game continues to vanish. 



.A recent report of the Bison Society, 

 informs us that this interesting animal 

 has shown an increase in numbers dur- 

 ing the past few years. The reason 

 given for the increase is significant. The 

 few bison which were alive when the as- 

 sociation was formed have been properly 

 looked after by individuals in private 

 parks and also in some public parks or 

 reservations which were created at the 

 suggestion of the association. The 

 owners look after their "buffalo" in the 

 private parks because it pays to do so. 

 These animals are quoted in a breeder's 

 advertisement at $200 to $400 each. The 

 bison in public parks are cared for at 

 public expense. The point I wish to 

 emphasize is that our multitudinous 

 game laws have not been relied on to 

 save the bison. The last herd of these 

 animals (running wild) became extinct 

 after the state in which they occurred 

 had enacted a statute prohibiting the 

 shooting of them at all times. Restric- 

 tive legislation could go no further. 



If any one should donate a million 

 bison to Montana or to any of the other 

 states, where I have shot bison in good 

 numbers, they could not be introduced 

 and made a sporting animal for the very 

 good reason that the lands which they 

 occupied are now used for ranches and 

 farms and the food produced is need- 

 ed for other animals — the cattle and the 

 sheep. 



There are good reasons why our wild 

 food birds vanish and why they must 

 continue to vanish if we rely only on 

 game laws to save them, and if no one 

 looks after them properly. All of the 

 species tend to increase their numbers in 

 a marvellous manner. The ratio of in- 

 crease is geometrical. One pair of quail 



