THE NEW YORK DEER LAW. 



JAMES M. GRAVES. 



Let us cling with all tenacity to the 

 motto you suggested: "Stop spring shoot- 

 ing ! Stop the sale of game !" Why spring 

 shooting was ever allowed is a mystery 

 to me. I never pass bunches of ducks or 

 snipe hanging in market at that season 

 without involuntarily beginning to com- 

 pute the number of birds less in the fall 

 that will result from such slaughter. I 

 do not mean to imply that I have never 

 shot such birds in the spring. It takes 

 a lot of hard thinking and self-sacrifice 

 to abandon a pleasure sanctioned by law 

 and being pursued with zest by your 

 friends and others. Last spring, however, 

 I shot a dusky duck and on dressing it 

 found a bunch of newly formed eggs. I 

 took an oath then never again to shoot a 

 game bird in the spring, law or no law. 



A theory has been advanced by some and 

 denied by others that certain of our ducks 

 would nest here if let alone in the spring. 

 It is not uncommon for dusky ducks and 

 teal to nest in this section. I have seen 

 many a flock of ducklings in the 

 marshy brooks of my native town on the 

 St. Lawrence. 



It seems a pity that a good law can 

 not be given a chance to prove itself. When 

 the Ives law was passed prohibiting hound- 

 ing and jacking for 5 years, why was it 

 not let alone for the time designated? It 

 was the general opinion among- sportsmen 

 that deer were on the increase under it, 

 and what more could we want? But no; it 

 must be monkeyed with. The term is not 

 elegant, but is most appropriate for much 

 of our game legislation. 



With the ostensible purpose of protect- 

 ing deer, the August shooting was cut off. 

 While this meant protection to some ex- 

 tent it would have been 10-fold greater 

 had the November shooting been cut off 

 instead. Or, if they were bound to cut 

 off the first 15 days, then cut off the last 

 15 also. The people who visit the Adiron- 

 dacks for camping and hunting are not 

 fools. They know that in 3 years out of 

 5 the conditions are such that more deer 

 can be and are killed in the 15 days of No- 

 vember than in all the rest of the season. 

 That game law is best which furnishes 

 most protection to game and gives pleasure 

 to the greatest number of sportsmen. 



By cutting off the August shooting a 

 larger number of people are deprived of 

 the sport. They have no other time at 

 their disposal ; and as a whole they are 

 persons who have as great a respect for 

 the law as any other class, if not 

 greater. For a law to be of any avail it 



361 



must appeal to the judgment of the ma- 

 jority affected by it. It must be reason- 

 able, otherwise the whole standing army 

 would be necessary to enforce it.. 



The persons thus deprived would 

 swallow their medicine with good grace if 

 they knew it was bringing the most pro- 

 tection to the deer; but they know it is 

 not. They know that 5 deer are killed in 

 the 15 days of November to one in the 15 

 days of August. A law of this nature 

 breeds contempt for and disregard of it- 

 self. I know whereof I speak. I have not 

 missed a summer in the Adirondacks for 

 12 years and never had I seen the laws 

 so well and cheerfully obeyed as during 

 the summer just preceding the cutting off 

 of August shooting. There was a growing 

 belief in the efficacy and justice of the law. 



On the other hand, I never saw such an 

 utter disregard for the law as during the 

 season just past. 



Any 10 year old boy can sharpen a stick 

 and go out and kill a deer on soft 

 snow. The first snows usually follow a 

 heavy rain which has so saturated the 

 leaves as to make them practically noise- 

 less even before the white mantle com- 

 pletes the work. The hunter can select 

 his deer from the size of the track and 

 strike out with a definite aim in view. 

 His moccasined feet make as little noise 

 on the soft white cushion as the blade of 

 a skilled paddler in a placid stream.. Often 

 he comes on his quarr asleep in its noon- 

 day bed and the animal dies without even 

 seeing the face of its assassin. 



To illustrate the result of snow hunting 

 I refer to some of the clubs whose mem- 

 bers are mostly of this town. Last year 

 the Inlet and the Granshue Clubs killed 

 45 deer on the snow. The previous year 

 the latter club had close picking to obtain 

 venison enough for camp. The season was 

 dry, but when the snow came they killed 

 17 deer in 4 or 5 days. Two years ago in 

 the region where I go, a reliable native 

 told me there was not a man in the neigh- 

 borhood, or a bov. either, of hunting age, 

 who did not kill a deer on the snow the 

 last day of the season and many of them 

 killed 2 or 3. Could these things have 

 happened still hunting on bare ground or 

 in foliage? 



Moreover, when a party go into camp 

 in November they go solely for hunting. 

 They have to keep on the move to keep 

 warm. There is no sitting down on a log 

 for an hour or so to smoke, nor sitting with 

 back against a tree for a snooze. 



Deer shot in November can be hung up 



