New-York tribune., 1906-09-30

and more numerous every year. and the war
dens are kept OF the Jump rounding up poachers
OF all classes. There four classes of poach-
ers. First. there is the man who shoots merely
for the sake OF killing sornething-it matters not
what II may be bird or a squirrel. or just as
likely a moose or deer and the wanton
killer often leaves his game to rot where it
falls.
Then there is the hide hunter who kills hun
dreds OF moose and deer. in season and out
simply for their hides. The hide hunters do
most of their killing IN the far north woods
along the Canadian border. and It is difficult
and expensive TO catch them
A third class is composed Of trappers who kill
deer or moose for meat to bait their traps with
Then come the so-called summer hunters who
live IN the woods all through the fishing season
and subsist largely upon deer meat
It is also claimed that the Iumbermen kill
many deer every winter to supply the camp
tables with fresh meat, but as a rule this kill
Ing is exaggerated Most loggers care little for
venison preferring the pork and beef which are
now supplied plentifully by the lumber oper-
ators
How many deer has Maine? That is a aues-
ton which no man can answer positively, al
though the lanented Jock Darling OF Enfield
long regarded king of Maine woodsmen, used
TO say that 100000 deer roamed the forests OF
this state.
How many are killed annua1ly2 That is an
other question difficult to answer with much
accuracy. although there is some basis for estt-
mate Deer are to be found in nearly all OF
the sixteen counties Of the state, but there are
three principal regions where they most abound
first and most important the great region
north of Bangor. around the Penobscot River
and Moosehead Lake; second the coast counties
Of Washington and Hancock. and. third the
Rangeley Lake region.
Since the construction Of the railroad from
Bangor into the great North Woods an accurate
account has been kept OF the game shipped out
of that region by rail- Last year the number
of moose thus transported 216. and Of deer,
4.791. Some authorities estimate that not more
than one-half the game killed is sent out by
rail. the remainder being eaten in the woods.
wasted, or transported by native hunters TO
their homes by other means Of conveyance.
Assuming that this is a fair estimate. then in
the region north OF Bangor about ten thousand
deer were killed last season, and allowing an
equal number for all other parts of the state
combined, the total kill would be about twenty
thousand AS for moose few Of these animals
were killed outside of the Penobscot and Moose
mems are taken at Rangeley, and the total num-
Der killed last year in Maine probably did not
exceed three hundred-that is. the number le-
gally killed for there is way Of finding out
the extent of the slaughter by poachers in the
Far North.
Can Names game supply stand this drain?
For many years people have been declaring that
the game must soon become exhausted, Just as
many other people have been saying, since 1870,
that the Maine spruce must soon disappear.
But the spruce still holds out, and so do the
deer, although more trees are being cut and
more deer are being killed than ever before. 1t
is true that the caribou have disappeared these
many years. but caribou are the tramps of the