Sportsmen Making Enforcement of Game Laws Easier 
T HAT the State of California is witnessing 
a rapid change in the character of the 
sportsmen who seek to enjoy its resources 
in forest and stream is the opinion of Ernest 
Schaeffle, secretary of the California Fish and 
Game Commission, and he has abundant proof 
of this in the steadily decreasing number of ar¬ 
rests that are being made for violations of the 
law. Not only are the number of arrests de¬ 
creasing in spite of the great increase in the 
number of anglers and gunners, but the cases 
against those who hunt or fish for pleasure are 
becoming very limited. The most frequent vio¬ 
lator of the law is the man who hunts or fishes 
-for profit. Because of the fact that these viola¬ 
tions are premeditated and carefully planned, it is 
often a difficult matter to apprehend the guilty 
parties, but so many arrests and convictions have 
been made during the past few years that illicit 
bunting and fishing has been reduced materially. 
According to figures on file at the office of the 
Commission there have been about seven thous¬ 
and arrests made during the past eleven years, 
and these are now averaging about one thousand 
a year. Within the past five years the number 
of anglers and hunters has easily been doubled, 
and additions have been made to the force of 
deputies to enforce the fish and game laws, but 
in spite of this the arrests are decreasing in 
number. One especially energetic deputy in the 
Bay region, formerly noted for the number of 
arrests made, recently reported that while he 
was covering his territory more thoroughly than 
ever before he was unable to find where any 
violations of the law were being made. 
There is but little doubt but that much of the 
change in sentiment toward the fish and game 
laws has been brought about by the great increase 
in the number of fish and game protective asso¬ 
ciations. There is scarcely a county in the State 
that does not have one or more local organiza¬ 
tions, and practically every sportsman is brought 
into close touch with the work of these. A few 
years ago game was very abundant and but lit¬ 
tle attention was paid to game laws, but the 
rapid disappearance of wild life has caused even 
the most thoughtless to give the matter attention. 
Fifteen years ago it would have been almost 
useless to have attempted to introduce foreign 
•game birds, except in sections but little visited 
by hunters, but now those being liberated are 
being carefully protected by sportsmen. 
The daily press and the great increase in the 
circulation of sporting publications have been 
of great assistance in educating sportsmen and 
the general public of the necessity of conserving 
the game supply if sport is to be enjoyed in the 
future. Formerly, many who hunted had but 
little idea of the game laws, but now practically 
none are ignorant of its provisions. This wide¬ 
spread knowledge of the law and the growing 
•desire to conform to its provisions on the part 
of the general public is making its enforcement 
By Golden Gate 
much easier and is enabling the Fish and Game 
Commission to devote more of its attention to 
problems connected with increasing the supply of 
fish and game. 
NEW LICENSE LAW NOW IN EFFECT. 
The law requiring all persons over eighteen 
years of age to take out an angler's license be¬ 
fore fishing in California went into effect on the 
first of the year, and although but little fishing 
is now in order, owing to this being the closed 
A Hand Trap for a Snow Shoe Hare. 
season on most varieties, sales of licenses have 
been quite heavy. This law was passed by the 
last Legislature, and was attacked through the 
referendum, which failed, however. It is signi¬ 
ficant to note in this connection that while but 
nineteen thousand names were needed to hold 
the law up for a vote in 1914, only nine thousand 
signatures were secured out of a total registra¬ 
tion of about four hundred thousand. This is 
taken to illustrate that anglers are not averse to 
paying the small license fee demanded, and that 
they appreciate the splendid work that has been 
done for them in the wholesale stocking of 
streams. 
The price of the license is one dollar to citi¬ 
zens resident of the State, and three dollars to 
citizens resident of other States and to aliens. 
The license tags are handsomely printed in col¬ 
ors with a cut showing an alluring trout stream 
and an angler assisting a fellow fisherman to 
land a big trout. Space is provided for the 
name of the person, the residence, age, color of 
the eyes and hair, and his, or her, height. On 
the reverse is printed a brief synopsis of Cali¬ 
fornia sporting and fishing laws, an innovation 
that will doubtless be greatly appreciated by 
every purchaser of a license. It is anticipated 
that the sale of these licenses will be about 
$150,000 the first year, with a steady increase 
thereafter. 
The new sporting fishing law does not mean 
that no fishing with hook or line is allowed un¬ 
less a license be secured, but the list of fish that 
are not to be taken without first securing a 
“tag” comprises most of the varieties of game 
and food fishes. It is as follows: tuna, yellow- 
tail, jewfish, black sea bass, albicore, barracuda, 
bonita, rock bass, California whiting, corbina, 
surffish, yellow and spotfin croaker, salmon, steel- 
head and all other varieties of trout, charr, white- 
fish, striped bass and black bass. 
BIG STORM INTERFERES WITH FISHING AND HUNTING. 
The heaviest storm that has visited California 
in many years swept over the northern and cen¬ 
tral portions of the State just at the close pf 
the year and brought both hunting and fishing 
to a close for the time being. Ducks, which had 
been making their home on the marshes and 
along the rivers since the opening of the season, 
were scattered to the four winds and were en¬ 
abled to find water in almost any direction. The 
result is that gunners in the valleys are now 
commencing to enjoy some sport while hunters 
in the marsh districts are having but indifferent 
inundated, feed has been made plentiful, and 
success. Great stretches of tule land have been 
from now on the slaughter of the birds will be 
lessened. 
The unusually heavy rains brought steelhead 
trout fishing to a close before the end of the 
season, which was December 31st, and most 
anglers have packed away their rods until April 
1st. In former years fishing for steelheads in 
tidewater was permitted until February 1st and 
not all are satisfied with the change. The stormy 
weather is having but little effect on striped bass • 
fishing, other than to reduce the number of clam- 
tossers. Hugh Draper recently fished in San 
Antonio creek during a heavy rainstorm and 
landed a twenty-five pound bass and others made 
good catches the same day. 
Black bass fishing is now splendid in certain 
waters of the State, particularly in Clear Lake. 
Sanford Parrish recently made three limit 
catches of bass there during one week, the 
largest fish taken weighing over seven pounds. 
Buffaloes Being Sent to Australia—Golden Gate. 
The first buffalo to be seen in Australia- will 
shortly be exhibited in the Sydney zoological 
gardens through the courtesy of the Golden Gate 
Park officials of San Francisco. A pair of these 
is on the way, being sent at the expense of Park 
Commissioner Spreckels, and in return there will 
be received Australian emus, cockatoos and 
paroquets. 
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