Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-01-08

and TO count and keep track of the
| number of deer seen on that trip would
be impossible. Very often we have
seen and counted 100 deer or more in
one day
The man or men writing the reports
about the deer being SO plentiful may
| have better territory to get over or
more ground to cover than I have;
but am sure he can't get back any
| farther into the big game hunting
country than do.
I cannot say why the deer are so
scarce throughout that country.
There are, perhaps, several reasons.
| The summer fishermen, of course, get
| theirs. The unnaturaliZed foreigner,
| the pot hunter for camps, and perhaps
| the wild cat, all these things combined
| with, perhaps the means for better
game protection point the way to total
extinction Of our deer and that, too, be-
| fore some Of our learned writer's are
aware of the decrease in the game rec
| ord.
There is a way to protect and resup-
ply that vast country, and one way
only; but the subject has been written
up many times by more competent men
than I.
| l refer to the passage of law to re-
strict all persons from having firearms
in the woods and upon the wild lands
IN this State during the close season.
Better game protection by placing
more officers in the woods or furnish
ing each warden with an airship.
Of course, game wardens have some
limit to their endurance the same as
other beings.
In my opinion, there are not one
quarter as many deer throughout
Penobscot, Piscataquis and Aroostook
counties as there were four years ago.
Very truly yours.
| H. o. HACkETT.
Now I could quote from very large
number of letters of like import from
people who know what they are talk
ing about, but time and space will not
| permit.
Warden NJ. c. Morrill, of Gray, on
duty most of the time, reports deer
| less.
e. H. Lowell of Rangeley, on duty on
the border for years, he says deer are
much less up there.
Wardens Woodland, Tarr, Clark and
Hussey, border wardens, all say deer
are less.
D. L. Cummings of Aroostook,
warden in charge of that great coun-
try; Frank ]. Durgin Of The Forks; II.
T.. Pierce Somerset county, H. o. Tenn
pleton, David Brown, all report deer
less.
II. T. Silsby of Aurora, Hancock
county, who has been a warden for
several years and in constant touch
with his territory, says, as the result
| of his own observation, and from in
formation received from guides ana
hunting parties in that section, that
deer are less numerous than for sew
eral years.
Z. w. Ward, warden, with headquar-
tiers at Millinocket, says that he has
hunted every fall for the past II years
and it is his opinion that deer are less
plentiful this year than for several
| years.
| Jacob Bagley of Prentiss, who has
been on duty in the woods practically
| all of the time since the middle of last
June, and in a great game country, eX-
presses the opinion that there are less
deer this year than for several years.
+. w. Austin of Fort Kent, one of
the border wardens, writes as follows:
ut is my opinion that deer are less
than few years ago. l do not speak
| from hearSay but from experience
what l have seen myself. My work as
| warden takes me over a large section
| of the northern part of Aroostook
county, and in summer time l have to
take trips up the rivers by canoe, anu
on going up the river % or 80 miles
a few years ago it was not an uncom-
mon thing to see in one days pole up
the river from 80 to 40 deer feeding
| along the bank of the stream. Dur
| ing the summer of 1906 | made several
trips up the Allagash some 25 or so
miles. and the largest number of deer
/ saw on any trip was 3, and several
times last summer $500 l made the
| same trip and saw no deer
| These men are in 4 position to know
7 am aware that the testimony of these
wardens is treated with slight respect
in some quarters. but a majority of the
| commissioners rely upon them, be-
lieve in them and their official reports
make a deep impression upon our
minds.
When they tell us deer are scarcer in
the section where they have been, we
believe them.
l believe they know better about the
real condition in the woods as to deer.
than anyone can know who never goes
into the woods at all. A majority of
the commissioners take the statement
of such men as Dr. Smith of the Maine
General Hospital. for Is years or more
a freuuenter of the woods, and also of
the hundreds of Disguised hunters. re-
turning with the tags on their licenses
intact-we. a majority Of the COM
missiorers, seek to get all available
information and then declare the truth
as we understand it.
Another thing is significant to my
mind-the reports of the dealers in
deer skins. who are required by law to
report under oath, how many deer
skins they purchased. they report hav-
ing bought but practically one-half as
many skins in 1907 as they did in
1906
They are in all sections of the State,
D.al, h,,1- oil "A JluC