March 21, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
455 
satisfy any reasonable gunner who knows how 
and where. 
In more open country, without the pines for 
protection—and it is better protection than all 
the game laws ever enacted—the story is differ¬ 
ent, for two men who are used to working a 
cover together with a good dog will bag a whole 
lot of birds, but I don’t know of any place yet 
where they have been exterminated. 
I have found my birds this fall in or around 
the edge of swampy land, and I figure that they 
either bred better in those particular localities, 
or more probably, what were raised in other 
places, changed their location during the exceed¬ 
ingly dry July and August until they found wet 
ground where berries and other food were more 
abundant and finding it, stayed there. Then the 
heavy rain of September and October came and 
they had only to move a few rods to higher land 
A Game Protector for Each County. 
Norwich, N. Y., March 7.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Senate Bill No. 255, introduced Jan. 
27, covers 139 pages of 26 lines each and in¬ 
cludes all laws for protection of our forests, 
fish and game, together with the proposed new 
hunting license law, fees from which, it is esti¬ 
mated, will take over $100,000 from pockets of 
sportsmen and put the amount into the hands 
of the commissioner, to pay salaries of game 
protectors and for other needs of our Forest, 
Fish and Game Department. 
Article II., on page 6, Section 11, reads: “The 
commissioner shall appoint eighty game pro¬ 
tectors,” and provides that eighteen of them 
shall reside in ten counties, the names of which 
appear later in this letter. It has been sug¬ 
gested that this be changed to read as follows: 
From a print published in London in 1793, now in the collection of Russell W. Woodward. 
on the edges of the swamps to find old apple 
trees, thorn apples, acorns, chestnuts and other 
food to feed upon. 
Everything was there, so why should they 
leave? That I think was one reason why so 
many hunters failed to find birds this fall. There 
were none of the conditions present which make 
good “edge shooting” as the hunter terms it. 
All the partridge had to do when he woke up in 
the morning was to rub his eyes, get off his 
perch, take a little walk and his daily food and 
drink were close at hand. 
November was way above the normal for tem¬ 
perature, and the birds were not driven into the 
birch and alder runs where the gunner loves to 
find them in November, and where they love to 
feed and sun themselves on some warm, south¬ 
ern exposure. Take it as a whole, it was a poor 
season for partridge for most gunners, but a few 
of us found the birds, and I think if we all do 
as the old hunter that I spoke of earlier in this 
article used to do—pray for a good breeding 
season—we will find plenty of birds left for seed 
and that next, fall the seed will have sprouted 
and grown a good crop of feathers. Longbill. 
The commissioner shell, as hereinafter provided, ap¬ 
point one game protector from and for each and every 
county in the State of New York, together with eight 
more from the counties of Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. 
Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Herkimer, Hamilton, War¬ 
ren, and Washington. Sportsmen’s organizations in 
each county may nominate one or more men from their 
respective counties and send such nominations, through 
the largest club or association for the protection of 
forests, fish, or game in their respective counties, to the 
forest, fish and game commissioner, who shall, without 
unnecessary delay, appoint from such nominations so 
sent him, one game protector from and for each and 
every county which shall so send in nominations for 
their respective game protectors. In case any county 
or counties neglect sending in such nominations, then 
such county or counties shall not be entitled to its or 
their one game protector until such time as such nom¬ 
inations may be sent to the commissioner, as above 
provided for, excepting only, and providing that the 
eight protectors as provided for the counties of Essex, 
Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Her¬ 
kimer, Hamilton, W'arren and Washington, shall be ap¬ 
pointed from said counties. 
Under this law each county should have one 
protector of its own choosing, and sportsmen, 
who are to pay the largest part and who ate 
most interested in fish and game, ought to have 
the privilege of nominating game protectors. 
Some counties have never had a protector. 
Heretofore protectors have been paid from a 
general fund in which all our citizens have an 
interest or share. Now an additional or special 
fund of over 100,000 is to be raised from the 
sportsmen. 
The men who pay should have the right to 
say to whom, in their locality, this fund, or a 
part of it, shall be paid and have the right to 
select a game protector from their county to 
protect the forests, fish and game in that section. 
Sportsmen know the needs of their respective 
sections and know what men will best see to it 
that full protection is given, with favors to none, 
and when it is once known that an efficient, 
honest, competent, fearless game protector re¬ 
sides in the county, violations of the game laws 
will cease at once. 
Another suggestion is that Section 77 have a 
provision added to it which will allow persons 
who have lawfully taken venison to keep and 
consume the same in their own private families 
by serving a written notice on the nearest game 
protector, or on a town or county clerk, on or 
before the last day of the open season for killing 
deer. This will complete Section 77 and remove 
the question now raised as to its being consti¬ 
tutional. * It is claimed that a person who 
posesses legally taken venison on the 5th day of 
November cannot rightly be arrested, fined or 
imprisoned because this venison is in possession 
on the 6th of November or later for use in his 
or her own private family. Other States, with 
more rigid laws than ours, have the foregoing 
provision. 
Sportsmen in each county should at once 
write their Senator and Assemblyman, asking 
that the above suggested changes be given care¬ 
ful consideration, and that something along these 
lines be put in the proposed legislation, as 
shown in Senate Bill No. 255. It may be thought 
well to make the term of office for game protec¬ 
tors four years, unless sooner removed for 
cause. 
Also write Hon. George H. Cobb, Senate 
Chamber, chairman of Senate Fisheries and 
Game Committee, and Hon W. Ellison Mills, 
Assembly Chamber, chairman of the same com¬ 
mittee in the Assembly, Albany, N. Y., asking 
them to have the proposed new law provide one 
game protector for each county, with the right 
and privilege to sportsmen of selecting our one 
game protector for our own county. Do this 
at once, for the legislative session is now well 
advanced, and no time is to be lost. The above 
provisions will undoubtedly give us much better 
protection than we now have. 
Clarence L. Parker. 
In a short time Forest and Stream Publishing 
Company will bring out a small volume which 
will contain the charming serial recently con- 
tributed to these columns by Mr. S. T. Ham¬ 
mond. The book will contain not far from one 
hundred and fifty pages, and will be illustrated 
by a number of engravings. All readers who 
enjoyed the serial as it appeared in the Forest 
and Stream are likely to desire this book in 
order to keep in permanent form these charming 
accounts of New England shooting. Orders will 
be received for the book at any time. It will be 
sent postpaid for the sum of $1.00. 
