San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-02-25
State Game Commissioner
in Annual Report Points to
Necessity of Providing
! Sport for the Masses.

Advocacy of state game preserves,
OF public hunting grounds, and Of a
universal hunting license and interest
ing facts concerning increases in Ger
tain game and Of decreases in Others
is contained in the annual report Of
State Game, Fish and Oyster Com
missioner w. W. Boyd. Mr.. Boyc
tells in his report of the introduction
of game into the state and of how
they have multiplied. An interesting
feature of the report concerns en-.
forcement of the fishing laws on the
coast. Threats against the lives of
deputies and suits for burning nets
found in closed waters as provided
by law, are retailed in the report.
Bob White quail were successfully
introduced from Mexico last year and
prairie chickens are increasing in the
Panhandle as a result of protection.
Migratory waterfowls are increasing,
the report states, due to the enforce
nent of the law prohibiting the sale
of ducks and geese. An actual count
of the wild antelope of the state shows
that there are 547 although the COM
missioner does not say how they were
counted. Mountain sheep have been
wiped out except in protected areas
in the Guadalupe Mountains.
Bob White quail have increased in
the state" the report reads in part.
The rains in the spring provided the
necessary growth of weeds and grasses
for cover and feed, then followed the
dry summer with no floods to destroy
the nests or the young. The Bob
White quail, thanks to his hardness
and prolific fecundity and to his many
farmer friends, is going to survive
civilization.
Increase Is Remarkable.
. EARLY last spring we bought about
1900 Mexican Bob White quail from
importers at Laredo and Brownsville
and distributed them in different parts
Of the state" A letter quoted in the
report showed that so of the birds
had been released near Ell Paso and
that in the fall an observer counted
several covies each numbering from
ESQ to 300 birds.
From personal observation / know
that hundreds of men motored through
the deer country in Southwest Texas
last fall, and had to return home with
out any game as they could find no
place where they were permitted to
hunt. The land owners of this state,
to steadily increasing extent are
limiting the hunting on their lands to
themselves and to those to whom they
give or sell hunting rights. We have
thousands of men in this state who
look forward each year to the OPEN
ing of the hunting season, but with
out public hunting grounds in the
center of which is game refuge or
sanctuary, it will soon Be so that the
hunter with ordinary means will not
be able to find place where he can
hunt.
"The wealthy sportsman will be
able to secure his sport just as long
as there is any game in existence, but
we do not care to exert ourselves to
protect and save our remaining sup
ply of game to the favored few. The
game Is the property of all the people, |
and 20 far as possible all should have
an equal chance in getting their share |
of the surplus above that needed for
maintaining a supply.
What Pennsylvania Has Done.
twenty-five years ago Pennsyl- |
NanAh was pLuNNlNdllN
last season 100000 gunners were |
provided with a brand of sport that
can now be found in but a few of the |
older states Of the Union. They have
accomplished this by the enactment of |
very rigid game laws and the enforce
ment Of them with q sufficient num-
Der Of wardens, and by the establish
ment Of game refugees now totaling 30 !
in number. These sanctuaries were
stocked with game which they bought,
such as quail, rabbits, deer, turkey |
and pheasants-the quail coming from
the Republic Of Mexico. In the last
two years they have expended over
100000 for game, exclusive Of all |
incidental expenses such as transpor-
tstion charges"
The grounds are described by the
commissioner as a large tract with a
refuge In the center into which the
game can scurry and be assured of |
protection, no hunter being allowed |
to enter the refuge. Tho hunting
ground surrounds the refuge. Thus |
il 10 a game Of hide and seek between |
hunter and hunted with safety
zones" for the animals. Pedestrians
will understand such an arrange
ment.
"Only the Rio Grande separates us
from Mexico, which country abounds |
with deer and quail and same could |
be secured by our department for
stocking refugees and sanctuaries at |
practically the same price as is paid |
for domestic livestock. Public hunt |
ing should be established near the |
centers of population and at no time |
in the future will suitable tracts of |
land be available or obtainable at |
prices which they can now be bought
also the earlier such places are estab-
lished the less game you will need to
purchase to stock our refugees, so, as
a matter of public economy, this work
should not be delayed"
Speaking Of the proposed universal
hunting tax Mr.. Boyd says: "Place of
residence should not be a factor in de-
termining who should buy hunting IL
censes as the game belongs not to the
people who reside in the county but
20 all of US alike. This law discrim-
mates against a man who lives near
county line and especially those
who live near where four counties
corner.
I'm our opinion, section ~ Of the