The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1906-10-12

enough Dig game In the west TO tempt
| hunter to take down his rife pro
vided the present rate Of slaughter is
maintained. 4&
From the Western States that have
| long been famed as the haunts of big
| game of all descriptions come stories of
| fragrant disregard Of laws. Hunting Is
carried on out of season by ranchmen,
| ard, If game warden makes an ar
rest 1t Is almost impossible to find a
Jury that will convict An occasional
outsider Is fined, but the native" gen
orally gets off seot-free, even If he has
been caught with wagon load of lille
gslly slaughtered game in his posses
| sion.
| In the last haunt Of the elk, south of
Yellowstone Park, in the Jackson Hole
| country, those noble animals are fast
disappearing. Even the game of yell
| IGwstone National Park is not exempt,
| If stories from Wyoming and Montana
arc correct, as 1t is claimed that poach-
e-s carry on a campaign Of wholesale
| slaughter in the long winter months,
when the park is snowbound and when
1t Is practically impossible for soldiers
to guard the great game preserve of
the nation.
| In the Northwest little or no atten-
ton is paid to laws protecting those
rare animals, mountain goats; while in
Colorado and other Rocky Mountain
States, whose peaks are the grazing
ground of the mountain sheep, those
beautiful animals ara being killed off
In spite Of a farcical perpetual closed
season."
Less than decade ago man could
get all kinds Of deer hunting in Colo
RADIO and score of years ago the buff
falo were still rooming the plains east
i Of the Rockies. But to-day the deer is
| getting almost as rare as the buffalo.
The elk long ago left Colorado's noun.
tains and drifted north into Wyoming,
where bands of them are still to be
found in Jackson's Hole. But the laws
OF Wyoming, while making it hot" for
any outsider who kills elk out Of sea-
son, are inadequate when put in oper-
alton against the native hunter. 1t is
the Western ranchman who Is doing
most of the Illegal killing. 1t is i'm
| possible to convince the average ranch
Ell that he is not privileged to go out
anC get fresh meat" whenever he
| wants it. regardless Of game laws. Tue
deer or elk come down to his very
fences in winter, and there is little
i chance Of discovery If one of the ami
mails is killed. Even If a stray game
warden happens along and puts him I'M
der arrest, there Is little to fear, as
jury Is pretty sure to be made up of
ranchmen who are all tarred with the
same stick. So the game hog gets off
free and goes on with his work of
slaughter In season and out.
Even the setting aside of government
forest reserves and parks has done lit
tie to stop the slaughter of game. In
the summer, when the reserves are pa
tIoled by rangers, and when Yellow
stone Park Is guarded by soldiers, there
is little or no illegal killing done. But
In the winter, when there are no ran
gers in the reserves, and when the
snowbound roads make 1t impossible
fol the soldiers to patrol the big park
thoroughly, the work Of slaughter goes
on. There are two big forest reserves
adjoining Yellowstone Park-the Teton
Roth are alive with game, as is the
park itself A limited amount of game
can be killed in the reserves, in season.
in conformity with the game laws OF
wyoming, but the season in the park
Is always closed No firearms are ad
nlitted into the park, save those car
ried by the soldiers. If one insists OF
carrying a gun into the park he mus
have 1t sealed.
But all these rules and regulations
cut little figure in the eyes of the skill
cd and experienced poachers who live
in thevicinity of the park. These mer
do no killing in summer or autumn
They make their S. day as guides fol
hunting parties of Fasteners. But II
. the winter, when the SHOWS are deer
and the tremendous winter of the Vel
lowstone country has set in, they ge
very busy. On snowshoes these poach
ers find 1t easy to enter the forest re
serves and the park, and to kill all tn,
game they want. Magnificent elk, dee
and other game fall before their rifles
; If a lonely soldier sights the poacher'
| Mt work, the chances are he pays no at
tcntibn, for the reason that 1t woulc
onlylresult in his own death. ftts..
r In addition to the work of the whit
game hog, many Of the Western State
havt troubles with wandering bands o
I Ind ans, that carry on indiscrimlnat
: slaughter of game. These Indians hav
no business on their reservations. Blu