FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



121 



it — but not sufficiently so to deny it, or to 

 lie about it. 



I thank you very much for writing me 

 regarding this. 



W. A. Eberly, Tacoma, Wash. 



I am glad to know Messrs Eberly and 

 Denham are not so black as painted by the 

 newspaper reports which were sent me. 

 One of these stated that these 2 men had 

 killed 325 ducks in one day. At least 20 of 

 my Tacoma subscribers cut out the article 

 and sent it to me, with the request that I 

 deal with these men as they deserved, but 

 they make so manly and so honorable a 

 confession as to disarm criticism. I am 

 heartily glad they have reformed and that 

 they are not likely to repeat the offense. — 

 Editor. 



A GAME LIMIT. 



The article in the Daily Report suggesting that wild 

 .game would be a gold mine to the different counties of the' 

 State if properly protected from the onslaughts of the pot- 

 hunter and game hogs, the men who kill everything in 

 sight, has been well received by the farmers and sportsmen 

 of the State. They realize that something must be done to 

 preserve the game of the country; that the visiting city 

 man or Easterner, who spends money and may become a 

 land owner, looks at game with the same eye that he looks 

 at an attractive waterfall or at sea-bathing — that is, as one 

 of the attractions of the place he chooses to visit. It has 

 at last passed beyond the era of small minds, has this game 

 ■question, and the public, from one end of the State to the 

 other, is willing to admit that the game should be protected. 

 When, as the action of various County Supervisors recent- 

 ly has demonstrated, the people are thoroughly aroused to 

 the necessity of preserving what is left of our game from 

 wanton slaughter, there is no longer any question of the 

 justice of the Legislature taking action for the whole com- 

 monwealth of California. 



As the article referred to points out, the close season es- 

 tablished by the law at present is good, but does not meet 

 the exigencies of the case. What is needed is a limit on 

 the number of game birds or deer that may be killed. 

 Suppose it were lawful to pick flowers in Golden Gate Park. 

 Would it be just to let one man pick thousands, leaving 

 only a few for the people who congregate there on Sunday ? 

 It is clear that rather than do that it would be better to say, 

 " You shall pick only so many lilies and so many pansies," 

 and so on. This would prevent one from robbing the many 

 of their rights. So it is with game. In justice to the farm- 

 er, over whose lands the hunter shoots ; in justice to the 

 hunter ; in justice to all, a limit on the game to be killed by 

 one man seems to be the best method to preserve the game. 

 —Western Sports, San Francisco, Cal. 



The leaven is working. They will all come 

 to our way of thinking, in time. 



GAME LAWS ARE ENFORCED. 



The annual meeting of the New Haven 

 County Fish and Game Protective Asso- 

 ciation was held in that city in October. 

 The progress reported for .the past year was 

 surprising to the most sanguine of its mem- 

 bers, and the encouragement received by 

 the association has spurred it on to renewed 

 efforts, and broader fields. Already the 

 game fields in that vicinity show a marked 

 increase in their stock of birds, and the vigi- 

 lance of the game protectors supported by 

 this organization, will be gratefully com- 

 mended by all true and loyal sportsmen. 



Some of the local prosecutions are as fol- 

 lows: One case in East Haven cost a vio- 



lator $31.82; another paid $18.50, another 

 in Hamden $17.85. one in North Haven 

 $20.60, and one in Branford $37.72. 



Thus the good work goes on. Many of 

 the members of this association are also 

 members of the L. A. S., and the others 

 should be. This course would greatly 

 strengthen both organizations. 



NEW JERSEY'S GAME LAW. 



Deer shooting has been prohibited by law 

 in this state for 3 years. The old law al- 

 lowed 10 days' shooting, October 25th to 

 November 5th. The hunters in Gloucester 

 county think that law, if properly enforced, 

 was all right as last year deer were more 

 numerous than for years past. We know 

 the very men who favor the new law violated 

 the old. What can we now expect from 

 them? Will they continue to violate the 

 game laws? If they do and are not called to 

 account we are opposed to the new law to a 

 man, as none but poachers can obtain ven- 

 ison. We want our share if killing is to be 

 done. The country is so wild in the South- 

 ern part of the state that only hunters get 

 near enough to the woods to report unlawful 

 acts. A warden should be stationed there 

 during the fall and winter. 



Sportsman, Gloucester Co., N. J. 



PAYING BIG FOR RABBITS. 



A few days ago J. H. Green, of North Plainfield, went 

 into New York State to hunt rabbits, the time for their 

 shooting being legal in that State. He shot 4 of them. 



Knowing he had legally shot the rabbits in New York 

 State, he did not attempt to conceal them after his arrival 

 within the limits of New Jersey, where rabbits are still pro- 

 hibited game. On the train Percy C. Ohl, an officer of the 

 Union, Middlesex and Somerset Counties Game Protective 

 Association, saw Mr. Green with the game swung over his 

 back. Mr. Ohl had game warden Sebring, of Bound 

 Brook, notified, and the latter went to Plainfield and made 

 an investigation of the case. 



On looking into the law he saw there was a penalty of 

 $20 for each rabbit found in the possession of anyone in 

 New Jersey before the open season arrived. The law 

 made no allowance as to where the game was killed. Pos- 

 session of the rabbits was all the law provided for. Mr. 

 Green consulted a lawyer and found that though he had 

 shot the rabbits legally in New York, he was guilty of a 

 technical violation of the New Jersey game laws, and last 

 Thursday he paid $60 to Warden Sebring for the 4 rabbits 

 found in his possession. — New Jersey paper. 



GAME NOTES. 



Quails and rabbits are numerous in this 

 neighborhood. Most of the birds have 

 raised 2 broods. I also noticed several Cal- 

 ifornia quails, though whether they nested 

 here or not, I am unable to say. They were 

 undoubtedly strays from some of the big 

 preserves East of here. 



Nearly all land in this vicinity is posted 

 and since the Pratt estate closed about 1,000 

 acres 5 or 6 years ago small game has been 

 on the increase. I think in the big preserves 

 is the future of the game of America. 



I ? lould like to say a word about the 

 naphtha launch nuisance. These boats, full 

 of people who don't know anything about 

 shooting, chase the ducks off their feeding 

 grounds. If this continues all ducks will be 



