Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-09-13
.GOQD OUTLOOK FOR
HUNTING IN MAINE

The 1917 hunting season opens in
the Maine woods on Oct. | and aC-
cordlnS TO present Indications the
camps of the State will he filled to
overfiowing. says the Bangor Com
mercial. Large numbers of rcserva-
tons have already been made by out
of-thc-State sportsmen and it is. not
expected that the war will have an adj
verse effect upon the general situa-
ton. \ large proportion of the thou
sands who come into the woods each
autumn are above the draft age and it
is believed that the number of those
kept away by the entrance of the
United states into the world war will
be so small as to be negligible.
This general summing up of the sit
uation was expressed to Commercial
reporter on Tuesday by number Of
nCthcrn and eastern Maine camp
owners who We're in the city. At the
general passenger offices Of the Ban
gor & Aroostook Railroad it was said
that the number Of inquiries regarding
camps received from out of the State
persons was fully as large as usual.
Partridge Scarce.
Reports from the woods indicate
that. with the exception of partridge,
game is as plentiful as in past sea-
sons. Comparatively few focks of
partridge have been reported, how
ever and the birds ire much scareer
than Is usually the case. This fact IS
attributed to the unusually rainy
spring and summer which has caused
the young birds to die in large num-
bers. They breed in the spring ana
wet weather is fatal to them. When
the fact that 1t rained 40 days out of
So recently. is taken into consdera-
ton, it is easy to see why partridge
shooting is likely to be somewhat less
exciting sport this autumn than
usual.
Law Made Uniform.
This is the first year that open time
on partridge, woodcock, duck, deer and
other game begins on Oct. /. Under
the old law, bird hunting was legal
after Sept 10. Now, however, no one
has an excuse to take firearms into
the woods until after October opens.
Deer are reported as being plentiful
this year. In some localities they are
said to be even more numerous than
usual They experienced little diff
Guilty last winter when living condi-
tions for the animals in the woods
were not especially difficult
Reports from up river are to the eff
feet that the five year close time on
moose is already showing beneficial
results. Moose cannont legally he
killed until 1921 and they are gradual
ly increasing. This Is in spite of the
fact that large numbers of them are
said to he slaughtered by. the crews of
numbering camps. With beef at its
present high price, 1t is difficult for
woodsmen to resist the temptation to
dine on moose meat
Ducks are even more numerous than
usual this season. Reports have
reached game wardens in this section
that the birds are being Illegally
killed and that the shooting has been
going on for several weeks past. The
reports are being investigated and II
was limited on Tuesday that arrests
might be forthcoming in the near fu-
ture in this connection. But the kill
ing of moose by lumbermen Is re-
garded az being the most serious and
to constitute a real menace to the in
crease Of the species in the State dur
ing the hve years close time decreed
by the legislature.