New York’s Supply of Wild Game. 
Concluded from page 776. 
Game conditions during the past year have 
been favorable. It is my opinion that there are 
more deer in the Adirondacks at the present 
time than for many years. This is partly ac¬ 
counted for by more efficient game protection, 
and partly by favorable winters, during which 
there has been little mortality among the deer. 
The protectors look after the deer in the winter, 
and by their efforts carry through many young 
deer which would otherwise perish of 1 starva¬ 
tion. This work, however, is only in its infancy, 
and an appropriation should be made for this 
specific purpose. 
Partridges have been increasing in the State 
and the situation is much more hopeful than it 
has been at any time within the past two years. 
In localities where the breeding stock was not 
shot off last year, there has been good bird 
shooting during the fall of 1909. Woodcock 
have been fairly abundant, and it is to be hoped 
now that the South has adopted stricter game 
laws, and New York and other adjoining States 
have shortened the season, that a continued im¬ 
provement will be noted in the future. Im¬ 
ported pheasants are increasing in numbers in 
many parts of the State. I am inclined to be¬ 
lieve that a short open season for the entire 
State would be to the interest of the sportsmen. 
At the present time there are eight counties in 
the State where pheasants, may be killed during 
a short open season. As far as I can learn the 
birds are not decreasing in these counties despite 
the fact that numbers of sportsmen from adjoin¬ 
ing counties come in during the open season to 
secure the birds which the law permits them to 
kill. If there was an open season in the entire 
State, more interest would be displayed in propa¬ 
gating the birds in counties where there are now 
very few. The sportsmen would hunt nearer at 
home, which would be for the benefit of the 
counties now having an open season. There 
would also be less convictions of sportsmen who 
kill birds in a county where the season is open 
and take them home to a county where the sea¬ 
son is closed. As the law stands at present, 
pheasants killed legally in a county where the 
season is open cannot be possessed elsewhere in 
the State where the season is closed (except in 
Greater New York). • 
The work of. the game protectors is greatly 
hampered in the enforcement of the wildfowl 
law, particularly on Long Island, by the provis¬ 
ion permitting the possession of ducks for two 
months after the season for killing them has 
passed. Those familiar with the workings of 
the game law understand that the largest per¬ 
centage of convictions are secured under the 
clause making the possession of game illegal, 
rather than upon the prohibition as to the tak¬ 
ing of the game. It is much more difficult to 
prove the killing of game out of season than to 
prove its possession, and for this reason a law 
*From advance proofs of the annua! report of Chief 
Protector John B. Burnham. 
which permits the possession of any variety for 
any considerable period after the open season 
has expired is impractical of enforcement. The 
Long Island brant law, while bad in itself, is 
particularly vicious in that it gives the spring 
duck hunters an excuse for being on the water 
during the close season. The brant law and that 
part of the law permitting the possession of 
ducks in January and February should both be 
repealed. 
A remarkable illustration of effective game 
law enforcement is to be found in the con¬ 
course of canvasback ducks on Cayuga Lake 
each spring after the open season has expired. 
These ducks have steadily increased in number 
until now there are several thousands of them 
to be found each spring upon the lake. Pro¬ 
tector William D. Feree, of Cayuga, has written 
the following interesting letter upon the subject: 
“Thirty years ago it was only on rare occas¬ 
ions that a canvasback duck was killed on Cayuga 
Lake and they did not come here in numbers 
until about ten or twelve years ago, and then 
only a few dozen. Since that time they have 
been gradually increasing, and for the last five 
or six years they have about doubled each year 
until at times there are at least 10,000 ducks in 
a single flock. 
“Since spring shooting was stopped, they have 
wintered on the lake in large numbers, taking 
advantage of the first opening in the ice near 
the foot of the lake and become quite tame, 
being loth to fly when quite closely approached 
and become accustomed to the passing trains and 
are an interesting sight for the passengers. * * * 
This increase of course is mostly due to the clos¬ 
ing of the season on Jan. 1 and is a stronger 
argument against spring shooting than any 
words.” 
The beaver of the State are increasing rapidly, 
and will soon be a common spectacle in the Adi¬ 
rondack region, and also in the country south 
of the Catskills. 
The elk in the Adirondacks are holding their 
own in one restricted locality. This animal is 
well able to take care of itself despite the heavy 
snows of the North Woods, but there are too 
many hunters in the Adirondacks to make the 
experiment of restocking there an entire success. 
Young elk are often shot by mistake for deer. 
This is the chief reason why there are not more 
of them in the Adirondacks at the present time. 
The experiment of stocking with moose is a 
failure. Both moose and elk need a larger 
range of absolute wilderness than is to be found 
in the North Woods. 
GAME REFUGES. 
The great increase in the number of hunters 
and the constantly lessening game supply which 
has resulted in the present stringent game laws 
has also developed a world-wide movement in 
favor of game refuges. Tracts of land are every¬ 
where being set aside where no hunting what¬ 
ever is permitted, and where game and birds 
have safe breeding grounds, and from which the 
increase finds its way over neighboring lands 
where hunting is permitted. 
The future apparently offers no better prac¬ 
tical plan for furnishing shooting for States such 
as New York where private preserves are not 
likely to be general, for in no other way can 
the breeding supply be so well conserved. 
Such refuges would furnish admirable places 
for stocking with birds from the State game 
farm. 
Public spirited persons in various parts of the 
State have already offered tracts of land to be 
used as game refuges. There is, however, at the 
present time no specific law under which such 
tracts may be dedicated. It appears to me that 
the matter might suitably be cared for by the 
passage of a law similar to Section 164, which 
gives the commissioner the power to close for 
a period of years streams stocked with State 
fish upon the request of a majority of the town 
board of any town. Much additional work 
would devolve upon the game protective force, 
but it is reasonable to believe that public senti¬ 
ment could be counted upon in support of this 
form of protection, and the day is certainly not 
far distant when there will be no game over 
large areas unless some such plan is' put in 
operation. 
To Increase Wildfowl Supply. 
When we have stopped entirely the spring 
shooting of wildfowl in New England, we may 
confidently expect an increase of birds both in 
spring and fall throughout this region. This in¬ 
crease has already begun and will continue as 
the laws are made stricter and are better en¬ 
forced, but other regulations will be needed to 
restrain the too eager gunner who drives the 
fowl away from their feeding grounds. 
Night shooting should be stopped absolutely 
throughout this region. Nothing is more certain 
to drive ducks or geese away from any locality 
than disturbing them at night. Wildfowl which 
are once shot into on their resting or feeding 
grounds at night will give the place a wide berth 
thereafter, except when driven by necessity to 
go to the open spring holes for fresh water, 
when shooting should be absolutely prohibited 
either day or night. 
The chasing of wildfowl by boats should be 
stopped everywhere, except at sea. Nothing is 
more certain to drive out and keep away the 
more timid species than this practice. This has 
driven out the wildfowl from our bays, harbors, 
lakes and streams in daylight and sent them to 
sea. The fresh water species now come in to 
the ponds only during the night to feed. Shoot¬ 
ing should be allowed only from the shore or 
from boats anchored near it. 
The best duck shooting in Massachusetts is 
now to be had on the island of Martha’s Vine¬ 
yard, where the law does not allow the pursuit 
of birds by boats in any of the ponds. Formerly 
this was an unwritten law on the island. It was 
broken some years ago by one man who in a 
single day succeeded in driving~out about all the 
birds from one of the larger ponds. Then the 
people of the island went to the Legislature and 
