April 17, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
/ 
615 
Letting Dogs into the Woods. 
Norwich, N. Y., April 10. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Assembly bill No. 834 amends Section 
79 of the forest, fish and game law by permit¬ 
ting dogs, not of the breed commonly used for 
hunting deer and that will not hunt or pursue 
deer, to be taken into the forests inhabited by 
deer for the purposes of hunting birds, foxes, 
rabbits and hares, if duly licensed, and provid¬ 
ing the proper form of license; fee, fifty cents. 
I understand this amendment received the 
sanction of the State Fish, Game and Forest 
League at its convention held last December. 
In my judgment this is a mistake and the 
League would not, I feel sure, have endorsed 
it if a right and proper explanation of the situ¬ 
ation had been made before the convention. 
First—Most dogs that will hunt foxes and 
rabbits, together with some dogs used for hunt¬ 
ing birds, will hunt and 
pursue deer, and will 
leave the smaller tracks 
for the larger whenever 
chance permits. Further, 
any kind of a dog, in¬ 
cluding bird dogs and 
common curs, can readi¬ 
ly be trained to hunt 
and pursue deer. The 
first law was against 
hounds and had to be 
changed to cover all 
dogs and bitches because 
they were used in place 
of hounds. So dogs of 
all breeds were “com¬ 
monly used for hunting 
deer,’’ and will be again 
if this amendment be¬ 
comes law. 
The common way of 
hunting deer in Florida 
is to go out horseback 
with a pack of dogs to 
start the deer, which 
are shot at from the 
saddle—the dogs being used to find and start 
the deer, same as bird dogs find and flush birds. 
I have thus hunted deer in Florida behind 
packs of dogs, no two of which were of the 
same breeding, and at different times a bulldog 
seemed to be the most effective one in the 
pack, and this in company with a fine looking 
hound. 
Second—If a dog chases a doe when snow is 
deep, she has small chance, and if she escapes 
with her life, she soon drops a still-born fawn 
and one life is lost. It takes only a short chase 
in the spring to bring the same result. 
Dogs, like minks and weasels, are wanton 
killers and kill deer the year round, if left in 
the woods, the same as dogs kill sheep. The 
State paid thousands of dollars in bounties on 
wolves in order to get them out of the woods, 
and one dog will kill more deer than several 
wolves, as the latter kills to satisfy hunger. 
Third—Hundreds of deer dogs will get into 
the Adirondack Park under this amendment, 
and our stock of deer will rapidly decrease. 
We have shortened our open season for deer 
from four months to six weeks, in order to 
save them from extermination. If the dogs are 
let in, they will hunt by themselves and kill 
deer the year round. It will not at all answer 
if we care to keep our deer. 
Besides, we should have these partial game 
refuges or shelters for game and birds. Deer, 
partridges, foxes and rabbits naturally work to¬ 
ward the edges of the forest, and all except deer 
will spread out and away from the woods and 
help replenish covers in the farming sections. 
It seems safe to state that all true sportsmen 
will be glad to have these partial game refuges 
—partial because under the present law we can 
still-hunt partridges, foxes and rabbits the same 
as we do deer. I still-hunted partridges for 
some years before I saw a dog used, and have 
always much enjoyed hunting without a dog, 
though for over a third of a century I have had 
a small kennel for pointers of my own breed¬ 
ing and training. It is also good sport to still- 
hunt foxes and rabbits—but the finest of all 
sport, for me, is still-hunting deer—at which 
H.M.F STARVED ELK IN JACKSON'S HOLE. 
the deer have more than ten chances to one 
for me. Clarence L. Parker. 
The Jackson’s Hole Elk. 
Baltimore, April 6 .~—Editor Forest and Stream: 
In confirmation of the account of the starving 
elk in Jackson’s Hole, Wyoming, as given in 
the communications of T. E. H., in your issue 
of the 3d inst, I send you an extract from a 
letter from George A. Wilson, one of the guides 
resident in the Hole, and some photographs of 
the hungry quadrupeds. His letter, dated 
March 28, follows: 
“You ask about the elk. M'^ell, they were on 
the verge of starvation, and as the State seemed 
indisposed to save them, we settlers took the 
matter in hand and each of us donated hay, 
money and work for the purpose of saving as 
many as possible. After the State learned what 
was being done it appropriated $5,000 for two 
years, and now if the hay holds out, we can 
carry the animals along till spring opens up. 
They have been fed every day since Feb. 18. 
but about 200 calves and some bulls have died 
and more will do likewise. 
“Just above the house is one feeding ground, 
and we have had from one to two thousand 
head there all the time. There are probably 
35,000 in this valley, and we, like everybody else, 
have had to sleep right by the hay stacks to 
keep them away, and even then they would 
break in. They come down to feed with our 
cattle every day, and we have to herd them 
while the cattle eat. It is a sight worth com¬ 
ing many miles to see, but it is sad to see so 
many calves dying. They were too weak when 
we commenced feeding. We can see herds at 
all hours and they are becoming somewhat of 
a nuisance, but are beginning to work back into 
the hills as the snow goes. I send some photo¬ 
graphs which the Imeson boys took. There are 
many bulls with big heads.” 
S. W. Lippincott. 
No Spring Shooting in North Dakota. 
Galesburg, N. D., April 4.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I believe we 
are going to have an 
early spring. We have 
had two small rains in 
the last week, meadow 
larks and crows are 
plentiful, and large 
flocks of geese, both 
snow and gray, and of 
ducks, can be seen any 
day on the prairie and 
stubble and flying 
around. 
The North Dakota 
Legislature has passed a 
law prohibiting spring 
shooting, and it went in¬ 
to immediate effect by 
virtue of an emergency 
clause, so the birds are 
reasonably safe this 
spring. The law as to 
chickens and ducks is 
not off till Sept. 7 and 
the chicken season closes 
Nov. I and on ducks 
Dec. 15. 
I wonder if there is to be an adequate fish¬ 
way provided in that big power dam at Inter¬ 
national Falls or Koochiching or Ramy River in 
Northern Minnesota? The fishery interests up 
there are vast and valuable and should in no 
way be hampered or curtailed by any pulp mill 
or power company either by damming the river 
or by emptying waste products into it. 
J. P. W. 
Kennel Note. 
VoL. XXV. of the A. K. C. Stud Book for 
1908 contains 10,676 registrations, from num¬ 
bers 113,466 to 124,141, inclusive. Each asso¬ 
ciate member who has paid his or her dues for 
1908 is entitled to a copy. Those joining since 
1909 are not entitled to a copy. Besides the 
registrations the volume contains much other 
valuable information in its 1,523 pages. Address 
Sec’y A. P. Vredenburg, 55 Liberty street. New 
York. 
Ail the game laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
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