Feb. i6, 1907.] 
North Carolina Game. 
Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 6. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: A number of Raleigh sportsmen re¬ 
turned Feb. 6 from the Carteret Club, which is 
J on Core Sound, some forty miles from Beau¬ 
fort, and report that the shooting during the 
past few days has been fair, but that the winter 
in general has been one of the poorest on record, 
owing to the unprecedented warmth, so that the 
’ ducks have not come much in these waters while 
geese have been infrequent. Bad weather is now 
{ on, with snow in the up-country, and the north¬ 
easter which prevailed for two days brought in 
a good many ducks. One of the sportsmen tells 
j me that while they were at the Carteret Club, 
one of the patrol boats came in with a game 
warden on board and that he had been having a 
lively time after the fire-lighters. He had cap- 
1 tured nine of these in the upper sounds and had 
all bound over to court, some of them being very 
daring offenders, of long standing. He put into 
the club to get some supplies, and then dashed 
out again, being particularly in search of a man 
named Fulcher who is said to be the worst pot¬ 
hunter and fire-lighter in those waters. Fulcher, 
of course, knows the waters in that region like a 
book and gets in to the little creeks and shallow 
places, and when close pressed leaves his boat 
and takes to the scrub which is along the bank 
there and, of course he knows the pathways 
through this and can go anywhere he wishes. 
Five chases have been made of this fellow. The 
warden told the club men that Fulcher last win¬ 
ter killed 900 red-head ducks by fire-lighting, and 
sold them to dealers, and that he had de- 
| fied the game wardens to bother him until a 
couple of specials were sent there. The warden 
j who told the game men this said he intended to 
get Fulcher at all hazards, and he has employed 
a very careful man to steer his boat, having in¬ 
terested this man in making the capture. A re¬ 
port of this sort of work has been fully laid 
before the legislative committees on game, and 
these committees have very definite information 
as to the work done by fire-lighters all the way 
from the Virginia line down to a point near 
Beaufort. The county authorities seem to be 
supine in all that territory, though what is done 
by the pot-hunters is in violation of law and 
the county officials know it, yet they must be 
afraid they will lose both, this being the reason 
that the county officials in the up-country parts 
of North Carolina give for not enforcing the 
law against moonshiners. 
What has been remarked about the scarcity of 
geese and ducks so far this season applies also 
to sea shore birds in general, but it seems to be 
the belief that this will be a bad month and that 
[ there will be some shooting. In past years a 
great many beach birds have been shot and sent 
out to market, bought by the hotels and clubs 
north and put on cold storage. Around Ocra- 
coke market hunters have made a business of 
this, and large numbers of the birds have been 
j shipped to Boston, and thus put away for future 
I use. This was notably the case three years ago, 
L and also four years ago, when I made a very 
extended trip in those waters. 
The snow up the country has not been deep 
enough to do any damage to the partridges or 
other game, ranging only from two to six inches. 
The pheasants in the counties where they are 
being bred have been very carefully looked after 
and the gentlemen interested in propagating 
these birds expect a very great increase this 
year. So far bills have been passed prohibiting 
the shooting of pheasants in nine counties, for 
a period of from five to seven years, some of 
these being mid-state counties. Farmers have 
been interested and their co-operation to a large 
extent assured, and numbers have pledged them¬ 
selves to report and prosecute every pot-hunter. 
Neither of the game committees of the Legisla¬ 
ture has as yet reported on the general game 
law, but several members have said individually 
that they felt sure there would be shortening of 
the shooting season and that they had high hopes 
i of getting a uniform close season. 
Representative Dilling introduced in the House 
to-day a bill in which sportsmen are deeply in¬ 
terested. It provides that waterfowl, geese, ducks 
and brant, shall not be shipped out of the State for 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
PHOTOGRAPH BY W. S. BERRY OF THE CARCASS AFTER THE HEAD HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY. 
gain. I11 other words it puts these fowl on the 
same footing as partridges (or quail). It is to 
shut out the pot-hunter. Mr. Dilling has made 
two trips to the east and says reputable men tell 
him that unless such a law is enacted the pot¬ 
hunters will absolutely destroy the fowl. He 
says, of course, Pierce Hampton, the representa¬ 
tive from Currituck, will fight this measure, as 
he believes it will pass. He says Mr. Hamp¬ 
ton’s bill to repeal all the game laws for Curri¬ 
tuck will fail. Mr. Hampton introduced this 
early in the season. There are game law com¬ 
mittees, for the first time, in both branches of 
the Legislature and members tell me they will 
be very careful. There is a strong movement for 
shortening the open season for partridges (miail). 
Fred A. Olds. 
New Hampshire Needs Protection. 
West Derry, N. H., Feb. 2.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Never within my memory has there 
been so much need of a sportsman’s association 
as at the present time. We have a first class 
board of commissioners, good laws so far as 
they go, and good wardens, but what we lack 
is co-operation. A few good men scattered over 
a tract of land as large as New Hampshire, 
where its igneous surface is practically an un¬ 
broken one, do but little toward bringing to 
justice those disposed to be malicious in the des¬ 
truction of game, and I am sorry to say there 
are many so-called sportsmen that persist in just 
such depredations. In my opinion this sort of 
thing cannot be stopped until we have an or¬ 
ganized body to help enforce the laws. Who 
would dare to raise his gun to shoot an animal 
protected by the Federal laws ? And should there 
be a man bold or ignorant enough to commit 
such a deed, how long would it be before he 
would be behind the bars? 
This goes to 1 prove that in union there is 
strength. The man who disregards Federal laws 
knows that public sentiment is against him, but 
the man who goes out to shoot a grouse or 
rabbit in close season feels that he has only to 
dodge the game warden and he is safe, which in 
many cases is true. 
Let us have an association composed of every 
person that goes afield with the gun in the State 
of New Hampshire. Let it be a legislative body 
of itself. Induce every true sportsman to be¬ 
come a member and to pay a small sum of money 
to become a perpetual member of the associa¬ 
tion. Then we shall have money to restock our 
covers, to pay wardens for successful prosecu¬ 
tions which will give them an incentive for 
more zealous work. Have at the head of the 
organization a man like C. M. Stark, of Dun¬ 
barton, or any other competent man that is 
popularly known throughout the State as a true 
sportsman. Have the territory cut up into dis¬ 
tricts and such officers anpointed in the several 
districts as the association may deem neces¬ 
sary. Then, and not until then, can we enforce 
the laws so carefully framed by our board of 
commissioners. 
Have it so arranged that all moneys received 
for fines through the efforts of any member of 
the association shall go to the treasury of the 
association to be expended from time to time as 
the officers of the association may deem neces¬ 
sary. Let us not turn the money into the State 
treasury to be spent on highways and bridges, 
but let us keep it to further the game interests 
of our State. There is much inconsistency in the 
handling of moneys received for fines and licen¬ 
ses in many States, and New Hampshire is no 
exception. We as sportsmen exercise every 
means at our command to keep our covers from 
being depleted of what little game there is left. 
We have a nonresident license law and I am 
told that the amount received during the year 
1906 amounted well up into the thousands. The 
law provides that this money is to be turned 
over to the detective fund to be expended from 
time to time as otherwise provided by law. I 
fail to see where the sportsman gets the benefit 
of money so placed, as it is not available to him. 
In this case the sportsman gets his labor for 
his pains. The railroads, hotels and livery men 
reap a harvest at the expense of the ultimate 
extermination of our game. The bad conditions 
can only be eliminated by co-operation. So let 
us have a powerful sportsman’s association for 
the benefit of the game interests of our State. 
Let us hear from others regarding this matter 
through the columns of Forest and Stream and 
let us speed the day when we may have an or¬ 
ganization second to none in the United States. 
Tsciennitto. 
Two Protectors’ Work. 
New York City, Jan. 28. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: During the year 1906 there was paid 
into the New York State treasury the sum of 
$15,270.63 obtained by Protector J. E. Overton, 
assisted by E. A. Dorlon, for violations of the 
fish and game law. The number of penalties and 
amounts collected by months are as follows: 
Jan. 14, cases amounting to $3,564; Feb. 15, 
cases amounting to $2,473; March 14, cases 
amounting to $2,116.10; April 22, cases amount¬ 
ing to $2,862; May 9, cases amounting to 
$563.75; June 6, cases amounting to $2,481.38; 
July 7, cases amounting to $495; Sept. 5, cases 
amounting to $290; Oct. 4, cases amounting to 
$200; Dec. 3. cases amounting to $225.40; total, 
$15,270.63. 
The combined salaries of the above officials 
is $1,600 per year and their traveling and other 
expenses are restricted to $1,200 for the same „ 
time, so it will be observed that there are some 
State employes who are not only useful, but are 
far from being a burden to the taxpayers. The 
records show over $10,000 paid in by the same 
men during 1905. J. E. Overton. 
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