976 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 18, 1910. 
Fur Taking in Alaska. 
The secretary of the Department of Com¬ 
merce and Labor has issued the following cir¬ 
cular : 
Section 4, of “An act to protect the seal fish¬ 
eries of Alaska, and for other purposes,” ap¬ 
proved April 21, 1910, provides that— 
“No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, 
sable or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal, 
within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the 
waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof 
shall, for each offense, be fined not less than 
$200 nor more than $1,000, or imprisoned not 
more than six months, or both; and all vessels, 
their tackle, apparel, furniture and cargo found 
engaged in violation of this section shall b^ for¬ 
feited; but the Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor shall have power to authorize the killing 
of any such mink, marten, sable, fur seal or 
other fur-bearing animal under such regulations 
as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of 
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to pre¬ 
vent the killing of any fur seal except as au¬ 
thorized by law and to provide for the execu¬ 
tion of the provisions of this section until it is 
otherwise provided by law.” 
Fur-bearing animals enumerated below may be 
hunted and killed in the Territory of Alaska, 
except during the seasons specified with respect 
to each of the several animals mentioned. 
1. Sea Otter.—The hunting or killing of sea 
otter is prohibited until Nov. 1, 1920. 
2. Beaver.—The hunting or killing of beaver 
is prohibited prior to Nov. 1, 1915. 
3. Land Otter, Mink, Muskrat, Marten, Fisher 
and Ermine.—The hunting or killing of land 
otter, mink, muskrat, marten, fisher or ermine 
is prohibited throughout the season from April 
1 to Oct. 31, both days inclusive, of each year. 
4. Black Bear.—The hunting or killing of 
black bear is prohibited throughout the season 
from April 1 to July 31, both days inclusive, of 
each year. 
5. Fox, Wildcat and Lynx.—The hunting or 
killing of fox, wildcat or lynx is prohibited 
throughout the season from April 1 to Sept. 30, 
both days inclusive, of each year. 
6. The killing of any fur-bearing animal by 
means of strychnine or any other poison is pro¬ 
hibited at all times. 
7. Permits or licenses may be issued by the 
Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the tak¬ 
ing of fur-bearing animals for scientific pur¬ 
poses or for shipment to zoological parks. 
The penalties and forfeitures imposed by the 
act will be strictly enforced against all persons 
who take, capture or kill, or attempt to take, 
capture or kill, any fur-bearing animal in the 
Territory of Alaska during the prohibited sea¬ 
sons herein established, or who barter or have 
in their possession the skin or pelt of any fur¬ 
bearing animal during the said seasons. 
Charles Nagel, Sec’y. 
Camp-fire Club. 
On June 10 and 11 the Camp-fire Club held its 
annual outing at E'. T. Seton’s place at Coscob, 
Conn. Weather conditions were very unfavor¬ 
able, but the program was carried out. This 
comprised various events, among them rifle and 
revolver shooting, fly-casting, canoe races and 
log rolling. The event of most interest to the 
spectators was one in which each contestant was 
required to split wood, build a fire with one 
match, make a flapjack and eat it. About fifteen 
minutes’ time was consumed by the winner. A 
prize was also given for the most perfect motor 
car camp, and another for the most complete 
tent and outfit. 
Louisiana Legislature. 
New Orleans, La., June 8 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The conservation committee of the 
House of Representatives has just reported a 
game merger bill combining the State game and 
oyster commissions. The bill is by Mr. Vent- 
ress and meets the objections of many to the 
game commission. The appointment of game 
wardens is hereafter to be made by the board 
from a list of three names submitted by each 
police jury in the several parishes. The warden 
is to give his entire time to the public service. 
He is to have no authority to serve legal pro¬ 
cesses. Game seized by him will go to hospitals 
and charitable institutions. Police juries are to 
control all money for fish and game protection. 
The market hunter must pay a license of $15 
instead of $1 heretofore. He is to be allowed 
to kill fifty ducks instead of twenty-five. The 
owner of land and his tenant will be allowed to 
hunt on their property without the payment of 
any license. The bill carries an appropriation of 
$70,000 up to July, 1912, for the establishment 
of fish hatcheries. The board is allowed $30,000 
a year to pay all expenses and to pay salaries. 
The board is to submit an annual report, giving 
a detailed estimate of its proposed expenses. 
The salary of the attorney of the board is fixed 
at $3,600 a year, and he will be subject to ser¬ 
vice when requested by the Governor and Attor¬ 
ney-General. 
The Ventress bill will probably be approved by 
the majority of the hunters in the State, and it 
will have the effect of quieting criticism among 
many in the country parishes. The provision, 
which requires the superintendent to spend at 
least $1,000 a year in each gulf parish in plant¬ 
ing ovsters, is looked upon as particularly pleas¬ 
ing to hundreds of people who complained that 
the country parishes did not receive any finan¬ 
cial benefit direct from the operation of the 
former laws. 
Dr. T. S. Palmer, the Federal expert on game 
and fish laws, is expected to appear before a 
committee of the Legislature and advocate the 
passage of the Ventress bill. Dr. Palmer is 
familiar with the various amendments before 
the Legislature on fish and game subjects, as 
rough drafts of them were submitted to him 
before they were introduced and he approved 
them. Governor Sanders is squarely for the 
preservation of the natural food supply of this 
State, and it is known that many, if not all, of 
the proposed game amendments are administra¬ 
tion measures. 
It is the belief of many hunters and sports¬ 
men that the reduction of the hunting license 
for the non-residents from $25 to $15 will be 
good policy. Visitors to Louisiana ought to be 
encouraged to remain during the winter. 
As soon as the Legislature, which is now in 
session, passes finally on the game and fish laws 
of the State, the game commission will put into 
execution a number of plans which it has held 
in abeyance for some months. Reports from the 
game wardens show that both quail and deer 
have increased about 15 per cent, in Louisiana 
during the past year. F. G. G. 
Spring Wildfowl Shooting. 
Wymore, Neb., May 22 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am very much opposed to the spring 
shooting of wildfowl, and have done no spring 
shooting for the past twenty-five years. 
The first objection I urge against spring shoot¬ 
ing of migratory wildfowl is that they are then 
on their way to their breeding grounds, and 
when constantly annoyed and harassed by hun¬ 
ters on the way, they necessarily arrive in poor 
condition for nesting and hatching. My second 
objection is that when the birds are on their way 
to their nesting grounds in the spring, they are 
not nearly so fit for food as those that arrive 
from the North in the fall, fat and lusty, and 
mostly young. The sentiment against spring 
shooting of migratory wildfowl is growing 
rapidly in the central West, and in several visits 
to the lake and sandhill country in Northwestern 
Nebraska, where ducks nest and hatch in great 
numbers, I find that very few ranchmen permit 
spring shooting on or around their ranches. 
They give as reasons for their action that the 
birds are not so good to eat as in the fall, and 
that the spring shooting disturbs the nesting and 
hatching, and has a tendency to drive them fur¬ 
ther nor,th to breed. A year ago this month, 
while on a trip to one of the ranches at the 
headwaters of the North Loup River, I saw 
many mallards nesting, and this is something 
new, because while many teal always nested 
there, mallards were seldom known to do so until 
the last two or three years. 
Whether or not it can be attributed to less 
spring shooting, I have observed a great increase 
in the number of ducks to be found in Cherry 
county for the past two or three years. I am 
inclined to attribute this increase to less spring 
shooting, and less annoyance by hunters in and 
about these breeding grounds, because ducks or 
other waterfowl are not affected by weather con¬ 
ditions in the hatching season to the same ex¬ 
tent as grouse or other land birds. I hope soon 
to see the spring shooting of wildfowl prohibited 
from Central America to the North pole. 
A. D. McCandless. 
Worcester, Mass., May 30 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Your paper has done more than any 
other toward stopping spring shooting, and I 
would like to say a word. It is well known 
that more wildfowl were killed in Massachu¬ 
setts last fall than for years past. Why? Be¬ 
cause we are now beginning to get the results 
from the prohibiting of spring shooting. 
People who advocate spring shooting too often 
do so for their own selfish motives, and because 
they are not satisfied with a fair amount of 
shooting in the fall migration. 
Motor boating on our lakes has hurt the wild¬ 
fowl shooting tremendously, as some people de¬ 
light in pursuing fowl around our lakes until 
they have finally driven them away. Now that 
.spring shooting has been abolished in many 
States, our wildfowl shooting will be better than 
ever, and the ducks are bound to increase on 
three and one-half months’ shooting during the 
fall migration. 
I have proof beyond any doubt that more ducks 
will stay in Massachusetts and breed if they are 
not driven away by spring shooting, having seen 
three voung broods this spring on one lake. 
F. W. G. 
