Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-01-05

safing many wounded animal a lin
g9sinesdeath. The bullet from the long
ralnos rifle, as used for hunting, goes
but little further than from the old rifle.
as every hunter uses the soft nozed bull
let that mushrooms or spreads as soon
as it strikes, and the first brush or tree
it strikes flattens it out and soon stops
it.
Mr.. Johnson's proposed amendment
that no deer are to be killed, except
bucks, has been urged before and on its
face seems reasonable. If il could be
enforced, together with our present
game laws, it certainly would increase
the number of deer
The writer hunts deer every fill and
claims to be sportsman but believes
that this buck law is impractical! and
cut over country, like Northern Wis
consin, the timber and brush are thick
there is lots of shelter for deer and lit
tie open shooting. The deer are wary,
their ears and noses are very keen, and
except in a storm it is impossible to
stalk them and then it takes the skill of
an Indian. After the hunting season
begins, with its usual noise, the game
becomes doubly wary.
The hunter, unless he uses dogs,
must stand for hours on a runway and
sometimes does this day after day for a
week and does not see a deer AS a
rule, when deer does show, it is
Enthusiastically a deer, though only a
flash of hair is seen in the brush or the
white flag going over a wind-fall. Then
the hunter must shoot and shoot quick,
or his opportunity is gone. No time for
the half frozen and generally discour-
aged hunter to look for horns, he must
shoot, and sometimes he gets his deer
and sometimes he doesn't The best OF
them miss sometimes. No matter what
the law says about bucks hunting
parson will shoot under such circum-
stances, and if the law says only
bucks and there does not happen to
be horns ahead of the flag he shot at,
the hunter will cut away the choice
parts and eat them in camp and the
rest will rot in the woods.
The buck law would make lots of law
breakers.
II you want to save the does, enforce
and increase the penalty for shooting
deer at a lick" Deer only come to
licks in the summer. when the bucks
are keeping under cover, on account OF
their tender horns, then in the velvet.
1t is always the does that are killed at a
lick and the sucking fawns generally
starve to death as consequence.
Mr.. johnson wants the season ex-
tended from Oct l to Dec. !; how
about the fawns. many still unweaned
and the soft weather to spoil the meat,
but argument is unnecessary on this
point.
Mr.. johnson further displays bis
mastery of the hunting proposition, By
| speaking of the sport of hunting the
wolves, lynx, wild cats and bear. which
he says are plentiful, This fact has
hitherto been patriotically suppressed
for fear of keeping new settlers out Of
the country.
| favor the amendment recommended
by the game wardens lately in eonven-
tion at Milwaukee to make the ten
days preceding the deer hunting sea-
lson q closed season" its passage and en-
forcement wonid keep out the sooneTs
and give the law abiding hunter an
equal chance at the first few days
hunting, before the game is made extra
wary By shooting.
The law in regard to the use Of dogs
should also be enforced more vigorously,
at present this law is farce.
NNRoD.