168 
FOREST AND STREAM.* 
[March ^, igoa. 
care of the Legislature to protect at all times would have 
no protection whatever. 
Now, let us look at the other construction : "Wild 
birds (other than the English sparrow, etc.) and birds 
for which there is no open season shall not be taken and 
possessed at any time," etc. 
Is not that manifestly the intent of the Legislature? 
Such construction leaves all of the preceding sections 
with a meaning and a mission. It protects all song and 
insectivorous birds and also prevents the taking and pos- 
session of the birds for which there is no open season and 
for which taking and possession no previous provision had 
been made. And at the same time it does no violence to 
the language employed, except perhaps in the omission 
of the word "and" between the words blackbird and 
kingfisher, or in the displacement of a comma, both 
matters too insignificant to be allowed to stand in the 
light of a fair enforcement of legislative intent. 
Neither do I believe that the return to the Section 33 
of 1000, where the word "an" was used instead of the 
word "no" would be an improvement. On the con- 
trary, I believe that that section could not be construed 
so as to effect the intent of the Legislature. 
Let us see, always remembering that all wild birds 
have open seasons, except quail, grouse, woodcock and 
pheasants in certain counties. 
"Wild birds (other than the English sparrows, etc., 
and birds for which there is an open season), shall not 
be taken or possessed, etc." But we hav seen that all 
birds have an open season except quail, grouse, woodcock 
and pheasants in certain counties, and by substitution 
we would have something like this: "Wild birds (other 
than all wild birds, except quail, grouse and woodcock 
and pheasants in certain counties) shall not be taken 
and possessed, etc." In other words, no birds would be 
protected under that section except quail, grouse, wood- 
cock and pheasants in certain counties, thus leaving song 
and insectivorous birds wholly without protection. 
Or this: "Wild birds (other than the English sparrow, 
etc.) and birds for which there is an open season, shall 
not be taken or possessed, etc." Of course, no one will 
contend for this construction. 
Perhaps this is a case of reductio ad absurdum, but it 
ismy honest opinion that the construction "Wild birds 
(other than the English sparrow, etc.) and birds for 
which there is no open season, shall not be," etc., is the 
one intended by the Legislature, is the only reasonable 
one and the only one which can be adopted without shat- 
tering the whole game protective system, so far as it con- 
cerns wild birds. 
Be it understood that I speak wholly without authority 
in this matter, and perhaps unwisely, but certainly from 
a personal conviction based upon some study of the sec- 
tions referred to. F. A. C. 
Non-Resident Licenses. 
Asheville, N. C, Feb. 17.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The articles which have recently appeared in Forest 
and Stream regarding the "non-resident license" have, 
with the exception of the article this week by Lexden, 
been written by hunters who believe only in the present 
and do not look into the future. Why not. consider this 
question as a business proposition? Why not face it 
fairly, and solve it in a way that promises us both im- 
mediate returns and also provides for the boy now com- 
ing on? 
"Laws and religion must change to suit the times." 
We all understand how the abundance of game in 
years gone by made unnecessary any laws regarding 
non-resident license, but what of the future? The in- 
crease in the number of hunters, cheap guns, cheap am- 
munition, cheap transportation, the small bore, the 
pump gun, innovations and inventions, have, in the hands 
of selfish game-destroyers (not sportsmen), brought 
about a condition that must be met, or the coming gen- 
eration will have but little to go afield for, so far as 
game is concerned. 
We all have boys coming on. Shall we not consider 
them? Near all our cities game has practically disap- 
peared. The same is true practically of some of our 
States. What is the result? Cheap transportation allows 
the hunter of the State or city where game has disap- 
peared to quickly reach a territory where game can still 
be found. The fact that game has disappeared around the 
city or in a State means that this region is one of "civ- 
ilization" or "agricultural perfection." This means 
wealth. The party who can afford to go to a distant 
State to hunt, should, from his better chances for making- 
money, be perfectly willing to pay a moderate license for 
such a privilege. The residents of a game country are 
as a rule poor or in moderate means. Their game should 
be a means of income. Is, in fact, from the city hunter- 
boarder; but how about the city hunter who has no re- 
striction on him? Too often he kills more than a decent, 
thoughtful man should. He helped to devastate his own 
State, and now he would do the same by his neighbor. 
Some have said that a license would keep a poor man 
from going into a neighboring State to hunt. Person- 
ally, I do not believe this, and again, if any man is too 
poor to pay a small license, he has no business in spend- 
ing his time hunting. 
A fair sample of what happens in a no-license State is 
found here around Asheville. Ten or fifteen years ago 
we had plenty of deer a few miles from Asheville. To- 
day they are gone, and yet we have millions upon mil- 
lions of acres of virgin forests all around us to-day. A 
country which, if protected by the State in close seasons 
and by license, would have had plenty of deer to-day for 
us and also for our boys in years to come. 
We have a hundred thousand tourists in Asheville a 
year. One-third the trunks that come here contain guns. 
Result: Even our song birds have disappeared, where 
a few years ago they were here by the thousand. Our 
deer are gone. To-day the visiting hunters are after the 
birds. Ten years more and our birds will be gone with 
the deer. I to-day know of one individual who has spent 
the winter here with his dogs and gun. I have recently 
heard him say that he had killed a thousand quail this 
winter. Is it right? Is it fair that, after killing all the 
game in their own country in such butchery, he should 
come into our fields and do the same? Yes, tax him! 
and I would to God that I had the power not only to tax 
him but also to fine him. 
Comparatively poor as I am, I take a trip every fall 
to either the West or Canada. Where do I go? Always 
to the State or Province where they have a license. Why? 
Because at such places I am sure to find game. I have 
jaid $40 in Wyoming and my $30 in New Brunswick 
with pleasure. It's well worth it. I want to go for years 
to come. If they take off this license I am well satisfied 
my boys now coming on will never visit these States on 
a hunting trip. There will be nothing to hunt. 
The man who can afford to hunt to-day can afford to 
pay his hunting tax. 
If we don't think of to-morrow our boys will censure 
us as long as they live. 
We provide for their future otherwise, why not here? 
As I wrote to the editor of Outdoor Life in Denver a 
few months ago, "If the man of to-day cannot afford 
this tax let him stay at home. His son may be able to 
go later on." 
. It has been my experience that the kicker against the 
license, like the party who pays no attention to posted 
land, is invariably the man who has no limit to his game 
bag. His game bag . is like his nature. He wants the 
earth, and wants it now. He thinks not of the future. 
Every person whom I have heard kick against the non- 
resident tax has invariably lived where game has ceased 
to exist. In his own community he has killed the goose 
that laid the golden egg, and now he would kill ours. 
Every State should have its own license, and should 
spend such money derived in protecting its game and 
stocking its streams. 
I trust that Wyoming and New Brunswick (and all 
States that to-day have a license law) will retain them. 
I want my boys and their boys to have the privilege of 
paying that license. (They will get game if they do, 
too.) Yes, and I trust that they, will have- to pay a State 
license at home for every firearm they own. 
License the non-resident. Tax every sort of firearm. 
Put a thousand dollar tax on every firearm dealer; make 
him report every sale, and we will have fewer murders, 
less crime, less lynching, less hanging and more game 
and more song birds. C. P. Ambler. 
Revere, Mass., Feb. 19. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
My boyhood days were spent in the stifling atmosphere 
and crowded streets of New York city. The only taste 
of country life I ever enjoyed was an occasional visit to 
Jones' Woods and Central Park. A love of trees and 
fields and running brooks developed in my youthful heart 
in those days, and time has failed to obliterate or weaken 
that love. I am never so supremely happy as when I 
am in the silent depths of a pine forest. No jarring noise 
or discordant note ever reaches one there ; all is beauti- 
ful and harmonious. For the best part of a year I am 
satisfied to toil from sunrise till sunset, buoyed up by 
m the refreshing thought that I will have two weeks' vaca- 
* tion in the woods of Maine. 
It is the only form of recreation that affords me relief 
from the daily vexations of this busy life, and not being 
a "wealthy sportsman," I am often compelled to make 
many sacrifices to enable me to take my cherished outing. 
If the proposed scheme of taxing non-residents goes into 
effect, it will be an added hardship for us "duffers" who 
are not wealthy. 
I have made trips to Maine for the past two seasons, 
and have been compelled to.be very careful in my ex- 
penditures. It costs quite a bit to go to Maine, as the 
following list will show. 
Railroad fare for round trip $15 50 
Two weeks' board bill 15 00 
Mounting one head , 10 00 
Two weeks' pay lost 30 00 
Running home expenses during absence 30 00 
Liquors and tobacco 4 50 
Moccasins and hose bought in Maine 2 25 
Compass, knife and axe , 3 00 
Freight to American Express on one deer 2 00 
Team from depot to woods and return 1 00 
Hauling out one deer 1 00 
Rifle hire, and ammunition for gun and rifle. ^ 6 50 
Tips to folks at camp , , 10 00 
Lunch at various railroad stops 1 00 
$131 75 
Quite a bit of money for a fellow to put out. If the 
Maine Legislature sees fit to affix a tax of $20 upon us 
folks, why we will refrain, from going to Maine, and the 
widow at whose house we stop will then be deprived of the 
means of lifting the cumbersome mortgage that now rests 
upon some woodland property she is trying to own. 
Jay Pee. 
Wild Geese on the Arkansas. 
It is not often that we of Western Arkansas can get 
any of that most fascinating sport, shooting wild geese, 
but the past cold snap was an exception, and when the 
news came to town that along the Arkansas River, some 
eight miles south of town, thousands of geese were con- 
gregated, I lost no time getting in shape to give them a 
round. Taking my shotgun, a 12 gauge, and I know I 
will be called a has-been in regard to guns when I say 
that in all my hunting the past five years I have never 
found a gun with the killing powers of this little 7-pound 
arm. I have killed a hawk one hundred yards with No. 
6 shot, and at 80 yards sent seven No. 6 through a gray 
squirrel. I also took a small rifle, a single shot breech- 
loading Remington, and plenty of shells for the shotgun 
and a lot of cartridges for the rifle. I hitched John, my 
faithful hunting horse, to the buggy and soon was in the 
land of the honkers. And such a sight! It sent the 
blood tingling through my veins, when nearing the field 
of rye I saw in the middle of the field on a slight eleva- 
tion at least one thousand geese. 
It was late in the evening, and to get a shot at these 
was impossible ; so I put my horse in a friendly barn, en- 
gaged a couple of darkies to aid me at night, and then 
went down on the river and waited for any stray goose 
that might come along. Hundreds of them were flying 
up and down stream. Occasionally I would hear the re- 
port of a gun, and finally I saw a bunch coming in to 
the rfver low down and coming dire,ct for my hiding 
place. Cocking my gun I waited until they had passed 
over me, when I gave them the right barrel and then the 
left and down came one old gander with a broken wing- 
and when they had gone some three hundred yards an 
old goose let go and struck the sand bar with a thud, 
stone dead. I reloaded, and with my little rifle finished 
the gander, and waited, but got only sOme long shots 
until dark and only succeeded in getting the two out of 
the first bunch. After a good supper, I took my two 
helpers and a spade and soon, under cover of the dark- 
ness, had a pit sunk in that rye field, covered over 
with cornstalks, and was ready to meet them in the 
morning. At 4 o'clock in the morning I was out of bed, 
and after a hearty breakfast made for the blind, and was 
soon in it. I could hear some geese in the darkness 
that had come in late at night, and remained in the field. 
Soon a gray line began to show in the east, and away 
down the river I heard the honk, honk of the coming 
geese. Directly a shotgun boomed up the river and the 
whole world seemed alive with flying geese, and ere the 
light was so I could see to shoot the rustle of wings told 
me they were circling over the rye field; and in a few 
minutes I saw a large bunch coming direct to the blind. 
Waiting until they curved their' wings to light, not forty 
yards away, I rose and gave them both barrels, and then 
sank back to load. They seemed not to know what to 
do, and kept on coming in and passing over my blind 
until away after sun up, when finally the flight ceased, 
after I had used a whole bag of shells. I got out of my 
cramped position, cold and stiff, but happy, and in that 
field I got nineteen geese dead and wounded. I piled 
them up, went and got John to the buggy, and drove 
out and got the finest lot of wild geese ever killed in this 
part of the country in one morning. Then I left for 
home, but I am going back again this week, and will tell 
the Forest and Stream family of my luck at some other 
time - J. E. Loudon. 
Alma Ark,, February, 
Hunting Rifles. 
I spent a couple of weeks this fall moose hunting in 
the calling season. The weather was wintry, making it 
unfavorable to call. 
We had only two good mornings to call during the 
two weeks. The first was Oct. 7. My guide called just 
about dawn of day. He had not callel over ten minutes 
when we heard a moose answer. The moose was about 
a mile away, the guide judged. The moose kept answer- 
ing every few yards. He did not stop but once, and that, 
was just before coming out on the bog. My guide gave 
a low call or whine, and the moose came out on the run. 
He stopped about 125 yards from us. I gave him one shot 
with my Savage .303 back of the left foreleg. He reared 
up on his hindlegs and fell over, a dead moose. He was a 
fine large animal, and in prime condition. 
We tried another morning, but got no answer. We 
saw signs of very many moose. The bogs were completely 
cut up with tracks. I also shot two black bears ; one 
weighed about 300 pounds. One shot each was all they 
could carry, 
I had for a caller and guide W. T. Crooker, of North 
Brookfield, Queens county, Nova Scotia — a good caller 
and a good guide. One who has his services may feel 
fairly sure of bringing home moose. I engaged him 
very early in the season. He has tents, canoe and teams. 
Alt the sportsman needs to carry with him is his rifle. 
I have hunted in Maine and New Brunswick, but for 
moose I think Nova Scotia far ahead of either. Of 
course, the license is high, but when you buy it you have 
all the privileges of the residents. You do not have to 
pay $50 for a shot at a moose and $100 to get him out 
of the woods, which seem to be the prevailing rates of 
Maine. 
Now, in Forest and Stream sf Dec. 21, ioqr, Mr. 
Hardy, of Brewer, Me., claims the .45 caliber rifle the 
best for big game. But my experience has been, since 
using the .38-55 and .45-70 caliber rifle, beside several 
others, that the .303, with the expanding bullet, is far 
ahead of any black powder rifle. Since I owned this rifle 
I have killed eleven deer, one moose and two bears: 
killed them with one shot each, and never had any of 
the animals go 25 yards after being hit. This does not 
speak too bad for the small bore. 
I think that any sportsman that will take good steady 
aim at his game with a small-bore rifle will be perfectly 
satisfied with the killing power, and in the future use no 
other. 
Here is a trick that .45-70 men have to do after shoot- 
ing at game — run 25 yards to get ahead of the cloud of 
smoke made by the rifle in order to see whether they 
got the game or to fire another shot at it, while with 
the small-bore, smokeless powder rifle, you can stand in 
one place and fire a hundred shots. W. G. Miller. 
West Medwav, Mass, 
■ '* i 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Something over a year ago the writer purchased a 
new .30-30 smokeless rifle, and during last summer its 
killing qualities were tested, principally on the festive 
woodchuck and other small game in the vicinity. There 
seemed to be no discount on its accuracy, and the par- 
alyzing power on small game was amazing. The soft- 
nose bullet upon striking a 'chuck would, before its exit, 
upset to double its former capacity, dealing instant death 
to its victims. 
The first of November came and found the narrator up 
in Herkimer country with the .30-30 to be first tried on 
deer. The first week was spent in getting located in 
camp and looking up sign on bare ground and dry 
leaves. During the second week snow fell and we struck 
a fine buck track one afternoon, and had not followed 
it far till we discovered him standing broadside at about 
60 3'ards distant, with head and shoulders hid by a 
bush. The sights were placed on him, and at the report 
we expected to see him drop. Not so, however, as he 
didn't paralyze worth a cent, but was up and off in a 
hurry. Upon reaching where he stood there could be 
seen a few hairs scattered on the snow. Taking the trail, 
we noticed now and then a drop of blood scattered on the 
snow, not enough to be of any avail in tracking had .the 
ground been bare. After following for a good half mile, 
we discovered him standing back of a fallen spruce tree- 
top, when a second shot through the neck brought him 
down. Upon dressing out fte carcass, the first ball we 
