Feb. 2, 1907.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
177 
Gun Licenses. 
Norwich, N. Y., Jan. 25. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: It is a pleasure to read the letters of 
Dixmont, of Lewis Hopkins, of H. R. Bryan and 
C. H. Ames in Forest and Stream of Jan. 12. 
Dixmont’s reasons for a resident hunting 
j license seem to be good ones. The fees will 
very much help out on expenses for protection 
of game, and all true sportsmen will be glad 
to assist in this direction. A resident hunting 
license, and it should also include all fishermen, 
will clearly catch all nonresidents, as a resident 
will have to swear to 'his citizenship and also 
have another resident do the same' for him, be¬ 
fore he can get a license, and each man must 
have a license with him when hunting or fish¬ 
ing. If aliens, or others, who carry guns in 
j . fields and woods to shoot any and all birds and 
animals within range, can be kept from so doing 
it will be a great gain. 
It was thought the statement in Forest and 
Stream Dec. 29 last, as to “A Close' Season for 
Guns” made plain the wi^h to make it unlawful 
for any person in the Adirondack Park and ad¬ 
joining country to have a gun of any kind 
outside of a permanent residence during the 
close season for deer only, and allow the use of 
guns during the open season for deer same as 
now. 
The writer can state, from personal knowl¬ 
edge, from talks with guides, hunters and hotel 
men in the North Woods, that there is an 
earnest desire to have the killing of deer by 
men in lumber camps stopped, and to have it 
unlawful to have guns in the woods or in camps 
during the close season for deer. In June, 1906, 
three lumber camps in the Adirondacks had re¬ 
spectively five, eight and nine guns in them, and 
those guns were there to kill deer with. If those 
guns had not been there no deer would have 
been killed for those camps. Maine and Canada 
ale considering laws along the line of making 
it unlawful to have guns in the public forests 
during the close season for game, and not to 
| allow the carrying of firearm? by persons under 
fifteen years of age. 
As to the need of shooting crows and hawks, 
we are learning that these birds do more good than 
harm and were not made in vain. Target prac- 
| tice is good in Its place, but it seems necessary 
j to allow no excuse for having guns in the 
Adirondack Park and adjoining counties during 
the close season for deer. The way to protect 
is to protect. As Dixmont states, most men in 
camp with rifles are savages; or even worse, for 
j savages did not kill for the sake of killing and 
to waste. Clarence L. Parker. 
— 
Harrisburg, Pa., Jan. 21. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I herewith inclose to you a copy of 
a letter just written by* the president of the 
Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s Association, 
relative to the necessity of imposing a license 
upon resident gunners in our State, and the 
purpose intended. Joseph Kalbfus, • 
Secretary of the Game Commission. 
Mr. Worden’s letter is too long to be pub- 
j lished in full. In it he.says in part: 
“I have just noticed an article in the press 
relative to the action of certain gentlemen in 
Lock Haven in opposition to the proposed bill 
imposing a license of one dollar on those people 
of this State who propose *to hunt. These 
gentlemen declare themselves very loudly on 
lines they lay down for themselves, as reasons 
and purpose of this measure. If these gentle¬ 
men had taken pains to investigate this matter 
thoroughly, if they had taken pains to find 
out the origin of this proposed measure and 
the necessity therefor, I am sure that not one 
of them would, in any way, raise his voice 
in protest, but on the contrary, would be among 
the loudest in support of this bill.” 
Mr. Wordefi then reviews the work done in 
j the past by the sportsmen and the State Asso¬ 
ciation and calls attention to the small sum 
available for game protection, reasoning very, 
justly that the proposed measure should be en¬ 
dorsed by “poor men;” He continues: 
"We have tried to have the State contribute 
through appropriation in sufficient amount to 
the work of this board time and time again. 
With what result you will understand from the 
following figures: First, a magnificent appro¬ 
priation of $300 per year was allotted to this 
use; later this was followed by an appropria¬ 
tion of $3,000 per year; then $6,000, and now 
the tremendous figure of $10,000 per year has 
been set apart by this great State for the pur¬ 
pose. Not enough in my humble opinion to pay 
ordinary traveling expenses, let alone.other 
claims that they might have cause to meet. 
Some days ago I received word that a single 
trial in defense of a game protector, who in 
defense of his own life had killed a foreigner 
he found hunting, had cost the Game Commis¬ 
sion $1,500. This is one of many just claims 
I know these people are called upon to meet. 
How they do as well as has been done is the 
only wonder in my mind, and how to correct 
these conditions has been the question with the 
organized sportsmen of this State. A bill of 
like character with the present bill, requiring 
a resident hunter to secure a license before 
hunting in this State was introduced in 1895, 
when it died in committee. 
“Since that time this matter has been con¬ 
sidered thoroughly in all its aspects and finally 
indorsed by the Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s 
Association at its annual meeting held last 
spring. The .members of this association felt 
that it was not fair or just for them to bear the 
burden of game and wild bird protection in this 
State alone as they have borne it up to this 
time, and that it was only fair and just that 
every man who enjoys hunting either for one 
day or for one week or for one month should 
be compelled to contribute to this purpose, 
namely, the purpose of supplying the sinews of 
war to a worthy body, which is doing and has 
been doing the very best that is possible under 
existing conditions. They feel that this is only 
just as between men. Each member of this 
organization is ready and willing to contribute 
his share. They now propose to ask the Legis¬ 
lature to compel the man who is not ready and 
willing to either pay this money or quit hunting. 
They feel that any man who is not able to 
pay one dollar toward this purpose should not 
waste his time in hunting. They simply ask 
that the man who is benefited should be com¬ 
pelled to walk up to the captain’s desk and 
settle.” 
Feeding Quail. 
Whitinsville, Mass., Jan. 21. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: We are now feeding in this local¬ 
ity eight different lots of quail. These are all 
natives. We do not intend purchasing quail for 
liberating this season as we believe we have 
enough natives for our purposes. We hear of 
one or two further coveys which we hope to 
secure later. There has been little snow thus 
far and all the 'native quail should be getting 
on well without aid, nevertheless we feed those 
we can find as in case of deep and long pro¬ 
tracted snows later our birds will be located and 
easily provided for. Our experience is that once 
a feeding place is established the quail will not 
leave it until spring if a little grain is placed 
there occasionally. 
The shooting season just passt has been the 
best for a number of years in this section for 
ruffed grouse. Nearly everyone reported a larger 
bag of these birds than they have been able to 
secure for several years. Our quail shooting has 
also been about 'as good as it ever has been. I 
have reliable data whioh show that at least ten 
dozen of these birds were taken by the shooters 
in town during the single month of the open 
season. We have a good stock left over of both 
grouse and .' quail. Woodcock were reported 
scarce and there were far less than the usual 
number killed. Cyrus A. Taft. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. . Ask your dea'er to 
supply you regularly. 
Newfoundland Caribou. 
I he Reid Newfoundland Company is making 
special efforts to send a good exhibit to the 
Sportsmen’s Shows in Montreal, Boston and 
New York. While the company has first-class 
material to whet the appetite of gunners, it 
lacks good anglers’ exhibits. The trout and 
salmon exhibits are not as expressive as they 
ought to be of our facilities in that line, but 
Mr. I. N. Johnstone, of the company, assures 
me, that this deficiency will be remedied the 
coming season. Mr. Johnstone expects a 
greater rush than ever this year, and is already 
making preparation to give visitors a good time. 
Many American hunters • were disappointed 
last fall in not getting good heads. Caribou 
were plentiful enough, but decent antlers were 
few. Mr. J. Guille Millais Arket, author, ex¬ 
plorer and big-game hunter, who traveled last 
year, off the beaten track, into the hitherto un¬ 
explored wilderness, accounts for the scarcity of 
big heads near the railway track in this manner. 
He says: “I had made a long journey of fifteen 
days into the interior to a district which no 
white man has ever previously entered, and dur¬ 
ing twenty days’ hunting saw nearly 2,000 cari¬ 
bou, including 'five or six big stags every day. 
1 his proved that the stags had learned some¬ 
thing, whereas the hunters have learned noth¬ 
ing during the past ten years, for the big stags, 
except for purely local migrations,. have found 
it necessary to avoid the dangerous zone. So 
Newfoundland will keep her deer in vast num¬ 
bers as long as the means of access to the in¬ 
terior is difficult, and the virgin forests of the 
central parts are undisturbed by the woodman’s 
ax. 
The last account we had from the deer coun¬ 
try was to the effect that they were moving 
south in vast herds. Probably the next news 
will be that they are massed in thousands within 
a few miles of the whole southern coast. Dur¬ 
ing the next few weeks a man with a good 
camera would get a picture of caribou near 
Burgeo that would prove a revelation to Ameri¬ 
can sportsmen. 
The fishing season opened Jan. 15. All the 
lakes are coated with ice, though most of the 
rivers are yet open. Comparatively few sports¬ 
men go a-fishing through the ice, although a 
great many anglers combine business and 
pleasure (such as it is on a wind-swept pond in 
midwinter) and catch and sell their fish for 
good prices. 
I send you a clipping from a local paper, 
which gives a curious reason for the scarcity of 
rabbits and partridge the last few years. Sports¬ 
men blamed the lynx and foxes up to this time, 
but now a new claimant has arisen in the form 
of the weasel. Talking about the scarcity of 
rabbits reminds me of a report from Port 
Blandford. For years rabbits were num¬ 
erous' in that neighborhood. They were shot 
and trapped in hundreds and sent on to St. 
Johns in barrels, where they retailed for about 
20 cents per bracq. Now, there is not one to 
be had for love or money. They seem to have 
disappeared from Port Blandford and miles 
around it. I see by late Canadian papers that 
some mysterious disease has carried off thou¬ 
sands of rabbits in western Canada. Rabbit 
hunters reported the same mysterious disease 
around here about five years ago, and during 
its prevalence thousands of rabbits perished. 
The clipping follows: 
“Several of our young men who make a prac¬ 
tice of setting slips for rabbits in the woods 
near, Carbonear Long Pond, say that weasels 
are so plentiful that it is impossible to secure 
a- sound rabbit after it has been snared. At 
nearly all the sljps. tracks of the weasels could 
be seen, and in case a rabbit was in a slip it 
was sure to be eaten. The men say that there 
must be hundreds of these animals in the woods. 
Some seem inclined to blame the decrease in 
the partridge here, as the animals prey upon 
young birds besides destroying the eggs in the 
nest. On the other hand, the weasel is credited 
with being one of the best natural aids to keep 
in check the increase of rats, mice and other 
vermin.” W. J. Carroll. 
