The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1907-07-11
SpOrtsmen and tho optional Liceusc.

Sportsmen throughout Tennessee owe
A debt of gratitude to the State Warden
Tor his happy solution Of their troubles
and Inconvenience arising under the
old written permission law. AS some
Of our bird shooters may not have seen
the act of 1907, the following oxplana-
tion of the optional license feature viii
be Of decided interest
tits prohibited to hunt or shoot NJ.
on the lands Of another, whether en-
closed or not without the written per
mission ofthe owner IF, however, the
shooter or hunter holds license he
may shoot or hunt upon this verbal
permission Of the owner, As this Ii
cense costs only SO per aunum, it is
safe to assume that the most sports
will, lbefore the season opens, hasten
to avail themselves fthe manifest con
venience this license affords,
How often sportsmeu found ont that
on coming to some friend farm where
they are heartily welcome and have
been verbally invited, that the owner
was absent, and that if they shot there
without having first secured the written
permission required under the law they
were liable to arrest by the Game War
den; aud sometimes even when the
owner was at home he would bccom c
offended at being called upon to sign a
paper, saying that his word was good
enough, and il the shooter couldn't
trust that he might go elsewhere. In
fact as a general rule, farmers are
averse to signing papers, particularly
it presented by other than some very
intimate friend.
Hundreds OF letters have been receiv
ed by the State Warden urging him t.
devise some legislation to relieve thu
syortsmeu from the embarrassment ant
Inconvenience Of annoying their iarme
friends for permission to shoot Tn
outcome of his efforts was tue amend
ment to the law creating the optiona
license for resident shooters, which, a
its name implies, may he taken out 0
not Just as the shooter prefers; but
he Edoes not take it out, then, hefor
starting on his trip, he must first Pre-
cure the written permission Of owner
upon whose lands he intends to shoot
1t is the duty Of all WUrdens torevues
an inspection of al license and it is
misdemeauor for Anyone to refuse
comply with such request Under IA
new law there Will be Game Warde
in every civil district throughout tb
State; therefore, shooters had bette
prepare themselves with one or he ott
= err of these papers, l. thu optluui
liceuse or written permission, or the
i will surely be "rnn 10, aud as the TN
is $21, their trip may prove both III
= pleasant aud expensive
e There is another feature of the ca'
which should appeal to every sporu
man: They know best Of ali men TIL
but for the untiriug efforts of our Sta
! Warden in protecting our quail bot
from market hunters and expectation
there would be few, if any, of thes
beautiful game birds left in Tennessee
A report made by the Special Con
|, mittee from the house aud Senate
y = the last Legislature shows that for foI
years the State Warden gave not on
}, his time, without salary, but in add
s ton SIS, 900 of his money to the cause
\ game projections His department cal
q not be run except at considerable e
d pense and the sportsmen of the Sta
+ who are SO greatly benefited by b
work can best rally to his support !
taking out and having their friends tai
out this optional license. Applicable
q blanks and copies of the law are fnrl
ished free Of charge. If our sport
IS men, farmers and land owners will no
!, up the hands OF the State Warden
/ his work our State will soon lead Il
is Union as the "happy hunting ground
le Nashville American Of July 2,