THE CAMP. LAWS 



85 



is not that the people are seriously violating 

 the game laws, but that the big, gray timber 

 wolves are disregarding them entirely. The 

 sheep men say that these big wolves are be- 

 coming alarmingly numerous, and are fast 

 slaughtering the deer, especially the fawns, 

 which are easier to catch, and it can be 

 readily seen that if there are no fawns, there 

 will soon be no deer. 



The stockmen are fighting the timber 

 wolves as hard as they can, but it seems 

 with only small effect. There is a territorial 

 law permitting the counties to pay a bounty 

 of twenty dollars for each wolf scalp, and 

 the county authorities are willing to pay it. 

 In addition, the cattlemen pay a bounty of 

 five dollars, and the sheepmen a bounty of 

 five dollars, so that dead wolves are worth 

 thirty dollars apiece. But even with all 

 this inducement to the hunter and sportsmen 

 the wolves are increasing. The sheepmen 

 now all carry strychnine with them, and 

 whenever they kill a deer, or sheep, or any 

 other animal and dress it in the hills, they 

 poison the entrails in the hope of killing 

 one or more wolves. Some of them also are 

 trying to trap them, though but with little 

 success so far. 



The antelope of the country have been 

 under the protection of the game laws for 

 the last ten years, yet they are rapidly dis- 

 appearing through the ravages of the 

 wolves. This is not an argument against 

 the game laws, for, of course, this game 

 would go still faster if it were not pro- 

 tected, but it is intended to call attention to 

 the fact that everything possible should be 

 done to destroy the wolves, and also to in- 

 form hunters that the wolf is a "gamer 

 bird" than the deer, and also that his hide is 

 valuable. 



Mr. Galpin says one sort of sport that the 

 herders sometimes engage in is to capture 

 the young fawns and brand them, then turn 

 them loose again. He said that one of the 

 three deer that he shot had been branded 

 when it was a fawn. 



Mr. Galpin also verified the story to the 

 effect that parties of Indians, in violation of 

 the law, stray off their reservation into the 

 forest reserves to hunt. There was one 

 party of eight Indians in that region that a 

 ranger found killing game and threatened to 

 arrest. They made a defiant talk, and he 

 went after reinforcements, but the Indians 

 changed their minds and moved on. 



At Kendall, Wyoming, a recent visitor had 

 the pleasure of meeting Ranger Silas Yarnell, 

 who informed him that during the late open 

 season not a single arrest had been made 

 for game violation. There is an abundance 

 of game, and there is no doubt but that it 

 is increasing very rapidly. In one day's riding 

 shortly before the close of the season, Ranger 

 Yarnell counted over two hundred elk. The 



various hunting parlies which visil this 

 Hon are watched very closely, and realize 

 their predicamenl and are very careful not 

 to overstep the law. 



The great (rouble in wanton destruction 

 of game comes through the tenderfool hunl 

 ers who come in each fall, and when they 

 run into a bunch of elk they Re! the buck 

 fever and lose their head. The elk, when 

 they become scared, will bunch, and espe 

 daily when they are in an open park and 

 can not ascertain the direction at once from 

 which the shooting is coming, and will re- 

 main quiet for some time. This is when the 

 hunters try to get in as many shots as pos- 

 sible, without care in aiming, with the re- 

 sult that they wound many of them which 

 afterwards trail off and die. The rangers 

 have had many occasions to track these 

 bloody trails, and have found several dead 

 and wounded elk. 



It is estimated that possibly one hundred 

 and fifty elk have been taken out of this 

 country this year, which is not very many 

 compared with the great increase which is 

 apparent through the number of calves to 

 be seen. 



Hunters returning to Washington from 

 hunting trips on the^ river report more ducks 

 below Glymont than they have seen in many 

 years. Off Mattawoman and Chicamuxen 

 creeks the fowl were seen by the thousands, 

 and in the flocks were mallard, red head and 

 other varieties of choice duck. A flock of 

 several hundred canvas backs are reported 

 by Mr. Ned Clary to have been sighted yes- 

 terday off Aquia creek. It is stated the 

 ducks are very shy and it is hard to get 

 within gunshot. 



"The wolves have been wreaking havoc on 

 the Taquamenon," said State Game Warden 

 Chapman, of Michigan, in a recent inter- 

 view, "but there are still some deer left. I 

 do not believe the deer will ever be exter- 

 minated, proving the wolves are killed 

 off. This yeai^ we notice an absence of 

 young life among the deer, indicating that 

 the fawns and yearlings have been killed off 

 in large numbers. If the deer are to be 

 protected we must get rid of the wolves." 



St. Louis commission merchants are mak- 

 ing an effort to stop shipments of game into 

 St. Louis from outside points in Missouri 

 and other States. Although the game law 

 prohibits the shipment and sale of all game 

 except rabbits, shipments are received al- 

 most daily in St. Louis. 



Benjamin Landauer, a commission mer- 

 chant at 907 North Fourth street, who was 

 arrested in November on a charge of sell- 

 ing game iu violation of the law, says it 



