Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-09
SOME sPORTSMEN'S SUGGESTIONS.
Arguments in Favor of Shortening the Sea-
son for Some Game and Lengthening
It for Other Kinds.
QUAIL UNUSUALLY PLENTY THIS YEAR.
fOung PheaSants NasQueradng in the Market as
WOodcock.

though by law woodeock may be shot from
July to January l, and plover from July
Is to January / in each year, and fish of one
kind or other may be taken from April 15
to May in each year. Following are the
times set by law for hooking and shooting
~e various kinds of game and fish:
Birds-Turkey, from October 10 to Janu-
airy /; ducks and geese, from September to
May 10; plover, from July Is to January 1;
woodcock, from July to January 1; quail,
from November to December Is; phess-
ants, from October to January /.
Animsls-Deer and elk, from October
to December 10; squirrels. from September
to January l; rabbits, from November 1 to
January /.
Fish-Brook or speckled trout, from April
Is to July 10; lake trout, from October to
January /; black bass, pike, pickerel and
salmon, from June 1 to January 1; German
carp, from September to May l.
AN IDEAL BEING.
AS rule, only the pot hunter in this
vicinity cares to inaugurate the season be-
fore September l. A few shoot woodcock
and plover professedly, but others anything
they can draw bead upon, but they are
not many, and from the testimony of some
people in the Diamond market it would
seem that a very radical revision of our
State law is needed.
The true sportsman is an ideal being, but
rarely met with in this country. He may
be a stickler for laws to better others, but
when he gets into the wilds he will
catch trout regardless of law and never
stop to heed the protests of the Naiads. He
will shoot the squirrel at any time he can
and never hear the protests of the Orcads;
blaze away at deer, elk or hare, without
fear of the Sstyrs or the horned and goat
footed Pan, and he accepts the ministra-
tions of the Zephyrs unthankfully, as they
fan him while he is lying in wait to murder
the squirrel as he looks for his evening meal.
In fact the average sportsman has about as
much sentiment in his makeup as the van
dsl who destroys sylvan beauty for present
profit, though knowing that his descendants
will suffer in consequence.
SHORTENING THE SEASON.
The fnny tribe can stand more of this
wanton destruction than any other class OF
game. as its fecundity is so great that it is
difficult to peIceptiblY diminish its numbers,
SO long as streams are not poisoned or dams
erected to prevent ascension at spawning
time, but in the case of teathered and quad
rupedal game the situation is different and
ualess there is reform some valuable kinds
Of small game will soon be extinct in this
State as deer and elk are now virtually.
MIR. Elmer Shaner suggests a remedy.
l. j.
open on July 4, plover, July Is; turkey, Oc-
pheasants, deer and elk October /. he would
have the season for shooting all kinds of
game begin September l and hold open un-
Ill January 1. There are good reasons
for the change suggested. A hunter
for the market goes out say on July 4 to
shoot woodcock, or on the 18th of the
same month 10 shoot plover. He sees more
chances to bring down young pheasauts
than if be were specially looking for them
(any sportsman can testify that the game he
isn't looking for is always plentiest), and he
is pnable to resist the temptation to shoot
them, especially if he be a hunter for the
market, and thousands of young pheasants
(rufled grouse) are sold dressed in market
for woodcoek.
SPORT FOR BOYS.
In August the baby squirrel is unsophis-
ticated and boy may, if good thrower,
kill him with ease. The hunter is not able
to sell squirrels in market, but that will not
always deter him from killing the young
ones and having them served up for himself.
They are more of delicacy than spring
chicken. Now ii no game could be sold be-
fore September 2, an immense waste would
be stopped, and Mr.. Shaner says the regula-
tion would please a vast number of real
"a nh oha Oh 1.cn
ment in connection with recreation.
Another proposition is to amend the law
80 as to make the sale of game at any season
unlawful. 1t is argued that those who want
TO eat it would be forced to be-
come ma-ksmen or depend on the
bounty OF friends, and if forced to
become marksmen they might be of use to
the country when food for guupowder may
be needed. The victories of the American
troops over the British in the Revolution
and in the war Of 1872 were largely owing
to the superiority of the Americans in the
use of small arms. Then, too, the waste OF
game is frightful. Many tons of it are sent
10 the dump annually, and there are no fish
of consequence in the rivers to devour the
offaI Il is usually held at fancy prices
until putrid, and though some people prefer
it in this condition, the Health Bureau
does not, and it is largely eonfseated and
is q sheer waste.
MAKING A TEST OF SKILL.
1t might, perhaps, be well to make lovers
OF game get it by an exhibition OF skill
somewhat similar to that the youth ul
Spartan was obliged to show in order to get
his breakfast. Game would undoubtedly
soon become pleutier,
Another proposition is frequently ad-
yanced, aud II is to make it an offense to
shoot squirrels with a shotgun, There are
thousands Of butchers who make the sylvan
soiitudes echo year after year with their No.
10 nreech-loaders, who come home after O
weeks hunt with 100 squirrels or more,
which they proudly exhibit as trophies OF
skill. These guns scatter a rain of shot over |
three feet, and men who couldn't hit a stable |
door With a rife are able to kill SQUIRRELS
and boast of their prowess Were these
people forced to shoot with rifles souirrels |
would soon be seen frisking in the picnic |
groves in the suburbs of cities and the sight |
of then is worth more than the eating.
Quail and rabbits are unusualI, plenty
this year. The season for shooting tha |
former being shortened to six weeks. NAV
nave contributed somewhat, but the main
reason is the mildness OF last winter Their |
enemies, such as foxes and weasels had less |
power 10 harm, as they could not corral a |
coyey under snowdrift and slaughter them |
Wholesale, and the abundant feed made |
them very prolific in the breeding season.
GAME AND POPULATION.