FOREST AND STREAM 
623 
A Valuable Aid To Game Commissions 
In this age of so-called “progressivism” it is 
a source of gratification to lovers of our wild 
life to note some real, lasting progress being 
made in several states in the work of its con¬ 
servation. In the past we have had discussions 
a-plenty on this subject. Everyone had his own 
ideas, and each insisted that his own notions 
were the only correct ones. The result, of 
course, could not be otherwise than lack of 
action—a want of some real forward movement. 
However, we find now and then a progressive 
state game commission that does not hesitate to 
act upon an idea when it appeals to them as 
both practical and advisable. 
The Game Commission of the State of Cali¬ 
fornia appears to be one of the latest leaders in 
this line. This commission has just established 
a special 'bureau of education and publicity and 
placed the same in charge of Dr. Harold C. 
Bryant, the well-known zoologist of the Univer¬ 
sity of California. In selecting Dr. Bryant the 
commission certainly put the right man in the 
right place. This is apparent to all who have 
seen the first bulletin issued by him, for it is a 
veritable mine of accurate information, data, 
scientific facts and interesting reading. The 
doctor has made a “ten-strike” at once and the 
very first output of his bureau has fully justified 
its establishment. 
There can scarcely be a doubt but that the 
very prime need of every state commission of to¬ 
day is such a bureau as that presided over by 
Dr. Bryant. It will be noted, too, that the Cali¬ 
fornia commission did not select a politician or 
visionary dreamer for this important task, but a 
scientist—an expert in his line. In this the com¬ 
mission at once showed its sincerity and good 
faith, and the people of that state can confidently 
trust the matter issuing from the press of the 
bureau as being both reliable and well considered. 
By means of correspondence, bulletins, press 
articles, posters, lectures and other devices of 
publicity, Dr. Bryant proposes to conduct a cam¬ 
paign of education in California that will finally 
prove to the people of that state the value of 
their wild life and the best methods of conserv¬ 
ing it. 
It is certain that every commission in the 
country will soon recognize the importance of 
such a department as this, and it ought to be ob¬ 
vious to all intelligent people that in those states 
especially where there exists the latest forms of 
popular government such a bureau is an absolute 
necessity, for if the people are to pass upon 
questions respecting their wild life supply, how 
can they do so intelligently without a thorough 
knowledge of the subject? Simply because a 
person goes on an occasional hunting or fishing 
By Henry Chase. 
trip is no reason to assume he has correct 
knowledge of the game and fish. Real, practical 
knowledge of this subject can only be acquired 
by long and intimate study and field work. 
There are only a comparatively few persons 
in each state who have had such experience and 
training, and their services in an official capa¬ 
city in disseminating correct information, 
arousing interest and directing public sentiment 
toward the true doctrines of game conservation 
are as valuable an adjunct to a state game com¬ 
mission as anything connected with it. As an 
example just note what the game department 
of the U. S. Biological Survey has done in this 
line throughout the whole country. Besides, a 
campaign of education is the need of the hour 
in every state in the Union if our wild life is 
to be ultimately saved from extermination. 
It is true that the leading sportsmen’s maga¬ 
zines, notably Forest and Stream, have been 
and are doing their full share in this connection, 
but this vital process of educating the public 
should not be left to the sportsmen’s press alone. 
As a business proposition private publishers 
have learned from experience that a publication 
devoted wholly to the cause of game conserva¬ 
tion will not pay; it will not be sufficiently sop- 
ported to exist, so they must subordinate this 
feature in their columns to that of entertain¬ 
ment for the sportsmen—-to something that will 
more certainly interest and entertain—or sub¬ 
scriptions, and consequently advertising, will not 
be forthcoming from the public. Here, then, is 
exactly where the official bureau of education 
fits in nicely. Not being dependent upon volun¬ 
tary subscriptions and advertising for its exist¬ 
ence such a bureau may devote its publications 
principally to the cause of conservation, and let 
the entertainment of sportsmen be a secondary 
consideration, while at the same time its bulle¬ 
tins are placed in the hands of all citizens free 
of expense. The effect of sudh work cannot be 
otherwise than decidedly helpful to the cause 
of game preservation. 
This will be demonstrated in several ways. 
First, it will arouse and attract public interest 
in the cause—it will set people to thinking upon 
the subject. Second, on account of the bureau’s 
facilities and advantages it will spread correct 
information regarding the habits, habitat, value 
and prevailing conditions of the game supply, 
and thus direct education along proper lines. 
Third, it will supply all needful information to 
legislators for the enactment of proper and prac¬ 
tical game laws, and eliminate the present hit- 
or-miss policy in prescribing rules of law. In a 
word, this official inteligence bureau will supply 
a long-felt want and fit in where the necessity 
of its being at this time is greatest. 
In the past, game officials have constantly 
noted the need for such work as this bureau 
can do, and some have attempted to surmount 
the difficulty of procuring this aid by private 
means. For instance, in Maine, for some years, 
it has been the custom of one or two of the game 
commissioners to issue privately a publication 
devoted to the game and fish interests of that 
state. This work has undoubtedly been of value 
to the cause of game preservation there, but in 
carrying it forward the commissioners have been 
handicapped in the same manner as other private 
publishers and were dependent upon voluntary 
subscriptions and advertising for support of 
their enterprises. With this handicap removed 
it is plain to be seen how much more can be 
accomplished. 
It seems unquestionable, then, that it is the 
duty of all the state game departments to take 
up this important idea at once, and if they make 
any pretensions whatever at being progressive 
and devoted to the cause of game preservation 
they will not hesitate to take the necessary steps 
to establish as soon as possible a special bureau 
of information and publicity and enter heartily 
upon a campaign of education to bring the pub¬ 
lic over to their side in conserving the wild life 
and enforcing proper laws for game preserva¬ 
tion. — 
MONARCH BUCK DEER OF MT. HURRI¬ 
CANE REGION SUCCUMBS AT LAST. 
Elizabethtown, N. Y.. Oct. 29. 
Last Monday about 2 o’clock as William Hayes 
and O. Byron Brewster were watching for deer 
in the Mt. Hurricane section of this town the 
monarch of that far-famed region suddenly ap¬ 
peared, his glossy coat glistening in the sunshine, 
his horns looking like an upturned rocking chair 
and his neck, which had swelled with pride so 
long, bigger than ever. It was a case of pop-pop, 
each man firing and it took V. W. Prime’s big 
auto truck and three men to load the dead deer 
after he had been relieved of intestines and 
dragged and carried over 4 miles through the 
woods. When the monarch was skinned at 
Maplewood garage Tuesday afternoon it was 
found that both bullets had taken effect, each 
having struck in a vital part. The deer dressed 
265 lbs. and was one of the fattest ever seen here. 
The neck was pronounced the largest ever seen 
on a deer in this section. It is estimated that 
over 3 lbs. of lead had been shot at the Mt. 
Hurricane monarch previous to Monday after¬ 
noon and it develops that the dog killer and 
monster of his section had escaped unscathed un¬ 
til last Monday. 
