Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-15
Etrr.ttttg Gl1at

faccoons on which the season will
END with the year. Opinions ex-
pressed today at the office of the
State Game Commission were to the
erect that the new code had been
successful and that there was a gen.
eral sentiment that it should be per-
mltted to stand the test of several
years. DIR. Joseph Kalbfus, the sec
retary of the commission, said that
tnere had been an abundance of all
Kinds of game except the ruffled
grouse and that sentiment was rap
ldly gathering in favor of closing
counties to the hunting of that bird
IN order to prevent determination.
Ihe good hunting has been possi-
bic through the hunters license law
revenue, the aid of the sportsmen
ana the fact that people have fed
the birds during winter. l hope they
Will feed them this winter" said he.
me Lne seasons closing today are deer.
pear, mare and rabbits. The quail,
wild turkey and pheasant seasons
closed on November 80. Spring
shooting OF water fowl is forbidden.
.,
I'VE think that the State Game
preserves have more than proved
their usefulness andewe will open
more next year If we can get the
land. About 5000 acres are needed
for game preserve and we have half
dozen localities in view, hut we
are uncertain what the outcome will
be- said DIR. Joseph Kalbfus. state
game commission secretary in talk
ing about plans for the new year.
Some of these preserves are pro-
Jected for state lands, but the ma
jority of them are for leased lands, +
if we can get them. There will
be some in the western counties and
some along the Delaware river
counties while we would like to put
one in the upper end of Dauphin
county If the coal and water compan-
les would lease us the land. This
is a typical case" The veteran
sportsman is enthusiastic about the
value of the preserves and says that
much of the good deer hunting
which has marked this fall has been
not far from preserves. The pre-
serves have enabled the wild turkey
propagation to be handled with ease,
while it is believed that the schemes
to replenish the pheasants can be
worked out on these reservations
After the hunting season work is
ended and the wardens file their re-
ports on the kills they will go to
the reserves and we will take up the
propagation work" said DIR. Kalbfus.
I'VE have wild turkeys and pheas-
ants coming along and in the spring
we will have some mature quail
which will be distributed. II believe
that we are going to have a record
deer season. 1t closes to-day and
have heard of some fine bucks being
killed. All of the wardens have beer
asked to make reports and we will
show that not only did probably 800.
600 SportSmen have recreation, bu
that the state furnished big food
supply in the form of game. Unless
] miss my guess we will kill more
deer and bear and rabbits this yeaI
than ever before"
1t is an interesting fact that many
of the hunters who went after dec
in the South Mountain region cam(
back early with their kill. In
number of instances men visited thi
city within a few days after thu
opening of the season who regretted
that they had been lucky so early
The law allows only one deer to b'
shot by each person and these mel
said that they did not like to stay il
the woods when they had finished
their sport to all intentS and pur
poses. One of the men said tha
the day after he had shot his dee
a great big buck came out of tn
woods and stood looking at him wit
most supercilious air, seeming t
nothing to fear. Several handsom
bucks have been brought throuG
this city by hunters and more tina
one home in Harrisburg will dis
| play antlers next year. The averag
resident of this city has little ide
of the central point that Harrisbur
| is to hunters. 1t is the place wher
men come to go up the Juniata an
Cumberland valleys and every yea
the number is increasing.
The Cumberland woods and vale
are to be used as places for eXper
! ments in propagation of quail an
pheasants next year. In years gon
by this county was noted for fin
hunting and there are still man
birds in the valleys of its creek IL
One of the plans of the state gam
authorities is to place some pheasant
in Cumberland woods and allo
them to establish residences an
families. The same will probably b
done with the Swatara valley if sui
abe arrangements can be made.
In spite of the heavy snowfall an
the terrible cold in the woods til
deer season did not end for SON
sportsmen in the South Mountain
region until today. The fall of sno
early in the week was hailed by huI
ters because it enabled them to II
deer with greater ease and while tn
winds were more like January tina
tn first half of December they STUD
to the woods and quite a few de
were killed during the week. III
big storm of Thursday night, hoN
ever, caused considerable sufferiI
among hunters who were not with
reach of cabins and there was hu
ried packing up yesterday. I
snowfall on some of the mountail
in southern counties was great
than known at this season of Il
year for a long time. Informatid
has been brought to the office of t
State Game Commission which 1t
expected will lead to the arrest
q number of persons charged wi
having killed does.
When returns are all in from &
counties it is believed that incoT
from hunters licenses will break
records even that of 305, 900 licens
the first year of the law. This mo
ey, less the collection allowance, W
be used for propagation and prote
ton of game.
Forestry Commissioner Robert
Conklin says that more hunters G
joyed the state reserve camp sill