54 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July g, igio. 
to go into the Lillooet district the presence of 
a reliable man like Dunlop is certainly a God¬ 
send. 
When we arrived at the hotel Victoria at 
Lillooet we found everything in the same state 
in which we had left it nineteen days before. 
There was the same aggregation of principal 
citizens and the same general hilarious atmos¬ 
phere. It had, however, received one great addi¬ 
tion. Dick had arrived in town about two hours 
before and he was already gloriously full. When 
I came in he was supporting himself upon the 
bar and delivering a lecture to the assembled 
crowd on the remarkable phenomenon of a man 
who would eat forty-five pounds of bacon in 
two weeks. Of the incidents of the trip this 
alone survived, and when I went to bed that 
night, Dick was still at the bar dwelling on my 
powers as a bacon eater. The amount of bacon 
had risen to seventy-five pounds, and I had dealt 
with it single-handed. It is always a comfort 
to have made a reputation in a country, even if 
it is only as a destroyer of pork. 
When we had disposed of our clothes and 
made arrangements for seats on the stage next 
morning, Cutler and I at once took to the bath¬ 
room and had our first hot bath for three 
weeks. One of the greatest benefits of a camp¬ 
ing trip is that after three or four weeks with 
the rough side of things one is able once more 
to appreciate the comforts of civilization. Spring 
mattresses, beds, bathtubs, good cooking, books, 
clean linen and such things which had previously 
seemed the necessities of ordinary existence now 
appear for a short time as highly privileged 
luxuries, and by the time that feeling is worn 
off it is time to get ready to go on another trip. 
So far I have tried to escape from British 
Columbia without giving any account of the 
scenery, not because it was not appreciated, but 
because it is hopeless to attempt to describe it. 
Yet I cannot leave it without a word. The en¬ 
tire country we hunted in was one succession 
of deep valleys filled with small rocky streams, 
huge mountainsides of pine forests, and above 
all these the rocky snow-clad peaks where we 
hunted sheep. From the top of one of these 
peaks one could look for fifty miles in every 
directions and see nothing but a forest of snow¬ 
capped peaks such as he was on. In the dis¬ 
tance they seemed crowded upon each other, 
but always he found that they were in reality 
separated by many deep and heavily wooded val¬ 
leys. The beauty of the Canadian Rockies is 
everywhere celebrated and the scenery in the 
Lillooet country seems to me to be fully equal 
to that of any other portion. 
The next morning saw us off on the stage 
for Lytton. Grant and Dick said good-bye to 
us, Dick being evidently in a very repentant 
frame of mind. Shemoo and Patrick were not 
on hand, and I suspect that they were overcome 
by the joys of Lillooet. We passed down the 
stage line to Lytton and arrived three days later 
safely in Chicago. 
One of my friends says that in order to take 
a successful trip to any hunting country a per¬ 
son must go once to see how it should be done, 
and there is a great deal in this, but were I to 
return once more to British Columbia I do not 
believe I should change my arrangements or out¬ 
fit one iota, except that I would take hob-nailed 
shoes of every variety, all strong enough to 
stand the strain without any more weight than 
necessary, and all big enough to hold three pairs 
of heavy socks with comfort. 
When all is said and done it is foot work that 
gets the game in sheep shooting, and I cannot 
do better than close with this comment on the 
most important point that I know. 
Russell Mott. 
Spring Wildfowl Shooting. 
Minneapolis, Minn., June 29 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Among thinking and observant 
sportsmen there can be but one opinion—that 
spring shooting should be prohibited and the law 
rigidly enforced. Migratory wildfowl do not 
winter in Minnesota and the Dakotas, but these 
States are their natural breeding grounds. 
In Minnesota, since the prohibition of spring 
shooting, ducks have been breeding in constantly 
increasing numbers, and the native ducks have 
again become a large factor in the fall shoot¬ 
ing. Especially is this true of" teal and mallard, 
and as the season now does not open until Sept. 
7, the birds are full grown before the law per¬ 
mits shooting. I am in close touch with coun¬ 
try grain buyers all through Minnesota and 
North and South Dakota, and have talked with 
many of them, and they are unanimous in stating 
that the abolition of spring shooting will result 
in a great increase in the numbers of wildfowl. 
Last week a resident of South Dakota was 
telling me that there is a very strong agitation 
starting in that State in favor of passing such 
a law, and I assure you I took advantage of the 
opportunity to impress on him the urgent need 
of doing so. He told me that during the two 
years that there has been a close season on 
prairie chickens they have multiplied surpris¬ 
ingly, and that with a reasonable open season 
and bag limit there will be good shooting for 
many years, when the close limit is removed in 
September, 1911. 
I am very glad to state that I have not heard 
a single sportsman in this State favor the return 
to spring shooting, and the sentiment against do¬ 
ing so is constantly becoming stronger as the 
results of its abolition become more apparent. 
I have inquired from several friends who 
travel all through the State as to conditions this 
spring, and they all express the opinion that 
more ducks than ever are nesting here. Could 
any stronger argument against spring shooting 
be adduced? 
I have not attempted to touch on the ethical 
side of the question at all,, though there is much 
that might be said from that viewpoint, but have 
confined myself solely to a brief statement of 
facts. Neither have I said anything as to game 
protection from the standpoint of enforcement 
of the laws, for those are other, though closely 
related subjects. 
I am glad that you are taking up this matter 
and can assure you that any assistance possible 
or any information I can give to further the 
ends of game preservation will always be gladly 
given. H. A. A. 
Green Grove, Miss., June 24 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Since the wise and just enactment 
of laws protecting wildfowl in the North dur¬ 
ing the breeding season, I believe the increase 
has been fully 40 per cent, in Mississippi and 
fully as much, or more, in the parts of Louis¬ 
iana in which I have been. The season just 
closed has been one of the best in eight years 
or more. 
I very much regret to say that while we have 
on our statute books laws governing the protec¬ 
tion of game both in State and county that as 
a whole are wise, our Legislature has been so 
parsimonious and shirt-sighted as to make no 
adequate provision for the enforcement of the 
laws passed by them. 
The old adage, “What is everybody’s business 
is nobody’s business” is fully exemplified here; 
and in all backwoods and isolated localities the 
rule is to kill what you like and when you like. 
As the old negro said to his son: “What for 
you dun got cotched in your devilment?” No 
harm is done unless it becomes known to offi¬ 
cials. Mississippi as a State will have both 
game and fish despite the wasteful methods of 
her people for several generations yet to come, 
and we old timers hope, before good shooting is 
a thing of the past, that the sportsmen of the 
States may open their eyes and see game pro¬ 
tection in a just, true and sportsmanlike man¬ 
ner and not only use individual, but mutual effort 
to give protection during the breeding season to 
all game, and to protect all young and imma¬ 
ture animals, wildfowl and game birds, as well 
as those not recognized as game. 
We need special education along these lines, 
and our boys and girls should be taught at home 
and in school that nothing was created for 
waste; that an all wise and all powerful creator 
made for a purpose everything that lives and 
breathes; gave man domain over them for his 
use; but as I take it not to be wasteful or ex¬ 
travagant in its use and most certainly not to 
take advantage of and make wilful waste of 
bird or animal life during breeding stages as is 
now the case. R. E. Stratton. 
Louisiana Legislature. 
New Orleans, La., June 20. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: Representative Gilfoil has intro¬ 
duced a bill in the Legislature prohibiting the 
carrying of firearms on private property with¬ 
out the owner’s consent. The object of this 
bill is to protect the deer. It is claimed that 
many pot-hunters come from Mississippi and 
other States and kill deer in north Louisiana, 
and then return home without paying: any license. 
Portions of Louisiana have lost a large number 
of deer by this practice. A bill has already 
passed the House protecting deer. An unfavor¬ 
able report was made by the Senate committee 
authorizing police juries of parishes to regulate 
the shipment of game in their respective parishes. 
Also an unfavorable report on the bill permit¬ 
ting police juries to elect game wardens. 
The Settoon bill protecting minks and fur¬ 
hearing animals was reported favorably. The 
Boggs game bill and his bill abolishing the pres¬ 
ent game commission received unfavorable re¬ 
ports. The Hartner. Ventress and Butler game 
hills were reported favorably and will be placed 
as amendments to the general game law. One 
of the biffs protects the robin and increases the 
length of the snipe season. The general game 
hill will be gotten in shape soon with amend¬ 
ments for final passage. Sea gulls will be pro¬ 
tected during two months in the year. 
F. G. G. 
