Ix 



RECREATION. 



UTIEZIE] HDE.AJE 



$L50 each. 



MENTION GAUGE WANTED 



STRAIGHT LINE"RE&DE CAPPER 



is the Only one that will de-cap and re-cap properly, all Shot Gun Shells 

 with a central fire hole, Brass or Paper, Domestic or Foreign make, what- 

 ever the inside shape may be, high or low base. 

 It will seat any and all sizes and shapes of pri- 

 mers, straight in the pocket of the shell, posi- 

 tively all the same depth, without concaving 

 the head, or disturbing the fulminate which causes miss- 

 fires. Send us six cents in stamps for HAND BOOK 

 Nq h |4 giving full information of New Goods and 

 much new matter of interest to shooters. Address, 



IDEAL MANUF'G CO., New Haven, Conn., U. S. A. 



THE PHIL. B. BEKEART CO. of San Francisco Calif. 



When you write please mention Recreation 



Agents for the Pacific Coast. 



POLITICAL PULL VS. GAME PRO- 

 TECTION. 



ScHUYLERVTLLE, N. Y. 



Editor Recreation : 



The upper Hudson valley is naturally one 

 of the best bird hunting sections in the 

 Empire State, but owing to circumstances 

 over which no honest sportsman seems to 

 have control, the ruffed grouse, which for- 

 merly nourished in this region, is becom- 

 ing well nigh exterminated. And not only 

 is that the case in this immediate vicinity, 

 but also within a radius of 40 miles from 

 here. Where a few years ago 5 or 6 birds 

 could be brought to bag in an afternoon, 

 it is now impossible in the legal season to 

 flush more than one or 2 birds in an all 

 day hunt. 



The cause is the proximity of a noted 

 Spa with its celebrated, or rather, noto- 

 rious sporting or club houses. They are 

 backed by political influence of such power 

 that they can safely disregard the game 

 laws. Within a year a county officer told 

 me that at the instigation of a gun club in 

 his town he had remonstrated with some 

 hotel proprietors who were gentlemen and 

 desired to do that which was right. While 

 not admitting any violation of the law on 

 their part, they said that if a certain club 

 house was compelled to cease giving game 

 dinners out of season they also would 

 promise never to do so in future. 



That officer further told me that he called 

 the attention of the State Game Commis- 

 sion to the condition of affairs and offered 

 to co-operate with it to cause the above 

 mentioned establishment to cease illegal 

 practices. He was directed to meet an 

 agent of the commission on 2 or 3 different 

 occasions, but a few hours previous to the 

 planned meetings the agent was ordered to 

 remote parts of the State. Finally, the 

 officer, thinking he saw the earmarks of 

 political influence in the matter, became 

 tired and threw up the job. 



In conversation recently with an old time 

 market hunter I was told he had a stand- 

 ing offer from Saratoga people for grouse 

 during July and August — the racial season 

 —at $1 each. The birds are conveyed to 



market by various ingenious methods, 

 usually in grips, hand bags and packages. 

 An employee under the old Fitchburg 

 management tells me that a package was 

 put in his hands 3 or 4 years ago by a man 

 named Moore or More, at Wayville Sta- 

 tion, to be delivered to persons in Sara- 

 toga. On arrival in Saratoga the package 

 was hurriedly picked up, came undone, 

 and was found to contain birds killed out 

 of season. 



The shiftless bummer who follows the 

 business of pot hunting belongs to a gang 

 who each cast a vote as weighty as a decent 

 man's. On voting days they are controlled 

 by their district or ward boss, who in turn 

 is answerable to the county or State repre- 

 sentative. The latter is influenced — not 

 controlled, of course — by the club house 

 keeper, who will see that his pot hunter is 

 protected. Where does the sportsman 

 come in? 



Apropos of politics in the deal, last No- 

 vember I was much surprised to receive no- 

 tice of appointment as deputy game pro- 

 tector from the State Fish and Game Com- 

 mission, with a beautifully engraved certifi- 

 cate of appointment. With it came a letter 

 from an attache of the office assuring me 

 of the support of the Commission in prose- 

 cuting violators of the law. I replied, giv- 

 ing facts as I knew them and stated my 

 opinion that if the cause of the violation of 

 the game law in this section was suppressed 

 pot hunting would cease. I added that if 

 I acted in the capacity to which they had 

 appointed me, I should do business accord- 

 ing to that idea, and named the club house 

 I have mentioned as my first objective point. 

 After* a period of silence, and possibly of 

 meditation and prayer, I was meekly in- 

 formed by the august Commission that it 

 had decided to revoke my appointment. 



Under these conditions what can we do, 

 who love sport for sport's sake? How in 

 heaven's name can we hope to have the 

 game law enforced by officers who hold 

 their appointments by virtue of a pull? 

 Come, ye of the L. A. S., over into Mace- 

 donia and help us. 



W. B. W. 



