Sept. 21, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
363 
Massachusetts Gunners Association 
Secretary’s Annual 
T HIS association has been in active existence 
since June 15, 1910, and was incorporated 
under the laws of the Commonwealth on 
Dec. 21, 1910. It was formed, as set forth in the 
agreement of association, “for the purpose of 
preserving recreative gunning in this Common¬ 
wealth, protecting and propagating game and 
game birds, promoting equal opportunities for all 
gunners and representing their interests in legis¬ 
lation.” 
The original membership of two score has 
so increased that every district of the Common¬ 
wealth is fully represented. Conditions demand 
that a State-wide organization exist which will 
be alert and aggressive in matters beneficial 
to sportsmen. There must be a working force 
of picked men to represent such an organization, 
who in turn will voice the sentiment of the 
sportsmen as expressed at meetings of local clubs 
and sessions of the State association. Our record 
of the past two years shows the possibilities of 
this plan. Increased recreative gunning is our 
aim, and this demands positive action in at least 
two directions. 
First.—Gunners must practice self-control 
and be willing to observe short seasons, with 
small bag limits until the supply of game birds 
and animals shall begin to increase in numbers 
above the yearly quota which is taken by the gun, 
vermin and other causes. 
Second.—The existing stock must be in¬ 
creased by placing in the covers and upon the 
waters birds and animals raised on preserves, 
and by providing means to satisfy the large non¬ 
shooting but game-eating public. 
To support the first proposition, the follow¬ 
ing changes have been made in the laws: 
The sale of all wild birds and game quad¬ 
rupeds, protected by law in any part of the 
United States is prohibited. The only excep¬ 
tions being rabbits, together with deer, moose, 
caribou and elk, legally killed outside the Com¬ 
monwealth. Chap. 567. Acts of 1912. This law- 
goes into effect Jan. 1, 1913. The secretary on 
his own initiative introduced a bill at the last 
session to stop the sale of game, and this bill 
was later approved of by the executive board. 
The law as it now stands is a consolidation of 
this bill with two others introduced for the same 
purpose. 
By the bag limit law each hunter may kill 
five gray squirrels in any one day and fifteen in 
any one year; three ruffed grouse in any one 
day and fifteen in any one year; four woodcock, 
or quail in any one day and twenty in any one year. 
1'he deer law remains the same as last year, 
except that deer may be shot in the additional 
counties of Bristol, Essex and Middlesex. 
The restriction on hunting wildfowl at night, 
Chapter 187, Acts of 1911, has been entirely re¬ 
moved. 
Changes in the seasons as follows are very 
important: 
The season on partridge, quail and wood¬ 
cock opens three days earlier and closes three 
days earlier this year, namely Oct. 12 to Nov. 
12. both dates inclusive. This does not apply to 
rabbits and squirrels. 
Report, 1911-1912 
Additional game wardens may be provided 
upon application of a city or town, providing 
said city or town will pay the salary, fifty dol¬ 
lars a year, to the warden. 
Some greatly needed legislation was not en¬ 
acted. 
The substance of a bill presented personally 
by the secretary of the association to permit the 
shooting of cock pheasants, subject to a day and 
season bag limit, was provided by the Committee 
on Fisheries and Game, but was defeated in the 
Legislature. The opposition was along purely 
sentimental lines by legislators who know noth¬ 
ing about gunning and who overlooked two very 
important facts—these birds are being raised and 
liberated for this very purpose and a restricted 
open season would direct attention away from 
the native birds, particularly partridges. 
The bill to keep self-hunting dogs out of the 
covers during the mating and breeding season 
was defeated on a technicality and not on the 
merits. 
The bill to license all cats was made the 
butt of some mirth in the Committee on Agricul¬ 
ture. whereas if the same legislators would seri¬ 
ously consider the loss of bird life each year by 
the hordes of unowned, neglected and uncon¬ 
trolled cats of the Commonwealth, such a bill 
would quickly become law. 
Repeal of the law prohibiting the use of live 
decoys on the waters of and adjacent to Nan¬ 
tucket. 
A law- should be passed similar to the one 
in Pennsylvania prohibiting all unnaturalized 
persons from carrying firearms in this Common¬ 
wealth. This would make it easier to control 
the camps of foreigners, who lay waste the 
country around them, for no guns would then 
be allowed in and around such camps. 
There should be a reasonable bag limit on 
shore birds and wildfowl. 
The appropriation of the hunter's license fee 
to the use of the Board of Commissioners on 
Fisheries and Game, in addition to the annual 
appropriation. 
The creation of a single-head commission 
with two deputy commissioners. This last should 
be insisted upon by every sportsman. It is not 
the object of this report to make any unfair 
criticism, for considering the present form of 
organization, the Commission on Fisheries and 
Game has done good work. But granting this, 
its results have not been so large as could have 
been obtained, considering the exceptional op¬ 
portunities of this commission during the past 
two years at least, under a more direct form of 
organization. The control is now equally divided 
among three men, and it is impossible to obtain 
decisive action as quickly or to lay positively on 
any one man the responsibility for failure to ob¬ 
tain results which should be realized. 
In support of the second proposition advanced 
above, the following action has been taken : 
Last year, $10,000 w-as appropriated to estab¬ 
lish and maintain one or more game farms. Five 
game farms are now in operation at Foxboro, 
Sharon, Sutton, Wilbraham and on the Vine¬ 
yard, respectively. These farms embrace, all 
told, over 4000 acres of leased or posted land 
on which all varieties of game birds and wild¬ 
fowl are being raised. The reservation on the 
Vineyard, which heretofore has harbored only 
the heath hen, is being made a breeding ground 
for quail and wildfowl. It is estimated that the 
other farms will collectively produce this year 
about 2,800 pheasants, 1,000 quail and a hundred 
or more ducks, including wood, mallard and 
black ducks. The commissioners point with pride 
to a flock of forty-two young Virginia wild 
turkeys which were raised from one pair of 
