210 
WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 
in these populous United States wherein there is no longer 
game shooting of any kind! The gameless localities are in¬ 
creasing, in number and in area, at an alarming rate. For 
example, in the hilly wilderness of the western Berkshire 
Hills, New York, which we know well, there is absolutely 
no hunting save of ruffed grouse, on a basis of four birds 
per day. Deer are there, and a very, very few quail, but 
not enough that it is right for any man to kill a single one 
of either species; and the law absolutely protects both spe¬ 
cies. The guns are hanging up. The time may come when 
it will be right to have an open season on quail, or deer, 
but I do not believe that it ever will. I fear that New York 
was about ten years too late in giving her quail a 5-year 
close season. The sportsmen of the state lost a year, hesi¬ 
tating, after the demand for a long close season had been 
made. On account of natural enemies and hard conditions, 
I fear that there never again will be any real quail shooting 
in the State of New York. We foolishly and wickedly frit¬ 
tered away our chance to save our native quail on a perma¬ 
nent basis; and all efforts at restocking have failed. It be¬ 
gins to look as if our 5-year close season came too late. 
Look at Colorado, as an object lesson. According to our 
crude and bungling American ideas of big game “protec¬ 
tion,Colorado is, and long has been, a good game-protect¬ 
ing state. She was the first state to stop all mountain sheep 
hunting, twenty-seven years ago; and she has successfully 
brought back to her state fauna that fine species. She was 
the first state to provide for the sale of game and fish reared 
in captivity under a tagging system. But concerning big 
game, Colorado’s laws too long remained fatally libey'al to 
the hunters. The guns were far too many; and the game 
too easy to kill. Result: Today in Colorado, once one of 
the finest of all states for big game, there is “no hunting of 
elk, deer, mountain sheep, antelope, wild turkey, quail or 
pheasant!” In other words, in Colorado, sport with the rifle 
now is EXTINCT; and sport with the shotgun is nearly so! 
