i 
Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal. Copyright, 1907, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1907. 
\ No. 
VOL. LXVIII.-No.14. 
346 Broadway, New York. 1 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre¬ 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14,1873. 
NORTH CAROLINA PROTECTION. 
It is gratifying to know that at the last 
session of the Legislature of North Carolina 
' several excellent laws were passed. Some rep¬ 
resentatives elected from the seaboard counties 
from that State threatened to go to Raleigh and 
; to tear things up by the roots, doing away with 
all game protective laws and encouraging 
wholesale rapid destruction of game and fish. 
However, after the session began, not very 
'imuch was heard of these radical gentlemen. 
| During the latter part of the duck shooting 
y season the Audubon Society did good patrol 
| work along the eastern waters of the State. 
| This work is not easy to do and to do well, 
ij Lawbreakers are many and they are familiar 
with all the waters, leads, bays and channels, 
[ and can easily slip out of sight if chased. More- 
l over, they are screened by the local people, who 
« feel they must protect their neighbors. After 
l violations of the law early in the season had 
■ been called to his attention, Mr. Pearson sent 
down to Currituck Sound, to look into con¬ 
ditions there, a man in whom he had great con¬ 
fidence, and whose actions justified this con¬ 
fidence. This man did excellent work and made 
p a number of arrests for violations of the law. 
i Unfortunately, but one conviction was had, for 
! it is most difficult to secure a conviction before 
a jury of local men. It is reported, however, 
that these cases will be brought up again before 
r the grand jury, with what results we cannot tell. 
As we have more than once pointed out, the 
f work of enforcing the law depends on the men 
who are to do it. Though there is no real 
danger, the lawless element is blatant, and no 
l 
timid man can succeed as a game protector on 
j Currituck Sound. The man who was working 
there this past winter was without fear, and was 
consequently successful. 
[: CONNECTICUT’S GOOD SHOWING. 
f On Wednesday and Thursday of last week 
hearings were given at the Senate Chamber at 
the State Capitol, Hartford, on several bills re¬ 
cently introduced in the Connecticut Legislature 
limiting the shooting of certain game birds. 
| There were five of these bills, all of them with 
, the same purpose—that of increasing the pro- 
tection on shore birds and wildfowl. 
One of the bills nrovides that the close sea- 
| son for rail shall end Sept, ii instead of Sept. 
; i- as at present, and limits the bag to fifty birds. 
A number of persons spoke in favor of the 
f measure, but it was suggested that twenty-five 
i birds were enough for a day’s bag, and it is pos- 
i sible that the bill may be reported with this 
change. The extension of the close season pro¬ 
posed is eminently proper. During the first few 
days of the season as it stands at present all the 
birds bred on home marshes are killed, and there 
is no more shooting until the flight birds come 
on. It is a shame that the birds should so be 
swept away from the local marshes. The es¬ 
tablishing of the bag limit is also a most ex¬ 
cellent measure. 
The other bills brought forward provide for 
ending the open season for shore birds and web¬ 
footed wildfowl Jan. i, thus cutting off the 
spring shooting. Nearly all those who spoke on 
the bills favored the prohibition of spring shoot¬ 
ing. 
This hearing was unique from the fact that 
in a very large attendance not only was there 
no opposition to these protective bills,' but all 
the Connecticut sportsmen and gunners who at¬ 
tended spoke with one voice in favor of better 
protection for the birds. There were several 
men from the mouth of the Connecticut River— 
men who make their living from the water—dish¬ 
ing for shad in the spring, taking out fishing 
parties in summer, shoving for rail in Septem¬ 
ber, and taking out gunners for ducks in the 
late fall—who were insistent that the present law 
should be changed and that more protection 
should be given to the birds. 
Among those who advocated these bills were 
representatives from Massachusetts, New York, 
Washington, and many local towns. The for¬ 
eign advocates of protection, however, had noth¬ 
ing to say except to offer to the Connecticut 
sportsmen who spoke about the bill compliments 
and congratulations on the advanced sentiment 
which they voiced. 
The proposition to establish a Government 
range for rifle and revolver practice merits the 
commendation of everybody, for it is proposed 
to permit civilian clubs and individuals, as well 
as military organizations to shoot over it, under 
proper restrictions. Just where it will be located 
will be decided by the commission of Army 
officers appointed for the purpose, but it is prob¬ 
able that it will be in one of the Middle Atlantic 
States. With a Government range as an estab¬ 
lished fact, the friends and promoters of rifle 
practice for our young men will find their efforts 
bearing fruit. 
91 
Rain, raw winds, perhaps snow may prevail 
this week, but despite any or all, the great ang¬ 
ling fraternity will be found following their 
favorite streams in search of trout and that con¬ 
tentment which is found nowhere else, at least 
by them. There is a charm in the leafless woods, 
a fascination in following the windings of a 
brook, a peace in these brief communions with 
nature that go far toward keeping men young 
and cheerful. Try it. 
TIMBER CUTTERS AND THE DEER. 
From the earliest days of game protection 
until the present time the proposition that the 
worst offenders against the game laws have been 
found in log camps has been commonly accepted 
as true, and there are those who claim that while 
the laws may be closely observed by all other 
persons, the lumbermen will not be bound by 
them. 
It may surprise many people to learn that in 
the Adirondacks, at least, there are men of va¬ 
rious callings who hold that the proprietors or 
“bosses” of log camps are better game protectors 
than some of the sportsmen who visit the woods 
in the open season. The men who express this 
belief inform us that while in years past loggers 
were persistent offenders, at the present time 
many of them require their men to observe the 
laws closely. 
There is little sentiment in this action. Busi¬ 
ness methods apply. They hold that the pos¬ 
session of rifles by their employees is a menace 
to these business methods. If an employee who 
is fond of hunting has a rifle, he will want "a day 
off” to look for game, and in the closed season, 
when every man’s efforts are needed in getting 
logs into the streams, the loss of each day may 
be a serious item when the ice breaks up. If 
one man is granted time to hunt, others will in¬ 
sist on a similar privilege. The result is de¬ 
moralizing. At best it is hard to keep good 
loggers in the woods throughout the long sea¬ 
son, and “born logmen” are becoming scarcer 
every year. 
Again, the sound of the rifle shots carries a 
long distance in the forest. Residents are not 
in sympathy with the logmen, and if they hear 
shooting near a camp, they are likely to ask the 
nearest protector to investigate. The arrest of 
an employee is a costly item to the “boss, for 
several of his fellows may be called as witnesses 
to a distant town, and when a logger “strikes 
town,” its attractions are likely to hold him far 
beyond his leave, if indeed he returns at all. 
If a camp “boss” shows an inclination to let 
his men hunt, and buys the deer they kill for 
the mess, he receives frequent requests for leave 
to hunt, since a man can sell a deer for more 
than his day’s wages would amount to. I he re¬ 
sult is ever unsatisfactory, and the risk is great. 
That deer are frequently killed and sold to 
the log camps is no doubt true, but judging from 
talks with loggers, camp proprietors, guides, pro¬ 
tectors and many other persons in various parts 
of the Adirondacks, we feel sure that the timber 
cutters are coming to a realization of the faci 
that lawlessness among their men cannot now be 
winked at as it was in the days when jacking 
and hounding were legal methods of hunting 
deer. Not long ago the State protectors searched 
several large log camps in the Adirondacks and 
did not find a single rifle in any of them, al¬ 
though their visits were not anticipated. 
