The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-11-30
SEASON ENDS, BUT HUNTING
 ISN'T OVER
Ephraim Wakelee, Aged 84, Is Going to Shoot a Fox
 Pretty Soon ..
REVIEW OF SEASONS LUCK
Game Birds Doing We'll
 At Least 9O,00O of Them
 Shot In Connecticut. |

open season for game birds. and tA- Nimrodes are out in the fields taking their last shots at the winged targets. the hunting season won't be officially over until Ephraim N. Wakelee of Stratford. the dean of all the hunters in Connecticut, has shot his annual fox
 For fifty years MT. Wakelee hasn't let hunting season go by without petting at least one fox: generally, years of age on December 20. he ad- heres to his rule; his limbs have grown feeble. and his body weak; but told trusty" still shoots as straight as ever. Somewhere around Stratford there's Q Reynard robbfng hen roosts today who'll make dog-meat when the vet erdn hunter starts out on his, annual forage.
 old residents of Stratford can re- member that 50 years ago "Eph Wakelee was famed as the best shot in Connecticut. From sboyhood until old age. he made his living through his trusty rifles and shotguns. He can remember, too. the time when the Hou- satonic river fairly teened with shad, and he still possesses the nets which, when thrown across the river from in front of his house in Stratford. might
 
 of the delicious filmed beauties.
 According to "Dan" Smith. at whose store the hunters like to get together and regale each other with tales of the woods, the game-bird season which ends today has been very successful, weeks. At the beginning of the sea son. the trees were in full leaf. the birds were shy and not too plentiful.
 "But they seemed to multiply at the end of the season." said Dan. "I don't know how it is. During the past few great luck. The woods seem to be full of birds.
 "The woodcock run this year wasn't as good as last. but about the first week in November there was good flight Of woodcock. and those who lot of birds But the flight didn't con- tinue as long as last year.
 Interest in hunting seems to be growing all the year. This season in Bridgeport alone the town clerk / is- sued nearly 800 hunters licenses. and then there were some hunters who didn't take out any license.
 we have good laws and fine game warden in Fairfield county. with excellent assistants. All the time they are rounding up those fellows who are out shooting song birds.
 ."Only last Sunday in Stratford Dep uty Warden Sanford over there round ed up a couple of fellows who had a hobert rife supplied with fine shot cartridges. and a lot of wire snares.
 These fellows had a big bag like woman's shopping bag and 1t had nine song birds in it, the smallest known song birds with the exception of the humming bird. They had full set of wire snares which they were plac- ing around the woods. Then another of the game wardens arrested couple of fellows who had between them 14 robins and several yellow-han1mers
 Even today some of the New York restaurants are dressing up robins and yellow hammers and selling them as quail. They have ways of dressing them up so that the average person can't tell the difference. There isn't a robin. Down south they sell them for 10 cents apiece and are glad to get that price for them.
 "The Fairfield County Fish and Game Association is a great help in keeping the game laws properly ob- served.
 'T don't know that the game birds have increased any since the strict game laws went into effect" said Dan. in response to a question, "but I tell you the game birds are mighty lucky to hold their own.
 JuSL LQlI1h WHdt they re up aga uSts In the first place there's the improve. ment in modern lire arms. That's an important thing. Then the farmers are gradually clearing away the Con, necticut woods. and there aren't the breeding places there used to be. Then look at the number of hunters.
 Three years ago when the ques- tion of licensing hunters came up, it was estimated that there would be about 900 application at the outside. What happened? There were 23,000 applications; then if you take the number of people who hunted without license and the nun1ber who hunted license. it would make at least 30,- 900. Suppose that number hunted this year and killed birds apiece. That would be 90.000 game birds put out of existence in one year. Just the same they seem to be able to breed loss
 "Then the game dogs are better and keener now. and the quail and par tridee have their natural enemies. Why In the last breeding season a fellow over in Stratford told me that one day he saw ten crows sitting perched on a fence rail.
 "He watched them and saw an old partridge trying to lead them away. They were after her brood of chicks. Well this fellow got his shotgun and lit into the crows and bOwled two of them over. but that's the way it goes. The crows and hawks kill thousands of the game birds, and then the foxes get some too and other animals get lot too.
 ''The deer law will be off next June. but I don't think the Legislature will ever stand for that. June's the very worst season of the year to have a lot of people threshing around in the unndS and tha fax They