4 ! 4 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 15, 1906. 
All the game laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief, See adv. 
The Adirondack Deer Situation. 
Thf. Adirondack hotel proprietors, boarding 
house keepers and guides, as well as the summer 
residents of that region who usually remain for 
a week or two in September, and the sportsmen 
who are accustomed to visit the wilderness early 
in the fall, find themselves confronted by an en¬ 
tirely new proposition, now that the deer shoot¬ 
ing season has been shortened four weeks on the 
first end. The point is that with deer hunting 
barred there is comparatively little to attract 
sportsmen to the woods in September. The sea¬ 
son for trout fishing closes on the last day of 
August and consequently the great attraction for 
anglers is at that time withdrawn until the fol¬ 
lowing spring. To be sure, the season for lake 
trout is still open and it is legal to catch these 
fish up to October 1, but they do not bite well 
in the fall, as a rule, and few anglers care to 
spend their time in an effort to capture them. 
There are also black bass in certain of the lakes 
and streams, too many of them, in fact, but as 
a general thing bass are not what people go into 
the woods after, for if they want this kind of 
fishing there are lots of places easier of access 
where much better sport can be had. The fact 
is that the majority of those who visit the wilder¬ 
ness are attracted by the prospects of catching 
sneckled trout or hunting deer, and when both 
of these are out of the question, as is now the 
case- during the entire month of September,_ it 
is thought there may be something of a falling 
off in the number of people who go into the 
woods at this particular time and, perhaps, an 
earlier exodus than usual of the city folks who 
have been spending the summer there. It is un¬ 
doubtedly true that a great many of those who 
have summer homes in the Adirondacks, and 
those who pass weeks and months at the hotels, 
have been in the habit of counting a good deal 
on getting a few days deer shooting before leav¬ 
ing" for their city homes at the close of their 
annual outings, and for this reason they have 
often lengthened out their stay well into Sep¬ 
tember. Now that there is no longer this in¬ 
ducement it seems quite likely that in not a few 
instances their sojourn in the woods will be ab¬ 
breviated. Of course it cannot be said that there 
is absolutely no hunting to be had in September, 
for the season for grouse and woodcock shoot¬ 
ing opens the middle of the month, but this sport 
does not cut much of a figure in the Adirondacks, 
as it is not an easy matter to make a good bag of 
birds there. The woods are too big and the 
birds too scattering to furnish much sport, and 
the hunters do not dare to take their dogs there 
for fear that they will encounter a hedgehog and 
have their noses filled with quills. Lovers of 
wing shooting can readily find places nearer by 
where there are just as many partridges and 
woodcock, and where the game can be hunted to 
much better advantage than it can in the Adiron¬ 
dacks. Such being the case, comparatively few 
if any hunters are attracted to the great woods 
by the hope of having satisfactory bird shooting. 
Black bears cannot be legally hunted until Oct. 
1. Duck shooting does not amount to much in 
this part of the country and there is no small 
game worth the powder prior to the middle of 
September at the earliest. Tn view of all these 
facts, there really seems to be nothing whatever 
for the sportsman to occupy himself with in the 
Adirondacks during a good share of the month, 
and for this reason there is some talk of an effort 
to repeal the act passed this year which extends 
the close season for deer bv including therein 
the first month of autumn, the claim being ad¬ 
vanced that it is detrimental to the business in¬ 
terests of the hotel men, boarding house keepers 
and guides of that region as well as a hardship 
to the many sportsmen who ordinarily have a 
few days early in September which they can de¬ 
vote to hunting, but who are unable to get away 
from business duties for a trip in the woods later 
in the fall. 
On the other hand, many strong arguments in 
support of the existing law are advanced and it 
is certain that any attempt to cause its repeal 
would meet with strenuous opposition from those 
who were instrumental in framing the act and 
securing its passage. The friends of protection 
advanced reasons, for the enactment of the law 
which the legislature evidently considered were 
good and sufficient ones, and it is safe to assume 
that these would have much weight should the 
matter come up for discussion again. It was 
deemed essential for the proper protection of the 
deer and the conservation of these animals that 
the month of September should be cut off from 
the open season, and it was on this account, and 
for no other reason, that the act was passed, 
therefore anyone who strives to have it repealed 
will be under the necessity of presenting quite 
an ingenious argument in order to reverse the 
sentiment of the legislature as expressed at its 
last session, and secure the annulment of a law 
which has not yet been in force a year. It must 
necessarily be apparent to everyone who gives 
the subject a moment’s thought, that the merits 
or possible demerits of the measure cannot be 
clearly determined on such a brief trial, and now 
that it is on the statute books, it would be 
absurd to repeal it until sufficient time has 
elapsed to enable the public to judge as to 
whether it is wise or otherwise. If there were 
any good reasons for the enactment of such a 
law, as there assuredly were or it would not have 
been passed, there are the best of reasons why 
it should not be rendered null and void before 
it has been given a fair, trial. Furthermore, it 
may pointedly be said that the proper time for 
objecting to the measure, in case anyone had ob¬ 
jections to raise, was when the bill was in the 
legislature and before it had attained to the dig¬ 
nity of a statute of the Empire State. Having 
been incorporated in the laws of the common¬ 
wealth, the measure is justly entitled to proper 
recognition and a fair test before any proposi¬ 
tion for its repeal is seriously considered. 
Of course it would be unfortunate if the Adi¬ 
rondack hotels, boarding houses or guides should 
lose any considerable number of their patrons be¬ 
cause of the new law, but it has not been clearly 
demonstrated as yet that they are likely to do 
so, and is it not possible that if they do lose a 
little business on this account, they now more 
than make up for it in other ways? It seems 
quite probable that they will obtain a certain 
amount of additional patronage in September 
simply because of the fact that deer hunting is 
not permitted. This is a delightful month to be 
in the woods, but of late years many people have 
hesitated about going there for the reason that 
there has been so much reckless shooting on the 
part of those who are hunting deer. It is by 
no means pleasant when one is sojourning in the 
wilderness to be constantly thinking that some 
oyer-anxious and careless hunter may have his 
rifle leveled at you ready to pull the trigger at 
any moment and shoot you down because he has 
mistaken you for a deer, and it is not to be won¬ 
dered at that a great many people have been de¬ 
terred from visiting the Adirondacks in Septem¬ 
ber on this account. Now that men no longer 
have an excuse for carrying a gun at this time 
in the year, is it not reasonable to suppose that 
there will be an increased number of visitors, 
rather than a deficiency in this respect, and con¬ 
sequently an augmented patronage of the hotels, 
boarding houses and guides? This seems to be 
among the possibilities, at any rate, and before 
any active move is made by anyone, looking 
toward the repeal of the present law, it is to be 
hoped that the most careful consideration will be 
given to the subject from every point of view. 
W. E. Wolcott. 
Utica, N. Y. Sept. 10. 
In Newfoundland. 
And now the men in quest of heads begin to 
arrive. Each time the good ship Bruce crosses 
from the mainland, she brings a goodly quota 
of nimrods who are out for the unsuspecting 
caribou. 
Nearly ail the guides are engaged, and it is safe 
to say that sportsmen will get all the caribou 
they want. Reports from various centers fore¬ 
shadow good 'sport. 
The train hands have been reporting herds of 
caribou near the railway line all the season. 
Many a noble stag will surrender his most valu¬ 
able possession within the next couple of 
months, and many a noble yarn will be spun by 
the intrepid hunter, who will point in his den to 
the head of heads to substantiate his statements. 
September is a grand month in the woods'in 
Newfoundland. It is not as hot as August, and 
the flies are all laid to rest. The air is bracing 
and invigorating, and the Great Artist begins to 
tint in the most gorgeous coloring woods and 
hill, barrens and hillside. For the sportsman 
who sees things, the woods in September offer 
an unrivalled spectacle. 
The close season for caribou in autumn is 
from Oct. i to Oct. 20. Non-resident sports¬ 
men pay $50 for license to kill caribou. Each 
hunter is entitled to two stag and one doe cari¬ 
bou. The penalty for violation of the game laws 
is a fine not exceeding $200, or in default, im¬ 
prisonment not exceeding two months. I think 
this is the gist of the law relating to caribou; 
any other information can be had from one’s 
guides. 
Last year there was a very warm discussion 
among local sportsmen, as to the desirability 
of levying a rod tax on non-residents. A very 
influential proportion, led on by one of our 
leading local papers, advocated a tax. Others 
were against it, on the grounds that as our 
fishing is illimitable, all the anglers likely to 
come for some years could do no possible 
harm, and further, it would be a great induce¬ 
ment to hold out to foreign sportsmen that there 
was no restriction whatever as to fishing rights. 
This gave every angler a fair chance and was 
the means of bringing along many visitors. 
Now this island is going to cater to such visitors 
in the future; many are beginning to realize 
that it is well worth while to do so. As the 
island is further away from the center of things 
than Maine or Quebec, or other resorts, 
many other local sportsmen advised that no tax 
be levied for some time to come. The latter 
element prevailed, and the fishing is free. 
This season there have been many abuses. 
One party of “sportsmen” caught and killed 
over 300 salmon and left them on the bank to 
rot. The ringleader was a gentleman from 
Scotland. Just imagine the howl of indignation 
that would arise if such an atrocity were per¬ 
petrated on a Scotch river. 
This party afterward explained that, owing to 
unforeseen circumstances, he could not save his 
catch; but he did not try to explain why he 
continued catching them after he had had rea¬ 
sonable sport. This hog-fishing caused a good 
deal of disgust among those who were advocat¬ 
ing free fishing. 
Another case was reported where it was al¬ 
leged that a foreigner, named Nottman, built 
a camp on a grand pool at St. George. This 
