Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-21
THE AMERICAN LEGION OF HUNTERS
HAsI<IN
ny FREDERIC J. HAsKIN

WASHINGTON. December 2o.-De-
| spite tho fact that war has boosted
the price of ammunition to nnheard- of
men are spending the season in train
Ing camps. the legion OF hunters seems
| TO have taken tho field this year in al
most undiminished numbers. Early re-
turns made by the New York State
Conservation Commission show that
| 10000 sportsmen went deer hunting in
four New York counties. and that they
killed 1.755 deer and fifty-three bear
1t Is interesting to note that less than
one man out of every five got his buck;
80 that every deer killed furnished an
excuse for at least five men to take n
vacation in tho woods.
The experts OF the biological sur
Vey, who mako u careful study Of ,he
hunting habits OF Homo Amerlcanus,
have some startling figures to offer as
to the prediction of Americans for
field sports. They estimate that no
less than 100000 persons go hunting
in the United States every year. When
you reflect that this means ono person
out OF every twenty in tho country, and
that majority of the twenty arc wo-
men and children who never hunt, you
realize that Americans are a nation of
hunters. and that they are remarkably
persistent about following their favor
lite sport in the fact OF steadily de-
creasing supply of game, and a rapid
growth Of large cities.
New Spirit Manifest.
a few years ago 1t looked as IL the
hunters would put an end to their own
sport by destroying all of tho game.
Now n new spirit is manifest. The
Federal government and the State. are
cooperating III works Of conservation
The Federal migratory game law Is
given credit by leading conservation
lists Tor having saved the wild fowl
from extinction for another century at
least. Upland game birds are still
dwindling I'm numbers. but their pro-
lection on government reservations
and large private estates, and the en-
actment OF rigid State laws offers a
reasonable hope that they, too. will
pass the danger point, and begin to
increase before they have been reduced
TO the point where recovery OF q .un-
dance Is difficult If not impossible. The
thing most needed now Is Federal ac-
ton TO save the bi. game OF tho West.
An excellent bill has been introduced
In Congress providing for game refugees
on national forests. which would def
nitely settle the difficulty 1t has, OF
course. been forgotten In the rush OF
war legislation. But sportsmen and all
others who have the slightest interest
In Wild things. should not forget it. 1t
will come UP again. It's passage means
that protected reservoirs" OF wild life
would be established on many of tho
national forests. and that they would
serve to stock tho surrounding noun
tains. Unless some such action is
TAKEN the Americans that arc now
growing up will never sec an elk or a
mountain sheep or n black tail deer
outside OF q zoo or park
Just now the American sportsman
has some special claim to considcra-
ton because OF his usefulness as a
soldier. man who knows how to
take care Of himself outdoors, shoot
gun and ride a horse. ia distinctly
farther along toward becoming SOL
der than the one who does not know
any Of these things. This has been
often pointed out. 1t is not the only
side OF the case. however. In the
present mobilization. city men are often
farinE somewhat better than those
from the country because they are
more adaptable. and more of them have
some acquaintance with technical ap-
planes other than guns which play
such large part In modern warfare.
Cooperation That Counts.
The fact Of the matter Is that the
hunter. and the predatory and wander
ing traits OF character which hunting
engender. and which make a man like
hunting. have not much OF place in
our modern machine-made civilization
Devotion to routine work and ability
toward cooperation are what count
for progress these days: not love OF
excitement and destruction. In some
sense the man who goes hunting is
archaic; he belong to another age.
A good many modern thinkers and
writers have sensed and expressed this
fact barnard Shaw has written an
essay In which no attacks as barbarIc
all killing for fun" The late Jack
ho wi
In an interview not long before his
death. Professor Veblen, an acute