BY THE WAYSIDE 
75 
i» 
! 
j etli century would rob, kill and annihi¬ 
late because some one else is doing like- 
wise. A good Christian he, who would 
let his gray matter narrow down to such 
an immoral and barbaric point of view. 
Would the spring shooter advocate uni- 
: versal stealing because some men are 
known to be thieves ? 
The spring shooter: "We want a 
short open session in April on deep wa¬ 
ter ducks. They do not stay here more 
than two or three weeks, and then they 
[ continue their flight northward to theT 
breeditig grounds.” 
Prevent the propagation of probably 
countless thousands of ducks! Is this 
the object of a spring hunt on deep water 
fowl in Wisconsin? If we have a law 
prohibiting the shooting of one or two 
species of ducks in the spring and per¬ 
mitting the shooting of another species 
that might be either in the marshes or 
open water where marshes adjoin, then 
we are going to have a condition too 
complicated to understand, and every 
: game warden would necessarily have to 
be an ornithologist to distinguish between 
deep water birds and marsh birds and it 
would require a game warden to each 
hunter.”—John Fraser, Milwaukee, in a 
Milwaukee newspaper, Jan., 1911. 
Of the 100,000 persons who received 
hunting licenses this past season, the 
writer states with positive conviction 
and authority, that among this army of 
hunters there are less than three per 
cent who can correctly distinguish aM 
species of ducks while in flight. 
Spring shooter: “The other states 
are doing nothing towards the protec¬ 
tion of wild water fowl.” 
We find, however, where some states 
have excelled Wisconsin in this matter, 
1 in 1910, for instance, Massachusetts 
extended for five years the period of 
absolute protection to unland plover, and 
New Jersey closed the wood-duck season 
for five years. Established bird ref¬ 
uges and reservations can now be traced 
in all parts of the United States. 
The spring shooter. “We wish to 
shoot deep water ducks only.” 
The state of Washington two years 
and more ago allowed the shooting o’" 
geese in the spring and how it affected 
the well-being of other aquatic birds 
can be obtained from the following 
lines: 
“For the first time in the history of 
wild fowl shooting sportsmen were barred 
from their customary goose shooting in 
the spring of 1909; hence the increased 
number of ducks. There is really little 
excuse for the slaughter of ducks or 
other protected birds while on a goose 
shoot; but it is estimated that the spring 
goose shooting east of the Cascade 
mountains resulted in the killing of more 
ducks than geese. For every duck killed 
in spring the hunter is robbed of a flock 
in the fall, for it is a well known fact 
that survivors do not remate during a 
season.”—August Wolf, Spokane, Wash¬ 
ington, in Shields’ Magazine, Jan., 1911. 
Should Wisconsin again permit the 
shooting of ducks in spring, the state 
would be confronted with a plague of 
shooters. So-called sportsmen and 
hunters would be found to roam within 
the breeding districts of all birds. Some 
will shoot the wild duck because of 
its food value, others will kill to satisfy 
a savage lust for blood and perhaps to 
relieve a tedium or to “make a record.” 
Of the latter type the fields will abound. 
Men of all nations will seek the marshes 
and the fields. The birds will be sought 
(Continued to page 78) 
