Jan. 14, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
59 
Ducks Scarce. 
New Orleans, La., Jan. 7 .—.Editor Forest and 
Stream: The severe cold weather of the past 
few days has made it almost impossible for the 
hunters to enjoy the sport. The prairie section, 
swamps and lagoons have been either frozen or 
filled with ice, and the lovers of the gun could 
not hunt with any satisfaction or pleasure. The 
ducks have sought shelter and warm places, and 
it has been almost impossible to get within good 
range of them in the last several days. The 
cold has been quite unusual. Warmer weather 
is predicted, however, and the hunters will be 
in their glory. 
The season up to this time has been fairly 
good and large numbers of ducks, brant and 
geese have been bagged by hunting parties. Quail 
are quite abundant, although they have not been 
so plentiful in the public markets where they 
are usually sold. Some of the restaurant and 
hotel people claim that they have found it diffi¬ 
cult to get quail this winter on account of the 
new law which limits the kill to any one hunter 
on a single day to fifteen. A number of sports¬ 
men have killed a good many quail. 
Wild turkeys have been only fairly abundant 
and probably not so many have found their way 
to this market during the present season as in 
the winter of 1910. The best turkey shooting is 
found in the central and northern portions of 
this State. Not so many deer as usual have 
been marketed, but deer are shipped here from 
various sections of the State in the greatest 
number in January and early February, and 
venison steak will be on sale at all the big restau¬ 
rants in abundance this month. 
Muskrats are being trapped in considerable 
numbers and their skins marketed. The fur ani¬ 
mal record will show up well this year from 
present indications. 
One of the local papers published a special 
dispatch from Montgomery to the effect that 
Governor B. B. Comer, of Alabama, will go on 
an extended hunt immediately after his retire¬ 
ment from office the latter part of this month. 
It is said that Governor Comer and a party will 
go to British Columbia and probably to Alaska 
to hunt big game. The Governor is confident 
of killing several grizzly bears. He has pur¬ 
chased a new rifle and ammunition to take with 
him on this hunt. He is one of the best known 
hunters in the South. 
Last Thursday game wardens and Henry 
Jacobs of the game commission confiscated two 
shipments of game and sent them to the Jewish 
Orphans’ Home and the Protestant Episcopal 
Widows’ Home. One shipment was from Basile, 
La., and consisted of ten doves, eight robins, 
eight quail, three woodcock, one squirrel and 
three rabbits. The other shipment contained 
thirty quail and one dove from Opelousas, La. 
Neither consignment of game had the official 
tag attached to it and the shipper violated the 
law. Commissioner Miller says that each hun¬ 
ter is furnished with thirty-one tags each 
month, and if they do not attach one tag to 
each shipment, they can expect that their con¬ 
signments will be confiscated. 
A number of winter visitors are arriving here 
and a great many more are expected the latter 
part of the month. The largest number will 
come during February to witness the annual 
Mardi Gras festivities. It is expected many of 
the visitors will go on hunting and fishing trips. 
Some of ■ the local hunters and fishermen have 
received notice of the coming of quite a number 
of friends from the East and the North. 
F. G. G. 
Spring Shooting. 
Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 7. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Let us stop the shooting of ducks if 
necessary to preserve them. If they are to be 
shot, then let the law be a fair one. I have 
canvassed New York State, and the present law 
is 'very unsatisfactory, and while the shooters 
want to protect the ducks, they think a much 
more satisfactory law could be passed which 
would please the larger majority and at the same 
time preserve the ducks. 
As I have given careful thought to this mat¬ 
ter after consulting with gunners, I take the 
liberty of making the following suggestions to 
the gunners of the Northern States. 
I believe in cutting down the shooting of ducks 
to even one day a week if necessary to protect 
them. If there was no shooting of ducks on 
Monday, Tuesday and Friday of each week, and 
the season extended in all States from October 
1 to April 1 (ducks do not mate as a general 
thing until after April 1), and then cut down 
the bag limit to six or eight a (jay and prevent 
the sale of ducks I believe they would have 
ample protection—much better than under the 
present law. Such a law would be fair to rich 
and poor alike. If there was no selling of 
ducks it would knock out the business. We have 
as an example two men who killed 1,400 ducks 
on the North Carolina coast in a week and ship¬ 
ped them to Boston and New York city markets. 
There will not be any incentive then for 
wealthy men, to bait their points at other places, 
killing anywhere from forty-five to one hundred 
a day. A bag limit will stop that. Such a law 
would give the farmer boy, who has thousands 
of ducks on his back lot in the spring and none 
in the fall, a chance to get out and kill a duck 
legally and not make him a criminal. 
If such a law as this could be obtained in all 
the Northern States, it would do away with the 
bothersome question of spring shooting. This 
question is the one that brings more ridicule to 
game laws, and more than any one thing I know 
of prevents the protection of other game. 
I have no interest in this matter. I am taking 
the stand which seems to be most fair for those 
most concerned. A duck killed in its Southern 
flight cannot breed and one killed in its North¬ 
ern flight cannot breed either. What difference 
does it make when one is killed? Better not be 
shot at all. But if ducks are to be shot, let there 
be a uniform law in the Northern States. Such 
a law can easily be obtained. Now let the gun¬ 
ners decide what is the best law. First consider 
the ducks, then let us have a limited amount of 
shooting and have it extended to those dates 
that give equal chance to all. 
I believe such a law would be all the protec¬ 
tion the ducks would need. Any man who wants 
more than six or eight ducks deserves never to 
shoot any. It is enough for any man, and it is 
a greater amount than the average New York 
State shooter can get in the fall. I say, come 
on, gunners. What is the best law for ducks? 
and then let us work to get it. Remember, cut 
the shooting so the ducks will hold their own 
or increase. W. E. Hookway. 
Game in Saskatchewan. 
Regarding game, the Agricultural Department 
of Saskatchewan has this to say in its annual re¬ 
port for last year: 
1 he district guardians have proved a valuable 
aid in the investigation of complaints and have 
while patrolling been efficient means of making 
known the game laws. The members of the 
Royal North-West Mounted Police have also 
done good service, and probably the greatest 
number of convictions for infractions of the 
game laws can be placed to their credit. 
Patrols by our district guardians were sys¬ 
tematically carried on throughout the season, 
and reports show a great improvement in the 
matter of observance of game laws. There is 
not anything like the amount of Sunday shoot¬ 
ing that formerly went on, but there have been 
a few persons convicted for that offense this 
season. 
From reports received from local guardians 
it appears that the first arrivals of geese and 
ducks were noticed about the third week in 
March, but it was well on to the middle of 
April before they appeared at all numerous. In 
parts where there was sufficient water to attract 
them, the ducks nested, being undisturbed by 
spring shooting, but prairie fires in some locali¬ 
ties damaged many nests. Prairie chickens, to 
the surprise of many, have been fairly abundant 
in localities where they have been scarce or en¬ 
tirely absent. This is accounted for by the semi- 
migratory nature of this bird, which is influenced 
in its movements by the supply of food and other 
conditions. Crows are said to have been very 
destructive in some localities, many nests of 
eggs having apparently been destroyed by these 
birds, and the same complaint is made of coyotes. 
I notice reference is made in the papers to a 
club organized in the neighborhood of Moosomin 
for the purpose of reducing the number of 
crows by offering prizes for the greatest num¬ 
ber of eggs brought in by the boys. The eggs 
collected totaled 1,800. This would not be a 
contravention of any law, the crow being ex¬ 
empt from protection under the useful birds 
ordinance, but it must not be assumed that the 
crow should be at all times classed as a harm¬ 
ful bird, as it undoubtedly destroys vast quan¬ 
tities of grasshoppers, cutworms and other in¬ 
sects which are injurious to crops. From the 
standpoint of the game protector it may be con¬ 
sidered harmful, but it is a friend of the farmer. 
Difficulty is still experienced with the Indians; 
of some bands who pay little attention to laws 
intended to help maintain a supply of game and 
which should have the strong support of the In¬ 
dian Department. 
The forest reserves have with the consent of 
the Dominion Government been constituted game 
refuges for the propagation and perpetuation of 
the native birds and animals, and all shooting, 
hunting, trapping or carrying of firearms with¬ 
in the boundaries of the reserves has been pro¬ 
hibited. This is, next to the prohibition of 
spring shooting,, probably the most important 
legislation relative to the protection of game 
which has been enacted since the inauguration 
of the Province, and I hope other larger areas 
may soon be dealt with in a similar manner. 
From these refuges we may expect game to 
spread as it increases, and in this way benefit 
the surrounding country. 
