As to Spring Shooting. 
It is not so many years since the shooting of 
wildfowl in spring was regarded as a wholly 
legitimate form of sport, and was practiced 
everywhere. The few who objected to a season 
extending over six or eight months of the year 
were laughed at. Gunners brought forward the 
ancient argument that the birds were migratory, 
and said that “if we do not kill them here they 
will go off north—or south—and be killed there.” 
This familiar plea expresses the American spirit 
of thoughtlessness and wastefulness and selfish¬ 
ness. It is not a very lofty sentiment, but it 
must be confessed it is a sentiment which has 
guided, and to some extent is still guiding a 
portion of the American people. 
Anyone who cares to go back fifteen or twenty 
years and to look up the old statutes will find 
If each man interested in gunning in any part 
of the country will look this table over, he will 
at least gain an idea of what has already been 
done. It is noticed that the North Atlantic— 
except Rhode Island—and the Pacific States for¬ 
bid spring shooting, as do also several of the 
Rocky Mountain States, while most of the South¬ 
ern States, Pennsylvania and part of New Jer¬ 
sey and many of those in the Mississippi Valley, 
permit spring shooting. This list at all events 
shows where the work of stopping spring shoot¬ 
ing must be undertaken, and may be considered 
a guide for missionary work. The table is 
worth careful study and we shall be glad to 
hear comments on it from any of our friends. 
Spring Shooting Forbidden. 
Massachusetts —Sept. 15 to Dec. 31. 
*Maine— Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. 
Spring Shooting Permitted. 
Nevada— Sept. 15 to March 15. 
^Maryland— Nov. 1 to April 10. 
*Wyoming —Sept. 1 to April 30. 
Missouri —Sept. 15 to April 30. 
West Virginia —Sept. 1 to April 20 
Kentucky— Aug. 15 to April 1. 
Florida—O ct. 1 to April 1. 
Rhode Island— Aug. 15 to March 31. 
Indiana —Sept. 1 to April 15. 
Kansas —Sept. 1 to April 15. 
South Dakota— Sept, to to April 10. 
Pennsylvania— Sept. 1 to April 10. 
THE GREAT HUDSON RIVER PARK. 
The present Palisades Interstate Park, the Harriman Tract, and the additional lands to be purchased to complete the extension northward. 
that, as in other matters of conservation, so in 
this the public view has undergone great changes. 
The sentiment against the spring shooting of 
wildfowl has grown and grown rather rapidly, 
so that now about one-half the States and Prov¬ 
inces in the United States and Canada forbid 
spring shooting—most of them wholly, some of 
them only in part. There are a few States that 
seem to have no wildfowl law at all, and others 
that appear to be sitting patiently astride the 
fence, prohibiting spring shooting in one section 
of the State and permitting it in another. 
As elsewhere stated there are a number of 
gunners who believe that the . prohibition of 
spring shooting over considerable territory has 
resulted in an increase in the number of our 
wildfowl; and if the stopping of spring shoot¬ 
ing has had such a result, it is certainly worth 
the while of the'gunners of the United States 
and Canada to make such prohibition general. 
For the benefit of those who wish to consider 
the subject carefully we have prepared a table 
showing the States in which spring shooting is 
forbidden and those in which it is permitted. 
The dates are approximate only and the table 
is not expected to serve as a game laws in brief. 
Minnesota —Sept. 7 to Dec. 1. 
Montana—S ept. 1 to Jan. 1. 
JUtah— Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. 
Idaho —Sept. 1 to March 1. 
Mississippi —Sept. 1 to March 1. 
JOregon —Oct. 15 to Feb. 15. 
^Washington —Sept. 1 to March 1. 
North Dakota —Sept. 7 to Dec. 15. 
New Hampshire— Oct. 1 to Jan. 31. 
Vermont —Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. 
New York —Sept. 16 to Dec. 31. (Brant 
may be killed in spring.) 
Connecticut —Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. 
Wisconsin —Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. (Geese 
to 10th of May. Swans at any time.) 
California —Oct. 1 to Feb. 15. 
British Columbia —Protected always. 
(Except north of 55th parallel, Sept. 
15 to March 31.) 
Manitoba —Sept. 1 to Dec. 1. 
New Brunswick— Aug. 1 to Dec. 1. 
Saskatchewan —Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. 
Alberta— Aug. 23 to Jan. 1. 
Newfoundland —Oct. 1 to Dec. 15. 
(Except geese.) 
^Ontario— Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. 
Ohio— Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. (Also March 
1 to April 21.) 
Virginia— Oct. 15 to May 1. 
Colorado —Sept. 10 to April 16. 
Alabama —Sept. 1 to March 15. 
^Delaware— Oct. 1 to April 16. 
Iowa —Sept. 1 to April 15. 
Illinois —Sept. 1 to April 15. 
Nebraska— Sept. 15 to April 5. 
Oklahoma —Aug. 15 to May 1. 
Tennessee —Oct. 1 to April 15. 
North Carolina —Nov. 1 to March 31. 
Michigan —Nominally, Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. 
(But permits shooting of a dozen 
species of wildfowl; .March 2 to 
April 25.) 
New Jersey forbids spring shooting in its 
northern sections, but permits it to the south. 
Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Ari¬ 
zona and New Mexico apparently have no 
general wildfowl laws. 
* Some county exceptions, 
t Spring shooting in some counties. 
% Geese may be killed in spring. 
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