Dec. i 6, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
867 
Game Protection 
By JOSEPH KALBFUS 
B Y Act of Assembly, it is made the duty of 
the Board of Game Commissioners to pro¬ 
tect the game and wild birds of the State. 
I take it this duty extends beyond matters spe¬ 
cifically mentioned in the statute, and that the pur¬ 
pose of the law is to save the game and wild 
birds from extinction, and that it is as much my 
bounden duty to protect the game and wild birds 
from destruction through the agency of four- 
footed animals, predatory birds, or the elements 
as it is to say these same things shall not be 
taken by man, except under the letter of the law. 
I cannot believe that the game law is intended 
♦From Bulletin No. 1 of the Game Commissioners of 
Pennsylvania. 
for a purpose other than benefit to all the peo¬ 
ple of this State, or that it is my duty to arrest 
a poor man who may kill game out of season, 
when he needs the same for food, and then 
stand with folded arms and see game of all 
kinds destroyed by storm, vermin, or wild ani¬ 
mals, big or little. 
I cannot believe that these laws were passed 
only for the purpose of increasing game, that 
it might be wantonly destroyed, but instead are 
intended to preserve our game and wild birds, 
because of the many and varied benefits that 
come through their presence. 
I cannot believe that the purpose of creating 
a close season for game was intended simply 
to arbitrarily deny to men the right to hunt or 
to be possessed of game during that time, solely 
and only to mar or interfere with the pleasure 
of these men during that period, but instead, 
was intended to preserve the life of the game 
animal or bird in question, and to guarantee a 
time of peace and rest, during which it might 
prosper and increase to the final benefit of all 
the people of the Commonwealth. With this 
thought in mind, I cannot believe that the law 
intends that the body of a deer, or of any other 
game animal or bird killed by accident, as for 
instance, by a railroad train, during the close 
season for such animal or bird, shall lie upon 
the ground and rot, or become the food of crows 
or dogs, rather than be used by some human 
being who may have witnessed the accident and 
who was fortunate enough to possess himself of 
the carcass. 
The aesthetic value of wild animals and birds, 
especially the latter, their beautiful form, their 
THE BARK ANDREW HICKS, OF NEW BEDFORD, CRUISING FOR WHALES OFF CAPE HATTERAS. 
From a photograph by Victor J. Slocum. 
