The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-23
SEASONS SPORT WITH GUN.
LONG ISLAND ONCE MORE HAPPY
HUNTING GROUND.


OuuuCTb hnNo hAo oBOtb Wis u 1A4
winter on Long Island and In New Jersey
and Connecticut. There were about seventy
deer killed in the four days Of the deer
hunting season on Long Island. About
1900 or 1000 hunters were out for the big
game on each OF the fou days. yet while
the firing was as continuous an on a battle
line no person was killed or seriously I'M
jured this year. The noise and confusion
Of the sporting brigade. with the conflicts
between bands OF local gunners and COM
panies from the city over the possession
Of the best runways, began 90 early and
created such a shindy that the deer rushed
To the preserves Of the clubs and private
estates and kept in seclusion. This made
the total bag a small one. the South Side
resident hunters getting the best.
Without doubt there are more deer now
on Long Island than at any previous time.
On account Of the scenes of lawlessness
in connection with the sport each season
some Of the owners Of large estates would
like the New York Legislature to pass .
law for a permanent closed season on deer.
Farmers and truck gardeners would p
pose such a law, for the period Of immunity
for some years SO multiplied the number
Of deer that the few killed each season
hardly makes an impression on the sggre-
gate number. Consequently the gardens
and crops are ravaged by the deer. A
compensation in the long run may be that
The natives in the isolated spots always
have good mutton in their larders, although
one does not see many sheep On Long Island.
The open season could hardly be more
curtailed. unless made permanent. than it
Il low. The legal hunting of deer il per-
missible only on the first two Wednesdays
and first two Fridays after the first Tuesday
IN November. Dogs may be used or these
days only, but they are loosed ahead Of
time, and the deer get on the move early
looking for safe quarters.
One of the casualties revealed, despite
the stringent laws against the possession OF
venison out of season in Suffolk county and
that the season closed on November 10, that
there is an unwritten law in force on Long
Island. The owner OF a farm, to protect
the grain stacked in his fields, gave per-
mission TO two friends to camp out on his
property and to shoot the marauding deer.
Unfortunately one of them shot a farm
lshorer who passedsin the cleaning on his
homeward way in mistake for a oeer. This
took place this month. and If the facts ars az
stated the situation seems unusual.
Rabbit hunters have had good sport on
Long Island since November /. and the sea-
con will not close until the last day Of Decem-
her. They hunt in couples or trios. the rab-
hit shooters, and with their dogs of all sorts
and guns they have been picturesque fig
ures on the trains. The bags have been
good, squirrels and a wood duck or so help
ing out the mixed days shooting. They are
Jolly and ~companionable souls, these pot
hunters, and, if they keep of the posted
grounds, not unwelcome 10 the residents.
Snipe shooting is a sport for adopts, and, as
With rabbits and squirrels, the sport is not a
monopoly of the clubs and large estates on
Long Island.
Quail lave been abundant on the pre-
serves, and Long Islands greatest shooting.
that for brant, duck, geese and swan, has
been good for an open winter. Waterfowl
shooting is not a monopoly quite Of the
cubs and owners of estates, but tits not a
poor mans sport except to the natives.
AZ every town or hamlet on the waterside,
however, there are guides TO be had and
hotels to stop at which the sportsmen may
visit in the assurance of good sport. A gun
license and the expenses will not be foun
excessive. and the excursions for Wild
fowl shooting on Long Island are always
well worth while.
Westchester and Richmond counties are
practically lost territories to gunners, bar
ring those who know the ropes, the shore
birds and waterfowl on good days. Water.
fowl, quail md rabbits nave furnished good
sport in Connecticut. There, as on Long
Island, the first object OF the city sport
should be 10 find a sporting bonlfaoe and
secure a guide.
Deer hunting has been under the legal
ban in New Jersey for three years. Rabbits
squirrels and quail have never been more
ai.aI,n. sh.~a ThA ahn~a bird ahnANiNn
has been the best in ten years all al ong
the coast. Yellowleg plover were espe-
cially abundant, and also marsh hens,
particularly on he big tides Of October.
The changes along the shore, north and
south. are banishing the reeds and old time
swanps, yet there has been good reed
bird shooting. Snipe shooting has not
been very good. There have been great
flights of waterfowl at night. but on account
of the mild winter the mallard and black
ducks have not stopped over, 80 the gunners
say, yet there have been some good bags
u ducks recorded.
Much of the marshlsnd in southern New
Jersey is now preserved. Near Salem a
Philadelphia club which includes Messrs.
Perrine, Teller, Coster, Mccall and Cruise
has a stretch of 1900 acres OF marsh shoot
ing. A. B. Endicott also has a large pre-
serve, while Charles Mairs and others have
similar properties. Jacob Erpenbeck of
Atlantic City has a preserve for marsh
shooting. and be is one OF the veterans
Cf the sport.
Along the north New Jersey shore, which
is visited most by New Workers, the free
shootings are limited and there is not
much doing except under the guidance OF
q local shot. The Fish and Game Com
missioners OF New Jersey have had a game
refuge at Oradell, in Bergen county, since
1904, and Monaghan pheasants are propa.
gated there. The commissioners distributed
5000 quail in 1906. They procured the
quail from other States and released them
in the spring after the severe snowstorms
we're over. Also, to protect the native
quail, the game wardens have Distributed
unthreshed grain az feed during times or
snow in places wherever there was known
10 be a covey. ,
The national law prohibiting the taking
81 game out of the State is a trouble to the
game wardens OF New Jersey, for the gunners
Of the two great cities on its borders. Phila-
delphia and New York, are often active in
endeavoring TO evade the statute. limo
cent travellers are often put to annoyance
by the energy of the game wardens as
detectives, especially at the terminals Of the