April 15, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
577 
The Use of Game. 
Linville Falls, N. C., April 8 . —Editor 
Forest and Stream-: It will be thirteen years 
ago this summer that I made my first trip into 
Routt county, Colorado, one of the most at¬ 
tractive regions in the Rockies. Steamboat 
Springs was then eighty miles from the nearest 
railway and deer were all about there. Back in 
the hills thirty miles, where we went for our 
permanent camp, the deer were thick, fairly nos¬ 
ing our camp in coming to water. On the way 
from Steamboat Springs to our camp we saw 
many anteiope. Now the Moffatt line has 
reached Steamboat Springs and its marvelous 
variety of water, possessing in its uncounted 
springs all the different minerals the average 
man can think of, hot and cold—soda, sulphur, 
iron, magnesia, phosphorus, etc., both separately 
and united; all these wonderful waters are “on 
the market.” The crowd is going there and 
the game has left. And that is only thirteen 
years. There was no gun license then; now it 
is $25 and little to shoot. I used to think Wyo¬ 
ming was foolish to impose such restrictions— 
$40 gun license and no game shot except in com¬ 
pany with a licensed guide, but the men who 
made that law were wise. Wyoming has more 
game than other States that let everyone in free. 
If Colorado had done likewise, the State would 
be richer now, for with its advantages of ac¬ 
cessibility to the great rich Middle West and 
even to Eastern sportsmen of means, it would 
have a large income from hunters who can afford 
to pay a $50 license if they get something for it. 
The people of the country, of the States, are 
just awakening to the economic necessity of 
saving the game, the wild life, as well as the 
trees and the streams from the wasteful hand 
of the destroyer, from the man who wants it 
all now for himself without regard for the 
future or any other man. We have been going 
too much on the theory that we must get our 
share while it is going, and that probably it will 
last as long as we want it, anyway. That is the 
main obstacle in the way of the stopping of 
spring shooting of wildfowl, which everyone 
knows is absolutely necessary if we would avoid 
the extermination of ducks. In most parts of 
the United States the geese and brant have al¬ 
ready been entirely driven away. I do not be¬ 
lieve that sportsmen are such hogs, either. They 
simply do not stop to think what their reckless 
slaughter means. Some of them are living long 
enough to see it, however, and be ashamed. 
The preservation of wild .life is not only im¬ 
portant to the sportsman and to the lovers of 
nature in her normal condition, but it is highly 
important in many economic ways. It has been 
well enough established to be no longer dis¬ 
puted by any except the very ignorant that agri¬ 
culture and horticulture need the help of birds; 
that when you interfere with the economy of 
nature, with the divine plan of balancing one 
thing against another, you want to be very sure 
you know what you are doing, or you will un¬ 
cover an enemy by destroying a friend. In this 
region ignorance has permitted the destruction 
of many birds, so that they are only just begin¬ 
ning to come back as the peop'e are learning 
that the birds are the friends of the farmer and 
the gardener and fruit raiser and must not be 
destroyed. And what will the woods and fields 
be without the birds and squirrels? Who would 
not rather watch a beautiful squirrel enjoying 
life in the trees than have the morsel of meat 
he gives to the hunter’s pot? 
I have no patience with the argument that 
market hunting should be permitted for the sake 
of those who are unable or unwilling to hunt 
themselves. Those who do not want to go to 
the trouble of hunting for game should not 
have it any more than they shou.d have the 
other benefits far greater than the mere meat 
that is obtained, of engaging in the invigorating 
sport of following the game through forest and 
over field, along the stream and even to the 
lake and the sea. These blessings can only be 
had by going after them. No lazy man can buy 
them in the market, and he should not have the 
privilege, for it is not a right of buying the 
game which is merely incident to the outdoor 
life. Every time that game is sold in the mar¬ 
ket it lessens the chance of the man who is' 
willing to go after it in a legitimate way. It 
reduces the attractiveness of the outdoor life, 
and fewer people will enjoy its benefits. The 
sale of game ought to be stopped entirely at 
all times everywhere. 
Nor is there any danger that game will be¬ 
come destructively numerous, for as soon as it 
is, if the regulations are reasonable it will at¬ 
tract sportsmen. Some years ago a herd of deer 
began to grow in Southwestern Iowa. Now 
there are several hundred. The law prohibits 
killing any. A report was started that they were 
damaging the farmers. A hunt was organized, 
or “drive” it was called. It was proposed to 
drive the animals into an inclosure and sell a 
larger part of them. Hundreds of men and 
boys were to do the driving. But those who 
planned the drive forgot one thing—they did not 
consult the farmers. When the latter heard 
about it they quietly said there would not be 
any drive; not over their properties. They 
wanted the deer left alone. What if they did 
eat a few tons of hay and a little corn. They 
said it was worth much more than it cost to 
see the beautiful little things with the cattle and 
almost as tame. No one had ever hurt them 
and no one should. 
Let us have more wild life everywhere. It is 
worth protecting, as other people have found 
out. I hope we may learn our lesson before it 
is too late. Frank W. Bicknell. 
Connecticut Spring Shooting. 
Essex, Conn., April 3. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: A bill has been reported to the General 
Assembly at Hartford which will close the month 
of September for the shooting of ducks. 
I do not believe .the gunners of Connecticut 
are at all in sympathy with any bill repealing 
the present law forbidding spring shooting. I 
have talked with several, some of whom were 
at one time genuine dyed-in-the-wool spring 
shooters, and the consensus of opinion seems to 
be that the present law is excellent. Among 
those whom I have consulted I might mention 
one whose prowess as a shooter has already 
been referred to in Forest and' Stream. I re¬ 
fer to one of the two hunters who were re¬ 
ported to have killed 800 ducks, mostly black- 
ducks, near the mouth of the Connecticut River 
last season. This report, however, was an error, 
as this man told me himself that the number 
was around 500; this including what he, his 
partner and their guests killed during the four 
open months. 
My own idea is that the present law, under 
existing conditions, could not be much improved 
upon. Whenever a game law is proving its 
efficiency, it should certainly be retained. Any¬ 
one who has at all observed our wildfowl dur¬ 
ing even the period our spring shooting, law 
has been in force, cannot but see that they are 
on the increase, and this, too, in spite of our 
army of gunners which increases greatly from 
year to year. 
It is a pleasure to me every morning upon 
arising to look down upon the cove a few rods 
distant to see what is there in the shape of wild¬ 
fowl. Every morning some variety is in evi¬ 
dence, mostly shellduck, occasionally blackduck, 
but nearly always some kind or other to gladden 
the eye and heart, and this is made possible 
through the abolition of spring shooting. 
I sincerely hope that every sportsman in the 
State who has the interests of our game at 
heart will do all in his power to thwart any 
attempt of the spring shooters to push their bills 
through. To alter our present excellent law 
would indeed be a backward step. 
George W. Comstock. 
Massachusetts Deer. 
Boston, Mass., April 8. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Massachusetts Legislature has 
made some progress during the past week upon 
fish and game matters. Representative Frank 
A. Palmer, of the Eighth Berkshire district, 
made an eloquent speech for the substitution of 
his bill for an adverse report of the committee 
on fisheries and game. His bill provides for a 
close season on deer until the expiration of ten 
years from the third Monday of November, 
1910, after which date “it shall be lawful to 
take or kill by the use of a shotgun a wild deer 
in the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hamp¬ 
den, Hampshire and Worcester. Mr. Palmer 
said only $400 was paid last year for damages 
caused by deer in Berkshire county while license 
fees for hunters amounted to $2,000. 
Representative Langtry, of Springfield, ably 
seconded Mr. Palmer moving the substitution 
of his own bill for a close season of ten years 
in the five Western counties, deer committing 
depredations to be killed by wardens. He de¬ 
clared that the killing of deer with shotguns 
last year resulted in cruelty to the deer which 
had been tamed by years of protection. Repre¬ 
sentative Look, of Tisbury, a member of the 
committee, defended its report, claiming that in 
a close season of ten years the number of deer 
would increase to more than 200,000. 
Mr. Underhill, of Somerville; Mr. Hardy, of 
Huntington; Mr. Wright, of Southboro; Mr. 
Avery, of Charlemont; Mr. O’Hearn, of North 
Adams, and several others spoke in opposition 
to substitution, and the House refused to sub¬ 
stitute either the Palmer or Langtry bill and 
the report of the committee was accepted. 
H. H. Kimball, 
Book Exchange. 
No doubt there are many of our readers who possess 
old books, and others who would be glad to possess 
them, and we are, therefore, making a special place in 
our advertising columns, which may be called a book 
exchange, where those who wish to purchase, sell or ex¬ 
change second-hand books may ask for what they need, 
or offer what they have. 
