366 



RECREATION. 



are still plentiful. Doves are abundant; 

 jack rabbits are numerous on the prairie; 

 and the chaparral is fairly infested with 

 cottontails. 



During 'the last 3 years there has been 

 a great change for the better in sentiment 

 here regarding game protection. The cir- 

 culation of Recreation is growing in 

 our community. This, and the constant 

 preaching and practice of 2 or 3 real sports- 

 men, have educated the shooters, particu- 

 larly the younger ones, in a way that is 

 surprising. The young men have quit pot- 

 ting birds, have taken to wing shooting, 

 and are satisfied with reasonable bags. 

 They put up their guns at the close of the 

 season, and are talking protection and ob- 

 servance of the law. 



Until recently, the observance of close 

 season on game in Southwest Texas has 

 been almost unknown. The laws have 

 knocked out market hunters on native 

 game, by strictly prohibiting its shipment, 

 though some marketing is still done on the 

 sly. But the slaughter of migratory game 

 still goes on ruthlessly. 



This immediate section has been greatly 

 troubled lately by a nuisance that threatens 

 to undo much of the good that has been 

 •accomplished among our young shooters. 

 We have been infested by visiting hunters, 

 mostly from San Antonio, and some from 

 out of the State, who came in and slaugh- 

 tered all the game they could hit. They 

 carried it away in their grips and game 

 bags, the courts having decided that the 

 carrying of game by hand as personal 

 property is not illegal. 



Few of these people show any courtesy 

 to the residents here. Most of them bring 

 a full outfit for one or 2 days, usually Sat- 

 urday and Sunday, stay their time out, 

 and take their game away with them, say- 

 ing "Thank you" to no one. They usually 

 bag 25 to 100 birds, the average being 

 about 40. 



But it was left for 2 men from abroad 

 to play game hog to their hearts' content. 

 Richard Merrill, of Milwaukee, Wis., and 

 C. M. Powers, of Decatur, 111., came with 

 all necessary tools for their business — port- 

 able dog kennels, shells by the case, etc. 

 They said they were going to have a good 

 time in their own way, and they had it, 

 despite outspoken protests. They were 

 warned that visiting hogs were in bad re- 

 pute, but that made no difference. They 

 had permission from someone, and hired 

 a hack by the day, and used both hack and 

 permission to the limit for 10 days. I am 

 told they averaged 60 quails a day. One 

 day they got 35 quails and J2 doves, "and 

 that was not a good day." They had 83 

 doves the day they left; how many 

 quails, I do not know. 



They went from here to Corpus Christi. 



Returning a few days later, one of them 

 boasted of having killed, if I mistake not, 

 60 ducks in 3 hours. They put in 3 or 4 

 more days of slaughter here. When leav- 

 ing, one of them, Powers, I think, said 

 they "had not done much shooting here; 

 they had frequently done more in other 

 places." He proudly exhibited a photo of 

 himself with 170 geese he killed in 2 days 

 in some Northern State.* 



In view of such raids as the above, our 

 boys are discouraged. They say it is fool- 

 ish for them to deny themselves and save 

 the game, when others carl come in and 

 reap the reward of their self denial. 



We have laws sufficient for such cases, 

 but they #re not enforced. There is a law 

 providing that all enclosures of less than 

 2,000 acres may be posted against hunters 

 at the will of the owner. This would ap- 

 ply to almost everything contiguous to the 

 railway, but landowners do not take ad- 

 vantage of it. 



There is also a stockmen's law that ap- 

 plies only to a part of the State. That 

 prohibits hunting in pastures of any size 

 whatever. That gives some relief; but is 

 one sided and class legislation, placing the 

 entire control of the game in the hands of 

 the stockmen. The effect of this law is not 

 good, in that it frequently shuts out the 

 men in the towns, who are most active in 

 game protection, while it allows strangers 

 with permits to come in and slaughter 

 everything. 



I will cite 2 cases in point: One man 

 in an adjoining county — the father of the 

 pasture law — has enclosed a large extent of 

 country. He keeps a man posted in the 

 county seat to report by 'phone all hunting 

 parties, and keeps men riding to expel 

 local hunters, but he lets in his se- 

 lected friends. One party of these select 

 friends killed 18 deer in one hunt. An- 

 other man who owns a large ranch above 

 here instructed his manager to post his 

 pasture and stop all hunting. The manager 

 followed instructions and shut out his own 

 friends and neighbors. Shortly a party 

 can|e from the city with written permits, 

 and killed everything they could. The 

 manager became disgusted and told the lo- 

 cal shooters to help themselves; he would 

 not see them. 



These are only sample instances. When 

 we consider that the greater part of South- 

 west Texas is included in pastures of 10,- 

 000 to 200,000 acres, the hardship to the 

 non - landowning sportsman is evident. 

 This county is not now within the scope 

 of this law, but an effort is being made to 

 have it included. While many of us do not 

 like it, nothing better offers and we will 

 not resist. 



I do not wish to create the impression 



*I would gladly pay £5 for a copy of this photo. —Ed 



