The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-05-02
I" Hunting" vs.. a
Supply Of Game.
BY Z. r. Barns, Extension d.
vision, Minnesota Agricul-
tural College.
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.. turat ColIe9e. l.
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Setting aside all sentimental and
aesthetic considerations, so far as
their relations to the human race are
concerned, wild animals and game
birds may be rightly viewed as exist
ing for just two purposes-to supply us
with food, and to furnish, in their
pelts, the materials for the manufac-
ture of warm clothing, hats, caps,
shoes, gloves, pocketbooks, travelling
bags and other articles. Any condi-
tons, or any laws, which contravene
these purposes, or which tend toward
the useless extinction of such animals
and birds, must be regarded as un-
wise and opposed to the general. good
And where the effect of such laws or
conditions is, in addition, to give to a
small fraction of the population a
monopoly of game foods, to the utter
exclusion of the great multitude, there
is evident gross denial OF the prin-
ciple of equal rights" so dear to the
true American.
In country which, probably beyond
of the globe, affords the most abun-
dant opportunities for the preservation
and propagation of game, scarcely one
person in hundred is today permitted
10 know even the taste of venison,
wild duck, quail or prairie chicken.
These are held to be the exclusive
perquisites of the licensed" hunter,
or so called sportsman. That he may
have the privilege, each year, of shoot
ing limited number of deer or birds,
all game is held to be "the property of
the state" It's sale is prohibited in
our markets; and business which in
Europe yields large returns to the
land owners, who combine the propa-
cation of game with the other pur-
suits of the farmer, is here practically
unknown
With the practical disappearance of
the larger number of beasts of prey,
like the wolf, the panther and the
wildcat, ; it has become increasingly
easy-if only protection can be given
against the "sportsman"-to multiply
deer, quail, prairie chicken, and even
wild turkeys, in almost every part of
the country. 1t has been found in
Alaska that the imported reindeer,
crossed with native stock, is so pro-
life in domestication that it may
easily be made the source of an addi-
tional meat supply for American ia
bles. They are raised more cheaply
than cattle, and it is said that Alas
ka's 100000 square miles of frozen
tundra, useless for other purposes,
will provide abundant pasturage for
100000 Of these animals But what
is true Of the reindeer is likewise true
of the varieties of deer once common
to and so abundant in all our states.
Once abolish the hunting" idiocy and
herds Of deer can be made almost as
numerous, in all parts of our land. as
herds of cattle The same is true of
quail and prairie chickens. And the
of these birds would be
attended by another boom to the farm
er in the reduction of the number of
insects which prey upon his crops
Let the next legislature of Minneso-
ia enact that the next five years shall
be CLOSED season" for all game ami
mails and birds in the state; let it
abolish the ''hunter"-who, by the
way, yearly grows less able to distin-
guish between a deer and a human
being-and provide for the annual |
killing of surplus game on state lands
by duly authorized agents of the state,
who shall at once place the same on
sale in the public markets; let it pro- |
vide needed protection and encourage
ment for the propagation of game on
private lands-and very soon we shall |
rejoice in such a supply of game as
will put it whiting the reach of all.
And great will be our amazement. |
hen, that we ever should have thought /
II tolerating, in thickly peopled |
tate, the hunter" who properly and |
exclusively belongs to an era long
Iince past.