Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-09-27
DEER KILLING IN VERMONT.

Listening to the clamor of a few
short sighted hunters and to the COM
plant of certain farmers, who prize
a few pounds of hay Or grain more
has in an occasional sight of one of
the most beautiful creatures in the
animal kingdom, the legislature in
it's foolishness saw fit last fall to so
change the game laws as to permit
the killing of deer, or the male deer,
certain restrictions the deer can be
hunted and the male can be shot.
Just what there can be in the Kill
ling of this pretty, innocent, inoffen
sive, beautiful animal is hard to ex-
plain; but there are hundreds of men
who are eagerly waiting the time
when the claw will be off, and they
can take their weapons and lay in
wait for this helpless, unoffending
creature, that he may be frightened,
wounded or shot down in cold blood.
His destruction is murder, cruel MUIR
der. While his skin and carcass may
be worth a little something asa pelt
and as meat, few or none will hunt
him for the value of the dead Great
ure. It is the sheer, cold blooded,
shown and is gratifed. That any
man with spirit of justice and hu-
manity in him can find pleasure in
this sort of work is wonder.
But the permission to hunt one sect
of the deer really means the destruc-
ton of the other. The door to decep-
tion is open and few can or will care
whether they shoot doe or buck. So
be that they can conceal the killing
of the female deer, all the deer which
in the last few years have come to
the forests, and the numbers are
quite large, are to be hunted, fright
ened, run out of their haunts and
driven hither and thither by the
horde of hunters which will scour the
hills and mountains in the month to |
come Some will be killed, others
will be frightened away, doubtless
driven out of the state. When all is |
over no good will have been done; |
nobody will be richer; no one ought |
to be happier. The killing of deer
is really nothing to boast of. To |
steal into the forest with a deadly |
weapon and lie in wait for a harmless, |
unsuspecting animal until such time
as he comes in rifle range and then to |
shoot him down, is not kind, brave
or manly thing, and those who look
at it from the humane side ought to
desist from such SO called sport.
The effort already made to propa-
gate and increase the deer species in
Vermont has been more successful
than many anticipated and few
years more of unmolested growth |
would have made deer plenty and
comparatively tame. Others may
take different view, but, owning
farm or piece of hilly woodland, we
would rather have one live, joyous,
'sbounding doe,' than dozen dead
ones, and far more the creature itself
could be worth for any purpose,
other than the pleasure of seeing him
in wood or pasture.
While the effort is being made to
call to Vermont summer visitors and
tourists is growing more and more
successful, nothing, perhaps, tends
more to this end than the impression
that the woods abound in deer and
the streams with fish. It is better to
propagate deer and fish if the tourist
shall be attracted thereby than to
crafty the local hunter in a month of
But the law permits hunting during
October under close restrictions as
to the methods of killing male deer,
and all who hunt should obey the
statute. Game wardens and citizens
generally should see to it that the law
is not violated. Already We hear of
those who are trying to circumvent
the law and to do promiscuous kill
ling. Let the public do police duty /
for the next month, and let those be
and punished who violate