Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1916-11-22
Correspondence.
r'sh and Game Protection.
BAR HARBoR. Nov. II. 1918
70 the Ed or Of rhe American:

Tor men and womsn seeking health ,ns
pleasure. than our Ash and game The
great need neglected everyw here, and
"'ore Ut Tess IN every section of our State.
sa pnpiic interest, public opinion that
snail stand behind this idea. The people
| even those who should be most interested
ehe guides, the s2ortsnen's camps alE
through the State, men whose bread and
outter come rom those who hunt and
hs"' are not alive as they should be, and
n'aF ne, 10 the facts that should be plain
10 everyone. To be sure 1t does not take
very big man to find fault. Anyone
with tongue and thimblefui of brains.
can DO II, and, as rule, the smaller he is
the more he does it, but it is safe to say.
without being open to censure from This
cause, that the game and fishing interests
Oh our state are not having the attention
they deserve.
III strikes me that the worst enemies OF
game protection are the summer sporting
| camps and their visitors. The former feed
TO their guests hundreds of deer in the
aggregate during the summer~and early
we may as well be frank about it, Men
who run these camps have told me so. 1t
would not be fair after had gained their
confidence, to betray them. 1t is wicked
but unquestlonab BILE fact that hundreds of
deer are killed at the time when they come
out oh the edges OF rivers and lakes to feed
and to keep from the pests that sting them.
Every sectionof our State has its guilty men
who run sporting camps. went among
lot OF them while back-good fellows.
men who would go hungry to give
me good food yet they all acknowledged
it.
Again | met in my travels short time
back crowd oil men in a hunting section
and asked them why the partridges in
Hancock county had become so scarce.
They were men whose confidence / had,
and the reply was characteristic: "One
dollar apiece" The men here in Bar Har-
Dor and along the coast OF Maine who offer
from = to - pair for cartridges need
something more than fines. They need
publicity. The slaughter OF game in close
season and contrary to our laws, to feed
the epicures, should be stopped, not
only by prosecution, but what is far more
effective, publicity. Every man who in
this way breaks our laws should be
known to the people of our State as a law
breaker. The paying Of a fine to many is
simple. The far more effective way to
save our game fast gong is Victor Hugos
sententious phrase, Turn the daylight
on"
| am especially referring to the buyer,
the epicure who cares not a rap for our
law, but pays his price for trout, par
fridge, woodcock, in season and out of
season. know it sounds Utopian,- but |
believe that among the guides of this
State there is better public spirit against
the killing d game in "close time"
against the slaughter OF game in the open
season, than among any class ofpeople in
he State, and there lies our best card.
Icanuoi hut believe that system Of edu-
estiuuamopg b. susnnercsmp-, hundreds
of " hich are scattered on the rivers and
ulkes Of our STATE. would result in great
gain in deer and birds. Nothing is surer'
season; nothing surer than the fact that
il is "kiiiing the goose that lays the
golden egg" nothing surer than that they
know it all--but one does it, and the
other does it because he and others do 1t.
There are not warGens enough made to
stop it. II it is to be stopped, or the most
OF il stopped, which is all that can be ex-
pected, it must be done by the consent
and help OF the camp owners and guides.
Hancock and Washington counties
probably have more game in proportion
to their wild land than any other counties
in Malue. Moose have come into southern
Maine Id the last fifteen or twenty years
in large numbers. They have bred and
are breeding fast, and deer, which forty
years ago were so rare as to be almost
never seen, are plentiful in all parts of both
counties. But there are no camps practi-
cally where large game is killed in open
time, partly because such camps are rare
and partly because there is too much risk
OF exposure on account of the nearby
settlements. If it is possible to enlist the
co. operation instead of sntagonism, nay,
il Il is possible TO enlist the interest IN the
bread and butter side of it, rather than the
side which strips the country of game TOR
Is per cent. of what it would otherwise
bring; if the men who live and move and
have their being among the forests and
among the fish and game can come to see
that the best way for them and all con-
cerned is to work for the protection oil
game rather than for its determination,
we shall have gone long way.
There viii always be the poacher, the
man " no prefers to get his game iilegitl-
mately rather than lawfully, ranging from
the men land they are few who hate law
and restraint, to those who ENJOY the FISK
what little there may be, OF discovery and
punishment These are not many, and
while they should be made to feel all there
| is in law and exposure, no men can SO
bat nhpdienep to law