April 23, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
G 57 
Wyoming Elk Last Winter. 
We are permiFted to print some extracts from 
a private letter written to Colonel Archibald 
Rogers by a resident of the Jackson’s Hole 
country, telling about the starvation of elk there 
during the past winter. 
Since this letter was written a thaw set in 
and . the snow disappeared, allowing the elk to 
pull back to the hills, so that the winter loss is 
estimated at not over 2,500 head. This leaves 
the estimated loss for the past two years at 
about 10,000 elk. 
Feb. 20, 1910.—We are having a hard winter 
here and had one last. We lost 5,000 to 7,000 
elk last winter and stand to lose from 5,000 to 
15,000 this winter. Last winter we had hay to 
spare and saved several thousand; this winter 
we have no spare hay and the State game war¬ 
den, Nowlin, opposes winter feeding, and con¬ 
ditions are getting very bad with calf elk on the 
lift, many dead ones, probably a thousand, the 
cows showing every rib, and still two months of 
winter weather here. 
The State has asked Congress to appropriate 
money enough to buy out the ranches on the 
Gros Ventre and cede 200,000 acres there as a 
winter game refuge, and I have taken the stand 
with the people of Jackson’s Hole that during 
any hard winter the elk all, or nearly all, drift 
down into the Jackson Valley, and any mild 
winter can winter anywhere, and therefore that 
the Gros Ventre is not a practical winter range 
for more than 5,000 elk any mild winter or 3,000 
any hard winter. 
It is an evident and well proven fact that the 
State of Wyoming has made a complete failure 
as to winter protecting her large bands of elk, 
and unless something is done by the Federal 
power to handle these large bands of elk in this 
part of Wyoming, I am now sure that exter¬ 
mination of elk will be the final outcome, and 
two more hard winters will accomplish this end 
to the extent that no large numbers of elk would 
roam this country, and then with increased hunt¬ 
ing there must be only one end. I am opposing 
this State game preserve on account -of their in¬ 
ability to protect their game and on account of 
their unwillingness to use license money to pro¬ 
tect their game, only as far as political power 
goes, and the salaried game wardens that ac¬ 
complish nothing for game protection. * * * 
Our State warden is fighting us hard on large 
packs of dogs, and the law allows him’ to use 
his discretion on all timber reserves, these tim¬ 
ber reserves covering all bear country in Wyo¬ 
ming. I have taken it up with the Governor 
and he seems inclined to think it would be un¬ 
wise to eliminate bear hunting on any but big- 
game country, and I think we can get something. 
I will guarantee bear to anyone, also lion, lynx 
and bobcat. Our big-game season opens Sept. 
25, closes Nov. 30. One elk, one sheep, two deer 
on $50 license; special license, second elk, $50. 
This looks good to a sensible man, and thou¬ 
sands dying every winter, no use to anyone. 
The month of November is fine for elk, sheep 
and deer, and from my ranch, which I use the 
latter part of November, I can get all these 
animals and some good dog running. The bear 
here do not miss to hole up Nov. 15 any year 
for more than a few days. 
The Idaho season opens Sept. 1, closes Dec. 1, 
three months, and is a good country for bear, 
bobcats and lions, and I can arrange a hunt there 
fine for anything. 
Deer are increasing fast here and the wolves 
are killing lots of elk and deer, as they are 
roaming all over the game country. 
It has been a blizzard here for a week and 
it looks worse all the time and has been the 
coldest weather in my memory. 
Jas. S. Simpson. 
Pinnated Grouse and Quail. 
Pratt, Kan., April 7.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have been acting as State fish arid 
game warden since Dec. 1, 1909. As yet no 
special report has been called for on the pin¬ 
nated grouse, prairie hen or prairie chicken, as 
it is here commonly called. The Department of 
Fish and Game has nearly 200 deputy wardens 
located in different parts of the State, and in 
time expects to appoint as many more, if suit¬ 
able persons can be found who are willing to 
serve the State in this capacity. 
A few reports on the prairie hen or chicken 
have been received during the winter and spring. 
These birds are confined almost exclusively to 
the central and western parts of the State and 
are found locally rather than generally dis¬ 
tributed over the country. In this neighborhood 
there are a few small flocks. Further north and 
northwest there are a good many in places. Also 
west of this county and in some of the south¬ 
western counties a considerable number are re¬ 
ported in certain favored localities. I have heard 
of some winter flocks that contained from 
twenty-five to fifty. 
The open season on these birds is from Sept. 
15 to Oct. 15. By this time the birds are grown 
and can fly well. It does not take much shoot¬ 
ing to make them wild. Many returning hunters 
last fall reported the birds very wild. As a rule 
not many birds were secured by any one party. 
Judging from reports, considerable damage was 
done in some localities where the country is 
sparsely settled by persons who began shooting 
before the open season. Much of this, accord¬ 
ing to reports, was done by parties riding in 
automobiles. Flocks of birds, either prairie 
chickens or quail, that might be near the roads, 
were in many cases practically exterminated. 
One automobile party carried a net which it was 
seen to stretch across the road in the hedges for 
quail. 
Quail seem to have wintered well. Owing to 
the bad weather that prevailed during much of 
the open season (Nov. 15-Dec. 15), there was not 
as much hunting last fall as usual. The quail 
is better protected than any other game bird in 
this State, as many landowners do not allow 
them to be killed at any season. From reports 
and from personal observations I think it is safe 
to say that there are now more quail in the State 
of Kansas than for several years at this season 
of the year. There are several flocks in this 
immediate locality. Even now while I am writ¬ 
ing this note I see from a window in the fish 
hatchery building a bunch of nineteen, feeding 
within twenty yards of the front porch. The 
State hatchery building is located south of the 
central part of the State in Pratt county, three 
miles east of the city of Pratt. 
L. L. Dyche, 
State Fish and Game Warden. 
The Deer Season. 
Utica, N. Y., April 11 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: For months past there has been much 
adverse criticism among sportsmpn and among 
the guides of the Adirondack region as well in 
regard to the provision in the existing game laws 
which legalizes the killing of bucks from Nov. 
1 to 15, inclusive, and it is earnestly hoped that 
it will be repealed by the present Legislature. 
When it first came to the knowledge of the pub¬ 
lic last year that the law had been amended so 
as to provide for this, friends of game protec¬ 
tion predicted that the amendment would prove 
disastrous to the deer, and. their prophecy has 
been fulfilled. Among the objections which 
were raised was the fact that there is usually 
snow on the ground by Nov. 1, and this enables 
the still-hunters to get in their work with deadly 
certainty, as they can readily track the deer and 
at the same time make their way noiselessly 
through the woods. In early November, too, the 
bucks are on the lookout for does and conse¬ 
quently are less cautious in their movements than 
they have been heretofore and more likely to 
come within the hunters’ ken. When the sea¬ 
son began Sept. 1 and closed Nov. 15, the num¬ 
ber of deer killed during the last two weeks of 
the hunting period would nearly, if not quite, 
equal the number taken during the preceding 
two months. 
Another point made by those who ob¬ 
jected to the change in the law referred to 
was that although the open season for does 
ended Oct. 31, there would still be many killed 
as long as the shooting of bucks was permitted. 
This belief was founded largely on the experi¬ 
ence of other States. In Vermont, for example, 
they had an open season for deer, but the law 
prohibited the killing of does at all times. The 
result of this was that many hunters would shoot 
a deer whenever they had an opportunity, but if 
it proved to be a doe they would leave it to rot 
where it had fallen and continue their hunt until 
they succeeded in getting a buck. In this man¬ 
ner hundreds of does were uselessly slaughtered 
and the venison wasted. The hunter ran but 
little risk of detection and conviction, as he 
would necessarily have to be caught in the act 
of killing the doe in order to be brought to jus¬ 
tice. It was predicted that an open season for 
bucks during the closed season for does would 
be attended with similar consequences in New 
York State, and such has been the case. Many 
reports were received from the Adirondacks late 
last fall about the numerous carcasses of does 
which had been found lying where they had been 
shot, affording eloquent evidence of the mistaken 
policy of permitting November shooting. Op¬ 
ponents of the measure claim that if the killing 
of bucks is legalized at that time, it would be 
wise to open the fortnight in November for does 
as well, for with such an arrangement there 
would be no hindrance to the sport of hunting, 
and venison would not be wasted. Public senti¬ 
ment, however, strongly favors the prompt re¬ 
peal of the objectionable provision. 
W. E. Wolcott. 
New York Legislature. 
Mr. Marlatt has introduced in the New York 
Legislature a bill providing that no hunting 
license shall be issued to any person under six¬ 
teen years of age. The Assembly has passed 
Mr. Shea’s bill relating to the sale of plumage 
of birds. 
