The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30
PLENTY or o. All or VEST.
Good sport In southern Indiana Outlook
for Wisconsin Ittrtis.

Quail shooting throughout the Middle
West is practically ended for the year.
There may be occasional bags made in
December, as we'll AZ occasional violations
OF the law but the bulk Of the shooting Is
past
The crop of birds has been fully up to
expectation and some handsome scores
have been made As a general thing the
further east one goes the scarcer the birds,
but in November there has been good shoot
ing in eastern Ohio and in Indiana there
has been l.pty Of sport.
The quail is essentially a bird Of civil
zation and the more farms the more bros.
bu, there is such thing as having too much
of good thing and while the eastern part
of the Middle West is almost continuous
farm the number of shooters is greatly in
excess Of the game possibilities Of the terri
tory.
The fact that the quail shooting in Ohio
| Indiana, Illinois and such States holds up
| year after year is testimony not so much
| to the rigidity with which the game laws
| are enforced as 30 the remarkable fecundity
| and hardness Of the bird. The climate
| of those States IL not the best for the quail
! There is too much rain for the ncsters ard
| occasional severe winters Kill the adults
| in thousands.
1t Was hot many years ago that quail
| were almost eNtcrminated by cold In In
| diana though that State has "A mild climate
| for the Middle West. 1t has been the prac-
| tice Of the game wardeus of the States TO
| exercise much care ard vigilance in the
| preservation of the birds. but II has com
| monty happened that once in five or six
years their precautions and Efforts are set
at naugAt by excessive cold,
| Wisconsin has now had total closure law
on quail f,r more than seven years and the
| bcves in some parts f the State. nota ly
| in its southwestern part. hay" increase d
| enormously. Descended from a few pairs
| Of Oklahoma birds, they have thriNen
| strangely. L. the counties of Crawford,
| Vernon. Grant, Lafayette and Richlaud.
! they are TO be found everywher" without
1 the aid of a dog
| The closure law docs not expire until
| the iSt Of next September. and If IN, quail
| 60 we'll through this winer there should lie
| rare shooting in the season dc scril cd.
II is on the cards, however. that before
mex, March nearly every quail in those
| counties will be dead, beCaus.. temperature
Of 20 and rs degrees below zero are not
\ uncommon there and tn. mercury some
times drops 10 IS below.
| II this does happen, numbers of sports
men who have been watching the growth
| OF the birds and keeping thir hands OF
will do some tall talking They will say
that too much protection is almost a. bad
| as no protection.
The Wisconsin closure law was framed
originally to run five years. The lrgis.
| lature extended l. two years ago aud a,
that time the quail were nearly as Il ck
as they are now. II seems reaaonal ~
| cert ain that under any Circur - ances
cold weather will kill ont the magnifioent
supply long before sportsInen can shoot
| II out.
Probably the hes, Quail shooting to he had
In the Middle Wes, during tie past season
was Tot in lower Indiana. That Is a country
well adapted TO the birds. not espt cially
thickly settled, much of it billy and broken
with deep rushv ravrcs running along IN,
outer edges Of cornfelds, small creeks
whose banks are overgrown with trees
bushes and briars-ideal cover for Bot
White.
Most of the southern Indiana farmer,
have not lost their early fondness for N,
Hack eyed little pea, called in ONE sections
the cow pen and III others the field pea
and for a bait Of cow peas a Quail levy
will travel a long way and stop for Ions
time when II gets there The Pea Is plant'o
In the fields between rows OF lndian corn
and when it In gathered the ripe PEGS frl
from the pods plcntifully, sprink ling tn,
ground with delicious prove nder.
A southern Indiana field of hundred acre,
five miles from a railway is certain 70 - O.
duce from two to five levies Of firde anc
pair Of sportsmcn can get nll Of the shoot
ing they want in day without climhins
the rail-fence to invade another men''
land Also the farmers out there ore no
half SO rough, grlIfI and tough as they have
been pictured,
II il rare To find one Of them who has no
a lingering sympathy with a man who ha,
n bird dog and bird gun. They pos
their lands with mo shooting" notices
Of course, hut nearly always yield to
request for permission to shoot, accom-
panied 10y promise to pay for any aCci
dental damage To live stock in the field