The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-17
Some Brush Hunters Do Not Ap-
prove of Some Recommend
ationS Made at Boston
BELIEVE THEY HAVE A
RIGHT TO SELL GAME
Fred BuckIen Instances Some
Statements of Sportsmen
Not Borne Out BY Facts

Worcester sportsmen, with few ex-
steps taken at the general meeting of
sportsmen from all parts of the state at
Boston, Thursday, when the delegation
from this city took so prominent a part
in the counsels and final action of the
| gathering. Worcester sportsmen are in
favor of pushing the work, but differ
materially from those of other cities as
to the best method of procedure.
The sportsmen of this city who have
given the matter the most thought be-
lieve the Massachusetts, Fish and Game
| Protective association, under whose
auspices the general meeting was held,
should foster the movement and head
all efforts to carry bill through the
| legislature to accomplish the ends
which were agreed on at the meeting.
| The Worcester men will make an earn
est effort to bring the members of the
Massachusetts association to their. way
of thinking.
While there is general sympathy with
| the action that was taken and sports
men of this city favor the shortening
| of the season and prohibiting the sale
of game at all times, there are a few
| who take exceptions. There is a una
! nimity among sportsmen on several
points One is that some measures
! should be taken to preVentna further
decrease of the ruffled grouse. The
shortening of the season finds no OPP
position among Worcester sportsmen,
but some have serious objection to the
declaration Of the gathering at Boston
III favor of prohibition of the sale of
game birds. The latter class of sports
men think such law would be an in
fringement on the rights of many citi-
zens, regardless, of their ability or de-
sire to enter the brush to shoot. 1t is
on this ground they base their objec-
ticns.
One of the best brush shots in the
city is Fred Bucklin. He can hard
/ ~ be classed as a market hunter al
though he does not deny his right to
sell as many of the birds that he kills
I as he may choose. Yet he hunts en-
tirely for the sport he finds in it, and
is not as persistent as the men wHD
might be called market hunter.
Mr.. Bueklin said last evening that
he does not think the sportsmen at Bos-
ton should have taken action relative
4 to the sale of game. IT am in favor
of shortening the season." he said,
land think that is the proper way to
accomplish the object they desire. Let
them cut off enough at both ends to
allow the birds to increase. If neces-
sary, shorten the season to a single
days hunting, but let a man do what
he wants with the birds he has killed
THE sDortsmen who favor the pro-
hibition of game. do not stop to think
that there is a class of men that de-
sires to eat game birds in season. And
some of these men do not hunt The
only way they have of getting game
birds which they like to eat, is to pur-
chase them. For instance, it is easy
to suppose case. Here is a presi-
dent of a railroad. His time is worth
$500 day to that railroad, and he can
not afford to take a day off to go hunt
/ ing. Now, if he enjoys the taste of
game birds, don't see that sportsrnen
have right to say that the birds shall
be preserved to give them sport, and
deny that man the enjoyment and
right of eating the bird.
Il don't entirely agree with some of
the statements that were made at the
! Boston meeting, and l don't think the
promoters Of the plan will gain any
thing by Misrepresentation. I read in
| The Spy's excellent account of the
meeting, that one of the Worcester
| men said he knew that a Worcester
days. 1 do not know to what hunter
| he refers, and don't care to know.
know positively, however, that no
| Worcester hunter has done it, and no
| Worcester hunter can do it. The gen
| tlemen present should have paused
moment to consider if cartridges were
as plentiful as that, the conditions are
not as bad as were represented.
II also disagree with other state
fa1 a no
| fulness of partridges 20 years ago. It
is positive fact that in 1881 there was
such a scarcity of partridges that
hunters were trying to secure one in
| order to have it mounted, as they be-
lieved the species would become eX-
tinct. / have heard Rob Perry, one of
the best brush shots in the city, say
that he hunted for an entire week and
| only started one partridge In half a
dozen years partridges were remark
ably plentiful, although not quite so
plentiful that a person could feed them
| with his hand, as John Adams of Rut-
land represented at Boston that he did
rs years ago. I have heard Mr.. Perry
say he flushed more than 100 partridges
| in a day. Now there's quite a differ
| ence. In 1881 he started only one bird
in a week; several years later he start
| ed more than 100 in day. There was
no gathering of sportsmen and no pro-
hibition of the sale of game. don't
know how to account for the increase
Of birds in those years and nobody else
! does.
IF the men who are so enthusiastic
| would expend the same amount of
money that they will have to expend
| trying to obtain the laws they desire in
| securing a game preserve of say 500
acres, they would do more to increase
| the supply of game birds than any
thing else they can do. 1t is a ques-
| ton if they can secure the passage of
laws prohibiting the sale of game"
| The plan of building preserve which
Mr. Bucklin mentioned gained instant
appreciation among a coterie of brush
hunters who heard it. but several in
stantly expressed doubts of such a
/ project receiving any support. Mas
saehusetts is not over generous with
its appropriations for increasing the
supply of game. AS the partridge will
| not breed in captivity, the only means
| of propagation. except in the natural
cover, is by an immense preserve which
sportsmen who object to prohibiting
| the sale of game think feasible plan
RERROI,T