614 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 20, 1906. 
The Adirondack Deer Season. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Having just returned from a summer in the 
Adirondacks, in which I had and improved an 
opportunity to learn something of the general 
feeling toward the new law and its workings, I 
think I am qualified to at least have an opinion. 
In your last issue you say of the present arrange¬ 
ment “ opinions differ radically." Undoubtedly 
that is true of the state as a' whole. But I be¬ 
lieve it is not at all true in at least one of the 
largest counties in the Adirondacks. There 
opinion, so far as I could gather it, is all one 
way, and it is radically against the present law 
which opens the deer season Oct. 1. Summer 
visitors and residents alike expressed themselves 
in strong terms. Not only do visitors—few of 
whom can remain till October—feel that great 
injustice is done them, but residents think the 
same of it themselves. Both judgment and feel¬ 
ing are enlisted, and often the feeling is bitter. 
Asked their opinion of the new game law, many 
said with a look of disgust, “Oh! that is the 
work of -” naming certain millionaire 
influences which have been prominent in the 
matter and which many believe are mainly selfish 
in their action. I am not discussing the ac¬ 
curacy of this view. I only state the fact, and 
that the view is widespread. 
Many expressed adverse feeling when hound¬ 
ing was abolished, but that was as a zephyr to 
a thunder storm compared with the feeling now. 
Continual changes of the -law are not relished 
in themselves. Men say, “When they had it 
fixed well enough, why couldn't they let it 
alone?” But when the change involves such 
curtailment as the present on the first of the 
season and continue the open season until the 
middle of November, sane judgment and manly 
feeling rebel. 
It i.s not merely that the time when a resident 
may legally provide venison for his table is so 
far" postponed, but that his chance for earning 
honest dollars by guiding is almost wholly 
taken away. To him and his family this is of 
great consequence. 
Many summer visitors—sportsmen—feel that 
the present law amounts almost to class legis¬ 
lation inasmuch as the majority of them could 
have a few days’ hunting in September, but can¬ 
not in October nor later. And the number of 
these is far greater than of those who can 
hunt any time they like. The first class usually 
take their families with them into the mountains, 
the other class go with hunting comrades 
specially for game. Their stay is relatively 
short, but they deplete the game more than the 
other class. Most of the others are satisfied 
with one deer in a season. Those who go for 
hunting only must compensate themselves by 
getting all the deer they can. If possible, the 
party must average two apiece, and in addition 
the camp must be well supplied. 
I speak of what I know to be customary 
among both classes, and I submit that the Sep¬ 
tember hunters, though largely outnumbering 
those who hunt in late October or in November, 
are nevertheless not nearly so destructive of 
deer. I hold no brief for hotel and boarding 
house keepers, but I am sure their legitimately- 
to-be-considered interests are on the side of an 
open September. And in considering their in¬ 
terests. real consideration is also given to the 
interests, the opportunity, comfort, and well-being 
of thousands of Adirondack visitors who never 
fish nor hunt, but annually go to the mountains 
*0 enjoy their beauty and for recuperation. 
These citizens have a claim upon legislators. 
Now as to the practical effect of the present 
law. Of course it cannot be judged fully at this 
writing. But some things are clear. To be 
most effective, any law must command thfe re¬ 
spect if not the assent of those most nearly 
concerned. This law does not have either. A 
man, whose opportunities for knowing are great 
and extended, said to me. “There have been 
more deer killed out of season this year than in 
any ten years before. The people are disgusted 
with the law. and they don’t care. Nobody will 
say a word, no matter how many deer are 
killed.” This, I believe, represents a widespread 
sentiment, and it is certainly to be reckoned 
with. I myself heard more shooting this year 
before the open season than ever before. Of 
course, I cannot say that every or any shot 
fired was at a deer, but knowing the region and 
the resorts of deer as I do, I believe that most 
of the shooting was at deer. Nor was it always 
when I was in the woods on a tramp or a fish¬ 
ing trip. Repeatedly did we hear shots when at. 
home at our lakeside cottage. The time of day 
and the direction told the story. 
Thus much for the facts—now for the opinion: 
1. I believe that the people of the Adiron¬ 
dacks will in general observe a law that they 
respect as reasonable. 
2. I believe that a two months’ open season 
-—Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, inclusive—would be rea¬ 
sonable, and the law respected. This would 
meet the real situation for all classes of people 
interested. 
3. If after trial it should be found necessary, 
limit the number of deer a man might .legally 
kill to one per annum; and if further necessary, 
make that one a buck. 
4. As soon as possible let the state acquire 
all the forest lands within the boundaries of 
the Adirondack Park, and stop all lumbering 
within those limits. 
I am morally certain the above plan would 
conserve the interests of the greatest number 
of citizens and would effectually preserve our 
noble game. Juvenal. 
Nova Scotia Against Preserves. 
Digby, Nova Scotia/Oct. 9. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The sportsmen of Nova Scotia, and a 
good many people who never catch a fish, or fire 
a gun, have recently formed an association known 
as “The People’s Game and Fish Protective As¬ 
sociation of Nova Scotia.” This organization has 
branches in almost all the towns in the province, 
and though it has only been in existence for a 
few weeks, it numbers over a thousand members 
already. We are in receipt of a copy of the 
constitution and by-laws of one of the branches. 
The clauses which are deemed of especial im¬ 
portance in the province are: 
“To protect and preserve the right of the peo¬ 
ple of Nova Scotia in the game and fish, and to 
prevent the sale of game and fish preserves to 
foreign or other syndicates or individuals; 
“To prevent the game and fish from getting 
into the ownership or under the control of any 
private corporation or individuals.” 
The “raison d’etre” of the society is as follows: 
At the last session of the local legislature an act 
was-passed called, “The Petty Trespass Act.” It 
has for its reputed father, an alien lumber com¬ 
pany, and for its sponsor in the local legislature 
a member who retired into private life after the 
last election. Had this act remained law, any 
person who set foot on another man’s ground, 
cultivated or uncultivated, enclosed, or unin¬ 
closed, could have been arrested summarily by the 
owner, or any person deputized by him, taken 
before the nearest justice of the peace, and fined, 
or sent to jail. No provision was made to safe¬ 
guard the prospector, hunter, or camper. It was 
not necessary to prove a cent’s worth of damage. 
The mere climbing over a fence, or crossing a 
line blazed through the forest, without the 
owner’s permission, was enough. The act was 
rushed through the legislature, but the public 
became alarmed. Petitions with thousands of 
names signed to them came pouring in, and when 
the act received the assent of the Lieutenant 
Governor, the next act handed in for his approval 
was one annulling it in toto. 
The concern or combine of concerns which at¬ 
tempted to- pass this iniquitous bit of legislation, 
did so with the intention of leasing the “sporting 
richts” on their timber limits to private indi¬ 
viduals or to cornorations. With the exception 
of certain grants' given in the time of the Georges, 
no “sporting rights” exist in the province. A 
few deeds were granted, with a clause conveying 
“the rights of fishing, fowling, hunting and 
hawking,” to the owners of the land. In the 
same deeds were, clauses against “Harboring 
Popish recusants and Jesuits.” The existing law 
relating to trespass gives the farmer all the pro¬ 
tection he needs. The act relating to forest fires 
gives the lumber companies all the protection pos¬ 
sible. Thousands of Americans come to Nova 
Scotia every summer, and enjoy themselves camp¬ 
ing and fishing on the lakes and streams. A con¬ 
siderable number remain until the fall, and par¬ 
ticipate in the unexcelled moose hunting the 
province affords. Had the petty trespass act re¬ 
mained law, they would have been compelled to 
forego camping, fishing and hunting, or run the 
risk of being haled before some illiterate justice 
of the peace, and paying heavy fines, or going to 
jail in default of payment. 
Plis Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, has 
joined the new society. A number of open air 
loving Americans have also done so. J. 
Arizona Game. 
Florence, Ariz., Oct. 10.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am inclined to believe that Arizona 
contains more bighorn than Montana, although 
the latter has always been considered the best 
section for this game within the boundaries of 
the United States. Certain it is that every range 
of bare mountains, and every insignificent group 
of buttes, which lift above the gray illimitable 
desert, support numbers of this splendid game 
animal. There are plenty of them in the Super¬ 
stition range just north of this place, and plenty 
of mule and white tail deer also. There are 
numerous springs in this range, else the deer 
would not inhabit it, but absolutely no water is 
found in numbers of places inhabited by the big¬ 
horn, except when it rains, and months frequently 
pass here without even a light shower. South of 
Casa Grande, some twenty miles, there is a range of 
sharp, nameless buttes, for instance, about four 
miles long, and the nearest water to them is a 
lone rancher’s well five miles distant. Yet a 
large number of bighorn thrive on these bare 
peaks. They certainly don’t climb down into the 
rancher’s well, so for long periods of time 
they do not drink. How, then, do they manage 
to exist? the interested pilgrim asks. At least 
that is what I asked, without losing any time 
about it, and my informant replied that they ob¬ 
tained sufficient liquid nourishment by eating sev¬ 
eral varieties of cactus and the prickly pear. 
Being a pilgrim, and a natural doubter, I took 
this cum grano sails. Yet I made further in¬ 
quiries into the matter with due caution, and 
from what the old timers here tell me, ranchmen, 
vaqueros, rangers and prospectors, I am now 
satisfied that my first informant’s statement was. 
correct. One ranger, who is something of a na¬ 
turalist, says that the bighorn prefer the cholla 
cactus to all others, and that when the fruit of 
that variety appears they eat large quantities of 
it. He further states that, antelope also depend 
upon the cactus for water. There are a great 
many pronghorn on the desert between this point 
and Tucson, yet in the hundred mile stretch 
there is but one spring, and that is frequented 
by but few of the animals. Quail (Gambel’s paf- 
tridge) and rabbits are also plentiful on the 
desert, miles and miles away from water. The 
ranger is inclined to believe that these also ob¬ 
tain the little water they require in the food they 
eat; that it seems impossible for those twenty and 
thirty or more miles from a stream or spring to 
get it in any other way. 
The numbers of quail that inhabit the Arizona 
valleys are almost unbelievable. I went out 
shooting with a young lady the other day. We 
drove for a couple of miles up the course of the 
Gila valley. That is, I drove and she did the 
shooting, firing from her seat in the buckboard. 
We had only twenty-five cartridges, but she killed 
seventeen birds with them, a good bag for a 
lady considering the conditions. Tt’s not so easy 
to shoot from a seat in a wobbly buckboard. I do 
not hesitate to say that we saw at least a thousand’ 
quail during our two hours’ drive. There wasn’t 
a moment of the time that more or less of them 
were nt)t in sight, to the right, the left, and ahead 
of us, feeding on chickweed seed and chasing- 
one another away from the best patches of it. 
They are as pugnacious as they are handsome. 
Manzanito. 
