Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-08
e D | T 0 r / A L
P A r 7
HUNTING AND HUNTERS


There Is no way to tell authoritatively
and precisely how many men go a-huntiRg
in this country. because nobody gathers
statistics about them any more than fishing
statistics are gathered. Most of the peo-
pie who don't go a-hunting imagine that
the sportsmen belong to negligible minor
fly, because II Is deeply rooted American
approximation that we are tremendously
busy people and waste little time away
from work.
The non-sportsmen view Roosevelt's some
what fevered hunting as merely another
proof of his difference from other men.
and the fact that few of our Presidents
have hunted or fished as impressively as
Roosevelt and Cleveland has confirmed the
non-hunters in their belief that hunting is
essentially q pursuit Of the very few.
The sportsmen themselves don't know
what a great crowd they are Probably few
of them, IL asked to make an estimate of
the number of hunters in this country.
would dream of guessing SO high a mil
lion. Yet what figures we have show that
the total number of gunners must be at
least that.
In ten states which exact licenses from
hunters-Colorado. Idaho, Illinois Michigan,
Minnesota. Nebraska, North Dakota. WASH
ington, Wisconsin and Wyomfng-the total
number of licensed hunters in one year was
261, 241. This does not by any means show
all the hunters, because many men hunted
without regard to the license law, and in
five Of the states residents or hunters for
birds and small game do not need licenses
In Maine there are 1,042 guides. Under
the law non-residents must be in charge of
a registered guide II they wish to hunt. No
guide may have more than five persons in
his charge. and generally he has this full
complement. At any rate, guide rarely
takes less than three men into the woods.
ffper &c lnrr,n hQ1 Qyn
we have about six thousand hunters in
Maine alone. and that does not include the
residents, who need no guides
To the Woods.
With this enormous number of men hunt
ing In only a few states-and many of these
by no means populous-and being willing
to pay from $40 to $50 for the privilege, 1t
may be estimated how great the number OF
hunters throughout the United States must
be.
1t must be remembered that the army of
more than a quarter of a million shown by
the statistics is composed largely of men
in unusually good circumstances. The
hunters who paid the license fees in Col
orado, Idaho, North Dakota, Washington,
Wisconsin and Wyoming, and hired the
guides in Maine, were men who could af-
ford to travel long distances and spend
much more time and money than the aver
age sportsman.
This average sportsman. who doesn't get
into the statistics, hunts near home, gen.
orally in his own state. And 1t is pretty
modest to assume that IL there are a quar-
ter of a million hunting in only eleven
states, there certainly will be three times
that many more in the rest of the United
States The chances are that an estimate
of two millions would not be far from the
mark. .-.----------- ---- -----s--tza-. ,----
With the annual increase of this horde Of
hunters. weapons and ammunition have
been improved constantly. The repeating
rifle has its counterpart in the repeating
shotgun. and both are being challenged by
still more modern guns that are construct
ed like the machine guns of the soldier,
able to spit forth shot or bullets automat-
ically so that the missiles can literally be
rained on the animal or bird.
The railroads are opening new ways into
the forests and other game haunts every
season. There are whole lines of rail and
BOAT that do not pretend 10 do much other
business except that of carrying hunters,
When the season closes they close too
Yet with all this, the hunting in the
United States is excellent. Those dear pes
simists the "old-timers,' will. no doubt,
shake their heads Indignantly and deny 1t,
but II is true, nevertheless. The way Tor
eign sportsmen flock here every year would
be enough to prove it; but there Is plenty
of proof In the form of figures, because the
game and fish commissions of many states
keep a record of the game that Is killed in
every open season.
Some OF Our tame.
It is true that there are no more herds
of bison, no more enormous elk bands, no
more caribou herds, covering more ground
than the eye can span. no more sky-hiding
fiocks of wild pigeons.
But there are still enough animals and
birds to furnish shooting to every Amer
lean hunter In 1903 so many quail and
grouse were shipped to the Chicago mar
ket from Minnesota and Wisconsin that the
prices were forced down by the over
supply. In Michigan careful estimates
made by the game wardens were that at
least 1900 grouse were carried annually
over the roads of the state.
During the last duck-shooting season in
one sound of North Carolina alone-Cur-
rituck sound-the market hunters shot
duck enough TO net them 100000 in the
markets. Names deer, and moose shooting
season last autumn netted more than 300
moose and 5000 deer. The game sent out
of that state over the railroads amounted
TO DID moose and 1868 deer.
In New York state more than 1900 deer