130 
FOREST AND STREAM 
But rarely in these days do we hear of reckless 
and needless slaughter of big game. In every in¬ 
stance of illegal killing the parts of the beast are 
put to use. However, for a matter of record 
perhaps one-half as many individual animals are 
lawlessly shot as are legally reported to the 
authorities. 
Fifteen hundred moose were reported shot last 
Fall in the Province of New Brunswick. It is 
safe to say some 200 additional moose were 
legally shot but not reported or shipped, and es¬ 
timating that 750 were unlawfully taken, there 
were then 2,400 moose shot in New Brunswick 
last calendar year. At first thought this figure may 
seem sufficiently large to annihilate the species 
in a few years time. But if we care to average 
the several estimates of the existing numbers of 
moose, submitted by connoisseurs, there would 
be today in the province 10,000 individual ani¬ 
mals. A greater proportion of this number are 
breeding cows, but allowing for the number shot, 
and winter killed as well as those which are too 
old or too young to breed, the race therefore is 
seen to be holding its own. At the same time it 
must be remembered that the cows are protected 
and therefore increasing, while on the other hand 
the bulls are diminishing greatly in numbers- 
The situation in respect to the deer of New 
Brunswick is much the same in that they are ap¬ 
parently withstanding the destructive forces. Deer 
breed more rapidly than moose. Careful obser¬ 
vation shows that they are becoming more plenti¬ 
ful by a slight degree. As a matter of fact 
twenty-five years ago deer were as rarely seen 
in the province as are caribou today in Maine. 
And at this time it is believed there are approxi¬ 
mately 15,000 deer in this great stretch of terri¬ 
tory. In the year 1913, it is computed 3,000 were 
killed, and certainly there were more than 3,000 
fawns reared last summer. 
Though Maine and New Brunswick from the 
big game point of view are not in the same 
class with our Great Northwest, they are never¬ 
theless vast wild territories, interrupted only in¬ 
termittently by a fringe of railway lines and 
scattering habitations. New Brunswick in area 
is larger than the total area of New Hampshire, 
Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Its 
interior is practically one unbroken expanse of 
forest land which forms natural game preserves, 
rarely visited by man. He keeps pretty con¬ 
sistently to the coast and navigable rivers, and 
when he penetrates into the interior his track is 
like a tiny thread flung across a billiard table. 
Reliable woodsmen, travelling in wild sections. 
sometimes tell of coming upon moose or deer 
whose actions show they have never before seen 
a human being. Therefore, in great verdant 
areas, governed by stringent laws faithfully ob¬ 
served, there is no immediate fear of the ex¬ 
tinction of big game—but it is of serious im¬ 
portance that these laws should be applied well 
in advance of the first intimations of lessening 
numbers. 
Below a table is given showing the game re¬ 
ported shot during the last three years in some 
of the districts: 
New Brunswick. 
ign. 
1912. 
1913 . 
Moose. 
. 2,057 
1,854 
i, 50 i 
Deer. 
3,061 
2,075 
Caribou .... 
Maine. 
261 
454 
Moose. 
.. 301 
218 
152 
Deer. 
.6,403 
8,307 
7,755 
Bear. 
Vermont. 
182 
58 
Deer. 
.2,644 
1,692 
1,802 
Bear. 
Massachusetts. 
72 
78 
Deer. 
1,231 
1,596 
New Hampshire. 
No records available. 
Inasmuch as the woodland caribou is migra¬ 
tory by nature, coming and going in greater or 
less numbers and being influenced by weather, 
feed and the presence of moose and deer, it is 
more difficult to determine the present effect of 
protective legislation. Small herds of caribou 
have from time to time been reported in north¬ 
ern Maine during the past few years, but it is a 
rare sight, and does not for any reason indicate 
their return to these regions. For only partially 
explained reasons, hords of caribou sometimes 
linger in comparative abundance throughout the 
barrens in the late Fall, as in 1913, when nearly 
twice as many were killed as in previous years. 
But nevertheless, they are losing ground per¬ 
ceptibly, though the stags taken carry as good 
heads as usual. 
The number of animals annually shot fluctu¬ 
ates not wholly by reason of the inevitable in¬ 
crease or decrease of the specie, but also by such 
influences as weather conditions, food supply, 
lumber operations and natural enemies. Deer 
and moose are perceptibly more abundant after 
a mild winter, while severe weather and deep 
snows destroy scores of the younger and weaker 
individuals, put the animals in poor shape for 
propagation, and hinder the proper development 
of both antler and body. Forest fires for the 
time being drive game to other feeding grounds, 
but fresh and tender shoots throughout these 
newly fertilized lands bring them back in even 
greater numbers. The best hunting sections are 
found today in territories which were swept by 
fire three or four years ago. Lumber cuttings 
affect the prevalence of big game in much the 
same way. Great operations, blasting, and per- 
miscuous shooting by lumber and mining crews 
keep the game away 'from these regions, which 
make excellent feeding grounds when the new 
growth has begun. Every experienced hunter 
knows the thrilling prospect of visiting old lum¬ 
ber cuttings and camp clearings. In a country 
where the lynx, bobcat and bear are abundant, 
the deer decrease in numbers, and have been 
known on this account, to quit the entire vicinity. 
Even young moose are sometimes attacked and 
slaughtered by these fierce and fearless beasts. 
These are facts —which show the need of con¬ 
tinuing the present bounty laws. 
It is merely a problem of deer protection in 
Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 
Farmers tell us they have been overrun with 
deer. Annual open seasons in these states will 
without doubt bring the other extreme, and the 
deer will soon be gone forever, inasmuch as there 
is no such sheltering cover as is so richly afford¬ 
ed in the regions farther north. By the above 
table it will be seen that the numbers shot do 
not vary to any great extent from year to year. 
In many sections they are semi-domesticated. 
Inasmuch as they subsist pretty much from 
freshly cultivated and lumbered lands, they are 
less timid and often sighted, and most of those 
seen are ultimately shot. 
Though some sportsmen hold an adverse opin¬ 
ion, with respect to the future of the moose, I 
am firmly of the belief that as the larger bulls 
are universally sought and shot, the breeding is 
consequently left to smaller and younger males, 
thus tending to produce a race of inferior speci¬ 
mens. Even in localities where moose are as 
abundant as they were fifteen years ago, the 
size of the antlers taken are reported smaller 
each year, while shootable bulls are fewer. The 
game legislation in Maine has stood for many 
years as a creditable example to other states. 
But the day is soon at hand when the moose 
will be utterly extinct within its confines. Grow¬ 
ing communities, the push of civilization, the pro¬ 
gress of divers industries, and the popularity of 
this nearby game country, must take the inevit- 
SAFETY FIRST 
You hear it everywhere. The 
Safety is one of the superior 
points of the “Gun that Blocks 
the Sears.” The Safety which 
makes accidental discharge 
impossible. 
ESTABLISHED 1853 N. R. DAVIS & SONS, Lock Box 707, AsSOIiet, MaSS. 
