Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1907-02-07
THE GAME LAW
Discussed by Col. +. III. Russell
Who is One of Day Ccunty's
Authorities on Sports,

oAAA SopR'oSA w po toh tHC PAchNStAoh
of game and fish in the State of South
Dakota. Not doubling the sincerity of
the trainers of this bill in their endeav-
ors to preserve the game and fish,
after reading the draft of the bill it is
plain the parties that got it up never
got next to nature. After reading the
AZ pages II is put in mind OF the
Irishman that was all summe Whit
washing his fence to keep the hogs out
when he could have stopped the hole
where they got IN with a piece OF
DO rd in five minutes.
Take for instance section 43, manner
of taking Ash May use a seine
between the 10th of November and the
10th OF December for the purpose of TAX
ing suckers. This year l drove my
team across the lake on the 10th day
Of November on the ice. The time to
run a seine for the purpose of catching
suckers is in April when they are run
ming.
Now, gentlemen of the legislature,
if you want plenty of pike in our lakes
take that 5 1880 you propose giving to
the state game warden and offer it as a
bounty for suckers say two cents a
piece, that would be an induce ment { o
the farmer to seine the suckers out as
the bounty would pay the $500 per day
for the game wardens.
Some seven years~sgo the fish were
getting scarce in Enemy Swim lake,
that is game fish so that twenty or
twenty-five pike wal a good catch, then
we began to wage war Oh the suckers,
the first year we got some thirty-five OF
forty tons and since that not so many
each year because the law compelled the
farmer to pay % a day to the game
wardens. Now what is the result our
pike have increased from ten to twenty
fold. We could catch from fifty to
seven-hundred pike in a day-two men
with hook and line caught seven-hun-
dred-twelve pike and perch in one day,
and other boats came in with from two
hundred mp to three. hundred most of
the pike were small say from n to
two pounds. Each boat would have a
few big ones, five to seven Founders. OF
the old stock we take the millions of
the smaller size as the result Of the war
~, tho onpkaro Snvn TpIotnp onuo a
pike will leave from 100000 to $50, 900
eggs on the gravel and a sucker will
come along and eat them mp for break
fast. Let us protect the offspring Of the
pike in the lakes and you wont have to
pass any laws against the shipping Of fish
or the number of rods a fisherman may
use. I would like to see it that every
man woman and child in the state
could have all the fish to eat they want.
II this law passes ninety per cent of the
people in our state will never be able to
taste Q fish. never sold q fish in my
life, don't want too. Kill the suckers
and pike wont be worth one cent per
pound in ten years.
Can you grasp the increase Of pike if
let alone they spawn at three years old.
The dog proposition section twenty
eight article seven is raising a roar as
two months is all mat ia necessary to
tie up the dogs May and June, but the
whole section is void, us there is no
penalty. If dogs are tied up those two
months chickens will increase, if not
restrained in May and June, South
Dakota will be where Minnesota is to
day hardly a chicken left. 1904 Mayor
Smith, of st. Paul, in company with
Mr.. Morrison and two other gentlemen
made three trips to northern Mime.
sofa, on one trip they got three chickens
Smith said those chickens cost in the
neighborhood of five-hundred dollars.
The same year there was five chickens
five miles west of Stewartville and the
people have not got done talking about
it yet.
This law you have is no improvement
over the Minnesota law, if you pass it
it will be simply a preamble to exter-
inmate the fish and game, another
point making turtle doves a game bird.
There ought to be one hundred dollars
fine for killing one, also sea gulls, a
bird that does no harm but thousands
of dollars worth of good they will
follow a farmer blowing all day and
clean the land of cut worms, grubs and
grasshopper eggs, yet some people will
shoot them. The one dollar license
will practically put al end to hunting
every farmer will stick up signs on
his own land and all adjoining lands he
holds, but we of this part of the state
hope it wont pass.
If 1t does pass, exempt Day county
so if we loose the chickens We will
make it up in pike. The twenty-five
dollar resident license will drive
a good class of people from our state
that spend lots of money with hotels
and liverymen, and many locate and go
into business.
Ihave written this letter by request
of a number of the men that have read
bill number 60.
Fred III. Russell.
Notice.