Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1913-09-05
FARMERS CAN HELP
COUNTY TO PROTECT
ITS BIRDS AND GAME
Action of Authorities in Creating
Game Reserve Receives
Strong Approval.
CHILSON SUGGESTS A PLAN.
Proposes That Ranchers Form Or
ganization to Protect
Wild Fowl.

The following letter from Ross Chill
son is timely and should be carefully
read by every sportsman as we'll as
every farmer because it presents to
them in little different light ques-
tfon in which they are all interested:
how to protect the wild game in the
county.
Discussing it, Mr.. Chilson says:
Editor Washington Standard:
Many of our local sportsmen are
gratified to know that step has been
/ taken in the right direction for the
preservation of our wild game, by
setting apart certain sections of the
county as game preserves. l like the
idea, but this is like some of my rad
ical notions, for l believe we should
go still farther while the good work is
in progress. My idea is this: let the
farmers throughout the county get
into the game, let them get together
and form some sort of game protective
association and make this thing so eff
fective that even the tenderfoot sports
man will not fail to understand that
the "hayseeds" mean business.
! l know perfectly we'll how some of
our nimrods feel when they behold
those trespass notices tackled up on
the farmers fence posts carrying with
them the hint Ito keep off the grass"
but we are all prone to sometimes get
the wrong idea of things. We are not
all low down mean, if we do post our
lun6 no I Cho11 n q 70
| If we are going to protect our
game. there Is just one way to do it,
and that is to do it right. Every
farmer who owns but a small patch of
timber or brush land is in position
to help in this matter, for every single
patch of timber means an ideal spot
for the propagation of our game
birds.
So, there, Mr.. Farmer. is the place
to tack up your trespass notice, and
you, Mr.. City Sportsman, respect that
notice, and don't waste a lot of good
breath talking to yourself about what
mean old reprobate that farmer
must be just because he would not
permit you on his land with your
bird dog for the purpose of extermi-
mating the last quail on his place.
To be plain in the matter this trap
shooting expert armed with hunting
license, pump gun and good bird
dog never did appeal to me as much Of
a protection to birds. The farmer
needs the birds, both game and song
birds. They are ali to a great extent
insectivorous and for that reason
alone we should protect Them.
| 1t does not take close observer to
note the fact that quail and other
game birds are not on the increase.
for the simple reason that too many
nimrods with dog and gun are prowl-
ing around in the small farming dis
tricts. Why not go farther back? Get
out of the city limits-go to the logged
off lands. Get out in the tall timber,
Mr.. Nimrod. You won't get lost-it
would serve you right If you did, for
1t would make hunter of yOu-and
you could relate the stsry of your ad-
ventures to your children.
| l know what this call of the wild
means to you-I have a bad case of it
every year. guess am just like the
rest of the bunch, longing to get out
in the wild woods, sit around the
camp fire in the evening after supper
| uhu anu ppm yoihop AOll uP Ill
your blankets and watch the stars un.
til you fall asleep. You wake up in
the morning feeling fine, souse your
face in cold spring water and you are
! ready to tackle that early breakfast Of
slap jacks, mulligan stew and black
coffee or whatever comes handy, with
never kick.
No, gentle reader. I have been
through it all many times and l do not
blame the city man for wanting to
leave that dusty old office-I would
leave it If had to run away-but, my
brother sportsman, remember this:
! don't make target of song birds or
those harmless little sQuirrels-they
look far better to the eyes of nature
faker" sporting among the trees than
they do lying dead along the trail, the
victims of the thoughtless hunter.
Let us turn over a new leaf on Sep
ber Is. Very truly,
ROSS CHILSON.
There are some mighty good points
in Mr.. Chilson's letter. some for the
sportsmen and some for the farmers.
The protection of wild game is not as
great problem in this country as it
is in some other sections, but the time
is rapidly coming when 1t will be a
problem unless attention is given it
now. That is why space in this issue
that might have been used for other
purposes is devoted to Mr.. Chilson's
letter.