Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-02
PENNSYLVANIA DEER HUNTING.


Pittsburg, Penn, Dec. 22.-On the
Trout Run tributary of Sinnemahoning
creek, in the wids of the Elk county
lumber region of Pennsylvania, lies the
deer park of Hall, Kaul & Co. This is
said to be the finest deer hunting ground
east of the Yellowstone. 1t is owned by
a family known as "the Halls" who have
made millions cutting timber and whose
diversion is to run the Democratic poll
tics Of Elk county, and every year or
two send one of their number to the
Pennsylvania Legislature.
The park is nine miles from st Mary's.
There are lO,500 acres in the Enclosure.
The land is thicklv timbered with maple,
hemlock, Eastwood, ash, pine, beech,
cherry and oak. Deep ravincs, steep
precipices, heavy underground, thickets
and windfalls make of it just such a
world as deer delight to live in. A fence
of stout timbers, more than carrying out
the requirement of last century's law
"horse high, bull strong, and hog tight
makes the preserve secure. Some
points of the fence, where the mountain
is steep, are so constructed that deer may
wander into the charmed circle, but at no
place can they get out. Three lines of
wire, each a foot above the other, top the
fence, one line being used for telephone
purposes to test the condition Of the in
closure.
1t is now seven years since "the Halls
established their park. Twelve head OF
deer were put in at the start. Like the
children of Israel, they have "increased
and multiplied until now there are over
100. Meanwhile, from four to ten have
been shot each year. TO protect the AMI
mails from the dangers of extraordinarily
heavy SHOWS or long, hard winters
stacks of hay are stationed at convenient
points for feeding. The deer are as free
as wild and as shy as any the world over
They travel the great park in droves and
lead the hunters the liveliest kind of a
chase. The park proprietors allow buck
or fawn to be shot, but the doe is spared
for breeding purposes. The shooting
must be done when the deer is on full
run or not at all.
The most admirable feature of this Ell
county park is the rule which prohibits
the :ndiscriminate slaughter OF deer
Deer hunting has become craze in the
timber lands Of Pennsylvania, both East
and West. Venison steaks are a popular
dish in the twenty-five-cent restaurant
as well as the most fashionable cafe.
This circumstance sends hundreds of hun
tiers into the mountains between Oct. l
and Dec. 10, who, spurred by the clink
OF dollars, ruthlessly butcher buck, doe
and fawn. To check this slaughter, the
legislature will soon be asked to change
the open season to between Sept and
Nov. l. The season as now fixed makes
capture easy by means of cracking
snow" and it is feared that unless
something be done the noble game will
become extinct in Pennsylvania in few
years. 1t is also proposed to follow the
example of New York and Indiana, by
permitting no hunter from other States
to carry game from the borders of this.
Every year the forests of Western Penn
sylvania are invaded by bands of hunters
from other commonwealth, who carry
away deer in great numbers, and largely
for the market, too.
A single instance will serve to illustrate
deer hunting in Pennsylvania. A few
days ago Edward and Dewitt McCrea
drove into Oil City with five deer. They
and their two brothers have killed nine
during the season of 1890. OF the five re-
ferred to, Edward secured four in one
day. Three of these he shot without
changing position. De Witt the day be-
fore killed one deer and wounded Sc
cond. The wounded animal was follow
ed and fought by three other deer. Sew
eral times they got the crippled beast
down, and finally they cornered it, Then