Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-01-25
Close Season for Deer Will BE Up in
1900. and Then!

Every year you hear about folks kill
and in New Hampshire" said citizen OF
the Lake Champaign country on the Yer
mont side to New York Sun writer,
land yet you never hear about any one
killing a single deer in our State, although
VIC lie right between New Hampshire and
northern New York, and have better
woods ard more deer, two to one. than
there are in all of New Hampshire or the
whole spr, al of the Adirondacks. What S
the reason you don't hear of any Que kill
Ing Green Mountain deer? Reason enough.
1t any one kills deer in Vermont he
takes particular pains that no one hears
OF it. for if any on did hear of it the very
next thing would be that the man who
killed the deer would be taking res. in
somc Vermont Jail. That's the reason.
Good reason, isn't l.?
Fifteen years ago there wasn't deer
in the State of Vermont, except few
that had their haults in the almost mac
cessible fore itS near the Canadian border.
| can remember though, when they were
abundant in the woods in the central part
of the State. Dogs, crust ard deep snow
slaughter, in season and out. and all kinds
of deadly traps and unfair methods of
hurting. in the absence of effective game
laws, did their work at last, IN | not 4
deer was left. There hasn't been deer
seen outside the northcrn border woods
for years. IL 1880 II party of central Yer
monicrs, who mourled tue absence OF
deer from the woods that were wide
enough and of the proper character to
support hundreds of the fleet-lootcd AM
mails. made up fluid and purchased tlf-
teen deer, aud turned them loose In the
Green Mountains. Tne deer were bought
from man in Clinton County N Y, and
were of the hardy Adirondack stock. =
FIRE relca sim these deer, which had cost
them about 500 apiece, these men secured
til. pIssa gt of IL strict protective game
law by the legislature, which prohibited.
under the penalty of fine and impr'son
man,, the KILN! of Il der in the State
before the fall OF the year 1900. This
meant close season Of tw nty years, but
rs no one outside OF the prisons who had
purchased the deer and tim ID the II into
the woods knew ther. was II dee" any
wle:e | the Stlte that colll be got at u,
the law excited no comm mt except few
81 castle rem rks from mOun'aineerS and
woOd,mcn to the eject that the smart
chaps IN t,la lcaiSla urt would be passig
II law mex +, prohibiting the killing OF &C.
plants il Vtr.lont.
"TAe deer were tu,n.d into the 'ol !
in April, 1880. | wasn't maly m'n'hs
before tn hlnt +, b.!ll to discover >igls
of deer i, tn, ODDS and find out that
til re W ere MT cnly sign, but dec al',.
AfC.r year or twD they b came loud II
til ,r c. il )liuts hat deer hid cone bacE
and wer. getting more ard moe peni
fll al ihit tn, Inv Wa Il sun'!inr-
block in the way of the poor W,Ol>m III,
who wa til TO stirt N u id rXtc. mi lat =
tn. deer A .ai bl, c)nld ~ ID it wiJh)u
looking the in! in tn, tic,. Tai it WAS
N ,dn K ,Owu NV it was thu thu e were
deer in the WOOD. agai :, The men w,.O
pu. til IN there h I'd no selfish motive in It,,
for most of them :,erc OF IN &c tina made
it rather doubtful whether they WOULD he
alive when the close selsCn expired IN
1900 to have any fun with the prog ny OF
their der. Bat tht Il hit of dPer tracks.
and especially the sigh Of Il deer nov aud
then, was IN n, than the hunters could
stnnl. ard, be siniiny IN 1884, no Il Scs-
sion of the lie Il luturp has been permitted
to run lis c)urSr without Il dead set being
made npon the prohhitO.y der law.
These efforts bav. filled every Sine, q d
there is II, ik '!ihoo "f there being deer
sh Ut ri i'm It ~ IN Vermont before 1900.
There /, ~ ,ubt that som, deer are
killed stcalthily by hunter., but the vigil
llncc of the friends OF til, law iiS) great
,hlt such instances are fc " and far be-
tween. At first the backw ,ols hunters
wee inclined to be somewhat utti II: of
the law, and one Overbold moun:ni iecr
shot n deer with mt much attempt to coa-
ceal 1t. FIVE hours after he had killed the
deer he WIS in Il cell of the cOun!l jill,
serving out a sentence Ct thirty days at
hard Ibor. This evidence that the men
wh) hid p,d TO-: stocking the Vermont
woods with deer hldn't done /. just to
please their pct-hunting fellow citizen
had its effect here and then, End M one,
| b lev, has heard of aloth'i de- being
killed Ia Vermont sin &C then.
THE result OF thi, experiment and th :
persist. zee of the Safe in lending its aid
to it, is that the woodS Of central Vermont
mr." t-,cm.ug with deer. Perhaps Mt no
| tim have there been m re deer tlan now,
and when the season opeAs in 1900 ther
wiz be great times in the woods 1T thc
Green MOuutair State"