March, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
121 
vided. This action on the part of the stockmen is a 
generous one in view of the great need of all the hay 
available for use of live stock. In fact, large num- 
bers of live stock have already been removed from 
that region in order to forestall heavy losses from 
lack of feed. 
At the beginning of winter the critical situation 
of the southern elk herd was duplicated for the 
northern elk herd, which was forced out of the Yel- 
lowstone National Park by the same storm which 
drove down the southern animals in October. The 
National Park Service promptly made an emergency 
purchase of nearly enough hay to carry these ani- 
mals through the winter and is now engaged in se- 
curing the additional amount needed. It is thus ap- 
parent that through the prompt action of the Gov- 
ernment Bureaus and the State Game Commission 
of Wyoming, with the cooperation of the people in 
the Jackson Hole section the appalling losses of elk 
from starving, which appeared imminent early in 
the season, will be prevented. 
CONCERNING THE WOODCOCK 
TWO years ago the Bureau of Biological Survey 
* conducted extensive inquiries into the status of 
the woodcock. It is now desired to secure data 
concerning the present status of these birds for pur- 
poses of comparison and study, and to that end it 
will be greatly appreciated if the readers of Forest 
and Stream, who are interested in the conservation 
of this splendid game bird will answer the follow- 
ing questions and forward their replies to the Bu- 
reau of Biological Survey, Washington, D. C., as 
promptly as possible: 
1. Has there been an increase or decrease of 
woodcock in your vicinity during the past two 
years? 2. Does the woodcock breed in your vicin- 
ity? 3. What is your estimate of the number of 
woodcock killed in your vicinity during the past 
year? Please state the area covered by your esti- 
mate. 4. Do you believe the species is threatened 
with extinction? 5. Do you advise the protection 
of woodcock by a close season for a term of years? 
RIFLE PRACTICE 
B ACK in the early 70’s when General Wingate was 
demonstrating to the Army the importance of 
teaching our soldiers something more about the 
service rifle than can be found in the Manual of 
Arms, he sought the aid of Forest and Stream to 
give his ideas nation wide publicity, and this maga- 
zine assisted him at a time when rifle shooting was 
equally unknown and unpopular. Jonas Whitley, an 
able journalist on the Forest and Stream Staff was 
assigned to help the General by reporting the activi- 
ties of the little group of New York National 
Guardsmen who planted the seed that flowered at 
Chateau Thierry, and as the direct result of the work 
of these two men there was effected one of the great- 
est reforms in military history. Now in this year of 
grace, 1920, the sport of rifle shooting is destined to 
experience a re-birth under conditions that are new 
in this country and once more the old magazine is 
called upon to blaze a trail for the rising generation 
of latent and as yet undeveloped American Rifleman. 
The use of .22 caliber, lo-power rifles as a medium 
for training . civilians how to shoot is neither a 
novel nor untried experiment. England became in- 
terested in the little gun right after her South Afri- 
can war and, under the protecting wing of Lord 
Roberts, the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs ren- 
dered a substantial service that was not appreciated 
until the recent World War. And right here it is well 
to explode an, at present, all too prevalent fallacy. 
During the past year many men have been heard to 
say, “Don’t mention rifle shooting to the public at 
this time, the country is fed up on war, and all that 
pertains to war. The boys who have just come home 
had enough to do with guns to last them a lifetime 
and don’t want to even hear the word mentioned.” 
It sounds reasonable, but like a lot of other sweeping 
conclusions it is not true. Every substantial move- 
ment for the promotion of rifle practice has immedi- 
ately followed the termination of a war. The Nation- 
al Rifle Association was brought into being just after 
the Civil War; the National Matches became an in- 
stitution just after the Spanish disturbance of ’98; 
the smallbore movement in England was the direct 
result of the Boer War, and the present nation-wide 
interest in marksmanship is being prompted and 
promoted by the boys who were “over there.” Noth- 
ing but a war can make men fully appreciate what 
Washington really meant when he said, “In time of 
peace prepare for war,” also we are beginning to 
wonder if this generation hadn’t better keep the 
family fire-lock well oiled and ready for action until 
certain red and pinkish persons are brought to a 
realization of the fact that “direct action” is some- 
thing peculiarly suited to the American temperament- 
ALASKA GAME 
A LASKA is one-fifth as large as the United States, 
bristles with rough timber-covered mountains, 
and is cut by deep and difficult waterways. It is a 
hard country to travel through. Most of us have not 
been there and know about it no more than we can 
learn by looking at the map ; yet we are quite ready 
to say what should be done to protect its game. 
Residents of Alaska, concentrating on their own 
problems, have little patience with people outside the 
territory who tell them how the game should be 
handled. People on the outside have little patience 
with the viewpoint of Alaskans, and sometimes think 
of them as mere meat hunters. These things being 
so, Mr. Charles Sheldon has performed a real service 
for game protection by pointing out some of the 'mis- 
understandings that so frequently arise between resi- 
dents and non-residents of Alaska, and by explaining 
some of the points of view from which the game may 
be regarded. 
It is natural that Alaskans should think of the 
game as theirs and should regard as interlopers the 
outsiders who come there to hunt. This same point 
of view has been held, and is held today in certain 
remote shooting grounds in the United States. People 
there think of the game as theirs, and look with dis- 
favor on gunners from a distance even though they 
expend in the community more money than the value 
of the game they kill. 
Mr. Sheldon is quite competent to speak for Alask- 
ans and for outside sportsmen. He has travelled 
over more of Alaska than most Alaskans and has 
lived in the open and on the country. By hard ex- 
perience he is familiar with conditions there, and he 
is in sympathy with the people who are facing the 
hard life of the North. Alaskans and outsiders alike 
may learn much from a careful reading of his article : 
and it should convince both that there are several 
angles from which to view Alaska game. 
